Method and apparatus for indicating status of transmission configuration for a quasi co-location group

Abstract

A base station may send a QCL relationship indication to a user equipment (UE) indicating different quasi co-location (QCL) groups (e.g., QCL relationships corresponding to different port groups). The QCL relationship indication may include a tuple of a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, a TCI state configured with a TCI state set, or multiple TCI states indicated via an extended medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). The QCL relationship indication may indicate a QCL relationship between one or more port groups in a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a target reference signal. For example, the QCL relationship indication may indicate two QCL groups, wherein each QCL group includes a QCL relationship between a reference signal source and a port group associated with a target reference signal. Using the QCL group information, the UE may use the QCL antenna port group to perform channel estimation for demodulating the target reference signal.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with the application date of February 15, 2019, application number 201980013672.7, and name “Method and device for indicating the transmission configuration status of a quasi-co-location group”.

[0002] Cross-references

[0003] This patent application claims the benefit of Greek Provisional Patent Application No. 20180100064, filed by Manolakos et al. on February 16, 2018, entitled “Transmission Configuration Indication States with Quasi-Collocation Groups,” and U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 275,497, filed by Manolakos et al. on February 14, 2019, entitled “Transmission Configuration Indication States with Quasi-Collocation Groups,” each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application. Technical Field

[0004] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state indicating a quasi co-located (QCL) group. Background Art

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These systems can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems that may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ techniques such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include multiple base stations or network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports communication with multiple communication devices, where a communication device may also be referred to as a user equipment (UE).

[0006] In some wireless communication systems, a base station may use multiple antennas to communicate with a UE. Data streams may be mapped to antennas using antenna ports. In some cases, the base station may send an indication of the QCL relationship between the antenna ports used for downlink communication with the UE to the UE. This indication may be referred to as TCI. Different TCI states may correspond to different QCL relationships between the antenna ports used for downlink communication with the UE. For example, a TCI state may indicate the QCL relationship between a reference signal source (e.g., a tracking reference signal (TRS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.) and a UE target reference signal (e.g., a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS)). However, in some cases, the UE may use different port configurations (e.g., for DM-RS), which may affect the QCL relationship. Therefore, it may be desirable to improve TCI state signaling. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In some wireless communication systems, a base station may use multiple antennas to communicate with a user equipment (UE). Data streams may be mapped to antennas using antenna ports. In some cases, the base station may send an indication of a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between antenna ports used for downlink communications with the UE to the UE. Such an indication may be referred to as a transmission configuration indication (TCI). Different TCI states may correspond to different QCL relationships between antenna ports used for downlink communications with the UE. A QCL relationship indication (e.g., an improved TCI state indication described herein) may indicate a QCL group, which may refer to a QCL relationship between an antenna port of a downlink reference signal source and a port group of a target reference signal (e.g., a QCL relationship between a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) and a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) port group).

[0008] The base station may send a QCL relationship indication to the UE. The QCL relationship indication may include a tuple of TCI states, a TCI state with a TCI state set, or two TCI states indicated via an extended medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicator or two DCI fields. The QCL relationship indication may indicate a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set. For example, the QCL relationship indication may indicate two QCL groups, wherein each QCL group includes a QCL relationship between a port group of a first reference signal set (e.g., a reference signal source) and a port group associated with a second reference signal set (e.g., a port group associated with a target reference signal).

[0009] For example, a UE may receive a TCI state tuple for a first reference signal set, wherein each TCI state in the tuple indicates a QCL relationship for one of a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set. In some cases, the first TCI state in the tuple may correspond to the first port group (e.g., DM-RS ports 1-4), and the second TCI state in the tuple may correspond to the second port group (e.g., DM-RS ports 5-8). As another example, the TCI state may include multiple TCI state sets, and each TCI state set may correspond to a different port group of the second reference signal set (e.g., a TCI state set may correspond to a QCL group). That is, the TCI state may be configured with a TCI state set that indicates a QCL relationship between a port group of a reference signal source (e.g., in the first reference signal set) and a different port group associated with the same target reference signal (e.g., in the second reference signal set). As another example, the UE may receive an extended MAC CE (e.g., an extended bit indicator, two DCI fields, etc.) indicating two (or more) TCI states, where each TCI state is mapped to a corresponding QCL group based on the mapping indicated by the MAC CE.

[0010] A method of wireless communication is described. The method may include receiving a message from a base station via a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; and obtaining reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port groups based at least in part on the indicated QCL relationship. In some cases, the method may also include transmitting the reference signal measurements to the base station via the wireless channel.

[0011] An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus may include: means for receiving a message from a base station via a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; and means for obtaining reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port groups based at least in part on the indicated QCL relationship. In some cases, the apparatus may also include means for transmitting the reference signal measurements to the base station via the wireless channel.

[0012] Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be operable to cause the processor to: receive a message from a base station over a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; and obtain reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port groups based at least in part on the indicated QCL relationship. In some cases, the instructions may also be operable to cause the processor to send the reference signal measurements to the base station over the wireless channel.

[0013] A non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication is described. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include instructions operable to cause a processor to: receive a message from a base station via a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; and obtain reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port groups based at least in part on the indicated QCL relationship. In some cases, the instructions may also be operable to cause the processor to transmit the reference signal measurements to the base station via the wireless channel.

[0014] Some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media may further include a process, feature, unit, or instruction for receiving a TCI status tuple for a first reference signal set, wherein each TCI status in the tuple indicates one of the plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set. Some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media may further include a process, feature, unit, or instruction for receiving an RRC message indicating a common pool of TCI states.

[0015] In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the RRC message includes a MAC CE command. In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, a first TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a first port group in the plurality of port groups, and a second TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a second port group in the plurality of port groups.

[0016] Some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media may also include a process, feature, unit, or instruction for receiving an RRC message including an indication of the corresponding sequence. In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, receiving the tuple further includes receiving a MAC CE command, the MAC CE including a configuration of the tuple. In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, at least one of the TCI states in the tuple corresponds to two or more of the plurality of port groups.

[0017] Some examples of the above-mentioned methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media may also include a process, feature, unit, or instruction for receiving a TCI status for the first reference signal set, wherein the TCI status may indicate each port in the plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set.

[0018] In some examples of the aforementioned methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the TCI state may include a plurality of TCI state sets, wherein the TCI state sets may correspond to different port groups in the plurality of port groups. In some examples of the aforementioned methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the plurality of TCI state sets may correspond to different reference signals in the second reference signal set. In some examples of the aforementioned methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the plurality of TCI state sets may include a TCI state set that may correspond to each port group in the plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set.

[0019] In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, receiving the message from the base station including the indication of the QCL relationship may further include: receiving a first indication of a first QCL relationship between a first subset of the first reference signal set and a first subset of the plurality of port groups. Some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media may also include a process, feature, unit, or instruction for receiving a second indication of a second QCL relationship between a second subset of the first reference signal set and a second subset of the plurality of port groups.

[0020] In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the first reference signal set may include a synchronization signal block (SSB) set, a tracking reference signal (TRS) set, or a CSI-RS. In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the second reference signal set may include a DM-RS of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a DM-RS of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a CSI-RS reference set. In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the one or more port groups of the first reference signal set may be associated with a first downlink control information (DCI) field, and the plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set may be associated with a second DCI field. In some examples of the above methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the first DCI field may be associated with a first TCI state of the one or more port groups of the first reference signal set, and the second DCI field may be associated with a second TCI state of the plurality of port groups. In some examples of the foregoing methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media, the message may be included in a DCI or RRC message based at least in part on the second reference signal set. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system supporting a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state indicating a quasi co-location (QCL) group in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system supporting TCI status indicating a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 3 An example of a process flow supporting indicating the TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figures 4 to 6 A block diagram of an apparatus supporting indicating a TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Figure 7 A block diagram of a system including a user equipment (UE) supporting TCI status indicating a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Figure 8 A method for indicating the TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In some wireless communication systems, a base station may use multiple antennas to communicate with a user equipment (UE). For example, a base station may send parallel data streams through corresponding antennas to increase throughput (e.g., instead of sending the data streams sequentially through the same antenna). Additionally, or alternatively, a base station may send a given data stream simultaneously through multiple antennas (e.g., to increase the diversity of the transmission). In some cases, the use of multiple antennas may be based on the use of one or more antenna ports. An antenna port is a logical entity that is used to map data streams to antennas. A given antenna port may drive transmissions from one or more antennas (e.g., and resolve signal components received through one or more antennas). Each antenna port may be associated with a reference signal (e.g., the reference signal may allow a receiver to distinguish data streams associated with different antenna ports in a received transmission).

[0028] Some antenna ports may be referred to as quasi-co-located, meaning that the spatial parameters of a transmission on one antenna port may be inferred from the spatial parameters of another transmission on a different antenna port. Accordingly, a receiving device (e.g., a UE) may perform channel estimation based on reference signals received on a second set of antenna ports that are quasi-co-located with the first set of antenna ports to demodulate data or control information received on the first set of antenna ports. Thus, a quasi-co-located (QCL) relationship between antenna ports may improve the chances that the UE can successfully decode downlink transmissions from the base station. In some cases, it may be appropriate for the base station to send an indication to the UE as to which antenna ports are quasi-co-located so that the UE can identify additional reference signals to be used for channel estimation.

[0029] In some aspects, a base station may configure a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for indicating to a UE the QCL relationship between antenna ports used to transmit downlink signals to the UE. Each TCI state may be associated with a set of reference signals (e.g., synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) or different types of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS)), and the TCI state may indicate the QCL relationship between the antenna ports used to transmit these reference signals and the antenna ports used to transmit data or control information to the UE. In this way, when a UE receives an indication of a particular TCI state from a base station (e.g., in downlink control information (DCI), in a radio resource control (RRC) message, etc.), the UE may recognize that the antenna ports used to transmit the reference signals associated with the TCI state are quasi-co-located with the antenna ports used to transmit data and control information to the UE. Thus, the UE may use the reference signals associated with the TCI state to perform channel estimation in order to demodulate data or control information (e.g., target reference signals) received from the base station.

[0030] The base station may use RRC signaling, medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) signaling, or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signaling to configure the UE with M (e.g., 8, 64, etc.) TCI states corresponding to different QCL relationships between antenna ports used for downlink communication with the UE. For example, the base station may use an N-bit indicator (e.g., a 3-bit indicator) to indicate the TCI state to the UE (e.g., where M ≥ 2 N ). Each configured TCI state may include a reference signal set and may include parameters for configuring the QCL relationship between a reference signal (e.g., a reference signal source) in the reference signal set and a second reference signal (e.g., a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS)) port group.

[0031] However, in some cases, the UE may use different port configurations for receiving signals (e.g., for DM-RS), which may change the QCL relationship with the reference signal source (e.g., because different port configurations may be associated with different spatial parameters). For example, the DM-RS may be configured on a port group basis (e.g., type 1 DM-RS may utilize up to 8 ports, type 2 DM-RS may utilize up to 12 ports, etc.). For example, for type 1 DM-RS, the 8 ports may be grouped based on different total radiated powers (TRPs) associated with different groups. For example, ports 1-4 may be associated with a first TRP, and ports 5-8 may be associated with a second TRP. In this case, it may be necessary to track the port groups separately because different port groups may be associated with different timing, Doppler spread, etc. Therefore, these DM-RS port groups may be associated with different QCL types. In this way, the reference signal source (e.g., associated with the TCI state) may have different QCL groups (e.g., different QCL relationships with different port groups). The CSI-RS resource may also have multiple QCL groups. In situations where a UE may use different port configurations (eg, port groups) for receiving signals (eg, where a reference signal resource may have multiple QCL groups), improved TCI status signaling may be desired.

[0032] The technology described herein provides for signaling different QCL relationships for different QCL groups with respect to the same reference signal source. That is, the QCL relationship or QCL group between the port groups for the target reference signal corresponding to one or more port groups of the reference signal source can be signaled. For example, the base station can configure a TCI state tuple, wherein each TCI state in the tuple corresponds to the QCL group of the target reference signal (e.g., TCI state i can correspond to DM-RS port group i). In other examples, the TCI state can be configured with a TCI state set at the RRC level (e.g., associated per QCL group). Each TCI state can indicate or be associated with a target resource ID with respect to a port group identifier (ID) and one or more reference resource IDs with respect to the port group ID (e.g., one or more TCI state sets). Thus, the TCI state can include a TCI state set indicating the QCL group for any port group associated with the target reference signal. In other examples, the TCI state indication (e.g., MAC-CE, DCI, etc.) can be extended to indicate multiple TCI states for different QCL groups. For example, where two DM-RS fields may be introduced, each DM-RS field may be associated with a DM-RS port group. Whenever a UE is semi-statically configured with two DM-RS port groups, there may be two DCI fields in the downlink DCI, where each DCI field signals the TCI state of the corresponding DM-RS port group. As described in more detail below, these techniques can provide a TCI state including an indication of any QCL group (e.g., QCL relationships associated with different port groups), which may be associated with a reference signal source.

[0033] Various aspects of the present disclosure are initially described in the context of a wireless communication system. An example process flow for implementing TCI status indication for a QCL group is then described. Various aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated and described using apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow charts related to TCI status indication for a QCL group.

[0034] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 that supports indicating the TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The wireless communication system 100 includes a base station 105, a UE 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can be a long term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a new radio (NR) network. In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can support enhanced broadband communication, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communication, low latency communication, or communication with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

[0035] The base station 105 can communicate wirelessly with the UE 115 via one or more base station antennas. The base station 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a Node B, an eNode B (eNB), a next-generation Node B, or a giganode B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, or some other suitable terminology. The wireless communication system 100 may include different types of base stations 105 (e.g., macro cell base stations or small cell base stations). The UE 115 described herein can communicate with various types of base stations 105 and network devices, including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay base stations, etc.

[0036] Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which it supports communications with various UEs 115. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for the respective geographic coverage area 110 via a communication link 125, and the communication link 125 between the base station 105 and the UE 115 may utilize one or more carriers. The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105 or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be referred to as forward link transmissions, while uplink transmissions may also be referred to as reverse link transmissions.

[0037] The geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 can be divided into sectors that constitute only a portion of the geographic coverage area 110, and each sector can be associated with a cell. For example, each base station 105 can provide communication coverage for a macrocell, a small cell, a hotspot, or other types of cells, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, a base station 105 can be mobile and thus provide communication coverage for a mobile geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can overlap, and overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can be supported by the same base station 105 or by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 can include, for example, a heterogeneous LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro or NR network, in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110.

[0038] The term "cell" refers to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station 105 (e.g., via a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish between adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.), where different protocol types may provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area 110 on which the logical entity operates.

[0039] UE 115 can be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 can be fixed or mobile. UE 115 can also be referred to as a mobile device, wireless device, remote device, handheld device, or subscriber device, or some other suitable term, where "device" can also be referred to as a unit, station, terminal, or client. UE 115 can also be a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 can also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or an MTC device that can be implemented in various items such as appliances, vehicles, meters, etc.

[0040] Some UEs 115, such as MTC devices or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that incorporate sensors or meters that measure or capture information and relay that information to a central server or application that may utilize or present the information to a person interacting with the program or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, medical monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based commercial billing.

[0041] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ an operating mode for reducing power consumption, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception but not simultaneous transmission and reception). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for the UE 115 include entering a power-saving "deep sleep" mode when not engaged in active communications or operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., in accordance with narrowband communications). In some cases, the UE 115 may be designed to support critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions), and the wireless communication system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliable communications for these functions.

[0042] In some cases, UE 115 can also communicate directly with other UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol or a device-to-device (D2D) protocol). One or more of a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 or unable to receive transmissions from the base station 105. In some cases, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each other UE 115 in the group. In some cases, the base station 105 facilitates scheduling resources for the D2D communication. In other cases, the D2D communication is performed between the UEs 115 without involving the base station 105.

[0043] The base stations 105 can communicate with the core network 130 and with each other. For example, the base stations 105 can interface with the core network 130 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., via an S1 or other interface). The base stations 105 can communicate with each other directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130) via a backhaul link 134 (e.g., via an X2 or other interface).

[0044] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobility management entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and at least one packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may manage non-access stratum (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs 115 served by the base stations 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be transferred through the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GW may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The P-GW may be connected to network operator IP services. Operator IP services may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or packet switched (PS) streaming services.

[0045] At least some network devices, such as base stations 105, may include subcomponents such as access network entities, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity may communicate with UEs 115 through several other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission / reception points. In some configurations, various functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed among various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0046] The wireless communication system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands typically in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. Typically, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter long. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, the waves can penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to a UE 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and shorter distances (e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmission using lower frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the Super High Frequency (SHF) region, which uses a frequency band from 3 GHz to 30 GHz (also known as the centimeter band). The SHF region includes frequency bands such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, which may be opportunistically used by devices that can tolerate interference from other users.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 can also operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also known as the millimeter wave band. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the corresponding devices can be even smaller and more closely spaced than the UHF antennas. In some cases, this can facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter distances than SHF transmissions or UHF transmissions. The techniques disclosed herein can be used across transmissions that use one or more different frequency regions, and the designated use of frequency bands across these frequency regions may vary by country or regulatory body.

[0049] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can utilize both licensed radio spectrum bands and unlicensed radio spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can adopt license assisted access (LAA), LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed band (e.g., the 5 GHz ISM band). When operating in an unlicensed radio spectrum band, wireless devices such as base stations 105 and UEs 115 can adopt a listen-before-talk (LBT) process to ensure that the frequency channel is idle before sending data. In some cases, operations in an unlicensed band can be based on a CA configuration combined with CCs operating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in an unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these transmissions. Duplexing in an unlicensed spectrum can be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of the two.

[0050] Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array so that signals propagating in a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to the signals transmitted via the antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying specific amplitude and phase offsets to the signals carried via each antenna element associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each antenna element can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device or relative to some other orientation).

[0051] In one example, base station 105 can use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with UE 115. For example, some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) can be transmitted by base station 105 multiple times in different directions, which can include signals transmitted according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmission directions. Transmissions in different beam directions can be used to identify (e.g., by base station 105 or a receiving device such as UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and / or reception by base station 105. Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, can be transmitted by base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device such as UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction can be determined at least in part based on signals transmitted in different beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions, and UE 115 may report indications of signals received with the highest signal quality or with an otherwise acceptable signal quality to base station 105. Although these techniques are described with respect to signals transmitted by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115) or for transmitting signals in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device).

[0052] A receiving device (e.g., UE 115, which may be an example of a mmW receiving device) may attempt multiple receive beams when receiving various signals from base station 105, such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. For example, the receiving device may attempt multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different sets of receive beamforming weights applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing received signals according to different sets of receive beamforming weights applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different receive beams or receive directions. In some examples, the receiving device may receive along a single beam direction using a single receive beam (e.g., when receiving a data signal). A single receive beam can be aligned in a beam direction determined at least in part based on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio, or otherwise acceptable signal quality based at least in part on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0053] In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays, where the antenna arrays may support multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) operations, or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may be located at different geographic locations. The base station 105 may have an antenna array having several rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations.

[0054] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, the communication at the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer can be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer can perform packet segmentation and reassembly in some cases to communicate on the logical channel. The MAC layer can perform priority processing and multiplexing of logical channels to transport channels. The MAC layer can also use hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the RRC protocol layer can provide the establishment, configuration and maintenance of the RRC connection that supports the radio bearer for user plane data between the UE 115 and the base station 105 or the core network 130. At the physical (PHY) layer, the transport channel can be mapped to the physical channel.

[0055] In some cases, UE 115 and base station 105 can support retransmission of data to increase the possibility of successfully receiving the data. HARQ feedback is a technique to increase the possibility of correctly receiving data through communication link 125. HARQ can include a combination of error detection (e.g., using cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC) and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ can improve the throughput at the MAC layer under poor radio conditions (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some cases, a wireless device can support simultaneous slot HARQ feedback, wherein the device can provide HARQ feedback in a specific time slot for data received in the previous symbol in the time slot. In other cases, the device can provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent time slot or according to some other time interval.

[0056] Time intervals in LTE or NR can be expressed as multiples of a basic time unit, which can refer to, for example, a sampling period of Ts = 1 / 30,720,000 seconds. Time intervals of communication resources can be organized according to radio frames, each of which has a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms), where the frame period can be expressed as Tf = 307,200*Ts. Radio frames can be identified by a system frame number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame can include 10 subframes numbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe can have a duration of 1 ms. The subframe can be further divided into 2 time slots, each time slot has a duration of 0.5 ms, and each time slot can contain 6 or 7 modulation symbol periods (for example, depending on the length of the cyclic prefix preceding each symbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period can contain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe can be the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 and can be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In other cases, the minimum scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts with shortened TTI (sTTI) or in selected component carriers using sTTI).

[0057] In some wireless communication systems, a time slot can be further divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In some cases, a mini-slot or a symbol of a mini-slot can be the smallest unit of scheduling. For example, the duration of each symbol can vary depending on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation. In addition, some wireless communication systems can implement time slot aggregation, in which multiple time slots or mini-slots are aggregated and used for communication between UE 115 and base station 105.

[0058] The term "carrier" refers to a set of radio spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting communications over the communication link 125. For example, a carrier of the communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio spectrum band that is operated according to a physical layer channel for a given radio access technology. Each physical layer channel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling. A carrier may be associated with a predefined frequency channel (e.g., an E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be located according to a channel grid for discovery by the UE 115. A carrier may be downlink or uplink (e.g., in FDD mode), or configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode). In some examples, the signal waveform transmitted over the carrier may be composed of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multi-carrier modulation (MCM) technique such as OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM).

[0059] The organizational structure of a carrier may be different for different radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.). For example, communications on a carrier may be organized based on TTIs or time slots, each of which may include user data and signaling or control information to support decoding of the user data. A carrier may also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals or system information, etc.) and control signaling for coordinating operations for the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling for coordinating operations for other carriers.

[0060] Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. For example, a physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier using time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. In some examples, the control information sent in the physical control channel may be distributed in a concatenated manner between different control regions (e.g., between a common control region or common search space and one or more UE-specific control regions or UE-specific search spaces).

[0061] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of radio spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of several predetermined bandwidths of the carrier for a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 MHz). In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured to operate on part or all of the carrier bandwidth. In other examples, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type associated with a predefined portion or range (e.g., a set of subcarriers or RBs) within a carrier (e.g., an "in-band" deployment of a narrowband protocol type).

[0062] In a system employing MCM technology, a resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are anti-correlated. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme). Therefore, the more resource elements a UE 115 receives and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate for the UE 115 may be. In a MIMO system, wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate for communicating with the UE 115.

[0063] A device (e.g., base station 105 or UE 115) of wireless communication system 100 may have a hardware configuration that supports communication over a specific carrier bandwidth, or may be configurable to support communication over one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, wireless communication system 100 may include base stations 105 and / or UEs 115 that support simultaneous communication via carriers associated with more than one different carrier bandwidth.

[0064] The wireless communication system 100 may support communication with the UE 115 on multiple cells or carriers, a feature that may be referred to as carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier operation. The UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink CCs and one or more uplink CCs according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDD component carriers and TDD component carriers.

[0065] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may utilize an enhanced component carrier (eCC). An eCC may be characterized by one or more features including a wider carrier or frequency channel bandwidth, a shorter symbol duration, a shorter TTI duration, and a modified control channel configuration. In some cases, an eCC may be associated with a carrier aggregation configuration or a dual connectivity configuration (e.g., when multiple serving cells have suboptimal or non-ideal backhaul links). An eCC may also be configured for unlicensed spectrum or shared spectrum (where multiple operators are allowed to use the spectrum). An eCC characterized by a wide carrier bandwidth may include one or more segments that may be utilized by UEs 115 that are not able to monitor the entire carrier bandwidth or are configured to use a limited bandwidth (e.g., to save power).

[0066] In some cases, an eCC may utilize a different symbol duration than other CCs, which may include using a reduced symbol duration compared to the symbol duration of other CCs. A shorter symbol duration may be associated with an increased spacing between adjacent subcarriers. A device using an eCC (such as a UE 115 or a base station 105) may transmit a wideband signal (e.g., based on a frequency channel or carrier bandwidth of 20, 40, 60, 80 MHz, etc.) with a reduced symbol duration (e.g., 16.67 microseconds). A TTI in an eCC may consist of one or more symbol periods. In some cases, the TTI duration (i.e., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable.

[0067] Wireless communication systems such as NR systems can utilize any combination of licensed, shared, and unlicensed spectrum. The flexibility of eCC symbol duration and subcarrier spacing can allow the use of eCC on multiple spectrums. In some examples, NR shared spectrum can increase spectrum utilization and spectrum efficiency, specifically by dynamically sharing resources vertically (e.g., across frequency) and horizontally (e.g., across time).

[0068] The base station 105 may insert periodic pilot symbols, such as a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), to assist the UE 115 in channel estimation and coherent demodulation. The CRS may include one of 504 different cell identifiers. They may be modulated using quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and power boosting (e.g., transmitted at 6dB higher power than the surrounding data elements) to make them tolerant to noise and interference. Based on the number of antenna ports or layers (up to 4) of the receiving UE 115, the CRS may be embedded in 4 to 16 resource elements in each resource block (RB). In addition to the CRS, which may be utilized by all UEs 115 in the coverage area 110 of the base station 105, the DM-RS may be directed to specific UEs 115 and may be transmitted only on the RBs allocated to those UEs 115. The DM-RS may include the signal on 6 resource elements in each RB in which the signal is transmitted. DM-RSs for different antenna ports can each utilize the same six resource elements and can be distinguished using different orthogonal cover codes (e.g., masking each signal with different combinations of 1s or -1s in different resource elements). In some cases, two DM-RS sets can be sent in adjacent resource elements. In some cases, an additional reference signal called CSI-RS can be included to help generate channel state information (CSI). On the uplink, UE 115 can transmit a combination of periodic sounding reference signal (SRS) and uplink DM-RS for link adaptation and demodulation, respectively.

[0069] A UE 115 attempting to access a wireless network may perform an initial cell search by detecting a primary synchronization signal (PSS) from a base station 105. The PSS may enable synchronization of slot timing and may indicate a physical layer identification value. The UE 115 may then receive a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). The SSS may enable radio frame synchronization and may provide a cell identification value that may be combined with a physical layer identification value to identify a cell. The SSS may also enable detection of duplex mode and cyclic prefix length. Some systems, such as TDD systems, may transmit the SSS without the PSS. Both the PSS and SSS may be located in the center 62 and 72 subcarriers of a carrier, respectively. After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive a master information block (MIB), which may be sent in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The MIB may include system bandwidth information, SFN, and physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH) configuration. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 may receive one or more SIBs. For example, SIB1 may include cell access parameters and scheduling information for other SIBs. Decoding SIB1 enables UE 115 to receive SIB2. SIB2 may contain RRC configuration information related to random access channel (RACH) procedures, paging, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), power control, SRS, and cell barring. In some cases, the base station 105 may use multiple beams to transmit synchronization signals (SS) (e.g., PSS, SSS, etc.) across the cell coverage area in a beam sweeping manner. For example, the PSS, SSS, and / or broadcast information (e.g., PBCH) may be transmitted in different SS blocks on corresponding directional beams, where one or more SS blocks may be included in an SS burst. In some cases, these SS and RS may be transmitted at different times and / or using different beams.

[0070] In some examples, base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, MIMO communication, or beamforming. For example, a wireless communication system may employ a transmission scheme between a transmitting device (e.g., base station 105) and a receiving device (e.g., UE 115) in which the transmitting device is equipped with multiple antennas and the receiving device is equipped with one or more antennas. MIMO communication may employ multipath signal propagation to increase spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers (which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing). For example, multiple signals may be transmitted by a transmitting device via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Similarly, multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams. Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) for transmitting multiple spatial layers to the same receiving device, and Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) for transmitting multiple spatial layers to multiple devices.

[0071] Different spatial layers can be associated with different antenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. An antenna port is a logical entity used to map data streams to antennas. A given antenna port can drive transmissions from one or more antennas (e.g., and resolve signal components received by one or more antennas). Each antenna port can be associated with a reference signal (e.g., which can allow a receiver to distinguish data streams associated with different antenna ports in received transmissions). In some cases, some antenna ports can be referred to as quasi-co-located, meaning that the spatial parameters associated with a transmission on one antenna port can be inferred from the spatial parameters associated with another transmission on a different antenna port.

[0072] Accordingly, if the first set of antenna ports is quasi-co-located with the second set of antenna ports, the UE 115 can perform channel estimation based on the reference signals received on the second set of antenna ports for demodulating the data or control information received on the first set of antenna ports. For example, the UE 115 can determine the delay spread, Doppler shift, etc. associated with the downlink transmission of the data or control information on the first set of antenna ports based on the reference signals received on the second set of antenna ports. The UE 115 can then use the channel estimate (i.e., determined based on performing channel estimation as described above) to correctly decode the downlink transmission from the base station 105. Thus, the QCL relationship between the antenna ports used for downlink communication between the base station 105 and the UE 115 can increase the chance that the UE 115 can successfully decode the downlink transmission from the base station 105. As such, it may be appropriate for the base station to send an indication to the UE regarding which antenna ports are quasi-co-located so that the UE can identify additional reference signals to use for channel estimation.

[0073] In the wireless communication system 100, the base station 105 can configure a set of TCI states that correspond to different QCL relationships between antenna ports used for communication with the UE 115. The TCI state can be associated with a set of reference signals (e.g., SSBs or different types of CSI RSs), and the TCI state can indicate the QCL relationship between the antenna ports used to transmit these reference signals and the antenna ports used to transmit data or control information to the UE 115. In this way, when the UE 115 receives an indication of a particular TCI state from the base station 105 (e.g., in a DCI, RRC message, etc.), the UE 115 can recognize that the antenna ports used to transmit the reference signals associated with the TCI state are quasi-co-located with the antenna ports used to transmit data and control information to the UE 115. Consequently, the UE 115 can use the reference signals associated with the TCI state to perform channel estimation for demodulating the data or control information received from the base station 105. For example, the UE 115 may determine delay spread, Doppler shift, etc. associated with the transmission of data or control information based on a reference signal associated with the TCI state.

[0074] Each configured TCI state may include a reference signal set and may include parameters for configuring a QCL relationship between a reference signal in the reference signal set and a second reference signal (e.g., DM-RS) port group. However, a reference signal source may have multiple QCL groups (e.g., having different QCL relationships or QCL types for antenna ports). For example, a DM-RS may have two DM-RS port groups, and each port group may be associated with a different QCL group. A CSI-RS resource may also have multiple QCL groups. The base station 105 may send different QCL associations (e.g., QCL relationships) for different QCL groups for the same reference signal source. That is, the QCL association or QCL group between the port groups for the target reference signal corresponding to the reference signal source may be signaled to the UE 115 for channel estimation for demodulating data or control information received from the base station 105. The target reference signal may include reference signals such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) DM-RS, PUSCH-DM-RS, CSI-RS, TRS, SRS, and the like.

[0075] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 that supports indicating the TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication system 200 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. For example, the wireless communication system 200 can include a base station 105-a and a UE 115-a, which can be referenced Figure 1 Examples of the corresponding devices described. In the wireless communication system 200, the base station 105-a can send a QCL relationship indication 210 to the UE 115-a via the downlink 205 (e.g., DCI, downlink RRC signaling, etc.).

[0076] As reference Figure 1As described above, the base station 105-a can configure a set of TCI states that correspond to different QCL relationships between antenna ports used for downlink communication with the UE 115-a, and different QCL relationships between one or more port groups of a reference signal source and a port group of a target reference signal. The base station 105-a can then use these TCI states to indicate to the UE 115-a different QCL relationships between the antenna ports used for downlink communication with the UE 115-a and the antenna port configuration. For example, the base station 105-a can send an indication that a first set of antenna ports used to transmit periodic CSI-RS to the UE 115-a is quasi-co-located with a second set of antenna ports used to transmit data to the UE 115-a. Accordingly, the UE 115-a can use the CSI-RS received on the first set of antenna ports (e.g., in addition to the DM-RS received on the second set of antenna ports) to perform channel estimation for demodulating data received on the second set of antenna ports.

[0077] For example, UE 115-a can be configured with up to M TCI states via higher layer signaling and can decode the PDSCH based on a detected PDCCH with DCI (e.g., based on the QCL relationship indicated by the TCI state in the DCI). Each configured TCI state can include a reference signal set (e.g., TCI-RS-SetConfig). Each TCI-RS-SetConfig can include parameters for configuring the QCL relationship between the reference signals in the reference signal set and the DM-RS port group of the PDSCH. That is, a TCI state can be associated with a reference signal set, and the reference signal set can include reference signals pointing to different QCL types (e.g., different QCL-Types (QCL-Type) as discussed below with reference to Table 1). In some cases, the reference signal set can include references to one or two downlink reference signals and an associated QCL type for each downlink reference signal configured by the higher layer parameter QCL-Type. In the presence of two downlink reference signals, the QCL types can be different in some cases, regardless of whether the references are to the same downlink reference signal or different downlink reference signals.

[0078] The base station 105-a may indicate the QCL type to the UE 115-a based on the higher layer parameter QCL-Type. The QCL-Type may be one or a combination of the following types shown in Table 1.

[0079] Table 1

[0080] QCL-Type A {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread} QCL-Type B {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} QCL-Type C {Average delay, Doppler shift} QCL-Type D {Space Receive (Rx) Parameters}

[0081] For further explanation, Table 2 shows the QCL associations and the corresponding QCL type signaling.

[0082] Table 2

[0083]

[0084] For a reference signal set associated with a TCI state, two QCL types may be configured (e.g., QCL types for two reference signals in the reference signal set). For example, the TCI state may indicate that the CSI-RS has a QCL-Type A relationship and the TRS has a QCL-Type A relationship. The TCI state may be communicated to the UE 115-a (e.g., where M ≥ 2) by the base station 105-a, for example, using a MAC CE that may include N bits (e.g., a 3-bit indicator). N ) indicates some TCI status.

[0085] For example, the base station 105-a may use the PDCCH to indicate the TCI state to the UE 115-a. The UE 115-a may decode the PDCCH and, based on the TCI state, identify the QCL relationship (e.g., based on the QCL type indicated by the TCI state) to determine the delay spread, Doppler shift, etc. that should be used to receive the PDSCH DM-RS.

[0086] In some cases, the reference signal resource may have more QCL groups (e.g., the reference signal resource may have a QCL-Type A relationship with a first DM-RS port group and a QCL-Type B relationship with a second DM-RS port group). For example, a DM-RS may be configured for each port group. Type 1 DM-RS may utilize up to 8 ports, type 2 DM-RS may utilize up to 12 ports, and so on. For example, for type 1 DM-RS, the 8 ports may be grouped based on different total radiated powers (TRPs) associated with different groups. For example, ports 1-4 may be associated with a first TRP, and ports 5-8 may be associated with a second TRP. In this case, it may be necessary to track the port groups separately because different port groups may be associated with different timing, Doppler spreads, and so on. Therefore, these DM-RS port groups may be associated with different QCL types.

[0087] Since reference signal resources (e.g., SSB resources, TRS resources, CSI-RS resources, etc.) can have multiple QCL groups for different target reference signal port groups (e.g., for two different DM-RS port groups), the following techniques can provide beneficial TCI state improvements for QCL association of different QCL groups for the same reference signal source. That is, the QCL relationship indication 210 may include an improved TCI state indicating the QCL group. For example, the QCL relationship indication 210 may include a tuple of TCI states, wherein each TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a QCL group of a target reference signal (e.g., TCI state i may correspond to DM-RS port group i). In other examples, the QCL relationship indication 210 may include a set of TCI states with a per-QCL group association (e.g., each TCI state may indicate a target resource ID with respect to a port group ID and one or more reference signal resource IDs with respect to the port group ID). In yet another example (e.g., where two DM-RS fields / port groups are introduced), the downlink 205 may include two DCI fields, and the QCL relationship indication 210 may refer to two TCI states of the corresponding DM-RS port group (e.g., two TCI states included in the two DCI fields).

[0088] The tuple of TCI states can be configured by the network. For example, the base station 105-a can configure the tuple of TCI states (e.g., QCL relationship indication 210) via a MAC CE for PDSCH / PUSCH DM-RS QCL relationship. The tuple may include at least two TCI states. In some cases (e.g., using a MAC CE command), each code point of the DCI field (e.g., downlink 205) can be associated with a tuple of TCI states (e.g., TCI state 1, TCI state 2, ... TCI state N), where N is the number of QCL groups in the DM-RS PDSCH / PDCCH. Therefore, the MAC-CE command can map an N-bit indicator to a tuple of TCI states for QCL group indication. Upon receiving the tuple of TCI states, the UE 115-a can determine the QCL parameters for different QCL groups. For example, when UE 115-a uses a two-port configuration for DM-RS (e.g., type 1 DM-RS), UE 115-a can determine the QCL parameters of a first port group of DM-RS (e.g., ports 1-4) based on the first element in the tuple (e.g., first TCI state), and can determine the QCL parameters of a second port group (e.g., ports 5-8) based on the second element in the tuple (e.g., second TCI state). Any state in the tuple (TCI state 1, TCI state 2) can come from a common pool of TCI states configured at the RRC level (e.g., the tuple can be pre-configured so that an N-bit indicator can be used). In the event that multiple TCI states are associated with a DCI code point via MAC-CE and UE 115-a has been configured with two DM-RS port groups via RRC, UE 115-a can assume that the TCI state (e.g., tuple) is associated with the two DM-RS port groups. If multiple TCI states are associated with a DCI code point via MAC-CE, TCI state i may correspond to DM-RS port group i (eg, the sequence may be configured or specified via RRC).

[0089] In some examples, the QCL relationship indication 210 may include a set of TCI states configured at the RRC level (e.g., a QCL grouping within a TCI state). For example, each TCI state may include a QCL group, wherein each QCL group includes parameters for configuring a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of reference signal resources in a reference signal set and a second reference signal set associated with, for example, the port group. That is, by analogy, a TCI state may efficiently include two or more TCI states (e.g., one TCI state set for each QCL group) via additional parameter configuration in RRC signaling. The RRC framework may be enhanced so that each TCI state includes an association between a target resource ID with respect to a port group ID (e.g., if multiple groups exist in the resource) and one or more reference signal resource IDs with respect to the port group ID (e.g., if multiple groups exist in the resource). An example of such a configuration may include:

[0090]

[0091]

[0092] A TCI state set (e.g., QCL group 1 (QCL-group-1) and QCL group 2 (QCL-group-2)) can be a collection of TCI states for the same target resource ID but with different port group IDs (e.g., QCL group 1 and QCL group 2 in the example configuration above can be associated with different port group IDs). To dynamically signal the TCI state for a target reference signal (e.g., DM-RS), one TCI state set can be signaled per DCI code point. Similarly, to semi-statically signal the TCI state (e.g., CSI-RS), each CSI-RS resource can be associated with a TCI state set. If a signaled TCI state set includes one TCI state and the target reference signal has multiple groups, the TCI state can be applied to all groups of the TCI state set (e.g., UE 115-a may not expect to be signaled a TCI state set including N TCI states and the target resource contains multiple (M) groups, where N is the number of groups unless N=1). <M。

[0093] In other examples, the QCL relationship indication 210 may include two TCI states transmitted via two DCI fields. For example, the N-bit indicator may be extended (e.g., the 3-bit indicator may be extended to a 6-bit indicator) such that a first set of bits (e.g., the first 3 bits of the 6-bit indicator) points to the TCI state for the first QCL group, and a second set of bits (e.g., the last 3 bits of the 6-bit indicator) points to the TCI state for the second QCL group. That is, the MAC-CE mapping may be similar to the mapping described above, however, the N-bit indicator may be extended (e.g., more DCI bits) to instead transmit one or more TCI states for one or more QCL groups (e.g., one or more port groups). For example, in the case where UE 115-a uses two DM-RS port groups, the QCL relationship indication 210 may include an extended indicator (e.g., two DCI fields) indicating two TCI states for the corresponding DM-RS port groups (e.g., the first DCI field may indicate TCI state 1 for DM-RS ports 1-4, and the second DCI may indicate TCI state 2 for DM-RS ports 5-8). In this case, if the DCI does not include two DCI fields for TCI status indication, but UE 115-a has two DM-RS port groups, UE 115-a can assume that the two DM-RS port groups are associated with one DCI field sent by base station 105-a.

[0094] In some cases, the MAC-CE may depend on the UE capabilities (e.g., the MAC-CE signaled by the base station 105-a may depend on the UE 115-a capabilities). For example, the base station 105-a may apply or utilize a larger MAC-CE payload (e.g., indicating a mapping from multiple TCI states to N-bit DCI) for a UE that supports multiple DM-RS port groups simultaneously. If the UE 115-a supports k port groups, the base station 105-a may use a larger MAC-CE payload to indicate a mapping from multiple TCI states to (k*N)-bit DCI (e.g., where, for each of the k port groups, one TCI state may be indicated every N bits). In other cases (e.g., when the UE does not support such higher capabilities of multiple port groups), the base station 105-a may use N-bit DCI to indicate a single TCI state. In some cases, the UE 115 is capable of supporting multiple port groups, but may operate in a rank-restricted mode within a time window such that it behaves similarly to a UE without multi-port group capabilities. For example, the additional receive chains that would normally be used to give them higher capabilities (e.g., to support multiple port groups) may be busy or occupied (e.g., for inter-frequency measurements during the rank-restricted window). In this case, the base station 105-a may use N-bit DCI to indicate a single TCI state when the UE is operating in such a rank-restricted mode.

[0095] It should be understood that the techniques described above for QCL relationship indication, RRC configuration of TCI state sets, TCI state tuple configuration, etc. can be applied to other QCL scenarios by analogy without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the discussed techniques can be extended to wireless devices that support any number of k port groups (e.g., a tuple of TCI states can include k tuples or a tuple including k TCI states, a TCI state can include k TCI state sets, k DCI fields or (k*N)-bit MAC CE indicators can be implemented, etc., using similar techniques to those described above). In addition, these techniques can be applied to different configurations or groupings of antenna ports for reference signals, different target reference signal measurements (e.g., PUSCH DM-RS, CSI-RS, TRS, SRS, target data, etc.).

[0096] Figure 3 An example of a process flow 300 for supporting TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the process flow 300 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. The process flow 300 can include a base station 105-b and a UE 115-b, which can be referenced Figure 1 and 2Examples of corresponding devices are described. In process flow 300, base station 105-b may indicate QCL relationships for one or more QCL groups to UE 115-b.

[0097] At 305, the base station 105-b may send a QCL relationship indication to the UE 115-b. The QCL relationship indication may include a tuple of TCI states, a TCI state with a TCI state set, or two TCI states indicated via an extended MAC CE indicator / two DCI fields. The QCL relationship indication may refer to a message sent by the base station 105-b over a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set. For example, the message (e.g., the QCL relationship indication) may indicate two QCL groups, wherein each QCL group includes a QCL relationship between a first reference signal set (e.g., a reference signal source) and a port group associated with a second reference signal set (e.g., a port group associated with a target reference signal).

[0098] For example, UE 115-a may receive a tuple of TCI states for a first reference signal set, wherein each TCI state in the tuple indicates one of a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set (e.g., of a PDSCH) (e.g., its QCL relationship). The first TCI state in the tuple may correspond to a first port group in the plurality of port groups, and the second TCI state in the tuple may correspond to a second port group in the plurality of port groups. In some cases, the sequence indicating the corresponding relationship may be received via an RRC message. In some cases, the tuple may be configured via a MAC-CE (e.g., using a certain N-bit indicator).

[0099] In some cases, a single TCI state may indicate (e.g., correspond to) each of a plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set. In some cases, the TCI state may include multiple TCI state sets, and each TCI state set may correspond to a different port group of the second reference signal set. In some cases, the multiple TCI state sets correspond to different reference signals of the reference signal set, or different port groups associated with reference signals in the reference signal set.

[0100] In some cases, the message may be received (e.g., by UE 115-b) in a DCI of a PDCCH (e.g., when the target reference signal is a PDSCH). In other cases, the message may be received in an RRC message (e.g., when the target reference signal is a CSI-RS).

[0101] At 310, UE 115-b may obtain reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port group based at least in part on the indicated QCL relationship. For example, base station 105-b may transmit one or more reference signals in a first reference signal set at 312 and may transmit one or more reference signals in a second reference signal set at 314, which may be obtained by UE 115-b. At 314, UE 115-b may perform channel estimation based on the QCL relationship (e.g., indicated at 305) with the reference signals received at 312 for demodulating the one or more reference signals in the second reference signal set at 314. The first reference signal set may include an SSB set, a TRS set, a CSI-RS, etc. The second reference signal set may include a DM-RS reference set, a CSI-RS reference set, etc.

[0102] At 315, UE 115-b may optionally transmit the reference signal measurements obtained at 310 to base station 105-b (e.g., via a wireless channel). In some cases, UE 115-b may initially receive (e.g., via an RRC message, a MAC CE command, etc.) or be configured with a common pool of TCI states. In other cases, UE 115-b may only process the reference signal measurements obtained at 310 based on the QCL relationship indication received at 305.

[0103] Figure 4 A block diagram 400 of a UE 405 supporting TCI status for indicating a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The UE 405 may be an example of aspects of the UE 115 as described herein. The UE 405 may include a receiver 410, a communication manager 415, and a transmitter 420. The UE 405 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0104] The receiver 410 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channel information, data channel information, and information related to the TCI status indicating the QCL group, etc.). The information may be passed to other components of the device. The receiver 410 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The receiver 410 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0105] The communication manager 415 may be a reference Figure 7Examples of various aspects of the communication manager 710 described herein. At least some of the communication manager 415 and / or its various subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functionality of at least some of the communication manager 415 and / or its various subcomponents may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device designed to perform the functions described in this disclosure, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. At least some of the communication manager 415 and / or its various subcomponents may be physically located in various locations, including being distributed such that various portions of functionality are implemented by one or more physical devices at different physical locations. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, at least some of the communication manager 415 and / or its various subcomponents may be separate and distinct components. In other examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, at least some of the communications manager 415 and / or its various subcomponents can be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.

[0106] The communication manager 415 may receive a message from a base station via a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between a first reference signal set and a port group set associated with a second reference signal set. The communication manager 415 may then obtain reference signal measurements for the reference signal associated with the reference signal port group based on the indicated QCL relationship. In some cases, the second reference signal may be a DM-RS of a PDSCH or PDCCH, or a CSI-RS.

[0107] The transmitter 420 may transmit signals generated by other components of the device. In some examples, the transmitter 420 may be co-located with the receiver 410 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 420 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The transmitter 420 can use a single antenna or a group of antennas. In some cases, the transmitter can send reference signal measurements to a base station over a wireless channel.

[0108] Figure 5 A block diagram 500 of a UE 505 supporting TCI status indicating a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The UE 505 may be as described with reference to Figure 1Examples of aspects of the UE 405 or UE 115 are described. The UE 505 may include a receiver 510, a communication manager 515, and a transmitter 535. The UE 505 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0109] The receiver 510 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channel information, data channel information, and information related to the TCI status indicating the QCL group, etc.). The information may be passed to other components of the device. The receiver 510 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The receiver 510 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0110] The communication manager 515 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the communication manager 710 are described. The communication manager 515 may also include a QCL manager 520, a reference signal measurement manager 525, and a transmitter 530.

[0111] The QCL manager 520 may receive a message from a base station over a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between a first reference signal set and a port group set associated with a second reference signal set.

[0112] The reference signal measurement manager 525 may obtain reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port group based on the indicated QCL relationship.

[0113] The transmitter 530 may transmit the reference signal measurement value to the base station via a wireless channel. The transmitter 530 may transmit signals generated by other components of the device. In some examples, the transmitter 535 may be co-located with the receiver 510 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 535 may be a reference signal. Figure 7 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The transmitter 535 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0114] Figure 6 A block diagram 600 illustrates a communication manager 605 that supports indicating the TCI status of a QCL group in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communication manager 605 may be a reference to Figure 4 、 57 and 8. The communication manager 605 may include a QCL manager 610, a reference signal measurement manager 615, a transmitter 620, a TCI state manager 625, and a port group manager 630. Each of these modules may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0115] The QCL manager 610 may receive a message from a base station via a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between a first reference signal set and a port group set associated with a second reference signal set. In some examples, the QCL manager 610 may receive a first indication of a first QCL relationship between a first subset of the first reference signal set and a first subset of the port group set. In some examples, the QCL manager 610 may receive a second indication of a second QCL relationship between a second subset of the first reference signal set and a second subset of the port group set.

[0116] In some examples, QCL manager 610 may, in some cases, include the message in a DCI or RRC message based on the second reference signal set.

[0117] The reference signal measurement manager 615 may obtain reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port group based on the indicated QCL relationship. In some examples, the first reference signal set includes an SSB set, a TRS set, or a CSI-RS set. In some examples, the second reference signal set includes a DM-RS reference set or a CSI-RS reference set.

[0118] The transmitter 620 may send the reference signal measurement to the base station via a wireless channel.

[0119] The TCI state manager 625 may receive a tuple of TCI states for the first reference signal set, wherein each TCI state in the tuple indicates a port group in the port group set associated with the second reference signal set. In some examples, the TCI state manager 625 may receive an RRC message indicating a common pool of TCI states. In some examples, the TCI state manager 625 may receive a MAC CE command that includes a configuration of the tuple. In some cases, the RRC message includes a MAC CE command. In some cases, the TCI state includes a set of TCI state sets, wherein the TCI state sets correspond to different port groups in the port group set. In some cases, the set of TCI state sets includes a TCI state set corresponding to each port group in the port group set associated with the second reference signal set.

[0120] The port group manager 630 may receive an RRC message including a sequence indicating a corresponding relationship. In some examples, the port group manager 630 may receive a TCI state for the first reference signal set, wherein the TCI state indicates each port group in the port group set associated with the second reference signal set. In some examples, the port group manager 630 may, in some cases, configure the first TCI state in the tuple to correspond to the first port group in the port group set, and the second TCI state in the tuple to correspond to the second port group in the port group set. In some examples, the port group manager 630 may, in some cases, configure the TCI state in the tuple to correspond to each port group in the port group set. In some examples, the port group manager 630 may, in some cases, configure a set of TCI state sets to correspond to different reference signals of the second reference signal set.

[0121] Figure 7 A diagram of a system 700 including a device 705 according to aspects of the present disclosure that supports indicating the TCI status of a QCL group is shown. The device 705 can be an example of or include components of, for example, UE 405, UE 505, or UE 115, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5. The device 705 can include components for two-way voice and data communication, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communication manager 710, an I / O controller 715, a transceiver 720, an antenna 725, a memory 730, and a processor 740. These components can communicate electronically via one or more buses, such as a bus 745.

[0122] I / O controller 715 can manage input and output signals for device 705. I / O controller 715 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 705. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can utilize a controller such as or other known operating systems. In other cases, I / O controller 715 may represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 may be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user may interact with device 705 via I / O controller 715 or via hardware components controlled by I / O controller 715.

[0123] As described above, the transceiver 720 can communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links. For example, the transceiver 720 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 720 can also include a modem to modulate packets and provide the modulated packets to the antenna for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antenna.

[0124] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 725. However, in some cases, a device may have more than one antenna 725, which may be capable of sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions simultaneously.

[0125] The memory 730 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 730 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software 735 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 730 may also include a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0126] The processor 740 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 740 may be configured to operate the memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 740. The processor 740 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support indicating the TCI status of the QCL group).

[0127] Figure 8 800 for indicating the TCI status of a QCL group according to aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, the operations of the method 800 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof. For example, the operations of the method 800 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described with reference to FIG. Figures 4 to 7 In some examples, the UE may execute a set of codes to control the functional elements of the device to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0128] At 805, the UE may receive a message from a base station via a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a QCL relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set. The operations of 805 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 805 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7Describes the QCL manager implementation.

[0129] At 810, the UE may obtain reference signal measurements for reference signals associated with the reference signal port group based at least in part on the indicated QCL relationship. The operations of 810 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 810 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the implementation of the Reference Signal Measurement Manager.

[0130] At 815, the UE may optionally send reference signal measurements to the base station via a wireless channel. In the event that the UE does not send a reference signal to the base station, the UE may process the reference signal measurements obtained at 810 based on the QCL relationship indication received at 805 (e.g., at 815). The operations of 815 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 815 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The transmitter described here performs

[0131] It should be noted that the above methods describe possible implementations, and that the operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified, and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects of two or more methods may be combined.

[0132] The technology described herein can be used in various wireless communication systems, such as CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, OFDMA systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and other systems. CDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as CDMA2000 and Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA). CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 versions are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. TDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

[0133] OFDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE, LTE-A, and LTE-A Pro are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called the "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The technology described herein can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies. Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems may be described for example purposes, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein may have application beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR applications.

[0134] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and can allow unrestricted access to UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider. Small cells can be associated with lower-power base stations 105 than macro cells, and can operate in the same or different frequency bands (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) than macro cells. According to various examples, small cells can include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cells. For example, a pico cell can cover a smaller geographic area and can allow unrestricted access to UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell can also cover a small geographic area (e.g., a home) and can provide restricted access to UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 in a home, etc.). The eNB for a macro cell can be referred to as a macro eNB. The eNB for a small cell can be referred to as a small cell eNB, pico eNB, femto eNB, or home eNB. An eNB may support one or more (eg, two, three, four, etc.) cells and may also support communication using one or more component carriers.

[0135] One or more wireless communication systems 100 described herein may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, base stations 105 may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, base stations 105 may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operation.

[0136] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0137] The various illustrative blocks and modules described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0138] The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or a combination of any of these. Features used to implement the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0139] Computer readable medium includes both non-transitory computer storage medium and communication medium, and described communication medium includes and promotes any medium that computer program is transferred from one place to another.Non-transitory storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general or special-purpose computer.As an example and not limitation, non-transitory computer readable medium can include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other disk storage device, or can be used for carrying or storing desired program code unit in the form of instruction or data structure and any other non-transitory medium that can be accessed by general or special-purpose computer or general or special-purpose processor computer.Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer readable medium.For example, if software is sent from website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology (for example, infrared, radio and microwave), then coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CDs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0140] As used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items preceded by a phrase such as "at least one" or "one or more") indicates an inclusive list, so that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Moreover, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on."

[0141] In the accompanying drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference number. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference number with a dash and a second reference number that distinguishes between the similar components. If only the first reference number is used in the specification, the description applies to any similar component having the same first reference number, regardless of the second reference number or other subsequent reference numbers.

[0142] The description given herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes example configurations and does not represent all examples that can be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "more advantageous than other examples." The detailed description includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described technology. However, these technologies can be implemented without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0143] The description herein is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be construed in the widest sense consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a message from a base station over a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and each of a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; obtaining, by the UE, a reference signal measurement for the first reference signal set; as well as A tuple of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for the first reference signal set is received as a configuration unit, the tuple having a fixed mapping order for each TCI state in the tuple, wherein the fixed mapping order indicates that a first TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a first port group in the plurality of port groups, and a second TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a second port group in the plurality of port groups.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received, the RRC message indicating a common pool of TCI states.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A radio resource control (RRC) message including an indication of a corresponding sequence is received.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein Receiving the tuple further comprises: A medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command is received, the MAC CE including a configuration of the tuple.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein At least one of the TCI states in the tuple corresponds to two or more port groups in the plurality of port groups.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A transmission configuration indication (TCI) state is received for the first reference signal set, wherein the TCI state indicates each port group of the plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein Receiving the message including the indication of the QCL relationship from the base station further comprises: receiving a first indication of a first QCL relationship between a first subset of the first set of reference signals and a first subset of the plurality of port groups; and A second indication of a second QCL relationship between a second subset of the first set of reference signals and a second subset of the plurality of port groups is received.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first reference signal set includes a synchronization signal block (SSB) set, a tracking reference signal (TRS) set, or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more port groups of the first reference signal set are associated with a first downlink control information (DCI) field in the DCI.

10. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor; as well as Instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receiving a message from a base station over a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and each of a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; obtaining, by the apparatus, reference signal measurements for the first reference signal set; as well as A tuple of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for the first reference signal set is received as a configuration unit, the tuple having a fixed mapping order for each TCI state in the tuple, wherein the fixed mapping order indicates that a first TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a first port group in the plurality of port groups, and a second TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a second port group in the plurality of port groups.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising instructions executable by the processor to further cause the apparatus to: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received, the RRC message indicating a common pool of TCI states.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising instructions executable by the processor to further cause the apparatus to: A radio resource control (RRC) message including an indication of a corresponding sequence is received.

13. The device according to claim 10, wherein The instructions for receiving the tuple may be executed by the processor to further cause the apparatus to: A medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command is received, the MAC CE including a configuration of the tuple.

14. The device according to claim 10, wherein At least one of the TCI states in the tuple corresponds to two or more port groups in the plurality of port groups.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising instructions executable by the processor to further cause the apparatus to: receiving a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for the first reference signal set, wherein: The TCI status indicates each port group in the plurality of port groups associated with the second reference signal set.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the instructions for receiving the message including the indication of the QCL relationship from the base station are executable by the processor to further cause the apparatus to: receiving a first indication of a first QCL relationship between a first subset of the first set of reference signals and a first subset of the plurality of port groups; and A second indication of a second QCL relationship between a second subset of the first set of reference signals and a second subset of the plurality of port groups is received.

17. The device according to claim 10, wherein The first reference signal set includes a synchronization signal block (SSB) set, a tracking reference signal (TRS) set, or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

18. The device according to claim 10, wherein The one or more port groups of the first reference signal set are associated with a first downlink control information (DCI) field in the DCI.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for receiving a message from a base station over a wireless channel, the message comprising an indication of a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and each of a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; means for obtaining, by the apparatus, reference signal measurements for the first reference signal set; as well as and means for receiving, as a configuration unit, a tuple of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for the first reference signal set, the tuple having a fixed mapping order for each TCI state in the tuple, wherein the fixed mapping order indicates that a first TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a first port group in the plurality of port groups, and a second TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a second port group in the plurality of port groups.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to: receiving a message from a base station over a wireless channel, the message including an indication of a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between one or more port groups of a first reference signal set and each of a plurality of port groups associated with a second reference signal set; obtaining, by the UE, a reference signal measurement for the first reference signal set; as well as A tuple of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for the first reference signal set is received as a configuration unit, the tuple having a fixed mapping order for each TCI state in the tuple, wherein the fixed mapping order indicates that a first TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a first port group in the plurality of port groups, and a second TCI state in the tuple corresponds to a second port group in the plurality of port groups.

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