Apparatus and methods for scheduling beam reporting, indication, and data transmission.

Abstract

This disclosure designs apparatus and methods for scheduling beam reporting, indication, and data transmission. Embodiments of this disclosure describe apparatus, methods, and machine-readable storage media for scheduling beam reporting, beam indication, and data transmission during beam management.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with international application number PCT / CN2018 / 099672, international application date August 9, 2018, entry into the Chinese national phase date February 10, 2020, Chinese national application number 201880052012.5, and invention title "Apparatus and method for scheduling beam reporting, indication and data transmission".

[0003] This application claims priority to international application No. PCT / CN2017 / 097819 entitled “MATRIX BASED BEAM REPORTING AND BEAM INDICATION”, filed on August 17, 2017, and international application No. PCT / CN2017 / 097101 entitled “DATA AND SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNAL BLOCK OR CHANNEL STATE REFERENCE SIGNALTRANSMISSION”, filed on August 11, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0004] Embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically to apparatus and methods for scheduling beam reporting, beam indication and data transmission during beam management. Background Technology

[0005] In communication systems utilizing Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) technology (e.g., 5G NR systems), beamforming is applied at both the Transmitter-Receiver Point (TRP) and the User-Equipped (UE) side. Beam management is used to acquire and maintain TRP and UE beams for communication. For downlink beam management, on the UE side, the UE should report to the TRP which transmit (Tx) beams are beneficial for communication based on beam measurements; while on the TRP side, the TRP should indicate to the UE which Tx beams will be used for communication. Both beam reporting and beam indication processes can incur some overhead. The aim is to reduce the overall overhead by designing optimized schemes for beam reporting and beam indication.

[0006] On the other hand, during beam management, the TRP needs to periodically broadcast beam management reference signals (BM-RS), such as synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) blocks, as well as channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). The UE needs to perform beam measurements based on the BM-RS to find the optimal beam pair, including the Tx beam and receive (Rx) beam used for communication with the TRP. Typically, the TRP is allowed to schedule data transmission on one or more symbols carrying the BM-RS. However, sometimes data transmission on symbols carrying the BM-RS may fail due to changes in the Tx or Rx beam used for communication. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Embodiments of this disclosure will be illustrated by way of example rather than limitation in the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference numerals refer to similar elements.

[0008] Figure 1 The system architecture of a network according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0009] Figure 2 An example scenario of beamforming at the UE side is shown according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0010] Figure 3 An example of a Tx beam matrix reported according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0011] Figure 4 Another example of a reported Tx beam matrix according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 5 Another example of a reported Tx beam matrix according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0013] Figure 6a and Figure 6b Examples of beam reporting formats according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0014] Figure 7 A flowchart is shown as a portion of a beam management process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam management process involving beam reporting and beam indication based on the Tx beam matrix between the TRP side and the UE side.

[0015] Figure 8 An example structure of an SS / PBCH block for beam measurement according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 9 An example scheduling of SS / PBCH blocks and data transmissions according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating exemplary methods performed at a UE according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 11 A flowchart illustrating exemplary methods performed at a UE according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 12 Example components of a device according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0020] Figure 13 An example interface of a baseband circuit system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 14 This is a block diagram illustrating components according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure that are capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Detailed Implementation

[0022] Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terminology commonly used by those skilled in the art to convey the essence of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments can be practiced using portions of the described aspects. Specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth for illustrative purposes to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments can be practiced without specific details. In other instances, well-known features may have been omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the illustrative embodiments.

[0023] Furthermore, the various operations will be described sequentially as a plurality of discrete operations in a manner most conducive to understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as implying that these operations are necessarily sequentially related. In particular, these operations do not need to be performed in the order presented.

[0024] The phrase “in one embodiment” is used repeatedly throughout this document. This phrase does not typically refer to the same embodiment; however, it may refer to the same embodiment. Unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonyms. The phrases “A or B” and “A / B” mean “(A), (B), or (A and B).”

[0025] In 5G NR systems, beam management can be performed on both the TRP side and the UE side to obtain and maintain the optimal TRP and UE beams for communication. For downlink transmission, beam management can include three processes: P-1, P-2, and P-3. P-1 is used to obtain the initial TRP Tx beam and UE Rx beam. P-2 is used to enable TRP Tx beam refinement, and P-3 is used to enable UE Rx beam refinement.

[0026] For the downlink beam management procedure P-1, the TRP needs to periodically broadcast a beam management reference signal (BM-RS) to the UEs within the cell served by the TRP. On the UE side, the UE should report to the TRP which Tx beams are beneficial for communication based on beam measurements on the BM-RS; while on the TRP side, the TRP should indicate to the UE which Tx beams will be used for communication.

[0027] For beam reporting, the report content can include a Tx beam index or a beamp-link (BPL) index, as well as beam measurement metrics. Here, the beam measurement metrics can be the Reference Received Power (RSRP), Block Error Rate (BLER), or Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) corresponding to a pair of currently measured Tx and Rx beams. Considering the large number of beams, the overhead for beam status reporting can be high. To reduce overhead, a group-based beam reporting scheme with two solutions is proposed.

[0028] The first solution can be referred to as Rx beam set-based reporting, where different Tx beams reported for the same Rx beam set can be received simultaneously by the UE. The second solution can be referred to as Rx antenna group / antenna panel-based reporting, where different Tx beams reported for different panels can be received simultaneously by the UE.

[0029] The first solution reduces beam indication overhead. However, it imposes some limitations on network-side scheduling. The network must adhere to the Tx beam combinations reported by the UE. Therefore, the first solution requires significant reporting overhead, as many groups would need to be constructed if the same flexibility as the second solution is desired. Similarly, the first solution requires additional information from the network on which Tx beams can be transmitted simultaneously.

[0030] The second solution is simpler and more flexible because the reporting is based on the individual UE antenna panel. However, it may require more overhead for beam pointing compared to the first solution.

[0031] It may be desirable to propose a new scheme for group-based beam reporting and beam indication in order to reduce the total overhead for beam reporting and beam indication.

[0032] Figure 1 The architecture of a system 100 of a network according to some embodiments is illustrated. System 100 is shown as including user equipment (UE) 101, UE 102, and UE 103. UE 101, 102, and 103 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), pager, laptop computer, desktop computer, wireless phone, or any computing device including a wireless communication interface.

[0033] In some embodiments, any of UEs 101, 102, and 103 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed to utilize low-power IoT applications with short-lived UE connectivity. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communication (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connectivity. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messaging, state updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.

[0034] UEs 101, 102, and 103 can be configured to connect to a radio access network (RAN) 110, for example, for communication coupling—RAN 110 can be, for example, an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), a next-generation RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UEs 101, 102, and 103 utilize connections 104, 105, and 106, respectively, each connection including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, connections 103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces for implementing communication coupling and can be consistent with cellular communication protocols such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocol, Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, Cellular PTT (POC) protocol, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, 5G protocol, New Radio (NR) protocol, etc.

[0035] In this embodiment, UEs 101 and 102 can also directly exchange communication data via the ProSe interface 107. The ProSe interface 107 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface including one or more logical channels, including but not limited to the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0036] RAN 110 may include one or more transmit / receive points (TRPs) 111 and 112 that enable connections to 104, 105, and 106. Either TRP 111 or 112 may be part of a base station (BS), NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next-generation NodeB (gNB), RAN node, etc., and may include a ground station (e.g., a ground access point) or satellite station that provides coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). TRPs 111 and 112 may support MU-MIMO operation.

[0037] Either TRP 111 or 112 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for UEs 101, 102, and 103. In some embodiments, either TRP 111 or 112 can implement various logical functions of RAN 110, including but not limited to Radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0038] According to some embodiments, UEs 101, 102, and 103 can be configured to communicate with each other or with any of TRPs 111 and 112 via a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals, 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), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0039] In some embodiments, the downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of TRPs 111 and 112 to UEs 101, 102, and 103, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink within each time slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice for OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises multiple resource blocks that describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources currently available for allocation. Several different physical downlink channels use such resource blocks for transmission.

[0040] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data and higher-layer signaling to UEs 101, 102, and 103. The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries information such as the transmission format and resource allocation associated with the PDSCH channel. It can also inform UEs 101, 102, and 103 of the transmission format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs within the cell) can be performed at any of TRPs 111 and 112 based on channel quality information fed back from any of UEs 101, 102, and 103. Resource assignment information can be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of UEs 101, 102, and 103.

[0041] PDCCH can use Control Channel Elements (CCEs) to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the complex-valued symbols of the PDCCH can first be organized into quadruples, which can then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements (called resource element groups (REGs)). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. In LTE, four or more different PDCCH formats with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8) can be defined.

[0042] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the concepts described above. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs). Similarly, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements (referred to as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs)). In some cases, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.

[0043] RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to core network (CN) 120 via S1 interface 113. In embodiments, CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a next-generation packet core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment, S1 interface 113 is divided into two parts: S1-U interface 114 and S1-Mobility Management Entity (MME) interface 115. The S1-U interface 114 carries service data between TRPs 111 and 112 and the Serving Gateway (S-GW) 122, and the S1-Mobility Management Entity (MME) interface 115 is the signaling interface between TRPs 111 and 112 and MME 121.

[0044] In this embodiment, CN 120 includes MME 121, S-GW 122, Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 124. MME 121 can functionally resemble the control plane of a legacy General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN). MME 121 can manage mobility aspects of access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS 124 can include a database for network users, containing subscription-related information to support network entities in processing communication sessions. Depending on the number of mobile users, device capacity, network organization, etc., CN 120 may include one or more HSS 124s. For example, HSS 124 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / address resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0045] S-GW 122 can terminate S1 interface 113 destined for RAN 110 and route data packets between RAN 110 and CN 120. Additionally, S-GW 122 can serve as a local mobility anchor for inter-TRP handovers and can also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and certain policy enforcement.

[0046] P-GW 123 can terminate the SGi interface leading to the PDN. P-GW 123 can route data packets between EPC network 123 and external networks (such as a network including application server 130 (alternatively referred to as Application Function (AF))) via Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. Typically, application server 130 can be an element that provides applications using IP bearer resources to the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Service (PS) domain, LTE PS Data Service, etc.). In this embodiment, P-GW 123 is shown as communicatively coupled to application server 130 via IP communication interface 125. Application server 130 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for UEs 101, 102, and 103 via CN 120.

[0047] P-GW 123 can also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of CN 120. In non-roaming scenarios, a single PCRF can exist in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with the UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In roaming scenarios with local service interruptions, two PCRFs can exist associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: the Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within the HPLMMN and the Visit PCRF (V-PCRF) within the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). PCRF 126 can be communicatively coupled to application server 130 via P-GW 123. Application server 130 can signal PCRF 126 to indicate new service flows and select appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. PCRF 126 can use the appropriate Service Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Identifier Class (QCI) to specify the rule in the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown), thereby initiating the QoS and charging specified by the application server 130.

[0048] Figure 1 The number of devices and / or networks shown is for illustrative purposes only. In reality, with... Figure 1 Compared to what is shown, there may be additional devices and / or networks, fewer devices and / or networks, different devices and / or networks, or devices and / or networks arranged differently. Alternatively or additionally, one or more devices in system 100 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by other devices in system 100. Furthermore, although in Figure 1The diagram shows "direct" connections, but these connections should be interpreted as logical communication paths, and in practice, one or more intermediate devices (e.g., routers, gateways, modems, switches, hubs, etc.) may exist.

[0049] As mentioned above, in such Figure 1 In the 5G NR system, the group-based beam reporting scheme includes two solutions: reporting based on Rx beam sets and reporting based on antenna panels. Figure 2 An example scenario of beamforming at the UE side according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Reference will be made to... Figure 2 The example scenarios illustrate two solutions for group-based beam reporting.

[0050] exist Figure 2 In this configuration, the UE has two antenna panels. On the first panel, the two optimal Tx beams observed are Tx beam 3 and Tx beam 5. On the second panel, the two optimal Tx beams observed are Tx beam 2 and Tx beam 8.

[0051] Using antenna panel-based reporting, on the UE side, the UE will report two groups, each corresponding to one antenna panel. That is, the first group is (Tx beam 3, Tx beam 5), and the second group is (Tx beam 2, Tx beam 8). In this way, the reporting overhead will include the overhead of the Tx beam index (also called "Tx beam ID") and the group index (also called "group ID"). The group ID occupies only 1 bit because only two groups correspond to two antenna panels. On the other hand, on the TRP side, after receiving the report from the UE, the TRP should instruct it to determine the Tx beam group used for communication with the UE. For example, if the TRP selects Tx beam 3 and Tx beam 8 for simultaneous transmission, the TRP will indicate the Tx beam ID and the group ID for each Tx beam. Since two Tx beams are reported from the same group, the Tx beam ID occupies 1 bit. Therefore, the total overhead of beam indication will be (1+1)*2 = 4 bits.

[0052] For reporting based on Rx beam sets, if the same flexibility as antenna panel-based reporting is desired, the UE should construct four groups. Different Tx beams in each group are observed by different panels to ensure the UE can receive different Tx beams simultaneously. According to... Figure 2 In an example scenario, the UE can construct four Tx beam groups: (Tx beam 3, Tx beam 2), (Tx beam 3, Tx beam 8), (Tx beam 5, Tx beam 2), and (Tx beam 5, Tx beam 8). Therefore, the group ID used for reporting will occupy 2 bits. On the other hand, when performing beam indication, the TRP only needs to indicate the 2-bit group ID.

[0053] Therefore, in comparison, from an overhead perspective, when using a solution based on Rx beam set reporting, there may be more beam reporting overhead on the UE side, while when using a solution based on antenna panel reporting, there may be more beam indication overhead on the TRP side.

[0054] To address the overhead issue while maintaining flexibility, this disclosure proposes a reporting solution based on the Tx beam matrix. In the proposed solution, the UE can report Tx beam groups based on the UE antenna panel, and each group contains Tx beams observed per panel. That is, a matrix of Tx beams is reported to the TRP. In the Tx beam matrix, the elements in each column correspond to Tx beam candidates observed by the corresponding antenna panel of the UE. These Tx beam candidates are determined to be beneficial for communication based on beam measurements at the UE.

[0055] When the TRP performs beam indication, it can reconstruct Tx beam groups that can be transmitted simultaneously based on the Tx beam matrix reported from the UE and the reconstructing rules. For example, it can select one Tx beam reported from each panel and use the group index for beam indication. During group reconstructing, the TRP can predefine the reconstructing rules and notify the UE, ensuring that both the TRP and UE sides follow the same rules. The TRP can then indicate the selected Tx beam group to the UE using only the corresponding group index. This reduces beam indication overhead. Simultaneously, it maintains the flexibility of antenna panel-based reporting for beam reporting.

[0056] consider Figure 2 In the example scenario, Figure 3 The Tx beam matrix is ​​shown in the figure.

[0057] When performing beam reporting, the second solution described above is used for group-based beam reporting. Specifically, the UE should report good Tx beams on a UE antenna panel basis. All reported Tx beams from all UE antenna panels constitute a Tx beam matrix. Each column of the matrix includes an element corresponding to a Tx beam candidate observed by the corresponding antenna panel of the UE. Different columns of the matrix correspond to Tx beam candidates observed by different UE antenna panels. For simplicity, the element corresponding to a Tx beam candidate in the Tx beam matrix will be simply referred to as a Tx beam candidate in the Tx beam matrix or a Tx beam.

[0058] Upon receiving the reported Tx beam matrix, the TRP should reconstruct the Tx beam groups based on the reported Tx beam matrix and indicate the Tx beam groups selected for communication between the TRP and the UE. Elements in a group come from different columns of the matrix to ensure that Tx beams in a group can be simultaneously received by different antenna panels on the UE side. Furthermore, the reconstruction rules predefined by the TRP should be known to both the UE and the gNB to facilitate beam indication. For example, as shown by the dashed ellipse, the TRP can select elements in the first row as the first group, elements diagonally downwards as the second group, elements diagonally upwards as the third group, and elements in the last row as the fourth group. Therefore, as... Figure 3 As shown, the reconstructed Tx beamgroups will include the following groups: (Tx beam 3, Tx beam 2), (Tx beam 3, Tx beam 8), (Tx beam 5, Tx beam 2), and (Tx beam 5, Tx beam 8). When performing beam indication, the TRP can indicate the UE using only the group index after reconstruction. In this case, since four groups are reconstructed via the TRP, the beam indication overhead is only two bits.

[0059] To further reduce overhead, when reporting Tx beam groups, the elements in each column can be sorted in descending or ascending order of the beam measurement metrics (i.e., based on the reported Tx beams for each panel). Here, the beam measurement metrics can be the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Block Error Rate (BLER), or Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) corresponding to a pair of currently measured Tx and Rx beams. Therefore, the first or last row will be the best Tx beam observed by each panel on the UE side.

[0060] On the TRP side, the optimal Tx beam may also be selected for transmission by the TRP. Therefore, when performing beam indication, the TRP can indicate whether to use a one-bit flag to indicate the optimal Tx beam combination. If so, it means the TRP will directly select the optimal Tx beam combination for transmission. Therefore, the TRP will no longer reconstruct the Tx beam candidate group. In other words, the TRP can define a reconstruction rule because reconstruction is not required. In this case, only one bit is used for beam indication. On the other hand, although the UE determines these Tx beams as the optimal Tx beams based on beam measurements, the TRP can indicate that the optimal Tx beam combination will not be selected. The TRP will determine which Tx beams to use based on the Tx beam matrix reported from the UE. Therefore, the TRP can first reconstruct the Tx beam candidate group from the Tx beam matrix and then use the group index as described above to indicate the selected Tx beam group.

[0061] Figure 4An example Tx beam matrix reported from the UE is shown, where the reported Tx beams based on each antenna panel are sorted in descending or ascending order by a metric of beam measurement (i.e., a metric representing beam quality, such as RSRP). For example, as Figure 4 As shown, the first row of elements corresponds to the optimal Tx beams 2 and 8 determined by the UE. For beam indication, a 1-bit flag is used to indicate whether the optimal combination of Tx beams should be used. If so, only one bit is used for beam indication. Otherwise, as described above, the TRP can use the group index to indicate the selected Tx beam group after reconfiguration.

[0062] Furthermore, to further reduce the overhead for beam indication, a subset of Tx beams can be predefined on the TRP side based on the reported Tx beam matrix used for beam indication. The size and construction of the subset are known to both the UE and the TRP. For example, the first two rows of the matrix can constitute a subset, or all rows of the matrix can constitute a subset. When beam indication is performed, the group should be reconstructed based on the subset. Therefore, the overhead for beam indication can be reduced. The TRP can use a one-bit flag to indicate whether to select a Tx beam group for transmission from the groups within the subset. If so, the TRP can indicate the Tx beam group in the Tx beam candidate group reconstructed based on the subset. Otherwise, the TRP can indicate the Tx beam group in the Tx beam candidate group reconstructed based on the reported Tx beam matrix.

[0063] In the embodiments shown above, the reporting of the Tx beam matrix is ​​based on the individual antenna panels of the UE. In alternative embodiments, the reporting of the Tx beam matrix can also be based on the individual Rx beam sets on the UE side. Specifically, the UE reports several Tx beam groups. Within a group, different elements correspond to Tx beams observed by different antenna panels of the UE. All reported Tx beams constitute the Tx beam matrix. In the matrix, each column of elements should correspond to the Tx beams observed by the same UE antenna panel, that is, each column corresponds to one UE antenna panel. Simultaneously, each row of the matrix should correspond to a Tx beam group observed by the corresponding Rx beam set.

[0064] When reporting Tx beams, the UE should report the grouped Tx beams on a per-UE antenna panel basis. That is, each column of the elements in the matrix has the same group ID, and each row of the elements in the matrix corresponds to a Tx beam observed by the corresponding Rx beam set. When performing beam indication, Tx beam groups should be indicated on a per-matrix-row basis; that is, matrix rows (corresponding to different Rx beam sets) constitute a subset for beam indication.

[0065] The TRP can use a one-bit flag to indicate whether to select a Tx beam group for transmission from a subset of groups (i.e., the row of elements corresponding to the Tx beams observed by the corresponding Rx beam set). If the one-bit flag indicates that the TRP should indicate the selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set, the TRP can indicate the selected Tx beam group using only the corresponding row index. In this case, it can be understood that the reconstruction rule can be predefined by the TRP to select each row of the matrix as a Tx beam candidate group. In this way, the overhead of beam indication can be reduced. Otherwise, the TRP can indicate the Tx beam group from the Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed based on the reported Tx beam matrix and the predefined reconstruction rule, as described above.

[0066] Figure 5 Example Tx beam matrices reported from a UE are shown according to some embodiments of this disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the first column of the matrix reports Tx beams 2, 5, 3, and 6 observed by antenna panel #1, and the second column reports Tx beams 8, 7, 9, and 1 observed by antenna panel #2. From the row perspective, the first row reports Tx beams 2 and 8 observed by Rx beam set #1, the second row reports Tx beams 5 and 7 observed by Rx beam set #2, the third row reports Tx beams 3 and 9 observed by Rx beam set #3, and the fourth row reports Tx beams 6 and 1 observed by Rx beam set #4.

[0067] When performing beam reporting, Tx beam grouping can be based on matrix columns, i.e., based on the UE antenna panel. A group ID should be appended to the Tx beam. Therefore, reporting overhead can be reduced compared to reporting based on Rx beam sets, as fewer groups are required. Furthermore, additional information about the UE's reception capabilities can be transmitted to the TRP side, i.e., which Tx beams the UE cannot receive simultaneously. Tx beams observed from the same Rx beam set can be received simultaneously by the UE.

[0068] When performing beam indication, Tx beam grouping can be based on the rows of a matrix, i.e., based on the UE Rx beam set. The rows of the matrix constitute a subset of possible combinations of Tx beams preferably used by the UE. The TRP can use a one-bit flag to indicate whether to select a row of Tx beams for transmission from this subset. If so, the TRP can indicate the row of the selected Tx beam using only the corresponding row index. Otherwise, the TRP can utilize the corresponding group index to indicate the Tx beam group from the Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed based on the reported Tx beam matrix.

[0069] by Figure 5Taking the Tx beamgroup matrix as an example, the four rows of Tx beams observed by the four corresponding Rx beam sets are represented by four dashed ellipses. The TRP uses a one-bit flag to indicate to the UE that it will select the row of Tx beams to be transmitted from a subset of the four rows containing the Tx beams. The TRP can then use the row index to indicate the row of Tx beams (e.g., Tx beams 5 and 7) as the selected Tx beamgroup. In this example, the overhead for indicating the row index is 2 bits because there are four rows of Tx beams reported from the UE. Therefore, the total overhead for beam indication is the sum of the one-bit flag overhead and the overhead for indicating the row index, i.e., (1+2) = 3 bits.

[0070] Additionally, TRP can use a one-bit flag to indicate whether beam indication is based on an Rx beam set. If so, it means the indicated Tx beam group is based on one of the reported Rx beam sets, i.e., it is a row in the reported matrix. If not, TRP will not use Rx beam set-based grouping for beam indication. Instead, it will use regular beam indication, i.e., a Tx beam index plus a group index. The group index is used to identify one of the reported groups based on the UE antenna panel.

[0071] Regarding the report format, there are two sample solutions. Figure 6a The document illustrates an example reporting format in which, for each Tx beam candidate, a combination of the Tx beam index (or beam-to-link index), group index, and a metric (e.g., RSRP, BLER, or CQI) corresponding to the Tx beam candidate is reported to the TRP. In this example, when reporting Tx beams, the group index can be appended to each Tx beam, so Tx beams with the same group index belong to the same group.

[0072] Figure 6b Another example reporting format is shown, where for all Tx beam candidates within a group, the group index is reported to the TRP once, and the Tx beam index (or beam-to-link index) and the metric (e.g., RSRP, BLER, or CQI) of the beam measurement corresponding to each Tx beam candidate are reported to the TRP. In this example, only one group index is appended to the group for each Tx beam within a group. Therefore, the overhead of the group index can be reduced, and Tx beams at the same location within each group are grouped based on a set of Rx beams. For example, in Figure 6b In the middle, the Tx beams (1,1), (1,2)……(1,N) form a group based on an Rx beam set.

[0073] Furthermore, the network can configure whether to enable matrix-based beam reporting and beam indication. This configuration can be performed via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI). Alternatively, the network can also configure beam reporting using packets per UE antenna panel and beam indication using packets per UE Rx beam set. This configuration can also be performed via higher-layer signaling or DCI.

[0074] Alternatively, the UE can request whether to use matrix-based beam reporting and beam indication. This can be indicated in the UE's capabilities. The UE can also indicate beam reporting capabilities using packets per UE antenna panel and beam indication capabilities using packets per UE Rx beam set. The network can then determine whether to use the corresponding packets.

[0075] Figure 7 A flowchart is shown as a portion of a beam management process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam management process involving beam reporting and beam indication based on a Tx beam matrix between the TRP side and the UE side.

[0076] At 710, TRP 111 can periodically broadcast beam management reference signals (referred to as BM-RS, e.g., CSI-RS or SS / PBCH blocks) to the UE (e.g., UE 101) within the coverage area of ​​TRP 11. At 720, UE 101 can determine Tx beam candidates that are beneficial for communication by performing beam measurements based on BM-RS.

[0077] At 730, UE 101 can generate a Tx beam matrix to report to TRP 111. UE 101 is configured with one or more antenna panels for receiving Tx beams from TRP 111. As described above, each column of the Tx beam matrix may include elements corresponding to Tx beam candidates determined based on beam measurements and observed by the respective antenna panel in one or more antenna panels of UE 101.

[0078] Alternatively, the elements in each column (i.e., the Tx beam candidates observed by each panel) may be sorted in descending or ascending order of the metric of beam measurement, such that the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix includes the best Tx beam observed by each antenna panel of UE 101.

[0079] Alternatively or concurrently, UE 101 may specify one or more Rx beam sets, each Rx beam set corresponding to a Tx beam group that can be received simultaneously at UE 101. Each row of the Tx beam matrix may include Tx beam candidates corresponding to the corresponding Rx beam set in one or more Rx beam sets specified by UE 101.

[0080] At 740, UE 101 can report the generated Tx beam matrix to TRP 111. At 750, TRP 111 can decode the Tx beam matrix reported by UE 101. At 770, TRP 111 can reconstruct Tx beam groups that can be transmitted simultaneously based on the Tx beam matrix and predefined reconstruction rules known to both TRP and UE. At 780, TRP 110 can use the corresponding group index to indicate to the UE about the selected Tx beam group.

[0081] Alternatively, if the Tx beam candidates in each column of the Tx beam matrix are sorted in descending or ascending order of beam measurement metrics, at 760, the TRP 111 can indicate to the UE a one-bit flag indicating whether the optimal combination of Tx beams in the first or last row of the TRP beam matrix should be used by the TRP. If, as indicated by the one-bit flag, the optimal combination of Tx beams should be used by the TRP, then the reconstruction at 770 can be ignored and the overhead of beam indication will be only 1 bit.

[0082] Alternatively, if each row of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates corresponding to the corresponding Rx beam set specified by UE 101, at 760, TRP 111 may indicate a one-bit flag to UE 101 to indicate whether to select a row of Tx beams for transmission from a subset including one or more rows of the Tx beam matrix. If the one-bit flag indicates that a row of Tx beams should be selected from that subset, then at 780, TRP 111 may use the corresponding row index to indicate the row of the selected Tx beam. Otherwise, TRP 111 may first reconstruct the Tx beam candidate group from the reported Tx beam matrix at 770, and at 780 utilize the corresponding group index to indicate the Tx beam group from the reconstructed Tx beam candidate group.

[0083] Alternatively, at 760, TRP 111 may indicate a one-bit flag to UE 101 to indicate whether to select a Tx beamgroup for transmission from a subset with a predefined size and structure known to both TRP 111 and UE 101. If the one-bit flag indicates that a Tx beamgroup for transmission should be selected from this subset, then at 770, TRP 111 can reconstruct a Tx beam candidate group from this subset. Otherwise, at 770, TRP 111 can reconstruct a Tx beam candidate group from the reported Tx beam matrix. Then at 780, TRP 111 may use the corresponding group index to indicate the selected Tx beamgroup.

[0084] At 790, UE 101 can decode the indication received from TRP 111 to determine the selected Tx beam group to be used by TRP 111 for communication with UE 101. Here, the indication may include a group index indicating the selected Tx beam group from multiple Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed by TRP 111 from the Tx beam matrix based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both TRP and UE 101. Alternatively or additionally, the indication may include a one-bit flag indicating whether the optimal combination of Tx beams in the first or last row of the TRP beam matrix is ​​to be used by TRP 111, a one-bit flag indicating whether TRP 111 will select a row of Tx beams for transmission from a subset including one or more rows of the Tx beam matrix, or a one-bit flag indicating whether TRP 111 will select a Tx beam group for transmission from a subset having a predefined size and configuration known to both TRP 111 and UE 101.

[0085] By utilizing beam reporting and beam indication based on the Tx beam matrix according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the overhead of beam indication can be reduced, while the flexibility of beam reporting can be maintained at the same level as that of beam reporting based on the UE antenna panel.

[0086] During beam management, the TRP needs to periodically broadcast a beam management reference signal (BM-RS), such as the SS / PBCH block and CSI-RS. Therefore, the UE will perform beam measurements based on the BM-RS to find the optimal beam pair, including the Tx and Rx beams used for communication with the TRP. Typically, the TRP is allowed to schedule data transmissions on one or more symbols carrying the BM-RS. However, sometimes data transmission on symbols carrying the BM-RS may fail due to changes in the Tx or Rx beams used for communication.

[0087] For example, in a 5G NR system, the SS / PBCH block can be used as the BM-RS for beam management, which includes the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Figure 8As shown, for SS / PBCH blocks, PSS and SSS can occupy 12 resource blocks (RBs) and PBCH can occupy 24 RBs, and SS / PBCH blocks can be carried on more than one symbol.

[0088] SS / PBCH blocks can be transmitted in communication systems utilizing MU-MIMO technology. During beam management in a communication system, SS / PBCH blocks can be used as reference signals to measure the channel quality of a transmit link comprising a pair of currently serving Tx and Rx beams. Typically, data transmission can be scheduled on one or more symbols carrying SS / PBCH blocks. However, when a UE performs beam measurements based on an SS / PBCH block, if the channel quality is associated with the currently serving Tx and Rx beam pair, the UE can use a different Rx beam. In this case, because the UE will be searching for a new link comprising a new Rx beam different from the currently serving Rx beam, and therefore performing measurements on the SS / PBCH block using the new Rx beam, data transmission on the symbol or time slot carrying the SS / PBCH block may fail.

[0089] According to some embodiments of this disclosure, when a UE determines that it needs to perform measurements on the SS / PBCH block using different Rx beams to search for new links including the currently serving Tx beam and different Rx beams, the UE can explicitly instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmissions on one or more symbols carrying the SS / PBCH block. This instruction can be transmitted to the TRP via PUCCH or PUSCH. Upon receiving this instruction, the TRP will not schedule data transmissions on the symbols carrying the SS / PBCH block.

[0090] Figure 9 Example scheduling of SS / PBCH blocks and data transmissions according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Figure 9 As shown, when the UE does not perform measurements on the SS / PBCH block or performs measurements on the SS / PBCH block using the currently serving Rx beam, data transmission can be multiplexed on the symbols carrying the SS / PBCH block. However, when the UE is going to perform measurements on the SS / PBCH block using a different Rx beam, data transmission should not be scheduled on the symbols carrying the SS / PBCH block.

[0091] To determine whether different Rx beams need to be used for measurement, the UE can compare the measured channel quality of the current link, including the current serving Tx beam and the current serving Rx beam, with a certain threshold. For example, channel quality can be characterized by Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Block Error Rate (BLER), or Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) measured based on SS / PBCH blocks.

[0092] According to some embodiments, if the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1, it indicates that the current link is good enough and therefore does not need to be measured using different Rx beams. If the measured channel quality of the current link is lower than the first threshold T1 but higher than a second threshold T2, it indicates that the current link is not very good, and the UE can use different Rx beams to perform measurements on the SS / PBCH block to find a better link. If the measured channel quality of the current link is lower than or equal to the second threshold T2, it indicates that the quality of the current link is very poor and a beam fault recovery process should be triggered for the UE to perform a completely new beam management procedure. Here, thresholds T1 and T2 can be predefined or configured by higher-layer signaling, and T1 is greater than T2.

[0093] If the UE finds that the channel quality of the current link is better than the first threshold T1, it indicates that the UE does not need to perform measurements to find different beams on the same antenna panel, meaning that the measurement interval can be extended. In other words, some measurements of the periodic SS / PBCH block can be ignored. Therefore, in some embodiments, when the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to the first threshold T1, the UE can suspend the channel quality measurement for a predetermined period of time, and the TRP can transmit data on one or more symbols carrying the SS / PBCH block.

[0094] If the measured channel quality of the current link is lower than the first threshold T1 and higher than the second threshold T2, the UE can determine to use different Rx beams to measure the SS / PBCH block and instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmission on one or more symbols carrying the SS / PBCH block.

[0095] Alternatively, an indication of whether different Rx beams should be used for measurements of the SS / PBCH block can be implicitly passed to the TRP. For example, the TRP can determine whether to schedule data transmission on one or more symbols or slots carrying the SS / PBCH block based on reported channel quality (e.g., RSRP, BLER, or CQI) of the current link, including the currently serving Tx beam and Rx beam. If the reported channel quality is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1, the TRP may transmit data on the symbols or slots carrying the SS / PBCH block. Otherwise, the TRP will not transmit data on the symbols or slots carrying the SS / PBCH block.

[0096] Alternatively, whether the UE can utilize different Rx beams to measure the SS / PBCH block depends entirely on the TRP's scheduling. If the TRP schedules data transmissions on symbols or time slots carrying the SS / PBCH block, the UE may not be allowed to utilize different Rx beams to measure the SS / PBCH block. If no data transmissions are scheduled on symbols or time slots carrying the SS / PBCH block, the UE can utilize different Rx beams to perform measurements on the SS / PBCH block.

[0097] In addition to the SS / PBCH block, the UE-specific CSI-RS can be used as the BM-RS for downlink beam management. For downlink transmission, beam management can include three processes: P-1, P-2, and P-3. P-1 is used to obtain the initial TRP Tx beam and UE Rx beam. P-2 is used to enable TRP Tx beam refinement, and P-3 is used to enable UE Rx beam refinement.

[0098] When transmitting CSI-RS for beam management, data transmission can be scheduled on the same symbol or time slot carrying the CSI-RS, but there should be some restrictions. Similar to the SS / PBCH block as described above, if the UE needs to perform measurements on the CSI-RS using different Rx beams, data transmission on one or more symbols or time slots carrying the CSI-RS should be avoided. Furthermore, if the CSI-RS is transmitted in sub-time units less than one symbol, meaning the Tx beam can be changed within a symbol, then data transmission should not be multiplexed with the CSI-RS on the same symbol.

[0099] For the P-1 procedure, if the UE finds that the measured channel quality of the current link, which includes a pair of currently serving Tx and Rx beams, is greater than or equal to a first threshold T1, the UE does not need to perform measurements to find different beams on the same antenna panel. This means the measurement interval can be extended. This means that some measurements of periodic CSI-RS can be ignored. Therefore, in some embodiments, when the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to the first threshold T1, the UE can suspend channel quality measurements for a predetermined period of time, and the TRP can transmit data on one or more symbols or time slots carrying P-1 CSI-RS. If the measured channel quality of the current link is lower than the first threshold T1 and higher than the second threshold T2, the UE can determine to use different Rx beams to measure CSI-RS and instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmission on one or more symbols carrying CSI-RS.

[0100] According to some embodiments of this disclosure, when a UE determines that it needs to perform CSI-RS measurements using different Rx beams to search for new links including the currently serving Tx beam and different Rx beams, the UE can explicitly instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmissions on one or more symbols carrying CSI-RS. This instruction can be transmitted to the TRP via PUCCH or PUSCH. Upon receiving this instruction, the TRP will not schedule data transmissions on one or more symbols carrying CSI-RS.

[0101] Alternatively, the indication regarding whether different Rx beams should be used for CSI-RS measurements can be implicitly passed to the TRP. For example, the TRP can determine whether to schedule data transmission on one or more symbols or time slots carrying CSI-RS based on the reported channel quality (e.g., RSRP, BLER, or CQI) of the current link, which includes the currently serving Tx beam and Rx beam. If the reported channel quality is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1, the TRP may transmit data on the symbols or time slots carrying CSI-RS. Otherwise, the TRP will not transmit data on the symbols or time slots carrying CSI-RS.

[0102] Alternatively, whether the UE can utilize different Rx beams to measure the SS / PBCH block depends entirely on the TRP's scheduling. If the TRP schedules data transmissions on symbols or time slots carrying the SS / PBCH block, the UE may not be allowed to utilize different Rx beams to measure the SS / PBCH block. If no data transmissions are scheduled on symbols or time slots carrying the SS / PBCH block, the UE can utilize different Rx beams to perform measurements on the SS / PBCH block.

[0103] For the P-2 procedure, since the UE Rx beam is fixed, data can be transmitted together with the P-2 CSI-RS. However, for the P-3 procedure, data transmission should be avoided together with the P-3 CSI-RS, because the P-3 procedure will scan the UE Rx beam for refinement.

[0104] Additionally, it should be noted that the first threshold T1 and the second threshold T2 can be configured independently for SS / PBCH blocks and CSI-RS via higher-level signaling or DCI. Alternatively, T1 and T2 can be common to SS / PBCH blocks and CSI-RS, and the energy per resource element (EPRE) ratio between SSS or PBCH and CSI-RS should be configured by higher-level signaling or DCI.

[0105] As further explanation, the following will refer to... Figure 10 and Figure 11 Briefly describe the example procedures performed on the UE side and the TRP side.

[0106] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating exemplary methods performed at a UE according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown, and Figure 11 A flowchart illustrating exemplary methods performed at a UE according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0107] like Figure 10 As shown, at S1010, the UE can measure the channel quality of the current link, including the currently serving Tx beam and the currently serving Rx beam, based on BM-RS. The UE can then compare the measured channel quality with a first threshold T1 and a second threshold T2. If the channel quality measured at S1020 is not lower than T1, the UE can pause the channel quality measurement for a predefined time period at S1030 to extend the measurement interval, as previously described. If the channel quality measured at S1020 is lower than T1 but higher than T2 at S1040, then at S1060, the UE can determine to search for a new link including a different Rx beam and instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmission on symbols carrying BM-RS. If the channel quality measured at S1040 is not higher than T2, then at S1050, the UE can trigger a beam fault recovery procedure to execute a new beam management procedure.

[0108] Alternatively, in response to receiving scheduling information from the TRP instructing the TRP to schedule data transmission on symbols carrying BM-RS, the UE can determine the channel quality of new links that do not include the currently serving Tx beam and different Rx beams based on the BM-RS.

[0109] Accordingly, such as Figure 11 As shown, at S1110, the TRP can decode the channel quality of the current link reported by the UE. The TRP can then compare the measured channel quality with a first threshold T1 and a second threshold T2. If the decoded channel quality at S1120 is not lower than T1, the TRP can be notified that data transmission can be scheduled on symbols carrying BM-RS. If the decoded channel quality at S1120 is lower than T1 but higher than T2 at S1140, then at S1160, the TRP can determine that the UE may need to search for a new link including different Rx beams and stop scheduling data transmission on symbols carrying BM-RS. If the decoded channel quality at S1140 is not higher than T2, then at S1150, the TRP can trigger a beam fault recovery procedure to execute a new beam management procedure.

[0110] Alternatively, in response to an indication from the UE that the UE will search for a new link, the TRP can determine that the UE will search for a new link that includes a different Rx beam. Additionally, when the TRP schedules data transmission on a symbol carrying BM-RS, the TRP can notify the UE not to search for a new link that includes a different Rx beam.

[0111] By utilizing the proposed process for scheduling data transmissions during beam management, it can be ensured that data transmissions on one or more symbols carrying BM-RS used for beam measurement will not be scheduled when the Tx or Rx beam used for transmission is changed.

[0112] The embodiments described herein can be implemented in the device using any appropriately configured hardware and / or software. Figure 12 Example components of a device 1200 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, device 1200 may include at least an application circuitry system 1202, a baseband circuitry system 1204, a radio frequency (RF) circuitry system 1206, a front-end module (FEM) circuitry system 1208, one or more antennas 1210, and a power management circuitry system (PMC) 1212 coupled together as shown. Components of the illustrated device 1200 may be included in a UE or TRP. In some embodiments, device 1200 may include fewer components (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize the application circuitry system 1202, but instead include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, device 1200 may include additional components such as, for example, memory / storage, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device for a cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation).

[0113] Application circuit system 1202 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuit system 1202 may include circuit systems such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors (multiple) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled to or may include memory / storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory / storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on device 1200. In some embodiments, the processor of application circuit system 1202 may process IP data packets received from EPC.

[0114] The baseband circuit system 1204 may include circuit systems such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit system 1204 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit system 1206 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit system 1206. The baseband processing circuit system 1204 may interface with the application circuit system 1202 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit system 1206. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit system 1204 may include a third-generation (3G) baseband processor 1204A, a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor 1204B, a fifth-generation (5G) baseband processor 1204C, or other existing, under development, or future generations (e.g., second-generation (2G), sixth-generation (6G), etc.) baseband processor(s) 1204D. The baseband circuitry system 1204 (e.g., one or more baseband processors 1204A-D) can handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry system 1206. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-D may be included in modules stored in memory 1204G and may be executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 1204E. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, RF shifting, etc.

[0115] In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1204 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1204 may include convolution, tail-bit convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

[0116] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry system 1204 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1204F. The audio DSPs (multiple) 1204F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, components of the baseband circuitry system may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuitry system 1204 and the application circuitry system 1202 may be implemented together, such as, for example, on a system-on-a-chip (SoC).

[0117] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit system 1204 can provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit system 1204 can support communication with the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), or Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuit system 1204 is configured to support radio communication using more than one radio protocol may be referred to as a multi-mode baseband circuit system.

[0118] RF circuitry system 1206 enables communication with a wireless network via a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuitry system 1206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry system 1206 may include a receive signal path that includes circuitry for down-converting the RF signal received from FEM circuitry system 1208 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuitry system 1204. RF circuitry system 1206 may also include a transmit signal path that includes circuitry for up-converting the baseband signal provided by baseband circuitry system 1204 and providing an RF output signal to FEM circuitry system 1208 for transmission.

[0119] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit system 1206 may include a mixer circuit system 1206a, an amplifier circuit system 1206b, and a filter circuit system 1206c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit system 1206 may include a filter circuit system 1206c and a mixer circuit system 1206a. The RF circuit system 1206 may also include a synthesizer circuit system 1206d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuit system 1206a in both the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit system 1206a in the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit system 1208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit system 1206d. The amplifier circuit system 1206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit system 1206c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal can be provided to the baseband circuitry 1204 for further processing. In some embodiments, although not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a receiving the signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0120] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1206d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuitry 1208. The baseband signal can be provided by the baseband circuitry 1204 and can be filtered by the filter circuitry 1206c.

[0121] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit system 1206a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit system 1206a for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit system 1206a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit system 1206a for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image suppression (e.g., Hartley image suppression). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit system 1206a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit system 1206a for the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit system 1206a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit system 1206a for the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0122] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit system 1206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit systems, and the baseband circuit system 1204 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit system 1206.

[0123] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry systems may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0124] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit system 1206d may be a fractional N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit system 1206d may be a Δ-∑ synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0125] The synthesizer circuit system 1206d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuit system 1206a of the RF circuit system 1206 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit system 1206d can be a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0126] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not mandatory. Depending on the desired output frequency, the divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1204 or the application processor 1202. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 1202.

[0127] The synthesizer circuitry 1206d of the RF circuitry 1206 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, adjustable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0128] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1206d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and frequency divider circuitry to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases on the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1206 may include an IQ / polarization converter.

[0129] FEM circuitry 1208 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1210, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuitry 1206 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1208 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuitry 1206 for transmission via one or more of the one or more antennas 1210. In various embodiments, amplification via the transmit or receive signal path may occur only in RF circuitry 1206, only in FEM 1208, or in both RF circuitry 1206 and FEM 1208.

[0130] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1208 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode operation and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to RF circuitry 1206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA) and one or more filters, the power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1206), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more of one or more antennas 1210).

[0131] In some embodiments, the PMC 1212 can manage the power supplied to the baseband circuitry 1204. Specifically, the PMC 1212 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. The PMC 1212 is typically included when the device 1200 is capable of being battery powered, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 1212 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired implementation size and thermal characteristics.

[0132] Although Figure 12 A PMC 1212 is shown coupled only to the baseband circuitry 1204. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 1212 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components such as, but not limited to, the application circuitry 1202, the RF circuitry 1206, or the FEM 1208, and perform similar power management operations thereto.

[0133] In some embodiments, PMC 1212 may control or otherwise become part of various power-saving mechanisms of device 1200. For example, if device 1200 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which it remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, it may enter a state called Discontinuous Receive Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, device 1200 may power down for short intervals, thereby saving power.

[0134] If there is no data service activity during the extended period, device 1200 can transition to the RRC_Idle state. In this state, it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handover. Device 1200 enters a very low power state and performs paging, during which it periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers off again. Device 1200 may not receive data in this state; to receive data, it can transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0135] An additional power-saving mode allows the device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than the paging interval (ranging from seconds to hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to reach the network and may lose power completely. Any data sent during this period will incur a significant delay, assumed to be acceptable.

[0136] The processors of application circuit system 1202 and baseband circuit system 1204 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuit system 1204 can be used alone or in combination to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of application circuit system 1204 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., transmit communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include the radio resource control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include the media access control (MAC) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0137] Figure 13 An example interface of a baseband circuit system according to some embodiments is shown. As described above, Figure 12The baseband circuit system 1204 may include processors 1204A-1204E and a memory 1204G utilized by the processors. Each of the processors 1204A-1204E may respectively include a memory interface 1304A-1304E for sending / receiving data to / from the memory 1204G.

[0138] The baseband circuit system 1204 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuit systems / devices, such as a memory interface 1312 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit system 1204) and an application circuit system interface 1314 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit system 1204). Figure 12 The application circuit system 1202 is an interface for sending / receiving data, and the RF circuit system interface 1316 is used for sending / receiving data (e.g., for sending / receiving data to / from the application circuit system 1202). Figure 12 The RF circuit system 1206 is an interface for transmitting / receiving data, and the wireless hardware connection interface 1318 is for components for sending / receiving data to / from near field communication (NFC). Components (e.g., (low energy) The interface for sending / receiving data to / from the PMC 1212 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from the PMC 1212).

[0139] Figure 14 This is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transient machine-readable storage medium) and performing any or more methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. Specifically, Figure 14 A schematic representation of hardware resource 1400 is shown, which includes one or more processors (or processor cores) 1410, one or more memory / storage devices 1420, and one or more communication resources 1430, each of which can be communicatively coupled via bus 1440. In embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 1402 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslices to utilize hardware resource 1400.

[0140] Processor 1410 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1412 and processor 1414.

[0141] The memory / storage device 1420 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1420 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0142] Communication resource 1430 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 1404 or one or more databases 1406 via network 1408. For example, communication resource 1430 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, etc. Components (e.g., (low energy) Components, and other communication components.

[0143] Instructions 1450 may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least any one of processors 1410 to perform any or more of the methods discussed herein. Instructions 1450 may reside wholly or partially within at least one of the following: processor 1410 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), memory / storage device 1420, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instructions 1450 may be transferred from any combination of peripheral device 1404 or database 1406 to hardware resource 1400. Therefore, the memory of processor 1410, memory / storage device 1420, peripheral device 1404, and database 1406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0144] Below are some non-restrictive examples.

[0145] Example 1 includes an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) wherein the UE is configured with one or more antenna panels for receiving transmit (Tx) beams from a transmit-receive point (TRP), and the apparatus includes a circuitry configured to: report a Tx beam matrix to the TRP, wherein each column of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates determined based on beam measurements at the UE and observed by a corresponding antenna panel among the one or more antenna panels; and decode an indication received from the TRP to determine a selected Tx beam group to be used by the TRP to communicate with the UE, wherein the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed by the TRP from the Tx beam matrix based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0146] Example 2 includes the apparatus according to Example 1, wherein the Tx beam candidates in each column of the Tx beam matrix are sorted in descending or ascending order of the metric of beam measurement, such that the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix includes the best Tx beam observed by each antenna panel of the UE.

[0147] Example 3 includes the apparatus according to Example 2, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the optimal combination of Tx beams in the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix is ​​to be used by the TRP.

[0148] Example 4 includes the apparatus according to Example 3, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: determine the optimal combination of Tx beams as the selected Tx beam group when a one-bit flag indicates that the optimal combination of Tx beams is to be used by the TRP.

[0149] Example 5 includes the apparatus according to Example 1, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset having a predefined size and configuration known to both the TRP and the UE, and the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups, which are reconstructed from the subset by the TRP based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0150] Example 6 includes the apparatus according to Example 1, wherein each row of the Tx beam matrix includes a Tx beam candidate corresponding to a corresponding Rx beam set in one or more receive (Rx) beam sets specified by the UE.

[0151] Example 7 includes the apparatus according to Example 6, wherein the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0152] Example 8 includes the apparatus according to Example 6, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset comprising a predefined number of rows of the Tx beam matrix, and the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the subset that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0153] Example 9 includes the apparatus according to Example 6, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set; and when the one-bit flag indicates that the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set, the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for the selected Tx beam group.

[0154] Example 10 includes an apparatus according to any one of Examples 1 to 9, wherein for each Tx beam candidate in the Tx beam candidates, the following combination is reported to the TRP: the Tx beam index or beam pair link index corresponding to the Tx beam candidate, the group index, and a measure of the beam measurement.

[0155] Example 11 includes an apparatus according to any one of Examples 1 to 9, wherein for all Tx beam candidates within a group, a group index is reported to the TRP once, and a combination of the following is reported to the TRP: a Tx beam index or beam-to-link index corresponding to each Tx beam candidate and a metric for beam measurement.

[0156] Example 12 includes the apparatus according to Example 2, 10 or 11, wherein the beam measurement metrics include the reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER) or channel quality indicator (CQI) corresponding to a pair of currently measured Tx beams and Rx beams.

[0157] Example 13 includes the apparatus according to Example 1, wherein the circuit system is further configured to report the Tx beam matrix and decode the indication in response to an enable signal configured via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI).

[0158] Example 14 includes an apparatus for a transmit-receive point (TRP) communicating with a UE, wherein the UE is configured with one or more antenna panels for receiving transmit (Tx) beams from the TRP, and the apparatus includes a circuitry configured to: decode a Tx beam matrix reported by the UE, wherein each column of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates determined based on beam measurements at the UE and observed by a corresponding antenna panel among the one or more antenna panels; and transmit an indication to the UE to indicate a selected Tx beam group to be used by the TRP to communicate with the UE, wherein the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed by the TRP from the decoded Tx beam matrix based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0159] Example 15 includes the apparatus according to Example 14, wherein the Tx beam candidates in each column of the Tx beam matrix are sorted in descending or ascending order of the metric of beam measurement, such that the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix includes the best Tx beam observed by each antenna panel of the UE.

[0160] Example 16 includes the apparatus according to Example 15, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the optimal combination of Tx beams in the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix is ​​to be used by the TRP.

[0161] Example 17 includes the apparatus according to Example 16, wherein the circuitry is further configured to indicate the optimal Tx beam combination as the selected Tx beam group when a one-bit flag indicates that the optimal Tx beam combination is to be used by the TRP.

[0162] Example 18 includes the apparatus according to Example 14, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset having a predefined size and configuration known to both the TRP and the UE, and the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed from the subset by the TRP based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0163] Example 19 includes the apparatus according to Example 14, wherein each row of the Tx beam matrix includes a Tx beam candidate corresponding to a corresponding Rx beam set in one or more receive (Rx) beam sets specified by the UE.

[0164] Example 20 includes the apparatus according to Example 19, wherein the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0165] Example 21 includes the apparatus according to Example 19, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset comprising a predefined number of rows of the Tx beam matrix, and the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the subset that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0166] Example 22 includes the apparatus according to Example 19, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on a corresponding Rx beam set; and when the one-bit flag indicates that the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on a corresponding Rx beam set, the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for the selected Tx beam group.

[0167] Example 23 includes an apparatus according to any one of Examples 14 to 22, wherein for each Tx beam candidate in the Tx beam candidates, the following combination is reported to the TRP: the Tx beam index or beam pair link index corresponding to the Tx beam candidate, the group index, and a measure of the beam measurement.

[0168] Example 24 includes an apparatus according to any one of Examples 14 to 22, wherein for all Tx beam candidates within a group, a group index is reported to the TRP once, and a combination of the following is reported to the TRP: a Tx beam index or beam pair link index corresponding to each Tx beam candidate and a metric for beam measurement.

[0169] Example 25 includes the apparatus according to Examples 15, 23 or 24, wherein the beam measurement metrics include the reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER) or channel quality indicator (CQI) corresponding to a pair of currently measured Tx beams and Rx beams.

[0170] Example 26 includes the apparatus according to Example 14, wherein the circuitry is further configured to decode the Tx beam matrix and transmit the indication in response to an enable signal configured via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI).

[0171] Example 27 includes a method performed at a user equipment (UE) wherein the UE is configured with one or more antenna panels for receiving transmit (Tx) beams from a transmit-receive point (TRP), and the method includes: reporting a Tx beam matrix to the TRP, wherein each column of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates determined based on beam measurements at the UE and observed by a corresponding antenna panel among the one or more antenna panels; and decoding an indication received from the TRP to determine a selected Tx beam group to be used by the TRP to communicate with the UE, wherein the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed from the Tx beam matrix by the TRP based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0172] Example 28 includes the method according to Example 27, wherein the Tx beam candidates in each column of the Tx beam matrix are sorted in descending or ascending order of the metric of beam measurement, such that the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix includes the best Tx beam observed by each antenna panel of the UE.

[0173] Example 29 includes the method according to Example 28, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the optimal combination of Tx beams in the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix is ​​to be used by the TRP.

[0174] Example 30 includes the method according to Example 29, further comprising: determining the optimal combination of Tx beams as the selected Tx beam group when a one-bit flag indicates that the optimal combination of Tx beams is to be used by the TRP.

[0175] Example 31 includes the method according to Example 27, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset having a predefined size and configuration known to both the TRP and the UE, and the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed from the subset by the TRP based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0176] Example 32 includes the method according to Example 27, wherein each row of the Tx beam matrix includes a Tx beam candidate that corresponds to a corresponding Rx beam set in one or more receive (Rx) beam sets specified by the UE.

[0177] Example 33 includes the method according to Example 32, wherein the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0178] Example 34 includes the method according to Example 32, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset comprising a predefined number of rows of the Tx beam matrix, and the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the subset that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0179] Example 35 includes the method according to Example 32, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set; and when the one-bit flag indicates that the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set, the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for the selected Tx beam group.

[0180] Example 36 includes the method according to any one of Examples 27 to 35, wherein for each Tx beam candidate in the Tx beam candidates, the following combination is reported to the TRP: the Tx beam index or beam pair link index corresponding to the Tx beam candidate, the group index, and the metric of the beam measurement.

[0181] Example 37 includes the method according to any one of Examples 27 to 35, wherein for all Tx beam candidates within a group, a group index is reported to the TRP once, and a combination of the following is reported to the TRP: the Tx beam index or beam-to-link index corresponding to each Tx beam candidate and a metric for beam measurement.

[0182] Example 38 includes the method according to Example 28, 36 or 37, wherein the beam measurement metrics include the reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER) or channel quality indicator (CQI) corresponding to a pair of currently measured Tx beams and Rx beams.

[0183] Example 39 includes the method according to Example 27, further comprising: reporting the Tx beam matrix and decoding the indication in response to an enable signal configured via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI).

[0184] Example 40 includes a method performed at a transmit-receive point (TRP) for communicating with a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is configured with one or more antenna panels for receiving transmit (Tx) beams from the TRP, and the method includes: decoding a Tx beam matrix reported by the UE, wherein each column of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates determined based on beam measurements at the UE and observed by a corresponding antenna panel among the one or more antenna panels; transmitting an indication to the UE to indicate a selected Tx beam group to be used by the TRP for communicating with the UE, wherein the indication includes a group index indicating a selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed by the TRP from the decoded Tx beam matrix based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0185] Example 41 includes the method according to Example 40, wherein the Tx beam candidates in each column of the Tx beam matrix are sorted in descending or ascending order of the metric of beam measurement, such that the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix includes the best Tx beam observed by each antenna panel of the UE.

[0186] Example 42 includes the method according to Example 41, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the optimal combination of Tx beams in the first or last row of the Tx beam matrix is ​​to be used by the TRP.

[0187] Example 43 includes the method according to Example 42, further comprising: indicating the optimal Tx beam combination as selecting a Tx beam group when a one-bit flag indicates that the optimal Tx beam combination is to be used by the TRP.

[0188] Example 44 includes the method according to Example 40, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset having a predefined size and configuration known to both the TRP and the UE, and the indication includes a group index indicating the selection of a Tx beam group from a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed by the TRP from the subset based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

[0189] Example 45 includes the method according to Example 40, wherein each row of the Tx beam matrix includes a Tx beam candidate corresponding to a corresponding Rx beam set in one or more receive (Rx) beam sets specified by the UE.

[0190] Example 46 includes the method according to Example 45, wherein the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0191] Example 47 includes the method according to Example 45, wherein the Tx beam matrix includes a subset comprising a predefined number of rows of the Tx beam matrix, and the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the subset that is a Tx beam candidate for a selected Tx beam group.

[0192] Example 48 includes the method according to Example 45, wherein the indication includes a one-bit flag indicating whether the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set; and when the one-bit flag indicates that the TRP intends to indicate a selected Tx beam group based on the corresponding Rx beam set, the indication includes a row index indicating the corresponding row in the Tx beam matrix that is a Tx beam candidate for the selected Tx beam group.

[0193] Example 49 includes the method according to any one of Examples 40 to 48, wherein for each Tx beam candidate in the Tx beam candidates, the following combination is reported to the TRP: the Tx beam index or beam pair link index corresponding to the Tx beam candidate, the group index, and the metric of the beam measurement.

[0194] Example 50 includes the method according to Examples 40 to 48, wherein for all Tx beam candidates within a group, a group index is reported to the TRP once, and a combination of the following is reported to the TRP: the Tx beam index or beam pair link index corresponding to each Tx beam candidate and a metric for beam measurement.

[0195] Example 51 includes the method according to Examples 41, 49 or 50, wherein the metrics of the beam measurement include the reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER) or channel quality indicator (CQI) corresponding to a pair of currently measured Tx beams and Rx beams.

[0196] Example 52 includes the method according to Example 40, further comprising: decoding the Tx beam matrix and transmitting the indication in response to an enable signal configured via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI).

[0197] Example 53 includes a non-transient computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) configured to receive a transmit (Tx) beam from a transmit-receive point (TRP), cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of Examples 27 to 39.

[0198] Example 54 includes an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) wherein the UE is configured to receive one or more antenna panels from a transmit-receive point (TRP) for transmitting a transmit (Tx) beam, and the apparatus includes components for performing the operation of the method according to any one of Examples 27 to 39.

[0199] Example 55 includes a non-transient computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors at a transmit-receive point (TRP) to communicate with a user equipment (UE) having one or more antenna panels configured to receive transmit (Tx) beams from the TRP, cause the processor to perform a method according to any one of Examples 40 to 52.

[0200] Example 56 includes an apparatus for a transmit-receive point (TRP) to communicate with a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is configured to receive one or more antenna panels from the TRP to transmit (Tx) beams, and the apparatus includes components for performing actions according to any one of Examples 40 to 52.

[0201] Example 57 includes an apparatus for communication between a user equipment (UE) and a transmit-receive point (TRP), comprising a circuit system configured to: determine whether to search for a new link between the UE and the TRP by measuring the channel quality of the new link based on a beam management reference signal (BM-RS), wherein the new link includes the TRP’s current serving transmit (Tx) beam and a new receive (Rx) beam different from the UE’s current serving Rx beam; and when it is determined that a new link including the current serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam is being searched, instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmission on symbols carrying the BM-RS.

[0202] Example 58 includes the apparatus according to Example 57, wherein the circuit system is further configured to measure the channel quality of the current link, including the current serving Tx beam and the current serving Rx beam, based on BM-RS.

[0203] Example 59 includes the apparatus according to Example 58, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: when the measured channel quality of the current link is below a first threshold T1 and above a second threshold T2, determine to search for a new link including the currently serving Tx beam and a new Rx beam, wherein T1 and T2 are predefined by higher-layer signaling and T1 is greater than T2.

[0204] Example 60 includes the apparatus according to Example 58, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: suspend the measurement of channel quality for a predefined time period when the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1.

[0205] Example 61 includes the apparatus according to Example 58, wherein the circuit system is further configured to trigger a beam fault recovery procedure for the UE to perform a new beam management procedure when the measured channel quality of the current link is lower than or equal to a second threshold T2.

[0206] Example 62 includes an apparatus according to any one of Examples 57 to 61, wherein channel quality is characterized by: reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER), or channel quality indicator (CQI) measured based on BM-RS.

[0207] Example 63 includes the apparatus according to Example 57, wherein the BM-RS includes a synchronization signal block (SSB) broadcast by the TRP, and includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0208] Example 64 includes the apparatus according to Example 57, wherein the BM-RS includes a UE-specific channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0209] Example 65 includes the apparatus according to Example 64, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: when it is determined that the CSI-RS is transmitted on a sub-time unit of less than one symbol, instruct the TRP not to schedule data transmission on the symbol carrying the CSI-RS.

[0210] Example 66 includes the apparatus according to Example 57, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: in response to receiving scheduling information from a TRP instructing the TRP to schedule data transmission on symbols carrying BM-RS, determine, based on BM-RS, the channel quality of a new link that does not include the currently serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam.

[0211] Example 67 includes an apparatus for communication between a transmit-receive point (TRP) and a user equipment (UE), comprising a circuit system configured to: determine whether the UE intends to search for a new link between the UE and the TRP by measuring the channel quality of the new link based on a beam management reference signal (BM-RS), wherein the new link includes the TRP's current serving transmit (Tx) beam and a new receive (Rx) beam different from the UE's current serving Rx beam; and when it is determined that the UE intends to search for a new link including the current serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam, stop the TRP from scheduling data transmission on symbols carrying the BM-RS.

[0212] Example 68 includes the apparatus according to Example 67, wherein the circuit system is further configured to decode the channel quality of the current link reported from the UE, wherein the current link includes the current serving Tx beam and the current serving Rx beam.

[0213] Example 69 includes the apparatus according to Example 68, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: determine that the UE needs to search for a new link including the currently serving Tx beam and a new Rx beam when the decoded channel quality of the current link is lower than a first threshold T1 and higher than a second threshold T2, wherein T1 and T2 are predefined by higher-layer signaling and T1 is greater than T2.

[0214] Example 70 includes the apparatus according to Example 68, wherein the circuit system is further configured to notify the TRP to allow data transmission to be scheduled on a symbol carrying BM-RS when the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1.

[0215] Example 71 includes the apparatus according to Example 68, wherein the circuit system is further configured to trigger a beam fault recovery process to perform a new beam management process when the decoded channel quality of the current link is lower than or equal to a second threshold T2.

[0216] Example 72 includes an apparatus according to any one of Examples 67 to 71, wherein channel quality is characterized by: reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER), or channel quality indicator (CQI) measured based on BM-RS.

[0217] Example 73 includes the apparatus according to Example 67, wherein the BM-RS includes a synchronization signal block (SSB) broadcast by the TRP, and includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0218] Example 74 includes the apparatus according to Example 67, wherein the BM-RS includes a UE-specific channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0219] Example 75 includes the apparatus according to Example 74, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: when it is determined that the CSI-RS is transmitted in a sub-time unit of less than one symbol, stop the TRP from scheduling data transmission on the symbol carrying the CSI-RS.

[0220] Example 76 includes the apparatus according to Example 67, wherein the circuit system is further configured to: in response to an indication from the UE that the UE wants to search for a new link, determine that the UE wants to search for a new link including the currently serving Tx beam and a new Rx beam.

[0221] Example 77 includes the apparatus according to Example 67, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: when the TRP schedules data transmission on a symbol carrying BM-RS, instruct the UE not to search for new links including the currently serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam.

[0222] Example 78 includes a method for communicating with a transmit-receive point (TRP) at a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining whether to search for a new link between the UE and the TRP by measuring the channel quality of the new link based on a beam management reference signal (BM-RS), wherein the new link includes the TRP’s current serving transmit (Tx) beam and a new receive (Rx) beam that is different from the UE’s current serving Rx beam; and when it is determined that a new link including the current serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam is being searched, instructing the TRP not to schedule data transmission on symbols carrying the BM-RS.

[0223] Example 79 includes the method according to Example 78, further comprising: measuring the channel quality of the current link, including the current serving Tx beam and the current serving Rx beam, based on BM-RS.

[0224] Example 80 includes the method according to Example 79, further comprising: when the measured channel quality of the current link is below a first threshold T1 and above a second threshold T2, determining to search for a new link including the currently serving Tx beam and a new Rx beam, wherein T1 and T2 are predefined by higher-layer signaling and T1 is greater than T2.

[0225] Example 81 includes the method according to Example 79, further comprising: pausing the measurement of channel quality for a predefined time period when the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1.

[0226] Example 82 includes the method according to Example 79, further comprising: triggering a beam fault recovery procedure for the UE to perform a new beam management procedure when the measured channel quality of the current link is less than or equal to a second threshold T2.

[0227] Example 83 includes a method according to any one of Examples 78 to 82, wherein channel quality is characterized by: reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER), or channel quality indicator (CQI) measured based on BM-RS.

[0228] Example 84 includes the method according to Example 78, wherein the BM-RS includes a synchronization signal block (SSB) broadcast by the TRP and includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0229] Example 85 includes the method according to Example 78, wherein the BM-RS includes a UE-dedicated channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0230] Example 86 includes the method according to Example 85, further comprising: when it is determined that the CSI-RS is transmitted on a sub-time unit of less than one symbol, instructing the TRP not to schedule data transmission on the symbol carrying the CSI-RS.

[0231] Example 87 includes the method according to Example 78, further comprising: in response to receiving scheduling information from a TRP instructing the TRP to schedule data transmission on symbols carrying BM-RS, determining, based on BM-RS, the channel quality of a new link that does not include the currently serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam.

[0232] Example 88 includes a method for communicating with a user equipment (UE) at a transmit-receive point (TRP), comprising: determining whether the UE wants to search for a new link between the UE and the TRP by measuring the channel quality of the new link based on a beam management reference signal (BM-RS), wherein the new link includes the TRP's current serving transmit (Tx) beam and a new receive (Rx) beam different from the UE's current serving Rx beam; and when it is determined that the UE wants to search for a new link including the current serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam, stopping the TRP from scheduling data transmission on symbols carrying the BM-RS.

[0233] Example 89 includes the method according to Example 88, further comprising: decoding the channel quality of the current link reported from the UE, wherein the current link includes the current serving Tx beam and the current serving Rx beam.

[0234] Example 90 includes the method according to Example 89, further comprising: when the decoded channel quality of the current link is lower than a first threshold T1 and higher than a second threshold T2, determining that the UE searches for a new link including the current serving Tx beam and a new Rx beam, wherein T1 and T2 are predefined by higher-layer signaling and T1 is greater than T2.

[0235] Example 91 includes the method according to Example 89, further comprising: when the measured channel quality of the current link is higher than or equal to a first threshold T1, notifying the TRP to allow scheduling of data transmission on a symbol carrying BM-RS.

[0236] Example 92 includes the method according to Example 89, further comprising: triggering a beam fault recovery process to perform a new beam management process when the decoded channel quality of the current link is lower than or equal to a second threshold T2.

[0237] Example 93 includes a method according to any one of Examples 88 to 92, wherein channel quality is characterized by: reference signal received power (RSRP), block error rate (BLER), or channel quality indicator (CQI) measured based on BM-RS.

[0238] Example 94 includes the method according to Example 88, wherein the BM-RS includes a synchronization signal block (SSB) broadcast by the TRP and includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0239] Example 95 includes the method according to Example 88, wherein the BM-RS includes a UE-specific channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0240] Example 96 includes the method according to Example 95, further comprising: when it is determined that the CSI-RS is transmitted on a sub-time unit of less than one symbol, stopping the TRP from scheduling data transmission on the symbol carrying the CSI-RS.

[0241] Example 97 includes the method according to Example 88, further comprising: in response to an indication from the UE that the UE wants to search for a new link, determining that the UE wants to search for a new link including the currently serving Tx beam and a new Rx beam.

[0242] Example 98 includes the method according to Example 88, further comprising: when the TRP schedules data transmission on a symbol carrying BM-RS, informing the UE not to search for new links including the currently serving Tx beam and the new Rx beam.

[0243] Example 99 includes a non-transient computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to communicate with a transmit-receive point (TRP), cause the processor to perform a method according to any one of Examples 78 to 87.

[0244] Example 100 includes an apparatus for communication between a user equipment (UE) and a transmit-receive point (TRP), including components for performing actions according to any one of Examples 78 to 87.

[0245] Example 101 includes a non-transient computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a transmit-receive point (TRP) to communicate with a user equipment (UE), cause the processor to perform a method according to any one of Examples 88 to 98.

[0246] Example 102 includes an apparatus for communication between a transmit receiving point (TRP) and a user equipment (UE), including components for performing the actions of the method according to any one of Examples 88 to 98.

[0247] While certain embodiments have been shown and described herein for illustrative purposes, various alternative and / or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purpose may replace the shown and described embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is apparent that the embodiments intended to be described herein are limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method to be performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Decode the indication received from the access node to enable group-based beam reporting; as well as A beam report is reported to the access node, wherein the beam report includes two or more sets of beam candidates determined based on beam measurements at the UE, wherein each of the two or more sets includes two or more beam candidates that can be received simultaneously by the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam candidates are ordered according to a metric based on the beam measurement.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the metric of the beam measurement includes the reference signal received power (RSRP).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more groups includes a beam candidate corresponding to a corresponding Rx beam set in one or more receive Rx beam sets for the UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more groups includes a beam candidate corresponding to a respective antenna panel in one or more antenna panels for the UE.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein for each of the two or more groups, at least one of the following is reported to the access node: beam index, beam-to-link index, group index, or a metric of the beam measurement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication for enabling group-based beam reporting is received from the access node via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI).

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Decoding the indication received from the access node determines at least one set of beams to be used by the access node to communicate with the UE, the at least one set of beams being selected from the two or more sets of beam candidates.

9. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. A method to be performed by an access node, the method comprising: Transmit an instruction to the user equipment (UE) to enable group-based beam reporting; as well as The UE receives a beam report, which includes two or more sets of beam candidates determined based on beam measurements at the UE, each set including two or more beam candidates that can be received simultaneously by the UE.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the beam candidates are ordered according to a metric based on the beam measurement.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the metric of the beam measurement includes the reference signal received power (RSRP).

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the two or more groups includes a beam candidate corresponding to a corresponding Rx beam set in one or more receive Rx beam sets for the UE.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the two or more groups includes a beam candidate corresponding to a respective antenna panel in one or more antenna panels for the UE.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein for each of the two or more groups, at least one of the following is reported to the access node: a beam index, a beam-to-link index, a group index, or a metric of the beam measurement.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the indication for enabling group-based beam reporting is transmitted from the access node via higher-layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI).

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising: The system transmits an indication to the UE of at least one set of beams to be used by the access node to communicate with the UE, the at least one set of beams being selected from the two or more sets of beam candidates.

18. An apparatus for an access node, the apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 10-17.

19. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is configured to receive one or more antenna panels from a transmit-receive point (TRP) for a transmit Tx beam, and the apparatus includes one or more processors configured to: The Tx beam matrix is ​​reported to the TRP, wherein each column of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates, which are determined based on beam measurements at the UE and observed by corresponding antenna panels in the one or more antenna panels; and Decode the indication received from the TRP to determine a selected Tx beam group to be used by the TRP to communicate with the UE, wherein the indication includes a group index indicating the selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed from the Tx beam matrix by the TRP based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

20. An apparatus for a transmit-receive point (TRP) for communicating with a UE, wherein the UE is configured to receive one or more antenna panels from the TRP for transmitting a Tx beam, and the apparatus includes one or more processors configured to: Decode the Tx beam matrix reported by the UE, wherein each column of the Tx beam matrix includes Tx beam candidates, which are determined based on beam measurements at the UE and observed by the respective antenna panels in the one or more antenna panels; The TRP transmits an indication to the UE to indicate a selected Tx beam group to be used by the TRP to communicate with the UE, wherein the indication includes a group index indicating the selected Tx beam group among a plurality of Tx beam candidate groups reconstructed by the TRP from a decoded Tx beam matrix based on predefined reconstruction rules known to both the TRP and the UE.

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