Baseband processor, cell and communication method

Abstract

The present application provides a baseband processor, a cell, and a method for communication. The cell receives channel state information of multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) from a user equipment (UE). The cell selects a first TRP among multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) associated with a cell of a network; transmits a signal to the user equipment (UE) via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report at the UE; and receives an SP-CSI report including CSI corresponding to each TRP in the multiple TRPs from the UE.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, and specifically to receiving channel state information from a UE for multi-TRP operation. Background Art

[0002] A user equipment (UE) may establish a connection with at least one of a plurality of different networks or network types. Signaling between the UE and the network may be accomplished via beamforming. Beamforming is an antenna technique for transmitting directional signals, which may be referred to as beams.

[0003] The network may deploy multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), each of which is configured to perform beamforming. In order to establish and maintain a beam between a UE and at least one of the TRPs, beam management techniques may be implemented on both the UE side and the network side. For example, the network may instruct the UE to collect channel state information (CSI) corresponding to one or more of the TRPs. The UE may report the CSI to the network, where the UE may be used to establish and / or maintain a beam between the TRP and the UE. Summary of the invention

[0004] Some exemplary embodiments relate to a baseband processor configured to perform operations. The operations include selecting a first transmission reception point (TRP) of a plurality of TRPs associated with a cell of a network; transmitting a signal to a user equipment (UE) via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report at the UE; and receiving an SP-CSI report from the UE including CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a cell having a communication interface configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE); and a processor communicatively coupled to the communication interface and configured to perform operations. The operations include selecting a first transmission reception point (TRP) of a plurality of TRPs associated with a cell of a network; transmitting a signal to a user equipment (UE) via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report at the UE; and receiving an SP-CSI report from the UE including CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs.

[0006] A further exemplary embodiment relates to a method performed by a cell of a network. The method includes selecting a first transmission reception point (TRP) of a plurality of TRPs associated with the cell of the network; transmitting a signal to a user equipment (UE) via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report at the UE; and receiving an SP-CSI report from the UE including CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0008] Figure 2 An example of multiple transmit receive points (TRPs) deployed at different locations is shown.

[0009] Figure 3 An exemplary user equipment (UE) is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0010] Figure 4 A signaling diagram for semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) reporting for multi-TRP operation according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0011] Figure 5 An example of a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) configured to activate more than one semi-persistent non-zero power channel state information reference signal (SP-NZP-CSI-RS) simultaneously is shown.

[0012] Figure 6 An example of a MAC CE configured to activate SP-CSI reporting including CSI of multiple TRPs is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and associated drawings, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments relate to beam management for multiple transmission reception point (TRP) operations.

[0014] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to UE. However, reference to UE is provided for illustration purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be used with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, UE as described herein is used to represent any suitable electronic component.

[0015] The exemplary embodiments are also described with reference to a 5G New Radio (NR) network. However, reference to a 5G NR network is provided for illustration purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be used with any network that utilizes beamforming. Thus, a 5G NR network as described herein may represent any type of network that implements beamforming.

[0016] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that beamforming is an antenna technique for transmitting or receiving directional signals. From the perspective of a transmitting device, beamforming may refer to propagating a directional signal. Throughout this specification, a beamformed signal may be referred to as a "beam" or "transmitter beam." A transmitter beam may be generated by having multiple antenna elements radiate the same signal. Increasing the number of antenna elements radiating a signal reduces the width of the radiation pattern and increases the gain. Thus, a transmitter beam may vary in width and may propagate in any of a number of different directions.

[0017] From the perspective of a receiving device, beamforming may refer to tuning a receiver to listen in a direction of interest. Throughout this specification, the region of space encompassed by a receiver listening in a direction of interest may be referred to as a "beam" or "receiver beam." A receiver beam may be generated by configuring the parameters of a spatial filter on a receiver antenna array to listen in the direction of interest and filter out any noise outside the direction of interest. Like a transmitter beam, a receiver beam may also vary in width and may be directed over any of a number of different regions of interest.

[0018] In addition, exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a next generation Node B (gNB) configured with multiple TRPs. Throughout the specification, a TRP generally refers to a group of components configured to transmit and / or receive beams. The examples provided below will be described with respect to deployment scenarios in which multiple TRPs are deployed at various different locations and connected to the gNB via a backhaul connection. For example, multiple small cells may be deployed at different locations and connected to the gNB. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the TRP is configured to adapt to a variety of different conditions and deployment scenarios. Therefore, any reference to a TRP as a specific network component or to multiple TRPs deployed in a specific arrangement is for illustrative purposes only. The TRP described herein may represent any type of network component configured to transmit and / or receive beams.

[0019] The exemplary embodiment involves implementing beam management techniques on both the UE side and the network side. Beam management generally refers to a set of processes configured to acquire and maintain a beam between a TRP and a UE. In one aspect, the exemplary embodiment involves the UE collecting and reporting channel state information (CSI) corresponding to multiple TRPs. Examples of how the network can activate / deactivate a set of CSI corresponding to a specific TRP and how the UE can report CSI for multiple TRPs will be provided in detail below. Other aspects of the exemplary embodiment include configuring one of the multiple TRPs as a special cell of the UE, the UE providing capability information related to demodulation and channel estimation capabilities to the network, and introducing a physical cell identity (PCI) into certain types of radio resource control (RRC) configuration information. Specific examples of each of these aspects will be provided in detail below. The exemplary beam management techniques described herein may be used in conjunction with currently implemented beam management mechanisms, future implementations of beam management mechanisms, or independently of other beam management mechanisms.

[0020] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the UE 110 may be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be appreciated that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for purposes of illustration, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0021] UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the network with which UE 110 may wirelessly communicate is a 5G NR radio access network (RAN) 120. However, UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., 5G cloud RAN, next generation RAN (NG-RAN), long term evolution RAN, traditional cellular network, WLAN, etc.), and UE 110 may also communicate with the network via a wired connection. With respect to the exemplary embodiment, UE 110 may establish a connection with 5G NR RAN 120. Therefore, UE 110 may have a 5G NR chipset to communicate with NR RAN 120.

[0022] The 5G NR RAN 120 may be part of a cellular network that may be deployed by a network operator, such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc. The 5G NR RAN 120 may include, for example, cells or base stations (Node B, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive communication traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets.

[0023] In the network arrangement 100, the 5G NR RAN 120 includes a cell 120A representing a gNB configured with multiple TRPs. Each TRP may represent one or more components configured to transmit and / or receive beams. To provide an example, multiple small cells may be deployed at different locations and connected to the gNB. In some embodiments, multiple TRPs may be locally deployed at the cell 120A. In other embodiments, multiple TRPs may be distributed at different locations and connected to the gNB.

[0024] Figure 2 An example of multiple TRPs deployed at different locations is shown. In this example, the gNB 205 is configured with a first TRP 210 via a backhaul connection 212, a second TRP 220 via a backhaul connection 222, a third TRP 230 via a backhaul connection 332, and a fourth TRP 240 via a backhaul connection 242. Each of the TRPs 210-240 may transmit a beam to and / or receive a beam from the UE 110. However, the gNB 205 may be configured to control the TRPs 210-240 and perform operations such as, but not limited to, assigning resources, activating / deactivating a CSI reference signal corresponding to a specific TRP, activating / deactivating CSI reporting for a specific TRP, configuring a TRP as a special cell for the UE 110, implementing beam management techniques, and the like.

[0025] Figure 2 The examples shown are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments in any way. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that 5G NR TRPs are applicable to a variety of different conditions and deployment scenarios. Actual network arrangements may include any number of different types of cells and / or TRPs deployed by any number of RANs in any appropriate arrangement. Figure 1 A single cell 120A and Figure 2 The example of a single gNB 205 with four TRPs 210-240 is provided for illustration purposes only.

[0026] return Figure 1In the network arrangement 100, the cell 120A may include one or more communication interfaces to exchange data and / or information with the UE, the corresponding RAN 120, the cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, etc. In addition, the cell 120A may include a processor configured to perform various operations. For example, the processor of the cell 120A may be configured to perform operations related to access prohibition. However, the reference to the processor is for illustrative purposes only. The operation of the cell 120A may also be represented as an independent combined component of the cell 120A, or may be a modular component coupled to the cell 120A, for example, an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include an input circuit system for receiving a signal and a processing circuit system for processing signals and other information. In addition, in some examples, the functionality of the processor is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiment may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the cell.

[0027] UE 110 may connect to 5G NR-RAN 120 via cell 120A. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any relevant process may be performed for UE 110 to connect to 5G NR-RAN 120. For example, as described above, 5G NR-RAN 120 may be associated with a particular cellular provider, where UE 110 and / or its user has protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of 5G NR-RAN 120, UE 110 may transmit corresponding credential information in order to associate with 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, UE 110 may be associated with a particular cell (e.g., cell 120A). However, as described above, reference to 5G NR-RAN 120 is for illustrative purposes, and any suitable type of RAN may be used.

[0028] In addition to the 5G NR RAN 120, the network arrangement 100 also includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be viewed as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of a cellular network. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 can communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network service backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0029] Figure 3 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, a display device 315, an input / output (I / O) device 320, a transceiver 325, and other components 330. The other components 330 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, etc.

[0030] The processor 305 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engine may include a multi-TRP beam management engine 335. The multi-TRP beam management engine 335 may be configured to perform operations related to beam management, such as monitoring CSI reference signals from one or more TRPs, reporting CSI information of one or more TRPs, etc.

[0031] The above-described engine 335 as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 305 is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engine 335 may also be represented as an independent combined component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, for example, an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit system for receiving a signal and a processing circuit system for processing signals and other information. The engine 335 may also be embodied as an application or multiple independent applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 305 is shared between two or more processors (such as a baseband processor and an application processor). The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0032] The memory arrangement 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 315 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 320 may be a hardware component that enables a user to input. The display device 315 and the I / O device 320 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN (not shown in the figure), traditional RAN (not shown in the figure), WLAN (not shown in the figure), etc. Therefore, the transceiver 325 can operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous frequency group).

[0033] Figure 4A signaling diagram 400 is shown for semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) reporting for multi-TRP operation according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 Network layout 100, Figure 2 The examples shown and Figure 3 The signaling diagram 400 is depicted for a UE 110 of FIG. The signaling diagram 400 includes the UE 110 and the cell 120A.

[0034] At 405, UE 110 is camped on cell 120A. For example, consider Figure 2 In the scenario depicted in FIG, UE 110 may camp on gNB 205.

[0035] At 410, UE 110 collects CSI corresponding to a plurality of TRPs. For example, when camped on cell 120A, UE 110 may monitor a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), or any other type of information transmitted by a TRP that may be used to derive CSI corresponding to the TRP. Figure 2 In the context of the example shown, UE 110 may receive CSI-RS or SSB from each of TRPs 210-240. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that CSI may include information such as, but not limited to, channel quality information (CQI), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or any other type of information indicating characteristics of a channel between UE 110 and another endpoint.

[0036] In some embodiments, UE 110 may be configured to collect CSI corresponding to a TRP identified in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). For example, when camped on cell 120A, UE 110 may receive a MAC CE configured to activate more than one SP-non-zero power (NZP)-CSI-RS simultaneously.

[0037] Figure 5An example of a MAC CE configured to activate more than one SP-NZP-CSI-RS simultaneously is shown. In this example, the A / D field indicates whether the MAC CE activates or deactivates the corresponding more than one SP-NZP-CSI-RS. The serving cell ID field may include a serving cell index (e.g., 5 bits or any other appropriate type). The bandwidth part (BWP) ID field may include a BWP index (e.g., 2 bits or any other appropriate type). The SP-CSI-RS resource set ID field identifies a specific SP-CSI-RS resource set. The N field may indicate whether there is another SP-CSI-RS resource set subsequently. The interference measurement (IM) field may indicate whether there is another SP-CSI-RS-IM resource set subsequently. The SP-CSI-IM resource set ID field identifies a specific SP-CSI-IM resource set. The R field may represent a reserved bit. The transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state ID field indicates the TCI state configuration of the SP-CSI-RS resources in the order in which the SP-CSI-RS resources are activated.

[0038] Return to Figure 4 , in 415, cell 120A selects a TRP to be used for activating SP-CSI reporting at UE 110. In some embodiments, cell 120A may select a TRP based on the location of UE 110. For example, when camped on gNB 205, UE 110 may report CSI corresponding to the interface between UE 110 and gNB 120A to gNB 120A. gNB 205 may use CSI, UE uplink sounding, or other means to determine the location of UE 110 relative to gNB 205 and / or its TRPs 210-240. gNB 205 may then select one or more TRPs based on the location of UE 110. However, exemplary embodiments are not limited to performing this selection based on the location of UE 110. gNB 205 may also consider other factors, such as, but not limited to, obstacles in the line of sight between UE 110 and the TRP, network load, UE 110 mobility, interference, etc.

[0039] In 420, cell 120A transmits a signal via the selected TRP to UE 110. The signal may be configured to trigger UE 110 to provide an SP-CSI report to the network.

[0040] In some embodiments, SP-CSI reporting may be activated via MAC CE. Figure 6An example of a MAC CE configured to activate one or more SP-CSI reports including CSI for multiple TRPs is shown. The serving cell ID field may include a serving cell index (e.g., 5 bits or any other appropriate type). The BWP ID field may include a BWP index (e.g., 2 bits or any other appropriate type). The R field may represent a reserved bit. Each S field (e.g., Si) may indicate whether the SP-CSI corresponding to a particular TRP is activated. For example, if Si is 1, the corresponding SP-CSI is activated. If Si is 0, the corresponding SP-CSI is deactivated. Si corresponds to the i-th configured SP-CSI in ascending order of the corresponding CSI-ReportConfigID. In addition, there may be an A / D field (not shown) indicating whether the MAC CE activates or deactivates the corresponding SP-CSI.

[0041] In other embodiments, downlink control information (DCI) may be used for activation or deactivation of SP-CSI. Thus, the same instance of DCI may be used to activate or deactivate SP-CSI for multiple TRPs.

[0042] In one example, radio resource control (RRC) signaling may configure the SP-CSI trigger state code point for each SP-CSI trigger state code point, which may include more than one SP-CSI trigger state (e.g., one SP-CSI trigger state per TRP). In the CSI request field of the DCI, the SP-CSI trigger state in the corresponding SP-CSI trigger state code point is activated or deactivated.

[0043] In another example, the CSI request field in the DCI may be designed based on a bitmap. When (N) SP-CSI reports are configured, the CSI request field is a bitmap with (N) bits. Each bit may indicate whether the corresponding SP-CSI is activated or deactivated.

[0044] In another example, the CSI request bit width may be increased by (M) times to activate or deactivate up to (M) SP-CSIs. Here, (M) segments of the upper limit (log2(N+1)) bit field of the CSI request may be configured, where (N) is the number of configured SP-CSI reports. The example may also include a reserved bit sequence defined to indicate that SP-CSI is not triggered for a particular segment.

[0045] In 425, UE 110 transmits an SP-CSI report to cell 120A in response to the signal. In some embodiments, the SP-CSI report may be provided via an interface between UE 110 and gNB 205. In other embodiments, the SP-CSI report may be provided to gNB 120A indirectly via one of the TRPs.

[0046] The SP-CSI report may include CSI corresponding to the TRP for which the signal was transmitted in 420. In addition, the SP-CSI report may include CSI corresponding to a plurality of other TRPs. Figure 2 In the context of the example depicted in , consider the scenario where TRP 210 transmits a trigger signal in 420. A subsequent SP-CSI report may include the CSI corresponding to TRP 210. In addition, the SP-CSI report may also include the CSI corresponding to TRP 220, the CSI corresponding to TRP 230, and / or the CSI corresponding to TRP 240. Therefore, UE110 may configure the SP-CSI report to include CSI corresponding to multiple TRPs. The example provided above describes a CSI report corresponding to four different TRPs in the same SP-CSI report. However, the exemplary embodiment is not limited to an SP-CSI report corresponding to four different TRPs. The SP-CSI report described herein may be configured to include CSI corresponding to any appropriate number of TRPs (e.g., 4 or more TRPs).

[0047] In 430, cell 120A may schedule transmission of downlink data to UE 110 via one of the plurality of TRPs. Cell 120A may select a particular TRP to perform transmission of downlink data based on the SP-CSI report. Thus, in some scenarios, UE 110 may receive an SP-CSI report activation trigger from a first TRP and receive subsequent downlink data from a different second TRP. In 435, cell 120A transmits downlink data to UE 110 via the selected TRP.

[0048] As described above, in some embodiments, a MAC CE may be used to activate SP-CSI-RS or SP-CSI reporting. Thus, although not shown in signaling diagram 400, after transmission of downlink data, cell 120A may transmit a second MAC CE that deactivates the trigger state activated by the previous MAC CE. In other embodiments, a DCI may be used to activate SP-CSI. Thus, although not shown in signaling diagram 400, after transmission of downlink data, cell 120A may transmit a second instance of a DCI that deactivates the trigger state activated by the previous DCI.

[0049] For any of the above MAC CEs, they may be further configured to activate SP-CSI or SP-CSI-RS in more than one component carrier (CC) and / or more than one BWP with CCs. For example, a CC list may be configured. The CC lists may be orthogonal (e.g., a single CC or BWP cannot belong to two different lists) or may be non-orthogonal. When a serving cell ID or BWP ID is indicated by a MAC CE, all CCs that share the same CC list with the indicated serving cell ID have the indicated SP-CSI-RS resources and / or SP-CSI activated or deactivated. In the indicated CC, all BWPs that share the same BWP list with the indicated BWP ID have the indicated SP-CSI-RS resources and / or SP-CSI activated or deactivated.

[0050] As described above, another aspect of the exemplary embodiment involves configuring one or more TRPs as special cells. For example, consider the example described with respect to signaling diagram 400. In this scenario, the TRP configured in 435 to provide downlink data to UE 110 can be considered a serving cell. One or more of the other TRPs with activated SP-CSI can be configured as special cells for the serving cell.

[0051] For each serving cell, more than one downlink cell may be configured. As described above, each downlink cell corresponds to a TRP. The network may configure each downlink cell independently. In some embodiments, the MAC CE may be used to activate or deactivate the downlink cell. In other embodiments, the downlink cell may use a DCI (e.g., DCI format 2_6 or any other appropriate type of DCI) to switch into or out of sleep mode.

[0052] In addition, each downlink cell associated with the serving cell may be configured with its own CORESET (e.g., different CORESETPoolIndex). In some embodiments, the total number of CORESETs for each downlink cell may be less than or equal to 3. For each serving cell, if (N) downlink cells are configured, the maximum number of configured CORESETs across all downlink cells is included as a value less than 3(N). In addition, in this example, the maximum total number of configured search spaces across all downlink cells may be less than or equal to 10. One of the downlink serving cells may be configured to perform cross-carrier scheduling, while the other downlink cells may perform self-scheduling.

[0053] In another aspect, to facilitate demodulation and channel estimation, UE 110 may indicate to the network the following capabilities of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) scheduled from multiple TRPs overlapping in the frequency domain. In response, the network may configure multi-TRP operation to accommodate the capabilities indicated by UE 110.

[0054] In one example, UE 110 may indicate that all scheduled PDSCHs should have the same precoding resource block group (PRG) size (e.g., 2 precoding resource blocks (PRBs), 4 PRBs, wideband, etc.). In another example, UE 110 may indicate that all scheduled PDSCHs should have the same virtual resource block (VRB) to PRB interleaving. In another example, in the same DCI that schedules the PDSCH, aperiodic (AP)-zero power (ZP)-CSI-RS is also triggered for rate matching. UE 110 may indicate that for all scheduled PDSCHs that overlap with the PDSCH in the frequency domain, UE 110 will perform the same AP-ZP-CSI-RS rate matching among all TRPs.

[0055] In another aspect, PCI (or any other appropriate type of logical index) can be introduced in the following types of RRC configuration information: quasi co-location information (QCL-info), sounding reference signal spatial relationship information (SPS-SpatialRelationInfo), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) spatial relationship information (PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo), PUCCH path loss reference reference signal (PUCCH-PathlossReferenceRS), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) path loss reference reference signal (PUSCH-PathlossReferenceRS) and pathlossReferenceRS under SRS-resource set. In Rel-15 and Rel-16 NR specifications, it is not allowed to configure PCI for reference signals configured with QCL used as downlink TCI indication or uplink spatial relationship indication, because Rel-15 and Rel-16 NR only support intra-cell multi-TRP operation. For inter-cell multi-TRP, TRPs can belong to different cells and therefore correspond to different PCIs. The introduction of PCI in the above-mentioned type of RRC configuration may allow the network to configure reference signals in another TRP for a variety of purposes, such as but not limited to beam indication, reference signal configuration, CSI configuration, etc.

[0056] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. The exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0057] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention.

[0058] 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.

[0059] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A baseband processor, the baseband processor being configured to perform operations including: selecting a first TRP of a plurality of transmission reception points TRPs associated with a cell of the network; Transmitting first radio resource control RRC configuration information including quasi co-location information QCL-info with a physical cell identity PCI to a user equipment UE; Transmitting second RRC configuration information including a physical uplink control channel PUCCH path loss reference signal PUCCH-PathlossReferenceRS and a second PCI to the UE; Transmitting third RRC configuration information including a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH path loss reference signal PUSCH-PathlossReferenceRS and a third PCI to the UE; transmitting a signal to the UE via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) report at the UE; and The SP-CSI report including channel state information CSI corresponding to each TRP in the multiple TRPs is received from the UE.

2. The baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: Determine a location of the UE, wherein selecting the first TRP from the multiple TRPs is based on the location of the UE.

3. The baseband processor according to claim 1, further comprising: A medium access control MAC control element CE is transmitted which is configured to activate a plurality of SP-CSI reference signals SP-CSI-RS at the UE, wherein each SP-CSI-RS corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of TRPs.

4. The baseband processor according to claim 3, wherein the MAC CE is configured to include at least one of an activation / deactivation field, a serving cell ID field, a bandwidth part BWP ID field, a plurality of transmission configuration indicators TCI state IDs, a plurality of SP-CSI-RS resource set IDs, and a plurality of SP-CSI interference measurement SP-CSI-IM resource set IDs. 5 . The baseband processor according to claim 4 , wherein the MAC CE is configured to activate Sp-CSI-RS in more than one component carrier CC or more than one bandwidth part BWP.

6. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the signal configured to trigger the SP-CSI report is a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and wherein the MAC CE includes at least one of a serving cell ID field, a bandwidth part (BWPID) field, and an indication of whether SP-CSI is activated in each of the multiple TRPs. 7 . The baseband processor according to claim 6 , wherein the MAC CE is configured to activate the SP-CSI-RS in more than one component carrier CC or more than one bandwidth part BWP.

8. The baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the signal configured to trigger the SP-CSI report is downlink control information (DCI).

9. The baseband processor of claim 8, wherein the DCI comprises a bitmap-based CSI request field.

10. The baseband processor of claim 1, the operations further comprising: In response to the measurement report, scheduling transmission of downlink data from a second TRP different from the first TRP; as well as Configure one or more TRPs among the multiple TRPs as special cells of the second TRP.

11. The baseband processor of claim 10, wherein each of the one or more TRPs in the plurality of TRPs is configured with a different CORESETPoolIndex.

12. The baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the first TRP among the plurality of TRPs is configured with a first physical cell ID PCI, and the second TRP among the plurality of TRPs is configured with a different second PCI.

13. A cell, comprising: a communication interface configured to communicate with a user equipment UE; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the communication interface and configured to perform operations comprising: selecting a first TRP of a plurality of transmission reception points TRPs associated with a cell of the network; Transmitting first radio resource control RRC configuration information including quasi co-location information QCL-info with a physical cell identity PCI to the UE; Transmitting second RRC configuration information including a physical uplink control channel PUCCH path loss reference signal PUCCH-PathlossReferenceRS and a second PCI to the UE; Transmitting third RRC configuration information including a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH path loss reference signal PUSCH-PathlossReferenceRS and a third PCI to the UE; transmitting a signal to the UE via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) report at the UE; and The SP-CSI report including channel state information CSI corresponding to each TRP in the multiple TRPs is received from the UE.

14. The cell according to claim 13, wherein the signal configured to trigger the SP-CSI is downlink control information DCI.

15. The cell according to claim 14, the operations further comprising: transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) message to the UE, wherein the RRC message configuration includes a plurality of SP-CSI triggering state code points of the SP-CSI triggering state, and The CSI request field in the DCI activates all of the multiple SP-CSI triggering states in the same SP-CSI triggering state code point.

16. The cell according to claim 14, wherein the DCI includes a CSI request bit width increased to activate the SP-CSI of the multiple TRPs.

17. A method for communication, the method comprising: At a cell in the network: selecting a first TRP of a plurality of transmission reception points TRPs associated with a cell of the network; Transmitting first radio resource control RRC configuration information including quasi co-location information QCL-info with a physical cell identity PCI to a user equipment UE; Transmitting second RRC configuration information including a physical uplink control channel PUCCH path loss reference signal PUCCH-PathlossReferenceRS and a second PCI to the UE; Transmitting third RRC configuration information including a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH path loss reference signal PUSCH-PathlossReferenceRS and a third PCI to the UE; transmitting a signal to the UE via the selected TRP, wherein the signal is configured to trigger a semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) report at the UE; as well as The SP-CSI report including CSI corresponding to each TRP in the multiple TRPs is received from the UE.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of TRPs is a group of TRPs including at least the first TRP, the second TRP, the third TRP, and the fourth TRP.

19. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: In response to the measurement report, scheduling transmission of downlink data from a second TRP that is different from the first TRP.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the signal configured to trigger SP-CSI at the UE is one of a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

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