Configure and provide higher reliability physical downlink control channel communications

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a technique for configuring and providing a more reliable physical downlink control channel transmission in a wireless communication system. A cellular base station may establish a wireless link with a wireless device. The cellular base station may provide downlink control channel configuration information to the wireless device. The downlink control channel configuration information may configure control resources associated with a plurality of transmission reception points in a search space for the wireless device. The cellular base station may use the control resources included in the search space to provide downlink control information to the wireless device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems, devices and methods for configuring and providing more reliable physical downlink control channel transmissions in wireless communication systems.

[0002] Related technical description

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablets have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using a global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating complex and sophisticated applications that utilize these functions. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH TM wait.

[0004] The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functions in wireless communication devices also requires continuous improvements in wireless communications and improvements in wireless communication devices. In particular, it is important to ensure the accuracy of signals transmitted and received by user equipment (UE) devices (e.g., by wireless devices such as cellular phones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications). In addition, increasing the functionality of UE devices may place a great strain on the battery life of UE devices. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce the power requirements in UE device designs while allowing UE devices to maintain good transmit and receive capabilities to improve communications. Therefore, improvements are desired in this area. Summary of the invention

[0005] Embodiments of apparatus, systems, and methods are presented herein for configuring and providing more reliable physical downlink control channel transmissions in wireless communication systems.

[0006] According to the techniques described herein, a cellular base station may provide downlink control channel configuration information that configures downlink control resources associated with a plurality of transmission reception points in a search space of a wireless device. The cellular base station may also provide at least a portion of a downlink control information payload to the wireless device based on the downlink control channel configuration.

[0007] According to some embodiments, the downlink control information payload provided to the wireless device may be jointly encoded by multiple transmission reception points. According to some embodiments, a TRP of a cellular base station may provide, along with one or more other TRPs, a repetition of downlink control information provided by different transmission reception points (which may be encoded in the same manner or may have different redundant versions).

[0008] According to at least some embodiments, such configuration and provision of downlink control information may help improve the reliability of downlink control information communication by exploiting possible beam diversity potential when the downlink control information may be provided by multiple transmission reception points.

[0009] It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, mobile phones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0010] This disclosure is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topics described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the topics described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some embodiments is shown;

[0013] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary base station in communication with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments;

[0015] Figure 4 shows an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to some embodiments;

[0016] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of an exemplary possible method for providing physical downlink control channel transmission with increased reliability in a wireless communication system according to some embodiments;

[0017] Figure 6 illustrates aspects of an exemplary possible scenario in which a single search space may be configured with multiple CORESETs according to some embodiments;

[0018] Figure 7 illustrates aspects of an exemplary MAC control element that may be used to update TCI for multiple CORESETs according to some embodiments;

[0019] Figure 8 illustrates aspects of an exemplary MAC control element that may be used to update a CORESET in another cell according to some embodiments;

[0020] Figures 9 to 12 illustrates exemplary aspects of various possible transmission modes that may be used to include multiple CORESETs in a search space according to some embodiments; and

[0021] Figures 13 to 15 Various possible techniques for multiple TRPs to transmit downlink control information payload to wireless devices according to some embodiments are shown.

[0022] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, their purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Acronyms

[0024] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms used that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows:

[0025] UE: User Equipment

[0026] RF: Radio Frequency

[0027] BS: Base Station

[0028] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0029] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0030] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0031] NR: New Radio

[0032] TX: Transmission

[0033] RX: Receive

[0034] RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0035] TRP: Transmission Reception Point

[0036] DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0037] CORESET: Control resource set

[0038] CSI: Channel State Information

[0039] CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal

[0040] the term

[0041] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in this disclosure:

[0042] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, such as CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., expressed as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0043] Carrier Media—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that transport signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0044] Computer system (or computer)—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0045] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone TM , based on Android TM phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad TM 、Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunication device (or a combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0046] Wireless Device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0047] Communication device - any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A wireless device is an example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0048] Base Station (BS) - the term "base station" has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or a radio system.

[0049] Processing element (or processor) – refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing functions in a device, such as a user equipment device or a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example, a processor and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above combinations.

[0050] Wi-Fi—The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its usual meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks or RATs that are served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provide connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0051] Automatic—refers to an action or operation being performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the need for the action or operation to be directly specified or performed by a user input. Thus, the term "automatic" is in contrast to a user manually performing or specifying an action, wherein the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," wherein the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing in information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user action. The form may be automatically filled out by a computer system, wherein the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without requiring any user input to specify the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user may invoke automatic filling out of a form, but not participate in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0052] Configured to - Various components may be described as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such environments, "configured to" is a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" can be a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, the component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Typically, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuitry.

[0053] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". The description of a component being configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not invoke the interpretation of the sixth paragraph of Section 112 of Title 35 of the United States Code on that component.

[0054] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary Communication System

[0055] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system is shown that can implement various aspects of the present disclosure according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 1 The system is only one example of a possible system, and the embodiment may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0056] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102, which communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user equipment 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N via a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device. Therefore, the user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or a UE device.

[0057] The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site, and may include hardware and / or software that implements wireless communications with UEs 106A to 106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, and various possible networks). Therefore, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and / or between user devices and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, sometimes a base station may be considered to represent a network in consideration of the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Therefore, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood as a UE that communicates with a network.

[0058] The base station 102 and the user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2, CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, and the like.

[0059] Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cell networks that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0060] Note that UE 106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standard or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to perform robust uplink data transmission techniques, such as according to the various methods described herein. UE 106 may also be configured or alternatively configured to use WLAN, BLUETOOTH, or other wireless communication standards. TM, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0061] Figure 2 An exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or tablet, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an unmanned flight controller (UAC), a car, or almost any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 may execute any of the method embodiments described in the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to execute (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method embodiments described herein or any of the method embodiments described herein. UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0062] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and / or a transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio component may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Typically, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, an analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuit (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or a digital processing circuit (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains.

[0063] In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As another possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include a shared radio component for communicating using any of LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and a shared radio component for communicating using Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH. TN Each of the radio components communicates with each other. Other configurations are also possible.

[0064] Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0065] Figure 3 A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 according to some embodiments is shown. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that can execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that can perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370, which may include a component for sensing or measuring any of various possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit that is configured to detect the motion of the UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of various other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuit 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, which are used, for example, to measure the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of the UE 106. As required, any of various other possible types of sensor circuits may also or alternatively be included in the UE 106. Processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as display circuit 304, radio 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

[0066] As shown, SOC 300 can be coupled to various other circuits of UE 106. For example, UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH TN , Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and may include multiple antennas (e.g., as shown by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communications with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use antenna 335 to perform wireless communications with the aid of radio circuitry 330. As described above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0067] UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the method of UE 106 to perform a more reliable downlink control reception technique, such as the technique further described later in this document. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, for example by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition, the processor 302 may be coupled to a processor such as a processor 102 or a processor 103. Figure 3 The other components shown and / or may interoperate with other components to perform more reliable downlink control reception techniques according to various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 may also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

[0068] In some embodiments, radio 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for each respective RAT standard. Figure 3 As shown, the radio component 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (eg, an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a BLUETOOTH controller. TMController 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (referred to as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with SOC 300 (more specifically, with processor 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or BLUETOOTH TM The controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments may be implemented in the UE device 106 having fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs.

[0069] Additionally, embodiments are contemplated in which the controller may implement functionality associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications, the cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and / or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

[0070] Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0071] Figure 4 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 4 The base station of is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0072] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106 of the telephone network described in the embodiment of the present invention. The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured or alternatively configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0073] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio component 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio component 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receiving chain, a transmitting chain, or both. The radio component 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including but not limited to NR, LTE, LTE-A WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, for example it may include at least one Ethernet port, and the radio component 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0074] Figure 5 —Higher reliability downlink control reception technology

[0075] Wireless communications are being used for an increasingly wide range of use cases. For at least some of these types of communications, the robustness and reliability of the communications may be particularly important. Therefore, it may be useful to expand the range of types of communications that can be performed in a highly robust and reliable manner.

[0076] One such area may include downlink control communications and / or other communications that may be performed on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of a cellular communication system. In particular, it may be useful to provide techniques for providing downlink control information that can benefit from multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) capabilities and multi-beam diversity.

[0077] therefore, Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for performing downlink control communications with increased reliability in a wireless communication system according to at least some embodiments.

[0078] Figure 5 Aspects of the methods of the present invention may be implemented by a wireless device, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations (such as the UE 106 and BS 102 shown and described with respect to the various figures herein), or more generally, as desired, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components, etc. shown in the above figures. For example, a processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the method elements shown and / or other method elements.

[0079] It is noted that although the present invention is described in a manner involving the use of communication techniques and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents, Figure 5 However, this description is not intended to limit the present disclosure and may be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. Figure 5 In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in an order different from that shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0080] In 502, the wireless device may establish a wireless link with a cellular base station. According to some embodiments, the wireless link may include a cellular link according to 5G NR. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with an AMF entity of a cellular network through one or more gNBs that provide radio access to the cellular network. As another possibility, the wireless link may include a cellular link according to LTE. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with a mobility management entity of a cellular network through an eNB that provides radio access to the cellular network. According to various embodiments, other types of cellular links are also possible, and the cellular network may also or alternatively operate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.).

[0081] Establishing a wireless link may include establishing an RRC connection with a serving cellular base station according to at least some embodiments. Establishing a first RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the wireless device and the cellular base station, establishing environmental information of the wireless device, and / or any of a variety of other possible features, for example, involving establishing an air interface of the wireless device for cellular communication with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing the RRC connection, the wireless device may operate in an RRC connected state. In some instances, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a certain period of inactivity relative to data communication), in which case the wireless device may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some instances, the wireless device may perform a handover (e.g., when in an RRC connected mode) or a cell reselection (e.g., when in an RRC idle mode or an RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell, for example, due to wireless device mobility, changes in wireless medium conditions, and / or any of a variety of other possible reasons.

[0082] At least according to some embodiments, a wireless device may establish multiple wireless links, for example, with multiple TRPs of a cellular network, based on a multi-TRP configuration. In such a scenario (and / or potentially in other scenarios), the wireless device may be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling) with one or more transmission control indicators (TCIs), for example, which may correspond to various beams that may be used to communicate with the TRPs. In addition, there may be situations where one or more configured TCI states may be activated by a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) of the wireless device at a particular time.

[0083] In at least some instances, establishing the wireless link may include the wireless device providing capability information of the wireless device. Such capability information may include information related to any of a plurality of types of wireless device capabilities.

[0084] At 504, the cellular base station may provide downlink control channel configuration information (which may include control resource sets (CORESETs) and / or search space configuration information, among various possibilities) to the wireless device. According to at least some embodiments, configuring one or more CORESETs may indicate certain downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring resources in the frequency domain, and configuring one or more search spaces may indicate a time domain pattern for searching for downlink control channel communications. Thus, configuring the search spaces may effectively configure a set of downlink control channel monitoring opportunities such that, at least in some instances, at each monitoring / decoding opportunity, the wireless device may perform hypothesis testing (blind decoding) to decode potential downlink control information from various possible downlink control channel candidates that may be used for the downlink control channel, e.g., based on the CORESET and search space configurations provided to the wireless device. Note that other downlink control channel configuration methods are possible, including variations of such downlink control channel configuration methods.

[0085] The downlink control channel configuration information may be provided using RRC control signaling, MAC signaling (e.g., MAC CE), or a combination thereof, among various possibilities. The downlink control channel configuration information may configure control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) in a search space for a wireless device. For example, a search space may be configured with multiple CORESETs, each of which is associated with a different TRP. Thus, there may be a situation where the search space is configured with a first CORESET associated with a first TRP and a second CORESET associated with a second TRP.

[0086] In order to configure multiple CORESETs for the search space, there may be a situation where various parameters of each CORESET of the search space can be configured independently, for example, so that different configurations may be possible. For example, each CORESET of the search space may be configured with a different identifier. Therefore, each CORESET may be configured with a different CORESETPoolIndex, or may be associated with a different physical cell identifier (PCI) so that each CORESET may correspond to a TRP. In addition, the downlink control channel configuration information may configure different beam configurations for each CORESET of the search space (for example, a different TCI may be configured for each CORESET by the MAC-CE). In some instances, for each CORESET of the search space, the downlink control channel configuration information may further (or alternatively) configure different time slot periodicities, time slot offsets, and / or symbols within a time slot.

[0087] In at least some instances, the ability to support simultaneous updating of TCIs for multiple CORESETs (e.g., using the same MAC CE) may be useful, for example, if a search space may be configured with control resources associated with multiple TCIs. Accordingly, in some embodiments, a cellular base station may provide a MAC-CE to a wireless device that is configured to modify the beam configuration of each of the multiple CORESETs for the search space, for example, using a MAC-CE format that supports modification of the beam configuration of each of the multiple CORESETs. In some instances, the MAC-CE format may further support modification of the beam configuration of a CORESET associated with a different cell (e.g., a cell whose PCI is different from the cell in which the MAC-CE is provided).

[0088] At least according to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information may configure two CORESETs in the search space according to a consistent transmission pattern. For example, as one possibility, a time division multiplexing transmission pattern may be used, such as so that the CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and the frequency domain resource allocations of the CORESETs are the same. As another possibility, a frequency division multiplexing pattern may be used, such as so that the CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain and the time domain resource allocations of the CORESETs are the same. As yet another possibility, a time division multiplexing pattern and a frequency division multiplexing pattern may be used, such as so that the CORESETs do not overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain. As yet another possibility, a space division multiplexing pattern may be used, such as so that multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain. In such a scenario, among various possibilities, the wireless device may be able to distinguish between the CORESETs based at least in part on their respective beam configurations and / or using digital signal processing.

[0089] According to at least some embodiments, it may be helpful (e.g., to simplify wireless device physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) hypothesis testing) to constrain certain CORESET parameters when a search space is configured with multiple CORESETs. For example, there may be situations where the CORESETs are configured (explicitly or implicitly) with the same periodicity, the same control channel element (CCE) to resource element group (REG) mapping, the same resource element group bundle size configuration, and / or the same PDCCH candidate configuration. Alternatively, if desired, one or more such parameters may be different between multiple CORESETs configured in the same search space.

[0090] In some instances, the search space may be configured with a CORESET, and multiple TCIs may be configured for the CORESET (e.g., each TCI potentially associated with a different TRP). At least according to some embodiments, in such scenarios, there may be situations where PDCCH repetitions are configured, and different repetitions may be associated with different TRPs.

[0091] Note that according to various embodiments, a wireless device may be configured with multiple CORESETs and multiple search spaces, and other such search spaces may be similarly configured with multiple CORESETs and / or control resources associated with multiple TRPs.

[0092] Using the one or more CORESETs included in the search space, the cellular base station (and potentially one or more other cellular base stations / TRPs) may provide downlink control information (DCI) to the wireless device at 506. The wireless device may perform blind decoding of the search space (e.g., based on the downlink control channel configuration information), based on which the wireless device may detect and decode the downlink control information provided by the cellular base station (and potentially one or more other cellular base stations / TRPs).

[0093] According to some embodiments, the payload of the DCI may be provided from multiple TRPs according to one of various possible encoding techniques. For example, as one possibility, the payload of the DCI may be jointly encoded across multiple TRPs. In such a scenario, at least as one possibility, a network entity may coordinate multiple TRPs for joint encoding of the DCI. As another example, from each of the multiple TRPs, a repetition of the DCI payload encoded in the same manner may be provided to the wireless device. As yet another example, from each of the multiple TRPs, a repetition of the DCI payload encoded using a different redundancy version may be provided to the wireless device.

[0094] As previously described herein, in some instances, when a search space is configured with multiple CORESETs, these CORESETs may be configured with the same PDCCH candidate configuration. For example, each such CORESET may have the same aggregation level configuration and the same number of candidates per aggregation level. In such scenarios, there may accordingly be situations where, in each such CORESET, a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates is effectively configured and may be assumed by the wireless device when performing blind decoding of the search space. Therefore, there may be situations where it is possible to configure multiple CORESETs in the search space without increasing the total number of PDCCH candidates, assuming that the wireless device is capable of performing PDCCH candidate hypothesis testing.

[0095] As also described previously herein, in some instances, there may be situations where the same CORESET may be configured with multiple TCIs, thereby potentially configuring control resources associated with multiple TRPs in a single search space. In such scenarios, there may also be situations where a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates associated with each TRP may be assumed by the wireless device when performing blind decoding of the search space. Therefore, there may be situations where such a configuration is possible without increasing the total number of PDCCH candidates for which it is assumed that the wireless device is able to perform PDCCH candidate hypothesis testing.

[0096] Note that when the same DCI is transmitted in PDCCH candidates from multiple TRPs using PDCCH repetitions or using PDCCH multi-beam transmissions, there may be multiple options regarding the number of blind detections and non-overlapping control channel elements counted. Specifically, according to various embodiments, there may be situations where the number of DCI hypothesis decodings may be counted twice (e.g., each decoding may be counted repeatedly, or portions of multi-beam transmissions may be counted separately), or may not be counted twice (e.g., all repetitions / portions of DCI transmissions may be counted together).

[0097] therefore, Figure 5 The method can be used to provide an architecture for configuring and executing downlink control transmissions in a more reliable manner. At least according to some embodiments, such an architecture is particularly useful in supporting PDCCH search space, PDCCH coding and / or PDCCH candidate TCI configuration optimization processes that utilize the potential availability of multiple TRPs to provide stronger beam diversity for downlink control communications, as well as other possible benefits.

[0098] Figures 6 to 15 and additional information

[0099] Figures 6 to 15 Shown can be combined if necessary Figure 5 However, it should be noted that Figures 6 to 15 As shown in and with reference to Figures 6 to 15 The exemplary details described are not intended to limit the present disclosure as a whole: many variations and alternatives to the details provided herein below are possible and should be considered within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0100] In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular communications, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may be used to provide downlink control information (DCI) to wireless devices. In existing 3GPP PDCCH designs, a control resource set (CORESET) may be configured (e.g., using RRC control signaling, such as a "ControlResourceSet" information element), potentially including a frequency domain resource allocation indicating the CORESET and a duration of the CORESET (e.g., 1 / 2 / 3 symbols). According to some embodiments, there may be a case where up to 5 CORESETs may be configured per bandwidth part (BWP) for multi-DCI multi-transmit-receive point (TRP) operation, and up to 3 CORESETs may be configured per BWP for other operations. Additionally, there may be a case where up to 4 BWPs may be configured per component carrier (CC), and up to a total of 16 CORESETs may be configured per CC.

[0101] The time domain mode for performing PDCCH monitoring may also be configured (eg, using RRC signaling, such as a "SearchSpace" information element). According to at least some embodiments, there may be cases where each SearchSpace may contain only one CORESET, and up to 10 SearchSpaces may be configured per CC per BWP.

[0102] According to 3GPP Release 15, it is possible to update the transmission control indicator (TCI) using one medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) for CORESETs (PDCCH) with the same ID. According to 3GPP Release 16, it is possible to update the TCI using one MAC CE for a CORESET with an indication ID in the CC list.

[0103] According to existing designs, PDCCH reliability may be relatively limited, for example, because the maximum duration of PDCCH is potentially limited to 3 symbols or less, because each CORESET may be configured with only one beam (e.g., no multi-beam diversity), and PDCCH aggregation may not be supported.

[0104] Therefore, this article proposes technologies that can improve the reliability of PDCCH communication, for example, including one or more technologies related to search space configuration, PDCCH coding and PDCCH candidate TCI configuration.

[0105] As one such possible technique, it is possible to configure 2 CORESETs for one search space. According to some embodiments, each such CORESET may correspond to one TRP. There may be cases where each CORESET is configured with a different CORESETPoolIndex and / or each CORESET is associated with a different physical cell ID (PCI). It is possible to configure the beam or TCI of each CORESET independently (e.g., through MAC-CE). For each CORESET, there may be cases where monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset and monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot may have different configurations or may have the same configuration. Figure 6 Aspects of such exemplary possible scenarios are shown where a single search space may be configured with multiple CORESETs according to some embodiments.

[0106] It is also possible to support the use of a single MAC-CE to update the TCI for multiple CORESETs simultaneously. Figure 7 A possible MAC-CE design for such purpose is shown. In such a scenario, at least as one possibility, it is possible to include the following items: a 5-bit serving cell ID field; a "C" field indicating whether there is configuration information of another CORESET in the MAC-CE (e.g., where C=1 indicates that there is another CORESET, and C=0 indicates the final CORESET of the MAC-CE); a 4-bit CORESET ID field; a TCI state ID field including a 6-bit index of the TCI list configured by the RRC for the PDCCH; and one or more reserved bits "R".

[0107] Furthermore, it is possible to support the use of a single MAC-CE to update one or more CORESETs associated with different PCIs. Figure 8 One possible MAC-CE design for such purpose is shown. In such a scenario, at least as one possibility, a 10-bit PCI field may be included along with a "C" field, a 4-bit CORESET ID field, and a 6-bit TCI State ID field.

[0108] When the search space contains two CORESETs, it is possible to configure these CORESETs in the time domain and the frequency domain according to any of a number of possible modes. Figures 9 to 12 Exemplary aspects of various possible such transmission modes that may be used to include multiple CORESETs in a search space according to some embodiments are shown.

[0109] exist Fig. 9In the illustrated mode, a time division multiplexing (TDM) method may be used so that the two CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain. In such a case, the frequency domain resource allocations of the two CORESETs may be the same (eg, may completely overlap).

[0110] exist Fig.10 In the illustrated mode, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) method may be used so that the two CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain; the frequency domain resource allocations of the two CORESETs may be offset from each other. In this case, the time domain resource allocations of the two CORESETs may be the same (eg, may completely overlap).

[0111] exist Fig.11 In the mode shown, TDM and FDM methods can be used so that the two CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and do not overlap in the frequency domain.

[0112] exist Fig.12 In the mode shown, a spatial division multiplexing approach can be used, where the two CORESETs completely overlap in both the time and frequency domains. In such cases, different beams and / or signal processing can be used to distinguish the CORESET signals.

[0113] When the search space contains two CORESETs, it is possible to establish one or more restrictions to simplify UE PDCCH hypothesis testing, for example, when performing blind decoding. For example, according to various embodiments, it is possible to establish two such CORESETs, which may have the same periodicity, the same control channel element (CCE) to resource element group (REG) mapping, the same REG bundle size configuration, and / or the same PDCCH candidate configuration.

[0114] As previously described, one or more PDCCH encoding techniques may also or alternatively be introduced to potentially improve PDCCH reliability, including, for example, techniques that may utilize multi-beam (e.g., multi-TRP) PDCCH configurations. Figures 13 to 15 Various possible such techniques for multiple TRPs to transmit downlink control information payloads to a wireless device according to some embodiments are shown. There may be situations where when DCI is transmitted from two TRPs, the two TRPs transmit the same payload. Encoding the same payload across the two TRPs may be performed in any of a number of possible ways. As one possibility, Fig.13 A scenario is shown where the same payload is jointly encoded across two TRPs. As another possibility, Fig.14 A scenario is shown where the same payload is encoded in the same way in each TRP (e.g., each TRP may transmit identical repetitions). As yet another possibility, Fig.15A scenario is shown where the same payload is encoded using a different redundancy version by each TRP.

[0115] As also previously described, it is possible to introduce PDCCH candidate TCI configuration techniques to potentially improve PDCCH reliability, for example, in conjunction with supporting potential multi-TRP PDCCH operations. For example, when two CORESETs are configured with each CORESET corresponding to one TRP, there may be a situation where these CORESETs have the same PDCCH candidate configuration. This may include, for example, the same aggregation level configuration and the same number of candidates per aggregation level. There may be situations where a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates in each such CORESET can be assumed. Therefore, there may be situations where, in such scenarios, the UE does not need to assume an increase in the total number of PDCCH candidates for hypothesis testing. According to some embodiments, the PDCCH candidate configuration may be provided using a SearchSpace information element (e.g., using the nrofCandidates field), such as further shown and described in Section 6.3.2 of 3GPP TS 38.331v.16.1.0.

[0116] It is also possible to configure the same CORESET for multiple TRPs, for example, the CORESET is configured with different TCIs (e.g., each TCI represents a different TRP). In such scenarios, PDCCH repetitions can be configured so that repetitions can be provided by different TRPs. There may be cases where a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates in each CORESET can be assumed. Therefore, there may be cases where in such scenarios, the UE does not need to assume an increase in the total number of PDCCH candidates for hypothesis testing.

[0117] Note that when the same DCI is transmitted in PDCCH candidates from multiple TRPs using PDCCH repetition or using PDCCH multi-beam transmission, there may be multiple possibilities that may be considered for such transmissions with respect to blind detection (BD) and the number of non-overlapping CCE instances. For example, as one possibility, the transmission may be counted twice; as another possibility, the transmission may not be counted twice.

[0118] In the following, further exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0119] A set of embodiments may include a baseband processor configured to perform operations, the operations comprising: establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station; receiving control resource set (CORESET) configuration information from the cellular base station, wherein the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for a search space; and performing blind decoding of the search space.

[0120] According to some embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures a first CORESET associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) and a second CORESET associated with a second TRP for the search space.

[0121] According to some embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures a different beam configuration for each CORESET in the search space.

[0122] According to some embodiments, for each CORESET in the search space, the CORESET configuration information configures different time slot periodicity, time slot offset and / or symbols within a time slot.

[0123] According to some embodiments, the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations including: receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), the MAC CE configured to modify a beam configuration for each CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs.

[0124] According to some embodiments, the MAC-CE indicates that the plurality of CORESETs are associated with a cell different from the cell from which the MAC-CE is received.

[0125] According to some embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for the search space according to a transmission mode that is one of the following: time division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain, and the frequency domain resource allocation of the multiple CORESETs is the same; frequency division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain, and the time domain resource allocation of the multiple CORESETs is the same; time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and do not overlap in the frequency domain; space division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain.

[0126] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device comprising: an antenna; a radio component operably coupled to the antenna; and a processor operably coupled to the radio component; wherein the wireless device is configured to: establish a wireless link with a cellular base station; receive downlink control channel configuration information from the cellular base station, wherein in a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs); and perform blind decoding of the search space configured with control resources associated with multiple TRPs.

[0127] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) in a search space, where each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0128] According to some embodiments, for blind decoding hypothesis testing of wireless devices, one or more of the following are configured for the CORESET in the search space: the same periodicity; the same mapping of control channel elements (CCE) to resource element groups (REGs); the same REG bundle size configuration; or the same physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate configuration.

[0129] According to some embodiments, for a control source set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators (TCIs), wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetition, wherein different repetitions are associated with different TRPs.

[0130] In accordance with some embodiments, the wireless device is also configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) based at least in part on blind decoding of a search space configured with control resources associated with multiple TRPs, wherein the DCI is jointly encoded across the multiple TRPs.

[0131] In accordance with some embodiments, the wireless device is also configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) based at least in part on blind decoding of a search space configured with control resources associated with multiple TRPs, wherein at least one repetition of the DCI is received from each of at least two TRPs.

[0132] In accordance with some embodiments, the wireless device is also configured to: receive downlink control information (DCI) based at least in part on blind decoding of a search space configured with control resources associated with multiple TRPs, wherein a payload of the DCI is received from each of at least two TRPs, wherein a payload having a different redundant version is received from each of the at least two TRPs.

[0133] Another set of embodiments may include a method comprising: by a wireless device: establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station; receiving downlink control channel configuration information from the cellular base station, wherein in a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs); and performing blind decoding of the search space configured with control resources associated with multiple TRPs.

[0134] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) in a search space, where each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0135] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures the same physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate aggregation level configuration and the number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level for multiple CORESETs in a search space, wherein a one-to-one mapping between the PDCCH candidates in each CORESET is assumed by the wireless device when performing blind decoding of the search space.

[0136] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures one or more of the following for different CORESETs in the search space: different beam configurations; different time slot periodicities; different time slot offsets; or different symbols within a time slot.

[0137] According to some embodiments, for a control resource set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators (TCIs), where each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

[0138] According to some embodiments, when performing blind decoding of the search space, a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates associated with each TCI is assumed by the wireless device.

[0139] Another set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising: a processor configured to cause a cellular base station to: establish a wireless link with a wireless device; provide control resource set (CORESET) configuration information to the wireless device, wherein the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for a search space; and provide downlink control information (DCI) to the wireless device using one or more CORESETs included in the search space configured with multiple CORESETs.

[0140] According to some embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures a first CORESET associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) and a second CORESET associated with a second TRP for the search space.

[0141] According to some embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures a different beam configuration for each CORESET in the search space.

[0142] According to some embodiments, for each CORESET in the search space, the CORESET configuration information configures different time slot periodicity, time slot offset and / or symbols within a time slot.

[0143] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: provide a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), the MAC CE being configured to modify a beam configuration for each CORESET in the plurality of CORESETs.

[0144] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: provide a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), the MAC CE being configured to modify a beam configuration for each CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs associated with different cellular base stations.

[0145] According to some embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for the search space according to a transmission mode that is one of the following: time division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain, and the frequency domain resource allocation of the multiple CORESETs is the same; frequency division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain, and the time domain resource allocation of the multiple CORESETs is the same; time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and do not overlap in the frequency domain; space division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain.

[0146] Another set of embodiments may include a cellular base station comprising: an antenna; a radio component operably coupled to the antenna; and a processor operably coupled to the radio component; wherein the cellular base station is configured to: establish a wireless link with a wireless device; and provide downlink control channel configuration information to the wireless device, wherein in a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs).

[0147] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) in a search space, where each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0148] According to some embodiments, for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, multiple CORESETs in a search space are configured with one or more of the following: the same periodicity; the same mapping of control channel elements (CCEs) to resource element groups (REGs); the same REG bundle size configuration; or the same physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate configuration.

[0149] According to some embodiments, for a control source set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators (TCIs), wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetition, wherein different repetitions are associated with different TRPs.

[0150] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is also configured to provide to the wireless device at least a portion of a downlink control information (DCI) payload jointly encoded by a first TRP and a second TRP provided by the cellular base station using control resources included in the search space.

[0151] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is also configured to provide repetitions of a downlink control information (DCI) payload using control resources included in the search space, wherein at least one repetition of the DCI payload encoded in the same manner is also provided to the wireless device by a second TRP using control resources included in the search space.

[0152] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is also configured to provide repetitions of a downlink control information (DCI) payload using control resources included in the search space, wherein a second TRP also provides at least one repetition of the DCI payload encoded using different redundant versions to the wireless device using control resources included in the search space.

[0153] Another set of embodiments may include a method comprising: by a cellular base station: establishing a wireless link with a wireless device; providing downlink control channel configuration information to the wireless device, wherein in a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs); and using the control resources included in the search space, providing downlink control information (DCI) to the wireless device.

[0154] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) in a search space, where each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0155] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures the same physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate aggregation level configuration and the number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level for multiple CORESETs in the search space, wherein when blind decoding of the search space is performed, a one-to-one mapping between the PDCCH candidates in each CORESET is configured for the wireless device.

[0156] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures one or more of the following for different CORESETs in the search space: different beam configurations; different time slot periodicities; different time slot offsets; or different symbols within a time slot.

[0157] According to some embodiments, for a control resource set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators (TCIs), where each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

[0158] According to some embodiments, when performing blind decoding of the search space, a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates associated with each TCI is configured for the wireless device.

[0159] Yet another exemplary embodiment may include a method comprising: performing, by a device, any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0160] Another example embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operably coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0161] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium including program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0162] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0163] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus including means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0164] Still another set of exemplary embodiments may include an apparatus comprising a processing element configured to cause the device to perform any or all of the elements described in any of the preceding examples.

[0165] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include a baseband processor configured to perform operations including any or all elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0166] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0167] By interpreting each message / signal X received by a user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods for operating a UE described herein may become the basis for the corresponding method for operating a base station.

[0168] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs may be used to implement the subject matter. In other embodiments, one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs may be used to implement the subject matter.

[0169] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory storage element) may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system is caused to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0170] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium (or a memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0171] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising a processor, the processor configured to cause a cellular base station to: establishing a wireless link with a wireless device; providing control resource set CORESET configuration information to the wireless device, wherein the CORESET configuration information configures a plurality of CORESETs associated with a plurality of transmission reception points TRPs for a search space, wherein corresponding control resource sets are used for corresponding TRPs in the plurality of TRPs, wherein for a wireless device blind decoding hypothesis test, the CORESETs in the search space are configured with the following items: the same periodicity, the same mapping of control channel elements CCE to resource element groups REG, the same REG bundle size configuration, and the same physical downlink control channel PDCCH candidate configuration; and Downlink control information DCI is provided to the wireless device using one or more CORESETs included in the search space configured with a plurality of CORESETs.

2. The device according to claim 1, The CORESET configuration information configures a first CORESET associated with a first transmission reception point TRP and a second CORESET associated with a second TRP for the search space.

3. The device according to claim 1, The CORESET configuration information configures different beam configurations for each CORESET in the search space.

4. The device according to claim 1, For each CORESET in the search space, the CORESET configuration information configures different time slot periodicities, time slot offsets and / or symbols within a time slot.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: A medium access control MAC control element CE is provided, wherein the MAC CE is configured to modify the beam configuration of each CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: A medium access control MAC control element CE is provided, the MAC CE being configured to modify the beam configuration of each CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs associated with different cellular base stations.

7. The device according to claim 1, The CORESET configuration information configures a plurality of CORESETs for the search space according to a transmission mode that is one of the following: Time division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and the frequency domain resource allocations of the multiple CORESETs are the same; Frequency division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain and the time domain resource allocation of the multiple CORESETs is the same; Time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing, so that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and do not overlap in the frequency domain; The spatial division multiplexing makes the multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain.

8. A wireless device, comprising: antenna; a radio operably coupled to the antenna; as well as a processor operatively coupled to the radio; The wireless device is configured to: Establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station; receiving downlink control channel configuration information from the cellular base station, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs) in a search space for the wireless device, the control resources comprising a corresponding control resource set (CORESET) in the search space for a corresponding TRP in the plurality of TRPs, wherein for a blind decoding hypothesis test of the wireless device, the CORESET in the search space is configured with the following items: the same periodicity, the same mapping of control channel elements (CCE) to resource element groups (REGs), the same REG bundle size configuration, and the same physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate configuration; as well as Blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates is performed during a monitoring opportunity configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with multiple TRPs.

9. The wireless device according to claim 8, The downlink control channel configuration information configures a different beam configuration for each CORESET in the search space.

10. The wireless device according to claim 8, For each CORESET in the search space, the downlink control channel configuration information configures different time slot periodicities, time slot offsets and / or symbols within a time slot.

11. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: A medium access control MAC control element CE is received, wherein the MAC CE is configured to modify the beam configuration of one or more CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs.

12. The wireless device according to claim 8, For a control resource set CORESET, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators TCI, wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP, The downlink control channel configuration information configures physical downlink control channel PDCCH repetitions, wherein different repetitions are associated with different TRPs.

13. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: receiving downlink control information DCI based at least in part on the blind decoding performed during the monitoring occasion configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs, The DCI is jointly encoded across multiple TRPs.

14. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: receiving downlink control information DCI based at least in part on the blind decoding performed during the monitoring occasion configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs, Wherein at least one repetition of the DCI is received from each TRP of at least two TRPs.

15. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: receiving downlink control information DCI based at least in part on the blind decoding performed during the monitoring occasion configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs, The payload of the DCI is received from each of at least two TRPs, wherein the payload having a different redundancy version is received from each of the at least two TRPs.

16. A method performed by a cellular base station, comprising: establishing a wireless link with a wireless device; Providing downlink control channel configuration information to the wireless device, wherein in a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points TRPs, the control resources comprising corresponding control resource sets CORESETs in the search space for corresponding TRPs in the multiple TRPs, wherein for a blind decoding hypothesis test of the wireless device, the CORESETs in the search space are configured with the following items: the same periodicity, the same mapping of control channel elements CCE to resource element groups REG, the same REG bundle size configuration, and the same physical downlink control channel PDCCH candidate configuration; and Downlink control information (DCI) is provided to the wireless device using control resources included in the search space.

17. The method according to claim 16, For a control resource set CORESET, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators TCI, wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

18. The method according to claim 17, Wherein when performing blind decoding of the search space, a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates associated with each TCI is configured for the wireless device.

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