PDCCH diversity based on a single CORESET over multiple TRPs

Abstract

Systems and methods for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) diversity based on a single control resource set (CORESET) across multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs) are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication device includes: receiving messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of the CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of resource elements and a second set of resource elements (REs) respectively associated with the first TCI state and the second TCI state; and receiving a configuration of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of one or more aggregation levels (ALs) in a search space (SS) set. Each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first set of REs and the second set of REs. The method further includes receiving downlink control information (DCI) carried by (a) a single PDCCH from a PDCCH candidate or (b) a first repetition and a second repetition of PDCCHs from the first set of REs and the second set of REs, respectively.

Description

[0001] Related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to provisional patent application serial number 63 / 029,050, filed on May 22, 2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to multiple transmit / receive point (TRP) transmissions of the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in a wireless network. Background Technology

[0004] Next-generation mobile wireless communication systems (5G), or new radio (NR), will support a different set of use cases and a different set of deployment scenarios. The latter includes low-frequency (below 6 GHz) and very high-frequency (up to tens of GHz) deployments.

[0005] NR frame structure and resource grid

[0006] NR uses Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in both the downlink (i.e., from the network node gNB or base station to the user equipment or UE) and the uplink (i.e., from the UE to the gNB). The uplink also supports Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) Extended Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). In the time domain, NR downlink and uplink are organized into equal-sized subframes, each 1 millisecond (ms). Subframes are further divided into multiple time slots of equal duration. The time slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. The subcarrier spacing is kilohertz (kHz), each subframe has only one time slot, and each time slot consists of 14 OFDM symbols.

[0007] Data scheduling in NR is typically based on time slots. Figure 1 The example shown is a 14-symbol time slot, where the first two symbols contain the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), while the remaining symbols contain the Physical Shared Data Channel, Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0008] NR supports different subcarrier spacing values. The supported subcarrier spacing values ​​(also known as different datasets) are determined by... Given, among which, . This is the basic subcarrier spacing. The time slot duration for different subcarrier spacings is determined by... Provided.

[0009] In the frequency domain, the system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs), each corresponding to 12 consecutive subcarriers. RBs are numbered starting from 0 at one end of the system bandwidth. Figure 2 The basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid is shown, with only one RB shown within 14 symbol slots. One OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval forms one resource element (RE).

[0010] Downlink (DL) transmission can be dynamically scheduled. That is, in each time slot, the gNB transmits downlink control information (DCI) via the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). This downlink control information is about which UE will transmit data to and on which RB in the current downlink time slot. UE data is carried on the PDSCH.

[0011] Three DCI formats are defined for scheduling PDSCH in NR: DCI format 1_0, DCI format 1_1, and DCI format 1_2. DCI format 1_0 has the smallest size and can be used when the UE is not fully connected to the network, while DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule MIMO transmissions with two transport blocks (TB). DCI format 1_2 supports configurable sizes for some fields in the DCI, allowing for a smaller DCI size than DCI format 1_1.

[0012] In the downlink, the UE first detects and decodes the PDCCH. If the decoding is successful, it then decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the control information decoded in the PDCCH.

[0013] Similar to the downlink, the UE first decodes the uplink license in the PDCCH, and then transmits data on the PUSCH based on the decoded control information (such as modulation order, coding rate, uplink resource allocation, etc.) in the uplink license.

[0014] Quasi-parallel and Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) status

[0015] Several signals can be transmitted from different antenna ports of the same base station. These signals may have the same large-scale characteristics, such as Doppler frequency shift / spread, average delay spread, or average delay. These antenna ports are called quasi-in-place (QCL).

[0016] If the UE knows that both antenna ports are QCLs with respect to a certain parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the UE can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and apply that estimate to receive signals on the other antenna port. Typically, the first antenna port is represented by a measurement reference signal, such as a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) or a Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) Block (SSB), which is called the Source Reference Signal (RS), and the second antenna port is a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), which is called the Target RS.

[0017] For example, if antenna ports A and B have a QCL relative to the average delay, the UE can estimate the average delay based on the signal received from antenna port A, and assume that the signal received from antenna port B has the same average delay. This is useful for demodulation because the UE can know the channel properties in advance, which, for example, helps the UE select an appropriate channel estimation filter.

[0018] The network signals to the UE about what assumptions can be made regarding QCL. In NR, four types of QCL relationships are defined between the source RS and the destination RS:

[0019] Type A: {Doppler frequency shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}

[0020] Type B: {Doppler frequency shift, Doppler spread}

[0021] Type C: {Average delay, Doppler shift}

[0022] Type D: {Spatial Rx parameter}

[0023] QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management with analog beamforming and is referred to as spatial QCL. There is currently no strict definition of spatial QCL, but it is understood that if two transmit antenna ports are spatial QCL, the UE can use the same receive (Rx) beam to receive them.

[0024] For dynamic beamforming and / or transmit / receive point (TRP) selection, depending on the UE's capabilities, the UE can be configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to have up to 128 Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states for PDSCH in frequency range 2 (FR2) and up to 8 TCI states for PDSCH in frequency range 1 (FR1). In NR, FR1 refers to frequencies between 410 MHz and 7125 MHz, while FR2 refers to frequencies between 24250 MHz and 52600 MHz.

[0025] Each TCI state contains QCL information, namely one or two source DL RSs, each associated with a QCL type. For example, a TCI state contains a pair of reference signals, each associated with a QCL type. For instance, two different CSI-RSs {CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2} are configured in the TCI state as {qcl-Type1, qcl-Type2} = {Type A, Type D}. This means the UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread from CSI-RS1, and derive the spatial Rx parameters (i.e., the Rx beam to be used) from CSI-RS2.

[0026] The list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE.

[0027] For PDSCH transmission, up to eight different TCI states can be activated and mapped to eight TCI code points in the DCI, where each code point can be mapped to one or two different TCI states. The TCI code points in the DCI can dynamically indicate to the UE one or two active TCI states for PDSCH reception. The UE will use the TCI states to determine the PDSCH antenna port quasi-synchronization based on the value of the "Transmission Configuration Indicator" field in the detected PDCCH with DCI.

[0028] Default TCI State: If no TCI code point is mapped to more than one TCI state, and the offset between the received DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL configured by the higher layer, the UE may assume that the DM-RS port of the PDSCH is quasi-co-located with the RS in the active TCI state for the control resource set (CORESET) with the lowest CORESET-ID in the most recent time slot, in which the UE monitors one or more CORESETs within the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell.

[0029] If the offset between the received DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, and at least one configured TCI state of the serving cell of the scheduled PDSCH contains 'QCL type D', and at least one TCI code point indicates two TCI states, then the UE may assume that the DM-RS port of the PDSCH is quasi-in-place with the RS relative to the QCL parameter associated with the TCI state, which corresponds to the lowest code point among the TCI code points containing two different TCI states.

[0030] CORESET and Search Space

[0031] The UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates from one or more cores on an active DL BWP configured for PDCCH monitoring on each active serving cell, based on the corresponding search space set. PDCCH monitoring means decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format. A PDCCH candidate can occupy one or more control channel elements (CCEs), and the number of CCEs for a PDCCH candidate is also called the aggregation level (AL). NR supports 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 ALs. A set of PDCCH candidates for the UE to be monitored is defined according to the PDCCH search space set. The search space set can be a common search space (CSS) set or a UE-specific search space (USS) set. Each BWP can configure up to 10 search spaces for the UE to monitor PDCCH candidates.

[0032] CORESET is derived from the frequency domain In each resource block and time domain It consists of a series of consecutive OFDM symbols. For each DL BWP configured for a UE in the serving cell, it can be provided to the UE via higher-layer signaling. Each CORESET. For each CORESET, a CORESET Information Element (IE) is configured for the UE via RRC signaling. This CORESET Information Element includes the following:

[0033] • CORESET Index ,

[0034] • Initialization values ​​for the DM-RS scrambling sequence;

[0035] • Precoder granularity of multiple resource element groups (REGs) in the frequency domain, where the UE may assume that the same DM-RS precoder is used;

[0036] • Multiple consecutive symbols;

[0037] A group of RB

[0038] • CCE to REG mapping parameters (interlaced or non-interlaced);

[0039] • A list of up to 64 TCI states can be configured in CORESET p. These TCI states are used to provide the QCL relationship between the source DL RS and the PDCCH DMRS port (i.e., the DMRS port used for PDCCH received in one of the search spaces defined on CORESET p) in a TCI state RS set. The source DL RS can be a CSI-RS or an SSB;

[0040] • An indication of the presence or absence of the TCI field for DCI format 1_1 transmitted by the PDCCH in CORESET p. This is done via the field 'tci-PresentInDCI'. If the 'tci-PresentInDCI' field is not present in the CORESET IE corresponding to CORESET p, the UE assumes the TCI field is absent / disabled when scheduling is completed via DCI format 1_1. The corresponding field used to indicate the presence or absence of the TCI field for DCI format 1_2 is given by 'tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCIFormat1_2'.

[0041] For each CORESET, the Media Access Control (MAC) element (CE) in the NR activates only one TCI state in the TCI state list. The activated TCI state indicates the quasi-synchronous information of the DMRS antenna port used for PDCCH reception in the CORESET.

[0042] A CCE consists of 6 REGs, where, during an OFDM symbol period, a REG is equal to a RE in an RB. REGs in a CORESET are numbered in ascending order in time priority, starting from 0 for the first OFDM symbol in the CORESET and the lowest-numbered RB. REGs are further arranged in REG packets (REGBs), each REG packet can have 2, 3, or 6 REGs, depending on the number of OFDM symbols configured for the CORESET (i.e., for...). For 2 or 6 REGs; (3 or 6 REGs). Before being mapped to the CCE, REG packets can be configured as interleaved or non-interleaved by higher-layer signaling. For a CORESET with 2 OFDM symbols and 48 RBs, Figure 3 An example of a non-interleaved REG packet is shown, i.e., a non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping. It should be noted that for a non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping, only a REG packet size of 6 REGs is applicable, and in this case, each CCE is mapped to 6 consecutive REGs.

[0043] Figure 4 An example of interleaved REG packets is shown, i.e., an interleaved CCE to REG mapping, for Figure 3 The same CORESET is used, with an interleaving size of 3 and a REG packet size of 2 REGs. It should be noted that in this case, each CCE is mapped to 3 REG packets (i.e., 6 REGs), distributed across different RBs in the frequency domain. This achieves better frequency diversity compared to the non-interleaved case.

[0044] The precoding granularity in the CORESET can be configured as "sameAsREG-bundle" or "allContiguousRBs". When configured as "sameAsREG-bundle", the UE assumes that all DMRSs in the REG packet are precoded identically and can therefore be used together for channel estimation within the REG packet. It should be noted that the REG packet always contains one or more consecutive RBs. When configured as "allContiguousRBs", the UE assumes that all DMRSs in a set of consecutive RBs in the CORESET are precoded identically and can therefore be used together for channel estimation within the RB. Figure 5 The DMRS allocation in each REG is shown.

[0045] The search space (SS) set is associated with the core set. For each DL BWP configured for a UE in the serving cell, it is provided to the UE by higher layers. There are S SS sets, where, for each of the S SS sets, the higher layer provides the UE with the following information:

[0046] Search space set index ,

[0047] • The association between the search space set s and CORESET p,

[0048] ·monitor PDCCH and monitoring in each time slot The offset of the PDCCH for each time slot,

[0049] • The PDCCH monitoring mode within a time slot indicates the first symbol of the CORESET used for PDCCH monitoring within the time slot.

[0050] · The duration of each time slot indicates the existence of a search space. The number of time slots in the set,

[0051] • Each CCE aggregation level Number of PDCCH candidates ,

[0052] Search Space Collection Is it an instruction for the CSS set or the USS set, and

[0053] • The DCI format to be monitored.

[0054] For the search space set ,if Then the UE determines that the frame number is The time slot number in the frame is There are PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the time slots, among which, This is the number of time slots per radio frame. The UE receives the time slots... Start monitoring Search space set of consecutive time slots The PDCCH, and does not monitor the next Search space set of consecutive time slots PDCCH.

[0055] PDCCH candidates in the SS set to the associated CORESET The mapping of CCEs is implemented through a hash function defined in Section 10.1 of 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.213 V16.1.0. This hash function randomizes the allocation of PDCCH candidates within the CORESET.

[0056] Regarding CORESET Related SS sets The time slots of the DL BWP activity in the service cell PDCCH candidates in the SS set Corresponding aggregation level The CCE index is given by the following formula:

[0057]

[0058] For CSS, And it is based on the USS UE's Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and CORESET index. and time slot number pseudo-random variables; It is the number of CCEs in the CORESET; is the number of PDCCH candidates configured for aggregation level L; i (0, 1, ..., L-1) is the consecutive CCE index of PDCCH candidate m; , This indicates the floor function.

[0059] Figure 6 An example of PDCCH candidate-to-CCE mapping for different ALs is shown. In the next time slot, the positions of these candidates are changed to provide randomization. Specifically, Figure 6 It shows a configuration with 16 CCEs. and Examples of PDCCH candidates in the SS set associated with CORESET = 1. It should be noted that candidates of different ALs overlap in some CCEs, and more specifically, they start from the same CCE in order to minimize the number of CCEs that the UE needs to demodulate to receive all PDCCH candidates with different ALs.

[0060] NR HARQACK / NACK feedback on PUCCH

[0061] When the UE receives the PDSCH in the downlink from the serving gNB at time slot n, if the PDSCH is successfully decoded, the UE sends a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) to the gNB at time slot n+k via the PUCCH resource in the uplink; otherwise, the UE sends a HARQ negative ACK (NACK) to the gNB at time slot n+k to indicate that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded.

[0062] In NR, up to four PUCCH resource sets can be configured for the UE. A PUCCH resource set with pucch-ResourceSetId=0 can have up to 32 PUCCH resources, while for PUCCH resource sets with pucch-ResourceSetId=1 to 3, each PUCCH resource set can have up to 8 PUCCH resources. The UE determines the PUCCH resource set in a time slot based on the number of aggregated uplink control information (UCI) bits to be transmitted in the time slot. The UCI bits consist of HARQ ACK / NACK, scheduling request (SR), and channel state information (CSI) bits.

[0063] The 3-bit PUCCH Resource Indicator (PRI) field in DCI maps to PUCCH resources in a set of PUCCH resources with a maximum of 8 PUCCH resources. For the first set of PUCCH resources, pucch-ResourceSetId = 0, and when the number of PUCCH resources in that set... When the value is greater than 8, in response to detecting the last DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 received by the UE in the PDCCH reception, the UE determines the index used to carry HARQ-ACK information as... ( The PUCCH resource, where the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field indicates the same time slot used for PUCCH transmission:

[0064]

[0065] in, The core set received by the PDCCH is DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 as described in sub-clause 10.1 of 3GPP TS 38.213 V16.1.0. The number of CCEs in the middle, It is the index of the first CCE received by the PDCCH, and It is the value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1.

[0066] Ultra-reliable low-latency (URLLC) data transmission at multiple sending points

[0067] Reliable PDSCH transmission with multiple panels or TRPs has been introduced in 3GPP Release 16 (NR), where transport blocks can be transmitted over multiple TRPs to achieve diversity. Reliability is achieved by transmitting codewords (CWs) of different layers of a transport block (TB) on the same resources on two TRPs (Scheme 1a), or by transmitting different portions of the CW on different frequency resources on two TRPs (Scheme 2a), or by repeating the same TB (with the same or different CWs) on two TRPs in the time domain (Schemes 3 and 4) or frequency domain (Scheme 2b). For all these schemes, the two TCI states are indicated via the 'Transport Configuration Indicator' field in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH.

[0068] In NR version 17, further introductions such as Figure 7 The diagram illustrates PDCCH enhancement with multiple TRPs. To date, three methods have been proposed. See NTT DOCOMO's R1-1911184, "Enhancement on multi-TRP / panel transmission," presented at the 3GPP RAN1#98bis meeting held in Chongqing, China, October 14-20, 2019; and Ericsson's R1-1909423, "Preliminary results on PDCCH over multi-TRP for URLLC," presented at the 3GPP RAN1#98 meeting held in Prague, Czech Republic, August 26-30, 2019. These three methods are:

[0069] 1. CCE interleaving:

[0070] • A PDCCH with aggregation level L is mapped to two CORESETs, each CORESET being associated with a TRP, wherein half of the L CCEs are allocated in each of the two CORESETs.

[0071] 2. PDCCH duplication without soft merging

[0072] The PDCCH is repeated on two cores, each core associated with a TRP. The PDCCH is considered successfully decoded if one of the repeated cores is successfully decoded. Soft merging is not performed at the UE.

[0073] 3. PDCCH repetition with soft merging

[0074] The PDCCH is repeated on two CORESETs, each CORESET being associated with a TRP. Soft merging is performed before PDCCH decoding, and the UE needs to know that a certain PDCCH candidate in the first CORESET corresponds to another PDCCH candidate in the second CORESET.

[0075] As shown in R1-1911184 and R1-1909423, in the presence of channel congestion or deep fading, all three multi-TRP schemes provide better block error rate (BLER) performance for PDCCH reception than PDCCH transmission on a single TRP. In the absence of channel congestion or deep fading, CCE interleaving and PDCCH repetition with soft combining provide better BLER performance than a single TRP, while PDCCH repetition without soft combining performs similarly to a single TRP. Summary of the Invention

[0076] This document discloses a system and method for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) diversity based on a single control resource set (CORESET) across multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs). In one embodiment, a method of receiving downlink control information (DCI) using a multiple transmission configuration indication (TCI) state in a wireless network by a wireless communication device includes: receiving from a radio access node one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of the CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of resource elements (REs) associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. The method further includes receiving from the radio access node a configuration of: a search space (SS) set associated with the CORESET, one or more aggregation levels (ALs), and a plurality of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs. The method further includes receiving a DCI carried by either: (a) a single PDCCH from one of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH comprising an RE in a first set of REs and an RE in a second set of REs, or (b) a first repetition of a PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second repetition of a PDCCH in a second set of REs. In this way, a single CORESET with multiple active TCI states supports PDCCH diversity on multiple TRPs.

[0077] In one embodiment, only one of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is used for the purpose of defining the default TCI state of the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0078] In one embodiment, when the time offset between the downlink DCI reception and the corresponding PDSCH is less than a threshold, only one of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is used to define the default TCI state of the PDSCH.

[0079] In one embodiment, if the time offset between the downlink DCI and PDSCH of the scheduling PDSCH is less than a threshold, and if the CORESET has the lowest CORESET identity (ID) in the most recent time slot, the wireless communication device assumes that one or more demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports of the serving cell's PDSCH are in quasi-in-line (QCL) with one or more reference signal quasi-in-line (QCL) parameters relative to one or more QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi-in-line indication in the first active TCI state for the CORESET, in which the wireless communication device monitors one or more CORESETs within the active bandwidth portion of the serving cell.

[0080] In one embodiment, the CORESET further includes multiple resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain and multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple RE groups (REGs), each REG consisting of 12 REs from the RBs of the OFDM symbols in the CORESET, and indexed first in ascending order of the OFDM symbols, then in ascending order of the RBs starting from the lowest RB in the CORESET. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple REG packets (REGBs), each REGB consisting of one or more consecutive REGs. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE consisting of one or more REGBs from the multiple REGBs.

[0081] In one embodiment, the first set of REs and the second set of REs are respectively the first set of REGs and the second set of REGs. In one embodiment, the mapping of REGs to the first set of REGs associated with a first TCI state or the second set of REGs associated with a second TCI state is based on: (a) the index of the REG, (b) the OFDM symbol in which the REG is located, (c) the position of the REG in the corresponding REG packet, (d) the CCE to which the REG packet or REG belongs, (e) the CORESET configuration of the CORESET at the precoding granularity, (f) the mapping of CCEs to REGs, (g) the number of OFDM symbols, or (h) a combination of two or more of (a)-(g). In one embodiment, the first set of REGs and the second set of REGs are interleaved, such that the first set of REGs is a REG with an even-numbered index, while the second set of REGs is a REG with an odd-numbered index, or vice versa. In one embodiment, CORESET further includes a plurality of REGBs, each REGB consisting of two or more REGs, a first group of REGs consisting of a first REG in each of the REGBs, and a second group of REGs consisting of a second REG in each of the REGBs. In one embodiment, the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively REGs in a first OFDM symbol and a second OFDM symbol, wherein the first OFDM symbol and the second OFDM symbol are different OFDM symbols. In one embodiment, the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are REGs in the same OFDM symbol. In one embodiment, the first REG in the plurality of REG packets and the second REG in the plurality of REG packets are respectively the first half and the second half of a plurality of consecutive REGs.

[0082] In one embodiment, CORESET further includes a plurality of REGBs, each REGB consisting of two or more REGs, a first group of REGs consisting of the first k REGs in each REGB, and a second group of REGs consisting of the second k REGs in each REGB, where k is an integer equal to the number of REG packets in the plurality of REG packets divided by the number of active TCI states of CORESET.

[0083] In one embodiment, CORESET further includes a plurality of REGBs, each REGB consisting of two or more REGs, the first group of REGs consisting of REGs from a first number of OFDM symbols in CORESET, and the second group of REGs consisting of the remaining number of OFDM symbols in CORESET.

[0084] In one embodiment, the first group of REs and the second group of REs are respectively the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs. In one embodiment, the first group of REGBs is a set of even-numbered REGBs, and the second group of REGBs is a set of odd-numbered REGBs, or vice versa. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes a plurality of CCEs, each CCE consisting of two or more REGBs, and the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs are respectively the first REGB and the second REGB in each of the CCEs. In one embodiment, the first REGB in each of the CCEs and the second REGB in each of the CCEs are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGBs in each of the CCEs.

[0085] In one embodiment, the first set of REs and the second set of REs are respectively the first set of CCEs and the second set of CCEs. In one embodiment, the first set of CCEs consists of even-numbered CCEs, while the second set of CCEs consists of odd-numbered CCEs, or vice versa. In one embodiment, the first set of CCEs and the second set of CCEs are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive CCEs in the CORESET.

[0086] In one embodiment, the first TCI state and the second TCI state are associated with the first downlink reference signal RS and the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0087] In one embodiment, each PDCCH candidate in the PDCCH candidates includes one or more CCEs.

[0088] In one embodiment, receiving DCI includes receiving DCI carried by a single PDCCH from one of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in a first group of REs and REs in a second group of REs, and receiving DCI also includes determining a first group of REs and a second group of REs in one or more CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate, and performing channel estimation based on demodulated signals DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in one or more CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate by assuming quasi-co-QCL with a first downlink RS and a second downlink RS indicated by a first TCI state and a second TCI state, respectively.

[0089] In one embodiment, receiving DCI includes receiving DCI carried by a first repetition of PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second repetition of PDCCH in a second set of REs, and receiving the first repetition of PDCCH and the second repetition of PDCCH in one or more CCEs associated with one of the PDCCH candidates. In one embodiment, receiving DCI includes receiving DCI carried by the first repetition of PDCCH in a first set of REs and the second repetition of PDCCH in a second set of REs, and receiving DCI also includes determining the first set of REs and the second set of REs in the CCEs, and performing channel estimation based on the demodulated signals DMRS in the first set of REs and the second set of REs in one or more CCEs associated with one of the PDCCH candidates by assuming quasi-co-location with a first downlink RS or a second downlink RS, respectively. In one embodiment, receiving DCI includes receiving DCI carried by the first repetition of PDCCH in a first set of REs and the second repetition of PDCCH in a second set of REs, wherein the first repetition of PDCCH and the second repetition of PDCCH are decoded together by combining the signals received in the first set of REs and the second set of REs in the CCEs after channel estimation, or decoded separately.

[0090] In one embodiment, the method further includes determining the time offset between the reception of the DCI and the corresponding physical channel or signal as the number of symbols between the last symbol of the CORESET in the SS and the first symbol of the physical channel or signal.

[0091] In one embodiment, receiving a DCI includes receiving a DCI carried by a first repetition of a PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second repetition of a PDCCH in a second set of REs, wherein the first set of REs and the second set of REs in one or more CCEs associated with the first repetition of the PDCCH and the second repetition of the PDCCH are assumed to be unavailable for PDSCHs scheduled by the wireless communication device via the DCI.

[0092] In one embodiment, the first TCI state and the second TCI state are associated with a first downlink reference signal (RS) and a second downlink RS, respectively, and the method further includes applying the first downlink RS as a QCL source for PDSCH reception, a path loss RS for uplink power control, or a link monitoring RS for link monitoring (e.g., if certain conditions are met and CORESET has the lowest ID or the lowest ID in the time slot).

[0093] Corresponding embodiments of wireless communication devices are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a wireless communication device using multiple TCI states for DCI reception in a wireless network is adapted to receive from a radio access node one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. The wireless communication device is also adapted to receive from the radio access node a configuration of: a set of SS associated with the CORESET, one or more ALs, and a plurality of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs. The wireless communication device is also adapted to receive DCI carried by any of the following: (a) a single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs, or (b) a first repetition of the PDCCH in the first set of REs and a second repetition of the PDCCH in the second set of REs.

[0094] In one embodiment, a wireless communication device using multiple TCI states for DCI reception in a wireless network includes one or more transmitters, one or more receivers, and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and one or more receivers. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the wireless communication device to receive from a radio access node one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. The processing circuitry is also configured to cause the wireless communication device to receive from the radio access node a configuration of: a set of SSs associated with the CORESET, one or more ALs, and a plurality of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to receive a DCI carried by either: (a) a single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs, or (b) a first repetition of a PDCCH from the first set of REs and a second repetition of a PDCCH from the second set of REs.

[0095] This document also discloses embodiments of an operation method for a radio access node. In one embodiment, an operation method for a radio access node to transmit DCI using multiple TCI states in a wireless network includes providing a wireless communication device with one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. The method further includes sending to the wireless communication device a configuration of: a set of SS associated with the CORESET, one or more ALs, and a plurality of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs. The DCI is transmitted to the wireless communication device, and the DCI is carried by either: (a) a single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs, or (b) a first repetition of the PDCCH in the first set of REs and a second repetition of the PDCCH in the second set of REs.

[0096] A corresponding embodiment of a radio access node is also disclosed. In one embodiment, a radio access node for DCI transmission using multiple TCI states in a wireless network is adapted to provide a wireless communication device with one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. The radio access node is also adapted to send to the wireless communication device a configuration of the following: a set of SS associated with the CORESET, one or more ALs, and a plurality of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs. The DCI is transmitted to the wireless communication device, and the DCI is carried by either: (a) a single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs, or (b) a first repetition of the PDCCH in the first set of REs and a second repetition of the PDCCH in the second set of REs.

[0097] In one embodiment, a radio access node for DCI transmission using multiple TCI states in a wireless network includes processing circuitry configured to provide a wireless communication device with one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. The radio access node is also adapted to send to the wireless communication device a configuration of: a set of SSs associated with the CORESET, one or more ALs, and a plurality of PDCCH candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs. The DCI is transmitted to the wireless communication device, and the DCI is carried by either: (a) a single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs, or (b) a first repetition of the PDCCH from the first set of REs and a second repetition of the PDCCH from the second set of REs. Attached Figure Description

[0098] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate several aspects of this disclosure and, together with this specification, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0099] Figure 1 An example of a time slot in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) is shown;

[0100] Figure 2 The basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid is shown;

[0101] Figure 3 An example of a non-interleaved Resource Element Group (REG) package is shown;

[0102] Figure 4 An example of interleaved REG packets is shown;

[0103] Figure 5 The demodulation reference signal (DMRS) allocation in each REG is shown;

[0104] Figure 6 Examples of mappings from Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates to Control Channel Elements (CCEs) for different aggregation levels (ALs) are shown.

[0105] Figure 7 This illustrates the PDCCH enhancement with multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs) proposed in NR Release 17;

[0106] Figure 8 An example of a cellular communication system that can implement embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0107] Figure 9 An example of REG-based Transport Configuration Indication (TCI) association or mapping in a Control Resource Set (CORESET) having multiple active TCI states, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0108] Figure 10 Examples of REG-to-TCI associations for (a) a CORESET with one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and (b) a CORESET with two OFDM symbols according to embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

[0109] Figure 11 Examples of REG packet-based TCI state associations with REG packet sizes of two REGs for (a) a CORESET having one OFDM symbol and (b) a CORESET having two OFDM symbols, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, are shown.

[0110] Figure 12 Examples of REG packet-based TCI state associations with six REGs and two active TCI states are shown, according to embodiments of the present disclosure: (a) a CORESET with one OFDM symbol and (b) a CORESET with two OFDM symbols.

[0111] Figure 13 Examples of REG-to-TCI state associations with two active TCI states and a REG packet size of three are shown according to embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein, for example (a) the REG in the first two OFDM symbols is mapped to the first TCI state and the REG in the last OFDM symbol is mapped to the second TCI state, and for example (b) the REG in the first OFDM symbol is mapped to the first TCI state and the REG in the last two OFDM symbols is mapped to the second TCI state;

[0112] Figure 14 Examples of CCE-TCI state associations for (a) a CORESET with one OFDM symbol and (b) a CORESET with two OFDM symbols according to embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

[0113] Figure 15 An example of a PDCCH with aggregation level L=2 transmitted in a CORESET having two OFDM symbols and two active TCI states, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, is shown, wherein the first part of the PDCCH is transmitted in REG {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} from TRP1 (i.e., TCI state k0), while the second part of the PDCCH is transmitted in REG {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11} from TRP2 (i.e., TCI state k1);

[0114] Figure 16 An example of PDCCH repetition in a CORESET according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, wherein the first PDCCH is the same as the second PDCCH;

[0115] Figure 17 An example is shown in which the search space associated with a CORESET having (a) one active TCI state and (b) two active TCI states is focused on the CCE assignment of PDCCH candidates at a given aggregation level, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0116] Figure 18 The operation of a wireless communication device and a radio access node using multiple TCI states to transmit and receive downlink control information (DCI) in a wireless network according to at least some embodiments described herein is illustrated.

[0117] Figure 19 , Figure 20 and Figure 21 This is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a radio access node;

[0118] Figure 22 and Figure 23This is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a wireless communication device;

[0119] Figure 24 Example embodiments of a communication system that can implement the embodiments of this disclosure are shown;

[0120] Figure 25 It shows Figure 24 Example embodiments of the host computer, base station, and UE; and

[0121] Figure 26 , Figure 27 , Figure 28 and Figure 29 It is shown in such as Figure 24 A flowchart of an example embodiment of a method implemented in a communication system. Detailed Implementation

[0122] The embodiments described below illustrate information that enables those skilled in the art to practice these embodiments, and demonstrate the best mode for practicing these embodiments. Upon reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of this disclosure and will recognize that applications of these concepts are not specifically mentioned herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of this disclosure.

[0123] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0124] Generally, all terms used herein will be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant art, unless explicitly given and / or implied from the context of their use. All references to "a," "an," "element," "device," "component," "apparatus," "step," etc., shall be interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, device, component, apparatus, step, etc., unless otherwise expressly stated. The steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as occurring after or before another step, and / or implies that a step must occur after or before another step. Any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment where appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the appended embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

[0125] Radio node: As used in this article, a “radio node” is a radio access node or wireless communication device.

[0126] Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” or “radio network node” or “radio access network node” is any node in the radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communication network that operates to wirelessly transmit and / or receive signals. Some examples of radio access nodes include, but are not limited to, base stations (e.g., new radio (NR) base stations (gNBs) in 3GPP 5G NR networks or enhanced or evolved Node Bs (eNBs) in 3GPP LTE networks), high-power or macro base stations, low-power base stations (e.g., micro base stations, pico base stations, home eNBs, etc.), relay nodes, network nodes that implement some of the functions of a base station (e.g., network nodes that implement a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) or a gNB distributed unit (gNB-DU)), or network nodes that implement some of the functions of other types of radio access nodes.

[0127] Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in the core network, or any node that implements core network functions. Some examples of core network nodes include, for example, Mobility Management Entities (MMEs), Packet Data Network Gateways (P-GWs), Service Capability Opening Functions (SCEFs), Home Subscriber Servers (HSSs), etc. Other examples of core network nodes include nodes that implement Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs), User Plane Functions (UPFs), Session Management Functions (SMFs), Authentication Server Functions (AUSFs), Network Slice Selection Functions (NSSFs), Network Opening Functions (NEFs), Network Functions (NF) Repository Functions (NRFs), Policy Control Functions (PCFs), Unified Data Management (UDMs), etc.

[0128] Communication equipment: As used herein, “communication equipment” is any type of device capable of accessing a network. Some examples of communication equipment include, but are not limited to: mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, home appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronic device (e.g., but not limited to: televisions, radios, lighting fixtures, tablet computers, laptop computers, or personal computers (PCs)). Communication equipment can be portable, handheld, computer-integrated, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices capable of transmitting voice and / or data via wireless or wired connections.

[0129] Wireless communication device: One type of communication device is a wireless communication device, which can be any type of wireless device capable of accessing a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network) (i.e., served by a wireless network). Some examples of wireless communication devices include, but are not limited to: User Equipment (UE), Machine-Type Communication (MTC) devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices in 3GPP networks. Such wireless communication devices can be or can be integrated into mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, home appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronic device (e.g., but not limited to: televisions, radios, lighting fixtures, tablet computers, laptop computers, or PCs). Wireless communication devices can be portable, handheld, computer-integrated, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices capable of transmitting voice and / or data via a wireless connection.

[0130] Network node: As used in this article, “network node” is any node that is part of the RAN or core network of a cellular communication network / system.

[0131] Transmit / Receive Point (TRP): In some embodiments, a TRP can be a network node, a radio headend, a spatial relation, or a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state. In some embodiments, a TRP can be represented by a spatial relation or a TCI state. In some embodiments, a TRP can use multiple TCI states. In some embodiments, a TRP can be part of a gNB that transmits and receives radio signals to / from a UE, depending on the physical layer attributes and parameters inherent to the element. In some embodiments, in multiple TRP (multi-TRP) operation, the serving cell can schedule the UE from two TRPs, thereby providing better Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) coverage, reliability, and / or data rate. Multiple TRP has two different operating modes: single downlink control information (DCI) and multiple DCI. For both modes, control of uplink and downlink operation is performed by the physical layer and Media Access Control (MAC). In single DCI mode, the UE is scheduled by the same DCI used for both TRPs, while in multiple DCI mode, the UE is scheduled by independent DCIs from each TRP.

[0132] In some embodiments, a set of transmitting points (TPs) is a group of geographically co-located transmit antennas (e.g., antenna arrays (with one or more antenna elements)) for a cell, a portion of a cell, or only a Location Reference Signal (PRS) TP. A TP may include base station (eNB) antennas, remote radio head ends (RRHs), remote antennas of a base station, antennas for PRS-only TPs, etc. A cell may consist of one or more TPs. For homogeneous deployments, each TP may correspond to one cell.

[0133] In some embodiments, a group of TRPs is a group of antennas (e.g., an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements) that are geographically located and support TP and / or RP functionality.

[0134] It should be noted that the descriptions presented herein focus on 3GPP cellular communication systems, and therefore, 3GPP terminology or similar terms are frequently used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to 3GPP systems.

[0135] It should be noted that the term “cell” may be used in the description herein; however, in particular the concept of 5G NR may use “beam” instead of “cell”, and therefore it is important to note that the concept described herein applies equally to cells and beams.

[0136] There are currently some challenges regarding enhancements to the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) with multiple TRPs. Specifically, existing solutions have the following problems:

[0137] 1. For PDCCH duplication with soft combining, one issue is how to let the UE know which two PDCCH candidates in the two control resource sets (CORESET) carry the same downlink control information (DCI) and can be soft combined.

[0138] 2. For PDCCH repetition with or without soft combining, another issue is how to define the time offset between the received downlink (DL) DCI and the corresponding physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in the case of PDCCH repetition. This is because more than one PDCCH may receive the same DCI, but in different orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. The offset is used for comparison with a threshold, and different assumptions are made about the Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state of the received PDSCH depending on whether the offset exceeds the threshold.

[0139] 3. When a set of PUCCH resources with more than eight PUCCH resources is selected for Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Acknowledgment / Negative Acknowledgment (A / N) feedback of PDSCH scheduled by the DCI, the PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) in the DCI and the index of the first control channel element (CCE) on which the DCI was detected are used to identify the PUCCH resource for HARQ A / N. In the case of PDCCH duplication, the first CCE of each PDCCH transmission timing in multiple PDCCH transmission timings in different CORESETs can be different. Therefore, depending on which PDCCH timing is successfully decoded, the UE will select different PUCCH resources. Since the gNB does not know in which PDCCH timing can the PDCCH be successfully decoded, the gNB will need to perform blind decoding in two or more PUCCH resources. This increases the complexity of the gNB, which is a problem. If all PDCCH timings are successfully decoded, then which PUCCH resource the UE should use will be a problem for the UE.

[0140] 4. The same problem of determining PUCCH resources also exists in solutions for CCE interleaving on two CORESETs, where deciding which of the two CORESETs to use is a problem.

[0141] 5. For PDCCH overlap involving the transmission of two or more PDCCHs, another issue concerns PDSCH rate matching. When a PDSCH overlaps with a PDCCH that schedules the PDSCH, the UE assumes that the scheduled PDSCH is rate-matched around the PDCCH that schedules it; that is, PDCCH resources are not available for the PDSCH. How to perform rate matching becomes a problem if multiple PDCCHs on the same DCI schedule the same PDSCH.

[0142] Certain aspects of this disclosure and its embodiments may provide solutions to the foregoing or other challenges. In one embodiment, a method is provided, wherein the method includes activating CORESET. Each TCI state is associated with a unique Quasi-Co-located (QCL) Source Reference Signal (RS) and therefore with a different TRP or a different transmit beam. Resource element groups (REGs) (or REG packets, or CCEs) in a CORESET (or PDCCH candidate) are divided into REGs (or REG packets, or CCEs). Each subset is associated with one of the activated TCI states.

[0143] The mapping from REG to a subset of REG can be based on:

[0144] (a) Index of REG,

[0145] (b) The OFDM symbol where REG is located.

[0146] (c) The location of REG within the REG package.

[0147] (d) The REG package or the CCE to which REG belongs.

[0148] (e) CORESET configuration at the precoding granularity,

[0149] (f) Mapping from CCE to REG,

[0150] (g) The number of OFDM symbols, or

[0151] A combination of two or more of (h), (a), and (g).

[0152] When the mapping is REG or REG packet granularity, each CCE in CORESET can be associated with... Each TCI state is associated.

[0153] The PDCCH in each subset of REG (or REG packet, or CCE) in the corresponding PDCCH candidate resource is transmitted together with the TCI state associated with that subset. That is, the PDCCH in different subsets of REG (or REG packet, or CCE) is transmitted from different TRPs.

[0154] Alternatively, PDCCH can be located in the corresponding CCE REG. Individual clusters repeat.

[0155] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. In some embodiments, for a single CORESET with multiple active TCI states, minimal changes to the 3GPP specification are required to support PDCCH diversity over multiple TRPs. Embodiments of various aspects of this disclosure provide a simple way to link two or more PDCCH duplicate resources in a search space set associated with a CORESET. In embodiments using a single CORESET, a unique PUCCH resource can be identified when there are more than eight resources in the PUCCH resource set. Embodiments of this disclosure also enable the UE to determine a unique time offset between a detected PDCCH and its scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH in the case of PDCCH duplication, regardless of where the PDCCH is successfully decoded.

[0156] Figure 8An example of a cellular communication system 800 that can implement embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the embodiments described herein, the cellular communication system 800 is a 5G system (5GS) including a next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) and a 5G core (5GC); however, the solutions disclosed herein are not limited thereto. In this example, the RAN includes radio access nodes 802-1 and 802-2 (e.g., base stations), which in the 5GS include an NR base station (gNB) and an optional next-generation eNB (ng-eNB) (e.g., an LTE RAN node connected to the 5GC), thereby controlling the corresponding (macro)cells 804-1 and 804-2. Radio access nodes 802-1 and 802-2 are generally referred to herein collectively as radio access node 802, and are individually referred to as radio access node 802. Similarly, (macro)cells 804-1 and 804-2 are generally referred to herein collectively as (macro)cell 804, and are individually referred to as (macro)cell 804. The RAN may also include multiple (low-power) radio access nodes 806-1 to 806-4 that control the corresponding small cells 808-1 to 808-4. Radio access nodes 806-1 to 806-4 may be, for example, small base stations (such as picocells or femtocells) or remote radio head-up terminals (RRHs). It should be noted that, although not shown, one or more of small cells 808-1 to 808-4 may alternatively be provided by radio access node 802. Radio access nodes 806-1 to 806-4 are generally referred to herein collectively as radio access node 806, and are individually referred to as radio access node 806. Similarly, small cells 808-1 to 808-4 are generally referred to herein collectively as small cell 808, and are individually referred to as small cell 808. The cellular communication system 800 also includes a core network 810, referred to as 5GC in 5GS. Base station 802 (and optional low-power node 806) is connected to core network 810.

[0157] Radio access nodes 802 and 806 provide services to wireless communication devices 812-1 to 812-5 in their respective cells 804 and 808. Wireless communication devices 812-1 to 812-5 are generally referred to herein collectively as wireless communication device 812, and are individually referred to as wireless communication device 812. In the following description, wireless communication device 812 is generally referred to as a UE, and is therefore sometimes referred to herein as UE 812, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0158] Now, descriptions of some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are provided.

[0159] 1. REG-to-TCI state association in a CORESET with multiple active TCI states

[0160] In this embodiment, CORESET has There are 1 active TCI state, i.e., {TCI state} ..., TCI status },and Each of the active TCI states is mapped to a distinct subset of REGs in the CORESET (or in each PDCCH candidate within the CORESET). The distinct REG subsets are non-overlapping and can be in different OFDM symbols, in different REGs within each REG packet, or in different CCEs. Each PDCCH candidate in the search space associated with CORESET contains RE in each of the REG subsets.

[0161] For those with A CORESET in an active TCI state, UE 812 assumes that it is related to the CORESET. The PDCCH in the REG associated with one of the TCI states receives the associated DM-RS antenna port and is in quasi-co-position with one or more DL RS configured in the TCI state.

[0162] 1.1 TCI State Association or Mapping Based on REG

[0163] In this embodiment, the first in CORESET ( REG and TCI status Related, and Wherein, “mod” is related to The modulus function, and is an integer. Figure 9 An example is shown, where and The first subset of REGs consists of even-numbered REGs (i.e., REG 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16) and is mapped to TCI states. (First TCI state), while the second subset of REG consists of odd-numbered REGs (i.e., REG 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17) and is mapped to TCI states. (Second TCI state).

[0164] The mapping from REG to TCI states described above depends on the number of OFDM symbols configured for CORESET. Each REG in an OFDM symbol can be associated with one or two TCI states.

[0165] Figure 10An example is shown. Figure 10 (a) illustrates a case where the CORESET consists of a single OFDM symbol with a non-interleaved CCE-to-REG mapping. In this case, the OFDM symbol is associated with two TCI states. This can be used for FR1 or FR2, in which UE 812 is able to receive from two TRPs simultaneously. PDCCH is transmitted simultaneously from two TRPs in different REGs. In other words, UE 812 receives PDCCH such that it simultaneously receives REGs associated with two different TCI states.

[0166] Figure 10 (b) illustrates the case where the CORESET consists of two OFDM symbols. In this case, each OFDM symbol is associated with a TCI state. The PDCCH is transmitted in the first symbol from the first TRP (associated with the first TCI state) and in the second symbol from the second TRP (associated with the second TCI state). This applies to FR2, in which UE812 can only receive from one TRP at a time.

[0167] 1.2 TCI State Association or Mapping Based on REG Packets

[0168] In this embodiment, the REGs in each REG packet are divided into... Each subset is associated with a subset. One of the TCI states is associated with it. In one example, the first TCI state in each REG packet of CORESET. ( REG and TCI status Related, and ,in, It refers to the size of the REG package. Figure 11 It shows in Example of a case where CORESET is... Figure 10 The CORESET shown is the same. Figure 11 An example of TCI state association based on REG packets is shown, where the REG packet size is 2 REGs, (a) a CORESET with one OFDM symbol; (b) a CORESET with two OFDM symbols.

[0169] In another embodiment, if CORESET is in an OFDM symbol and Then the first k REGs in each REG packet are associated with the first TCI state, the second k REGs in each REG packet are associated with the second TCI state, and so on. Figure 12 (a) shows an example where, This will allow channel interpolation on a set of REGs (e.g., REGs 0, 1, and 2 associated with the first TCI state) from each REG packet of each TRP, to improve channel estimation performance.

[0170] If CORESET is in two OFDM symbols, then the REG of each REG packet in the first OFDM symbol is associated with the first TCI state, and the REG of each REG packet in the second OFDM symbol is associated with the second TCI state. Figure 12 (b) shows an example where, .

[0171] if and Not an integer (e.g.) and ), then the first in each REG package (or REG in any OFDM symbol can be associated with the first TCI state, and the rest... (or The remaining REGs in the OFDM symbols are mapped to the remaining ones. TCI states. Figure 13 An example is shown where CORESET is configured with 3 OFDM symbols, where, . Figure 13 An example of REG to TCI state association is shown, where (a) REGs in the first two OFDM symbols are mapped to the first TCI state, while REGs in the last OFDM symbol are mapped to the second TCI state; (b) REGs in the first OFDM symbol are mapped to the first TCI state, while REGs in the last two OFDM symbols are mapped to the second TCI state.

[0172] In another embodiment, when each CCE in the CORESET contains multiple REG packets, each REG packet in the CCE can be mapped to a different TCI state. For example, the i-th REG packet in each CCE can be mapped to a different TCI state. Mapping to TCI state .

[0173] When the precoding granularity of CORESET is configured with "sameAsREG-bundle", Figures 11 to 13 The REG-to-TCI state mapping shown is good, where estimation can be performed jointly in REGs associated with the same TCI state in each REG packet. In the case of configuring more than one OFDM symbol for CORESET, Figures 11 to 13The TCI associations shown are also good for precoding granularity configured with "allContiguousRBs" and non-interleaved CCE-to-REG mappings (e.g., Figure 11 (b) to Figure 13 (b)

[0174] If the precoding granularity of the CORESET is configured with "allContiguousRBs", then channel estimation in consecutive RBs can be performed jointly. In this case, it is expected that consecutive RBs in the CORESET will be transmitted from the same TRP. Therefore, in another embodiment, when the precoding granularity is configured with "allContiguousRBs" and the CORESET has one OFDM symbol, REGs in a first subset of consecutive RBs in the CORESET are mapped to a first TCI state, REGs in a second subset of consecutive RBs are mapped to a second TCI state, and so on. For example, if And CORESET is configured with The first PRB is configured for CORESET. (or One PRB can be associated with the first TCI state, while the remaining PRBs in the CORESET can be associated with the second TCI state.

[0175] In another embodiment, when the precoding granularity is configured as “allContiguousRBs” and the CORESET has an OFDM symbol, REGs in a first subset of consecutive RBs in the PDCCH candidates of the CORESET are mapped to a first TCI state, REGs in a second subset of consecutive PRBs in the PDCCH candidates are mapped to a second TCI state, and so on.

[0176] 1.3 TCI State Association or Mapping Based on CCE

[0177] In some scenarios, UE 812 can simultaneously receive signals from multiple TRPs (e.g., in FR1 or FR2) using multiple receive panels. In these cases, the mapping from REG to TCI states can be based on CCE units. In this embodiment, CORESET has There are 1 active TCI state, i.e., {TCI state} TCI status }, and the Each active TCI state is associated with a different group of CCEs in the CORESET.

[0178] Figure 14 An example embodiment is shown, in which CORESET is activated. = 2 TCI states. Figure 14 (a) shows the case where CORESET consists of an OFDM symbol with a non-interleaved CCE-to-REG mapping. Figure 14 (b) illustrates the case where the CORESET consists of two OFDM symbols. In both cases, even-numbered CCEs are associated with a first TCI state (e.g., TCI state k0), while odd-numbered CCEs are associated with a second TCI state (e.g., TCI state k1). Furthermore, in both cases, each OFDM symbol is associated with two active TCI states.

[0179] Figure 14 (a) and Figure 14 The example in (b) can be used for FR1 or FR2, where UE 812 is able to receive from two TRPs simultaneously. PDCCHs with one of the aggregation levels (2, 4, 8, 16) are transmitted simultaneously from two TRPs in different CCEs. In other words, UE 812 receives PDCCHs such that it simultaneously receives CCEs associated with two different TCI states.

[0180] for Figure 14 (a) and Figure 14 In example (b) of the PDCCH reception, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna port associated with the PDCCH reception in CCE{0,2} is quasi-co-located with one or more DL RS configured by TCI state k0, while the DM-RS antenna port associated with the PDCCH reception in CCE{1,3} is quasi-co-located with one or more DL RS configured by TCI state k1.

[0181] In another embodiment, when the precoding granularity of CORESET is configured with "allContiguousRBs" and / or the CCE-to-REG mapping is configured with "non-interleaved", each TCI state is mapped to a consecutive CCE.

[0182] Although the discussion in Section 1 describes the mapping of TCI states to REGs in CORESET, the same principle applies to the mapping of TCI states to REGs in each PDCCH candidate.

[0183] 2. Single PDCCH transmission in a CORESET with multiple TCI states

[0184] In this embodiment, a single PDCCH with aggregation level L is transmitted over L consecutive CCEs in the DCI's CORESET. Utilizing the REG-to-TCI state mapping described in Section 1, for And L>1, the PDCCH in the first half of the REG in the L CCEs (i.e., the REG associated with the first TCI state) is transmitted from the first TRP, and the PDCCH in the other half of the REG (i.e., the REG associated with the second TCI state) is transmitted from the second TRP.

[0185] Figure 15 An example is shown where a PDCCH with aggregation level L=2 is transmitted in two CCEs (i.e., CCEs 0 to 1 in this example) within a CORESET with two active TCI states. The CORESET is configured with two OFDM symbols. Following one of the REG-to-TCI state mapping methods discussed in Section 1, REG {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} is associated with the first TCI state (i.e., TCI state k0), while REG {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11} is associated with the second TCI state (i.e., TCI state k1). The PDCCH portion of REG {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} is transmitted in symbol 0 from TRP1 (which is associated with TCI state k0), while the PDCCH portion of REG {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11} is transmitted in symbol 1 from TRP2 (which is associated with TCI state k1). For PDCCH reception, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception in REG {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} is quasi-co-located with one or more DL RS configured in TCI state k0, while the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception in REG {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11} is quasi-co-located with one or more DL RS configured in TCI state k1.

[0186] 3. PDCCH repetition in CORESET with multiple TCI states

[0187] In another embodiment, the DCI's PDCCH has Repeated in the CORESET of each active TCI state Second-rate. Figure 16 An example is shown where the same as is used here. Figure 15 The same has The CORESET. In this example, the aggregation level L=2 is configured in the search space set associated with the CORESET. Based on the process described above in the section entitled "CORESET and Search Space", PDCCH candidates with L=2 are first identified in CCE 0 and CCE 1. Then, for DCI, the candidates with aggregation level one (i.e., The first PDCCH is first mapped to the REG associated with the first TCI state (i.e., TCI state k0) in the two CCEs, i.e., REG {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10}. Then, the same PDCCH is repeated in the remaining REGs associated with the second TCI state (i.e., TCI state k1), i.e., REG {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11}. The first PDCCH is transmitted from TRP1 (which is associated with TCI state k0), and the repeat (i.e., the second PDCCH) is transmitted from TRP2 (which is associated with TCI state k1). These two PDCCH transmissions can be decoded jointly (e.g., by maximum ratio combining (MRC)) or independently. For PDCCH reception, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna port associated with the first PDCCH reception in REG {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} is quasi-co-located with one or more DL RS configured in TCI state k0, while the DM-RS antenna port associated with the second PDCCH reception in REG {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11} is quasi-co-located with one or more DL RS configured in TCI state k1.

[0188] In one embodiment, for example, the aggregation level supported in a CORESET with multiple TCI states can be restricted to L>1. This can be achieved by configuring the allowed AL to be greater than 1 in the corresponding search space set associated with the CORESET.

[0189] In another embodiment, for those having A set of search spaces associated with an active TCI state and configured with aggregation level L for CORESET is determined. A series of CCEs. The PDCCH of polymerization level L in... Repeated in CCE Second-rate. Figure 17 An example is shown where L=1, 2, 4 is configured in the search space set associated with a CORESET having 16 CCEs. Figure 17 (a) shows the activation of CORESET according to the existing procedure in NR. The CCE assignment of PDCCH candidates at each aggregation level for each TCI state, where there are L CCEs for each PDCCH candidate with AL = 1. Figure 17 (b) illustrates the activation of this embodiment. The CCE allocation of PDCCH candidates at each aggregation level for each TCI state, where each PDCCH candidate with AL = 1 is assigned a... There are two CCEs. In this case, the first PDCCH with AL = 1 is first mapped to the REG associated with the first TCI state in the 2L CCEs. Then, the same PDCCH is repeated in the remaining REGs associated with the second TCI state in the 2L CCEs. For example, for AL = 4, and if a REG-based or REG-packet-based TCI state mapping is used, the first PDCCH with AL = 4 is first mapped to the REG associated with the first TCI state in CCEs 0 to CCE7. Then, the same PDCCH is repeated in the remaining REGs associated with the second TCI state. If a CCE-based TCI state mapping is used, the first PDCCH with AL = 4 is first mapped to the REG associated with the first TCI state in CCEs 0 to CCE3. Then, the same PDCCH is repeated in the remaining REGs associated with the second TCI state in CCEs 4 to CCE7.

[0190] For the complex-valued symbolic block of the first PDCCH in the example above They first (i.e., subcarrier index) then The ascending order of the OFDM symbol index is mapped to resource elements in the REG used for each PDCCH repetition but not for associated PDCCH DMRS. .

[0191] and Figure 15 Compared to the case of a single PDCCH transmission shown, Figure 16 PDCCH repetition in TRP has some advantages when the channel associated with one of the TRPs is likely to be blocked.

[0192] The time offset between the DCI reception and the corresponding PDSCH (or PUSCH, aperiodic CSI-RS, SRS, etc.) can be determined as the number of OFDM symbols between the last symbol of the CORESET and the first symbol of the corresponding PDSCH (or PUSCH, aperiodic CSI-RS, SRS, etc.).

[0193] When a PDCCH repeats on a single PDCCH candidate resource (according to the existing NR procedure), the number of CCEs used for channel estimation is the same, and a single blind decoding (BD) can still be considered for decoding multiple PDCCH repeats in an existing PDCCH candidate resource. Therefore, the same requirements for the number of BDs and CCEs in a CORESET or slot can be used as in the existing NR procedure.

[0194] In another embodiment, PDSCH rate matching (i.e., the resources available for PDSCH-to-RE mapping) assumes all duplicates, even if UE 812 does not decode all duplicates. For example, a first PDCCH is transmitted from TRP1 (first TCI state), and a duplicate (i.e., a second PDCCH) is transmitted from TRP2 (second TCI state). UE 812 successfully decodes only the second PDCCH, but the PDSCH scheduling overlaps with CORESET in time. In this case, even if UE 812 detects and uses only one PDCCH to obtain the scheduled DCI, the REs occupied by the first and second PDCCHs are assumed to be unavailable for PDSCH. Therefore, UE 812 receives PDSCH in REs other than those occupied by the first and second PDCCHs.

[0195] In another embodiment, the gNB schedules UE 812 using only one of the two PDCCH repetitions. The decision to use one or both PDCCHs is made in the gNB scheduler based on the need for robustness or on whether one of the links is considered to be blocked. The gNB can then use the REG of the unused PDCCH for UE 812 to schedule different PDCCHs (e.g., one for DL ​​DCI and another for UL DCI). It should be noted that UE 812 needs to be aware of this possible switch between using one or two PDCCHs for UE 812 (i.e., using one or two TRPs).

[0196] 4. Default TCI status

[0197] Another issue that needs to be addressed when each CORESET activates two or more TCI states is how to define the default TCI state of the PDSCH when the offset between the received DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL configured by the higher layer.

[0198] In this embodiment, when the TCI state of the CORESET is used as the default TCI state of the PDSCH, when the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, only one of the active TCI states of each CORESET (e.g., the first active TCI state) is used to define the default TCI state of the PDSCH.

[0199] In one example, when the offset between the reception of DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, UE 812 may assume that the DM-RS port of the serving cell's PDSCH is quasi-synchronous with the QCL parameter used to indicate the quasi-synchronous PDCCH in the first active TCI state of the CORESET with the lowest CORESET-ID in the most recent time slot, in which the UE monitors one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell.

[0200] When no path loss RS is configured, the default TCI state is also used for UL power control, or for link monitoring when no link monitoring RS is configured. In these cases, if the serving cell's CORESET with the lowest CORESET ID has two or more active TCI states, the DL RS in one of the TCI states (e.g., the first TCI state) is used as either the path loss RS or the link monitoring RS.

[0201] 4 Additional Aspects

[0202] Figure 18 The operation of a wireless communication device 812 and a radio access node 802 (or 806) using multiple TCI states for DCI transmission and reception in a wireless network, according to at least some of the above embodiments, is illustrated. As shown, the radio access node 802 provides (e.g., transmits or transmits) one or more messages to the wireless communication device 812 activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state (step 1800). The radio access node 802 also provides the wireless communication device 812 with the following configurations: a search space (SS) set associated with the CORESET, one or more ALs, and multiple PDCCH candidates for each AL in the SS set (step 1802). Each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs (e.g., composed of them).

[0203] At the wireless communication device 812, in step 1800, the wireless communication device 812 receives one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of CORSET, the CORSET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state. In step 1802, the wireless communication device 812 also receives a configuration of an SS set associated with CORSET, one or more ALs, and multiple PDCCH candidates for each AL in the SS set. The wireless communication device 812 also receives a DCI carried by either: (a) a single PDCCH from one of the multiple PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in the first set of REs and REs in the second set of REs, or (b) a first PDCCH in the first set of REs (e.g., AL is 1) and a second PDCCH in the second set of REs (e.g., AL is 1) (step 1804).

[0204] While many details of the process have been described above, in one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and multiple OFDM symbols in the time domain. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple REGs, each consisting of 12 REs from the RBs of the OFDM symbols in the CORESET, and indexed first in ascending order of the OFDM symbols, then in ascending order of the RBs starting from the lowest RB in the CORESET. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple REG packets (REGBs), each consisting of multiple consecutive REGs. In one embodiment, the CORESET also includes multiple CCEs, each consisting of multiple REGBs.

[0205] In one embodiment, the first group of REs and the second group of REs are respectively the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs. In one embodiment, the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs are interleaved, such that the first group of REGs are REGs with even-numbered indices, while the second group of REGs are REGs with odd-numbered indices, or vice versa. In another embodiment, the CORESET also includes a plurality of REGBs, each REGB consisting of a plurality of consecutive REGs, and the first group of REGs consists of the first REGs in each REGB, and the second group of REGs consists of the second REGs in each REGB. In one embodiment, the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively REGs in the first OFDM symbol and the second OFDM symbol. In one embodiment, the first OFDM symbol and the second OFDM symbol are different. In one embodiment, if the number of OFDM symbols in the CORESET is 1, then the first OFDM symbol and the second OFDM symbol are the same. In another embodiment, the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGs.

[0206] In another embodiment, the first group of REs and the second group of REs are respectively the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs. In one embodiment, the first group of REGBs are even-numbered REGBs, while the second group of REGBs are odd-numbered REGBs, or vice versa. In another embodiment, the CORESET also includes a plurality of CCEs, each CCE consisting of a plurality of REGBs, and the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs are respectively the first REGB and the second REGB in each CCE. In one embodiment, the first REGB in each CCE and the second REGB in each CCE are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGBs in each CCE.

[0207] In another embodiment, the first set of REs and the second set of REs are respectively the first set of CCEs and the second set of CCEs. In one embodiment, the first set of CCEs are even-numbered CCEs, while the second set of CCEs are odd-numbered CCEs, or vice versa. In another embodiment, the first set of CCEs and the second set of CCEs are respectively (e.g., in CORESET) the first half and the second half of consecutive CCEs.

[0208] In one embodiment, the first TCI state and the second TCI state are associated with the first downlink RS and the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0209] In one embodiment, each PDCCH candidate includes multiple CCEs. In one embodiment, receiving the DCI in step 1804 includes receiving the DCI carried by a single PDCCH from one of the multiple PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in a first group of REs and REs in a second group of REs, and further includes determining the first group of REs and the second group of REs among the multiple CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate, and performing channel estimation based on the DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCEs by assuming QCL with a first downlink RS and a second downlink RS, respectively.

[0210] In one embodiment, receiving the DCI in step 1804 includes receiving the DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second PDCCH in a second set of REs, wherein the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are the same.

[0211] In one embodiment, receiving the DCI in step 1804 includes receiving the DCI carried by the first PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs, and receiving the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH in the CCE associated with one of the PDCCH candidates. In one embodiment, receiving the DCI carried by the first PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs further includes: determining the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE, and performing channel estimation based on the DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE by assuming quasi-co-location with the first downlink RS or the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0212] In one embodiment, receiving the DCI in step 1804 includes receiving the DCI carried by the first PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs, and the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are decoded together by combining the signals received in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE after channel estimation, or decoded separately.

[0213] In one embodiment, the method further includes determining (e.g., at wireless communication device 812) the time offset between the reception of DCI and the corresponding physical channel or signal as the number of symbols between the last symbol of CORESET in SS and the first symbol of the physical channel or signal.

[0214] In one embodiment, CORESET also includes a plurality of CCEs, each CCE consisting of a plurality of REGBs, and the CCEs are not available for use with the PDSCH of the wireless communication device 812.

[0215] In one embodiment, the first TCI state and the second TCI state are associated with the first downlink RS and the second downlink RS, respectively, and the method further includes applying the first downlink RS (e.g., at the wireless communication device 812) as a QCL source for PDSCH reception, a path loss RS for uplink power control, or a link monitoring RS for link monitoring (e.g., if certain conditions are met and CORESET has the lowest ID or the lowest ID in the time slot).

[0216] about Figure 18 Additional details and embodiments of the process are described in Sections 1, 2 and 3 above, and are equally applicable herein. Figure 18 The process.

[0217] Figure 19 This is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1900 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Optional features are indicated by dashed boxes. As described herein, the radio access node 1900 may be, for example, a radio access node 802 or 806, or a network node that implements all or part of the functions of a radio access node (e.g., a base station such as a gNB). As shown, the radio access node 1900 includes a control system 1902, which includes one or more processors 1904 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.), a memory 1906, and a network interface 1908. The one or more processors 1904 are referred to herein as processing circuitry. Additionally, the radio access node 1900 may include one or more radio units 1910, each radio unit 1910 including one or more transmitters 1912 and one or more receivers 1914 coupled to one or more antennas 1916. The radio unit 1910 may be referred to as radio interface circuitry, or as part of radio interface circuitry. In some embodiments, the radio unit 1910 is external to the control system 1902 and connected to the control system 1902 via, for example, a wired connection (e.g., fiber optic cable). However, in some other embodiments, the radio unit 1910 and possibly the antenna 1916 are integrated with the control system 1902. One or more processors 1904 operate to provide one or more functions of the radio access node 1900 as described herein (e.g., as described herein, for example regarding...). Figure 18 (One or more functions of radio access node 802 or 806, base station, gNB, etc.). In some embodiments, the functions are implemented, for example, by software stored in memory 1906 and executed by one or more processors 1904. Figure 20This is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualized embodiment of a radio access node 1900 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is equally applicable to other types of network nodes. Furthermore, other types of network nodes may have similar virtualization architectures. Similarly, optional features are indicated by dashed boxes.

[0218] As used herein, a “virtualized” radio access node is an implementation of radio access node 1900 in which at least a portion of the functionality of radio access node 1900 is implemented as a virtual component (e.g., via a virtual machine executed on a physical processing node in a network). As illustrated, in this example, radio access node 1900 may include a control system 1902 and / or one or more radio units 1910, as described above. Control system 1902 may be connected to radio unit 1910 via, for example, fiber optic cable. Radio access node 1900 includes one or more processing nodes 2000 that are coupled to or included in network 2002 as part of network 2002. If present, control system 1902 or radio units are connected to processing node 2000 via network 2002. Each processing node 2000 includes one or more processors 2004 (e.g., CPU, ASIC, FPGA, etc.), memory 2006, and network interface 2008.

[0219] In this example, the function 2010 of the radio access node 1900 described herein (e.g., as described above, for example regarding...) Figure 18 The functions of radio access node 802 or 806, base station, gNB, etc., are implemented at one or more processing nodes 2000, or distributed in any desired manner across one or more processing nodes 2000 and control system 1902 and / or radio unit. In some specific embodiments, some or all of the functions 2010 of the radio access node 1900 described herein are implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a virtual environment hosted by processing node 2000. As those skilled in the art will recognize, additional signaling or communication between processing node 2000 and control system 1902 is used to perform at least some of the desired functions 2010. It is noteworthy that in some embodiments, control system 1902 may be omitted, in which case radio unit 1910 communicates directly with processing node 2000 via a suitable network interface.

[0220] In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions is provided that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform one or more functions of the radio access node 1900 or a node (e.g., processing node 2000) in a virtual environment implementing the functions 2010 of the radio access node 1900 according to any embodiment described herein. In some embodiments, a carrier including the above-described computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0221] Figure 21 This is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1900 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The radio access node 1900 includes one or more modules 2100, each module 2100 being implemented in software. Modules 2100 provide the functionality of the radio access node 1900 as described herein (e.g., as described herein, for example regarding...). Figure 18 (One or more functions of radio access nodes 802 or 806, base stations, gNBs, etc.). This discussion also applies to... Figure 20 The processing node 2000, wherein the module 2100 may be implemented at one of the processing nodes 2000 or distributed across multiple processing nodes 2000 and / or distributed across the processing nodes 2000 and the control system 1902.

[0222] Figure 22 This is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; as shown, the wireless communication device 2200 includes one or more processors 2202 (e.g., CPU, ASIC, FPGA, etc.), a memory 2204, and one or more transceivers 2206, each transceiver 2206 including one or more transmitters 2208 and one or more receivers 2210 coupled to one or more antennas 2212. As those skilled in the art will understand, the transceiver 2206 includes radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna 2212, configured to modulate signals transmitted between the antenna 2212 and the processor 2202. The processor 2202 is also referred to herein as processing circuitry. The transceiver 2206 is also referred to herein as radio circuitry. In some embodiments, the functions of the wireless communication device 2200 described above (e.g., as described above, for example regarding...) Figure 18 One or more functions of the wireless communication device 812, UE, etc., can be implemented wholly or partially in software, for example, stored in memory 2204 and executed by processor 2202. Note that the wireless communication device 2200 may include... Figure 22Additional components not shown, such as one or more user interface components (e.g., input / output interfaces including displays, buttons, touchscreens, microphones, speakers, etc. and / or any other components for allowing information to be input into and / or output from the wireless communication device 2200), power supply (e.g., battery and associated power circuitry), etc.

[0223] In some embodiments, a computer program is provided that includes instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the functions of a wireless communication device 2200 according to any of the embodiments described herein (e.g., as described herein, for example regarding...). Figure 18 (One or more functions of wireless communication devices 812, UE, etc.). In some embodiments, a carrier including the above-described computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of electronic signals, optical signals, radio signals, or computer-readable storage media (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0224] Figure 23 This is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2200 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 2200 includes one or more modules 2300, each module 2300 being implemented in software. Modules 2300 provide the functionality of the wireless communication device 2200 as described herein (e.g., as described herein, for example regarding...). Figure 18 (One or more functions of wireless communication devices such as 812 and UE).

[0225] Reference Figure 24 According to an embodiment, the communication system includes a telecommunications network 2400 (e.g., a 3GPP-type cellular network), which includes an access network 2402 (such as a RAN) and a core network 2404. The access network 2402 includes multiple base stations 2406A, 2406B, and 2406C, such as Node B, eNB, gNB, or other types of radio access points (APs), each base station defining a corresponding coverage area 2408A, 2408B, or 2408C. Each base station 2406A, 2406B, or 2406C can be connected to the core network 2404 via a wired or wireless connection 2410. A first UE 2412 located in coverage area 2408C is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding base station 2406C. A second UE 2414 located in coverage area 2408A can wirelessly connect to the corresponding base station 2406A. Although multiple UEs 2412 and 2414 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 UE is connected to the corresponding base station 2406.

[0226] Telecommunication network 2400 is connected to host computer 2416, which may be implemented as a standalone server, a cloud-based server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server cluster. Host computer 2416 may be owned or controlled by a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 2418 and 2420 between telecommunications network 2400 and host computer 2416 may extend directly from core network 2404 to host computer 2416, or may be made via optional intermediate network 2422. Intermediate network 2422 may be one or more of public, private, or bearer networks; intermediate network 2422 (if present) may be a backbone network or the Internet; specifically, intermediate network 2422 may include two or more subnetworks (not shown).

[0227] Figure 24 The communication system as a whole realizes the connection between the connected UEs 2412 and 2414 and the host computer 2416. This connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2424. The host computer 2416 and the connected UEs 2412 and 2414 are configured to transmit data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 2424 using the access network 2402, core network 2404, any intermediate network 2422, and possibly other infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 2424 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices traversing the OTT connection 2424 are unaware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, it may not be necessary to notify the base station 2406 of the past routes of input downlink communications with data originating from the host computer 2416 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 2412. Similarly, base station 2406 does not need to be aware of future routes for uplink communication originating from UE 2412 to host computer 2416.

[0228] Now refer to Figure 25This section describes example implementations of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs according to embodiments. In communication system 2500, host computer 2502 includes hardware 2504, which includes a communication interface 2506 configured to establish and maintain wired or wireless connections with interfaces of different communication devices of communication system 2500. Host computer 2502 also includes processing circuitry 2508, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. Specifically, processing circuitry 2508 may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. Host computer 2502 also includes software 2510, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 2502 and executable by processing circuitry 2508. Software 2510 includes host application 2512. Host application 2512 can be operated to provide services to remote users, such as UE 2514 connected via OTT connection 2516, which terminates between UE 2514 and host computer 2502. When providing services to remote users, host application 2512 can provide user data sent using OTT connection 2516.

[0229] The communication system 2500 also includes a base station 2518 installed in the telecommunications system, which includes hardware 2520 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 2502 and the UE 2514. Hardware 2520 may include: a communication interface 2522 for establishing and maintaining wired or wireless connections with different communication devices of the communication system 2500; and a radio interface 2524 for establishing and maintaining connections with at least the coverage area served by the base station 2518. Figure 25 The wireless connection 2526 of UE2514 (not shown in the diagram) is used. Communication interface 2522 can be configured to facilitate connection 2528 to host computer 2502. Connection 2528 can be direct, or it can pass through the core network of the telecommunications system (…). Figure 25 (Not shown) and / or via one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 2520 of base station 2518 also includes processing circuitry 2530, which may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. Base station 2518 also has software 2532 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0230] The communication system 2500 also includes the previously mentioned UE 2514. The hardware 2534 of UE 2514 may include a radio interface 2536 configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 2526 with a base station serving the coverage area currently occupied by UE 2514. The hardware 2534 of UE 2514 also includes processing circuitry 2538, which may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. UE 2514 also includes software 2540, which is stored in or accessible by UE 2514 and executable by processing circuitry 2538. Software 2540 includes a client application 2542. Client application 2542 can be operated to provide services to human or non-human users via UE 2514, supported by host computer 2502. In host computer 2502, the executing host application 2512 can communicate with the executing client application 2542 via OTT connection 2516 terminated at UE 2514 and host computer 2502. When providing services to a user, client application 2542 can receive request data from host application 2512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 2516 can transmit both request data and user data. Client application 2542 can interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0231] Please note, Figure 25 The host computer 2502, base station 2518, and UE 2514 shown can be respectively connected to Figure 24 The host computer 2416, base stations 2406A, 2406B, and 2406C, and UEs 2412 and 2414 are similar to or identical to each other. That is, the internal workings of these entities can be as follows: Figure 25 As shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Figure 24 The network topology.

[0232] exist Figure 25 The OTT connection 2516 has been abstractly depicted to illustrate communication between host computer 2502 and UE 2514 via base station 2518, without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices or the precise routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure can determine this route, which can be configured to be hidden from UE 2514, from the service provider operating host computer 2502, or from both. While OTT connection 2516 is active, the network infrastructure can also make decisions to dynamically change the route (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0233] The wireless connection 2526 between UE 2514 and base station 2518 is consistent with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT services provided to UE 2514 using OTT connection 2516, in which wireless connection 2526 forms the final part.

[0234] For the purpose of monitoring data rates, latency, and other factors improved in one or more embodiments, a measurement process may be provided. Optional network functionality may also be present for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2516 between the host computer 2502 and the UE 2514 in response to changes in measurement results. The measurement process and / or network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2516 may be implemented using software 2510 and hardware 2504 of the host computer 2502, or software 2540 and hardware 2534 of the UE 2514, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with communication devices through which the OTT connection 2516 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities illustrated above or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities that the software 2510, 2540 can use to calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 2516 may include message formatting, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; this reconfiguration does not need to affect the base station 2518, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2518. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In a particular embodiment, measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates the host computer 2502 to measure throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. This measurement may be implemented as follows: software 2510 and 2540 enable the use of the OTT connection 2516 to send messages (specifically, empty messages or "fake" messages) while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0235] Figure 26 This is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be a reference... Figure 24 and Figure 25 The host computer, base station, and UE are described. For the sake of brevity, this section will only include descriptions of... Figure 26The diagram is referenced. In step 2600, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 2602 of step 2600 (which may be optional), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 2604, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying user data to the UE. In step 2606 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 2608 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0236] Figure 27 This is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be a reference... Figure 24 and Figure 25 The host computer, base station, and UE are described. For the sake of brevity, this section will only include descriptions of... Figure 27 The diagram is referenced. In step 2700 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 2702, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying user data to the UE. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, this transmission may be via a base station. In step 2704 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0237] Figure 28 This is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be a reference... Figure 24 and Figure 25 The host computer, base station, and UE are described. For the sake of brevity, this section will only include descriptions of... Figure 28The diagram is referenced. In step 2800 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2802, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 2804 of step 2800 (which may be optional), the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 2806 of step 2802 (which may be optional), the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may also consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which user data is provided, the UE initiates the transmission of user data to the host computer in sub-step 2808 (which may be optional). In step 2810 of the method, the host computer receives user data sent from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0238] Figure 29 This is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be a reference... Figure 24 and Figure 25 The host computer, base station, and UE are described. For the sake of brevity, this section will only include descriptions of... Figure 29 The diagram is referenced. In step 2900 (which may be optional), the base station receives user data from the UE in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2902 (which may be optional), the base station initiates a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 2904 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0239] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein can be performed by one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may include multiple such functional units. These functional units may be implemented by processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers and other digital hardware (including digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific digital logic, etc.). The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols, and instructions for executing one or more technologies described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause corresponding functional units to perform corresponding functions according to one or an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0240] While the processes in the accompanying drawings illustrate a particular sequence of operations performed in certain embodiments of this disclosure, it should be understood that such sequence is exemplary (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.).

[0241] Some example embodiments of this disclosure are as follows:

[0242] Example

[0243] Example 1: A method for transmitting and receiving downlink control information (DCI) using a multitransmission configuration indicating TCI state in a wireless network including at least one radio access node (802; 806) and at least one wireless communication device (812), the method comprising one or more of the following:

[0244] • At the radio access node (802; 806), perform one or more of the following:

[0245] ° Provides (1800) one or more messages to the wireless communication device (812) to activate a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a control resource set CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of resource elements RE associated with the first TCI state and a second set of RE associated with the second TCI state; and

[0246] ° Provide the wireless communication device (812) with one or more of the following configurations (1802):

[0247] - The search space SS set associated with CORESET;

[0248] - One or more aggregation levels AL; and

[0249] - Multiple Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates for each AL in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from a first group of REs and REs from a second group of REs (e.g., composed of them); and

[0250] • At the wireless communication device (812), one or more of the following are performed:

[0251] ° Receive (1800) one or more messages activating the first TCI state and the second TCI state of CORSET, the CORSET including a first set of REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state;

[0252] ° Receive (1802) the configuration of the SS set associated with CORESET, one or more ALs, and multiple PDCCH candidates for each AL in the SS set; and

[0253] °Received (1804) by any of the following DCIs:

[0254] - A single PDCCH from one of multiple PDCCH candidates, wherein the single PDCCH includes REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or

[0255] - The first PDCCH in the first group of REs (e.g., AL is 1) and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs (e.g., AL is 1).

[0256] Example 2: According to the method described in Example 1, CORESET further includes multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain and multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain.

[0257] Example 3: According to the method described in Example 1 or 2, the CORESET further includes multiple resource element RE groups REG, each REG consisting of 12 REs in the resource blocks of the OFDM symbols in the CORESET, and is first indexed in ascending order of OFDM symbols, and then indexed in ascending order of RB starting from the lowest RB in the CORESET.

[0258] Example 4: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 3, wherein CORESET further includes a plurality of REG packages REGB, each REGB consisting of a plurality of consecutive REGs.

[0259] Example 5: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 4, wherein CORESET further includes a plurality of control channel elements CCE, each CCE consisting of a plurality of REGBs.

[0260] Example 6: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs, respectively.

[0261] Example 7: According to the method described in Example 6, the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs are interleaved, such that the first group of REGs is a REG with an even-numbered index, while the second group of REGs is a REG with an odd-numbered index, or vice versa.

[0262] Example 8: According to the method described in Example 6, one or more of the following may also be applied: CORESET further includes a plurality of REG packages REGB, each REGB consisting of a plurality of consecutive REGs; and a first group of REGs consisting of a first REG in each REGB; and a second group of REGs consisting of a second REG in each REGB.

[0263] Example 9: According to the method described in Example 8, wherein the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively the REG in the first OFDM symbol and the REG in the second OFDM symbol.

[0264] Example 10: The method described in Example 9, wherein the first OFDM symbol is different from the second OFDM symbol.

[0265] Example 11: According to the method described in Example 10, if the number of OFDM symbols in CORESET is 1, then the first OFDM symbol is the same as the second OFDM symbol.

[0266] Example 12: The method according to any one of Examples 8 to 11, wherein the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGs.

[0267] Example 13: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs, respectively.

[0268] Example 14: The method described in Example 13, wherein the first group of REGBs is an even-numbered REGB, and the second group of REGBs is an odd-numbered REGB, or vice versa.

[0269] Example 15: According to the method of Example 13, one or more of the following may also be applied: CORESET further includes a plurality of control channel elements CCE, each CCE consisting of a plurality of REGBs; and the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs are respectively the first REGB and the second REGB in each CCE.

[0270] Example 16: According to the method of Example 15, wherein the first REGB in each CCE and the second REGB in each CCE are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGBs in each CCE.

[0271] Example 17: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of CCEs and the second group of CCEs, respectively.

[0272] Example 18: According to the method described in Example 17, the first group of CCEs are CCEs with even numbers, while the second group of CCEs are CCEs with odd numbers, or vice versa.

[0273] Example 19: The method according to Example 17, wherein the first group of CCEs and the second group of CCEs are respectively (e.g., in CORESET or PDCCH candidates) the first half and the second half of consecutive CCEs.

[0274] Example 20: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 19, wherein the first TCI state and the second TCI state are respectively associated with the first downlink reference signal RS and the second downlink RS.

[0275] Example 21: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 20, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes a plurality of CCEs.

[0276] Example 22: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 21, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) a DCI carried by a single PDCCH from one of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in a first group of REs and REs in a second group of REs, further including determining a first group of REs and a second group of REs among a plurality of CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate, and performing channel estimation based on demodulated signals DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCEs by assuming quasi-co-position QCLs with the first downlink RS and the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0277] Example 23: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 21, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second PDCCH in a second set of REs, and the first PDCCH is the same as the second PDCCH.

[0278] Example 24: The method according to Examples 1 to 21, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second PDCCH in a second set of REs, and receiving the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH in a CCE associated with one of the PDCCH candidates.

[0279] Example 25: According to the method of Example 24, receiving (1804) the DCI carried by the first PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs further includes determining the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE, and performing channel estimation based on the demodulated signals DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE by assuming that they are quasi-co-located with the first downlink RS or the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0280] Example 26: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 21 and 23 to 25, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first group of REs and a second PDCCH in a second group of REs, and the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are decoded together by combining signals received in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE after channel estimation, or decoded separately.

[0281] Example 27: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 26 further includes determining the time offset between the reception of DCI and the corresponding physical channel or signal as the number of symbols between the last symbol of CORESET in SS and the first symbol of the physical channel or signal.

[0282] Example 28: According to the method described in Example 26, it is assumed that the first set of REs and the second set of REs in the CCE for the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are not available for the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH scheduled by the wireless communication device (812) through the DCI.

[0283] Example 29: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 28, wherein the first TCI state and the second TCI state are respectively associated with the first downlink reference signal RS and the second downlink RS, and the method further includes applying the first downlink RS as a QCL source for PDSCH reception, a path loss RS for uplink power control, or a link monitoring RS for link monitoring (e.g., if certain conditions are met and CORESET has the lowest ID or the lowest ID in the time slot).

[0284] Group A Examples

[0285] Example 30: A method for a wireless communication device (812) to receive downlink control information (DCI) in a wireless network using the multiple transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the method comprising one or more of the following:

[0286] • Receive (1800) one or more messages from radio access nodes (802; 806) activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a control resource set CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of resource elements RE associated with the first TCI state and a second set of RE associated with the second TCI state;

[0287] • Receive (1802) one or more of the following configurations from the radio access node (802; 806):

[0288] °The search space SS set associated with CORESET;

[0289] °One or more aggregation levels AL; and

[0290] ° Multiple Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates for each AL in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from a first group of REs and REs from a second group of REs (e.g., composed of them); and

[0291] • Receive (1804) a DCI carried by any of the following:

[0292] ° A single PDCCH from one of multiple PDCCH candidates, wherein the single PDCCH includes REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or

[0293] °The first PDCCH in the first group of REs (e.g., AL is 1) and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs (e.g., AL is 1).

[0294] Example 31: According to the method described in Example 30, CORESET further includes multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain and multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain.

[0295] Example 32: The method according to Example 30 or 31, wherein the CORESET further includes a plurality of resource element RE groups REG, each REG consisting of 12 REs in the resource blocks of the OFDM symbols in the CORESET, and is first indexed in ascending order of OFDM symbols, and then indexed in ascending order of RB starting from the lowest RB in the CORESET.

[0296] Example 33: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 32, wherein CORESET further includes a plurality of REG packages REGB, each REGB consisting of a plurality of consecutive REGs.

[0297] Example 34: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 33, wherein CORESET further includes a plurality of control channel elements CCE, each CCE consisting of a plurality of REGBs.

[0298] Example 35: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 34, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs, respectively.

[0299] Example 36: According to the method described in Example 35, the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs are interleaved, such that the first group of REGs is a REG with an even-numbered index, while the second group of REGs is a REG with an odd-numbered index, or vice versa.

[0300] Example 37: According to the method of Example 35, one or more of the following may also be applied: CORESET further includes a plurality of REG packages REGB, each REGB consisting of a plurality of consecutive REGs; and a first group of REGs consisting of a first REG in each REGB; and a second group of REGs consisting of a second REG in each REGB.

[0301] Example 38: According to the method described in Example 37, wherein the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively the REG in the first OFDM symbol and the REG in the second OFDM symbol.

[0302] Example 39: The method described in Example 38, wherein the first OFDM symbol is not different from the second OFDM symbol.

[0303] Example 40: According to the method described in Example 39, if the number of OFDM symbols in CORESET is 1, then the first OFDM symbol is the same as the second OFDM symbol.

[0304] Example 41: The method according to any one of Examples 37 to 40, wherein the first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGs.

[0305] Example 42: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 34, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs, respectively.

[0306] Example 43: The method described in Example 42, wherein the first group of REGBs is an even-numbered REGB, and the second group of REGBs is an odd-numbered REGB, or vice versa.

[0307] Example 44: According to the method of Example 42, one or more of the following may also be applied: CORESET further includes a plurality of control channel elements CCE, each CCE consisting of a plurality of REGBs; and the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs are respectively the first REGB and the second REGB in each CCE.

[0308] Example 45: According to the method described in Example 44, wherein the first REGB in each CCE and the second REGB in each CCE are respectively the first half and the second half of consecutive REGBs in each CCE.

[0309] Example 46: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 34, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of CCEs and the second group of CCEs, respectively.

[0310] Example 47: The method described in Example 46, wherein the first group of CCEs are CCEs with even numbers, and the second group of CCEs are CCEs with odd numbers, or vice versa.

[0311] Example 48: The method according to Example 46, wherein the first group of CCEs and the second group of CCEs are respectively (e.g., in CORESET) the first half and the second half of consecutive CCEs.

[0312] Example 49: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 48, wherein the first TCI state and the second TCI state are respectively associated with the first downlink reference signal RS and the second downlink RS.

[0313] Example 50: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 49, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes a plurality of CCEs.

[0314] Example 51: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 49, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) a DCI carried by a single PDCCH from one of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in a first group of REs and REs in a second group of REs, further including determining a first group of REs and a second group of REs from a plurality of CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate, and performing channel estimation based on demodulated signals DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCEs by assuming quasi-co-located QCLs with the first downlink RS and the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0315] Example 52: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 50, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second PDCCH in a second set of REs, and the first PDCCH is the same as the second PDCCH.

[0316] Example 53: The method according to Examples 30 to 50, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first set of REs and a second PDCCH in a second set of REs, and receiving the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH in a CCE associated with one of the PDCCH candidates.

[0317] Example 54: According to the method of Example 53, receiving (1804) the DCI carried by the first PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs further includes determining the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE, and performing channel estimation based on the demodulated signal DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE by assuming that they are quasi-co-located with the first downlink RS or the second downlink RS, respectively.

[0318] Example 55: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 50 and 52 to 54, wherein receiving (1804) DCI includes receiving (1804) DCI carried by a first PDCCH in a first group of REs and a second PDCCH in a second group of REs, and the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are decoded together by combining signals received in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE after channel estimation, or decoded separately.

[0319] Example 56: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 55 further includes determining the time offset between the reception of DCI and the corresponding physical channel or signal as the number of symbols between the last symbol of CORESET in SS and the first symbol of the physical channel or signal.

[0320] Example 57: The method according to any one of Examples 52 to 55, wherein it is assumed that the first set of REs and the second set of REs in the CCEs used for the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are not available for the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH scheduled by the wireless communication device (812) via DCI.

[0321] Example 58: The method according to any one of Examples 30 to 57, wherein the first TCI state and the second TCI state are respectively associated with the first downlink reference signal RS and the second downlink RS, and the method further includes applying the first downlink RS as a QCL source for PDSCH reception, a path loss RS for uplink power control, or a link monitoring RS for link monitoring (e.g., if certain conditions are met and CORESET has the lowest ID or the lowest ID in the time slot).

[0322] Example 59: The method according to any one of the preceding Group A embodiments further includes: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via transmission to a base station.

[0323] Group B Implementation Examples

[0324] Example 60: A method for a radio access node (802; 806) to transmit downlink control information (DCI) in a wireless network using a multiple transmission configuration indication (TCI), the method comprising one or more of the following:

[0325] • Provide one or more messages (1800) to the wireless communication device (812) to activate the first TCI state and the second TCI state of the control resource set CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of resource elements RE associated with the first TCI state and a second set of RE associated with the second TCI state;

[0326] • Send (1802) one or more of the following configurations to the wireless communication device (812):

[0327] °The search space SS set associated with CORESET;

[0328] °One or more aggregation levels AL; and

[0329] ° Multiple Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates for each AL in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from a first group of REs and REs from a second group of REs (e.g., composed of them); and

[0330] • The DCI is transmitted to the wireless communication device (812), and the DCI is carried by any of the following:

[0331] A single PDCCH from one of multiple PDCCH candidates, wherein the single PDCCH includes REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or

[0332] °The first PDCCH in the first group of REs (e.g., AL is 1) and the second PDCCH in the second group of REs (e.g., AL is 1).

[0333] Example 61: The method according to any one of the preceding Group B examples further includes: acquiring user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless communication device.

[0334] Group C Implementation Examples

[0335] Example 62: A wireless communication device includes: a processing circuit configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A; and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless communication device.

[0336] Example 63: A radio access node includes: processing circuitry configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group B; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the radio access node.

[0337] Example 64: A user equipment (UE) includes: an antenna configured to transmit and receive radio signals; a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and processing circuitry and configured to modulate signals transmitted between the antenna and processing circuitry; processing circuitry configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow information to be input to the UE for processing by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to power the UE.

[0338] Example 65: A communication system including a host computer, comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE); wherein the cellular network includes a radio access node having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the radio access node being configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group B.

[0339] Example 66: The communication system according to the foregoing embodiments further includes a radio access node.

[0340] Example 67: The communication system according to the two embodiments above further includes a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with a radio access node.

[0341] Example 68: A communication system according to the foregoing three examples, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the UE includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0342] Example 69: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a radio access node, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data at the host computer; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the radio access node at the host computer, wherein the radio access node performs any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group B.

[0343] Example 70: The method according to the foregoing embodiments further includes transmitting user data at the radio access node.

[0344] Example 71: According to the method described in the two embodiments above, user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, and the method further includes executing a client application associated with the host application at the UE.

[0345] Example 72: A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a radio access node, the UE including a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to perform the methods described according to the foregoing three examples.

[0346] Example 73: A communication system including a host computer, comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE); wherein the UE includes a radio interface and processing circuitry, and components of the UE are configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A.

[0347] Example 74: The communication system according to the foregoing embodiments, wherein the cellular network further includes a radio access node configured to communicate with the UE.

[0348] Example 75: The communication system according to the two embodiments above, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0349] Example 76: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a radio access node, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data at the host computer; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the radio access node at the host computer, wherein the UE performs any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A.

[0350] Example 77: The method according to the foregoing embodiments further includes receiving user data from the radio access node at the UE.

[0351] Example 78: A communication system including a host computer, comprising: a communication interface configured to receive user data transmitted from a user equipment (UE) to a radio access node; wherein the UE includes a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A.

[0352] Example 79: The communication system according to the foregoing embodiments further includes a UE.

[0353] Example 80: The communication system according to the two embodiments above further includes a radio access node, wherein the radio access node includes a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward user data carried in the transmission from the UE to the radio access node to the host computer.

[0354] Example 81: The communication system according to the three embodiments described above, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data.

[0355] Example 82: The communication system according to the foregoing four examples, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide requested data; and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to provide user data in response to the requested data.

[0356] Example 83: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a radio access node, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted from the UE to the radio access node, wherein the UE performs any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A.

[0357] Example 84: The method according to the foregoing embodiments further includes providing user data to the radio access node at the UE.

[0358] Example 85: The method according to the foregoing two examples further includes: at the UE, executing a client application to provide user data to be transmitted; and at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

[0359] Example 86: The method according to the foregoing three examples further includes: executing a client application at the UE; and receiving input data from the client application at the UE, the input data being provided at a host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application; wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.

[0360] Example 87: A communication system including a host computer, the host computer including a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a radio access node, wherein the radio access node includes a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to perform any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group B.

[0361] Example 88: The communication system according to the foregoing embodiments further includes a radio access node.

[0362] Example 89: The communication system according to the two embodiments above further includes a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with a radio access node.

[0363] Example 90: The communication system according to the three embodiments described above, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data to be received by the host computer.

[0364] Example 91: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a radio access node, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving from the radio access node transmitted user data that the radio access node has already received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any step according to any one of the embodiments in Group A.

[0365] Example 92: The method according to the foregoing embodiments further includes receiving user data from the UE at the radio access node.

[0366] Example 93: The method described in the two preceding examples further includes initiating the transmission of received user data to the host computer at the radio access node.

[0367] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of this disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the concept disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for a wireless communication device (812) to receive downlink control information (DCI) in a wireless network using a multiple transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, the method comprising: From the radio access node (802; 806) Receive (1800) one or more messages activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a control resource set CORESET, the CORESET including a first set of resource elements RE associated with the first TCI state and a second set of RE associated with the second TCI state; Receive (1802) the following configurations from the radio access node (802; 806): - The search space SS set associated with the CORESET; - One or more aggregation levels AL; and - Multiple physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs in the first group of REs and REs in the second group of REs; as well as Receive (1804) a DCI carried by any of the following: - A single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH comprising REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or - The first repeat of the PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second repeat of the PDCCH in the second group of REs. The time offset between the reception of the DCI and the corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is determined as the number of symbols between the last symbol of the CORESET in the SS and the first symbol of the PDSCH.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Only one of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is used to define the default TCI state of the PDSCH.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, When the time offset between the downlink DCI reception and the corresponding PDSCH is less than a threshold, only one of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is used to define the default TCI state of the PDSCH.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, If the time offset between the downlink DCI that schedules the PDSCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold, and if the CORESET has the lowest CORESET identity ID in the most recent time slot, then the wireless communication device (812) assumes that one or more demodulation reference signal DM-RS ports of the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH of the serving cell are aligned with one or more reference signal quasi-aligned QCLs relative to one or more QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi-aligned indication in the first active TCI state of the CORESET, in the most recent time slot, the wireless communication device monitors one or more CORESETs within the active bandwidth portion of the serving cell.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The CORESET also includes multiple resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain and multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, The CORESET also includes multiple RE groups REG, each REG consisting of 12 REs from the RBs in the OFDM symbols of the CORESET, and is first indexed in ascending order of OFDM symbols, and then indexed in ascending order of RBs starting from the lowest RB in the CORESET.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The CORESET also includes multiple REG packages (REGB), each of which consists of one or more consecutive REGs.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The CORESET also includes multiple control channel elements (CCEs), each of which consists of one or more REGBs from the multiple REGBs.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of REGs and the second group of REGs, respectively.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The mapping of REGs to the first set of REGs associated with the first TCI state or the second set of REGs associated with the second TCI state is based on: (a) The index of the REG, (b) The orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol containing the REG. (c) The position of the REG in the corresponding REG packet, (d) The REG packet or the CCE to which the REG belongs, (e) CORESET configuration of the CORESET at the precoding granularity. (f) Mapping from CCE to REG, (g) The number of OFDM symbols; or A combination of two or more of (h), (a), and (g).

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The first group of REGs and the second group of REGs are interleaved, such that the first group of REGs has an even-numbered index, while the second group of REGs has an odd-numbered index, or vice versa.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The CORESET also includes multiple REG packages (REGB), each REGB consisting of two or more REGs; The first group of REGs consists of the first REG in each of the REGBs; and The second group of REGs consists of the second REG in each of the REGBs.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The first REG and the second REG in each REGB are respectively REGs in the first OFDM symbol and the second OFDM symbol, wherein the first OFDM symbol and the second OFDM symbol are different OFDM symbols.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The first REG and the second REG in each REGB are REGs in the same OFDM symbol.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein, The first REG in the plurality of REG packets and the second REG in the plurality of REG packets are respectively the first half and the second half of a plurality of consecutive REGs.

16. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The CORESET also includes multiple REG packages (REGB), each REGB consisting of two or more REGs; The first group of REGs consists of the first k REGs in each of the REGBs; and The second group of REGs consists of the second k REGs in each of the REGBs; Where k is an integer, which is equal to the number of REG packets in the plurality of REG packets divided by the number of active TCI states of the CORESET.

17. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The CORESET also includes multiple REG packages (REGB), each REGB consisting of two or more REGs; The first group of REGs consists of REGs from the first number of OFDM symbols in the CORESET; and The second group of REG consists of the remaining number of OFDM symbols in the CORESET.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs, respectively.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, The first group of REGBs is a group of REGBs with even-numbered numbers, while the second group of REGBs is a group of REGBs with odd-numbered numbers, or vice versa.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein: The CORESET also includes multiple control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE consisting of two or more REGBs; and The first group of REGBs and the second group of REGBs are the first REGB and the second REGB in each of the CCEs, respectively.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The first REGB in each CCE and the second REGB in each CCE are respectively the first half and the second half of the consecutive REGB in each CCE.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The first group of REs and the second group of REs are the first group of CCEs and the second group of CCEs, respectively.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein, The first group of CCEs consists of even-numbered CCEs, while the second group consists of odd-numbered CCEs, or vice versa.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein, The first group of CCEs and the second group of CCEs are respectively the first half and the second half of the consecutive CCEs in the CORESET.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, 10-14, 16-17, 19-21, and 23-24, wherein, The first TCI state and the second TCI state are associated with the first downlink reference signal RS and the second downlink RS, respectively.

26. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, 10-14, 16-17, 19-21, and 23-24, wherein, Each of the PDCCH candidates includes one or more CCEs.

27. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, 10-14, 16-17, 19-21, and 23-24, wherein, Receiving (1804) the DCI includes receiving (1804) the DCI carried by a single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH including REs in the first group of REs and REs in the second group of REs, and receiving (1804) the DCI further includes: Identify the first group of REs and the second group of REs in one or more CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate; and Channel estimation is performed based on the demodulated signals DMRS in the first set of REs and the second set of REs associated with the one or more CCEs associated with the PDCCH candidate, assuming quasi-QCLs of the first downlink RS and the second downlink RS indicated by the first TCI state and the second TCI state, respectively.

28. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, 10-14, 16-17, 19-21, and 23-24, wherein, Receiving (1804) the DCI includes receiving (1804) the DCI carried by the first repeat of the PDCCH in the first set of REs and the second repeat of the PDCCH in the second set of REs, and receiving the first repeat of the PDCCH and the second repeat of the PDCCH in one or more CCEs associated with one of the PDCCH candidates.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein, Receiving (1804) the DCI includes receiving (1804) the DCI carried by the first repetition of the PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second repetition of the PDCCH in the second group of REs, and receiving (1804) the DCI also includes determining the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the CCE, and performing channel estimation based on the demodulated signal DMRS in the first group of REs and the second group of REs in the one or more CCEs associated with one of the PDCCH candidates by assuming quasi-co-location with the first downlink RS or the second downlink RS, respectively.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein, Receiving (1804) the DCI includes receiving (1804) the DCI carried by the first repetition of the PDCCH in the first set of REs and the second repetition of the PDCCH in the second set of REs, wherein the first repetition of the PDCCH and the second repetition of the PDCCH are decoded together by combining the signals received in the first set of REs and the second set of REs in the CCE after channel estimation, or decoded separately.

31. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, 10-14, 16-17, 19-21, 23-24, and 29-30, wherein, Receiving (1804) the DCI includes receiving (1804) the DCI carried by the first repetition of the PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second repetition of the PDCCH in the second group of REs, wherein the first group of REs and the second group of REs in one or more CCEs associated with the first repetition of the PDCCH and the second repetition of the PDCCH are assumed to be unavailable for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the wireless communication device (812) via the DCI.

32. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, 10-14, 16-17, 19-21, 23-24, and 29-30, wherein, The first TCI state and the second TCI state are respectively associated with a first downlink reference signal RS and a second downlink RS, and the method further includes applying the first downlink RS as a QCL source for PDSCH reception, a path loss RS for uplink power control, or a link monitoring RS for link monitoring.

33. A wireless communication device (812) for receiving downlink control information (DCI) using a multitransmission configuration indication (TCI) state in a wireless network, the wireless communication device (812) comprising: One or more transmitters (2208); One or more receivers (2210); as well as A processing circuit (2202) associated with the one or more transmitters (2208) and the one or more receivers (2210), the processing circuit (2202) being configured to cause the wireless communication device (812): Receive (1800) one or more messages from radio access nodes (802; 806) activating a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a control resource set CORESET, wherein the CORESET includes a first set of resource elements REs associated with the first TCI state and a second set of REs associated with the second TCI state; Receive (1802) the following configurations from the radio access node (802; 806): - The search space SS set associated with the CORESET; - One or more aggregation levels AL; and - Multiple physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs in the first group of REs and REs in the second group of REs; as well as Receive (1804) a DCI carried by any of the following: - A single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH comprising REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or - The first repeat of the PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second repeat of the PDCCH in the second group of REs. The time offset between the reception of the DCI and the corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is determined as the number of symbols between the last symbol of the CORESET in the SS and the first symbol of the PDSCH.

34. The wireless communication device (812) according to claim 33, wherein, The processing circuit (2202) is also configured to cause the wireless communication device (812) to perform the method of any one of claims 2 to 32.

35. A method for a radio access node (802; 806) to transmit downlink control information (DCI) in a wireless network using a multitransmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the method comprising: Provide one or more messages to the wireless communication device (812) to activate a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a control resource set CORESET, wherein the CORESET includes a first set of resource elements RE associated with the first TCI state and a second set of RE associated with the second TCI state; Send (1802) the following configurations to the wireless communication device (812): - The search space SS set associated with the CORESET; - One or more aggregation levels AL; and - Multiple Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first set of REs and REs from the second set of REs; and The DCI is transmitted to the wireless communication device (812), and the DCI is carried by any of the following: - A single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH comprising REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or - The first repeat of the PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second repeat of the PDCCH in the second group of REs. The time offset between the transmission of the DCI and the corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is determined as the number of symbols between the last symbol of the CORESET in the SS and the first symbol of the PDSCH.

36. A radio access node (802; 806) for transmitting downlink control information (DCI) using a multitransmission configuration indicating TCI state in a wireless network, the radio access node (802; 806) including processing circuitry (1904; 2004) configured to cause the radio access node (802; 806): Provide one or more messages to the wireless communication device (812) to activate a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a control resource set CORESET, wherein the CORESET includes a first set of resource elements RE associated with the first TCI state and a second set of RE associated with the second TCI state; Send (1802) the following configurations to the wireless communication device (812): - The search space SS set associated with the CORESET; - One or more aggregation levels AL; and - Multiple Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates, including PDCCH candidates for each of the one or more ALs in the SS set, wherein, Each PDCCH candidate includes REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; and The DCI is transmitted to the wireless communication device (812), and the DCI is carried by any of the following: - A single PDCCH from one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates, the single PDCCH comprising REs from the first group of REs and REs from the second group of REs; or - The first repeat of the PDCCH in the first group of REs and the second repeat of the PDCCH in the second group of REs. The time offset between the transmission of the DCI and the corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is determined as the number of symbols between the last symbol of the CORESET in the SS and the first symbol of the PDSCH.

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