Network operations for DL TCI configuration

Abstract

The base station may signal a change in the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of more than one control resource set (CORESET). The base station has one or more processors configured to: configure a set of control resource sets (CORESETs) for the UE, the CORESET set including a plurality of CORESETs; signal the CORESET set including the plurality of CORESETs to the UE; and indicate, via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a change in the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of one or more of the plurality of CORESETs in the CORESET set to the UE.

Description

Background Art

[0001] A Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state includes parameters for configuring a quasi - co - location (QCL) relationship between one or more Downlink (DL) Reference Signals (DLRS) and corresponding antenna ports. A change in the TCI state can be implemented by the network and indicated to User Equipment (UE) in the network to assist in channel estimation. Summary of the Invention

[0002] Some exemplary embodiments relate to a base station having one or more processors and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The processors are configured to: configure a set of Control Resource Sets (CORESET) for a User Equipment (UE), the set of CORESET including a plurality of CORESETs; signal to the UE the set of CORESET including the plurality of CORESETs; and indicate, via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a change in the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state of one or more of the plurality of CORESETs in the set of CORESET to the UE.

[0003] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a base station having one or more processors and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The processors are configured to: configure a list of Component Carriers (CC) with Common Beam Management (CBM) for a User Equipment (UE); and indicate, via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a change in the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a beam change of a Control Resource Set (CORESET) of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the UE, the MAC CE including an indicator of the CC such that the UE applies the TCI state change of the PDSCH or the CORESET beam change of the PDCCH to each CC in the list of CCs including the indicated CC.

[0004] Still other exemplary embodiments relate to a base station having one or more processors and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The processors are configured to: configure whether to apply a simultaneous change in the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for a User Equipment (UE); and transmit an indication of whether to apply the simultaneous TCI state change to the UE via one of a PDCCH Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or a PDSCH MAC CE. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] Figure 1 A network arrangement is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0006] Figure 2 Shows an exemplary UE according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0007] Figure 3 Shows an exemplary network cell according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0008] Figure 4a Shows a media access control element (MAC-CE) for configuring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0009] Figure 4b Shows a MAC CE for configuring a PDCCH TCI according to various exemplary embodiments, the PDCCH TCI including a field for indicating whether the MAC CE is a TCI update for a set of core resource sets (CORESETs) or a TCI update for a single CORESET.

[0010] Figure 5 Shows a method for configuring the TCI state of a CORESET group using a single PDCCH MAC CE according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0011] Figure 6a Shows a method for configuring the TCI state for a list of component carriers (CCs) having common beam management (CBM) according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0012] Figure 6b Shows a bitmap included in an uplink (UL) MAC CE according to various exemplary embodiments, the bitmap including 32 fields Ci for indicating a preferred configuration of a CC list to the network.

[0013] Figure 7a Shows a method for configuring the TCI state for a downlink channel including both a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a PDDCH using a single MAC CE according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0014] Figure 7b Shows a PDSCH MAC CE for TCI activation according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0015] Figure 7c Shows a modified PDSCH MAC CE for TCI activation according to various exemplary embodiments. Detailed Description

[0016] Exemplary embodiments can be further understood with reference to the following description and the related drawings, in which like elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe methods for configuring transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states on multiple control resource sets (CORESETs), multiple component carriers (CCs), and / or on both the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to grouping the foregoing CORESETs, CCs, or downlink channels such that a TCI state change is applied to each of these items in a particular group.

[0017] Network / Device

[0018] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a user equipment (UE) 110. Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE can be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, a Cat-M device, a Cat-M1 device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, other types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0019] The UE 110 can communicate directly with one or more networks. In the example of the network arrangement 100, the networks with which the UE 110 can communicate wirelessly are the 5G NR radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, the LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and the wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. Thus, the UE 110 can include a 5G NR chipset for communicating with the 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset for communicating with the LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset for communicating with the WLAN 124. However, the UE 110 can also communicate with other types of networks (such as legacy cellular networks), and the UE 110 can also communicate with the network via a wired connection. Regarding the exemplary embodiments, the UE 110 can establish a connection with the 5G NR RAN 122.

[0020] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 can be part of a cellular network deployable by a cellular provider (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 can include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macro cell base stations, micro cell base stations, small cell base stations, femto cell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 can include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0021] UE 110 can be connected to 5G NR-RAN via at least one of next-generation nodeB (gNB) 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNBs 120A, 120B can be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna arrays), software, and / or firmware to perform massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) functions. Massive MIMO can refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. The reference to two gNBs 120A, 120B is for illustrative purposes only. Exemplary embodiments can apply to any suitable number of gNBs.

[0022] In addition to networks 120, 122, and 124, network arrangement 100 also includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. Cellular core network 130 can be regarded as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of a cellular network. Cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to UE 110 using IP protocols. IMS 150 can communicate with cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to UE 110. Network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and cellular core network 130. Network service backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functions of UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0023] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. Reference will be made to Figure 1The UE 110 is described with reference to the network arrangement 100. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, a sensor for detecting the condition of the UE 110, and the like.

[0024] The processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a TCI state change engine 235. The TCI state change engine 235 may perform operations including applying a TCI state change indicated by the network. In one embodiment, the TCI state change engine 235 may provide a set of component carriers (CCs) subject to common beam management (CBM) to the network such that when the network indicates a TCI state change for one of the CCs in the set, the TCI state change can be applied to each CC in the set.

[0025] The above engines are merely exemplary as application programs (e.g., programs) executed by the processor 205. The functions associated with the engines may also be represented as independent integrated components of the UE 110 or may be modular components coupled to the UE 110, e.g., integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuitry for receiving signals and a processing circuitry for processing the signals and other information. The engines may also be embodied as one application program or separate multiple application programs. Additionally, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0026] The memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, while the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component enabling the user to make inputs. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish connections with a 5G-NR RAN 120, an LTE RAN 122, etc. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on various different frequencies or channels (e.g., continuous frequency bands).

[0027] Figure 3An exemplary network cell according to various exemplary embodiments is shown, in this example, as gNB 120A. As described above with respect to UE 110, gNB 120A may represent the serving cell of UE 110. gNB 120A may represent any access node of a 5G NR network through which UE 110 may establish a connection and manage network operations. Figure 3 The gNB 120A shown may also represent gNB120B.

[0028] gNB 120A may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, an input / output (I / O) device 320, a transceiver 325, and other components 330. The other components 330 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery, a data acquisition device, ports for electrically connecting gNB 120A to other electronic devices, and the like.

[0029] The processor 305 may be configured to execute a plurality of engines of gNB 120A. For example, the engines may include a TCI state change engine 335. The TCI state change engine 335 may perform operations including indicating a TCI state change to the UE, which will be described in detail below. The TCI state change engine 335 may also perform operations including configuring a CORESET group and configuring a CC list to which a single TCI change may be applied.

[0030] Each of the above engines, as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 305, is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engines may also be represented as stand-alone integrated components of gNB 120A, or may be modular components coupled to gNB 120A, e.g., integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuitry for receiving signals and a processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. Additionally, in some gNBs, the functions described for the processor 305 are split among multiple processors (e.g., a baseband processor, an application processor, etc.). The exemplary embodiments may be implemented according to any of these or other configurations of the gNB.

[0031] Memory 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by UEs 110, 112. The I / O device 320 may be a hardware component or port that enables a user to interact with the gNB 120A. The transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to exchange data with UEs 110, 112 and any other UEs in the network arrangement 100, e.g., when the gNB 120A serves as the PCell or SCell for either or both of UEs 110, 112. The transceiver 325 may operate at various different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of contiguous frequencies). Accordingly, the transceiver 325 may include one or more components (e.g., radio components) to enable data exchange with various networks and UEs.

[0032] A single MAC-CE configures multiple CORESET IDs

[0033] A Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state contains parameters for configuring the Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) relationship between one or more Downlink (DL) Reference Signals (DLRS) and corresponding antenna ports, such as the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) port of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the DMRS port of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), or the Channel State Indicator Reference Signal (CSI-RS) port of a CSI-RS resource set. Two quasi-co-located signals experience very similar channel conditions, such that determining the channel characteristics of one signal will substantially assist in the channel estimation of the other signal. A User Equipment (UE) may be configured with a list of up to M TCI state configurations within higher layer parameters for decoding a PDSCH based on a detected PDCCH with Downlink Control Information (DCI) for the UE and a given serving cell, where M depends on the UE's capabilities. The TCI state may be transmitted from the network to the UE in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a DCI message, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) activation command.

[0034] As defined in NR, a Control Resource Set (CORESET) is a set of Resource Element Groups (REGs) (each REG includes a resource block in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain), in which a UE attempts to blindly decode Downlink Control Information (DCI) from a PDCCH. A CORESET may be regarded as a set of physical resources, e.g., a specific area on the NR downlink resource grid, and a set of parameters for carrying a PDCCH / DCI.

[0035] In Rel-15, DL TCI is configured in the following manner. For PDCCH, DL TCI is configured via MAC-CE according to the CORESET configuration. For example, each MAC-CE configures one CORESET. Up to 16 CORESETs can be configured for PDCCH, but the actual number is usually much less. For PDSCH, RRC can configure up to 64 TCI states.

[0036] In Rel-16, the DL TCI configuration is enhanced. One MAC CE can be used to update the PDSCH TCI state list of an indicated BWP in multiple component carriers (CCs). One MAC CE can also be used to update the TCI of the CORESET (PDCCH) with the same ID as the list of CCs. The CC list is configured by higher layer signaling and up to 2 CC lists can be configured. The CC lists should be orthogonal (e.g., one CC cannot belong to multiple CC lists).

[0037] In an exemplary embodiment, further enhancements are made to improve the DL TCI configuration. In some exemplary embodiments, a single MAC-CE configures the TCI state change for each CORESET ID among multiple CORESET IDs included in a CORESET group. In other exemplary embodiments, component carriers (CCs) that undergo common beam management (CBM) processing are grouped such that a network-indicated TCI state change or CORESET beam change is applied to each CC in the group. In still other exemplary embodiments, a single MAC-CE configures the TCI state change for both PDSCH and PDCCH.

[0038] Figure 4a A medium access control element (MAC-CE) 400 for configuring the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is shown. The PDCCH MAC-CE 400 includes a field 402 for indicating the serving cell ID (5 bits), a field 404 for indicating the control resource set (CORESET) ID (4 bits), and a field 406 for indicating the TCI state ID (7 bits).

[0039] The PDCCH MAC-CE 400 is currently used to configure the beam of a single CORESET. Within a single component carrier (CC), up to 16 different CORESETs can be configured via MAC-CE (each CORESET is configured by a separate MAC-CE), however, the typical number of configured CORESETs is usually less. The overhead and latency can be reduced by grouping the CORESETs and indicating the TCI state change to the group.

[0040] Figure 5Method 500 for configuring the TCI states of a CORESET group using a single PDCCH MAC CE is shown. The existing MAC CE 400 can be used to configure the CORESET group, or the modified MAC CE 450 to be described in detail below can be used.

[0041] At 505, the gNB configures N CORESET groups that can be used by the UE. The CORESETs within a group can be selected based on the transmission and reception points (TRPs) using the CORESET, or the CORESETs within a group can be selected based on other considerations. The number of groups (N) can be 2, 4, or other numbers. In some exemplary embodiments, the CORESET groups can be explicitly configured via RRC signaling. In other exemplary embodiments, Rel-16 CORESETPoolIndex configuration can be used. Each CORESET group can be configured with the same number of CORESET IDs, or the number of CORESET IDs can be different among the CORESET groups. One CORESET ID can belong to multiple CORESET groups, or each CORESET ID can belong to only a single CORESET group.

[0042] At 510, the gNB indicates the CORESET groups to the UE via a MAC CE. In the first option, the CORESET group ID can be directly indicated in the existing MAC-CE 400. In the second option, a single CORESET ID can be indicated in the MAC-CE 400, and the group to which the indicated CORESET ID belongs will be configured with the TCI state indicated in the MAC-CE 400. In this option, each CORESET ID belongs to only a single CORESET group.

[0043] In the third option, the unit of the MAC-CE 400 can be reused to indicate whether the TCI update is applied to a group of CORESETs or to a single CORESET. The MAC CE 400 discussed above includes 7 bits for the TCI state ID. However, since the maximum number of TCI states that can be configured for the PDCCH is 64, only 6 bits are needed to indicate the TCI state ID. The MAC CE 400 only includes 7 bits for the TCI state ID so that the rows of the MAC CE 400 are octet-aligned. Therefore, by truncating one of these bits from the TCI state ID, the MAC-CE 400 can be modified to the MAC CE 450 described below to include an additional field "C" that indicates whether the TCI update is applied to a CORESET group or to a single CORESET.

[0044] Figure 4bShows the MAC CE 450 for configuring the PDCCH TCI, where the PDCCH TCI includes a field 458 for indicating whether the MAC CE is a TCI update for a group of CORESETs or a TCI update for a single CORESET. Similar to the MAC-CE 400, the MAC-CE 450 includes a field 452 for indicating the serving cell ID (5 bits) and a field 454 for indicating the control resource set (CORESET) ID (4 bits). In this embodiment, the field 456 for indicating the TCI state ID includes 6 bits, and the field 458 for indicating the nature of the TCI configuration ("C") is in units. For example, if C = 1, the TCI update applies to the CORESET group, and the CORESET ID field 454 includes the ID of the CORESET group. If C = 0, the TCI update applies to a single CORESET, and the CORESET ID field 454 applies to the single CORESET.

[0045] A single MAC-CE configures multiple CCs

[0046] Figure 6a Shows a method 600 for configuring TCI states for a list of component carriers (CCs) with common beam management (CBM) according to various exemplary embodiments. The CBM processing for a group of CCs involves using only one beam on all CBM CCs. Therefore, the same TCI state configuration can be used on all CBM CCs. This functionality applies to all in-band CA cases and is typically used for inter-band CA in a similar frequency range, e.g., low-low, mid-mid, or high-high band combinations. Independent beam management processing is typically used for inter-band CA in different frequency ranges, e.g., low-mid band combinations.

[0047] In 605, the gNB configures a CC list for the UE including CBM CCs, e.g., CCs using a common beam. In the first option, the CC list is configured to include all CCs for which the UE can perform CBM. However, in another embodiment to be described below, the network may make an error when configuring the CC list, e.g., due to failing to include one of the CBM CCs in the CBM CCs.

[0048] In 610, the gNB indicates a change / activation of the TCI state of the PDSCH or a change of the CORESET beam of the PDCCH via the MAC CE. The MAC CE can be the PDCCH MAC CE 400 or the PDSCH MAC CE 750 (described below with reference to Figure 7b(Detailed description), which also includes a serving cell ID field for indicating the CC. In 615, the UE implements PDSCH TCI state change or PDCCH CORESET beam change for the CC indicated in the MAC CE based on the CC list and also for any CC sharing the CBM with the indicated CC. If the UE learns of a CBM CC not included in the list, the UE may implement a change for the missing CC.

[0049] In 620, the UE may indicate a preferred configuration of the CC list to the network. The UE may learn which CCs share the CBM and may indicate the configuration in an uplink (UL) MAC CE. Figure 6b A bitmap 650 included in the UL MAC CE is shown. The bitmap includes 32 fields Ci for indicating a preferred configuration of the CC list to the network. Currently, NR allows a maximum of 32 CCs to be configured in a carrier aggregation configuration. Each field Ci in the bitmap 650 corresponds to the serving cell ID "i" of the CC, where i = 0, 1, 2,... 30, 31. When Ci = 0, serving cell "i" belongs to CC list 0, and when Ci = 1, serving cell "i" belongs to CC list 1. Thus, by indicating the bits for each serving cell, the UE indicates two CC lists to the network. As described above, this step may be particularly applicable to scenarios where the network may make mistakes when configuring the CC list. For example, the network may configure 4 CCs, but the CC list is only configured with 3 CCs. Instead of resolving the difference on the network side, the UE provides the CC list to the network that groups the CCs more appropriately.

[0050] In the case where more than two CC lists are to be indicated, the bitmap 650 may extend each bit field such that each Ci contains 2 bits. In the extended bitmap, four CC lists may be indicated. The UE may request an update of the preferred CC list via a scheduling request (SR) or an existing physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) grant.

[0051] Single MAC-CE Configures PDCCH and PDSCH

[0052] Figure 7a A method 700 for configuring the TCI state for a downlink channel including both PDSCH and PDDCH using a single MAC CE according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, for a DL including control (PDCCH) and data (PDSCH), only a single active TCI may be supported. The network, the UE, or both the network and the UE may be restricted in this way. In this case, to keep the network overhead and latency, both the PDCCH beam and the PDSCH beam may be changed by a single MAC CE.

[0053] In 705, the gNB configures the UE such that the TCI states of the PDCCH and PDSCH can be changed simultaneously. In the first option, similar to the third option of the first exemplary embodiment discussed above, the unit of the existing PDCCH MAC-CE 400 is reused, such that a new area including the unit is configured in the MAC CE 450. In this first option, the new area (area 458 (“C”) corresponding to the MAC CE 450) is used to indicate the configuration mode, for example, whether to change the TCI of the PDSCH and PDCCH simultaneously or whether to change only the TCI of the PDCCH. For example, when C = 1, the TCI can change for both channels simultaneously. When C = 0, only the TCI of the PDCCH is changed. Alternatively, these two modes can be configured semi-statically by the RRC and the MAC CE 400 can be used.

[0054] In the second option, the PDSCH TCI activation MAC CE can be used, and the RRC can configure one of the two modes. Figure 7b The PDSCH MAC CE 750 for TCI activation is shown. The PDSCH MAC CE 750 includes a field 752 for the CORESET pool index (1 bit), a field 754 for the serving cell ID (5 bits), a field 756 for the bandwidth part (BWP) ID (2 bits), and N fields 758 for the PDSCH TCI state (Ti) (each field is 1 bit, where the TCI state mapped to the position of the bit is activated / deactivated based on the value of the bit). Similar to the above, these two modes can be configured semi-statically by the RRC. The PDSCH MAC CE 750 is applicable to all CORESETs configured with the same CORESETPoolIndex.

[0055] In the third option, the PDSCH MAC CE 750 can be modified. Figure 7c The PDSCH MACCE 760 for TCI activation is shown, which is modified to include, in addition to the CORESET pool ID field 762, the serving cell ID field 764, the BWP ID 766, and N fields 758 for the TCI state, a field 770 for the CORESET ID, a field 772 “C1” for switching between activating all CORESETs within the activated CORESET group or only the CORESET indicated by the CORESET ID, and a field 774 “C0” for switching between activating only the PDSCH or activating both the PDCCH and PDSCH simultaneously. The field “R” is a reserved bit.

[0056] In 710, the gNB indicates a simultaneous change in the TCI states of the PDSCH and PDCCH. If the first option discussed above (i.e., using the modified PDCCH MAC CE 450) is used, the C field 458 can be indicated as "1" to simultaneously change the TCI of the PDSCH and PDCCH. Alternatively, if the unmodified PDCCH MAC CE 400 is used, the RRC can configure a simultaneous TCI state change. If the second option discussed above (e.g., using the unmodified PDSCH MAC CE 750) is used, the RRC can configure a simultaneous TCI state change. When a simultaneous change is configured, only one of the Ti fields 758 is allowed to be indicated as "1". If the third option discussed above (e.g., using the modified PDSCH MAC CE 760) is used, the C0 field 764 indicates a simultaneous change. In this modified PDSCH MAC CE 760, up to 8 Ti's are allowed to be indicated as one.

[0057] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments can be implemented in any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or a combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, an Intel x86-based platform with a compatible operating system, Windows OS, Mac platform, and MAC OS, and mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods can be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, can be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0058] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of one embodiment can be combined with the features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly negated or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation of the devices of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention or the functions thereof.

[0059] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to the user.

[0060] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the essence or scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A base station, comprising: one or more processors configured to: configure a control resource set (CORESET) group for a user equipment (UE), the CORESET group including a plurality of CORESETs; signal to the UE the CORESET group including the plurality of CORESETs; and indicate, via a media access control control element (MAC CE), to the UE a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state change for one or more CORESETs among the plurality of CORESETs in the CORESET group, wherein the MAC CE includes an identifier of one CORESET among the plurality of CORESETs in the CORESET group for configuring the identifiers of the plurality of CORESETs in the CORESET group based on the identifier, and wherein the TCI state change is to be applied to all CORESETs with identifiers in the CORESET group to which the one CORESET in the CORESET belongs; and a transceiver communicatively connected to the one or more processors.

2. The base station according to claim 1, wherein configuring the CORESET group includes configuring N CORESET groups.

3. The base station according to claim 2, wherein a CORESET belongs to more than one of the N CORESET groups or belongs to only one of the N CORESET groups.

4. The base station according to claim 2, wherein the N CORESET groups include either the same CORESET set or a different CORESET set.

5. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the CORESET group is configured via one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling or a CORESETPoolIndex.

6. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the MAC CE includes a CORESET group identifier (ID) of the CORESET group, and wherein the TCI state change is directly indicated to the UE based on the CORESET group ID, and wherein the TCI state change is to be applied to all CORESETs in the CORESET group.

7. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the MAC CE includes a field for indicating whether the TCI state change is applied to a single CORESET or to the CORESET group.

8. The base station according to claim 7, wherein, when the field indicates that the TCI state change is applied to the CORESET group, an additional field of the MAC CE includes the CORESET group identifier (ID) of the CORESET group.

9. The base station according to claim 7, wherein, When the field indicates that the TCI state change applies to a single CORESET, another field of the MAC CE includes the CORESET identifier ID of the single CORESET.

10. A base station, comprising: one or more processors configured to: configure a list of component carriers CCs with common beam management CBM for a user equipment UE; and indicate, via a media access control control element MAC CE, a transmission configuration indicator TCI state change of a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH or a control resource set CORESET beam change of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH to the UE, the MAC CE including an indicator of the CC such that the UE applies the TCI state change of the PDSCH or the CORESET beam change of the PDCCH to each CC in the CC list including the indicated CC; and a transceiver communicatively connected to the one or more processors.

11. The base station according to claim 10, wherein the CC list includes all CCs for which the UE can perform CBM.

12. The base station according to claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive an indication of a modified CC list different from the CC list from the UE; and update the CC list to correspond to the modified CC list.

13. The base station according to claim 12, wherein the UE indicates the modified CC list to the base station via an uplink MAC CE.

14. A base station, comprising: one or more processors configured to: configure whether to apply a simultaneous transmission configuration indicator TCI state change for a physical downlink control channel PDCCH and a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH for a user equipment UE; and transmit, via one of a PDCCH media access control control element MAC CE or a PDSCH MAC CE, an indication of whether to apply the simultaneous TCI state change to the UE; and a transceiver communicatively connected to the one or more processors.

15. The base station according to claim 14, wherein the simultaneous TCI state change is configured by a radio resource control RRC layer.

16. The base station according to claim 14, wherein the PDCCH MAC CE includes a field indicating whether to use the simultaneous TCI state change.

17. The base station according to claim 14, wherein the PDSCH MAC CE includes a field indicating whether to use the simultaneous TCI state change.

18. The base station according to claim 17, wherein the PDSCH MAC CE further includes a field for indicating whether to simultaneously change a CORESET group including a plurality of control resource sets CORESET.

19. The base station according to claim 17, wherein the PDSCH MAC CE further includes a field for indicating whether to change a single control resource set (CORESET) group or to change all active CORESETs.

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