Method, User Equipment, and Baseband Processor for Reporting Channel State Information for Multi-TRP Operation

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method, a user equipment, and a baseband processor for reporting channel state information for multi-TRP operation. A user equipment (UE) reports channel state information for a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs) to a network. The UE collects channel state information (CSI) corresponding to the plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs), receives a signal configured to trigger semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) reporting from a first TRP among the plurality of TRPs, generates an SP-CSI report including the CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs, and transmits the SP-CSI report to a cell associated with the plurality of TRPs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to reporting channel state information for multi-TRP operation. Background Art

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

[0003] The network may deploy multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs), each of which is configured to perform beamforming. To establish and maintain a beam between the 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 CSI may be used by the network 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: collecting channel state information (CSI) corresponding to multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs); receiving, from a first TRP among the multiple TRPs, a signal configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report; generating an SP-CSI report including the CSI corresponding to each of the multiple TRPs; and transmitting the SP-CSI report to a cell associated with the multiple TRPs.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) including: a transceiver configured to communicate with multiple networks; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations include: collecting channel state information (CSI) corresponding to multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs); receiving, from a first TRP among the multiple TRPs, a signal configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report; generating an SP-CSI report including the CSI corresponding to each of the multiple TRPs; and transmitting the SP-CSI report to a cell associated with the multiple TRPs.

[0006] Some other exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method includes: collecting channel state information (CSI) corresponding to a plurality of transmission reception points (TRP); receiving, from a first TRP among the plurality of TRP, a signal configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report; generating an SP-CSI report including CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of TRP; and transmitting the SP-CSI report to a cell associated with the plurality of TRP. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0008] Figure 2 An example of a plurality of transmission reception points (TRP) deployed at different locations is shown.

[0009] Figure 3 An exemplary user equipment (UE) according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

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

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

[0012] Figure 6 An example of a MAC CE configured to activate an SP-CSI report including CSI of a plurality of TRP is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related drawings, in which like elements are denoted with the same reference numerals. Exemplary embodiments relate to beam management for multi-transmission reception point (TRP) operation.

[0014] Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to a UE. However, the reference to the UE is provided for illustrative purposes only. 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. Thus, the UE as described herein is used to represent any suitable electronic component.

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

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

[0017] From the perspective of a receiving device, beamforming can refer to tuning the receiver to listen in a direction of interest. Throughout the specification, the spatial region enclosed by a receiver listening in a direction of interest may be referred to as a "beam" or a "receiver beam". A receiver beam can be generated by configuring the parameters of a spatial filter on the 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 can also vary in width and can be directed over any one of a plurality of different regions of interest.

[0018] In addition, exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a next-generation Node B (gNB) configured with multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs). Throughout the specification, a TRP generally refers to a set of components configured to transmit and / or receive beams. The examples provided below will be described with respect to a deployment scenario in which multiple TRPs are deployed at various different locations and are 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 understand that a TRP is configured to be adaptable to a variety of different conditions and deployment scenarios. Thus, any indexing of a TRP as a particular network component or of multiple TRPs deployed in a particular arrangement is for illustrative purposes only. The TRP as described herein can represent any type of network component configured to transmit and / or receive beams.

[0019] Exemplary embodiments relate to implementing beam management techniques both on the UE side and the network side. Beam management generally refers to a set of procedures configured to acquire and maintain a beam between a TRP and a UE. In one aspect, exemplary embodiments relate to a 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 of multiple TRPs will be provided in detail below. Other aspects of the exemplary embodiments include configuring one of the multiple TRPs as a special cell for 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 can be used in combination 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 understand that the UE 110 can 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 understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

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

[0022] The 5G NR RAN 120 can be part of a cellular network deployable by a network operator (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). The 5G NR RAN 120 can include, for example, cells or base stations (Node B, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macro base station, micro base station, small cell base station, femto cell base station, 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 cell 120A representing a gNB configured to have multiple TRPs. Each TRP can represent one or more components configured to transmit and / or receive beams. By way of example, multiple small cells can be deployed at different locations and connected to the gNB. In some embodiments, multiple TRPs can be locally deployed at cell 120A. In other embodiments, multiple TRPs can 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, gNB 205 is configured with a first TRP 210 via backhaul connection 212, a second TRP 220 via backhaul connection 222, a third TRP 230 via backhaul connection 232, and a fourth TRP 240 via backhaul connection 242. Each of the TRPs 210 - 240 can transmit beams to and / or receive beams from UE 110. However, gNB 205 can be configured to control the TRPs 210 - 240 and perform operations such as, but not limited to, the following: assign resources, activate / deactivate CSI reference signals corresponding to a particular TRP, activate / deactivate CSI reporting for a particular TRP, configure a TRP as a special cell for UE 110, implement beam management techniques, etc.

[0025] Figure 2 The example shown is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments in any way. Those skilled in the art will understand that 5G NR TRPs are applicable to a variety of different conditions and deployment scenarios. An actual network arrangement can include any number of different types of cells and / or TRPs, deployed by any number of RANs in any suitable arrangement. Thus, Figure 1 the single cell 120A in Figure 2 and the example of the single gNB 205 with four TRPs 210 - 240 in

[0026] Return Figure 1For the network arrangement 100, cell 120A may include one or more communication interfaces to exchange data and / or information with a UE, the corresponding RAN 120, the cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, etc. In addition, cell 120A may include a processor configured to perform various operations. For example, the processor of cell 120A may be configured to perform operations related to access prohibition. However, the reference to the processor is for illustrative purposes only. The operations of cell 120A may also be represented as stand-alone combined components of cell 120A, or may be modular components coupled to cell 120A, for example, integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry 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 embodiments may be implemented according to any of these or other configurations of the cell.

[0027] UE 110 may be connected to the 5G NR-RAN 120 via cell 120A. Those skilled in the art will understand that any relevant processes may be performed for UE 110 to connect to the 5G NR-RAN 120. For example, as described above, the 5G NR-RAN 120 may be associated with a specific cellular provider where UE 110 and / or its user have protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 120, UE 110 may transmit the corresponding credential information to associate with the 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, UE 110 may be associated with a specific cell (e.g., cell 120A). However, as described above, the indexing of the 5G NR-RAN 120 is for illustrative purposes, and any appropriate 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 may be regarded as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operations 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 may generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to UE 110 using IP protocols. The IMS 150 may communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to 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 may 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 UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0029] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary UE 110 according to various exemplary embodiments. The UE 110 will be described with reference to Figure 1 the network arrangement 100. 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, ports 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 engines 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-mentioned engine 335 is only exemplary as an application program (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 305. The functions associated with the engine 335 may also be represented as independent combined components of the UE 110, or may be modular components coupled to the UE 110, e.g., integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit system for receiving signals and a processing circuit system for processing signals and other information. The engine 335 may also be embodied as one application program or multiple independent application programs. 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 the operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 315 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, while the I / O device 320 may be a hardware component that enables a user to make inputs. The display device 315 and the I / O device 320 may be independent components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to establish connections with a 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE-RAN (not shown in the figure), a legacy RAN (not shown in the figure), a WLAN (not shown in the figure), etc. Thus, the transceiver 325 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous frequency band).

[0033] Figure 4Signaling diagram 400 showing semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) reporting for multi-TRP operation according to various exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to Figure 1 network arrangement 100 of Figure 2 the example shown, and Figure 3 UE 110 of

[0034] In 405, UE 110 camps on cell 120A. For example, considering the scenario depicted in Figure 2 , UE 110 may camp on gNB 205.

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

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

[0037] Figure 5An example of a MAC CE configured to simultaneously activate more than one SP-NZP-CSI-RS 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) status ID field indicates the TCI status 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 to activate 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 the 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, the 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 to UE 110 via the selected TRP. 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 a MAC CE. Figure 6An example of a MAC CE configured to activate one or more SP-CSI reports for CSI including multiple TRPs is shown. The serving cell ID field may include a serving cell index (e.g., 5 bits or any other suitable type). The BWP ID field may include a BWP index (e.g., 2 bits or any other suitable type). The R field may represent reserved bits. Each S field (e.g., Si) may indicate whether the SP-CSI corresponding to a specific 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. Additionally, 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 can be used to activate or deactivate the SP-CSI of multiple TRPs.

[0042] In one example, radio resource control (RRC) signaling may configure the SP-CSI trigger state code points for each SP-CSI, which may include more than one SP-CSI trigger state (e.g., one SP-CSI trigger state for each 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 represent 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. This example may also include a reserved bit sequence defined to indicate that no SP-CSI is triggered for a specific segment.

[0045] At 425, UE 110 transmits an SP-CSI report to cell 120A in response to a 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 indirectly provided to gNB 120A via one of the TRPs.

[0046] The SP-CSI report may include CSI corresponding to the TRP that transmitted the signal at 420. Additionally, the SP-CSI report may include CSI corresponding to multiple other TRPs. For example, in the context of the example depicted in Figure 2 , consider the scenario where TRP 210 transmits a trigger signal at 420. A subsequent SP-CSI report may include CSI corresponding to TRP 210. Additionally, the SP-CSI report may also include CSI corresponding to TRP 220, CSI corresponding to TRP 230, and / or CSI corresponding to TRP 240. Thus, UE 110 may be configured to include CSI corresponding to multiple TRPs in the SP-CSI report. The example provided above describes CSI reports corresponding to four different TRPs in the same SP-CSI report. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to SP-CSI reports corresponding to four different TRPs. The SP-CSI reports described herein may be configured to include CSI corresponding to any suitable number of TRPs (e.g., 4 or more TRPs).

[0047] At 430, cell 120A may schedule the transmission of downlink data to UE 110 via one of the multiple TRPs. Cell 120A may select a particular TRP to perform the 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 subsequent downlink data from a different second TRP. At 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 an SP-CSI-RS or an SP-CSI report. Thus, although not shown in signaling diagram 400, after the transmission of downlink data, cell 120A may transmit a second MAC CE that deactivates the trigger state activated by a previous MAC CE. In other embodiments, DCI may be used to activate an SP-CSI. Thus, although not shown in signaling diagram 400, after the transmission of downlink data, cell 120A may transmit a second instance of DCI that deactivates the trigger state activated by a previous DCI.

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

[0050] As described above, another aspect of the exemplary embodiments relates to 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 to provide downlink data to UE 110 at 435 may be considered the serving cell. One or more of the other TRPs having activated SP-CSI may be configured as special cells of this 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 be transitioned into or out of the dormant mode using DCI (e.g., DCI format 2_6 or any other appropriate type of DCI).

[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 in the downlink serving cell 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 that overlap 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, an 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, a physical cell identifier (PCI) (or any other suitable type of logical index) may be introduced in the following types of RRC configuration information: quasi co-location information (QCL-info), sounding reference signal spatial relation information (SPS-SpatialRelationInfo), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) spatial relation 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 an SRS-resource set. In the Rel-15 and Rel-16 NR specifications, it is not allowed to configure a PCI for a reference signal configured for QCL that is used as a downlink TCI indication or an uplink spatial relation indication, because Rel-15 and Rel-16 NR only support intra-cell multi-TRP operation. For inter-cell multi-TRP, the TRPs may belong to different cells and thus correspond to different PCIs. Introducing a PCI in the above types of RRC configurations may allow the network to configure reference signals in another TRP for various purposes, such as but not limited to beam indication, reference signal configuration, CSI configuration, etc.

[0056] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments can be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or a 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. Exemplary embodiments of the above methods can be embodied as programs including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, can 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 one embodiment can be combined with the features of other embodiments in any manner not precluded by the disclosure or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation of the devices of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention or the said functions.

[0058] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are 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 the authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0059] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the essence or scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, 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 computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon, which when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the following operations: Receive a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) configured to activate a plurality of semi-persistent channel state information reference signals (SP-CSI-RS) for a plurality of transmission reception points (TRP), where each SP-CSI-RS corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of TRP, where the MAC CE is configured to activate the SP-CSI-RS in more than one component carrier (CC) based on a serving cell identifier (ID) indicated in the MAC CE, where all CCs sharing the same CC list as the indicated serving cell ID are activated, and where the MAC CE includes a bandwidth part (BWP) ID field, a plurality of SP-CSI-RS resource set IDs, and a plurality of SP-CSI interference measurement (SP-CSI-IM) resource set IDs; Collect channel state information (CSI) corresponding to the plurality of TRP; Receive, from a first TRP among the plurality of TRP, a signal configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report; and Generate an SP-CSI report including CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of TRP for transmission.

2. The storage medium according to claim 1, where the plurality of TRP is a set of TRP including at least the first TRP, the second TRP, the third TRP, and the fourth TRP.

3. The storage medium according to claim 1, where 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 indicator (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.

4. The storage medium according to claim 1, where the signal configured to trigger the SP-CSI report is downlink control information (DCI).

5. The storage medium according to claim 4, where the DCI includes a bitmap-based CSI request field.

6. The storage medium according to claim 1, which when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to further perform the following operations: In response to the SP-CSI report, receive downlink data from a second TRP different from the first TRP.

7. The storage medium according to claim 1, where the first TRP among the plurality of TRP is configured with a first physical cell ID (PCI), and the second TRP among the plurality of TRP is configured with a different second PCI.

8. A user equipment (UE) including: A transceiver configured to communicate with a plurality of networks; And A processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including the following: Receiving a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) configured to activate multiple semi-persistent channel state information reference signals (SP-CSI-RS) for multiple transmission reception points (TRP), where each SP-CSI-RS corresponds to a respective one of the multiple TRP, where the MAC CE is configured to activate the SP-CSI-RS in more than one component carrier (CC) based on a serving cell identification (ID) indicated in the MAC CE, where all CCs sharing the same CC list as the indicated serving cell ID are activated, and where the MAC CE includes a bandwidth part (BWP) ID field, multiple SP-CSI-RS resource set IDs, and multiple SP-CSI interference measurement (SP-CSI-IM) resource set IDs; Collecting channel state information (CSI) corresponding to the multiple TRP; Receiving, from a first TRP among the multiple TRP, a signal configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report; and Generating an SP-CSI report including CSI corresponding to each of the multiple TRP for transmission.

9. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the signal configured to trigger the SP-CSI report is downlink control information (DCI).

10. The UE according to claim 9, the operation further comprising: Receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from the cell, where the RRC message configures an SP-CSI trigger status code point including multiple SP-CSI trigger states, and where a CSI request field in the DCI activates all of the multiple SP-CSI trigger states in the same SP-CSI trigger code point.

11. The UE according to claim 9, wherein the DCI includes a CSI request bit width increased to activate the SP-CSI for the multiple TRP.

12. The UE according to claim 8, the operation further comprising: Transmitting capability information to the cell, where the capability information indicates one or more of the following: i) an equal precoding resource block group (PRG) size when physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH) from two or more TRP are to overlap in the frequency domain; ii) an equal virtual resource block (VRB) to physical resource block (PRB) interleaving when PDSCH from two or more TRP are to overlap in the frequency domain; and iii) an aperiodic-zero power-CSI-reference signal (AP-ZP-CSI-RS) rate matching performed jointly among all activated TRP.

13. A method for wireless communication, comprising: At a user equipment (UE): Receive a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) configured to activate multiple semi-persistent channel state information reference signals (SP-CSI-RS) for multiple transmission reception points (TRP), where each SP-CSI-RS corresponds to a respective one of the multiple TRP, where the MAC CE is configured to activate SP-CSI-RS in more than one component carrier (CC) based on a serving cell identifier (ID) indicated in the MAC CE, where all CCs sharing the same CC list as the indicated serving cell ID are activated, and where the MAC CE includes a bandwidth part (BWP) ID field, multiple SP-CSI-RS resource set IDs, and multiple SP-CSI interference measurement (SP-CSI-IM) resource set IDs; Collect channel state information (CSI) corresponding to the multiple TRP; Receive, from a first TRP among the multiple TRP, a signal configured to trigger a semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) report; and Generate an SP-CSI report including CSI corresponding to each of the multiple TRP for transmission.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: In response to the SP-CSI report, receive downlink data from a second TRP different from the first TRP.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the multiple TRP is a set of TRP including at least the first TRP, the second TRP, the third TRP, and the fourth TRP.

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