Acquisition and reporting of channel measurements and interference measurements

Abstract

Mechanisms for acquiring channel and interference measurements are provided. A method implemented by a network node. The method includes: configuring a terminal device to perform and report channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The method includes: transmitting the first set of reference signal resources and the second set of reference signal resources. The method includes: receiving reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements from the terminal device. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments presented herein relate to methods, network nodes, computer programs, and computer program products for acquiring channel and interference measurements. The embodiments also relate to methods, terminal devices, computer programs, and computer program products for reporting channel and interference measurements. Background Technology

[0002] In communication networks, achieving good performance and capacity can be challenging given a communication protocol, its parameters, and the physical environment in which the communication network is deployed.

[0003] For example, future generations of mobile communication networks may require frequency bands at many different carrier frequencies. Lower frequency bands may be needed to achieve adequate network coverage for wireless devices, while higher bands (e.g., at millimeter wavelengths (mmW), i.e., close to and above 30 GHz) may be required to achieve the desired network capacity. Generally, at higher frequencies, the propagation characteristics of radio channels are more challenging, potentially requiring beamforming at both network nodes and wireless devices to achieve sufficient link budget.

[0004] At such high frequencies, narrow-beam transmit and receive schemes may be required to compensate for the anticipated high propagation loss. For a given communication link, appropriate beams can be applied at both the network end (represented by the network node or its transmit and receive points TRP) and the terminal (represented by the terminal equipment), which is commonly referred to as a beam-pair link (BPL). The BPL (i.e., both the beam used by the network node and the beam used by the terminal equipment) is expected to be discovered and monitored by the network using measurements of downlink reference signals (such as Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) or Synchronization Block (SSB) signals used for beam management).

[0005] One objective of MU-MIMO is to simultaneously serve multiple terminal devices with the same time, frequency, and code resources, thereby increasing the capacity of a communication network. If a network node has multiple antenna panels, it can implement MU-MIMO transmissions, for example, sending from each antenna panel to one terminal device. To achieve significant capacity gains with MU-MIMO, low interference between the co-scheduled terminal devices should be ensured. This can be achieved by making accurate CSI available at the network node to facilitate interference nulling during precoding (primarily applicable to digital antenna arrays), and / or by co-scheduling terminal devices with near-orthogonal channels. An example of the latter is if two terminal devices are in line of sight and the angular spacing is greater than the beamwidth of the antenna panels. In this case, the two terminal devices can be co-scheduled by the network node using a beam directed from one antenna panel to the first terminal device and a beam directed from another antenna panel to the second terminal device.

[0006] To enable MU-MIMO for network nodes with analog antenna panels, the network node should determine the beam used for transmission to each corresponding terminal device, maintaining low inter-device interference while sustaining a strong signal for each terminal device, and thus achieving a high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for all coordinated terminal devices. Beam management procedures can be used for BPL discovery and maintenance. In some respects, beam management procedures are defined as sub-procedures P-1, P-2, and P-3.

[0007] CSI-RS used for beam management can be transmitted periodically, semi-statically, or non-periodically (event-triggered), and can be shared among multiple terminal devices or can be device-specific. SSB is transmitted periodically and shared for all terminal devices. To enable terminal devices to find a suitable network node beam, the network node transmits a reference signal in different transmit (TX) beams during the P-1 subprocess, where the terminal device performs measurements, such as Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), on these different transmit (TX) beams and reports back N optimal TX beams (where N can be configured by the network). Furthermore, the reference signal can be repeatedly transmitted on a given TX beam to allow the terminal device to evaluate a suitable receive (RX) beam. The reference signal shared among all terminal devices served by the TRP can be used to determine the initial coarse orientation of the terminal device. Using SSB as a reference signal is suitable for this periodic TX beam scanning at the TRP. One reason for this is that the SSB is transmitted periodically anyway (for initial access / synchronization purposes), and the SSB is also expected to perform beamforming at higher frequencies to overcome the aforementioned higher propagation loss.

[0008] Then, during the P-2 sub-procedure, a finer beam scan can be performed at the network nodes in a narrower beam than that used during the P-1 sub-procedure to determine a more detailed orientation for each terminal device. Here, the CSI-RS can be used as a reference signal. As with the P-1 sub-procedure, the terminal devices perform measurements, such as the reference signal received power (RSRP), and report back N optimal TX beams (where N can be configured by the network).

[0009] Furthermore, the CSI-RS transmission in the selected transmit beam during the P-2 sub-procedure can be repeated during the P-3 sub-procedure to allow the terminal equipment to evaluate the appropriate RX beam at the terminal equipment.

[0010] However, the beam management process does not necessarily provide information on how or even whether terminal devices can be coordinated.

[0011] Therefore, the mechanism still needs to be improved to determine whether two or more terminal devices can be coordinated. Summary of the Invention

[0012] The purpose of the embodiments described herein is to provide effective signaling so as to determine whether two or more terminal devices can be coordinated and scheduled.

[0013] According to a first aspect, a method for acquiring channel measurements and interference measurements is proposed. The method is implemented by a network node. The method includes: configuring a terminal device to perform and report channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The method includes: transmitting the first set of reference signal resources and the second set of reference signal resources. The method includes: receiving reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements from the terminal device. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0014] According to a second aspect, a network node for acquiring channel measurements and interference measurements is proposed. The network node includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to configure a terminal device to perform and report channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to transmit the first set of reference signal resources and the second set of reference signal resources. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to receive reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements from the terminal device. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0015] According to a third aspect, a network node for acquiring channel and interference measurements is proposed. The network node includes a configuration module configured to configure a terminal device to perform and report channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The network node includes a transmitting module configured to transmit the first and second sets of reference signal resources. The network node includes a receiving module configured to receive reports of the channel and interference measurements from the terminal device. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0016] According to the fourth aspect, a computer program for acquiring channel and interference measurements is proposed. The computer program includes computer program code that, when run on the processing circuitry of a network node, causes the network node to implement the method according to the first aspect.

[0017] According to a fifth aspect, a method for reporting channel measurements and interference measurements is proposed. The method is implemented by a terminal device. The method includes: receiving from a network node a configuration for performing and reporting channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The method includes: receiving the first set of reference signal resources and the second set of reference signal resources, and performing channel measurements on the first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements on the second set of reference signal resources. The method includes: providing reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements to the network node. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0018] According to a sixth aspect, a terminal device for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting is proposed. The terminal device includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to receive from a network node a configuration for performing and reporting channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The processing circuitry is configured to receive the first set of reference signal resources and the second set of reference signal resources, and to perform channel measurements on the first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements on the second set of reference signal resources. The processing circuitry is configured to provide reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements to the network node. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0019] According to a seventh aspect, a terminal device for reporting channel measurements and interference measurements is proposed. The terminal device includes a receiving module configured to receive configuration from a network node to perform and report channel measurements for a first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements for a second set of reference signal resources. The terminal device includes a receiving module configured to receive the first set of reference signal resources and the second set of reference signal resources, and to perform channel measurements on the first set of reference signal resources and interference measurements on the second set of reference signal resources. The terminal device includes a providing module configured to provide reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements to the network node. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0020] According to the eighth aspect, a computer program for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting is proposed, the computer program comprising computer program code that, when run on the processing circuitry of a terminal device, causes the terminal device to implement the method according to the fifth aspect.

[0021] According to a ninth aspect, a computer program product is proposed, comprising a computer program according to at least one of the fourth and eighth aspects, and a computer-readable storage medium having the computer program stored thereon. The computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0022] Advantageously, these aspects provide effective signaling, enabling network nodes to determine whether a terminal device can be coordinated with another terminal device (on at least partially overlapping time / frequency resources).

[0023] Advantageously, these aspects enable channel measurement and interference measurement acquisition and reporting to be carried out with relatively low signaling overhead.

[0024] Other objects, features and advantages of the appended embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed disclosure and the accompanying drawings.

[0025] Generally, unless otherwise expressly defined herein, all terms used herein shall be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the art. Unless otherwise expressly stated, all references to “a / an / the said element, device, assembly, component, module, step, etc.” shall be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of an element, device, assembly, component, module, step, etc. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the steps of any method disclosed herein are not necessarily performed in the exact order disclosed. Attached Figure Description

[0026] The concept of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication network according to an embodiment;

[0028] Figure 2 The antenna architecture of the terminal device according to an embodiment is schematically shown;

[0029] Figure 3 The beam management process according to an embodiment is illustrated schematically;

[0030] Figure 4 It is shown that, according to an embodiment Figure 1 A schematic diagram of part of the communication network;

[0031] Figure 5 and Figure 7 This is a flowchart of the method according to the embodiment;

[0032] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a network node, TRP, and terminal device according to an embodiment;

[0033] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional units of a network node according to an embodiment;

[0034] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional modules of a network node according to an embodiment;

[0035] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional units of a terminal device according to an embodiment;

[0036] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional modules of a terminal device according to an embodiment;

[0037] Figure 12 An example of a computer program product including a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment is shown;

[0038] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to some embodiments; and

[0039] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a host computer communicating with a terminal device via a partially wireless connection through a radio base station, according to some embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0040] The concept of the invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the concept of the invention are illustrated. However, the concept of the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. Throughout the specification, similar numerals denote similar elements. Any step or feature indicated by dashed lines should be considered optional.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present invention can be applied. The communication network 100 may be a third-generation (3G) telecommunications network, a fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications network, and a fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications network or any evolution thereof, and supports any 3GPP telecommunications standard (if applicable).

[0042] Communication network 100 includes network node 200 configured to provide network access to terminal devices (such as terminal devices 300a and 300b) in radio access network 110. Radio access network 110 is operatively connected to core network 120. Core network 120 is in turn operatively connected to service network 130, such as the Internet. Therefore, terminal devices 300a and 300b can access the services of service network 130 and exchange data with service network 130 through network node 200.

[0043] Network node 200 includes a transmit and receive point (TRP) 140, is co-located with, integrated with, or operates and communicates with the transmit and receive point (TRP) 140. Network node 200 (via its TRP 140) and terminal devices 300a, 300b are configured to communicate with each other via beams, wherein two beams are shown at reference numerals 150a, 150b. For this purpose, the beam that can be used as both a TX beam and an RX beam will be simply referred to as a beam below.

[0044] Examples of network nodes 200 include radio access network nodes, radio base stations, base transceiver stations, node B, evolved node B, g NB, access points, access nodes, and backhaul nodes. Examples of terminal devices 300a and 300b include wireless devices, mobile stations, mobile phones, handheld devices, wireless local loop telephones, user equipment (UE), smartphones, laptop computers, tablet computers, network-equipped sensors, network-equipped vehicles, and so-called Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

[0045] Different types of antenna arrangements may be provided to terminal devices 300a and 300b to enable effective communication between them and TRP 140. In this regard, antenna panels can be defined as rectangular antenna arrays of dual-polarized antenna elements, typically with one transmit / receive unit (TXRU) per polarization. An analog distribution network with phase shifters can be used to control the directional beam generated on each such antenna panel. Alternatively, terminal devices 300a and 300b are configured for digital broadband (time-domain beamforming) beamforming to mimic the operation and function of the analog distribution network. Multiple antenna panels can be stacked adjacent to each other, and digital beamforming can be implemented across the antenna panels. For terminal devices 300a and 300b, signals can arrive and be emitted from all different directions depending on their physical orientation. Therefore, it may be advantageous to have an antenna implementation at terminal devices 300a and 300b that, in addition to a high-gain narrow directional beam, can generate near-omnidirectional coverage for terminal devices 300a and 300b. One way to increase omnidirectional coverage at terminal devices 300a and 300b is to provide multiple antenna panels for terminal devices 300a and 300b, wherein at least two antenna panels have different pointing directions.

[0046] Figure 2 An example antenna architecture for terminal devices 300a and 300b is schematically illustrated. According to the illustrated antenna architecture, terminal devices 300a and 300b are equipped with two antenna arrays 340a and 340b. Each antenna array 340a and 340b has dual-polarized antenna elements. In the illustrated example, each antenna array 340a and 340b has eight single-polarized or dual-polarized antenna elements, but as those skilled in the art will know, each antenna array 340a and 340b may have fewer than eight or more dual-polarized antenna elements. Each antenna array 340a and 340b may be connected to a receiver chain or baseband chain (BB) in terminal devices 300a and 300b. The antenna architecture may be part of a communication interface 320 of terminal devices 300a and 300b. Therefore, in some embodiments, terminal devices 300a and 300b are equipped with antenna arrays 340a and 340b having dual-polarized antenna elements, wherein antenna arrays 340a and 340b are connected to receiver chains in terminal devices 300a and 300b.

[0047] As mentioned above, the mechanism still needs to be improved to determine whether two or more terminal devices 300a and 300b can be coordinated (on at least partially overlapping time / frequency resources).

[0048] Figure 3The beam management process, comprising three sub-processes (referred to as P-1, P-2, and P-3), is illustrated schematically. These three sub-processes will now be disclosed in more detail. For simplicity, Figure 3 Only one terminal device 300a is shown, but it is understood by those skilled in the art that the beam management process can also be implemented for two or more terminal devices 300a, 300b.

[0049] A primary objective of the P-1 sub-procedure is for network node 200 to find a coarse direction toward terminal device 300a by transmitting a reference signal in a wide but narrower-than-sector beam (sweeping across the entire angular sector). For the P-1 sub-procedure, TRP 140 is expected to utilize a beam with a relatively large beamwidth according to spatial beaming pattern 160a. During the P-1 sub-procedure, the reference signal is typically transmitted periodically and shared among all terminal devices 300a and 300b served by network node 200 in radio access network 110. Terminal devices 300a and 300b typically receive the reference signal in the P-1 sub-procedure using a wide beam or even an omnidirectional beam according to spatial beaming pattern 170a. The reference signal can be a periodically transmitted CSI-RS (or a CSI-RS resource in form) or SSB. Terminal device 300a can then report N≥1 optimal beams and their corresponding quality values, such as the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) value, to network node 200. Beam reporting from terminal device 300a to network node 200 can be implemented sparingly (to save costs) and can be periodic, semi-static, or aperiodic.

[0050] A primary objective of the P-2 sub-procedure is to transmit a reference signal via network node 200 and perform a new beam scan using a narrower directional beam than those used during the P-1 sub-procedure, according to spatial beaming pattern 160b, to improve beam selection at TRP 140. This new beam scan is implemented around the coarse direction or beam reported during the P-1 sub-procedure. During the P-2 sub-procedure, terminal devices 300a, 300b typically use the same beams as during the P-1 sub-procedure, according to spatial beaming pattern 170b. Terminal devices 300a, 300b can then report N≥1 optimal beams and their corresponding quality values, such as the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) value, to network node 200. A P-2 sub-procedure can be implemented for each terminal device 300a, 300b or for each group of terminal devices 300a, 300b. The reference signal can be a non-periodic or semi-static transmitted CSI-RS (or a formal CSI-RS resource). To track changes in the mobile and / or radio propagation environment of terminal devices 300a and 300b, the P-2 subprocess can be implemented more frequently than the P-1 subprocess.

[0051] A primary objective of the P-3 subprocess is for terminal devices 300a and 300b to find the optimal beam using analog beamforming or digital broadband (time-domain beamforming) beamforming. During the P-3 subprocess, a reference signal is transmitted in the optimal reporting beam of the P-2 subprocess according to spatial beamforming mode 160c, while terminal devices 300a and 300b perform beam scanning according to spatial beamforming mode 170c. The implementation frequency of the P-3 subprocess can be at least the same as that of the P-2 subprocess to enable terminal devices 300a and 300b to compensate for jamming and / or rotation.

[0052] Although the beam management process described above can be used to find suitable beams for both network node 200 (or its TRP 140) and terminal devices 300a and 300b, the beam management process does not necessarily provide information on how or even whether terminal devices 300a and 300b can be coordinated.

[0053] One problem is how to find good candidates for MU-MIMO cooperative scheduling in scattering environments and when the terminal devices 300a and 300b are equipped with two or more antenna panels. Figure 4 (a) A portion of a communication network 100 is schematically shown, wherein a first P-2 beam scan is performed on terminal device 300a according to spatial beam pattern 160b', and a second P-2 beam scan is performed on terminal device 300b according to spatial beam pattern 160b''. A third P-2 beam scan may also be performed on terminal device 300a according to spatial beam pattern 160b'', and a fourth beam scan may also be performed on terminal device 300b according to spatial beam pattern 160b''. The first and second P-2 beam scans can then be used by network node 200 to obtain channel measurements for terminal devices 300a and 300b, while the third and fourth P-2 beam scans can be used by network node 200 to obtain interference measurements for terminal devices 300a and 300b. Terminal devices 300a and 300b may not necessarily be aware of the purpose of the measurements.

[0054] Terminal device 300a is equipped with two antenna panels used during P-2 beam scanning, wherein a first antenna panel of the two antenna panels generates a spatial beam pattern 170b', and a second antenna panel of the two antenna panels generates a spatial beam pattern 170b''. Terminal device 300b is equipped with two antenna panels used during P-2 beam scanning, wherein a first antenna panel of the two antenna panels generates a spatial beam pattern 170b''', and a second antenna panel of the two antenna panels generates a spatial beam pattern 170b''''. According to Figure 4In the example of (a), due to reflection, the reference signal in the third P-2 beam scan will be received by terminal device 300a according to spatial beam pattern 170b''. Therefore, terminal device 300a will receive strong signals in all beams used during the third P-2 beam scan according to spatial beam pattern 160b'', and will therefore report strong RSRP for all these beams. If any beam in spatial beam pattern 160b'' is used for data and / or control signaling toward terminal device 300b, network node 200 will interpret this as if terminal device 300a were being interfered with. Therefore, network node 200 will assume that joint MU-MIMO scheduling of terminal devices 300a and 300b is impossible.

[0055] However, from Figure 4 (b) It can be seen that it shows the same as Figure 4 (a) In the same scenario, two terminal devices 300a and 300b can indeed be co-scheduled for MU-MIMO because the optimal beam 160b''' from the first P-2 beam scan will be received primarily using spatial beam pattern 170b' at terminal device 300a, while interference from the optimal beam 160b'''' from the second P-2 beam scan (which is also reported by terminal device 300a as a strong RSRP of the third P-2 beam scan) will be received primarily using spatial beam pattern 170b'' at terminal device 300a. Since the signal and interference are received primarily on different antenna panels at terminal device 300a, MU-MIMO can be used to co-schedule terminal devices 300a and 300b, even if the current beam management process does not provide any such indication.

[0056] Therefore, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to mechanisms for acquiring channel and interference measurements, as well as for reporting channel and interferometric measurements. Such mechanisms may be advantageous when determining whether two or more terminal devices 300a, 300b can be cooperatively scheduled (on at least partially overlapping time / frequency resources), for example in a MU-MIMO system.

[0057] To achieve this mechanism, a network node 200, a method implemented by the network node 200, and a computer program product including code, such as in the form of a computer program, are provided, which, when run on the processing circuitry of the network node 200, causes the network node 200 to implement the method. To achieve this mechanism, a terminal device 300a, a method implemented by the terminal device 300a, and a computer program product including code, such as in the form of a computer program, are also provided, which, when run on the processing circuitry of the terminal device 300a, causes the terminal device 300a to implement the method.

[0058] Now for reference Figure 5 The figure illustrates a method for acquiring channel and interference measurements implemented by network node 200 according to an embodiment.

[0059] S104: Network node 200 configures terminal device 300a to perform and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set.

[0060] S106: Network node 200 sends the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set.

[0061] S108: Network node 200 receives reports of channel measurements and interference measurements from terminal device 300a. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in a second set of reference signal resources. The channel measurements and the interference measurements are received in the same report.

[0062] Using the received report, network node 200 can determine how reliable the average interference level is when selecting a transmit beam for communicating with terminal device 300a, wherein the selected transmit beam corresponds to a reference signal resource in the first set of reference signal resources.

[0063] Embodiments relating to the acquisition of further details of channel measurements and interference measurements performed by network node 200 will now be disclosed.

[0064] As will be further disclosed below, the reference signal resources can be device-specific. Therefore, network node 200 can utilize its own reference signal resources to configure each served terminal device 300a, 300b. Thus, the reference signal resources used for channel measurements and the reference information resources used for interference measurements can be specific to terminal device 300a. Network node 200 can have different methods to determine which reference signal resources terminal device 300a will use for channel measurements and which reference signal resources terminal device 300a will use for interference measurements. In some embodiments, which set of first and second reference signal resources terminal device 300a reports for channel measurements and which set of first and second reference signal resource resources terminal device 300a reports for interference measurements is based on reports received from terminal device 300a regarding beam scanning performed by network node 200. Beam scanning may involve network node 200 transmitting reference signal resources, such as SSBs, in a beam set. This beam set typically includes beams that are wider (i.e., have a larger beamwidth) than those used for data and / or control signaling for terminal devices 300a and 300b.

[0065] The reference signal resources used by terminal device 300a for channel measurement can be used for interference measurement of another terminal device 300b, and the reference signal resources used by terminal device 300a for interference measurement can be used for channel measurement of the other terminal device 300b.

[0066] As mentioned above, channel measurements and interference measurements are received in the same report. Furthermore, there can be different ways to report the channel and interference measurements to be provided. In some aspects, the report is provided via link quality metrics. That is, in some embodiments, channel and interference measurements are reported as a combined link quality metric. Non-limiting examples of link quality metrics include CQI, SINR, and RSRP.

[0067] As disclosed above, network node 200 configures terminal device 300a to perform channel measurements. The way network node 200 configures terminal device 300a can vary, for example, depending on the level of detail at which network node 200 configures terminal device 300a.

[0068] In this regard, in some embodiments, terminal device 300a is configured by network node 200 to report interference measurements as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in a second reference signal resource set. For example, terminal device 300a may be configured to report CSI-RS Resource Indicators (CRI) and RSRPs from a first reference signal resource set, and an interference level from a second reference signal resource set, wherein the interference level of terminal device 300a is obtained by using a function of measurements of two or more reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set. In some embodiments, each channel measurement and interference measurement is represented or accompanied by CRI and RSRP values ​​determined for the first and second reference signal resource sets. In some examples, only channel measurements are represented or accompanied by CRI and / or RSRP values, wherein the CRI and / or RSRP values ​​are determined for the first reference signal resource set (but not the second reference signal resource set). Terminal device 300a may, for example, report interference along with N CRIs having the strongest RSRPs and their corresponding RSRP values. Furthermore, the report can indicate how interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set. More details relating to this will be disclosed below.

[0069] In a further aspect, regarding which spatial receiver filter the terminal device 300a should target for receiving the first and second reference signal resource sets, the network node 200 can configure the terminal device 300a. Specifically, in some embodiments, the terminal device 300a is configured by the network node 200 to use the same spatial receiver filter as during data and / or control signaling (e.g., during PDSCH and / or PDCCH signaling) to receive the first and second reference signal resource sets. More specifically, since the terminal device 300a can report an interference level for all reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set, the terminal device 300a should apply a fixed spatial receiver filter to all received reference signal resources; for both reference signal resources used for channel measurements and reference information resources used for interference measurements. Otherwise, for example, if different receiver spatial filters are used for different reference signal resources used for channel measurements, the average interference level for reference signal resources belonging to the second reference signal resource set may differ depending on which reference signal resource from the first reference signal resource set is currently being used.

[0070] In some respects, terminal device 300a confirms its capabilities to network node 200, that is, terminal device 300a is able to perform and report measurements according to its configuration. Specifically, in some embodiments, network node 200 is configured to perform (optional) step S102:

[0071] S102: Network node 200 receives confirmation from terminal device 300a that terminal device 300a can perform measurements and report measurements according to the configuration of network node 200.

[0072] In some aspects, the reference signal resource set is transmitted in a beam; for example, in one beam set for a first reference signal resource set and another beam set for a second reference signal resource set. In particular, in some embodiments, the first reference signal resource set is transmitted in a first beam set, wherein each reference signal resource in the first reference signal resource set is transmitted in its own beam within the first beam set.

[0073] Then, one beam from the first beam set can be selected for further communication with the terminal device 300a. Specifically, in some embodiments, the network node 200 is configured to perform (optional) step S110:

[0074] S110: Based on the channel measurement report, network node 200 selects one beam from the first beam set for data and / or control signaling for terminal device 300a.

[0075] The method for selecting a beam in the first beam set can vary. In some respects, the beam is selected because it has the highest channel measurement value for that beam. In other respects, the beam is also selected based on possible interference reported by another terminal device 300b. That is, in some embodiments, the selection of which beam in the first beam set is further based on a report received from the other terminal device 300b regarding interference measurements performed by the other terminal device 300b on the reference signal resources of the first reference signal resource set.

[0076] As described above, a second set of reference signal resources can also be transmitted within a beam. In particular, in some embodiments, the second set of reference signal resources is transmitted in a second beam set, wherein each reference signal resource in the second set of reference information resources is transmitted in its own beam within the second beam set.

[0077] In some respects, each terminal device 300a, 300b is configured with its own set of reference signal resources. Therefore, the aforementioned first and second sets of reference signal resources can be specific to terminal device 300a. Thus, network node 200 can transmit further reference signal resources for other terminal devices (e.g., terminal device 300b) to enable these terminal devices to perform measurements and report; for example, a third set of reference signal resources for channel measurements and a fourth set of reference signal resources for interference measurements for terminal device 300b. In this regard, the reference signal resource set for channel measurements of terminal device 300b can be transmitted in the same beam or in at least similar beams as the reference information resource set for interference measurements of terminal device 300a, and vice versa. Therefore, if any beam in the second beam set is selected for data and / or control signaling for the other terminal device 300b, network node 200 can estimate the interference caused to terminal device 300a. Specifically, in some embodiments, network node 200 is configured to implement (optional) step S112:

[0078] S112: If any beam in the second beam set is used for data and / or control signaling against another terminal device 300b, the network node 200 estimates the interference level against the terminal device 300a based on the interference measurement report.

[0079] Figure 6A network node 200 operationally connected to TRP 140 is schematically illustrated. A first reference signal resource set and a fourth reference signal resource set can be transmitted in beams defined by spatial beam pattern 160d. The first reference signal resource set is used for channel measurements of terminal device 300a, while the fourth reference signal resource set is used for interference measurements of terminal device 300b. A second reference signal resource set and a third reference signal resource set can be transmitted in beams defined by spatial beam pattern 160e. The second reference signal resource set is used for interference measurements of terminal device 300a, while the third reference signal resource set is used for channel measurements of terminal device 300b. It should be noted that this is only an example; the beams used for terminal device 300a and terminal device 300b may be different.

[0080] Now for reference Figure 7 The figure illustrates a method for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting implemented by terminal device 300a according to an embodiment.

[0081] S204: Terminal device 300a receives configuration from network node 200 to perform and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set.

[0082] S206: Terminal device 300a receives a first reference signal resource set and a second reference information resource set, and performs channel measurement on the first reference signal resource set and interference measurement on the second reference signal resource set.

[0083] S210: Terminal device 300a provides network node 200 with reports of channel measurements and interference measurements. The interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in a second set of reference signal resources. The channel measurements and the interference measurements are provided in the same report.

[0084] Embodiments relating to further details of channel measurement and interference measurement reports implemented by terminal device 300a will now be disclosed.

[0085] As disclosed above, there can be different ways to report the channel measurements and interference measurements to be provided. In some aspects, the reporting is provided through link quality metrics. That is, in some embodiments, channel measurements and interference measurements are reported as a combined link quality metric.

[0086] As described above, the network node 200 can configure the terminal device 300a in different ways, for example, according to the level of detail at which the network node 200 configures the terminal device 300a. In this regard, in some embodiments, the terminal device 300a is configured by the network node 200 to report interference measurements as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in a second set of reference signal resources.

[0087] In some respects, terminal device 300a confirms its capabilities to network node 200, that is, terminal device 300 is able to perform and report measurements according to its configuration. Specifically, in some embodiments, terminal device 300a is configured to perform (optional) step S202:

[0088] S202: Terminal device 300a provides network node 200 with confirmation that terminal device 300a can perform measurements and report measurements as configured by network node 200.

[0089] As in step S206, terminal device 300a performs channel measurements on the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements on the second reference signal resource set. In this regard, terminal device 300a can calculate an RSRP value for each reference signal resource in the first reference signal resource set according to each receiver chain. Further, terminal device 300a can also calculate an average RSRP value for all reference signal resources belonging to the first reference signal resource set according to each receiver chain. That is, in some embodiments, a channel measurement for the first reference signal resource set is determined according to each receiver chain in terminal device 300a. Further, terminal device 300a can calculate an interference value according to each receiver chain, wherein the interference value for each receiver chain is the average RSRP calculated for all reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set received by that receiver chain. That is, in some embodiments, an interference measurement for the second reference signal resource set according to each receiver chain in terminal device 300a is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set according to each receiver chain.

[0090] As disclosed above, the network node 200 can configure the terminal device 300a to receive the first and second reference signal resource sets using which spatial receiver filter. Specifically, in some embodiments, the terminal device 300a is configured by the network node 200 to use the same spatial receiver filter as during data and / or control signaling reception to receive the first and second reference signal resource sets. In this regard, the spatial receiver filter can be a digital filter defined by weight values ​​that are set to be added to the SINR across multiple receiver chains. These weight values ​​can be determined as if the terminal device 300a were receiving data, with the optimization objective being to maximize, for example, the SINR.

[0091] As disclosed above, the report may be represented or accompanied by CRI and RSRP values. That is, in some embodiments, each of the channel measurement and interference measurement is represented or accompanied by CRI and RSRP values ​​determined for a first reference signal resource set and a second reference signal resource set. As further disclosed above, in some examples, only the channel measurement is represented or accompanied by CRI and / or RSRP values, wherein the CRI and / or RSRP values ​​are determined for a first reference signal resource set (but not a second reference signal resource set).

[0092] In some aspects, terminal device 300a will use one or more beams when receiving data and / or control signaling from network node 200. Therefore, terminal device 300a can determine the beam weights of these one or more beams. Specifically, in some embodiments, terminal device 300a is configured to implement (optional) step S208:

[0093] S208: Terminal equipment 300a determines beam weights based on channel measurements and interference measurements.

[0094] In some respects, a beam weight set is determined for each receiver chain. That is, in some embodiments, a beam weight set is determined for each receiver chain in terminal device 300a.

[0095] The terminal device 300a may determine beam weights in different ways based on channel measurements and interference measurements. In some examples, beam weights are determined based on the average RSRP for each receiver chain in the first reference signal resource set and the average interference for each receiver chain in the second reference signal resource set.

[0096] Therefore, beam weights can be determined based on both the reference signal resources used for channel measurements and the reference information resources used for interference measurements. However, beam weights can also be determined based on a spatial QCL assumption used for channel measurements. Thus, in some respects, beam weights are based solely on channel measurements (e.g., on a spatial QCL indication associated with the reference signal resources used for channel measurements).

[0097] In some respects, determining beam weights involves terminal device 300a determining which antenna panel to use to receive data and / or control signaling from network node 200 and / or which beam to apply on said panel. That is, the beam weight of one receiver chain can be set to zero. This means that the receiver chain experiencing the worst SIR can be shut down. In some examples, the receiver chain experiencing the worst SIR is shut down only during beam management, and not during actual MU-MIMO transmissions at network node 200 (i.e., transmissions of data and / or control signaling from network node 200 to another terminal device 300b).

[0098] In some aspects, terminal device 300a calculates the RSRP of each reference signal resource in the first reference signal resource set, wherein terminal device 300a uses the determined beam weights. Furthermore, terminal device 300a can use two or more reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set to calculate interference measurements, wherein terminal device 300a uses the determined beam weights. Therefore, channel measurements and interference measurements can be reported as if the determined beam weights have been applied. That is, in some embodiments, channel measurements and interference measurements are reported as if beam weights were applied when the first and second reference signal resource sets were received.

[0099] As disclosed above, interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set. Different such functions may exist. In some aspects, interference measurements are reported as a linear average of the power (in watts) of the interference. That is, in some embodiments, the reported interference measurements are determined as a linear average of the power measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set. In calculating the linear average of the power, the average may be defined as a linear average of the power contribution (in watts) of the resource elements at the antenna port carrying the CSI reference signal resources, wherein the CSI reference signal resources are configured for RSRP measurements within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth at the configured reference signal resource timing.

[0100] While it may be sufficient to report the interference measurement as a function of measurements on only two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set, it is also possible to report the interference measurement as a function of measurements on all reference signal resources in the second reference information resource set. That is, in some embodiments, the interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements on all reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

[0101] As disclosed above, the report can indicate how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set. Therefore, terminal device 300a can indicate a measurement or variable in the report that informs network node 200 how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set used for interference measurement. Further details will be disclosed below.

[0102] In some respects, terminal device 300a reports at least one of the following indicators.

[0103] According to the first example, the indicator is defined by the estimated variance of the interference of a reference signal resource, wherein the variance can be defined as the variance of the measured power contribution (in watts) of the resource element of the antenna port carrying the reference signal resource, wherein the reference signal resource is configured for RSRP measurement within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth at the configured reference signal resource timing for interference measurement. Therefore, in some embodiments, the report including the variance value of the interference measurement indicates how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources.

[0104] According to the second example, the indicator is defined by the interference level of the reference signal resource with the highest interference. Therefore, in some embodiments, the differences in interference between different reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources are indicated by including a report of the value of the highest interference measurement for that set.

[0105] According to the third example, the indicator is defined by a flag that indicates that the interference variance is above a certain level, which may be fixed according to specifications or configured by network node 200 to terminal device 300a using higher-layer signaling. Therefore, in some embodiments, how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set is indicated by a report including a flag, which is set only when the variance value of the interference measurement is above a predetermined threshold level.

[0106] According to the fourth example, the indicator is defined by a measurement of the span of RSRP (i.e., the difference between the measured RSRPs of NZP CSI-RS resources used for interference measurement, wherein the difference is obtained between resources having the highest and lowest measured RSRPs). Therefore, in some embodiments, how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set is indicated by a report including a difference determined as the difference between the highest measured interference for the second reference information resource set and the lowest measured interference for the second reference signal resource set.

[0107] According to the fifth example, the indicator is defined by the estimated median value of the interference of the reference signal resource, wherein the median can be defined as the median of the measured power contribution (in watts) of the resource element of the antenna port carrying the CSI reference signal resource, wherein the CSI reference signal resource is configured for RSRP measurement within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth at the configured reference signal resource timing for interference measurement.

[0108] In some respects, the report defines a transmission hypothesis indication. Specifically, in some embodiments, the report of channel measurements and interference measurements defines the transmission hypothesis indication. A preferred transmission hypothesis indication may include an indication of at least one channel measurement resource and an interference measurement level, wherein the channel measurement resource is based on reference signal resources from a first set of reference signal resources, and wherein the interference measurement level is calculated as a function of at least two reference signal resources from a second set of reference signal resources.

[0109] Each reference signal resource can be defined as one or more reference signals transmitted from one or more antenna ports. Different types of reference signals and reference signal resources are possible. In some embodiments, each reference signal resource in the first and second reference signal resource sets is a non-zero power (NZP) reference signal resource. The reference signal can be a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), and thus, the reference signal resource can be a CSI-RS resource, where each CSI-RS resource can include one or more CSI-RS ports. Therefore, the reference signal resource can be an NZP CSI-RS resource. Furthermore, reference signal resources (used for both channel measurement and interference measurement) can be configured in the CSI-RS resource set where the parameter "repetition" is set to "off" or "on" (i.e., not used or used for beam management), as defined in document 3GPP TS38.331 "NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification" V16.0.0. In a further aspect, the 3GPP standardization versions 15 (Rel 15) and 16 (Rel 16) of the new radio (NR) air interface, configured for beam management CSI-RS resources (i.e., the “repeat” parameter in the NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet information element is set to “off” or “on”, as defined in 3GPP TS38.331 V16.0.0 above) can include up to two such CSI-RS ports.

[0110] Figure 8 The components of the network node 200 according to an embodiment are schematically shown in the form of multiple functional units. Any combination of one or more of a suitable central processing unit (CPU), multiprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), etc., capable of executing (e.g., in the form of storage medium 230) a program product 1210a (such as...) Figure 12 The processing circuit 210 is provided by software instructions shown in the figure. The processing circuit 210 can also be provided as at least one application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0111] Specifically, processing circuitry 210 is configured to cause network node 200 to perform the set of operations or steps disclosed above. For example, storage medium 230 may store the set of operations, and processing circuitry 210 may be configured to retrieve the set of operations from storage medium 230 so that network node 200 performs the set of operations. The set of operations may be provided as an executable instruction set. Thus, processing circuitry 210 is arranged to perform the methods disclosed herein.

[0112] Storage medium 230 may also include permanent memory, for example, which may be any single memory or combination thereof, such as magnetic memory, optical memory, solid-state memory, or even remotely mounted memory.

[0113] Network node 200 may also include a communication interface 220 for communicating with other entities, functions, nodes, and devices of the communication network 100, as well as entities, functions, nodes, and devices operatively connected to or served by the communication network 100. Thus, the communication interface 220 may include one or more transmitters and receivers, including analog and digital components.

[0114] Processing circuitry 210 controls the general operation of network node 200, for example, by sending data and control signals to communication interface 220 and storage medium 230, by receiving data and reports from communication interface 220, and by retrieving data and instructions from storage medium 230. Other components and related functions of network node 200 are omitted to avoid obscuring the concepts presented herein.

[0115] Figure 9 The components of the network node 200 according to an embodiment are schematically shown in the form of multiple functional modules. Figure 9 The network node 200 includes multiple functional modules: a configuration module 210b configured to implement step S104, a sending module 210c configured to implement step S106, and a receiving module 210d configured to implement step S108. Figure 9 The network node 200 may also include multiple optional functional modules, such as any one of the receiving module 210a configured to implement step S102, the selection module 210e configured to implement step S110, and the estimation module 210f configured to implement step S112. Generally, each functional module 210a-210f can be implemented in hardware or software. Preferably, one or more or all functional modules 210a-210f can be implemented by processing circuitry 210, possibly in cooperation with communication interface 220 and / or storage medium 230. Thus, processing circuitry 210 can be arranged to retrieve instructions from storage medium 230 as provided by functional modules 210a-210f and execute those instructions to implement any step of the network node 200 disclosed herein.

[0116] Network node 200 may be provided as a standalone device or as part of at least one other device. For example, network node 200 may be provided in a node of radio access network 110 or in a node of core network 120. Optionally, the functionality of network node 100 may be distributed among at least two devices or nodes. These at least two nodes or devices may be part of the same network segment (e.g., radio access network 110 or core network 120), or may be distributed among at least two such network segments. Generally, instructions that need to be implemented in real time can be implemented in devices or nodes that are operationally closer to the cell than instructions that do not need to be implemented in real time. In this regard, when implementing the embodiments disclosed herein in real time, at least a portion of network node 200 may reside in the radio access network, such as in a radio access network node.

[0117] Therefore, the first part of the instructions implemented by network node 200 can be executed in a first device, while the second part of the instructions implemented by network node 200 can be executed in a second device; the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to any particular number of devices on which the instructions implemented by network node 200 can be executed. Therefore, the method according to the embodiments disclosed herein is suitable for implementation by network node 200 residing in a cloud computing environment. Therefore, although Figure 8 A single processing circuit 210 is shown, but processing circuits 210 can be distributed across multiple devices or nodes. This also applies to... Figure 9 Functional modules 210a-210f and Figure 12 Computer program 1220a.

[0118] Figure 10 The components of the terminal devices 300a and 300b according to the embodiments are schematically shown in the form of multiple functional units. Any combination of one or more of a suitable central processing unit (CPU), multiprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), etc., capable of executing (e.g., in the form of storage medium 330) a program product 1210b (such as...) Figure 12 The processing circuit 310 is provided by software instructions shown in the figure. The processing circuit 310 can also be provided as at least one application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0119] Specifically, the processing circuit 310 is configured to cause the terminal devices 300a and 300b to perform the set of operations or steps disclosed above. For example, the storage medium 330 may store the set of operations, and the processing circuit 310 may be configured to retrieve the set of operations from the storage medium 330 to cause the terminal devices 300a and 300b to perform the set of operations. The set of operations may be provided as an executable instruction set. Thus, the processing circuit 310 is arranged to perform the methods disclosed herein.

[0120] Storage medium 330 may also include permanent memory, for example, which may be any single memory or combination thereof, such as magnetic memory, optical memory, solid-state memory, or even remotely mounted memory.

[0121] Terminal devices 300a and 300b may also include a communication interface 320 for communicating with network node 200 at least via TRP 140. Thus, the communication interface 320 may include one or more transmitters and receivers, including analog and digital components.

[0122] Processing circuitry 310 controls the general operation of terminal devices 300a and 300b, for example, by sending data and control signals to communication interface 320 and storage medium 330, by receiving data and reports from communication interface 320, and by retrieving data and instructions from storage medium 330. Other components and related functions of terminal devices 300a and 300b are omitted to avoid obscuring the concepts presented herein.

[0123] Figure 11 The components of the terminal devices 300a and 300b according to the embodiments are schematically shown in the form of multiple functional modules. Figure 11 The terminal devices 300a and 300b include multiple functional modules: a receiving module 310b configured to implement step S204, a receiving module 310c configured to implement step S206, and a providing module 310e configured to implement step S210. Figure 11 The terminal devices 300a and 300b may further include multiple optional functional modules, such as any one of the providing module 310a configured to implement step S202 and the determining module 310d configured to implement step S208. Generally, each functional module 310a-310e can be implemented in hardware or software. Preferably, one or more or all functional modules 310a-310e can be implemented by processing circuitry 310, possibly in cooperation with communication interface 320 and / or storage medium 330. Thus, processing circuitry 310 can be arranged to retrieve instructions such as those provided by functional modules 310a-310e from storage medium 330 and execute these instructions to implement any step of the terminal devices 300a and 300b disclosed herein.

[0124] Figure 12 An example of computer program products 1210a and 1210b including a computer-readable component 1230 is shown. On the computer-readable component 1230, a computer program 1220a may be stored, which can cause processing circuitry 210 and its operatively coupled entities and devices (e.g., communication interface 220 and storage medium 230) to perform methods according to embodiments described herein. Thus, computer program 1220a and / or computer program product 1210a can provide components for implementing any steps of the network node 200 disclosed herein. On the computer-readable component 1230, a computer program 1220b may be stored, which can cause processing circuitry 310 and its operatively coupled entities and devices (e.g., communication interface 320 and storage medium 330) to perform methods according to embodiments described herein. Thus, computer program 1220b and / or computer program product 1210b can provide components for implementing any steps of the terminal device 300a disclosed herein.

[0125] exist Figure 12 In the examples, computer program products 1210a and 1210b are shown as optical discs, such as CDs (compressed optical discs), DVDs (digital versatile optical discs), or Blu-ray discs. Computer program products 1210a and 1210b can also be embodied as memory, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and more particularly as non-volatile storage media as devices in external memory, such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or flash memory, such as compressed flash memory. Therefore, although computer programs 1220a and 1220b are schematically shown as tracks on the illustrated optical disc, computer programs 1220a and 1220b can be stored in any manner suitable for computer program products 1210a and 1210b.

[0126] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a telecommunications network connected to a host computer 430 via an intermediate network 420 according to some embodiments. According to an embodiment, the communication system includes a telecommunications network 410 (such as a 3GPP-type cellular network), which includes an access network 411 (such as... Figure 1 The radio access network 110 and the core network 414 (such as the radio access network 110) ... core network 414) Figure 1 The core network 120 in the middle). The access network 411 includes multiple radio access network nodes 412a, 412b, 412c, such as NB, eNB, gNB (each corresponding to Figure 1Network nodes 200 or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area or cell 413a, 413b, 413c. Each radio access network node 412a, 412b, 412c can be connected to the core network 414 via a wired or wireless connection 415. A first UE 491 located in coverage area 413c is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding network node 412c. A second UE 492 in coverage area 413a can wirelessly connect to the corresponding network node 412a. Although multiple UEs 491, 492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is in the coverage area or a single terminal device is connected to the corresponding network node 412. UEs 491, 492 correspond to Figure 1 Terminal devices 300a and 300b.

[0127] Telecommunications network 410 is itself connected to host computer 430, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as processing resources in a server cluster. Host computer 430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 421 and 422 between telecommunications network 410 and host computer 430 may extend directly from core network 414 to host computer 430, or may traverse an optional intermediate network 420. Intermediate network 420 may be one or a combination of public networks, private networks, or hosted networks; intermediate network 420 (if any) may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 420 may include two or more subnetworks (not shown).

[0128] Figure 13The communication system generally implements the connection between the connected UEs 491 and 492 and the host computer 430. This connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 450. The host computer 430 and the connected UEs 491 and 492 are configured to transmit data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 450 using access network 411, core network 414, any intermediate network 420, and possibly other infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 450 can be transparent to the participating communication devices, as they are unaware of the routes of uplink and downlink communications. For example, network node 412 may not be informed, or need not be informed, of past routes of incoming downlink communications originating from host computer 430 that are to be forwarded (e.g., switched) to the connected UE 491. Similarly, network node 412 does not need to know the future routes of outgoing uplink communications originating from UE 491 toward host computer 430.

[0129] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a host computer communicating with a UE via a radio access network node over a partially wireless connection, according to some embodiments. Reference will now be made to... Figure 14 This section describes an example implementation of the UE, radio access network node, and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs according to embodiments. In the communication system 500, the host computer 510 includes hardware 515, which includes a communication interface 516 configured to establish and maintain wired or wireless connections to interfaces with different communication devices of the communication system 500. The host computer 510 also includes processing circuitry 518, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. Specifically, the processing circuitry 518 may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations of these components (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 510 also includes software 511, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 510 and executable by the processing circuitry 518. The software 511 includes a host application 512. The host application 512 is operable to provide services to remote users, such as UE 530 connected via an OTT connection 550 terminated between UE 530 and host computer 510. UE 530 corresponds to... Figure 1 Terminal devices 300a and 300b. When providing services to remote users, host application 512 can provide user data transmitted using OTT connection 550.

[0130] The communication system 500 also includes a radio access network node 520 provided in the telecommunications system. The radio access network node 520 includes hardware 525 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 510 and the UE 530. The radio access network node 520 corresponds to... Figure 1 Network node 200. Hardware 525 may include a communication interface 526 for establishing and maintaining wired or wireless connections to different communication devices of communication system 500, and for establishing and maintaining connections to the coverage area served by radio access network node 520. Figure 14 The UE 530 (not shown) has at least a radio interface 527 for a wireless connection 570. A communication interface 526 can be configured to facilitate a connection 560 to a host computer 510. The connection 560 can be direct, or it can traverse the core network of the telecommunications system (…). Figure 14 (Not shown) and / or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 525 of the radio access network node 520 also includes processing circuitry 528, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations of these components (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The radio access network node 520 also has software 521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0131] The communication system 500 also includes the already cited UE 530. Its hardware 535 may include a radio interface 537 configured to establish and maintain wireless connections 570 with radio access network nodes serving the coverage area currently occupied by the UE 530. The hardware 535 of the UE 530 also includes processing circuitry 538, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations of these components (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The UE 530 also includes software 531, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 530 and executable by the processing circuitry 538. The software 531 includes a client application 532. The client application 532 is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 530 with the support of the host computer 510. In the host computer 510, the executing host application 512 may communicate with the executing client application 532 via an OTT connection 550 terminated between the UE 530 and the host computer 510. When providing services to a user, client application 532 can receive request data from host application 512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 550 can transmit both request data and user data. Client application 532 can interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0132] It is important to note that Figure 14 The host computer 510, radio access network node 520, and UE 530 shown can respectively connect to... Figure 13 The host computer 430, one of the network nodes 412a, 412b, and 412c, and one of the UEs 491 and 492 are similar to or identical to each other. That is to say, the internal workings of these entities can be as follows: Figure 14 As shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Figure 13 The network topology.

[0133] exist Figure 14 In this diagram, OTT connection 550 is abstractly depicted to illustrate communication between host computer 510 and UE 530 via network node 520, without explicitly involving any intermediate devices or the precise routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure can determine the routing, which can be configured to hide the routing for UE 530 or the service provider operating host computer 510, or both. When OTT connection 550 is active, the network infrastructure can further make decisions to dynamically change the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0134] The radio connection 570 between UE 530 and radio access network node 520 is based on the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more embodiments in the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 530 using OTT connection 550, wherein radio connection 570 forms the final segment. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can reduce interference (due to improved classification capabilities of onboard UEs that can generate significant interference).

[0135] Measurement procedures can be provided to monitor data rates, latency, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments. Optional network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 550 between host computer 510 and UE 530 may also be available in response to changes in measurement results. The measurement procedures and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 550 may be implemented in software 511 and hardware 515 of host computer 510, or in software 531 and hardware 535 of UE 530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication equipment through which the OTT connection 550 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedures by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities illustrated above, or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software 511, 531 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 550 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; reconfiguration does not need to affect network node 520, and radio access network node 520 may be unaware of or unaware of the reconfiguration. These procedures and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling, which facilitates the host computer 510 in measuring throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurement can be implemented such that software 511 and 531 use OTT connection 550 to transmit messages (particularly empty messages or "dummy" messages) while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0136] The concept of the present invention has been described above primarily with reference to several embodiments. However, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, other embodiments besides those disclosed above are also within the scope of the concept of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring channel measurement and interference measurement data, the method being implemented by a network node (200), the method comprising: Configure (S104) the first terminal device (300a) to perform and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set; Transmit the first reference signal resource set in the first beam set (S106) and transmit the second reference signal resource set in the second beam set (S106); The first terminal device (300a) receives (S108) a report of the channel measurement and the interference measurement, wherein the interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set; as well as Based on the report of the interference measurement, estimate (S112) the level of interference to the first terminal device (300a) caused by selecting a beam from the second beam set for data and / or control signaling to the second terminal device (300b).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The channel measurements and the interference measurements are reported as a combined link quality metric.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The network node (200) configures the first terminal device (300a) to report the interference measurement as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The report indicates how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first terminal device (300a) is configured by the network node (200) to receive the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set using the same space receiver filter as during data and / or control signaling reception.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, Each reference signal resource in the first reference signal resource set is transmitted in its own beam in the first beam set.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: Based on the report of the channel measurement, (S110) one of the beams in the first beam set is selected for data and / or control signaling for the first terminal device (300a).

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The selection of which beam in the first beam set is further based on a report received from the second terminal device (300b) regarding interference measurements performed by the second terminal device (300b) on the reference signal resources in the first reference signal resource set.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, Each reference signal resource in the second reference signal resource set is transmitted in its own beam in the second beam set.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: (S102) The first terminal device (300a) receives confirmation from the network node (200) that it is able to perform measurements and report the confirmation of the measurements as configured by the network node (200).

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, Each of the channel measurement and the interference measurement is represented by or accompanied by CRI and RSRP values ​​determined for the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first terminal device (300a) measures which report channel in the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set, and which report interference measurement in the first reference information resource set and the second reference signal resource set, is based on the report received from the first terminal device (300a) regarding the beam scan performed by the network node (200).

13. A method for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting, the method being implemented by a terminal device (300a), the method comprising: Receive (S204) configuration from network node (200) to implement and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set; Receive (S206) the first reference signal resource set transmitted in the first beam set and the second reference signal resource set transmitted in the second beam set, and perform channel measurement on the first reference signal resource set and interference measurement on the second reference signal resource set; The network node (200) is provided with (S210) a report of the channel measurement and the interference measurement, wherein the interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set; as well as The beam weights are determined (S208) based on the channel measurements and the interference measurements.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, The channel measurements and the interference measurements are reported as a combined link quality metric.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The terminal device (300a) is configured by the network node (200) to report the interference measurement as a function of measuring at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The reported interference measurement was determined to be a linear average of the power measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

17. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements on all reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

18. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The report indicates how the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, How the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set is indicated by a report including the variance value of the interference measurement.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein, How the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set is indicated by a report including the highest interference measurement for the second reference information resource set.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein, How the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set is indicated by a report including a flag that is set only when the variance of the interference measurement is above a predetermined threshold level.

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein, How the interference differs between different reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set is indicated by a report including a difference, which is determined to be the difference between the highest measured interference for the second reference information resource set and the lowest measured interference for the second reference signal resource set.

23. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The terminal device (300a) is configured by the network node (200) to receive the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set using the same space receiver filter as during data and / or control signaling reception.

24. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, Each of the channel measurement and the interference measurement is represented by or accompanied by CRI and RSRP values ​​determined for the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set.

25. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, A channel measurement for the first reference signal resource set is determined according to each receiver chain in the terminal device (300a).

26. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, According to each receiver chain in the terminal device (300a), an interference measurement for the second reference signal resource set is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set according to each receiver chain.

27. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, A beam weight set is determined for each receiver chain in the terminal device (300a).

28. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The channel measurements and the interference measurements are reported as if the beam weights were applied when the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set were received.

29. The method according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising: (S202) Provide the network node (200) with the terminal device (300a) being able to perform measurements and report confirmation of the measurements as configured by the network node (200).

30. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, The reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements define transmission hypothesis indications.

31. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, Each reference signal in the first reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource set is a non-zero power reference signal.

32. A network node (200) for acquiring channel measurement and interference measurement data, the network node (200) including processing circuitry (210) configured such that the network node (200): Configure the first terminal device (300a) to perform and report channel measurements for a first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for a second reference signal resource set; The first reference signal resource set is transmitted in the first beam set and the second reference signal resource set is transmitted in the second beam set; Reports of the channel measurement and the interference measurement are received from the first terminal device (300a), wherein, The interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set; as well as Based on the report of the interference measurement, the level of interference to the first terminal device (300a) is estimated due to the selection of a beam from the second beam set for data and / or control signaling to the second terminal device (300b).

33. A network node (200) for acquiring channel measurement and interference measurement data, the network node (200) comprising: A configuration module (210b) is configured to configure a first terminal device (300a) to perform and report channel measurements for a first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for a second reference signal resource set; The transmitting module (210c) is configured to transmit the first reference signal resource set in a first beam set and transmit the second reference signal resource set in a second beam set; A receiving module (210d) is configured to receive reports of the channel measurement and the interference measurement from the first terminal device (300a), wherein the interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources; as well as An estimation module (210f) is configured to estimate, based on the report of the interference measurement, the level of interference to the first terminal device (300a) caused by selecting a beam from the second beam set for data and / or control signaling to the second terminal device (300b).

34. The network node (200) according to claim 32 or 33, further configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 2 to 12.

35. A terminal device (300a) for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting, the terminal device (300a) including processing circuitry (310) configured to cause the terminal device (300a): Receive configuration from network node (200) to implement and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set; The system receives the first reference signal resource set transmitted in the first beam set and the second reference signal resource set transmitted in the second beam set, and performs channel measurement on the first reference signal resource set and interference measurement on the second reference signal resource set. The network node (200) is provided with reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements, wherein, The interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements on at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set; as well as Beam weights are determined based on the channel measurements and the interference measurements.

36. A terminal device (300a) for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting, said terminal device (300a) comprising: The first receiving module (310b) is configured to receive configuration from the network node (200) to perform and report channel measurements for a first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for a second reference signal resource set; The second receiving module (310c) is configured to receive the first reference signal resource set transmitted in the first beam set and the second reference signal resource set transmitted in the second beam set, and to perform channel measurement on the first reference signal resource set and interference measurement on the second reference signal resource set. A providing module (310e) is configured to provide the network node (200) with reports of the channel measurements and the interference measurements, wherein the interference measurements are reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second set of reference signal resources; as well as The determination module (310d) is configured to determine beam weights based on the channel measurements and the interference measurements.

37. The terminal device (300a) according to claim 35 or 36, further configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 14 to 31.

38. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program (1220a) for acquiring channel measurements and interference measurements, the computer program including computer code that, when run on processing circuitry (210) of a network node (200), causes the network node (200) to: Configure (S104) the first terminal device (300a) to perform and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set; Transmit the first reference signal resource set in the first beam set (S106) and transmit the second reference signal resource set in the second beam set (S106); The first terminal device (300a) receives (S108) a report of the channel measurement and the interference measurement, wherein the interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set; as well as Based on the report of the interference measurement, estimate (S112) the level of interference to the first terminal device (300a) caused by selecting a beam from the second beam set for data and / or control signaling to the second terminal device (300b).

39. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program (1220b) for channel measurement and interference measurement reporting, the computer program including computer code that, when executed on a processing circuitry (310) of a terminal device (300a), causes the terminal device (300a) to: Receive (S204) configuration from network node (200) to implement and report channel measurements for the first reference signal resource set and interference measurements for the second reference signal resource set; Receive (S206) the first reference signal resource set transmitted in the first beam set and the second reference signal resource set transmitted in the second beam set, and perform channel measurement on the first reference signal resource set and interference measurement on the second reference signal resource set; The network node (200) is provided with (S210) a report of the channel measurement and the interference measurement, wherein the interference measurement is reported as a function of measurements of at least two reference signal resources in the second reference signal resource set; as well as The beam weights are determined (S208) based on the channel measurements and the interference measurements.

40. A computer program product (1210a, 1210b) comprising a computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 38 and 39 and a computer program stored on said computer-readable storage medium.

Images