UE capability signaling regarding TCI status or spatial relationship for bandwidth parts or component carrier groups

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) sends capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active transmission configuration indication (TCI) states or active spatial relations supported by the UE for a per bandwidth part (BWP) group or a per component carrier (CC) group for use when receiving control information or data. The UE receives from the base station a configuration of a second number of active TCI states or active spatial relations for the BWP group or CC group, the second number being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active TCI states or active spatial relations supported by the UE. The UE monitors downlink communications based on the second number of active TCI states. The UE uses the active spatial relations for uplink transmissions.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of the following applications: U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 62 / 903,645, filed on September 20, 2019 and entitled “UE CAPABILITY SIGNALING ABOUT TCI STATES OR SPATIAL RELATIONS FOR A GROUP OF BANDWIDTH PARTS OR A GROUP OF COMPONENT CARRIERS”; and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 026,079, filed on September 18, 2020 and entitled “UE CAPABILITY SIGNALING ABOUT TCISTATES OR SPATIAL RELATIONS FOR A GROUP OF BANDWIDTH PARTS OR OMPONENT CARRIERS”, the entire contents of the above applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to user equipment (UE) capability signaling regarding transmission configuration indication (TCI) states and spatial relations. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0005] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continued mobile broadband evolution released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (such as with the Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC).

[0006] Wireless communication between a base station and a UE may include the use of a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state or spatial relationship. The TCI state is associated with a reference signal that may be provided to the UE in downlink control information (DCI) and used by the UE to identify and decode downlink data. This article proposes improvements to signaling regarding TCI states or spatial relationships. These improvements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that employ these technologies. Summary of the invention

[0007] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all anticipated aspects, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects, nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be presented later.

[0008] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for wireless communication at a UE are provided. The method sends capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The apparatus receives from the base station a configuration of a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active TCI states being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active TCI states supported by the UE. The apparatus monitors downlink communication based on the second number of active TCI states.

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for wireless communication at a UE are provided. The method sends capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The apparatus receives from the base station a configuration of a second number of active spatial relations for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active spatial relations being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE.

[0010] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for wireless communication at a UE are provided. The apparatus sends capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group including control and data. The apparatus receives from the base station a configuration of a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active TCI states being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active TCI states supported by the UE. The apparatus monitors downlink communication based on the second number of active TCI states.

[0011] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for wireless communication at a UE are provided. The apparatus sends capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The apparatus receives from the base station a configuration of a second number of active spatial relations for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active spatial relations being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE.

[0012] To accomplish the foregoing and related purposes, one or more aspects include features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and drawings set forth in detail some illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features are merely indicative of some of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this specification is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0014] Figure 2A , 2B , 2C and 2D are diagrams showing examples of a first 5G / NR frame, a DL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, a second 5G / NR frame and a UL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, respectively.

[0015] Figure 3is a diagram showing an example of a base station and a user equipment (UE) in an access network.

[0016] Figure 4A An example communication flow between a base station and a UE is shown, including signaling of UE capability information regarding the number of active transmission configuration indication (TCI) states supported by the UE, according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4B An example communication flow between a base station and a UE is shown, including signaling of UE capability information regarding multiple active spatial relations supported by the UE, according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 SUMMARY is a flow chart illustrating a method of supporting wireless communications using UE capability information regarding the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for a bandwidth part (BWP) group or a component carrier (CC) group in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of supporting wireless communications using UE capability information regarding the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for a BWP group or a CC group in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the flow of data between different components in an example apparatus according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Fig. 9 SUMMARY is a flow chart illustrating a method of wireless communication supporting signaling of UE capability information regarding the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for a BWP group or a CC group in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating a method of wireless communication supporting signaling of UE capability information regarding the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for a BWP group or a CC group according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Fig.11 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the flow of data between different components in an example apparatus according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Fig.12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system according to some aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The specific embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are intended as descriptions of various configurations and are not intended to represent the only configurations with which the concepts described herein can be practiced. For the purpose of providing a comprehensive understanding of each concept, the specific embodiments include specific details. However, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, structures and components are shown in the form of block diagrams to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0027] A user equipment (UE) may provide information to a base station regarding the number of active transmission configuration indication (TCI) states supported by the UE (e.g., how many active TCI states the UE may monitor). For example, the TCI states provide reference signals to enable the UE to correctly decode spatially multiplexed signals. More specifically, the TCI states may be monitored for quasi-co-located (QCL) information (spatial indicators from which the UE may infer spatial information, such as co-located antenna ports, Doppler shift information between antennas, and other spatial parameters). The QCL information in these TCI states may enable the UE to identify downlink data or control information intended for it.

[0028] Typically, if a TCI state is activated, the reference signals included in the TCI state are monitored for QCL information necessary to enable the UE to access other reference signals (RS) and downlink data and control information. As the number of component carriers (CCs) increases, the number of TCI states that need to be monitored also increases.

[0029] The number of TCI states can be provided to the network in different ways. However, the UE may be inadvertently assigned too many component carriers (CCs), and the number of active TCI states that the UE needs to monitor may be too many for the UE's limited hardware to handle. Exceeding the maximum allowable TCI states may result in data errors or connection loss on the UE side.

[0030] Recent proposals to the standard have included communicating the maximum number of available TCI states for a UE per BWP (bandwidth part) and per CC. If the UE indicates the number of active TCI states per bandwidth part (BWP) per component carrier (CC) as proposed, the UE may be more likely to exaggerate the true maximum number of TCI states it can manage. As a result, the base station may assume that the UE is able to track more TCI states than the UE's true capability. As a result, the UE may miss critical spatial reference signals and, with them, the opportunity to decode meaningful data.

[0031] This problem may be exacerbated in the case of UEs with more limited functionality. Even though the maximum value may also be based on seemingly objective criteria, the UE may have a limited number of hardware components, such as a radio frequency (RF) receive (RX) chain, that can effectively monitor reference signals with different TCI states. In addition, monitoring multiple TCI states may drain the battery faster.

[0032] The present disclosure addresses these and other deficiencies in the art. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the UE may be configured to express the maximum number of TCI states available for each group of BWP / CC as capability information (wherein the group may be a frequency band, a cell group), or indicated by the UE in other ways. The UE may also be configured to send the capability information to the base station. The UE may then receive another number of active TCI states less than the maximum number in response to sending the initial capability information. The UE may continue to actively monitor downlink communications based on the another number of TCI states provided by the base station.

[0033] When sending the above capability information, the UE may provide its own definition of the number based on objective factors such as maintaining the maximum number of TCI states to a more acceptable error margin, which is less likely to put the UE in a dangerous state of losing downlink information due to insufficient space resources. In other configurations, the base station may include an active TCI state component for receiving capability information from the UE and for limiting the number of TCI states activated for the corresponding BWP group or CC group to avoid exceeding the number of TCI states supported by the UE.

[0034] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various devices and methods. These devices and methods will be described in the following detailed description by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, and other examples (collectively referred to as "elements") and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0035] By way of example, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements, can be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gating logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functions described throughout the present disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system can execute software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, processes, functions, and other examples.

[0036] Accordingly, in one or more examples, the described functions can be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions can be stored or encoded on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, a combination of computer-readable media of the above types, or any other medium that can be used to store computer executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0037] Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). A macro cell includes a base station. A small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell.

[0038] The base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can interface with the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). The base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interface with the core network 190 via a second backhaul link 184. Among other functions, the base station 102 can also perform one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), user and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (eg, through the EPC 160 or the core network 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (eg, an X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0039] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. There can be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, small cell 102a can have a coverage area 110a that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cells can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network can also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which can provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 can include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 can use multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming or transmit diversity. The communication link can be through one or more carriers. Base station 102 / UE 104 may use spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400 MHz, and other examples) bandwidth per carrier allocated in carrier aggregation for a total of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. The carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). The component carrier may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0040] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on IEEE 802.11 standards, LTE, or NR.

[0041] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0042] The small cell 102a may operate in a licensed or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102a may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102a employing NR in the unlicensed spectrum may improve coverage and / or increase capacity of the access network.

[0043] The base station 102 (whether a small cell 102a or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station)) may include or be referred to as an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations 180 (such as gNBs) may operate in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, or near mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 104. When the gNB operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, the gNB may be referred to as a mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz, which has a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands (e.g., 3 GHz-300 GHz) have extremely high path losses and short distances. A mmW base station, such as base station 180, may utilize beamforming 182 with UE 104 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short range. Base station 180 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

[0044] The base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals in one or more transmit directions 182a to the UE 104. The UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from the base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182b. The UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to the base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions. The base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of the base station 180 / UE 104. The transmit direction and receive direction for the base station 180 may be the same or may be different. The transmit direction and receive direction for the UE 104 may be the same or may be different.

[0045] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Typically, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides IP address allocation and other functions to the UE. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provision and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to admit and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS services to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related charging information.

[0046] The core network 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may communicate with a unified data management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. Typically, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to an IP service 197. The IP service 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, or other IP services.

[0047] A base station may include or be referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmit receive point (TRP), or some other appropriate term. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC 160 or the core network 190 for the UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio unit, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet device, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similarly functional device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., a parking meter, a gas pump, an oven, a vehicle, a heart monitor, and other examples). UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a user station, a mobile unit, a user unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile user station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handheld device, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0048] Reference again Figure 1In some aspects, the UE 104 may include a UE capability information component 198 configured to provide capability information to the base station 180, the capability information indicating the number of active TCI states or active spatial relations supported by the UE 104 for a BWP group or a CC group. The base station 180 may include an active TCI state / spatial relation component 199 configured to receive the capability information from the UE 104 and limit the number of TCI states or spatial relations activated by the base station 180 for the corresponding BWP group or CC group to avoid exceeding the number of TCI states supported by the UE 104 for the corresponding BWP group or CC group. Although the following description may focus on 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar fields, such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies.

[0049] Figure 2A FIG200 is a diagram showing an example of a first subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2B FIG230 is a diagram showing an example of DL channels within a 5G / NR subframe. Figure 2C FIG250 is a diagram showing an example of a second subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2D FIG280 is a diagram showing an example of UL channels within a 5G / NR subframe. The 5G / NR frame structure can be FDD (wherein, for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within a subcarrier set are dedicated to either DL or UL), or can be TDD (wherein, for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within a subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL). Figure 2A , 2C In the example provided, the 5G / NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (most of which are DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexible between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (most of which are UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are full DL and full UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format (dynamically configured by DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling) through the received slot format indicator (SFI). It should be noted that the description provided herein also applies to the 5G / NR frame structure as TDD.

[0050] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures or different channels. A frame (10ms) may be divided into 10 subframes (1ms) of equal size. Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a microslot, which may include 7, 4 or 2 symbols. Each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the time slot configuration. For time slot configuration 0, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for time slot configuration 1, each time slot may include 7 symbols. The symbol on the DL may be a cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbol. The symbol on the UL may be a CP-OFDM symbol (for high throughput scenarios) or a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol (also known as a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbol) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single stream transmission). The number of time slots in a subframe may be based on the time slot configuration and numerology. For slot configuration 0, different digital schemes μ0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different digital schemes 0 to 2 allow 2, 4 and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Accordingly, for slot configuration 0 and digital scheme μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2 μ time slots / subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the digital scheme. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ *15kHz, where μ is digital scheme 0 to 5. Thus, digital scheme μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, and digital scheme μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A-2D An example is provided for slot configuration 0 (with 14 symbols per slot) and digital scheme μ=0 (with 1 slot per subframe). The subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz and the symbol duration is approximately 66.7 μs.

[0051] The resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)), which includes 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0052] As in Figure 2A As shown in , some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE. The RS may include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) for channel estimation at the UE (indicated as R for a specific configuration). x, where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0053] Figure 2B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are shown. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine RE groups (REGs), each REG including four consecutive REs in one OFDM symbol. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by UE104 to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identification. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identification group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identification and the physical layer cell identification group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the DM-RS described above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information (eg, System Information Block (SIB)) that is not transmitted through the PBCH, and paging messages.

[0054] As in Figure 2C As shown in , some of the REs carry DM-RS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for a specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE can send DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS can be sent in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS can be sent in different configurations depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is sent and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. Although not shown, the UE can send a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS can be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to achieve frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0055] Figure 2DExamples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are shown. The PUCCH may be positioned as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), or UCI.

[0056] Figure 3 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 communicating with a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to the controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements layer 3 and layer 2 functions. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides: RRC layer functions associated with: broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with: header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and switching support functions; RLC layer functions associated with: transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with: mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0057] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1 including the physical (PHY) layer may include error detection of the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-order quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols can then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain or frequency domain, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived based on a reference signal or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0058] At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through its corresponding antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356. The RX processor 356 then uses a fast Fourier transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 310. These soft decisions can be based on the channel estimate calculated by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by base station 310. The data and control signals are then provided to controller / processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functions.

[0059] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between transport channels and logical channels to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0060] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides: RRC layer functions associated with: system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with: header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with: transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with: mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0061] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 based on a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 310 may be used by the TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0062] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

[0063] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0064] At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 198 related aspects.

[0065] At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 199 related aspects.

[0066] The base station may provide the TCI state to the UE in an information element that indicates to the UE the parameters to be used when receiving a particular reference signal. The TCI state may help the UE determine the beam to be used to monitor the reference signal. Each TCI state may have a TCI state index. The reference signal may have an associated quasi-co-located (QCL) type. For example, if the characteristics of the channel on which symbols on one antenna port are transmitted can be inferred from the channel on which symbols on another antenna port are transmitted, the two antenna ports may be quasi-co-located. QCL type D involves spatial parameters and may be used by the UE for communications, for example, with mmW base stations. Two channels that are QCLs may experience similar channel conditions, so that a receiver that is able to receive one channel is likely to be able to receive the other channel.

[0067] When the base station has data to send to the UE, the base station can indicate to the UE which beam to use to receive the data. The base station can indicate to the UE the TCI state associated with the reference signal by sending the corresponding TCI index to the UE in control signaling. The UE can receive the data using the same beam used to monitor the reference signal based on the indicated TCI state. The TCI state index enables the base station to convey information to the UE about which beam to use to receive the data without explicitly providing the beam index.

[0068] The base station may configure the UE with a list of multiple candidate TCI states. For example, the base station may send the candidate TCI states to the UE in RRC communication. The base station may use the candidate TCI states to send a QCL indication to the UE. Each candidate TCI state on the list may include an index. The base station may activate a subset of the candidate TCI states on the list. The subset may include one or more TCI states. The base station may activate and deactivate the TCI states for the UE.

[0069] The base station may configure the UE with a list of many candidate TCI states. However, not all candidate TCI states are active for the UE. If a TCI state is active, the UE may monitor the reference signal defined for that TCI state. This monitoring helps ensure that the UE can receive the reference signal using the same beam and therefore can also receive data. The UE's monitoring of the reference signal helps keep track of the beams that the UE can receive.

[0070] When the UE initially connects to the base station, the UE may provide the base station with information about the number of active TCI states supported by the UE (such as how many active TCI states the UE can monitor). If the UE indicates the number of active TCI states supported per BWP per CC, the base station may assume that the UE is able to track more TCI states than the actual capabilities of the UE. As an instructive example, if the UE is configured with four BWPs and four CCs (resulting in sixteen unique combinations of BWPs and CCs), and if the UE indicates that it can activate two TCI states per BWP per CC, the base station may assume that the UE can monitor reference signals associated with 32 TCI states. However, the UE has a limited number of hardware components, such as a receive chain, that can monitor reference signals with different TCI states. In addition, monitoring multiple TCI states may drain the UE's battery faster due to the amount of processing. As provided herein, the UE may alternatively provide capability information to the base station, which indicates the number of TCI states supported by the UE for a BWP group or a CC group.

[0071] Figure 4A An example communication flow 400 between a base station 404 and a UE 402 is shown, including signaling of UE capability information regarding the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for a BWP group or CC group, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 402 may send information regarding the number of active TCI states supported for a BWP group or CC group 403 in an information element of UE assistance information provided by the UE 402 to the base station 404. The information element may be included in a MIMO parameters information element per band. In some implementations, the UE may signal such capability information for receiving data via a PDSCH. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may signal such capability information for receiving control information via a PDCCH.

[0072] The BWP group may correspond to a frequency band. Thus, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active TCI states that the UE 402 supports for the frequency band. In some examples, the number may correspond to the maximum number of active TCI states supported by the UE for the BWP group or CC group. The CC group may correspond to a cell group. Thus, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active TCI states that the UE 402 supports for the cell group. For example, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active TCI states that the UE supports for the primary cell group. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active TCI states that the UE 402 supports for the secondary cell group. The UE 402 may indicate a specific BWP group or a specific CC group corresponding to the number of active TCI states supported by the UE 402.

[0073] In addition to the quantity, the UE 402 may also indicate whether support is indicated for a BWP group or for a CC group (such as for a cell group). The UE 402 may provide the quantity in the UE capability field and may provide an additional indication in the additional UE capability field that enables the base station 404 to interpret the UE capability field including the quantity provided by the UE 402.

[0074] As shown, at 405, the base station 404 may activate a TCI state for the UE 402 from the previously configured candidate TCI states. The base station 404 may use the UE capability information to limit the activation of candidate TCI states for a specific BWP group or a specific CC group to no more than the corresponding number indicated by the UE 402. The base station 404 may activate and deactivate the TCI state for the UE 402.

[0075] As shown at 408, the UE 402 may use the active TCI state to monitor the corresponding reference signal 407. As shown, the base station 404 at 407 may send the reference signal based on the active TCI state. The UE 402 may also use the active TCI state to monitor other downlink communications from the base station at 410. For example, the base station 404 may send a PDCCH, PDSCH, or other reference signal 409 with a QCL relationship to the active TCI state for a particular reference signal.

[0076] The base station 404 may use the TCI state to indicate to the UE 402 the beam to use for receiving downlink communications from the base station 404. For uplink communications, the base station 404 may configure the UE 402 for spatial relations. The spatial relations may indicate to the UE 402 the beam to be used for transmitting the PUSCH, PUCCH, or SRS. Similar to the indication of the number of active TCI states, the UE 402 may indicate to the base station 404 the number of active spatial relations that the UE 402 supports for the BWP group or CC group. In some examples, the number may correspond to the maximum number of active spatial relations that the UE 402 supports for the BWP group or CC group. Figure 4B An example communication flow 450 between a base station 404 and a UE 402 is shown, including signaling of UE capability information regarding the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE 402, according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0077] The UE 402 may send information 413 about the number of active spatial relations supported for a BWP group or a CC group in an information element of UE assistance information provided by the UE 402 to the base station 404. This information element may be included in a MIMO parameters per band information element.

[0078] The BWP group may correspond to a frequency band. Thus, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active spatial relations that the UE 402 supports for the frequency band. The CC group may correspond to a cell group. Thus, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active spatial relations that the UE 402 supports for the cell group. For example, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active spatial relations that the UE supports for the primary cell group. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 402 may indicate the number of active spatial relations that the UE 402 supports for the secondary cell group. The UE 402 may indicate a specific BWP group or a specific CC group corresponding to the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE 402.

[0079] In addition to the quantity, the UE 402 may also indicate whether support is indicated for a BWP group or for a CC group (such as for a cell group). The UE 402 may provide the quantity in the UE capability field and may provide an additional indication in the additional UE capability field that enables the base station 404 to interpret the UE capability field including the quantity provided by the UE 402.

[0080] As shown, at 415, the base station 404 may activate the spatial relationship for the UE 402 from the previously configured candidate TCI states. The base station 404 may use the UE capability information to limit the activation of candidate spatial relationships for a particular BWP group or a particular CC group to no more than the corresponding number indicated by the UE 402. The base station 404 may activate and deactivate the spatial relationship for the UE 402.

[0081] As shown at 418, the UE 402 may use the active spatial relation to monitor the corresponding reference signal 417. The UE 402 may also use the active spatial relation to send an uplink communication 419 to the base station. For example, the base station 404 may send a PUCCH, PDUSCH, or SRS with a QCL relation based on the active spatial relation for a particular reference signal.

[0082] If two different BWPs are in the same frequency band, UE 402 may use the same beam to receive signals in one of the BWPs and may also receive signals in the other BWP. Although the BWPs may be different, the propagation characteristics for the two BWPs may be similar. For example, BWPs at 28 GHz and 29 GHz may have similar propagation characteristics between the same transmitter and receiver. Therefore, when the two BWPs are in the same frequency band, information learned about the active TCI state of the BWP at 28 GHz may be useful for communications using the 29 GHz BWP.

[0083] Figure 5 500 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a base station or a component of a base station (such as base station 180, 310, 404; apparatus 702; processing system 814, which may include memory 376 and may be an entire base station or a component of a base station, such as TX processor 316, RX processor 370, or controller / processor 375 of base station 310).

[0084] At 502, a base station receives capability information from a UE, the capability information indicating the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group, for example, for use when receiving control information (e.g., via a PDCCH) or data (e.g., via a PDSCH). The receiving of the capability information may be performed, for example, by Figure 7 The receiving component 704 or the UE capability component 708 of the device 702 in the base station may be performed. The base station may also receive an indication from the UE to indicate whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. In some aspects, the capability information may indicate the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for a frequency band. In some aspects, the capability information may indicate the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for a cell group. The cell group may include a primary cell group or a secondary cell group. For example, the base station may receive UE capability information indicating the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for the primary cell group. Alternatively or in addition, the base station may receive UE capability information indicating the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for the secondary cell group.

[0085] At 504, the base station limits the number of active TCI states for the BWP group or CC group to a second number that is less than or equal to the first number. The limitation may be, for example, Figure 7 The limiting component 710 of the device 702 is executed.

[0086] At 506, the base station configures the UE with a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or CC group. For example, the base station may activate TCI states for the BWP group or CC group and may limit the number of TCI states activated for the UE to avoid exceeding the first number of TCI states for the BWP group or CC group. The configuration may be, for example, by Figure 7 The active TCI state component 712 of the device 702 is executed.

[0087] Figure 6 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a base station or a component of a base station (such as base stations 180, 310, 404; apparatus 702; processing system 814, which may include memory 376 and may be an entire base station or a component of a base station, such as TX processor 316, RX processor 370, or controller / processor 375 of base station 310).

[0088] At 602, the base station receives capability information from the UE, the capability information indicating the number of first active spatial relations supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The receiving of the capability information may be performed, for example, by Figure 7 The receiving component 704 or the UE capability component 708 of the device 702 in the base station can be performed. The base station can also receive an indication from the UE to indicate whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. In some aspects, the capability information can indicate the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for a frequency band. In some aspects, the capability information can indicate the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for a cell group. The cell group may include a primary cell group or a secondary cell group. For example, the base station can receive UE capability information indicating the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for the primary cell group. Alternatively or in addition, the base station can receive UE capability information indicating the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for the secondary cell group.

[0089] At 604, the base station limits the number of active spatial relationships for the BWP group or CC group to a second number that is less than or equal to the first number. The limitation may be, for example, Figure 7 The limiting component 710 of the device 702 is executed.

[0090] At 606, the base station configures the UE with a second number of active spatial relationships for the BWP group or CC group. For example, the base station may activate the spatial relationships for the BWP group or CC group and may limit the number of active spatial relationships to avoid exceeding the first number of spatial relationships for the BWP group or CC group. The configuration may be, for example, by Figure 7 The active spatial relationship component 712 of the device 702 is executed.

[0091] Figure 7 7 is a conceptual data flow diagram 700 illustrating data flow between different units / components in an example apparatus 702. The apparatus may be a base station. The apparatus 702 includes a receiving component 704 configured to receive uplink communications from a UE 750 and a transmitting component 706 configured to transmit downlink communications to the UE 750. The apparatus 702 may include a UE capability component 708 configured to receive capability information from the UE 750, the capability information indicating the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE per BWP group or per CC group, such as in combination with Figure 5 The apparatus 702 may include a limiting component 710 configured to limit the number of active TCI states for a BWP group or a CC group to a second number that is less than or equal to the first number, such as in conjunction with Figure 5 The apparatus 702 may include an active TCI state component 712, which may configure the UE 750 with a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or CC group, such as in conjunction with Figure 5 As described in block 506 in FIG.

[0092] In some examples, the UE capability component 708 can be configured to receive capability information from the UE 750, the capability information indicating the first number of active spatial relationships supported by the UE per BWP group or per CC group, such as in conjunction with Figure 6 In some examples, the limiting component 710 can be configured to limit the number of active spatial relationships for a BWP group or a CC group to a second number that is less than or equal to the first number, such as in conjunction with Figure 6 The apparatus 702 may include an active spatial relationship component 714, which may configure the UE 750 with a second active spatial relationship number for the BWP group or CC group, such as in conjunction with Figure 6 The UE capability component 708 may also be configured to receive an indication indicating whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. The UE capability component 708 may also be configured to receive an indication indicating whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is a BWP group or a CC group.

[0093] The device 702 may include executing the above Figure 5 and 6 Each of the blocks in the algorithm in the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the additional components of the various aspects. Therefore, in the above Figure 5 and 6 Each block in the flowchart of and aspects of FIG. 4 may be performed by a component, and the apparatus 702 may include one or more of those components. The component may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the process / algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the process / algorithm, stored in a computer-readable medium to be implemented by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0094] Figure 8 800 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 702 employing a processing system 814. The processing system 814 may be implemented using a bus architecture, generally represented by a bus 824. The bus 824 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system 814. The bus 824 links together various circuits, including one or more processors and / or hardware components represented by the processor 804, components 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, and computer readable media / memory 806. The bus 824 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits.

[0095] The processing system 814 can be coupled to the transceiver 810. The transceiver 810 is coupled to one or more antennas 820. The transceiver 810 provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium. The transceiver 810 receives signals from one or more antennas 820, extracts information from the received signals, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 814 (specifically, the receiving component 704). In addition, the transceiver 810 receives information from the processing system 814 (specifically, the transmitting component 706), and generates signals to be applied to one or more antennas 820 based on the received information. The processing system 814 includes a processor 804 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 806. The processor 804 is responsible for general processing, which includes executing software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory 806. The software, when executed by the processor 804, causes the processing system 814 to perform various functions described herein for any specific device. The computer-readable medium / memory 806 can also be used to store data manipulated by the processor 804 when executing the software. The processing system 814 also includes at least one of the components 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714. The component may be a software component running in the processor 804, located / stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 806, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor 804, or some combination thereof. The processing system 814 may be a component of the base station 310 and may include the memory 376 or at least one of the following: the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375. Alternatively, the processing system 814 may be the entire base station (such as see Figure 3 310).

[0096] In one configuration, an apparatus 702 for wireless communication includes: a unit for receiving capability information from a UE, the capability information indicating a first number of active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group for use when receiving control information or data. The apparatus 702 may include: a unit for limiting the number of active TCI states for the BWP group or CC group to a second number less than or equal to the first number; and a unit for configuring the UE with the second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or CC group. The apparatus 702 may include: a unit for receiving an indication of whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. The apparatus may include: a unit for receiving capability information from the UE, the capability information indicating a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The apparatus 702 may include: a unit for limiting the number of active spatial relations for the BWP group or CC group to a second number less than or equal to the first number; and a unit for configuring the UE with the second number of active spatial relations for the BWP group or CC group. The apparatus 702 may include: a unit for receiving an indication of whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. The above-mentioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the apparatus 702 and / or the processing system 814 of the apparatus 702 configured to perform the functions recited by the above-mentioned means. As described herein, the processing system 814 may include the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375. Therefore, in one configuration, the above-mentioned means may be the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375 configured to perform the functions recited by the above-mentioned means.

[0097] Fig. 9 Flowchart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a UE or a component of a UE (such as UE 104, 350, 402; device 1102; processing system 1214, which may include memory 360, and may be the entire UE 350 or a component of UE 350, such as TX processor 368, RX processor 356, or controller / processor 359).

[0098] At 902, the UE sends capability information to the base station, the capability information indicating the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group for use when receiving control information or data. The sending of the capability information may be performed, for example, by Fig.11The sending component 1106 or the UE capability component 1108 of the device 1102 in the apparatus 1102 is executed. The UE may also send an indication to the base station to indicate whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. In some aspects, the capability information may indicate the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for a frequency band. In some aspects, the capability information may indicate the number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for a cell group. The cell group may include a primary cell group or a secondary cell group. For example, the UE may send UE capability information indicating the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for the primary cell group. Alternatively or in addition, the UE may send UE capability information indicating the number of active TCI states supported by the UE for the secondary cell group.

[0099] At 904, the UE receives a configuration of a second number of active TCI states for a BWP group or a CC group from a base station, the second number of active TCI states being limited to be less than or equal to a first number of active TCI states supported by the UE. The reception may be performed, for example, by Fig.11 For example, the UE may receive activation of the TCI state for the BWP group or CC group until the second active spatial relationship number is equal to the first spatial relationship number for the BWP group or CC group.

[0100] At 906, the UE monitors downlink communications based on the second number of active TCI states. The monitoring may be performed, for example, by Fig.11 The monitoring component 1112 of the device 1102 is executed.

[0101] Fig.10 Flowchart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a UE or a component of a UE (such as UE 104, 350, 402; device 1102; processing system 1214, which may include memory 360, and may be the entire UE 350 or a component of UE 350, such as TX processor 368, RX processor 356, or controller / processor 359).

[0102] At 1002, the UE sends capability information to the base station, the capability information indicating the number of first active spatial relations supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The sending of the capability information may be performed, for example, by Fig.11The sending component 1106 or the UE capability component 1108 of the device 1102 in the apparatus 1102 is executed. The UE may also send an indication to the base station to indicate whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. In some aspects, the capability information may indicate the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for a frequency band. In some aspects, the capability information may indicate the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for a cell group. The cell group may include a primary cell group or a secondary cell group. For example, the UE may send UE capability information indicating the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for the primary cell group. Alternatively or in addition, the UE may send UE capability information indicating the number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for the secondary cell group.

[0103] At 1004, the UE receives a configuration of a second number of active spatial relations for a BWP group or a CC group from a base station, the second number of active spatial relations being limited to be less than or equal to a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE. The reception may be performed, for example, by Fig.11 For example, the UE may receive activation of spatial relations for a BWP group or a CC group until the second number of active spatial relations equals the first number of spatial relations for the BWP group or the CC group.

[0104] Fig.11 1 is a conceptual data flow diagram 1100 illustrating data flow between different units / components in an example apparatus 1102. The apparatus may be a UE or a component of a UE. The apparatus 1102 includes a receiving component 1104 that receives downlink communications from a base station 1150 and a transmitting component 1106 that transmits uplink communications to the base station 1150. The apparatus may include a UE capability component 1108 configured to transmit capability information to the base station, the capability information indicating a number of first active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group for use when receiving control information or data, such as in conjunction with Fig. 9 The apparatus 1102 may include an active TCI state component 1110 configured to receive a configuration of a second active TCI state number for a BWP group or a CC group from a base station, the second active TCI state number being limited to be less than or equal to a first active TCI state number supported by the UE, such as in combination with Fig. 9 The apparatus 1102 may include a monitoring component 1112 configured to monitor downlink communications based on the second number of active TCI states, such as in conjunction with Fig. 9 As described in 906 of . The UE capability component 1108 may also be configured to send an indication indicating whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is a BWP group or a CC group.

[0105] In some examples, the UE capability component 1108 can be configured to send capability information to the base station, the capability information indicating the first number of active spatial relationships supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group, such as in conjunction with Fig.10 The apparatus 1102 may include an active spatial relationship component 1114 configured to receive a configuration of a second active spatial relationship number for a BWP group or a CC group from a base station, the second active spatial relationship number being limited to be less than or equal to the first active spatial relationship number supported by the UE, such as in combination with Fig.10 The transmitting component 1106 may be configured to transmit uplink communication based on the active spatial relationship. The UE capability component 1108 may also be configured to transmit an indication indicating whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relationships is supported is a BWP group or a CC group.

[0106] The device 1102 may include executing the above Fig. 9 and 10 Each box in the flowchart of the algorithm has an additional component. Therefore, in the above Fig. 9 and 10 Each block in the flowchart of can be performed by a component, and the device 1102 may include one or more of those components. The component can be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the process / algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the process / algorithm, stored in a computer-readable medium to be implemented by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0107] Fig.12 1200 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 1202 employing a processing system 1214. The processing system 1214 may be implemented using a bus architecture, generally represented by a bus 1224. The bus 1224 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system 1214. The bus 1224 links together various circuits, including one or more processors and / or hardware components represented by the processor 1204, components 1104, 1106, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114, and computer readable media / memory 1206. The bus 1224 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits.

[0108] The processing system 1214 may be coupled to the transceiver 1210. The transceiver 1210 is coupled to one or more antennas 1220. The transceiver 1210 provides a means for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. The transceiver 1210 receives signals from the one or more antennas 1220, extracts information from the received signals, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 1214 (specifically, the receiving component 1104). In addition, the transceiver 1210 receives information from the processing system 1214 (specifically, the transmitting component 1106), and generates signals to be applied to the one or more antennas 1220 based on the received information. The processing system 1214 includes a processor 1204 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1206. The processor 1204 is responsible for general processing, which includes executing software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory 1206. The software, when executed by the processor 1204, causes the processing system 1214 to perform various functions described herein for any particular device. The computer-readable medium / memory 1206 may also be used to store data manipulated by the processor 1204 when executing software. The processing system 1214 also includes at least one of the components 1104, 1106, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114. The components may be software components running in the processor 1204, located / stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1206, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor 1204, or some combination thereof. The processing system 1214 may be a component of the UE 350 and may include the memory 360 or at least one of the following: the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359. Alternatively, the processing system 1214 may be the entire UE (such as see Figure 3 of 350).

[0109] In one configuration, an apparatus 1102 for wireless communication includes: a unit for sending capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active TCI states supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group for use when receiving control information or data. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for receiving a configuration of a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or CC group from the base station, the second number of active TCI states being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active TCI states supported by the UE. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for monitoring downlink communications based on the second number of active TCI states. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for sending an indication indicating whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for sending capability information to the base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE for each BWP group or each CC group. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for receiving a configuration of a second number of active spatial relations for a BWP group or a CC group from a base station, the second number of active spatial relations being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for sending an uplink communication based on the active spatial relations. The apparatus 1102 may include: a unit for sending an indication indicating whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is a BWP group or a CC group. The aforementioned unit may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the apparatus 1102 and / or a processing system 1214 of the apparatus 1102 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned units. As described herein, the processing system 1214 may include a TX processor 368, an RX processor 356, and a controller / processor 359. Therefore, in one configuration, the aforementioned unit may be a TX processor 368, an RX processor 356, and a controller / processor 359 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned units.

[0110] The specific order or hierarchy of the blocks in the disclosed process / flowchart is an illustration of an exemplary method. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of the blocks in the process / flowchart can be rearranged. In addition, some blocks can be combined or omitted. The attached method claims provide the elements of each block in an exemplary order and are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy provided.

[0111] The previous description is provided so that any person of ordinary skill in the art can practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. The claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but are given the full scope consistent with the textual claims, wherein, unless explicitly stated so, the reference to the singular element is not intended to mean "one and only one", but "one or more". The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "used as an example, instance or illustration". Any aspect described as "exemplary" herein is not necessarily interpreted as being preferred to other aspects or having advantages over other aspects. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B or C", "one or more of A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C", and "A, B, C or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B or C, and may include multiple A, multiple B or multiple C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C", and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein any such combination may include one or more members or several members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements throughout the various aspects described in the present disclosure that are known or will later be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be included by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recorded in the claims. The words "module", "mechanism", "element", "device", etc. may not be a substitute for the word "unit". Thus, no claim element is to be interpreted as a functional unit module unless the element is explicitly recorded using the phrase "unit for..."

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a number of first active transmission configuration indication (TCI) states supported by the UE per bandwidth part (BWP) group or per component carrier (CC) group; receiving, from the base station, a configuration of a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active TCI states being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active TCI states; and Downlink communications are monitored based on the second number of active TCI states.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The capability information indicates a number of the first active TCI states supported by the UE for a frequency band or a cell group.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The cell group includes a primary cell group or a secondary cell group.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Sending the capability information further includes indicating whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is the BWP group or the CC group.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Each active TCI state supports reception of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

6. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE per bandwidth part (BWP) group or per component carrier (CC) group; receiving, from the base station, a configuration of a second number of active spatial relations for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active spatial relations being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE; as well as Downlink communications are monitored based on the second number of active spatial relationships.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The capability information indicates a number of the first active TCI states supported by the UE for a frequency band or a cell group.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The cell group includes a primary cell group or a secondary cell group.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The sending of the capability information further includes indicating whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is the BWP group or the CC group.

10. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: sending capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a number of first active transmission configuration indication (TCI) states supported by the UE per bandwidth part (BWP) group or per component carrier (CC) group; receiving, from the base station, a configuration of a second number of active TCI states for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active TCI states being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active TCI states; and Downlink communications are monitored based on the second number of active TCI states.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein: The capability information indicates a number of the first active TCI states supported by the UE for a frequency band or a cell group.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein The cell group includes a primary cell group or a secondary cell group.

13. The device according to claim 10, wherein: The capability information also includes an indication as to whether the group for which the first number of active TCI states is supported is the BWP group or the CC group.

14. The device according to claim 10, wherein: Each active TCI state supports reception of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

15. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: sending capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating a first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE per bandwidth part (BWP) group or per component carrier (CC) group; receiving, from the base station, a configuration of a second number of active spatial relations for the BWP group or the CC group, the second number of active spatial relations being limited to be less than or equal to the first number of active spatial relations supported by the UE; as well as Downlink communications are monitored based on the second number of active spatial relationships.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein: The capability information indicates a number of the first active TCI states supported by the UE for a frequency band or a cell group.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein: The cell group includes a primary cell group or a secondary cell group.

18. The device according to claim 15, wherein: The capability information also includes an indication as to whether the group for which the first number of active spatial relations is supported is the BWP group or the CC group.

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