More reliable Physical Downlink Control Channel reception

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to techniques for receiving physical downlink control channel transmissions with higher reliability in a wireless communication system. A wireless device may establish a wireless link with a cellular base station. The wireless device may receive downlink control channel configuration information from the cellular base station. In a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information may configure control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points. During a monitoring occasion configured by the search space that configures control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points, the wireless device may perform blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication and, more particularly, to systems, apparatuses, and methods for receiving physical downlink control channel transmissions with higher reliability in a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these features. Additionally, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with the WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH TN etc.

[0003] The introduction of an increasing number of features and functions in wireless communication devices also requires continuous improvement of wireless communication and improvement of wireless communication devices. Specifically, it is important to ensure the accuracy of signals transmitted and received by user equipment (UE) devices (e.g., via wireless devices such as cellular phones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communication). Additionally, increasing the functionality of UE devices can place a significant strain on the battery life of UE devices. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce the power requirements in the design of UE devices while allowing UE devices to maintain good transmission and reception capabilities to improve communication. Thus, improvements in this area are desired. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of apparatuses, systems, and methods for receiving physical downlink control channel transmissions with higher reliability in a wireless communication system are presented herein.

[0005] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device can receive downlink control channel configuration information that configures downlink control resources associated with multiple transmission reception points in the search space of the wireless device. Based on the configuration of the downlink control resources associated with the multiple transmission reception points in the search space, the wireless device can perform blind decoding and potentially receive downlink control information.

[0006] According to some embodiments, a wireless device may receive downlink control information jointly encoded by multiple transmission reception points or including repetitions of downlink control information provided by different transmission reception points (which may be encoded in the same way or may have different redundancy versions).

[0007] At least according to some embodiments, when downlink control information may be provided by multiple transmission reception points, such configuration and provision of downlink control information may contribute to improving the reliability of downlink control information communication by leveraging the potential of possible beam diversity.

[0008] Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with several 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.

[0009] This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it should be understood that the above features are merely examples and should not be construed as in any way narrowing the scope or essence of the subject matter described herein. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] A better understanding of the subject matter may be obtained when considering the following detailed description of various embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system is shown in accordance with some embodiments;

[0012] Figure 2 An exemplary base station communicating with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device is shown in accordance with some embodiments;

[0013] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE is shown in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station is shown in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing aspects of an exemplary possible method for providing physical downlink control channel transmissions with higher reliability in a wireless communication system;

[0016] Figure 6Aspects of an exemplary possible scenario are shown in which a single search space may be configured with multiple CORESETs, according to some embodiments;

[0017] Figure 7 Aspects of an exemplary MAC control element that may be used to update the TCI of multiple CORESETs are shown, according to some embodiments;

[0018] Figure 8 Aspects of an exemplary MAC control element that may be used to update the CORESET in another cell are shown, according to some embodiments;

[0019] Figures 9 to 12 Aspects of exemplary transmission modes that may be used to include multiple CORESETs in one search space are shown, according to some embodiments; and

[0020] Figures 13 to 15 Aspects of various possible techniques for multiple TRPs to transmit downlink control information payloads to a wireless device are shown, according to some embodiments.

[0021] 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 are described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and the detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the present disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Description

[0022] Initials and Acronyms

[0023] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows:

[0024] · UE: User Equipment

[0025] · RF: Radio Frequency

[0026] · BS: Base Station

[0027] · GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0028] · UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0029] · LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0030] · NR: New Radio

[0031] · TX: Transmission

[0032] ·RX: Receive

[0033] ·RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0034] ·TRP: Transmission and Reception Point

[0035] ·DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0036] ·CORESET: Control Resource Set

[0037] ·CSI: Channel State Information

[0038] ·CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal

[0039] Terms

[0040] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in the present disclosure:

[0041] 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-ROMs, floppy disks, or magnetic 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, e.g., hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system that executes a program, or may be located in a different second computer system that is connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter instance, 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 located at different locations in, for example, different computer systems connected via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) executable by one or more processors.

[0042] Carrier Medium — The memory medium as described above, and physical transmission media such as buses, networks, and / or other physical transmission media that convey signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0043] Computer System (or Computer)—Any one of various types of computing systems or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, Internet appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. Generally, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0044] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE Device") —Any one of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone TN , Android TN -based phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad TN , Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM , Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), laptop computers, 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. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined as encompassing any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of these devices) that a user can easily transport and that is capable of performing wireless communication.

[0045] Wireless Device —Any one of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. The wireless device can be portable (or mobile), or can be stationary or fixed in a certain location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0046] Communication Device —Any one of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication can be wired or wireless. The communication device can be portable (or mobile), or can be stationary or fixed in a certain location. A wireless device is an example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0047] Base Station (BS)-- The term "base station" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and is used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0048] Processing Element (or Processor) – Refers to various elements or combinations of elements that can perform functions in a device (such as a user equipment device or a cellular network device). Processing elements can include, for example: a processor and associated memory, parts 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 one of the various combinations above.

[0049] Wi-Fi — The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provides 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 different from cellular networks.

[0050] Automatically — Refers to the execution of an action or operation by a computer system (such as software executed by a computer system) or a device (such as a circuit, programmable hardware element, ASIC, etc.) without directly specifying or performing the action or operation through user input. Thus, the term "automatically" contrasts with a user manually performing or specifying an operation, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process can be initiated by input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that are "automatically" performed are not specified by the user, i.e., are not "manually" performed, where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out a spreadsheet by selecting each field and providing input to specify information (such as by typing 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's actions. The form can be filled out automatically by the computer system, where the computer system (such as software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, the user can invoke the automatic filling of the form but does not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but they are completed automatically). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by the user.

[0051] Configured to—Various components can be described as “configured to” perform one or more tasks. In such an environment, “configured to” is a broad statement that generally means “having” the “structure” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when a component is not currently performing a task, the component can be configured to perform that 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” the “circuitry” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when a component is not currently powered on, the component can be configured to perform a task. Generally, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” can include hardware circuitry.

[0052] For ease of description, various components can be described as performing one or more tasks. Such a description should be interpreted to include the phrase “configured to”. A component described as configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke the construction of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6, for that component.

[0053] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary communication system

[0054] 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 possible systems, and the embodiment can be implemented in any of various systems as needed.

[0055] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user equipments 106A, 106B, etc., up to 106N via a transmission medium. Each user equipment can be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE) or UE device. Thus, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0056] Base station 102 may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or cell site, and may include hardware and / or software for implementing wireless communication with UEs 106A to 106N. If base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (e.g., the core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, and various possible networks). Thus, base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and / or between user devices and 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, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent the network when considering the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Thus, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood to be a UE that communicates with the network.

[0057] Base station 102 and user equipment may be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any one of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), which are also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2, CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0058] Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus provide, as one or more cell networks, which may provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping services to UEs 106 and similar devices over a certain geographical area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0059] 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 3GPP cellular communication standards or 3GPP2 cellular communication standards. 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 TM, communicate with one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile TV broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0060] 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. The UE 106 can be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or a tablet, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an unmanned aircraft controller (UAC), a vehicle, or almost any type of wireless device. The UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The UE 106 can execute any of the method embodiments described in the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an integrated circuit, and / or any one of various other possible hardware components configured to execute (e.g., individually or in combination) any one of the method embodiments described herein or any part of any one of the method embodiments described herein. The UE106 can be configured to communicate using any one of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE 106 can 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.

[0061] The 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, the UE 106 may share one or more parts of the receive chain and / or the transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio components may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Generally, the radio components may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio components can implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware.

[0062] In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit chains and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol it is configured to communicate with. As another possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include shared radio components for communicating using any of LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and separate radio components for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH TM and each of the others. Other configurations are possible.

[0063] Figure 3 -Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0064] Figure 3 A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 in accordance with some embodiments is shown. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide a display signal to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of a variety of possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit configured to detect the motion of the UE 106 using, for example, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuit 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, for example, for measuring the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of the UE 106. As needed, any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuits may also or alternatively be included in the UE 106. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in a memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as the display circuit 304, radio components 330, connector I / F 320, and / or the display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0065] As shown, the SOC 300 can be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 can include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH TM , Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 can 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 communication with a base station and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 can include fewer or more antennas. Generally speaking, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, the UE device 106 can use the antenna 335 via the radio circuitry 330 to perform wireless communication. As described above, in some embodiments, the UE can be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0066] The UE 106 can include hardware and software components for implementing the methods of the UE 106 to perform more reliable downlink control reception techniques, such as the techniques further described hereinbelow. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 can 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 can 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 can be coupled to other components as Figure 3 shown and / or interoperate with other components to perform more reliable downlink control reception techniques according to the various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 can also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

[0067] In some embodiments, the radio component 330 can include separate controllers dedicated to controlling communication for various respective RAT standards. For example, as Figure 3 shown, the radio component 330 can include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and BLUETOOTH TMa controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as corresponding integrated circuits (referred to simply as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (more specifically with the processor 302). For example, the Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or a WCI interface, and / or BLUETOOTH TM The controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or the like. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio component 330, other embodiments may be implemented in the UE device 106 with fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs.

[0068] Additionally, embodiments are envisioned in which the controller may implement functions associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to the hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communication, the cellular controller 354 may further 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.

[0069] Figure 4 -Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0070] Figure 4 A block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 4 the base station shown is only one example of possible base stations. 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 circuits or devices that may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in a memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0071] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to, as described above in Figure 1 and Figure 2Multiple devices of the telephone network as described, such as UE device 106. Network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured or alternatively configured to be coupled to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices such as UE device 106. In some cases, 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).

[0072] 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 UE device 106 via radio component 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio component 430 via communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 430 may be designed to communicate via various radio telecommunications standards, including but not limited to NR, LTE, LTE-A, WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. Processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support the implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, such as by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, 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), base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, e.g., it may include at least one Ethernet port, and radio component 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0073] Figure 5 — Downlink control reception technology with higher reliability

[0074] Wireless communication is being used in an increasingly wide range of use cases. For at least some such types of communication, the robustness and reliability of the communication may be particularly important. Therefore, it may be useful to expand the range of communication types that can be performed in a highly robust and reliable manner.

[0075] One such area may include downlink control communication and / or other communication that may be performed on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of a cellular communication system. Specifically, 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.

[0076] Therefore, Figure 5is 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.

[0077] 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 appropriate, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components 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 illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0078] It is noted that although the present invention is described in terms of using 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.

[0079] 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 the cellular network via 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 the cellular network via 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.).

[0080] Establishing a radio link may include, at least according to some embodiments, establishing an RRC connection with a serving cellular base station. 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 various other possible features, e.g., related to 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 the RRC connected state. In some instances, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a certain period of inactivity with respect to data communication), in which case the wireless device may operate in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state. In some instances, e.g., due to wireless device mobility, changes in wireless medium conditions, and / or any of various other possible reasons, the wireless device may perform a handover (e.g., when in the RRC connected mode) or cell reselection (e.g., when in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell.

[0081] At least according to some embodiments, a wireless device may establish multiple radio links with multiple TRPs of a cellular network, for example, according to a multi-TRP configuration. In such scenarios (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), e.g., the one or more TCIs may correspond to various beams that can be used for communication with the TRP. Additionally, there may be cases where one or more of the configured TCI states may be activated by a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) of the wireless device at a particular time.

[0082] At least in some instances, establishing a radio link may include the wireless device providing capability information of the wireless device. Such capability information may include information related to any of various types of wireless device capabilities.

[0083] In 504, the cellular base station may provide the wireless device with downlink control channel configuration information (which may include a control resource set (CORESET) and / or search space configuration information among various possibilities). At least according to some embodiments, configuring one or more CORESETs may indicate certain downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring resources in the frequency domain, while configuring one or more search spaces may indicate the time domain patterns for searching downlink control channel communications. Thus, configuring the search space can effectively configure a set of downlink control channel monitoring opportunities such that at least in some instances, in each monitoring / decoding opportunity, the wireless device can perform hypothesis testing (blind decoding) to decode potential downlink control information from various possible downlink control channel candidates available for the downlink control channel, e.g., according to 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.

[0084] RRC control signaling, MAC signaling (e.g., MAC CE), or a combination thereof among various possibilities may be used to provide the downlink control channel configuration information. In the search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information may configure the control resources associated with multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs). For example, the search space may be configured with multiple CORESETs, where each CORESET is associated with a different TRP. Thus, it may be the case that the search space is configured with a first CORESET associated with a first TRP and a second CORESET associated with a second TRP.

[0085] To configure multiple CORESETs for the search space, it may be the case that various parameters of each CORESET of the search space can be configured independently, e.g., such that different configurations are possible. For example, each CORESET of the search space may be configured with a different identifier. Thus, each CORESET may be configured with a different CORESETPoolIndex, or may be associated with a different physical cell identifier (PCI) such that each CORESET can correspond to a TRP. Additionally, the downlink control channel configuration information may configure different beam configurations for each CORESET of the search space (e.g., different TCIs may be configured for each CORESET by MAC-CE). In some instances, for each CORESET of the search space, the downlink control channel configuration information may further (or alternatively) configure different slot periodicity, slot offset, and / or symbols within the slot.

[0086] In at least some instances, the ability to support simultaneous updates of the TCI for multiple CORESETs (e.g., using the same MAC CE) may be useful, for example, if the search space is likely to 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, the MAC-CE being configured to modify the beam configuration for each of multiple CORESETs in a search space, e.g., using a MAC-CE format that supports modification of the beam configuration for 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 that provided the MAC-CE).

[0087] In at least some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information may configure two CORESETs in a search space according to a consistent transmission mode. For example, as one possibility, a time-division multiplexing transmission mode may be used, e.g., such that these CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and the frequency domain resource allocation for these CORESETs is the same. As another possibility, a frequency-division multiplexing mode may be used, e.g., such that these CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain and the time domain resource allocation for these CORESETs is the same. As yet another possibility, a time-division multiplexing mode and a frequency-division multiplexing mode may be used, e.g., such that these CORESETs do not overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain. As yet another possibility, a spatial-division multiplexing mode may be used, e.g., such that multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain. In such scenarios, among the various possibilities, the wireless device may be able to distinguish the CORESETs at least in part based on their respective beam configurations and / or using digital signal processing.

[0088] In at least some embodiments, this may be helpful (e.g., to simplify wireless device physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) hypothesis testing) to limit certain CORESET parameters when the search space is configured with multiple CORESETs. For example, there may be a situation where each CORESET is configured (explicitly or implicitly) to have 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 needed, one or more such parameters between multiple CORESETs configured in the same search space may be different.

[0089] In some instances, a search space may be configured with one CORESET, and multiple TCIs may be configured for that CORESET (e.g., each TCI potentially associated with a different TRP). At least according to some embodiments, in such scenarios, there may be cases where PDCCH repetition is configured, and different repetitions may be associated with different TRPs.

[0090] 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.

[0091] In 506, using one or more CORESETs included in a search space, a cellular base station (and potentially one or more other cellular base stations / TRPs) can provide downlink control information (DCI) to a wireless device. During one or more monitoring occasions configured by the search space, the wireless device can perform blind decoding (e.g., according to downlink control channel configuration information), based on which the wireless device can detect and decode the downlink control information provided by the cellular base station (and potentially one or more other cellular base stations / TRPs).

[0092] According to some embodiments, the payload of DCI can be provided from multiple TRPs according to one of various possible coding techniques. For example, as one possibility, the payload of DCI can be jointly encoded across multiple TRPs. In such scenarios, at least as one possibility, a network entity can coordinate the multiple TRPs for the joint encoding of DCI. As another example, from each of the multiple TRPs, a repetition of the DCI payload encoded in the same manner can be provided to the wireless device. As yet another example, from each of the multiple TRPs, a repetition of the DCI payload encoded with different redundancy versions can be provided to the wireless device.

[0093] 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 for each aggregation level. In such scenarios, there may correspondingly be a situation where, in each such CORESET, a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates is effectively configured, and this can be assumed by the wireless device when performing blind decoding of the search space. Thus, there may be a situation where it is possible to configure multiple CORESETs in a search space without increasing the total number of PDCCH candidates, assuming that the wireless device is capable of performing PDCCH candidate assumption testing.

[0094] As also described previously herein, in some instances, the following may occur: the same CORESET may be configured with multiple TCIs, whereby in a single search space, control resources associated with multiple TRPs are potentially configured. In such scenarios, the following may also occur: when performing blind decoding of the search space, a wireless device may assume a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates associated with each TRP. Thus, the following may occur: such a configuration may also be possible without increasing the total number of PDCCH candidates, for which the wireless device is assumed to be able to perform PDCCH candidate hypothesis testing.

[0095] Note that when using PDCCH repetition or PDCCH multi-beam transmission to transmit the same DCI among PDCCH candidates from multiple TRPs, there may be multiple options regarding the number of blind detections and non-overlapping control channel elements that are counted. Specifically, according to various embodiments, the following may occur: the number of DCI hypothesis decodings may be double-counted (e.g., each decoding may be double-counted, or parts of the multi-beam transmission may be counted separately), or may not be double-counted (e.g., all repetitions / parts of the DCI transmission may be counted together).

[0096] Thus, Figure 5 the method can be used to provide an architecture to configure and perform downlink control transmission in a more reliable manner. At least according to some embodiments, such an architecture is particularly useful in supporting the PDCCH search space, PDCCH coding, and / or PDCCH candidate TCI configuration optimization process, which utilizes the potential availability of multiple TRPs to provide stronger beam diversity for downlink control communication and other possible benefits.

[0097] Figures 6 to 15 and additional information

[0098] Figures 6 to 15 illustrates additional aspects that may be used in conjunction with the Figure 5 method if desired. However, it should be noted that the exemplary details shown in Figures 6 to 15 and described with reference to Figures 6 to 15 are not intended to limit the present disclosure as a whole: many variations and alternatives of the details provided hereinbelow are possible and should be considered within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0099] In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular communications, the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) can be used to provide Downlink Control Information (DCI) to a wireless device. In existing 3GPP PDCCH designs, a Control Resource Set (CORESET) can be configured (e.g., using RRC control signaling such as the "ControlResourceSet" information element), potentially including an indication of the frequency-domain resource allocation of the CORESET and the duration of the CORESET (e.g., 1 / 2 / 3 symbols). According to some embodiments, there may be a situation where, for multi-DCI multi-Transmit-Receive Point (TRP) operation, each Bandwidth Part (BWP) can be configured with up to 5 CORESETs, and for other operations, each BWP can be configured with up to 3 CORESETs. Additionally, there may be a situation where each Component Carrier (CC) can be configured with up to 4 BWPs, and each CC can be configured with up to a total of 16 CORESETs.

[0100] A time-domain pattern for performing PDCCH monitoring can also be configured (e.g., using RRC signaling such as the "SearchSpace" information element). At least according to some embodiments, there may be a situation where each SearchSpace can contain only one CORESET, and each BWP per CC can be configured with up to 10 SearchSpaces.

[0101] According to 3GPP Release 15, it is possible to use one Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) to update the Transmission Control Indicator (TCI) for a CORESET (PDCCH) with the same ID. According to 3GPP Release 16, it is possible to use one MAC CE to update the TCI for a CORESET with an indicated ID in a CC list.

[0102] According to existing designs, PDCCH reliability may be relatively limited, e.g., because the maximum duration of the PDCCH is potentially limited to 3 symbols or less, since each CORESET can be configured with only one beam (e.g., without multi-beam diversity), and PDCCH aggregation may not be supported.

[0103] Therefore, techniques are proposed herein that can improve PDCCH communication reliability, e.g., including one or more techniques related to search space configuration, PDCCH coding, and PDCCH candidate TCI configuration.

[0104] As one such possible technique, it is possible to configure 2 CORESETs for a search space. According to some embodiments, each such CORESET may correspond to a TRP. It may be the case that 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 beams or TCIs of each CORESET independently (e.g., via MAC-CE). For each CORESET, it may be the case that the monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset and the monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot may have different configurations or may have the same configuration. Figure 6 Aspects of such an exemplary possible scenario in which a single search space may be configured with multiple CORESETs are shown, according to some embodiments.

[0105] It is still possible to support using a single MAC-CE to update the TCIs for multiple CORESETs simultaneously. Figure 7 A possible MAC-CE design for such a purpose is shown. In such a scenario, at least as a possibility, the following may be included: a 5-bit serving cell ID field; a "C" field that indicates whether there is configuration information for another CORESET subsequently within the MAC-CE (e.g., where C = 1 indicates there is another CORESET subsequently, and C = 0 indicates the final CORESET of the MAC-CE); a 4-bit CORESET ID field; a TCI state ID field that includes a 6-bit index of the TCI list configured by RRC for the PDCCH; and one or more reserved bits "R".

[0106] Furthermore, it is possible to support using a single MAC-CE to update one or more CORESETs associated with different PCIs. Figure 8 A possible MAC-CE design for such a purpose is shown. In such a scenario, at least as a possibility, it may include a 10-bit PCI field, as well as a "C" field, a 4-bit CORESET ID field, and a 6-bit TCI state ID field.

[0107] When the search space contains two CORESETs, it is possible to configure these CORESETs in the time domain and frequency domain according to any one of a variety of possible patterns. Figures 9 to 12 Exemplary aspects of various possible such transmission patterns that can be used to include multiple CORESETs in a single search space are shown, according to some embodiments.

[0108] In Figure 9In the patterns shown, a time-division multiplexing (TDM) method can be used such that the two CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain. In such cases, the frequency-domain resource allocations of the two CORESETs can be the same (e.g., can be fully overlapped).

[0109] In Figure 10 the patterns shown, a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) method can be used such that the two CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain; the frequency-domain resource allocations of the two CORESETs can be offset from each other. In this case, the time-domain resource allocations of the two CORESETs can be the same (e.g., can be fully overlapped).

[0110] In Figure 11 the patterns shown, TDM and FDM methods can be used such that the two CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and also do not overlap in the frequency domain.

[0111] In Figure 12 the patterns shown, a space-division multiplexing method can be used, where the two CORESETs are fully overlapped in both the time domain and the frequency domain. In such cases, different beams and / or signal processing can be used to distinguish the CORESET signals.

[0112] When the search space contains two CORESETs, it is possible to establish one or more constraints to simplify the UE PDCCH hypothesis testing, e.g., when performing blind decoding. For example, according to various embodiments, it is possible to establish two such CORESETs, which can 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.

[0113] As previously mentioned, one or more PDCCH coding techniques can also be or alternatively introduced to potentially improve PDCCH reliability, e.g., including techniques that can utilize multi-beam (e.g., multi-TRP) PDCCH configurations. Figures 13 to 15 Various such techniques for multiple TRPs to transmit downlink control information payloads to a wireless device according to some embodiments are shown. There may be a situation where when transmitting DCI from two TRPs, the two TRPs transmit the same payload. Encoding the same payload across two TRPs can be performed in any of a variety of possible ways. As one possibility, Figure 13 a scenario of jointly encoding the same payload across two TRPs is shown. As another possibility, Figure 14 a scenario of encoding the same payload in the same way in each TRP is shown (e.g., each TRP can transmit exactly the same repetition). As yet another possibility, Figure 15Illustrates a scenario where each TRP encodes the same payload using different redundancy versions.

[0114] As also mentioned above, it is possible to introduce PDCCH candidate TCI configuration techniques to potentially improve PDCCH reliability, e.g., in combination with supporting potential multi-TRP PDCCH operation. 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 for each aggregation level. There may be a situation where a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates in each such CORESET can be assumed. Therefore, there may be a situation 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 SearchSpace information element (e.g., using the nrofCandidates field) can be used to provide the PDCCH candidate configuration, as further shown and described in Section 6.3.2 of 3GPP TS 38.331 v.16.1.0.

[0115] It is also possible to configure the same CORESET for multiple TRPs, e.g., the CORESET is configured with different TCIs (e.g., each TCI represents a different TRP). In such scenarios, PDCCH repetition can be configured such that the repetition can be provided by different TRPs. There may be a situation where a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates in each CORESET can be assumed. Therefore, there may be a situation where in such scenarios, the UE does not need to assume an increase in the total number of PDCCH candidates for hypothesis testing.

[0116] Note that when using PDCCH repetition or using PDCCH multi-beam transmission to transmit the same DCI among PDCCH candidates from multiple TRPs, there may be multiple possibilities for considering such transmissions regarding the number of blind detection (BD) and 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.

[0117] In the following, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0118] A set of implementation embodiments may include a baseband processor configured to perform operations, the operations including: establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station; receiving control resource set (CORESET) configuration information from the cellular base station, where the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for a search space; and performing blind decoding of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates during a monitoring occasion configured by the search space.

[0119] According to some implementation 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.

[0120] According to some implementation embodiments, the CORESET configuration information configures different beam configurations for each CORESET of the search space.

[0121] According to some implementation embodiments, for each CORESET of the search space, the CORESET configuration information configures different slot periodicity, slot offset, and / or symbols within a slot.

[0122] According to some implementation embodiments, the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations, the operations including: receiving a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) configured to modify the beam configuration for each of the multiple CORESETs.

[0123] According to some implementation embodiments, the MAC-CE indicates that the multiple CORESETs are associated with a cell different from the cell from which the MAC-CE is received.

[0124] According to some implementation embodiments, according to a transmission mode that is one of the following, the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for the search space: time division multiplexing, such 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, such that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain and the time domain resource allocations of the multiple CORESETs are the same; time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing, such that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and also do not overlap in the frequency domain; space division multiplexing, such that the multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain.

[0125] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device comprising: an antenna; radio components operatively coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio components; 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 a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs); and perform blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates during a monitoring occasion configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs.

[0126] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) in the search space, wherein each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0127] According to some embodiments, for blind decoding hypothesis testing for a wireless device, one or more of the following are configured for a CORESET in the search space: 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.

[0128] According to some embodiments, for one control source set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of transmission control indicators (TCIs), wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetition, wherein different repetitions are associated with different TRPs.

[0129] According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configured to: receive downlink control information (DCI) at least partially based on the blind decoding performed during a monitoring occasion configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs, wherein the DCI is jointly encoded across a plurality of TRPs.

[0130] According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configured to: receive downlink control information (DCI) at least partially based on the blind decoding performed during a 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 of at least two TRPs.

[0131] According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) at least partially based on blind decoding performed during a monitoring occasion configured by a search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs), wherein a payload of the DCI is received from each of at least two TRPs, and wherein payloads with different redundancy versions are received from each of the at least two TRPs.

[0132] Another set of embodiments may include a method that includes: 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 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs); and performing blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates during a monitoring occasion configured by the search space configured with control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs.

[0133] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) in the search space, wherein each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0134] 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 a plurality of CORESETs in the search space, and when blind decoding is performed during a monitoring occasion configured by the search space, the wireless device assumes a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates in each CORESET.

[0135] 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 slot periodicities; different slot offsets; or different symbols within a slot.

[0136] According to some embodiments, for one control resource set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of transmission control indicators (TCIs), wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

[0137] According to some embodiments, when blind decoding is performed during a monitoring occasion configured by the search space, the wireless device assumes a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates associated with each TCI.

[0138] Another set of implementation examples may include a device that includes: 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, where the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for a search space; and use the CORESETs included in the search space configured with multiple CORESETs to provide downlink control information (DCI) to the wireless device.

[0139] According to some implementation examples, 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.

[0140] According to some implementation examples, the CORESET configuration information configures different beam configurations for each CORESET of the search space.

[0141] According to some implementation examples, for each CORESET of the search space, the CORESET configuration information configures different slot periodicities, slot offsets, and / or symbols within the slot.

[0142] According to some implementation examples, the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: provide a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and the MAC CE is configured to modify the beam configuration for each CORESET of the multiple CORESETs.

[0143] According to some implementation examples, the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: provide a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and the MAC CE is configured to modify the beam configuration for each CORESET of the multiple CORESETs associated with different cellular base stations.

[0144] According to some implementation examples, according to a transmission mode that is one of the following, the CORESET configuration information configures multiple CORESETs for the search space: time division multiplexing, such that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the time domain and have the same frequency domain resource allocation; frequency division multiplexing, such that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in the frequency domain and have the same time domain resource allocation; time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing, such that the multiple CORESETs do not overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain; space division multiplexing, such that the multiple CORESETs completely overlap in both the time domain and the frequency domain.

[0145] Another set of embodiments may include a cellular base station, the cellular base station including: an antenna; radio components operatively coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio components; wherein the cellular base station is configured to: establish a wireless link with a wireless device; and provide the wireless device with downlink control channel configuration information, wherein in a search space for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs).

[0146] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) in the search space, wherein each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0147] According to some embodiments, for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, one or more of the following are configured for a plurality of CORESETs in the search space: 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.

[0148] According to some embodiments, for one control resource set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of transmission control indicators (TCIs), wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetition, wherein different repetitions are associated with different TRPs.

[0149] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is further configured to: use the control resources included in the search space to provide 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 to the wireless device.

[0150] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is further configured to: use the control resources included in the search space to provide a repetition of a downlink control information (DCI) payload, 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 the control resources included in the search space.

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

[0152] Another set of embodiments may include a method that includes: 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 and reception points (TRPs); and using the control resources included in the search space to provide downlink control information (DCI) to the wireless device.

[0153] According to some embodiments, the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) in the search space, wherein each CORESET in the search space is associated with a different TRP.

[0154] 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 performing blind decoding of the search space, a one-to-one mapping between the PDCCH candidates in each CORESET is configured for the wireless device.

[0155] 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 slot periodicities; different slot offsets; or different symbols within a slot.

[0156] According to some embodiments, for one control resource set (CORESET), the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators (TCIs), wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

[0157] According to some embodiments, when performing blind decoding of the search space, a one-to-one mapping between the PDCCH candidates associated with each TCI is configured for the wireless device.

[0158] Another exemplary embodiment may include a method that includes: by a device, performing any or all parts of the foregoing examples.

[0159] Another exemplary embodiment may include a device that includes: an antenna; radio components coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operatively coupled to the radio components, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all parts of the foregoing examples.

[0160] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium including program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all parts of any of the foregoing examples.

[0161] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program including instructions for performing any or all parts of any of the foregoing examples.

[0162] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus including means for performing any or all elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0163] Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus including a processing element configured to cause a device to perform any or all elements described in any of the foregoing examples.

[0164] 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.

[0165] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0166] By interpreting each message / signal X received by a user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by a base station, and 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 can form the basis for a corresponding method for operating a base station.

[0167] 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 memory medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as an ASIC. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as an FPGA.

[0168] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory 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 execute 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 of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0169] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set 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, and wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any one of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of a variety of forms.

[0170] While the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully understood. The present disclosure is intended that the following claims be construed to cover all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A baseband processor, the baseband processor including circuitry configured to perform operations, the operations including: Communicating with a cellular base station via a wireless link; Receiving downlink control channel configuration information from the cellular base station, wherein for a wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs), wherein the control resources include a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs), wherein each CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs is associated with a different TRP, and wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures the search for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates in the plurality of CORESETs having the same number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level and a one-to-one mapping between PDCCH candidates; And Performing blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates during a monitoring occasion configured by the downlink control channel configuration information.

2. The baseband processor according to claim 1, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures one or more of the following for different CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs: Different beam configurations; Different slot periodicities; Different slot offsets; or Different symbols within a slot.

3. The baseband processor according to claim 1, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of transmission control indicators (TCIs) for a CORESET, wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

4. The baseband processor according to claim 1, wherein for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, the CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs are configured with the same periodicity.

5. The baseband processor according to claim 1, wherein for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, the CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs are configured with at least one of the following: The same control channel element (CCE) to resource element group (REG) mapping, or The same REG bundle size configuration.

6. The baseband processor according to claim 1, the operations further including: Receiving downlink control information (DCI) at least partially based on the blind decoding performed during the monitoring occasion configured by the downlink control channel configuration information that configures control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs.

7. The baseband processor according to claim 6, wherein the payload of the DCI is received from each of at least two TRPs, and wherein the payload is received from each of the at least two TRPs with different redundancy versions.

8. A method for wireless communication, including: Communicating with a wireless device via a wireless link; And Transmit downlink control channel configuration information to the wireless device, wherein for the wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs), wherein the control resources include a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs), wherein each CORESET in the plurality of CORESETs is associated with a different TRP, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures the search for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates in the plurality of CORESETs having the same number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level and a one-to-one mapping between the PDCCH candidates, and wherein the downlink control channel configuration information can be used to perform blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates during a monitoring occasion configured by the downlink control channel configuration information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures one or more of the following for different CORESETs in the plurality of CORESETs: different beam configurations; different slot periodicities; different slot offsets; or different symbols within a slot.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures a plurality of transmission control indicators (TCIs) for a CORESET, wherein each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, the CORESETs in the plurality of CORESETs are configured with the same periodicity.

12. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: transmit downlink control information (DCI) to the wireless device, at least partially based on the blind decoding performed during the monitoring occasion configured by the downlink control channel configuration information that configures control resources associated with a plurality of TRPs.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the payload of the DCI is transmitted from each of at least two TRPs, and wherein the payload is transmitted from each of the at least two TRPs with different redundancy versions.

14. A method for wireless communication, comprising: communicate with a cellular base station via a wireless link; receive downlink control channel configuration information from the cellular base station, wherein for a wireless device, the downlink control channel configuration information configures control resources associated with a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs), wherein the control resources include a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs), wherein each CORESET in the plurality of CORESETs is associated with a different TRP, and wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures the search for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates in the plurality of CORESETs having the same number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level and a one-to-one mapping between the PDCCH candidates; and perform blind decoding of downlink control channel candidates during a monitoring occasion configured by the downlink control channel configuration information.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures one or more of the following for different CORESETs among the multiple CORESETs: different beam configurations; different slot periodicities; different slot offsets; or different symbols within a slot.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the downlink control channel configuration information configures multiple transmission control indicators (TCI) for a CORESET, and each TCI is associated with a different TRP.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein, for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, the CORESETs among the multiple CORESETs are configured with the same periodicity.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein, for blind decoding hypothesis testing of a wireless device, the CORESETs among the multiple CORESETs are configured with at least one of the following: the same control channel element (CCE) to resource element group (REG) mapping; or the same REG bundle size configuration.

19. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: receiving downlink control information (DCI) at least partially based on the blind decoding performed during the monitoring occasion configured by the downlink control channel configuration information that configures control resources associated with multiple TRPs.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the payload of the DCI is received from each of at least two TRPs, and the payload is received from each of the at least two TRPs with different redundancy versions.

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