Medium and user equipment for channel state information feedback in wireless communications

Abstract

Embodiments include computer-readable storage media, user equipment, methods, and integrated circuits that perform operations. These operations include: receiving a downlink channel information (DCI) format 2_0 from a g‑NodeB (gNB) connected to a 5G NR network, wherein the DCI format 2_0 includes a channel occupancy time (COT) duration and a gap threshold; determining whether a non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP‑CSI‑RS) resource is valid, wherein if the NZP‑CSI‑RS resource is within the COT duration and if a gap between a last symbol of the DCI format 2_0 and a first symbol of the NZP‑CSI‑RS resource is greater than the gap threshold, then the NZP‑CSI‑RS resource is valid.

Description

Background Art

[0001] A user equipment (UE) may establish a connection with at least one of a plurality of different networks or network types. When establishing a network connection, such as a connection to a 5G New Radio (NR) network, the UE may connect to the network via an unlicensed spectrum band.

[0002] For NR unlicensed operation (NR-U), access to channels in the unlicensed band is subject to regulatory requirements. Specifically, Listen Before Talk (LBT) is a mandatory process to meet these regulations. The LBT process is a mechanism by which a device applies a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) check before using a channel. Summary of the invention

[0003] Some exemplary embodiments include a computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions. The set of instructions, when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), causes the processor to perform operations, the UE being connected to a 5G new radio (NR) network on a frequency band in an unlicensed spectrum. These operations include: receiving a downlink channel information (DCI) format 2_0 from a g-NodeB (gNB) connected to the 5G NR network, wherein the DCI format 2_0 includes a channel occupancy time (COT) duration and a gap threshold; determining whether a non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP-CSI-RS) resource is valid, wherein if the NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT duration, and if the gap between the last symbol of the DCI format 2_0 and the first symbol of the NZP-CSI-RS resource is greater than the gap threshold, the NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid.

[0004] Other exemplary embodiments include a user equipment (UE) connected to a 5G new radio (NR) network on a frequency band in an unlicensed spectrum. The UE includes a processor configured to: receive a downlink channel information (DCI) format 2_0 from a g-nodeB (gNB) connected to the 5G NR network, wherein the DCI format 2_0 includes a channel occupancy time (COT) duration and a gap threshold; determine whether a non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP-CSI-RS) resource is valid, wherein if the NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT duration and if the gap between the last symbol of the DCI format 2_0 and the first symbol of the NZP-CSI-RS resource is greater than the gap threshold, then the NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0006] Figure 2 An exemplary UE according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0007] Figure 3 Methods of providing CSI feedback to a gNB according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0008] Figure 4 A diagram illustrating periodic or semi-persistent NZP-CSI-RS validation according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0009] Figure 5A Methods of determining availability of wideband CSI-RS or CSI-IM according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0010] Figure 5B A method of processing CSI reports at a gNB according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 A diagram showing DCI format 0_1 ​​according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0012] Figure 7 A diagram illustrating A-CSI report retransmission according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0013] Figure 8 A diagram showing DCI format 0_1 ​​according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0014] Fig. 9 A diagram illustrating A-CSI report retransmission according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0015] Fig.10 A diagram illustrating A-CSI report retransmission according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0016] Fig.11 CG-PUSCH transmissions according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0017] Fig.12 CG-PUSCH transmissions according to various exemplary embodiments are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the associated drawings, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE)

[0019] UCI information is transmitted to a next generation Node B (gNB) of a 5G New Radio (NR) network on an unlicensed (NR-U) spectrum band. Example embodiments advantageously allow efficient aperiodic channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission and CSI feedback from a UE to a gNB of a 5G New Radio (NR) network on an unlicensed spectrum band (NR-U).

[0020] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to UE. However, the use of UE is for illustration purposes only. The exemplary embodiments can be utilized with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

[0021] The exemplary embodiments are also described with reference to a network including a 5G New Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT). However, in some embodiments, the network may include a Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT, even though the following description will focus primarily on the 5G NR RAT. Although the UE may communicate with the network over both licensed and unlicensed bands of the spectrum, the following description will focus primarily on NR-U communications between the UE and the network.

[0022] The first problem with conventional aperiodic CSI feedback from the UE to the gNB is the delay caused by the failure of the Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure. If the CSI-RS transmission and the measured CSI feedback depend on the result of the LBT procedure, there is a possibility that the UE will not be able to transmit the CSI report based on the LBT results, even if the UE successfully receives the CSI-RS from the gNB and makes CSI measurements. As a result, the gNB will need to trigger additional aperiodic CSI-RS transmissions and obtain CSI reports from the UE via additional Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources. This results in inefficient downlink (DL) resource utilization in the unlicensed band and unnecessarily increases channel contention within the band.

[0023] According to some exemplary embodiments, the UE may perform CSI-RS and CSI-interference measurement (CSI-IM) resource validation before determining CSI measurements and transmitting CSI reports to the gNB. Specifically, when the UE determines that non-zero power CSI-RS (NZP-CSI-RS) or CSI-IM resources are valid, the UE will perform CSI measurements. The validity may be based on one or more predetermined factors. In other exemplary embodiments, the UE may determine whether wideband (WB) CSI-RS or CSI-IM across multiple LBT bandwidths is available.

[0024] Another problem with conventional aperiodic CSI feedback from the UE to the gNB is that even if the gNB successfully transmits a downlink channel information (DCI) format that triggers the aperiodic CSI-RS to the UE, LBT failure may prevent the gNB from transmitting the associated CSI-RS to the UE. As a result, power used to calculate CSI information (e.g., perform CSI measurements) at the UE is wasted.

[0025] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may perform aperiodic CSI report retransmission after LBT failure when the gNB triggers retransmission, or the UE may autonomously perform aperiodic CSI report retransmission in case of a configured Granted PUSCH (CG-PUSCH).

[0026] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the UE 110 may be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be appreciated that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for purposes of illustration, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0027] UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which UE 110 may wirelessly communicate are 5G New Radio (NR) radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. However, it should be understood that UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks, and UE 110 may also communicate with the network through a wired connection. Therefore, UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset that communicates with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset that communicates with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset that communicates with WLAN 124.

[0028] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be part of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0029] The UE 110 may be connected to the 5G NR-RAN 120 via a gNB 120A. The gNB 120A may be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna array), software and / or firmware to perform massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) functionality. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. During operation, the UE 110 may be within range of multiple gNBs. Therefore, simultaneously or alternatively, the UE 110 may also be connected to the 5G NR-RAN 120 via a gNB 120B. Reference to two gNBs 120A, 120B is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may apply to any appropriate number of gNBs. In addition, the UE 110 may communicate with the eNB 122A of the LTE-RAN 122 to transmit and receive control information for downlink and / or uplink synchronization of the connection with respect to the 5G NR-RAN 120.

[0030] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any relevant process may be performed for the UE 110 to connect to the 5G NR-RAN 120. For example, as described above, the 5G NR-RAN 120 may be associated with a particular cellular provider, where the UE 110 and / or its user has protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 120, the UE 110 may transmit corresponding credential information in order to associate with the 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, the UE 110 may be associated with a particular base station (e.g., gNB 120A of the 5G NR-RAN 120).

[0031] In addition to the networks 120, 122, and 124, the network arrangement 100 includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be viewed as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 can be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 can communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network service backbone 160 can be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0032] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery to provide a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, one or more antenna panels, etc.

[0033] The processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a CSI feedback management engine 235. The CSI feedback management engine 235 may perform various operations related to performing CSI measurements on an unlicensed spectrum band and providing CSI feedback to one of the gNBs 120A, 120B.

[0034] The above-described engine as an application (e.g., program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engine may also be represented as an independent combined component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, for example, an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving a signal and a processing circuit for processing the signal and other information. The engine may also be embodied as an application or multiple separate applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0035] The memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables user input. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN 122, WLAN 124, etc. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on multiple different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous set of frequencies).

[0036] Figure 3 A method 300 of providing CSI feedback to a gNB (e.g., 120A in the following description) according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Prior to the UE performing the method 300, the gNB 122A performs a downlink (DL) LBT. Assuming the LBT is successful, at 305, the UE 110 receives a DCI format 2_0 from the gNB 120A. The UE 110 may monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to receive the DCI format 2_0. In some embodiments, the DCI format 2_0 may include a channel occupancy time (COT) duration indicator and / or a slot format indicator information element (IE). In some embodiments, the information carried by the DCI format 2_0 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) and be scrambled by a slot format indicator radio network (SFI-RNTI).

[0037] At 310, UE 110 determines whether the upcoming NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT defined in DCI format 2_0. If the NZP-CSI-RS is not within the COT, then at 315, the UE considers the NZP-CSI-RS invalid, and the UE returns to 310 to determine whether the next NZP-CSI-RS is within the COT. If at 310, UE 110 determines that the NZP-CSI-RS is within the COT, then UE 110 next determines at 320 whether the gap between the end of the PDCCH of DCI format 2_0 transmitting the COT duration indication and the start symbol of the NZP-CSI-RS is less than a predetermined value P3. In some exemplary embodiments, the predetermined value P3 of the gap may be defined in a specification (e.g., a 3GPP standard) based on the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PDCCH with DCI format 2_0.

[0038] If the gap is less than P3, UE 110 considers the NZP-CSI-RS invalid at 325. If the gap is greater than P3, UE 110 performs CSI measurement at 330 and transmits the CSI feedback report to gNB 122A at 335. In some embodiments, if a scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission overlaps with the NZP-CSI-RS, UE 110 may rate match data around the NZP-CSI-RS resources configured by dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling, regardless of whether the NZP-CSI-RS is within the COT, to ensure robustness of PDSCH decoding at gNB 122A.

[0039] Figure 4 A diagram illustrating periodic or semi-persistent NZP-CSI-RS validation according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Figure 4 In the example shown, there are four NZP-CSI-RS resources 410, 420, 430, and 440 in a given observation window. The DL LBT process succeeds at gNB 122A between NZP-CSI-RS 410 and 420. However, the first PDCCH listening opportunity 450 of DCI format 2_0 is between NZP-CSI-RS 420 and 430. DCI format 2_0 indicates a COT duration 460 with T symbols starting at the end symbol of the PDCCH.

[0040] According to the above method 300, UE 110 verifies the NZP-CSI-RS resource. Figure 4 In the illustrated case, NSP-CSI-RS resources 410 and 420 are considered invalid because they are both outside the COT indicated in DCI format 2_0. Although NZP-CSI-RS resource 430 is within the COT, the gap X between the end symbol of the PDCCH and the start symbol of NZP-CSI-RS 430 is less than P3. Thus, the UE determines that NZP-CSI-RS 430 is also invalid. NZP-CSI-RS 440 is the only one of the valid resources because it is within the COT duration and the gap Y between the end symbol of the PDCCH and the first symbol of NZP-CSI-RS 440 is greater than P3.

[0041] Figure 5AA method 500 for determining the availability of a wideband (WB) CSI-RS or CSI-IM according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. A WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM may be considered to span multiple LBT bands. For example, the wideband frequency may be 80 MHz with four 20 MHz LBT subbands. At 505, the UE determines whether a WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM resource exists. If not, at 510, the UE 110 determines whether the CSI-RS or CSI-IM is available. In some embodiments, if the CSI-RS or CSI-IM is within the bandwidth of DCI format 2_0, the CSI-RS or CSI-IM is available, and the CSI-RS or CSI-IM may be processed according to the exemplary embodiments described herein or any other way of processing these signals. Otherwise, the CSI-RS or CSI-IM is not available and the method is completed.

[0042] If the UE 110 determines that WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM is available, then at 515, the UE may determine whether the UE is configured with available RB-setPerCell-r16 for DCI format 2_0. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that this parameter indicates the location of a bitmap in DCI format 2_0 that has a one-to-one mapping with a set of RB sets of the serving cell. Based on this determination, if the UE is not configured with available RB-setPerCell-r16, the UE will proceed to 520, or if the UE is configured with available RB-setPerCell-r16, the UE will proceed to 525.

[0043] At 520, the UE determines whether DCI format 2_0 is detected and: (1) whether the corresponding symbol of the PDCCH is indicated by DCI format 2_0 as a downlink or modified symbol; or (2) whether the bandwidth of the CSI-RS or CSI-IM resource is within the LBT subband. If DCI format 2_0 is detected but neither (1) nor (2) is true, then at 535, UE 110 determines that the WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM is considered unavailable for reception. If DCI format 2_0 is detected and (1) or (2) is true, then at 530, UE 110 determines that the WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM is considered available for reception.

[0044] At 525, UE 110 determines the availability of LBT subbands or symbols corresponding to the detected DCI format 2_0. If UE 110 determines that the LBT subbands or symbols are not available, UE 110 determines that the WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM is considered unavailable for reception at 535. If UE 110 determines that the LBT subbands or symbols are available, UE 110 determines that the WB CSI-RS or CSI-IM is considered available for reception at 530.

[0045] Figure 5B A method 550 is shown relating to CSI-RS or CSI-IM signaling performed by a gNB (e.g., gNB 120A). At 555, the gNB encodes a PDCCH transmission to include DCI format 2_0. DCI format 2_0 is as described above and may include various information, such as COT and slot format indication information elements (IEs). At 560, the gNB 120A performs DL LBT. In this example, the DL LBT may be considered successful. At 565, the gNB 120A transmits a PDCCH to the UE 110, which conveys the DCI format 2_0. At 570, the gNB 120A transmits a CSI-RS signal, and the UE 110 measures the CSI-RS signal according to the instructions provided in the DCI format 2_0. The UE 110 performs CSI measurements and generates a CSI report. At 575, the gNB 120A receives a CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state. At 580, gNB 120A processes the CSI report to extract the CSI measurements.

[0046] Figure 6 A diagram of a DCI format 0_1 ​​according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the UE 110 may add a new information element (IE) to the DCI format 0_1 ​​in the PUSCH scheduled by the DCI format to trigger aperiodic CSI feedback. In some embodiments, the IE may be a 1-bit "needed retransmission indicator" (NRI) field added to the DCI format 0_1 ​​to indicate whether the corresponding CSI report triggered by the same CSI request field in the same DCI format 0_1 ​​is a new report or a retransmission of the latest report associated with the CSI request field.

[0047] In some embodiments, the NRI is binary. An NRI with a value of '0' indicates that a new report is triggered and the corresponding CSI-RS may be transmitted for CSI measurement. Alternatively, an NRI with a value of '1' indicates that an aperiodic CSI (A-CSI) report corresponding to the CSI request field should be retransmitted, in which case there may be no CSI-RS resources provided for CSI measurement, since the CSI report will be a retransmission of a previously transmitted report for which measurements have been performed.

[0048] In some embodiments, the NRI is switched or not switched. When the NRI is switched, the UE 110 performs a new A-CSI measurement. Alternatively, when the NRI is not switched, the UE 110 may retransmit the A-CSI report associated with the CSI request field of the previous DCI format 0_1.

[0049] Figure 7A diagram illustrating A-CSI report retransmission according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Figure 7 The operation using the above NRI is shown. Figure 7 As shown, UE 110 receives DCI format 0_1 ​​at 710, which triggers UE 110 to perform a CSI measurement. Because this will be a new measurement, the NRI is switched (e.g., to a value of '1' assuming the previous NRI value was '0'). DCI format 0_1 ​​triggers UE 110 to utilize NZP-CSI-RS resources and transmit the PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1 ​​that includes the CSI measurement 720. However, in this example, LBT fails and, therefore, UE 110 cannot transmit the CSI report 720 associated with the CSI request status '01'. Subsequently, at 730, gNB 122A sends another DCI format 0_1, in which the NRI is not switched (to a value of '1') with the CSI request status field set to '01', triggering an A-CSI retransmission of the CSI measurement 720. As shown Figure 7 As shown, at 730, LBT is successful and UE 110 successfully retransmits CSI measurement 720 in PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1. Therefore, using the switched NRI field in DCI format 0_1 ​​in the case of retransmission, gNB 122A does not need to transmit additional NZP-CSI-RS, which saves system resource overhead, and UE 110 does not need to measure any additional NZP-CSI-RS, thereby saving battery power of UE 110.

[0050] Figure 8 A diagram showing DCI format 0_1 ​​according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Figure 8 In an embodiment of the present invention, a 2-bit CSI request #2 field 820 may be added to the existing CSI request field 810 of DCI format 0_1 ​​to allow for the simultaneous triggering of a new CSI report associated with one CSI request state and a retransmission of a different CSI report associated with a different CSI request state. For example, the 2-bit CSI request state may be set to '00' to indicate that no CSI report retransmission is triggered for a PUSCH scheduled by the corresponding DCI format 0_1. Similarly, the 2-bit request state may be set to '01' to indicate that a new CSI report is triggered and a retransmission of a different CSI report associated with a different CSI is triggered.

[0051] Fig. 9 A diagram illustrating A-CSI report retransmission according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Fig. 9 FIG. 2 shows the operation of utilizing the above 2-bit CSI request state #2. Fig. 9As shown, UE 110 receives DCI format 0_1 ​​at 910, which triggers UE 110 to perform a new CSI measurement. Because this will be a new measurement assuming no previous failed report transmission, the value of the 2-bit CSI request #2 field is set to '00' and the 2-bit CSI request value is set to '01'. This DCI format 0_1 ​​triggers UE 110 to utilize NZP-CSI-RS resources and transmit a PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1 ​​and including a CSI measurement 920. However, because LBT failed in this example, UE 110 cannot transmit a CSI report 920.

[0052] Subsequently, gNB 122A sends another DCI format 0_1 ​​at 930, where the value of the 2-bit CSI request #2 is set to '01' and the 2-bit CSI request value is set to '10', triggering an A-CSI retransmission of the CSI measurement 920 corresponding to the CSI request #2 of DCI format 0_1 ​​at 910, and triggering a new CSI measurement 940 corresponding to the CSI request of DCI format 0_1 ​​at 930. Fig. 9 As shown, LBT is successful and UE 110 successfully retransmits CSI measurement 920 and CSI measurement 940 in the PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1 ​​at 930. In some embodiments, after LBT is successful, CSI measurement results 920 and 940 are concatenated and piggybacked on the PUSCH resources.

[0053] Fig.10 A diagram illustrating A-CSI report retransmission according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, UE 110 may be configured with a CSI validity timer 1010 via UE-specific dedicated RRC signaling corresponding to each CSI request state. Because CSI measurements may become outdated after a certain period of time, timer 1010 may be configured to cause the UE to discard a given CSI measurement after a predetermined period of time has expired. This is particularly applicable when LBT failure occurs.

[0054] In some embodiments, the duration of timer 1010 is configured by gNB 122A. For example, different frequency ranges may have different windows in which CSI measurements are valid. In the case of high-speed UEs (e.g., cars), the windows may be relatively small. If timer 1010 times out, there is no need to retransmit the CSI report that was not transmitted due to LBT failure. Instead, the UE will be triggered to make a new CSI measurement and 1010 will restart the timer for that measurement. Fig.10As shown, DCI format 0_1 ​​triggers UE 110 to utilize NZP-CSI-RS resources and transmit a PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1 ​​and including CSI measurement 1020. However, because LBT failed, UE 110 cannot transmit the CSI report. In this example, timer 1010 times out before triggering a retransmission. As a result, the CSI measurement is no longer valid and the corresponding report will not be retransmitted.

[0055] Fig.11 and Fig.12 CG-PUSCH transmissions according to various exemplary embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, pending CSI reports that were not transmitted due to a failed LBT process may be autonomously retransmitted on the CG-PUSCH if a validity timer (e.g., validity time 1010) is still running for each of those reports. To avoid inconsistencies between UE 110 and gNB 122A regarding the number of CSI reports to be retransmitted on the CG-PUSCH, a CSI request status group bitmap may be added to the CSI feedback payload (e.g., CSI report), such as Fig.11 As shown. The bitmap may include N bits (e.g., 0, 1...6 bits), where N is the total number of groups into which the configured CSI request states of a given UE are divided. In some embodiments, the order of the bitmap is such that the CSI request state group index is mapped in ascending order from the most significant bit (MSB) to the least significant bit (LSB) of the bitmap. For each bit, a value of '1' indicates that a CSI report retransmission of the corresponding group is included in the payload, while a value of '0' indicates that a CSI report retransmission is not included. The grouping of CSI request states is configured for each UE via RRC. If a group is included in the CG-PUSCH, the CSI report of the latest valid CSI request state within the group is retransmitted.

[0056] In some embodiments, due to the dependency of the payload on the number of groups, separate channel coding schemes may be used for the bitmap and the payload. That is, the gNB 122A first decodes the bitmap to determine the payload size of the associated CSI report. Fig.11 As shown, assuming that UE 110 is configured with 6 CSI request state groups, the pending CSI reports associated with CSI requests '000010' and '001000' are selected for transmission in a given CG-PUSCH transmission.

[0057] In other exemplary embodiments, Fig.12As shown, the total number of CSI request states that are retransmitted simultaneously can be configured via RRC signaling. As a result, the UE 110 determines which pending CSI reports to retransmit in a CG-PUSCH opportunity based on, for example, the time at which a given CSI report is generated, the content of the CSI report, the priority of the associated service type (e.g., one priority for Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and another priority for Enhanced Mobile Broadband (EMBB)). However, it should be noted that these factors are examples and that the UE 110 may consider other factors when determining which pending CSI reports to retransmit in a given CG-PUSCH. In this embodiment, a CSI request state of all zeros (e.g., '000000') indicates that the corresponding CSI request state is not used and that no corresponding CSI report retransmissions are included for that state.

[0058] exist Fig.12 In the example shown, it is assumed that (1) the UE is configured with 64 CSI request states (with a corresponding CSI request state field of 6 bits), (2) the maximum total number of request states to be retransmitted simultaneously in a single PUSCH is 3 (configured by RRC signaling), and (3) the UE has decided to retransmit CSI request state 7 and CSI request state 24. The bits of the first field 1210 are '000111', corresponding to CSI request state 7. The bits of the second field 1220 are '011000', corresponding to CSI request state 24. Since the UE has decided not to retransmit any other CSI request states, the bits of the third field 1230 are '000000', which indicates to the gNB that no additional CSI reports (other than those corresponding to CSI request states 7 and 24) are included in the payload.

[0059] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention.

[0060] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0061] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0062] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions, wherein the set of instructions, when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), causes the processor to perform operations, the UE being connected to a 5G New Radio (NR) network on a frequency band in an unlicensed spectrum, the operations comprising: receiving a downlink channel information (DCI) format 2_0 from a g-NodeB (gNB) connected to the 5G NR network, wherein the DCI format 2_0 includes a channel occupancy time (COT) duration and a gap threshold; Determine whether a non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP-CSI-RS) resource is valid, Determining whether the NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid at least includes determining whether the NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT duration.

2. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein: If the NZP-CSI-RS resource is invalid, the operation further includes: determining whether a subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid, wherein if the subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT duration and a second gap between a last symbol of the DCI format 2_0 and a first symbol of the subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is greater than the gap threshold, the subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein: If the NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid, the operation further includes: receiving a DCI format 0_1 ​​transmission from the gNB, wherein the DCI format 0_1 ​​includes a CSI request; performing CSI measurement in response to the CSI request; generating a CSI report including the CSI measurement; and The CSI report is transmitted to the gNB in ​​a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the DCI format 0_1 ​​includes an additional field indicating (a) whether the CSI request triggers retransmission of the CSI report corresponding to a CSI request state to the gNB, or (b) whether the CSI request triggers generation and transmission to the gNB of a new CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the additional field is a one-bit field, the one-bit field comprising a required retransmission indicator (NRI), wherein if the NRI is switched, the CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state does not need to be retransmitted to the gNB, and if the NRI is not switched, the CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state needs to be retransmitted to the gNB.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the additional field is a 2-bit field, the 2-bit field indicating (a) whether the CSI request triggers retransmission of the CSI report corresponding to a CSI request state to the gNB; and (b) whether the CSI request triggers generation and transmission to the gNB of a new CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the UE comprises a CSI validity timer, the CSI validity timer defining a predetermined time period during which the CSI report is valid and can be retransmitted if triggered by the gNB.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein if the predetermined time period has expired, no retransmission of the CSI report is performed.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the retransmission occurs on a configured granted PUSCH (CG-PUSCH).

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the retransmission comprises at least one field comprising a plurality of bits identifying which CSI reports are included in a payload of the retransmission.

11. A user equipment (UE) connected to a 5G New Radio (NR) network on a frequency band in an unlicensed spectrum, the UE comprising: A processor, the processor being configured to: receiving a downlink channel information (DCI) format 2_0 from a g-nodeB (gNB) connected to the 5G NR network, wherein the DCI format 2_0 includes a channel occupancy time (COT) duration and a gap threshold; Determine whether a non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP-CSI-RS) resource is valid, Determining whether the NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid at least includes determining whether the NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT duration.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: If the NZP-CSI-RS resource is invalid, the processor is further configured to: determining whether a subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid, wherein if the subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is within the COT duration and a second gap between a last symbol of the DCI format 2_0 and a first symbol of the subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is greater than the gap threshold, the subsequent NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid.

13. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: If the NZP-CSI-RS resource is valid, the processor is further configured to receive a DCI format 0_1 ​​transmission from the gNB, wherein the DCI format 0_1 ​​includes a CSI request; performing CSI measurements in response to the CSI request; and generating a CSI report including the CSI measurements; The UE further comprises: a transceiver configured to transmit the CSI report to the gNB in ​​a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the DCI format 0_1 ​​includes an additional field indicating (a) whether the CSI request triggers retransmission of the CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state to the gNB, or (b) whether the CSI request triggers generation and transmission of a new CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state to the gNB.

15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the additional field is a one-bit field, the one-bit field including a required retransmission indicator (NRI), wherein if the NRI is switched, the CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state does not need to be retransmitted to the gNB, and if the NRI is not switched, the CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state needs to be retransmitted to the gNB.

16. The UE of claim 14, wherein the additional field is a 2-bit field, the 2-bit field indicating (a) whether the CSI request triggers retransmission of the CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state to the gNB; and (b) whether the CSI request triggers generation and transmission of a new CSI report corresponding to the CSI request state to the gNB.

17. The UE according to claim 14, wherein the UE further comprises: A CSI validity timer, the CSI validity timer defines a predetermined time period during which the CSI report is valid and can be retransmitted if triggered by the gNB.

18. The UE of claim 17, wherein if the predetermined time period has timed out, retransmission of the CSI report is not performed.

19. The UE of claim 14, wherein the retransmission occurs on a configured granted PUSCH (CG-PUSCH).

20. The UE of claim 19, wherein the retransmission comprises at least one field comprising a plurality of bits identifying which CSI reports are included in a payload of the retransmission.

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