Apparatus and method for group-based reporting beam management

Abstract

Some embodiments include apparatus, methods, and computer program products for using group-based reporting for beam management in a 5G wireless communication system. A user equipment (UE) may determine a ranking of two or more beam combinations based on signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) or reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements and transmit the ranking to a 5G Node B (gNB). The UE may receive a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoint from the gNB that identifies a combination of two or more beams, wherein the TCI codepoint is based on at least the ranking. The UE may receive simultaneous transmissions via the combination and transmit a report to the gNB identified by the TCI codepoint, the report including the SINR corresponding to the combination, to the gNB. In some embodiments, the UE may transmit simultaneously on a second combination identified by a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) codepoint.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments described in this disclosure generally relate to 5G wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] The 5G wireless communication system includes a user equipment (UE) that supports simultaneous reception through multiple beams and simultaneous uplink (UL) transmission through multiple beams to a 5G Node B (gNB). Summary of the Invention

[0003] Some embodiments include apparatus, methods, and computer program products for group-based reporting beam management. Some embodiments include a user equipment (UE) comprising a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may determine a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement or a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement for each of a plurality of beams from which the UE may simultaneously receive downlink (DL) transmissions, and rank two or more beams of a first combination and two or more beams of a second combination in the plurality of beams based at least on the determined SINR measurement or RSRP measurement. The processor may transmit the determined rank of the plurality of beams from which the UE may simultaneously receive DL transmissions to a 5G Node B (gNB) via the transceiver. Based at least on the ranking, the processor may receive, via the transceiver, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) code point corresponding to two or more beams from which the UE can simultaneously receive DL transmissions, wherein beams in the two or more beams are identified by a channel state information (CSI) resource indicator (CRI), a synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI). The processor may simultaneously receive, via the transceiver, the two or more beams identified by the TCI code point, and transmit, via the transceiver, a group beam report corresponding to the simultaneous reception, including the TCI code point and an SINR measurement for each of the two or more beams.

[0004] The processor supports differential encoding to reduce the number of bits used to encode group beam report measurements. For example, the processor may quantize a first SINR measurement of the two or more beam SINR measurements using X bits, where X is an integer, as a reference measurement, and quantize the remaining SINR measurements of the two or more beams using Y bits, where Y is an integer less than X. In some embodiments, the reference measurement is larger than other measurements in the group beam report, and the reference measurement is identified by a position within the group beam report.

[0005] The processor may determine whether the UE supports simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions and transmit a group beam report including an indication of whether the UE supports simultaneous UL transmissions on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI codepoint. The processor may transmit, via the transceiver, to the gNB a second indication of two or more sounding reference signals (SRSs) through which the UE may simultaneously transmit UL transmissions, wherein the second indication comprises: physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signaling, physical random access channel (PRACH) signaling, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling. Based at least on the second indication, the processor may receive, via the transceiver, an SRS resource indicator (SRI) codepoint identifying a spatial relationship to the two or more SRSs through which the UE may simultaneously transmit UL transmissions.

[0006] The processor may transmit, via the transceiver, to the gNB, simultaneous UL transmissions via the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point, wherein a first beam of the two or more beams corresponds to a first set of SRS resources and a second beam of the two or more beams corresponds to a second set of SRS resources. The processor may transmit, via the transceiver, to the gNB, a second indication that the UE is not transmitting simultaneous UL transmissions on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0007] In some embodiments, a first group beam report is used for simultaneous DL reception, and a separate second group beam report is used for simultaneous UL transmission. When implementing the separate second group beam report, the processor may simultaneously transmit UL transmissions on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI codepoints, and the processor may transmit the second group beam report including a power headroom (PHR) value to the gNB via the transceiver.

[0008] The UE also includes an antenna coupled to the transceiver, the antenna including two or more panels. The processor may transmit an indication to the gNB via the transceiver that the UE is not receiving simultaneous DL transmissions on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point, and place a panel of the two or more panels corresponding to a beam of the two or more beams into a dormant state. The indication may include PUCCH signaling, PRACH signaling, RRC signaling, or MAC-CE signaling.

[0009] The processor may transmit a report capability including the beam switching timing delay via the transceiver (e.g., at power-up), and after placing a panel among the two or more panels in a sleep state, reactivate the panel according to a maximum beam switching timing delay among the beam switching timing delays. The processor may receive a time domain multiplexing (TDM) signal corresponding to the panel via the transceiver and the panel.

[0010] Some embodiments include a method for a UE, the method comprising transmitting to a gNB a ranking of a plurality of beams from which the UE can simultaneously receive downlink transmissions. Based at least on the ranking, receiving a first TCI codepoint corresponding to a first group of two or more beams from which the UE can simultaneously receive downlink transmissions, and a second TCI codepoint corresponding to a second group of two or more beams from which the UE can simultaneously transmit uplink transmissions. Some embodiments include simultaneously receiving downlink transmissions from the first group of two or more beams identified by the TCI codepoint, simultaneously transmitting uplink transmissions via the second group of two or more beams identified by a second TCI codepoint, wherein the TCI codepoint is different from the second TCI codepoint, and transmitting a group beam report corresponding to the simultaneous reception, comprising the TCI codepoint and an SINR measurement for each beam in the first group of two or more beams.

[0011] Some embodiments relate to a gNB comprising a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may receive, from a UE via the transceiver, a ranking of a plurality of beams from which the UE may simultaneously receive downlink transmissions. Based at least on the ranking, the processor may transmit, via the transceiver, a first TCI codepoint corresponding to a first group of two or more beams from which the UE may simultaneously receive downlink transmissions, wherein the beams in the first group of two or more beams are identified by a CRI, SSBRI, or SRI. The processor may transmit, via the transceiver, the first group of two or more beams identified by the first TCI codepoint, and receive, via the transceiver, a group beam report corresponding to simultaneous reception of the first group of two or more beams by the UE, including the first TCI codepoint and an SINR measurement for each beam in the first group of two or more beams. The ranking is based at least on the SINR measurement or RSRP measurement of the plurality of beams.

[0012] The processor may process a group beam report including a reference measurement, the reference measurement including a quantized first SINR measurement using X bits of SINR measurements for a first group of two or more beams, where X is an integer, and a remaining SINR measurement for the first group of two or more beams quantized using Y bits, where Y is an integer less than X. The reference measurement may be larger than other measurements in the group beam report and / or the reference measurement may be identified by a position within the group beam report. In some embodiments, the group beam report indicates that the UE may simultaneously transmit UL transmissions via a second group of two or more beams corresponding to a second TCI code point, and the second TCI code point may be different from the first TCI code point. The processor may receive an indication from the UE via the transceiver that the UE is not receiving simultaneous DL transmissions on the first group of two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point, wherein the indication comprises: PUCCH signaling, PRACH signaling, RRC signaling, or MAC-CE signaling.

[0013] The processor may receive a reporting capability including beam switching timing delays via the transceiver and, after receiving the indication, transmit a TDM signal corresponding to a beam in the first group of two or more beams via the transceiver according to a maximum beam switching timing delay among the beam switching timing delays. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the disclosed disclosure and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the disclosure and enable one skilled in the relevant art to make and use the disclosure.

[0015] Figure 1 An exemplary system for group-based reporting beam management according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 2 A block diagram of an exemplary wireless system for group-based reporting beam management is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 3 A method for group-based reporting beam management for an exemplary user equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 4 A method for group-based reporting beam management for an exemplary 5G Node B (gNB) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 5 An example medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) indication is shown of whether a UE can simultaneously receive downlink (DL) transmissions via a specific beam combination according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 6 An exemplary MAC-CE indication of whether a UE may simultaneously transmit uplink (UL) transmissions via a specific beam combination according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 7 An exemplary MAC-CE indication of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) code point is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 8 Examples of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) code points and SRS group configurations according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

[0023] Figure 9 Examples of beam switching timing delays according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

[0024] Figure 10 is an exemplary computer system for implementing some embodiments or one or more portions of an embodiment.

[0025] The present disclosure is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, generally, like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Also, generally, the leftmost digit of a reference numeral identifies the drawing in which the reference numeral first appears. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] A 5G wireless communication system may include a user equipment (UE) that simultaneously receives downlink (DL) transmissions from a 5G Node B (gNB) via multiple beams and simultaneously transmits uplink (UL) transmissions to the gNB via multiple beams. Group-based reporting is an indirect indication of whether the UE supports simultaneous reception via multiple beams. Some embodiments herein include apparatus, methods, and computer program products for group-based reporting for beam management in a 5G wireless communication system. For example, some embodiments include Layer 1 signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements in group-based reporting and define sorting criteria for the UE to identify beam combinations to be used for simultaneous reception and / or simultaneous transmission. Some embodiments include separate beam reporting for simultaneous reception from a first set of multiple beams and simultaneous transmission via a second set of multiple beams, where the first and second sets may be different. Some embodiments include differential encoding of a reference measurement, which may include fewer quantization bits for the remaining measurements in the group-based reporting. Some embodiments enable the UE to temporarily disable simultaneous reception and / or simultaneous transmission and may include UL SRS support for simultaneous UL transmission.

[0027] Figure 1 An exemplary system 100 for group-based reporting beam management according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. System 100 includes a UE 110, a gNB 120, an UL transmission 130, and a DL transmission 140. UE 110 may be a computing electronic device such as a smartphone, a cellular phone, and for simplicity, may include other computing devices including, but not limited to, laptops, desktop computers, tablets, personal assistants, routers, monitors, televisions, printers, and home appliances. The UE may report to the gNB via UL transmission 130 at least the following: combinations of beams through which the UE can receive simultaneous DL transmissions; combinations of beams through which the UE may transmit simultaneous UL transmissions to the gNB; a temporary reduction in the ability to simultaneously receive DL transmissions based on a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) codepoint; and / or a temporary reduction in the ability to simultaneously transmit UL transmissions based on a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) Reference Indicator (SRI) codepoint.

[0028] As shown, gNB 120 may be a 5G base station. GNB 120 may configure and transmit the following to UE 110 via DL transmission 140: downlink (DL) beam TCI code points for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) shared with UE 110; UL beam SRI code points for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and UL SRS beam and resource configuration.

[0029] Figure 2 A block diagram of an exemplary wireless system 200 for group-based reporting beam management according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For convenience and not limitation, Figure 1 The system 200 can be described by the elements of Figure 1 UE 110 or gNB 120. System 200 may include a processor 210, a transceiver 220, a communications infrastructure 230, a memory 235, and an antenna 225, which collectively perform operations to implement group-based reporting beam management. Transceiver 220 transmits and receives 5G wireless communication signals via antenna 225. Communications infrastructure 230 may be a bus. Memory 235 may include random access memory (RAM) and / or cache memory and may include control logic (e.g., computer software), computer instructions, and / or data. Processor 210, when executing computer instructions, may be configured to perform the functionality for group-based reporting beam management described herein. Alternatively, processor 210 may include its own internal memory (not shown) and / or may be "hardwired" (e.g., in a state machine) to perform the functionality for group-based reporting beam management described herein. Antenna 225, coupled to transceiver 220, may include one or more antennas and / or panels (not shown), which may be of the same or different types, to enable wireless communication over a wireless network.

[0030] Figure 3 A method 300 for group-based reporting beam management for an exemplary user equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For convenience and not limitation, the Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 elements to describe Figure 3 For example, method 300 may be performed by Figure 1 UE 110 or Figure 2 Executed by system 200.

[0031] At 305, the system 200 may rank the combinations of beams based on SINR measurements or reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements. For example, the UE 110 may measure the signals of the received beams and rank the combinations of beams (e.g., two or more beams). Although the example describes a pair of beams, a person of ordinary skill in the art (POSA) will understand that the combination may include two or more beams. The ranking of each pair may be based on a weaker or stronger SINR measurement within the pair or a weaker or stronger RSRP measurement within the pair. For example, if a weaker or stronger SINR is used and some pairs have the same weaker SINR value, the stronger or weaker RSRP measurement corresponding to each pair may be used to break the tie.

[0032] In some embodiments, the sum of the SINR measurements or the sum of the RSRP measurements can be used as a basis for sorting multiple pairs. The pair of beams whose sum of SINR measurements has the highest SINR sum compared to the beams of other pairs can be considered the first pair (e.g., the most desired combination), or the pair of beams whose sum of RSRP measurements has the highest RSRP measurement sum compared to the beams of other pairs can be considered the first pair (e.g., the most desired combination). In the case where two pairs of beams have the same SINR sum, the pair with the higher RSRP measurement can break the deadlock, or the pair with the higher RSRP sum can break the deadlock. In some embodiments, the sorting of multiple pairs can be based on the sum of the effective spectral efficiency: log(1+SINR1)+log2(1+SINR2). In the case of a deadlock, the pair with the stronger SINR or stronger RSRP can be used to break the deadlock. POSA will understand that other combinations are possible.

[0033] At 310, system 200 may transmit to a 5G Node B (gNB) an ordering of two or more beams from which a user equipment (UE) may simultaneously receive DL transmissions and / or simultaneously transmit UL transmissions.

[0034] At 315, the system 200 may receive a TCI code point corresponding to a combination of two or more beams through which the UE may receive simultaneous DL transmissions and / or transmit simultaneous UL transmissions. For example, a TCI code point may be used in a TCI code point table to indicate two or more beams used for a spatial relationship configuration (e.g., for a PDSCH). Table 1 below shows an example of a TCI code point table with 4 code points. Each code point (row) identifies two or more beams. In this example, there are two beams per code point. The beam may be identified by a channel state information (CSI) resource indicator (CRI) or a synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI). In one example, a code point may be identified by 3 bits.

[0035] Table 1: TCI code point table

[0036] TCI code points Beam 1 identification Beam 2 identification Codepoint #1 CRI or SSBRI#1_1 CRI or SSBRI#1_2 Codepoint #2 CRI or SSBRI#2_1 CRI or SSBRI#2_2 Codepoint #3 CRI or SSBRI#3_1 CRI or SSBRI#3_2 Codepoint #4 CRI or SSBRI#4_1 CRI or SSBRI#4_2

[0037] At 320, system 200 may receive simultaneous DL transmissions from gNB 120 for two or more beams corresponding to a TCI codepoint. For example, UE 110 may receive simultaneous DL transmissions from two beams associated with codepoint #1.

[0038] At 325, system 200 may transmit a group beam report that includes a TCI code point and an SINR measurement for each beam associated with the TCI code point. An example of a group beam report for simultaneous downlink receive beams is shown in Table 2. In this example, UE 110 simultaneously receives DL transmissions from beams identified by code point #1, code point #2, code point #3, and code point #4. For example, for code point #1, two SINR measurements are identified: SINR #1_1 and differential SINR #1_2. (Differential encoding is described at 330 below). Each code point has an SINR measurement corresponding to each beam. In this example, there are two beams, but more than two beams are possible.

[0039] Table 2: TCI codepoint table with SINR measurement

[0040]

[0041]

[0042] In some embodiments, RSRP measurements may be transmitted in a group beam report for downlink simultaneous receive beams, as shown in Table 3.

[0043] Table 3: TCI codepoint table with RSRP measurement

[0044] TCI code points Beam 1 identification Beam 2 identification Codepoint #1 CRI or SSBRI#1_1 CRI or SSBRI#1_2 Codepoint #2 CRI or SSBRI#2_1 CRI or SSBRI#2_2 Codepoint #3 CRI or SSBRI#3_1 CRI or SSBRI#3_2 Codepoint #4 CRI or SSBRI#4_1 CRI or SSBRI#4_2 RSRP#1_1 Differential RSRP#1_2 (Differential)RSRP#2_1 Differential RSRP#2_2 (Differential)RSRP#3_1 Differential RSRP#3_2 (Differential)RSRP#4_1 Differential RSRP#4_2

[0045] In some embodiments, the measurements may include SINR and RSRP measurements, or a combination thereof.

[0046] At 330, the system 200 may use differential encoding to include the measurement in the group beam report with the reference measurement. Differential encoding allows fewer bits to be used to transmit the group-based report. As shown in Table 2, differential encoding may be used for group-based reporting with layer 1 (L1)-SINR. The reference measurement L1-SINR (e.g., SINR#1_1) is quantized with 7 bits in a 0.5 dB step size between the range of [-23 to 40] dB. The remaining 7 L1-SINR measurements are differential with the reference measurement and quantized with fewer than 7 bits (e.g., 4 bits and 1 dB step size). If any of the remaining 7 L1-SINR measurements differ from the reference measurement by more than 14 dB, the reserved bits may be used.

[0047] In some embodiments, the reference measurement may be interpreted or considered to be the strongest measurement (e.g., SINR#1_1 of Table 2; RSRP#1_1 of Table 3) and / or the reference measurement may be determined by its position (e.g., placement) within the table. The measurements may decrease from left to right and from top to bottom in Tables 2 and 3. For each code point row, the first SINR or RSRP value may be greater than the subsequent beam to the right. In some embodiments, the reference measurement is the maximum SINR or RSRP in the group beam report. In some embodiments, the reference measurement is the larger SINR or RSRP measurement in each code point row. The reference measurement may vary based on the sorting method implemented by UE 110 (e.g., at 305).

[0048] At 335, the system 200 determines whether to implement the same group beam reporting for reporting simultaneous reception of DL transmissions via multiple beams and for simultaneous transmission of UL transmissions via multiple beams, where the multiple beams may be the same or different. If the same group beam reporting is used, the method 300 proceeds to 345. Otherwise, the method 300 proceeds to 340.

[0049] At 340, system 200 may transmit a separate group beam report including a power headroom (PHR) value. An example of a second group beam report UL report is shown in Table 4. The value in the power headroom column indicates that UE 110 may also simultaneously transmit UL transmissions, for example, on beams corresponding to codepoint #1, codepoint #2, and codepoint #4. In this example, UE 110 does not simultaneously transmit UL transmissions on the beam corresponding to codepoint #3.

[0050] Table 4: Separate group beam reporting uplink

[0051] TCI code points Beam 1 identification Beam 2 identification Power Headroom Codepoint #1 CRI or SSBRI#1_1 CRI or SSBRI#1_2 PHR#1 Codepoint #2 CRI or SSBRI#2_1 CRI or SSBRI#2_2 PHR#2 Codepoint #3 CRI or SSBRI#3_1 CRI or SSBRI#3_2 -- Codepoint #4 CRI or SSBRI#4_1 CRI or SSBRI#4_2 PHR#4

[0052] For example, UE 110 may estimate the path loss or propagation loss for the simultaneously received DL beam corresponding to codepoint #2, compare it to the allowed value set by gNB 120, and indicate the difference in the PHR column. In some embodiments, a PHR value may be reported for each beam, as shown in Table 5 below.

[0053] Table 5: Another separate group beam reporting uplink

[0054] TCI code points Beam 1 identification Beam 2 identification Codepoint #1 CRI or SSBRI#1_1 CRI or SSBRI#1_2 Codepoint #2 CRI or SSBRI#2_1 CRI or SSBRI#2_2 Codepoint #3 CRI or SSBRI#3_1 CRI or SSBRI#3_2 Codepoint #4 CRI or SSBRI#4_1 CRI or SSBRI#4_2 PHR#1_1 Differential PHR#1_2 (Difference)PHR#2_1 Differential PHR#2_2 (Difference)PHR#3_1 Differential PHR#3_2 (Difference)PHR#4_1 Differential PHR#4_2

[0055] At 345, when UE 110 supports simultaneous UL transmissions, system 200 may transmit an indication based on the TCI code point in the same group beam report received simultaneously for DL ​​transmissions. As shown in Table 6, the group beam report looks like Table 2 or Table 3, but with the addition of a column indicating whether UE 110 may or may not simultaneously transmit UL transmissions on the beam associated with the TCI code point.

[0056] Table 6: Shared group beam report

[0057] TCI code points Beam 1 identification Beam 2 identification Support simultaneous transmission Codepoint #1 CRI or SSBRI#1_1 CRI or SSBRI#1_2 Y / N Codepoint #2 CRI or SSBRI#2_1 CRI or SSBRI#2_2 Y / N Codepoint #3 CRI or SSBRI#3_1 CRI or SSBRI#3_2 Y / N Codepoint #4 CRI or SSBRI#4_1 CRI or SSBRI#4_2 Y / N SINR / RSRP#1_1 Differential SINR / RSRP#1_2 (Difference) SINR / RSRP#2_1 Differential SINR / RSRP#2_2 (Difference) SINR / RSRP#3_1 Differential SINR / RSRP#3_2 (Difference) SINR / RSRP#4_1 Differential SINR / RSRP#4_2

[0058] At 350, system 200 may transmit a second indication to gNB 120 identifying two or more sounding reference signals (SRS) that UE 110 may use for simultaneous UL transmissions. For example, UE 110 may transmit a report indicating a pair of SRS resource indicators (SRIs) used for simultaneous UL transmissions. The report may be transmitted via physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signaling, physical random access channel (PRACH) signaling, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling. In one example, in response to the report, gNB 120 may create SRI codepoints corresponding to the two or more SRIs, as shown in Table 7 below.

[0059] Table 7: SRI code point table

[0060] SRI code points SRI_1 identification SRI_2 identification SRI codepoint #1 SRI#1_1 SRI#1_2 SRI Codepoint #2 SRI#2_1 SRI#2_2 … … … SRI code point #N SRI#N_1 SRI#N_2

[0061] Figure 7 An exemplary MAC-CE indication 700 of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) code point according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For convenience and not limitation, elements of the previous figures may be used to describe Figure 7 For example, the MAC-CE indication 700 may be Figure 1 The gNB 120 generates a MAC-CE indication 700 to the UE 110. The MAC-CE indication 700 is based on SRI codepoints corresponding to a pair of SRIs, but it is possible for each SRI codepoint to correspond to more than two SRIs. The MAC-CE indication 700 includes a serving cell ID 715, a bandwidth part (BWP) ID 720, an SRI codepoint number M 730, and an SRI codepoint number with two SRIs (a non-zero C_i number) 740, where C represents the codepoint. As an example, SRI codepoint #0 (C_0) includes SRI (0, 1) 750 and SRI (0, 2) 760, and so on. SRI codepoint #m (C_M) includes SRI (M-1, 1) 770 and SRI (M-1, 2) 780.

[0062] In some embodiments, the SRI code point may be used to configure the spatial relationship with multiple SRSs as reference signals. For example, the SRI code point may be used for PUSCH scheduling in downlink control information (DCI) 0_1.

[0063] At 355, system 200 may receive an SRS resource indicator (SRI) codepoint identifying two or more SRIs that the UE may use to simultaneously transmit UL transmissions. For example, gNB 120 may generate an SRI codepoint table (e.g., Table 7) and transmit the information to UE 110 via MAC-CE indication 700.

[0064] At 360, system 200 may transmit simultaneous UL transmissions via beams corresponding to TCI code points including at least a first beam and a second beam, wherein the first beam corresponds to a first set of SRS resources and the second beam corresponds to a second set of SRS resources. UE 110 may support simultaneous UL transmissions with any beam from each SRS group. SRS groups may be configured at the SRS resource level, the SRS resource set level, and / or the SRS group level, where an SRS group explicitly configures a list of SRS resources or resource sets.

[0065] Figure 8 Example 800 of TCI codepoint and SRS group configuration according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Example 800 includes a TCI codepoint table (e.g., Table 1) comprising a TCI codepoint column 810, a beam 1 identification column 820, and a beam 2 identification column 830. Example 800 also includes two SRS groups, SRS Group 0, labeled 850, and SRS Group 1, labeled 860. TCI codepoint #1 corresponds to a first beam identified as CRI or SSBRI #1_1 and a second beam identified as CRI or SSBRI #1_2. The spatial relationship is configured by gNB 120 such that UE 110 can transmit simultaneous UL transmissions on the first beam corresponding to TCI codepoint #1 and the second beam. SRS Group 0 resources are transmitted via the first beam using SRS0, and SRS Group 1 resources, including SRS4, SRS5, SRS6, and SRS7, are transmitted via the second beam.

[0066] At 365, system 200 may transmit an indication that the UE is not transmitting simultaneous UL transmissions and / or is not receiving simultaneous DL transmissions. In other words, UE 110 may indicate to gNB 120 that UE 110 temporarily ceases supporting simultaneous reception on the DL and / or simultaneous transmission on the UL. In some embodiments, UE 110 may simultaneously receive and transmit with different analog beams via multiple panels. In some embodiments, UE 110 may place one or more panels in a dormant state for power conservation (e.g., to reduce battery power consumption) or for thermal mitigation (e.g., to prevent overheating). While a panel from the plurality of panels is placed in a dormant state, UE 110 may operate in a time division multiplexing (TDM) mode rather than a simultaneous reception and / or simultaneous transmission mode. If a subsequent TDM signal is received from gNB 120 for a panel that needs to be placed in a dormant state, UE 110 reactivates the panel and receives the DL TDM signal according to the beam switching delay.

[0067] Figure 5 An example MAC-CE indication 500 is shown, indicating whether a UE can simultaneously receive DL transmissions via a particular beam combination, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example, UE 110 may transmit MAC-CE indication 500 to gNB 120 to temporarily suspend simultaneous reception of DL transmissions corresponding to a particular TCI code point. MAC-CE indication 500 includes serving cell ID 515, BWP part ID 520, and TCI code points 530a-530h, which represent a bit mask for eight TCI code points. When UE 110 places the panel corresponding to TCI code point 3, designated as TCI code point 530d, into a dormant state, UE 110 may transmit MAC-CE indication 500 in which TCI code point 530d has a value of 0. Therefore, the beam corresponding to TCI code point 530d is not used for simultaneous reception. When UE 110 wants to resume simultaneous reception of DL transmissions using the beam associated with TCI code point 530d, UE 110 transmits a MAC-CE indication 500 in which TCI code point 530d has a value of 1. Note that gNB 120 can transmit MAC-CE indication 500 to UE 110 to deactivate and reactivate various TCI code points.

[0068] Figure 6An example MAC-CE indication 600 is shown, indicating whether a UE may transmit UL transmissions simultaneously via a particular beam combination, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example, UE 110 may transmit MAC-CE indication 600 to temporarily suspend simultaneous UL transmissions corresponding to a particular SRI codepoint. MAC-CE indication 600 includes serving cell ID 615, BWP 620, and SRI codepoints 640a-640h, which represent a bitmask for eight SRI codepoints. To temporarily suspend simultaneous UL transmissions associated with SRI codepoint 5, designated as SRI codepoint 640f, UE 110 transmits MAC-CE indication 600 to gNB 120, in which SRI codepoint 640f has a value of 0. To resume simultaneous UL transmissions, UE 110 transmits MAC-CE indication 600 to gNB 120, in which SRI codepoint 640f has a value of 1. GNB 120 may transmit a MAC-CE indication 600 to UE 110 to deactivate or reactivate various SRI code points.

[0069] At 370, system 200 may place one or more panels corresponding to the beam associated with the TCI code point into a dormant state. When UE 110 is first powered on, UE 110 reports capabilities to gNB 120 and registers with the network (e.g., gNB 120). Figure 9 900 illustrates an example of beam switching timing delay according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Reporting UE 110 capabilities to gNB 120 may include, for example, beamSwitchTiming 910 and / or timeDurationForQCL 920, as Figure 9 As shown. UE 110 may operate in TDM mode. When UE 110 receives a TDM signal from gNB 120 involving a dormant panel, UE 110 may reactivate the panel according to the beam switching timing delay or quasi-co-location (QCL) duration, as shown. Figure 9 The beam switching timing delay may be a maximum value of beamSwitchTiming 910 and / or timeDurationForQCL 920. UE 110 may reactivate the panel and receive the TDM signal via the reactivated panel.

[0070] Figure 4 A method 400 for group-based reporting beam management for an exemplary 5G Node B (gNB) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For convenience and not limitation, the elements of the previous figures may be used to describe Figure 4 For example, method 400 may be performed by Figure 1 gNB 120 or Figure 2 Executed by system 200.

[0071] At 405, system 200 may receive a ranking of two or more beams over which a user equipment (UE) may simultaneously receive DL transmissions and / or simultaneously transmit UL transmissions. For example, gNB 120 may receive, from UE 110, a ranking of combinations of beams over which UE 110 may simultaneously receive DL transmissions and / or simultaneously transmit UL transmissions.

[0072] At 410, system 200 may transmit TCI codepoints corresponding to two or more beams from which a UE may simultaneously receive DL transmissions and / or simultaneously transmit UL transmissions. For example, gNB 120 may transmit a TCI codepoint table (e.g., Table 1) to UE 110.

[0073] At 415, system 200 may transmit the two or more beams identified by the TCI codepoints. For example, gNB 120 may transmit a combination of beams corresponding to TCI codepoints of a TCI codepoint table for UEs to simultaneously receive DL transmissions and / or simultaneously transmit UL transmissions.

[0074] At 420, the system 200 may receive a group beam report corresponding to simultaneous reception of the two or more beams identified by the TCI codepoint by the UE, the group beam report including an SINR measurement for each of the two or more beams (e.g., Table 2). In some embodiments, the group report includes an RSRP measurement and / or a combination of SINR and RSRP measurements.

[0075] At 425, system 200 may process a group beam report that includes a reference measurement and other measurements, wherein the reference measurement is quantized with more bits than the other measurements, wherein the reference measurement is the largest measurement in the group beam report, and / or the reference measurement is identified by a position within the group beam report (e.g., Table 2 and / or Table 3).

[0076] At 430, the group beam report may include an indication of the TCI code point and, therefore, the corresponding beam through which the UE may simultaneously transmit uplink (UL) transmissions (e.g., Table 6).

[0077] At 435, system 200 may transmit an SRI codepoint identifying two or more SRIs through which the UE may simultaneously transmit UL transmissions. For example, gNB 120 may generate and transmit Table 7 to UE 110.

[0078] At 440, system 200 may receive simultaneous UL transmissions via beams corresponding to TCI code points including at least a first beam and a second beam, wherein the first beam corresponds to a first set of SRS resources and the second beam corresponds to a second set of SRS resources. For example, gNB 120 may generate Figure 7and transmits to UE 110 , wherein the simultaneous UL transmission received from UE 110 corresponds to MAC-CE indication 700 .

[0079] At 445, system 200 may receive an indication that the UE is not simultaneously receiving DL transmissions on a beam corresponding to a TCI code point and / or that the UE is not simultaneously transmitting UL transmissions on a beam corresponding to a second TCI code point; the TCI code point and the second TCI code point may be the same or different TCI code points. For example, gNB 120 may receive Figure 5 MAC-CE indication 500 and / or Figure 6 MAC-CE indication 600. GNB 120 may also transmit MAC-CE indication 500 and / or MAC-CE indication 600 to UE 110.

[0080] At 450, the system 200 may receive the beam switching timing delay and / or the quasi co-location (QCL) duration according to the UE 110 reporting configuration. These may have been received earlier (eg, when the UE 110 was powered on).

[0081] At 455, upon receiving an indication that the UE is not receiving a concurrent DL transmission corresponding to a TCI codepoint, the system 200 may transmit a TDM signal corresponding to the beam corresponding to the TCI codepoint. The TDM signal may be transmitted based on a beam switching timing delay or a QCL duration. For example, upon receiving a MAC-CE indication 500 of inactivity for a given TCI codepoint, the gNB 120 may switch to TDM mode and wait for a concurrent DL transmission according to the reporting configuration information received from the UE 110. Figure 9 The beam switching timing is shown to be delayed, and then the TDM signal corresponding to the inactive TCI code point is transmitted to the UE 110.

[0082] You can use, for example, Figure 10 The various embodiments may be implemented using one or more well-known computer systems of the computer system 1000 shown. The computer system 1000 may be any known computer capable of performing the functions described herein. For example, and without limitation, Figure 2 System 200, Figure 3 Method 300 and Figure 4 Method 400 (and / or other devices and / or components shown in the figure) can be implemented using computer system 1000 or a portion thereof.

[0083] Computer system 1000 includes one or more processors (also referred to as central processing units or CPUs), such as processor 1004. Processor 1004 is connected to a communication infrastructure or bus 1006. One or more processors 1004 may each be a graphics processing unit (GPU). In an embodiment, a GPU is a processor that is a specialized electronic circuit designed to process mathematically intensive applications. A GPU may have an efficient parallel architecture for processing large blocks of data in parallel, such as mathematically intensive data commonly found in computer graphics applications, images, videos, and the like.

[0084] The computer system 1000 also includes user input / output devices 1003, such as a monitor, keyboard, pointing device, etc., that communicate with the communication infrastructure 1006 through the user input / output interface 1002. The computer system 1000 also includes a main memory or primary storage 1008, such as random access memory (RAM). The main memory 1008 may include one or more levels of cache. The main memory 1008 has control logic components (e.g., computer software) and / or data stored therein.

[0085] The computer system 1000 may also include one or more secondary storage devices or memories 1010. The secondary storage 1010 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 1012 and / or a removable storage device or drive 1014. The removable storage drive 1014 may be a floppy disk drive, a tape drive, an optical disk drive, an optical storage device, a tape backup device, and / or any other storage device / drive.

[0086] The removable storage drive 1014 can interact with a removable storage unit 1018. The removable storage unit 1018 comprises a computer-usable or readable storage device having computer software (control logic) and / or data stored therein. The removable storage unit 1018 can be a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, a compact disk, a DVD, an optical storage disk, and / or any other computer data storage device. The removable storage drive 1014 reads from and / or writes to the removable storage unit 1018 in a well-known manner.

[0087] According to some embodiments, secondary storage 1010 may include other devices, means, or other methods for allowing computer system 1000 to access computer programs and / or other instructions and / or data. Such devices, means, or other methods may include, for example, a removable storage unit 1022 and an interface 1020. Examples of removable storage unit 1022 and interface 1020 may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM or PROM) and associated socket, a memory stick and USB port, a memory card and associated memory card slot, and / or any other removable storage unit and associated interface.

[0088] The computer system 1000 may also include a communication or network interface 1024. The communication interface 1024 enables the computer system 1000 to communicate and interact with any combination of remote devices, remote networks, remote entities, and the like (individually and collectively referenced by reference numeral 1028). For example, the communication interface 1024 may allow the computer system 1000 to communicate with the remote device 1028 via a communication path 1026, which may be wired and / or wireless and may include any combination of a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, and the like. Control logic components and / or data may be transferred to and from the computer system 1000 via the communication path 1026.

[0089] The operations in the foregoing embodiments can be implemented in a variety of configurations and architectures. Thus, some or all of the operations in the foregoing embodiments can be performed in hardware, software, or in both hardware and software. In some embodiments, a tangible, non-transient device or article includes a tangible, non-transient computer-usable or readable medium on which a control logic component (software) is stored, also referred to herein as a computer program product or program storage device. This includes, but is not limited to, computer system 1000, main memory 1008, auxiliary memory 1010, and removable storage units 1018 and 1022, as well as tangible articles embodying any combination of the foregoing. When executed by one or more data processing devices (such as computer system 1000), such control logic components cause such data processing devices to operate as described herein.

[0090] Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art how to use Figure 10 The embodiments of the present disclosure may be made and used with data processing devices, computer systems, and / or computer architectures other than those shown. In particular, the embodiments may operate with software, hardware, and / or operating system implementations other than those described herein.

[0091] It should be understood that the Detailed Description section, and not the Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or more, but not all, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as contemplated by the inventors, and thus, are not intended to limit the present disclosure or the appended claims in any way.

[0092] Although the present disclosure has been described herein with reference to exemplary embodiments of exemplary fields and applications, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Other embodiments and modifications are possible and are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. For example, and without limiting the generality of this paragraph, the embodiments are not limited to the software, hardware, firmware, and / or entities shown in the figures and / or described herein. In addition, the embodiments (whether or not explicitly described herein) have significant utility for fields and applications beyond the examples described herein.

[0093] Implementations have been described herein with the aid of functional building blocks that illustrate the implementation of specific functions and their relationships. For ease of description, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein. Alternative boundaries may be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships (or their equivalents) are appropriately performed. Furthermore, alternative embodiments may perform functional blocks, steps, operations, methods, etc., in an order different from that described herein.

[0094] References herein to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," or similar phrases indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when particular features, structures, or characteristics are described in connection with an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the relevant art to incorporate those features, structures, or characteristics into other embodiments, whether or not explicitly mentioned or described herein.

[0095] The breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

[0096] Thus, while the present disclosure broadly encompasses the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that various embodiments may be implemented without requiring access to such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology will not be unable to function properly due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless communications; a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to: transmitting, via the transceiver, to a 5G base station, a ranking of a plurality of beams from which the UE is capable of simultaneously receiving downlink (DL) transmissions, wherein the ranking comprises a comparison of a first measurement of a first combination of two or more beams of the plurality of beams and a second measurement of a second combination of two or more beams of the plurality of beams; receiving, via the transceiver, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) code point based at least on the ranking, the TCI code point corresponding to two or more beams of the plurality of beams from which the UE is capable of simultaneously receiving DL transmissions, wherein the beams of the two or more beams are identified by a channel state information (CSI) resource indicator (CRI), a synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI); simultaneously receiving, via the transceiver, the two or more beams identified by the TCI codepoints; as well as A group beam report corresponding to the simultaneous reception is transmitted via the transceiver, the group beam report including the TCI code point and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement for each of the two or more beams.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: An SINR measurement or a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement is determined for each of the plurality of beams, wherein the first measurement is based on the determined SINR measurement or the determined RSRP measurement of the two or more beams of the first combination.

3. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: quantizing a first SINR measurement of the two or more beams as a reference measurement using X bits, where X is an integer; The residual SINR measurements of the two or more beams are quantized using Y bits, where Y is an integer less than X.

4. The UE of claim 3, wherein the reference measurement is larger than other measurements in the group beam report, and wherein the reference measurement is identified by a location within the group beam report.

5. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: determining that the UE supports simultaneous uplink (UL) transmission; and The group beam report is transmitted, the group beam report including an indication of whether the UE supports simultaneous UL transmission on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point.

6. The UE of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, to the 5G base station a second indication of two or more SRSs, the UE being capable of simultaneously transmitting UL transmissions via the two or more SRSs, wherein the second indication comprises: Physical Uplink Control Channel PUCCH signaling, Physical Random Access Channel PRACH signaling, Radio Resource Control RRC signaling or Medium Access Control MAC Control Element CE signaling.

7. The UE of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to: based at least on the second indication, receive, via the transceiver, an SRI code point, the SRI code point identifying a spatial relationship to two or more SRIs with which the UE can simultaneously transmit UL transmissions.

8. The UE according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to: transmit a simultaneous UL transmission via the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point to the 5G base station via the transceiver, wherein a first beam of the two or more beams corresponds to a first set of SRS resources, and a second beam of the two or more beams corresponds to a second set of SRS resources.

9. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to: transmit a second indication to the 5G base station via the transceiver that the UE does not transmit simultaneous UL transmission on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point.

10. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the UE is configured to simultaneously transmit UL transmissions on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point, and the processor is further configured to: transmit a second group beam report including a power headroom PHR value to the 5G base station via the transceiver.

11. The UE according to claim 1 , further comprising: an antenna coupled to the transceiver, the antenna comprising two or more panels, wherein the processor is configured to: transmitting, via the transceiver to the 5G base station, an indication that the UE does not receive simultaneous DL transmissions on the two or more beams corresponding to the TCI code point; as well as A panel of the two or more panels corresponding to a beam of the two or more beams is placed in a dormant state.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the indication comprises: Physical Uplink Control Channel PUCCH signaling, Physical Random Access Channel PRACH signaling, Radio Resource Control RRC signaling or Medium Access Control MAC Control Element CE signaling.

13. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: the ability to include beam switching timing delays in transmissions via said transceiver; after placing the panel of the two or more panels in the dormant state, reactivating the panel according to a maximum beam switching timing delay among the beam switching timing delays; and A time domain multiplexed (TDM) signal corresponding to the panel is received via the transceiver and the panel.

14. A 5G base station, comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless communications; a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to: receiving, via the transceiver, from a user equipment (UE), a ranking of a plurality of beams from which the UE is capable of simultaneously receiving downlink (DL) transmissions, wherein the ranking comprises a comparison of a first measurement of a first combination of two or more beams of the plurality of beams and a second measurement of a second combination of two or more beams of the plurality of beams; transmitting, via the transceiver, a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) code point based at least on the ranking, the first TCI code point corresponding to a first group of two or more beams in the plurality of beams, the UE being capable of simultaneously receiving DL transmissions from the first group of two or more beams, wherein beams in the first group of two or more beams are identified by a channel state information (CSI) resource indicator (CRI), a synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI); transmitting, via the transceiver, the first set of two or more beams identified by the first TCI codepoint; as well as A group beam report is received via the transceiver, the group beam report corresponding to simultaneous reception of the first group of two or more beams by the UE, the group beam report including the first TCI code point and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement for each beam in the first group of two or more beams.

15. The 5G base station according to claim 14, wherein the first measurement is based on at least an SINR measurement or a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement of the two or more beams of the plurality of beams corresponding to the first combination.

16. The 5G base station according to claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: process the group beam report, the group beam report comprising: a reference measurement comprising a quantized first SINR measurement of the SINR measurement of the first set of two or more beams using X bits, where X is an integer, and a residual SINR measurement of the first set of two or more beams quantized using Y bits, where Y is an integer less than X, Wherein the reference measurement is greater than other measurements in the group beam report, or wherein the reference measurement is identified by a location within the group beam report.

17. A 5G base station according to claim 14, wherein the group beam report indicates that the UE is capable of simultaneously transmitting uplink (UL) transmissions via a second group of two or more beams corresponding to a second TCI code point, and wherein the second TCI code point is different from the first TCI code point.

18. The 5G base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive, from the UE via the transceiver, an indication that the UE does not receive simultaneous DL transmissions on the first set of two or more beams corresponding to the first TCI code point, wherein the indication comprises: Physical Uplink Control Channel PUCCH signaling, Physical Random Access Channel PRACH signaling, Radio Resource Control RRC signaling or Medium Access Control MAC Control Element CE signaling.

19. The 5G base station according to claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to: receiving, via the transceiver, a capability including beam switching timing delays; and After receiving the indication, a time domain multiplexed TDM signal corresponding to a beam in the first set of two or more beams is transmitted via the transceiver according to a maximum beam switching timing delay among the beam switching timing delays.

20. A method for user equipment (UE), comprising: transmitting, via a transceiver, to a 5G base station, a ranking of a plurality of beams from which the UE is capable of simultaneously receiving downlink (DL) transmissions, wherein the ranking comprises a comparison of a first measurement of a first combination of two or more beams of the plurality of beams and a second measurement of a second combination of two or more beams of the plurality of beams; receiving, via the transceiver, a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) code point corresponding to a first group of two or more beams of the plurality of beams and a second TCI code point corresponding to a second group of two or more beams of the plurality of beams based at least on the ranking, the UE being capable of simultaneously receiving DL transmissions from the first group of two or more beams and the UE being capable of simultaneously transmitting UL transmissions from the second group of two or more beams; concurrently receiving DL transmissions from the first set of two or more beams identified by the first TCI codepoint; concurrently transmitting an UL transmission via the second set of two or more beams identified by a second TCI codepoint, wherein the second TCI codepoint is different from the first TCI codepoint; as well as Transmitting a group beam report corresponding to the simultaneous reception, the group beam report including the first TCI code point and a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurement for each beam in the first set of two or more beams.

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