Method, user equipment and integrated circuit for multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI

Abstract

Various UE operations are performed when a user equipment (UE) is in a multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) configuration based on multiple downlink control information (multi-DCI). The operations receive one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of a first gNB or a second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns, and based on the indication of the CORESET pool, apply the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

Description

Background Art

[0001] The multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) functionality in 5G New Radio (NR) involves the UE maintaining multiple links with multiple TRPs (e.g., multiple gNBs) simultaneously on the same carrier. Multi-TRP operation can be single downlink control information (DCI) based or multi-DCI based. In single-DCI based multi-TRP operation, a single DCI on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can be used to schedule the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on multiple carriers. In multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCI, multiple DCIs on the PDCCH on multiple carriers can be used to schedule the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on multiple carriers. Summary of the invention

[0002] Some exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a user equipment (UE) having simultaneous connections with a first next-generation Node B (gNB) and a second gNB on the same carrier in a multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) configuration based on multiple downlink control information (multi-DCI). The method includes receiving one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of the first gNB or the second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns, and applying the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) based on the indication of the CORESET pool.

[0003] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) having a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to connect to a first next generation node B (gNB) and a second gNB on the same carrier in a multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) configuration based on multiple downlink control information (multi-DCI). The processor is configured to receive one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of the first gNB or the second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns, and based on the indication of the CORESET pool, apply the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0004] Additional exemplary embodiments relate to an integrated circuit configured for use in a user equipment (UE) having simultaneous connections with a first next-generation Node B (gNB) and a second gNB on the same carrier in a multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) configuration based on multiple downlink control information (multi-DCI). The integrated circuit includes circuitry configured to receive one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of the first gNB or the second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns, and circuitry configured to apply the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) based on the indication of the CORESET pool. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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

[0007] FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C Three examples of cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0008] Figure 4 An exemplary method for selecting a default hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback mode when a UE is in multi-DCI based multi-TRP operation according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0009] Figure 5 An exemplary method for selecting a default transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for a non-periodic channel state indication reference signal (AP-CSI-RS) when a UE is in a multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCIs according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 6 Exemplary methods of selecting a default physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) beam and path loss reference signal (RS) according to various exemplary embodiments are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and related drawings, in which similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe various solutions for UE in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI.

[0012] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to UE. However, reference to UE is provided for illustration purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be used with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, UE described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

[0013] In addition, the exemplary embodiments are described with reference to a 5G New Radio (NR) cellular network. However, reference to a 5G NR network is provided for illustration purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be used with any network that implements the functionality described herein for UE capability reporting. Thus, a 5G NR network as described herein may represent any network that includes the functionality described herein for a 5G NR network.

[0014] The multi-transmission reception point (multi-TRP) functionality involves the UE maintaining multiple links with multiple TRPs (e.g., multiple gNBs) simultaneously on the same carrier. As described above, when operating in multi-TRPs, the UE can be in single DCI or multi-DCI mode. An exemplary embodiment relates to a UE in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI.

[0015] The multi-DCI mode may have various characteristics. For example, each TRP may be scheduled by a control resource set (CORESET) with a corresponding CORESETPoolIndex from {0,1} (e.g., there are two CORESET pools). When CORESETPoolIndex is not configured, it may be assumed to be 0. A maximum of 3 CORESETs per bandwidth part (BWP) may be configured for each CORESETPoolIndex, and a total of up to 5 CORESETs per BWP may be configured. The two (2) physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) may be full / partial / non-overlapping. In addition, hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback supports both separate and joint feedback modes with up to two (2) codewords (CWs) and 16 HARQ processes.

[0016] Based on these characteristics of multi-DCI operation, there are several issues that need to be addressed for efficient multi-DCI operation. These include cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching pattern design, default R for pdcch-BlindDetectionCA capability reporting (which will be described in more detail below), default HARQ-ACK feedback mode, default transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for aperiodic channel state indication reference signal (AP-CSI-RS), default physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) default beam and path loss RS, and conflicts between multi-DCI and single DCI configurations. The exemplary implementation solves each of these problems.

[0017] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a user equipment (UE) 110. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a UE may be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a tablet phone, an embedded device, a wearable device, a Cat-M device, a Cat-M1 device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, other types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for purposes of illustration, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0018] UE 110 can communicate directly with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which UE 110 can wirelessly communicate are 5G NR radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. Therefore, UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset that communicates with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset that communicates with LTE-RAN122, and an ISM chipset that communicates with WLAN 124. However, UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., legacy cellular networks), and UE 110 may also communicate with the network via a wired connection. With respect to an exemplary embodiment, UE 110 may establish a connection with 5G NR RAN 122.

[0019] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be part of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0020] UE 110 may be connected to 5G NR-RAN via at least one of next generation Node B (gNB) 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNB 120A, 120B may be configured with necessary hardware (e.g., antenna array), software and / or firmware to perform massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) functionality. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. Reference to two gNBs 120A, 120B is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be applied to any appropriate number of gNBs. Specifically, UE 110 may be connected to and exchange data with multiple gNBs 120A, gNB 120B simultaneously in a multi-cell CA configuration or a multi-TRP configuration. UE 110 may also be connected to LTE-RAN 122 via either or both of eNBs 122A, 122B, or to any other type of RAN, as described above. UE 110 is shown in network arrangement 100 as being simultaneously connected to gNB 120A and gNB 120B. The connections to gNB 120A, gNB 120B may be, for example, multi-TRP connections, where gNB 120A, gNB 120B both serve UE 110 on the same channel.

[0021] In addition to the networks 120, 122, and 124, the network arrangement 100 includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be viewed as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 can be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 can communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network service backbone 160 can be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0022] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, a sensor for detecting the status of the UE 110, and the like.

[0023] The processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engine may include a multi-DCI, multi-TRP engine 235. In a multi-DCI based multi-TRP operation, the multi-DCI, multi-TRP engine 235 may perform operations to address the issues identified above with respect to the UE. Specific operations will be described in more detail below.

[0024] The above-described engine as an application (e.g., program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engine may also be represented as an independently integrated component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, such as an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving a signal and a processing circuit for processing the signal and other information. The engine may also be embodied as an application or multiple separate applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0025] The memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables a user to perform input. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G-NR RAN 120, the LTE RAN 122, etc. Therefore, the transceiver 225 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous frequency group).

[0026] As described above, the first problem to be solved by the UE in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI includes the CRS rate matching pattern design. CRS rate matching is used for the NR physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to rate match the LTE CRS at the resource element (RE) level to allow LTE and NR to coexist in the same channel. In an exemplary embodiment, each cell can support up to (6) CRS patterns. If it is known that LTE supports up to 20MHz carriers and NR supports up to 100MHz carriers, up to (3) CRS patterns can be included in the frequency domain in the same cell. If it is known that NR supports multi-TRP operation, up to two (2) CRS patterns per frequency range can also be included.

[0027] FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C Three examples of CRS rate matching patterns according to various exemplary embodiments are shown. For a single serving cell, a design consideration for the CRS rate matching pattern may be that the cell indicates to which TRP belongs (CORESETPoolIndex).

[0028] Figure 3A A first exemplary CRS rate matching pattern 300 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. In this example, each CRS pattern 301-306 may be configured. This may include information for each pattern, such as including v-Shift of LTE CRS, number of LTE CRS ports, LTE downlink carrier frequency, LTE downlink carrier bandwidth, LTE Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) subframe configuration, and CORSETPoolIndex.

[0029] Figure 3B A second exemplary CRS rate matching pattern 320 is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. In this example, two (2) groups 325, 330 of CRS patterns may be configured. Each CRS pattern group may include a CORSETPoolIndex, e.g., CRS pattern group 325 may have a CORSETPoolIndex{0} and CRS pattern group 330 may have a CORSETPoolIndex{1}. Each CRS pattern group 325, 330 may also include a series of CRS patterns, e.g., CRS patterns 326-329 for CRS pattern group 325 and CRS patterns 331-333 for CRS pattern group 330. Each CRS pattern may include the CRS patterns described above with respect to Figure 3A However, in this example, CORSETPoolIndex may not be included because this information is known based on the CRS pattern group 325, 330 to which the CRS pattern belongs.

[0030] Figure 3CA third exemplary CRS rate matching pattern 340 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. In this example, a new CRS pattern list corresponding to a secondary TRP is configured. As described above, each cell can support (3) CRS patterns in the frequency domain. Thus, a primary cell (e.g., gNB 120A) can support a CRS pattern list 365 including CRS patterns 366-368. A new CRS pattern list 370 including CRS patterns 371-373 can be configured to correspond to a secondary TRP (e.g., gNB120B).

[0031] There may be a situation where multiple CRS rate matching modes are configured for each TRP. CORESETPoolIndex can only take values ​​of 0, 1 or not be configured. In addition, as described above, each CORESETPoolIndex can have up to three (3) CRS rate matching modes configured. CORESETPoolIndex can be configured explicitly or implicitly. In the explicit case, the explicit configuration will be used. In the implicit case, for example, CORESETPoolIndex is not configured, CORESETPoolIndex can be assumed to be 0. There are exceptions to this assumption. When there are already three (3) CRS rate matching modes explicitly configured with CORESETPoolIndex=0 (for example, the maximum number of CRS rate matching modes per CORESETPoolIndex), CORESETPoolIndex can be assumed to be 1.

[0032] As described above, the second problem that the UE has to solve in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI is the default R of the pdcch-BlindDetectionCA capability report. This refers to the UE capability regarding blind detection and non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs) in carrier aggregation (CA) operation. The DCI to be transmitted to UE 110 on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can be mapped to a specific control channel element (CCE). However, a subframe may include DCI that is not relevant to UE 110, and UE 110 may not know where the DCI for UE 110 is located within the subframe. Therefore, UE 110 may be configured to find DCI related to UE 110 within a subframe by monitoring and blindly decoding a specific group of PDCCH candidates (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive CCEs on which the PDDCH for UE 110 can be mapped).

[0033] For PDCCH decoding, the actual number of blind decoding and non-overlapping CCEs is controlled by the network in a parameter labeled BDFactorR or γ. UE 110 may report its R factor along with another parameter labeled pdcch-BlindDetectionCA, which may be set to a value of {1,2}. When UE 110 reports pdcch-BlindDetectionCA, UE 110 may indicate BDFactorR as γ=1 or γ=R.

[0034] However, when UE 110 does not report the pdcch-BlindDetectionCA parameter or when the UE does not report R, the default value of R will be used. The exemplary embodiments provide various ways to determine the default value of R. In the first example, UE 110 is required to report its R value {1,2}. Therefore, there is no situation where a default value is needed because UE 110 will always report the R value. In the second exemplary embodiment, it can be considered that the default value is {1}. In the third exemplary embodiment, it can be considered that the default value is {2}.

[0035] As mentioned above, the third problem that the UE has to solve in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI is the default HARQ-ACK feedback mode. For multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI, the UE can be configured as one of two different HARQ-ACK feedback modes. The first HARQ-ACK feedback mode can be referred to as "joint feedback", in which the HARQ-ACK from two (2) PDSCHs is fed back in the same HARQ-ACK codebook. The second HARQ-ACK feedback mode can be referred to as "separate feedback", in which the HARQ-ACK from two (2) PDSCHs is fed back in a separate HARQ-ACK codebook carried by two (2) separate PUCCHs.

[0036] Figure 4 An exemplary method 400 of selecting a default HARQ-ACK feedback mode when UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In 410, UE 110 determines whether UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI. Multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI is characterized in that at least one CORESET is configured to have no CORESETPoolIndex or to have a CORESETPoolIndex=0, and at least another CORESET is configured to have CORESETPoolIndex=1. If UE 110 is not in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI, method 400 ends.

[0037] If the UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI, the method 400 proceeds to 420, where the UE 110 determines whether it supports the separate feedback HARQ-ACK mode. If the UE 110 supports the separate feedback HARQ-ACK mode, the method 400 proceeds to 440, where the default HARQ feedback mode can be set to "separate feedback". If it is determined in 420 that the UE 110 does not support the separate feedback HARQ-ACK mode, but the UE supports the joint HARQ-ACK mode, the method proceeds to 430, where the default HARQ-ACK feedback mode can be set to "joint feedback". Therefore, at the end of the method 400, the default HARQ-ACK feedback mode is set for the UE 110.

[0038] As mentioned above, the fourth problem that the UE needs to solve in the multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI is the default transmission configuration indication (TCI) state of the non-periodic channel state indication reference signal (AP-CSI-RS). Figure 5 An exemplary method 500 for selecting a default TCI state for AP-CSI-RS when UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCIs according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In 510, UE 110 determines whether UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCIs. Operation 510 is the same as operation 410 described above. If UE 110 is not in multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCIs, method 500 ends.

[0039] If the UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI, the method 500 proceeds to 520, where the UE 110 determines whether the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot has a configured CORESETPoolIndex. If the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot has a configured CORESETPoolIndex, the method 500 proceeds to 540, where the default TCI state of the AP-CSI-RS can be set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET-ID in the same CORESET pool as the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot. In this case, the CORESETPoolIndex is the same as the CORESET from which the UE 110 decoded the DCI that triggered the AP-CS-RS. If it is determined in 520 that the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot does not have a configured CORESETPoolIndex, the method proceeds to 530, where the default TCI state of the AP-CSI-RS can be set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET-ID in CORESETPoolIndex{0}. Thus, at the end of method 500, the default TCI state of the AP-CSI-RS is set for the UE 110.

[0040] As mentioned above, the fifth problem that the UE has to solve in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI is the default physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) beam and path loss RS. Figure 6 An exemplary method 600 for selecting a default PUCCH beam and path loss RS according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In 610, UE 110 determines whether UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCI. Operation 610 is the same as operation 410 described above. If UE 110 is not in multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCI, method 600 ends.

[0041] If the UE 110 is in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI, the method 600 proceeds to 620, where the UE 110 determines whether the PUCCH has been scheduled by the DCI. If the PUCCH has not been scheduled by the DCI, the method proceeds to 630, where a default TCI state and path loss RS for the PUCCH can be set based on the most recent PDCCH reception by the UE 110 in the CORESET with the lowest ID on the active downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) of the primary cell (PCell) (e.g., gNB 120A).

[0042] If the PUCCH has not been scheduled by the DCI, the method proceeds to 640, where the UE 110 determines whether the CORESET in which the DCI has been decoded has a configured CORESETPoolIndex. If the CORESET in which the DCI has been decoded has a configured CORESETPoolIndex, the method 600 proceeds to 660, where the default TCI state and path loss (PL) RS for the PUCCH may be set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET-ID in the same CORESET pool as the CORESET in which the DCI has been decoded. In this case, the CORESETPoolIndex is the same as the CORESET from which the UE 110 decoded the DCI that triggered the PUCCH. If it is determined in 640 that the CORESET in which the DCI has been decoded does not have a configured CORESETPoolIndex, the method proceeds to 650, where the default TCI state and path loss RS for the PUCCH may be set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET-ID in the CORESETPoolIndex{0}. Thus, at the end of method 600, a default TCI state and path loss RS for PUCCH is set for UE 110.

[0043] As described above, the sixth problem to be solved by the UE in the multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI is to resolve the conflict between multi-DCI and single DCI configurations. UE 110 can be configured for both multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI and multi-TRP operation based on single DCI at the same time. As described above, when at least one CORESET is configured to have no CORESETPoolIndex or to have CORESETPoolIndex=0 and at least another CORESET is configured to have CORESETPoolIndex=1, UE 110 can be configured in multi-TRP operation based on multi-DCI. When the medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) activates at least one TCI code point with 2 TCI states and / or the radio resource control (RRC) signaling configures the RepNumR16 parameter in at least one entry in the PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation, the UE 110 can be configured in multi-TRP operation based on a single DCI. The RepNumR16 parameter indicates to the UE 110 that it may be receiving multiple TCI states corresponding to the multi-TRP operation. Therefore, if UE 110 is configured with both multi-DCI based and single-DCI based multi-TRP configurations, UE 110 may need to resolve the conflict.

[0044] There may be several ways to resolve this conflict. In a first exemplary embodiment, UE 110 may consider simultaneous multi-DCI-based and single-DCI-based multi-TRP configuration to be an error case. In this exemplary embodiment, the behavior of UE 110 may be unspecified. In a second exemplary embodiment, when UE 110 is configured with simultaneous multi-DCI-based and single-DCI-based multi-TRP, UE 110 may not monitor the DCI scheduling from the CORESET in CORESETPoolIndex=1, for example, UE 110 will only monitor the DCI scheduling for the primary cell.

[0045] In a third exemplary embodiment, when UE 110 is configured with simultaneous multi-DCI-based and single-DCI-based multi-TRPs, UE 110 may ignore the single-DCI-based multi-TRP configuration and operate only in multi-DCI-based multi-TRP operation. In a fourth exemplary embodiment, when UE 110 is configured with simultaneous multi-DCI-based and single-DCI-based multi-TRPs, UE 110 may ignore the multi-DCI-based multi-TRP configuration and operate only in single-DCI-based multi-TRP operation.

[0046] Therefore, the above exemplary embodiments provide various solutions to problems related to UEs in multi-TRP operations based on multi-DCI.

[0047] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0048] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention.

[0049] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0050] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: In a multiple transmission reception point configuration based on multiple downlink control information, i.e., a multiple TRP configuration based on multiple DCIs, at a user equipment UE having simultaneous connections with a first next-generation Node B gNB and a second gNB on the same carrier: receiving one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of the first gNB or the second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns; applying the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) based on the indication of the CORESET pool; Determine whether a physical uplink control channel PUCCH is scheduled by DCI; When the PUCCH is scheduled by the DCI, determining whether a CORESET from which the DCI is decoded has a configured CORESET pool; When the CORESET from which the DCI is decoded has a configured CORESET pool, setting a default transmission configuration indicating TCI state and path loss reference signal to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET identity among the CORESETs having the same CORESET pool indication as the DCI triggering PUCCH transmission in the most recent PDCCH monitoring timeslot; as well as When the CORESET from which the DCI is decoded does not have a configured CORESET pool, the default TCI state and path loss reference signal are set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET identity in the predefined CORESET pool.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more CRS rate matching modes are grouped based on the CORESET pool to which each of the one or more CRS rate matching modes belongs, wherein the indication is based at least on the group to which each of the one or more CRS rate matching modes belongs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns are grouped corresponding to the first gNB or the second gNB. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication is one of an explicit indication or an implicit indication.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein when the indication is the implicit indication, the method further comprises: When the first predefined pool has less than a maximum number of CRS rate matching patterns, determining the CORESET pool as the first predefined pool; as well as When the first predefined pool has the maximum number of CRS rate matching patterns, the CORESET pool is determined to be a second predefined pool.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the UE is configured to perform a first number of blind decoding operations or a second number of channel estimation operations on non-overlapping control channel elements CCE of DCI in a physical downlink control channel PDCCH based on a parameter, wherein the value of the parameter is one of the following: (i) reported by the UE to one of the first gNB or the second gNB; or (ii) a predefined value.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the UE supports a separate hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback mode, wherein each of the first gNB and the second gNB provides separate HARQ-ACK feedback to the UE; When the UE supports the separate HARQ-ACK feedback mode, setting the default HARQ-ACK feedback mode to the separate HARQ-ACK feedback mode; as well as When the UE does not support the separate HARQ-ACK feedback mode, the default HARQ-ACK feedback mode is set to a joint HARQ-ACK feedback mode, wherein the first gNB and the second gNB jointly provide HARQ-ACK feedback to the UE.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine whether the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot has a configured CORESET pool; When the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot has the configured CORESET pool, setting the default TCI state of the aperiodic channel state indication reference signal AP-CSI-RS to the CORESET with the lowest CORSET identifier among the CORESETs having the same CORESET pool indication as the DCI triggering the corresponding AP-CSI-RS; as well as When the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot does not have the configured CORESET pool, the default TCI state of AP-CSI-RS is set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET identity in the predefined CORESET pool.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: When the PUCCH is not scheduled by the DCI, a default transmission configuration indicating a TCI state and a path loss reference signal is set based on a CORESET with a lowest CORESET identifier in an active bandwidth portion of one of the first gNB and the second gNB designated as a primary cell.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determining whether the UE is in the multi-TRP configuration based on multiple DCIs and the multi-TRP configuration based on single DCI at the same time; as well as Perform one of the following: (i) placing the UE in an error state, (ii) omitting monitoring of the DCI corresponding to the predefined CORESET pool, (iii) ignoring the single DCI configuration and operating in the multi-TRP operation based on the multi-DCI, or (iv) ignoring the multi-DCI configuration and operating in the multi-TRP operation based on the single DCI.

11. A user equipment UE, comprising: a transceiver configured to connect to a first next generation Node B gNB and a second gNB on the same carrier in a multiple transmission reception point configuration based on multiple downlink control information, i.e., a multi-TRP configuration based on multiple DCIs; and A processor, the processor being configured to: receiving one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of the first gNB or the second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns, applying the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH based on the indication of the CORESET pool, Determine whether the physical uplink control channel PUCCH is scheduled by DCI, When the PUCCH is scheduled by the DCI, determining whether a CORESET from which the DCI is decoded has a configured CORESET pool, When the CORESET from which the DCI is decoded has a configured CORESET pool, setting the default transmission configuration indicating TCI state and path loss reference signal to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET identity among the CORESETs having the same CORESET pool indication as the DCI that triggered PUCCH transmission in the most recent PDCCH monitoring slot, and When the CORESET from which the DCI is decoded does not have a configured CORESET pool, the default TCI state and path loss reference signal are set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET identity in the predefined CORESET pool.

12. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching modes are one of: (i) grouping the one or more CRS rate matching modes based on the CORESET pool to which each of the one or more CRS rate matching modes belongs, wherein the indication is based at least on the group to which each of the one or more CRS rate matching modes belongs, or (ii) grouping the one or more CRS rate matching modes corresponding to the first gNB or the second gNB.

13. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the indication is one of an explicit indication or an implicit indication, and wherein when the indication is the implicit indication, the UE is further configured to: When the first predefined pool has less than a maximum number of CRS rate matching patterns, determining the CORESET pool as the first predefined pool, and When the first predefined pool has the maximum number of CRS rate matching patterns, the CORESET pool is determined as the second predefined pool.

14. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the UE is configured to perform multiple blind decoding operations for DCI in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on a parameter, wherein a value of the parameter is one of: (i) reported by the UE to one of the first gNB or the second gNB; or (ii) a predefined value.

15. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: determining whether the UE supports a separate hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback mode, wherein each of the first gNB and the second gNB provides separate HARQ-ACK feedback to the UE, When the UE supports the separate HARQ-ACK feedback mode, setting a default HARQ-ACK feedback mode to the separate HARQ-ACK feedback mode; and When the UE does not support the separate HARQ-ACK feedback mode, the default HARQ-ACK feedback mode is set to a joint HARQ-ACK feedback mode, wherein the first gNB and the second gNB jointly provide HARQ-ACK feedback to the UE.

16. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: Determine whether the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot has a configured CORESET pool; When the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot has the configured CORESET pool, setting the default TCI state of the aperiodic channel state indication reference signal AP-CSI-RS to the CORESET with the lowest CORSET identifier among the CORESETs having the same CORESET pool indication as the DCI triggering the corresponding AP-CSI-RS; and When the CORESET in the most recently monitored PDCCH slot does not have the configured CORESET pool, the default TCI state of AP-CSI-RS is set to the CORESET with the lowest CORESET identity in the predefined CORESET pool.

17. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: Determining whether the UE is in the multi-TRP configuration based on multiple DCIs and the multi-TRP configuration based on single DCI at the same time; and Perform one of the following: (i) placing the UE in an error state, (ii) omitting monitoring of the DCI corresponding to the predefined CORESET pool, (iii) ignoring the single DCI configuration and operating in the multi-TRP operation based on the multi-DCI, or (iv) ignoring the multi-DCI configuration and operating in the multi-TRP operation based on the single DCI.

18. An integrated circuit configured for use in a user equipment UE having simultaneous connections with a first next generation Node B gNB and a second gNB on the same carrier in a multiple transmission reception point configuration based on multiple downlink control information, i.e., a multi-TRP configuration based on multiple DCIs, the integrated circuit comprising: a circuit configured to receive one or more cell reference signal (CRS) rate matching patterns from one of the first gNB or the second gNB, wherein the one or more CRS rate matching patterns include an indication of a control resource set (CORESET) pool for each of the one or more CRS rate matching patterns; a circuit configured to apply the one or more CRS rate matching patterns to a CORESET of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) based on the indication of the CORESET pool; A circuit configured to determine whether a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, is scheduled by a DCI; a circuit configured to, when the PUCCH is scheduled by the DCI, determine whether a CORESET from which the DCI is decoded has a configured CORESET pool; circuitry configured to, when the CORESET from which the DCI is decoded has a configured CORESET pool, set a default transmission configuration indicating a TCI state and a path loss reference signal to a CORESET with a lowest CORESET identity among CORESETs having the same CORESET pool indication as the DCI triggering PUCCH transmission in a most recent PDCCH monitoring timeslot; as well as Circuitry configured to set the default TCI state and path loss reference signal to a CORESET with a lowest CORESET identity in a predefined CORESET pool when the CORESET from which the DCI is decoded does not have a configured CORESET pool.

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