Methods and apparatus for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling

Abstract

This disclosure relates to apparatus, apparatus, and methods for an enhanced PHR report to support UE antenna scaling. A wireless device including at least one antenna array, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, can perform antenna scaling by enabling or disabling at least one of the plurality of antenna elements (having corresponding RF chains) of one or more antenna arrays. The wireless device can generate a power headroom (PHR) report based at least on the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling. The wireless device can then transmit the PHR report to a base station communicating with the wireless device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates in its entirety to wireless communication systems, including devices, apparatus, and methods for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless communication devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include, for example, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) (such as 4G), 3GPP New Radio (NR) (such as 5G), and the IEEE 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) (often referred to within industry organizations as...). ).

[0003] As envisioned by 3GPP, different wireless communication system standards and protocols can use various radio access networks (RANs) to enable RAN base stations (which are sometimes also called RAN nodes, network nodes, or simply nodes) to communicate with wireless communication equipment called user equipment (UEs). 3GPP RANs may include, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and / or Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN).

[0004] Each RAN can use one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for communication between the base station and the UE. For example, GERAN implements the GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements the LTE RAT (sometimes simply referred to as LTE), and NG-RAN implements the NR RAT (sometimes also referred to herein as the 5G RAT, 5G NR RAT, or simply NR). In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement the NR RAT. In some deployments, NG-RAN may also implement the LTE RAT.

[0005] The base stations used by a RAN can correspond to that RAN. An example of an E-UTRAN base station is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as Evolved Node B, Enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB). An example of an NG-RAN base station is a Next Generation Node B (sometimes also called gNodeB or gNB).

[0006] The RAN provides communication services to external entities through its connection with the core network (CN). For example, E-UTRAN can utilize the evolved packet core network (EPC), while NG-RAN can utilize the 5G core network (5GC).

[0007] 5G NR frequency bands can be divided into two or more distinct frequency ranges. For example, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) may include bands operating below 6 GHz, some of which are available for previous standards and can potentially be extended to cover new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) may include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The bands in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) range of FR2 may have a smaller range than those in FR1 but potentially higher available bandwidth. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these frequency ranges, presented by way of example, may vary over time or in different regions. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The implementation scheme relates to devices, apparatus, and methods for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling.

[0009] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device operating in NRFR2 can perform antenna scaling to reduce power consumption by enabling / disabling at least one antenna element from a plurality of antenna elements (with corresponding RF chains) of one or more antenna arrays of the wireless device. The wireless device can generate a power headroom (PHR) report based at least on the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling. The wireless device can then send the PHR report to a base station communicating with it.

[0010] Therefore, according to at least some implementations, the techniques described herein can be used to provide enhanced PHR reports that support UE antenna scaling and improve system performance.

[0011] The technologies described herein can be implemented in and / or used with a variety of different types of devices, including but not limited to any one of cellular phones, tablets, wearable computing devices, portable media players and various other computing devices.

[0012] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subjects described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are merely illustrative and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or substance of the subjects described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjects described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0013] To facilitate identification of any particular element or action being discussed, one or more of the most significant digits in the reference numerals refer to the drawing number in which the element was first introduced.

[0014] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown.

[0015] Figure 2 A system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for enhancing PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0017] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for enhancing PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0018] Figures 5 to 7 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for enhancing PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Detailed Implementation

[0019] Various embodiments are described with respect to the UE. However, references to the UE are provided for illustrative purposes only. Exemplary embodiments may be used with any electronic component capable of establishing a connection to a network and configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE described herein is used to represent any suitable electronic component.

[0020] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture of a wireless communication system 100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown. The description provided below is for an exemplary wireless communication system 100 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and / or 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication system 100 includes UE 102 and UE 104 (however, any number of UEs may be used). In this example, UE 102 and UE 104 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device configured for wireless communication.

[0022] UE 102 and UE 104 can be configured to communicate with RAN 106. In this implementation, RAN 106 can be NG-RAN, E-UTRAN, etc. UE 102 and UE 104 utilize connections (or channels) with RAN 106 (shown as connection 108 and connection 110, respectively), where each connection (or channel) includes a physical communication interface. RAN 106 may include one or more base stations, such as base station 112 and base station 114, that implement connection 108 and connection 110.

[0023] In this example, Connection 108 and Connection 110 are air interfaces that enable this type of communication coupling and can conform to the RAT used by RAN106, such as, for example, LTE and / or NR.

[0024] In some implementations, UE 102 and UE 104 may also exchange communication data directly via sidelink interface 116. UE 104 is shown configured to access an access point (shown as AP 118) via connection 120. By way of example, connection 120 may include a local wireless connection, such as any connection conforming to the IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 118 may include... Router. In this example, AP 118 may connect to another network (e.g., the Internet) without using CN 124.

[0025] In the implementation scheme, UE 102 and UE 104 may be configured to communicate with each other or with base station 112 and / or base station 114 on a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals, based on various communication technologies, such as, but not limited to, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the implementation scheme is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0026] In some implementations, all or part of base station 112 or base station 114 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network. Furthermore, or in other implementations, base station 112 or base station 114 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 122. In implementations where the wireless communication system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 124 is an EPC), interface 122 may be an X2 interface. This X2 interface may be defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In implementations where the wireless communication system 100 is an NR system (e.g., when CN 124 is a 5GC), interface 122 may be an Xn interface. This Xn interface may be defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC, between base station 112 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the 5GC and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC (e.g., CN 124).

[0027] The diagram illustrates RAN 106 communicatively coupled to CN 124. CN 124 may include one or more network elements 126 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 102 and UE 104) connected to CN 124 via RAN 106. Components of CN 124 may be implemented in a single physical device or a separate physical device, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media).

[0028] In this implementation, CN 124 can be an EPC, and RAN 106 can be connected to CN 124 via S1 interface 128. In this implementation, S1 interface 128 can be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface, which carries traffic data between base station 112 or base station 114 and the serving gateway (S-GW); and an S1-MME interface, which is the signaling interface between base station 112 or base station 114 and the mobility management entity (MME).

[0029] In this implementation, CN 124 can be a 5GC, and RAN 106 can be connected to CN 124 via NG interface 128. In this implementation, NG interface 128 can be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between base station 112 or 114 and the User Plane Function (UPF); and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface, which is the signaling interface between base station 112 or 114 and the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0030] Generally, application server 130 can be a component that provides applications (e.g., packet-switched data services) using Internet Protocol (IP) bearer resources via CN 124. Application server 130 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, group communication sessions, etc.) for UE 102 and UE 104 via CN 124. Application server 130 can communicate with CN 124 via IP communication interface 132.

[0031] Figure 2 A system 200 for performing signaling 234 between a wireless device 202 and a network device 218, according to an embodiment disclosed herein, is illustrated. System 200 may be part of a wireless communication system as described herein. Wireless device 202 may be, for example, a UE (User Equipment) of a wireless communication system. Network device 218 may be, for example, a base station (e.g., an eNB or gNB) of a wireless communication system.

[0032] Wireless device 202 may include one or more processors 204. Processor 204 may execute instructions to perform various operations of wireless device 202 as described herein. Processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors, which may be implemented using, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), controller, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0033] Wireless device 202 may include memory 206. Memory 206 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 208 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by processor 204). Instructions 208 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. Memory 206 may also store data used by processor 204 and results calculated by the processor.

[0034] Wireless device 202 may include one or more transceivers 210, which may include radio frequency (RF) transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses the antenna 212 of wireless device 202 to facilitate signaling to and / or from wireless device 202 with other devices (e.g., network device 218) according to the corresponding RAT (e.g., signaling 234).

[0035] Wireless device 202 may include one or more antennas 212 (e.g., one, two, four or more). In embodiments with multiple antennas 212, wireless device 202 may utilize the spatial diversity of such multiple antennas 212 to transmit and / or receive multiple different data streams on the same time-frequency resources. This practice may be referred to, for example, as a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) approach (referring to multiple antennas used separately on the transmitting and receiving sides to implement this aspect). MIMO transmissions performed by wireless device 202 may be implemented according to precoding (or digital beamforming) applied to wireless device 202, which multiplexes the data streams among antennas 212 based on known or assumed channel characteristics, such that each data stream is received with an appropriate signal strength relative to the other streams and at a desired location in the spatial domain (e.g., the location of the receiver associated with that data stream). Some embodiments may use a single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) method (where the entire data stream is directed to a single receiver) and / or a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) method (where individual data streams may be directed to individual (different) receivers at different locations in the spatial domain).

[0036] In some implementations with multiple antennas, the wireless device 202 may implement analog beamforming techniques, whereby the phase of the signal transmitted by antenna 212 is relatively adjusted so that the (joint) transmission of antenna 212 can be directed (this is sometimes referred to as beam steering).

[0037] Wireless device 202 may include one or more interfaces 214. Interfaces 214 can be used to provide input to or output to wireless device 202. For example, wireless device 202 as a UE may include interfaces 214, such as microphones, speakers, touchscreens, buttons, etc., to allow users of the UE to input to and / or output to the UE. Other interfaces of such UEs may consist of transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 210 / antenna 212 already described) that allow the UE to communicate with other devices, and may be based on known protocols (e.g., (etc.) to perform the operation.

[0038] Network device 218 may include one or more processors 220. Processor 220 is executable instructions that cause network device 218 to perform various operations as described herein. Processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors, which are implemented using, for example, a CPU, DSP, ASIC, controller, FPGA device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0039] Network device 218 may include memory 222. Memory 222 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 224 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by processor 220). Instructions 224 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. Memory 222 may also store data used by processor 220 and results calculated by the processor.

[0040] Network device 218 may include one or more transceivers 226, which may include RF transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses antenna 228 of network device 218 to facilitate the transmission or receipt of signaling (e.g., signaling 234) between network device 218 and other devices (e.g., wireless device 202) in accordance with a corresponding RAT.

[0041] Network device 218 may include one or more antennas 228 (e.g., one, two, four or more). In embodiments having multiple antennas 228, network device 218 may perform MIMO, digital beamforming, analog beamforming, beam steering, etc., as described herein.

[0042] Network device 218 may include one or more interfaces 230. Interfaces 230 may be used to provide input to or output to network device 218. For example, network device 218 as a base station may include interface 230 consisting of transmitters, receivers and other circuitry (e.g., in addition to transceiver 226 / antenna 228 already described), which enables the base station to communicate with other equipment in the core network and / or to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., for the purpose of operating, managing and maintaining the base station or other equipment operatively connected to the base station.

[0043] A UE configured to operate under NR FR2 is typically equipped with multiple antenna arrays, and each antenna array may include multiple antenna elements that are spatially arranged and electrically interconnected to generate a directional radiation pattern. The antenna elements can be used to perform beamforming to compensate for the large path loss in FR2. To conserve power, the UE may deactivate (e.g., power off) some of its antenna elements (and also deactivate the corresponding Tx / Rx (transmit / receive) chains driving the antenna elements) when, for example, one of the following events occurs: when the path loss between the UE and the base station is relatively low (e.g., when the UE is located in the cell center); or when the UE does not have much uplink (UL) traffic to transmit. Therefore, the UE may need to activate (e.g., power on) more antenna elements (and also deactivate the corresponding Tx / Rx (transmit / receive) chains driving the antenna elements) when, for example, one of the following events occurs: when the path loss between the UE and the base station becomes relatively high (e.g., when the UE moves to the cell edge); or when the UE has a lot of UL traffic to transmit. Therefore, the UE can perform antenna scaling by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element of one or more antennas in at least one of the UE's antennas.

[0044] When a UE scales its antenna elements in the UL, it can be advantageous to promptly notify the network of the antenna scaling, for example via a Power Headroom (PHR) report. If the network does not receive information about antenna scaling in a timely manner, it will rely on previous PHR reports until it receives an updated PHR report from the UE, potentially leading to information mismatch between the base station and the UE, which could result in performance degradation. For example, when a UE scales its antenna elements and the base station does not receive any information about this scaling, the base station may still assume that the UE can transmit at higher power and therefore schedule a higher modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and large resource block (RB) allocation for the UE's next Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, and the PUSCH transmission may fail, for example, due to a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Conversely, when a UE scales up and the base station does not receive any information about this scaling, the base station may not schedule a sufficiently high MCS or a sufficiently large RB allocation for the UE's next PUSCH transmission, and therefore the UE's transmission power is underutilized and throughput is lower than it should be.

[0045] In the current NR PHR report, the information element PHR-config is used to configure the parameters of the PHR report, and the PHR report will only be triggered when certain conditions are met, such as when a periodic timer called phr-PeriodicTimer expires, or when a prohibition timer called phr-ProhibitTimer for prohibiting the PHR report expires or has expired and the path loss has changed more than phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange dB since the last PHR transmission. phr-PeriodicTimer, phr-ProhibitTimer, and phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange are configurable parameters in the information element PHR-config. phr-PeriodicTimer can be configured to have values ​​between 10ms and infinity, and phr-ProhibitTimer can be configured to have values ​​between 0ms and 1000ms. The information element PHR-config in 3GPP TS 38.331V16.5.0 "RadioResource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16)" is shown below:

[0046]

[0047] In the current PHR reporting scheme, significant delays may occur in notifying the base station depending on the selected values ​​of the two timers, potentially leading to performance degradation. Furthermore, under this reporting scheme, PHR reporting may not be triggered in certain antenna scaling scenarios. For example, a UE may scale down its antenna elements because it doesn't have much UL traffic to transmit, but the path loss between the base station and the UE doesn't change significantly because the UE's position doesn't change significantly. Therefore, there is a need for enhanced PHR reporting devices, apparatus, and methods to support UE antenna scaling.

[0048] Now for reference Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 300 for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Exemplary method 300 may be implemented, for example, by a wireless device, such as... Figure 2 Wireless device 202 or Figure 1 UEs 102 and 104 are shown in the figure. In various embodiments, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously in a different order than shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 3 The method can be operated as follows.

[0049] As shown at 310, method 300 may include performing antenna scaling. The wireless device may include at least one antenna array, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, and antenna scaling may be performed by enabling or disabling at least one of the plurality of antenna elements in one or more antenna arrays of the wireless device. As discussed above, the wireless device may scale up or down its antenna elements for various reasons, which is not limited herein. The wireless device may derive beamforming gain before and after antenna scaling based on its configuration for the antenna elements, such as the mode, orientation, and polarization of the antenna elements.

[0050] As shown at 320, method 300 may include generating a PHR report based at least on the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling. The PHR report may indicate a PHR value representing the difference between the maximum UE transmit power and the calculated UE transmit power. For example, the PHR may be 6-bit encoded, with the report ranging from -23 dB to +40 dB in 1 dB steps. In some implementations, as an example, the power margin may be given by the following equation:

[0051] Power margin = P CMAX -{P O,PUSCH +10log 10 (2 μ ·M)+α·PL+Δ+f} (1)

[0052] The maximum per-carrier transmission power of carrier c is expressed as P. CMAX P O,PUSCH Let represent the PUSCH power that the base station expects to receive, PL represent the path loss in the downlink, α be the path loss compensation factor, μ be the subcarrier spacing configuration, M be the bandwidth of the PUSCH resource allocation in terms of the number of resource blocks, Δ be the required adjustment based on MCS, and f be the PUSCH power control adjustment state. It should be noted that the PHR value can be calculated in any suitable manner, which is not limited herein. According to some implementations, the PHR value can be generated by subtracting the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling from the measured path loss as the current path loss. For example, in equation (1) above, PL can be replaced with PL–G. 差值 And G 差值 This represents the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling. For example, if the beamforming gain after antenna scaling is 3dB greater than the beamforming gain before antenna scaling, the estimated path loss will be reduced by 3dB. Thus, the updated path loss effectively reflects the difference in beamforming gain.

[0053] According to some implementations, the wireless device can directly generate a PHR report as soon as antenna scaling is performed, regardless of whether the PHR report triggering conditions are met (e.g., whether the phr-PeriodicTimer has expired, or whether the phr-ProhibitTimer has expired or has expired, and the path loss has changed by more than phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange dB since the last PHR transmission). According to some implementations, method 300 may further include determining whether the PHR report triggering conditions are met, and generating a PHR report in response to determining that the PHR report triggering conditions are met. By employing appropriate triggering conditions for the PHR report, a trade-off between network performance and communication overhead can be achieved.

[0054] According to some implementations, determining whether the triggering condition for a PHR report is met may further include determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold. For example, the threshold may include the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter as discussed above, or any other predefined threshold predetermined (e.g., hard-coded in the specification) or configured by the base station via signaling (e.g., via information elements). A PHR report due to antenna scaling may be generated in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds the threshold. In some implementations, in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling does not exceed the threshold, the PHR report may follow general rules, for example, if the phr-PeriodicTimer expires, or if the phr-ProhibitTimer expires or has expired and the path loss has changed by more than phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange dB since the last transmission of the PHR, a PHR report may still be generated. In some implementations, a PHR report may not be generated in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling does not exceed a threshold. Thus, antenna scaling that can affect UL transmission to some extent will be notified to the base station, while antenna scaling that has little or no impact on UL transmission will not be notified to the base station.

[0055] According to some implementations, determining whether the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met may further include: determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold; and, in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds the first threshold, determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a second threshold, such as phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange. A PHR report may be generated in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds the second threshold. According to some implementations, the first threshold may be predetermined by the base station (e.g., hardcoded in a specification) or configured (e.g., via an information element). According to some implementations, the second threshold is the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter. In some implementations, the first threshold is less than the second threshold. For example, the first threshold may be 3 dB, and the second threshold may be 6 dB. The dual-threshold approach provides greater flexibility in managing PHR reports.

[0056] According to some implementations, determining whether the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met may further include: determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and whether a prohibition timer (e.g., phr-ProhibitTimer) used to prohibit PHR reporting has expired or has expired. A PHR report may be generated in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and that the prohibition timer (e.g., phr-ProhibitTimer) used to prohibit PHR reporting has expired or has expired. For example, the threshold may include the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter as discussed above. In some implementations, a PHR report may not be generated in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling does not exceed a threshold or that the prohibition timer (e.g., phr-ProhibitTimer) used to prohibit PHR reporting has not expired.

[0057] According to some embodiments, method 300 further includes receiving a message from a base station indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled. For example, the message may be received before step 320 or before step 310. When the message indicates that enhanced PHR reporting is enabled, the wireless device can implement the enhanced PHR reporting method according to embodiments of this disclosure (e.g., Figures 3 to 7The method described herein can be used to generate a PHR report directly or in response to determining that the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met after antenna scaling. However, when a message indicates that enhanced PHR reporting is disabled, the wireless device may not implement the enhanced PHR reporting method according to the embodiments of this disclosure and may follow the general rules for PHR reporting, such as generating a PHR report if phr-PeriodicTimer expires, or if phr-ProhibitTimer expires or has expired and the path loss has changed by more than phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange dB since the last transmission of the PHR. The message may be broadcast to all wireless devices in the cell of the base station or may be sent individually to each wireless device. By sending a message indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled, the base station may be able to enable or disable enhanced PHR reporting as needed.

[0058] As shown at 330, method 300 may include sending a PHR report to a base station communicating with the wireless device. The base station may schedule MCS and RB allocations based on the PHR report received from the wireless device. In some embodiments, the wireless device may restart the phr-ProhibitTimer and / or phr-PeriodicTimer after sending the PHR report.

[0059] Now for reference Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 400 for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein. In exemplary method 400, a UE 420 (such as...) is involved. Figure 2 UE or Figure 1 The radio devices 202 of UE 102 and UE 104 and the base station 440 (such as) Figure 2 base stations or Figure 1 (Network devices 218 of base stations 112 and 114). In various embodiments, some elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in a different order than shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 4 The method can be operated as follows.

[0060] At step 402, base station 440 may send a message to UE 420 indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled. It should be noted that step 402 is optional, and in some embodiments, base station 440 may not send this message. According to some embodiments, enhanced PHR reporting for UE 420 is always enabled.

[0061] At 404, UE 420 can perform antenna scaling by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element of one or more antennas of UE 420.

[0062] At 406, UE 420 may determine whether the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met. According to some embodiments, determining whether the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met may include, for example: determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold; or determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and whether a timer for prohibiting PHR reporting has expired or has expired. According to some embodiments, determining whether the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met may further include: determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold; and in response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds the first threshold, determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a second threshold. The above has already referenced... Figure 3 The triggering conditions for the PHR report have been described, and for simplicity, they will not be repeated here. It should be noted that in some implementations, step 406 is optional, and the UE 420 may not be certain whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, but may instead generate and send the PHR report immediately after antenna scaling.

[0063] At 408, UE 420 may generate a PHR report in response to determining that the triggering conditions for a PHR report are met and when a message received from base station 440 (if available) indicates that enhanced PHR reporting is enabled. (See above for reference.) Figure 3 The generation of PHR reports has been described, and for the sake of simplicity, its description will not be repeated here.

[0064] At 410, UE 420 can send a PHR report to base station 440.

[0065] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 500 for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Exemplary method 500 may be implemented, for example, by a wireless device, such as... Figure 2 Wireless device 202 or Figure 1 UEs 102 and 104 are shown in the figure. In various embodiments, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously in a different order than shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0066] Method 500 can begin at 510.

[0067] As shown at 520, method 500 may include performing antenna scaling by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element of a plurality of antenna elements of one or more antenna arrays of a wireless device.

[0068] As shown at 530, method 500 may include determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold. For example, the threshold may include the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter as discussed above, or any other predefined threshold predetermined (e.g., hard-coded in the specification) or configured by the base station (e.g., via information elements). If so, method 500 may proceed to 540, where a PHR report may be generated. Then at 550, the PHR report may be sent to the base station communicating with the wireless device.

[0069] For example, if it is determined at 530 that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling does not exceed a threshold, then method 500 can return to the beginning and wait for the next antenna scaling.

[0070] According to some implementations, method 500 may further include receiving a message from the base station indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled. This message may be received at any time, such as before step 520 or between steps 520 and 530. A PHR report may further be generated at 540 in response to the message indicating that enhanced PHR reporting is enabled.

[0071] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 600 for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Exemplary method 600 may be implemented, for example, by a wireless device, such as... Figure 2 Wireless device 202 or Figure 1 UEs 102 and 104 are shown in the figure. In various embodiments, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously in a different order than shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 6 The method can be operated as follows.

[0072] Method 600 can begin at 610.

[0073] As shown at 620, method 600 may include performing antenna scaling by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element of a plurality of antenna elements of one or more antenna arrays of a wireless device.

[0074] As shown at 630, method 600 may include determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold. According to some embodiments, the first threshold may be predetermined by the base station (e.g., hard-coded in a specification) or configured (e.g., via an information element). If so, method 600 may proceed to 640; otherwise, for example, method 600 may return to the beginning and wait for the next antenna scaling.

[0075] As shown at 640, method 600 may include determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a second threshold. According to some embodiments, the second threshold is the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter. In some embodiments, a first threshold is less than the second threshold. If the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds the second threshold, method 600 may proceed to 650, where a PHR report may be generated. Then at 660, the PHR report may be sent to a base station communicating with the wireless device.

[0076] For example, if it is determined at 640 that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling does not exceed a second threshold, then method 600 may return to the beginning and wait for the next antenna scaling.

[0077] According to some implementations, method 600 may further include receiving a message from the base station indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled. This message may be received at any time, such as before step 620 or between steps 640 and 650. A PHR report may further be generated at 650 in response to the message indicating that enhanced PHR reporting is enabled.

[0078] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 700 for enhanced PHR reporting to support UE antenna scaling according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Exemplary method 700 may be implemented, for example, by a wireless device, such as... Figure 2 Wireless device 202 or Figure 1 UEs 102 and 104 are shown in the figure. In various embodiments, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously in a different order than shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 7 The method can be operated as follows.

[0079] Method 700 can begin at 710.

[0080] As shown at 720, method 700 may include performing antenna scaling by enabling or disabling at least one of a plurality of antenna elements of one or more antennas of a wireless device.

[0081] As shown at 730, method 700 may include: determining whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and whether a prohibition timer (e.g., phr-ProhibitTimer) used to prohibit PHR reporting has expired or has expired. For example, the threshold may include the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter as discussed above. If so, method 700 may proceed to 740, where a PHR report may be generated; otherwise, for example, method 500 may return to the beginning and wait for the next antenna scaling. At 750, the PHR report may be sent to the base station communicating with the wireless device.

[0082] According to some implementations, method 700 may further include receiving from the base station a message indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled. This message may be received at any time, such as before step 720 or between steps 720 and 730. A PHR report may further be generated at 740 in response to the message indicating that enhanced PHR reporting is enabled.

[0083] The embodiments envisioned herein include an apparatus comprising one or more elements for performing method 300, 500, 600, or 700. This apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0084] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 300, 500, 600, or 700. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, a memory of the UE (such as memory 206 of a wireless device 202 serving as a UE, as described herein).

[0085] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of method 300, 500, 600, or 700. This apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0086] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media containing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 300, 500, 600, or 700. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0087] The implementation scheme envisioned herein includes a signal as described or associated with one or more elements of methods 300, 500, 600, or 700.

[0088] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product comprising instructions, wherein execution by a processor causes the processor to perform one or more elements of method 300, 500, 600, or 700. The processor may be a processor of the UE (such as processor 204 as a wireless device 202 of the UE, as described herein). These instructions may, for example, be located in the processor of the UE and / or on the memory of the UE (such as memory 206 as a wireless device 202 of the UE, as described herein).

[0089] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described herein. For example, the baseband processor described herein in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more examples of the examples described herein. Similarly, the circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more examples of the examples shown herein.

[0090] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments.

[0091] Implementations and specific embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components, including specific logical components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0092] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific implementations. These implementations may be combined into a single system, partially integrated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. Furthermore, it is conceivable to use parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of one implementation in another implementation. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., are described only in one or more implementations, and it should be recognized that unless specifically stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of another implementation.

[0093] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0094] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that many alternative ways exist to implement both the processes and apparatus described herein. Therefore, embodiments of the invention should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive, and this specification is not limited to the details given herein, but can be modified within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A wireless device, comprising: At least one antenna array, wherein each antenna array in the at least one antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements; At least one radio component, said at least one radio component being coupled to said at least one antenna element; as well as One or more processors, said one or more processors being coupled to said at least one radio component; The wireless device is configured as follows: Antenna scaling is performed by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements in one or more of the at least one antenna array; A power headroom (PHR) report is generated based at least on the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling, wherein the PHR report includes a PHR value generated by subtracting the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling from the measured path loss as the current path loss; as well as The PHR report is sent to the base station communicating with the wireless device.

2. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: Determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, and The PHR report is generated in response to determining that the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met.

3. The wireless device according to claim 2, wherein, To determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, the wireless device is further configured to: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a threshold.

4. The wireless device according to claim 2, wherein, To determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, the wireless device is further configured to: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold. as well as In response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold, it is determined whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a second threshold.

5. The wireless device according to claim 4, wherein the first threshold is predetermined or configured by the base station via signaling.

6. The wireless device of claim 4, wherein the second threshold is the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter.

7. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: The system receives a message from the base station indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled, and generates the PHR report when the message indicates that the enhanced PHR reporting is enabled.

8. The wireless device according to claim 2, wherein, To determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, the wireless device is further configured to: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and whether the timer for disabling PHR reporting has expired or has expired.

9. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: A processor configured to cause a wireless device to perform the following operations, the wireless device including at least one antenna array, each antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements: Antenna scaling is performed by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements in one or more of the at least one antenna array; A power headroom (PHR) report is generated based at least on the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling, wherein the PHR report includes a PHR value generated by subtracting the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling from the measured path loss as the current path loss; as well as The PHR report is sent to the base station communicating with the wireless device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: Determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, and The PHR report is generated in response to determining that the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, To determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a threshold.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, To determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold. as well as In response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold, it is determined whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a second threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first threshold is predetermined or configured by the base station via signaling.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second threshold is the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: The system receives a message from the base station indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled, and generates the PHR report when the message indicates that the enhanced PHR reporting is enabled.

16. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, To determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and whether the timer for disabling PHR reporting has expired or has expired.

17. A method for wireless communication, comprising: Perform the following operations via a wireless device, the wireless device comprising at least one antenna array, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements: Antenna scaling is performed by enabling or disabling at least one antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements in one or more of the at least one antenna array; A power headroom (PHR) report is generated based at least on the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling, wherein the PHR report includes a PHR value generated by subtracting the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling from the measured path loss as the current path loss; as well as The PHR report is sent to the base station communicating with the wireless device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: Determine whether the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met, and The PHR report is generated in response to determining that the triggering conditions for the PHR report are met.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining whether the triggering condition for the PHR report is met further comprises: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a threshold.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein determining whether the triggering condition for the PHR report is met further comprises: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after antenna scaling and before antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold. as well as In response to determining that the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a first threshold, it is determined whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a second threshold.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first threshold is predetermined or configured by the base station via signaling.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the second threshold is the phr-Tx-PowerFactorChange parameter.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising: The system receives a message from the base station indicating whether enhanced PHR reporting is enabled, and generates the PHR report when the message indicates that the enhanced PHR reporting is enabled.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein determining whether the triggering condition for the PHR report is met further comprises: Determine whether the difference between the beamforming gain obtained after and before the antenna scaling exceeds a threshold and whether the timer for disabling PHR reporting has expired or has expired.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method according to any one of claims 17 to 24.

26. A computer program product comprising program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 17 to 24.

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