Systems and methods utilizing PUCCH enhancement with intra-slot repetition toward multiple TRPs

Abstract

Systems and methods for physical uplink control channel enhancement are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment in a wireless communication network includes a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the method comprising: receiving from a base station a configuration of first and second spatial relationships for uplink channel resources or a configuration of first and second TCI states, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of the uplink channel. In addition, the method comprises: transmitting the uplink channel in N consecutive sub-timeslots, and applying a first spatial relationship or a first TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a first subset of the sub-timeslots, and applying a second spatial relationship or a second TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a second subset of the sub-timeslots.

Description

[0001] Related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63 / 063,024, filed on August 7, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) reliability and latency. Background Art

[0004] The next generation of mobile wireless communication systems (5G) or New Radio (NR) will support a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios. The latter includes deployments in both low frequencies (below 6 GHz) and very high frequencies (up to tens of GHz).

[0005] NR frame structure and resource grid

[0006] NR uses cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in both the downlink (DL) (i.e., from the network node, gNB, or base station to the user equipment (UE)) and uplink (UL) (i.e., from the UE to the gNB). Discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-spread OFDM is also supported in the uplink. In the time domain, the NR downlink and uplink are organized into equal-sized subframes of 1 ms each. The subframes are further divided into multiple slots of equal duration. The slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. For a subcarrier spacing of Δf = 15 kHz, there is only one slot per subframe, and each slot consists of 14 OFDM symbols.

[0007] Data scheduling in NR is usually based on time slots, Figure 1 An example with a 14-symbol slot is shown in , where the first two symbols contain the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the remaining symbols contain the Physical Shared Data Channel, either the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0008] Different subcarrier spacing values are supported in NR. The supported subcarrier spacing values (also called different numerologies) are given by Δf=(15×2 μ )kHz, where μ∈{0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. Δf=15kHz is the basic subcarrier spacing. The time slot duration under different subcarrier spacing is given by given.

[0009] In the frequency domain, the system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs), each of which corresponds to 12 consecutive subcarriers. RBs are numbered starting with 0 from one end of the system bandwidth. Figure 2 The basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid is illustrated in FIG, where only one RB within a 14-symbol slot is shown. One OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval forms one resource element (RE).

[0010] Downlink and uplink data transmission can be scheduled by the gNB either dynamically or semi-persistently. In the case of dynamic scheduling, the gNB can transmit DL control information (DCI) on the PDCCH to the UE in downlink time slots, which relates to data carried on the PDSCH to the UE and / or data carried on the PUSCH to be transmitted by the UE. In the case of semi-persistent scheduling, periodic data transmission in certain time slots can be configured and activated / deactivated.

[0011] For each transport block data transmitted through the PDSCH, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) is sent in the UL physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to indicate whether it is successfully decoded. If it is successfully decoded, an ACK is sent, and otherwise, a negative acknowledgement (NACK) is sent.

[0012] The PUCCH can also carry other UL control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests (SRs) and DL channel state information (CSI).

[0013] PUCCH format

[0014] Five PUCCH formats are defined in NR, namely PUCCH formats 0 to 4. The UE uses PUCCH format 0 to transmit UCI in PUCCH if:

[0015] - Transmission is via 1 symbol or 2 symbols;

[0016] -The number of HARQ-ACK information bits and positive or negative SR (HARQ-ACK / SR bits) is 1 or 2;

[0017] The UE transmits UCI in PUCCH using PUCCH format 1 if:

[0018] - The transmission is via 4 or more symbols;

[0019] -The number of HARQ-ACK / SR bits is 1 or 2;

[0020] The UE transmits UCI in PUCCH using PUCCH format 2 if:

[0021] - Transmission is via 1 symbol or 2 symbols;

[0022] -The number of UCI bits is greater than 2;

[0023] The UE transmits UCI in PUCCH using PUCCH format 3 if:

[0024] - The transmission is via 4 or more symbols;

[0025] -The number of UCI bits is greater than 2;

[0026] The UE transmits UCI in PUCCH using PUCCH format 4 if:

[0027] - The transmission is via 4 or more symbols;

[0028] - The number of UCI bits is greater than 2.

[0029] PUCCH formats 0 and 2 use one or two OFDM symbols, while PUCCH formats 1, 3, and 4 can span 4 to 14 symbols. Therefore, PUCCH formats 0 and 2 are called short PUCCH, while PUCCH formats 1, 3, and 4 are called long PUCCH.

[0030] PUCCH format 0 resources can be one or two OFDM symbols within a slot in the time domain and one RB in the frequency domain. The UCI is used to select a cyclic shift of a computer-generated length-12 base sequence mapped to an RB. The starting symbol and starting RB are configured by the Radio Resource Control (RRC). When two symbols are configured, the UCI bits are repeated in two consecutive symbols.

[0031] PUCCH format 2 resources can be one or two OFDM symbols within a slot in the time domain and one or more RBs in the frequency domain. The UCI in PUCCH format 2 is encoded and scrambled using a Reed-Muller (RM) code (≤11-bit UCI + cyclic redundancy check (CRC)) or a polar code (>11-bit UCI + CRC). When two symbols are configured, the UCI is encoded and mapped across two consecutive symbols.

[0032] Intra-slot frequency hopping (FH) can be enabled when two symbols are configured for PUCCH formats 0 and 2. If FH is enabled, the starting physical resource block (PRB) in the second symbol is configured by RRC. Cyclic shift hopping is used when two symbols are configured so that different cyclic shifts are used in the two symbols. Figure 3 Examples of one and two symbol short PUCCH without FH are illustrated.

[0033] On the other hand, PUCCH format 1 resources are 4-14 symbols long and 1 PRB wide per hop. A computer-generated base sequence of length 12 is modulated with UCI and weighted with a time-domain orthogonal cover code (OCC). Frequency hopping within the active UL bandwidth part (BWP) for a UE is supported and can be enabled / disabled by RRC. Base sequence hopping across hops is enabled in the case of FH, while base sequence hopping across slots is enabled in the absence of FH.

[0034] PUCCH format 3 resources are 4-14 symbols long and one or more PRBs wide per hop. The UCI in PUCCH format 3 is encoded and scrambled with an RM code (≤11-bit UCI+CRC) or a polar code (>11-bit UCI+CRC).

[0035] PUCCH format 4 resources are also 4-14 symbols long, but 1 PRB wide per hop. It has a similar structure to PUCCH format 3, but can be used for multi-UE multiplexing.

[0036] For PUCCH formats 1, 3, or 4, the number of slots that can be Configure the UE to repeat PUCCH transmissions with the corresponding nrofSlots.

[0037] -UE Repeat the PUCCH transmission with UCI on time slots,

[0038] - The PUCCH transmission in each of the time slots has the same number of consecutive symbols,

[0039] - The PUCCH transmission in each of the time slots has the same first symbol,

[0040] If the UE is configured to perform frequency hopping on PUCCH transmissions across different time slots, then

[0041] ο UE performs frequency hopping per time slot,

[0042] o The UE transmits PUCCH starting from the first PRB in a time slot with an even number, and transmits PUCCH starting from the second PRB in a time slot with an odd number (the time slot for the first PUCCH transmission indicated to the UE has the number 0, and until the UE transmits PUCCH in a time slot with an odd number Each subsequent time slot up to the time slot in which the UE transmits PUCCH is counted, regardless of whether the UE transmits PUCCH in the time slot), and

[0043] o the UE does not wish to be configured to perform frequency hopping for PUCCH transmissions within a time slot, and

[0044] If the UE is not configured to perform frequency hopping on PUCCH transmissions across different slots, and if the UE is configured to perform frequency hopping on PUCCH transmissions within a slot, the frequency hopping pattern between the first PRB and the second PRB within each slot is the same.

[0045] Figure 4 An example of a 14-symbol and 7-symbol long PUCCH with FH within a slot enabled is illustrated. Figure 5 An example of a 14-symbol and 7-symbol long PUCCH with FH within a slot disabled is illustrated. Figure 6 Illustrated are examples of PUCCH repetition in two slots where (a) inter-slot FH is enabled and (b) inter-slot FH is disabled while intra-slot FH is enabled.

[0046] Subslot-based PUCCH transmission

[0047] In NR Release 16, subslot-based PUCCH transmission was introduced, enabling HARQ-Acks associated with different types of services to be multiplexed in the same UL slot, each transmitted in a different subslot. The subslot size can be configured by higher layers to be either 2 symbols or 7 symbols. In the case of a subslot configuration with 2 symbols per subslot, there are 7 subslots in the slot. In the case of a subslot configuration with 7 symbols, there are two subslots in the slot.

[0048] Spatial relationship definition

[0049] Spatial relationship is used in NR to refer to the relationship between a UL reference signal (RS), such as a PUCCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and another RS, which can be either a DL RS (channel state information RS (CSI-RS) or synchronization signal block (SSB)) or a UL RS (sounding reference signal (SRS)).

[0050] If the UL RS is spatially correlated with the DL RS, this means that the UE should transmit the UL RS in the opposite (reciprocal) direction to the direction in which it previously received the DL RS. More precisely, the UE should apply the same transmitter (Tx) spatial filtering configuration to the transmission of the UL RS as the receiver (Rx) spatial filtering configuration it previously used to receive the spatially correlated DL RS. Here, the term "spatial filtering configuration" may refer to the antenna weights applied to data / control transmission / reception at either the transmitter or the receiver. The DL RS is also called a spatial filter reference signal.

[0051] On the other hand, if the first UL RS is spatially correlated with the second UL RS, the UE should apply the same Tx spatial filtering configuration to transmission of the first UL RS as the Tx spatial filtering configuration it previously used to transmit the second UL RS.

[0052] In NR Release 16, the UE can be configured by RRC with a list of up to 64 spatial relations for PUCCH. For a given PUCCH resource, one of the spatial relations is activated via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) message. The UE adjusts the Tx spatial filter configuration for transmissions on that PUCCH resource based on the activated signaled spatial relation.

[0053] URLLC data transmission over multiple TRPs

[0054] In NR Release 16, PDSCH transmission through multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) has been introduced for Ultra Reliable Low Latency (URLLC) type applications to improve PDSCH reliability, where PDSCH is repeated on two TRPs in a spatial division multiplexing (SDM), frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) or time domain multiplexing (TDM) manner. In NR Release 17, it has been proposed to further introduce PUCCH enhancement with multiple TRPs. One possible approach is to repeat PUCCH towards different TRPs. Summary of the Invention

[0055] Disclosed herein are systems and methods for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) enhancements utilizing intra-slot transmission repetitions toward multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs). In one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network including two or more TRPs, each TRP associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication state (TCI), the method comprising: receiving a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of the uplink channel from a base station in the wireless communication network. Herein, N is an integer greater than 1. In addition, the method performed by the UE further comprises: transmitting the uplink channel in N consecutive sub-slots, and applying the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a first subset of the sub-slots, and applying the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a second subset of the sub-slots.

[0056] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is one of: a unified TCI state that can be used for both downlink and uplink channel transmissions and an uplink TCI state that can be used only for uplink channel transmissions.

[0057] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the uplink channel is a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

[0058] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, each of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship includes one or more of the following: 1) a synchronization signal block (SSB) index, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) index, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) index, which is used to determine the spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; 2) a path loss reference signal index; and 3) one or more power control parameters.

[0059] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state includes one or more of the following: 1) an SSB index, a CSI-RS index, or an SRS index, which is used to determine the spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; 2) a path loss reference signal index; and 3) one or more power control parameters.

[0060] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the total number of subslots in the first subset of subslots and the second subset of subslots is equal to the number of transmission repetitions.

[0061] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the first subset of sub-time slots and the second subset of sub-time slots are in the same time slot.

[0062] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, each of the subslots includes a number of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

[0063] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the first subset of sub-slots and the second subset of sub-slots do not overlap in time.

[0064] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the same uplink channel resources are allocated in each of the sub-slots.

[0065] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the uplink channel is one of PUCCH formats 0 to 4.

[0066] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the first subset of sub-timeslots includes one or more sub-timeslots, and the second subset of sub-timeslots includes one or more sub-timeslots.

[0067] In one embodiment of the method performed by a UE, a cyclic mapping of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship, or a cyclic mapping of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, is configured on repetitions of an uplink channel. Here, the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to every other repetition of the uplink channel starting from the first repetition, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the remaining repetitions.

[0068] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, every other repetition of the uplink channel starting with a first repetition is transmitted in a first subset of subslots, and the remaining repetitions are transmitted in a second subset of subslots.

[0069] In one embodiment of the method performed by a UE, sequential mapping of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship, or sequential mapping of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, is configured across repetitions of an uplink channel. Here, the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to every two consecutive repetitions of the uplink channel starting from the first two consecutive repetitions, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the remaining repetitions.

[0070] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, every third consecutive repetition of the uplink channel starting from a first repetition is transmitted in a first subset of subslots and the remaining repetitions are transmitted in a second subset of subslots.

[0071] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further includes receiving a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetitions for an uplink channel from a base station. Herein, the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetitions for the uplink channel depending on whether one or more of the following conditions are met: 1) two TCI states are indicated in a transmission configuration indication field of a downlink control information (DCI) format of a scheduled associated physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and for the PDSCH, a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) is carried on the uplink channel; 2) the associated PDSCH corresponds to a specific PDSCH scheme; 3) the priority indicator field of the DCI scheduling the associated PDSCH is set to "1"; 4) the associated PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2; 5) resources for the uplink channel are activated with two TCI states; and 6) a certain uplink control information (UCI) type is carried by the uplink channel.

[0072] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further includes receiving a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel from the base station. Herein, the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel depending on a service type associated with the uplink channel.

[0073] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further comprises receiving one or more configurations for selecting a transmission repetition number of an uplink channel from a base station.Herein, one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in a DCI.

[0074] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the UCI is carried by an uplink channel.

[0075] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the number of transmission repetitions of the uplink channel varies with the type of UCI.

[0076] In one embodiment of the method performed by the UE, the type of UCI is one of the following: HARQ-ACK, SR, CSI, or two or more of HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI multiplexed together.

[0077] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further comprises discarding a transmission repetition of an uplink channel when such transmission repetition is overlapping with another uplink channel having a higher priority.

[0078] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further comprises multiplexing one transmission repetition of the uplink channel with another overlapping uplink channel having the same priority.

[0079] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further comprises: if a transmission collides with an invalid symbol, omitting the corresponding transmission repetition.

[0080] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further comprises: if a transmission collides with an invalid symbol, delaying a corresponding transmission repetition until sufficient valid symbols are available.

[0081] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the UE further includes: if an uplink channel carrying HARQ-ACK is transmitted in time slot n, applying a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) command starting from the first time slot 3 milliseconds after time slot n, and the HARQ-ACK corresponds to the PDSCH carrying the MAC CE command from the base station.

[0082] In one embodiment of the method performed by a UE, the configuration can be via a Radio Resource Control RRC message, a MAC CE command, or both.

[0083] Also disclosed are corresponding embodiments of a UE in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network includes two or more TRPs, each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or a TCI state. In one embodiment, the UE is adapted to receive, from a base station in the wireless communication network, a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of an uplink channel. In this document, N is an integer greater than 1. In addition, the UE is adapted to transmit an uplink channel in N consecutive sub-time slots, and apply the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a first subset of the sub-time slots, and apply the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a second subset of the sub-time slots.

[0084] In one embodiment, a UE in a wireless communication network includes one or more transmitters, one or more receivers, and a processing circuit associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers, wherein the wireless communication network includes two or more TRPs, each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or a TCI state. The processing circuit is configured to cause the UE to receive a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of the uplink channel from a base station in the wireless communication network. In this document, N is an integer greater than 1. In addition, the processing circuit is configured to cause the UE to further transmit the uplink channel in N consecutive sub-time slots, and apply the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in the first subset of the sub-time slots, and apply the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in the second subset of the sub-time slots.

[0085] Also disclosed are embodiments of a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network including two or more Transmitted Relay Protocols (TRPs), each TRP associated with a spatial relationship or Transmitted Response (TCI) state. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a UE in the wireless communication network with a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources, or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions for transmitting an uplink channel. Herein, N is an integer greater than 1.

[0086] In one embodiment of the method performed by the base station, each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is one of the following: a unified TCI state that can be used for both downlink and uplink channel transmissions and an uplink TCI state that can be used only for uplink channel transmissions.

[0087] In one embodiment of the method performed by the base station, the uplink channel is a PUCCH.

[0088] In one embodiment of the method performed by a base station, each of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship includes one or more of the following: 1) a synchronization signal block (SSB) index, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) index, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) index, which is used to determine the spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; 2) a path loss reference signal index; and 3) one or more power control parameters.

[0089] In one embodiment of the method performed by the base station, each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state includes one or more of the following: 1) an SSB index, a CSI-RS index, or an SRS index, which is used to determine the spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; 2) a path loss reference signal index; and 3) one or more power control parameters.

[0090] In one embodiment of the method performed by the base station, the uplink channel is one of PUCCH formats 0 to 4.

[0091] In one embodiment of the method performed by the base station, a cyclic mapping of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or a cyclic mapping of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is configured on repetitions of the uplink channel.

[0092] In one embodiment of the method performed by the base station, sequential mapping of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or sequential mapping of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is configured on repetitions of the uplink channel.

[0093] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the base station further includes providing a second configuration of multiple transmission repetitions for the uplink channel to the UE. Herein, the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the multiple transmission repetitions for the uplink channel depending on whether one or more of the following conditions are met: 1) two TCI states are indicated in the transmission configuration indication field of the DCI format of the associated PDSCH scheduled, and for the PDSCH, the corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request confirmation HARQ-ACK is carried on the uplink channel; 2) the associated PDSCH corresponds to a specific scheme; 3) the priority indicator field of the DCI scheduling the associated PDSCH is set to "1"; 4) the associated PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2; 5) resources for the uplink channel are activated with two TCI states; and 6) a certain UCI type is carried by the uplink channel.

[0094] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the base station further includes providing a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel to the UE. Herein, the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel depending on a service type associated with the uplink channel.

[0095] According to one embodiment, the method performed by the base station further comprises providing one or more configurations for selecting a transmission repetition number of an uplink channel to the UE, wherein one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in the DCI.

[0096] In one embodiment of the method performed by a base station, UCI is carried by an uplink channel, wherein a transmission repetition number of the uplink channel varies depending on the type of UCI. The type of UCI is one of the following: HARQ ACK, SR, CSI, or two or more of HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI multiplexed together.

[0097] Also disclosed are corresponding embodiments of a base station in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network including two or more Transmission Relays (TRPs), each TRP associated with a spatial relationship or a Transmission Control (TCI) state. In one embodiment, the base station is configured to provide a UE in the wireless communication network with a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources, or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions for transmitting the uplink channel. Herein, N is an integer greater than 1.

[0098] In one embodiment, a base station in a wireless communication network including two or more Transmission Relays (TRPs) includes processing circuitry, each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or a Transmission Control (TCI) state, the processing circuitry configured to cause the base station to provide, to a UE in the wireless communication network, a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources, or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions for transmitting the uplink channel. Herein, N is an integer greater than 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0099] The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0100] Figure 1 The diagram illustrates a typical time slot in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR).

[0101] Figure 2 The figure shows the basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid.

[0102] Figure 3An example of a 1-symbol and a 2-symbol short Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) without frequency hopping (FH) is illustrated.

[0103] Figure 4 An example of 14-symbol PUCCH and 7-symbol long PUCCH with FH within a slot enabled is illustrated.

[0104] Figure 5 An example of 14-symbol PUCCH and 7-symbol long PUCCH with FH in a disabled slot is illustrated.

[0105] Figure 6 An example of PUCCH repetition in two slots with (a) inter-slot FH enabled and (b) inter-slot FH disabled while intra-slot FH enabled is illustrated.

[0106] Figure 7 An example of a cellular communication system is illustrated in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0107] Figure 8 An example of intra-slot PUCCH repetition with FH for two different transmission and reception points (TRPs) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0108] Figure 9 Details of the PUCCH-FormatConfig field are illustrated.

[0109] Figure 10 and Figure 11 An example of sub-slot based PUCCH repetition with FH for two different TRPs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0110] Figure 12 An example of cyclic mapping between PUCCH transmission timing and TRP according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0111] Figure 13 An example of sequential mapping between PUCCH transmission timing and TRP according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0112] Figure 14 and Figure 15 An example of conflict handling in PUCCH repetitions for two different TRPs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0113] Figure 16 The operations of a base station and a user equipment (UE) for PUCCH repetition according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0114] Figure 17 、 Figure 18 and Figure 19is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a radio access node, or more generally a network node, in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0115] Figure 20 and Figure 21 is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a wireless communication device (eg, UE) in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0116] Figure 22 An example embodiment of a communication system is illustrated in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0117] Figure 23 Pictured Figure 22 Example embodiments of a host computer, a base station, and a UE.

[0118] Figure 24 、 Figure 25 、 Figure 26 and Figure 27 It is shown in diagrams such as Figure 22 Flowchart of an example embodiment of a method implemented in a communication system such as a communication system of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0119] The embodiments set forth below represent information that enables those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode for practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the disclosed concepts and will recognize applications of these concepts not specifically set forth herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0120] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0121] In general, all terms used in this article will be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless implied and / or clearly given different meanings from the context in which the term is used. Unless otherwise clearly stated, all references to (a / an) / the (the) element, device, assembly, part, step, etc. will be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of this element, device, assembly, part, step, etc. Unless a step is clearly described as following or prior to another step, and / or it is implied that a step must follow or prior to another step, the steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed. In any appropriate case, any feature of any embodiment in the embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to any other embodiment. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment in the embodiment can be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. According to the following description, other purposes, features and advantages of the attached embodiments will be apparent.

[0122] Radio node: As used herein, a "radio node" is a radio access node or a wireless communication device.

[0123]

[0014] Radio Access Node: As used herein, a "radio access node" or "radio network node" or "radio access network node" is any node in a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communication network that operates to transmit and / or receive signals wirelessly. Some examples of radio access nodes include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a high power or macro base station, a low power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a home eNB, etc.), a relay node, a network node that implements part of the functionality of a base station (e.g., a network node that implements a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) or a network node that implements a gNB distributed unit (gNB-DU)), or a network node that implements part of the functionality of some other type of radio access node.

[0124] Core network node: As used herein, a "core network node" is any type of node in a core network or any node that implements a core network function. Some examples of core network nodes include, for example, a mobility management entity (MME), a packet data network gateway (P-GW), a service capability exposure function (SCEF), a home subscriber server (HSS), etc. Some other examples of core network nodes include nodes that implement an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network exposure function (NEF), a network function (NF) repository function (NRF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), etc.

[0125] Communication device: As used herein, a "communication device" is any type of device that has access to an access network. Some examples of communication devices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, home appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronic device, such as, but not limited to, televisions, radios, lighting fixtures, tablet computers, laptops, or personal computers (PCs). Communication devices can be portable, handheld, mobile devices including computers, or in-vehicle devices, enabling them to communicate voice and / or data via wireless or wired connections.

[0126] Wireless communication device: One type of communication device is a wireless communication device, which may be any type of wireless device that has access to (i.e., is served by) a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network). Some examples of wireless communication devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment devices (UEs) in 3GPP networks, machine type communication (MTC) devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Such wireless communication devices may be or may be integrated into mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, home appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronic device, such as, but not limited to, televisions, radios, lighting arrangements, tablets, laptops, or PCs. Wireless communication devices may be portable, handheld, mobile devices including computers, or in-vehicle, enabling them to communicate voice and / or data via a wireless connection.

[0127] Network node: As used herein, a "network node" is any node that is part of the core network or RAN of a cellular communication network / system.

[0128] Note that the description given herein focuses on 3GPP cellular communication systems and, therefore, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is often used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to 3GPP systems.

[0129] Transmission / Reception Point (TRP): In some embodiments, a TRP can be a network node, a radio head, a spatial relationship, or a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state. In some embodiments, a TRP can be represented by a spatial relationship or a TCI state. In some embodiments, a TRP can use multiple TCI states.

[0130] Note that in the description herein, the term "cell" may be mentioned; however, particularly with respect to 5G NR concepts, beam may be used instead of cell, and therefore, it is important to note that the concepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams.

[0131] There is a certain challenge. Although the PUCCH reliability of PUCCH formats 1, 3 and 4 can be increased with repetition between timeslots on multiple TRPs, it also introduces additional delay. For some applications, such as ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) applications, low latency is required in addition to PUCCH reliability. How to balance between PUCCH reliability and PUCCH latency is a problem. In addition, when hybrid enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and URLLC services are served, the corresponding required reliability and latency are different, and how to determine the number of repetitions for each type of service is another problem.

[0132] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to the above-mentioned or other challenges. In the present disclosure, different approaches to PUCCH enhancement are disclosed. In one embodiment, the PUCCH is repeated two or more times within a time slot, each time towards a TRP, and different PUCCH repetitions may be associated with different TRPs. The association between PUCCH transmission and the TRP for reception may be performed using spatial relationships or a unified TCI state.

[0133] In addition, an embodiment of a method for applying different numbers of PUCCH repetitions based on an associated physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (i.e., a PDSCH in which the PUCCH carries its corresponding HARQ-ACK) is also disclosed, wherein different numbers of PUCCH repetitions can be used for different service types associated with the PUCCH (e.g., PDSCH, eMBB, or URLLC with different priorities).

[0134] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. One benefit of intra-slot repetitions towards different TRPs is improved PUCCH reliability in situations where the channel to the TRP is blocked while maintaining low latency. In situations where a mix of eMBB and URLLC services with different reliability requirements (i.e., requiring different numbers of repetitions) are served simultaneously, it is beneficial to use different numbers of PUCCH repetitions for different services. In such situations, for PUCCH associated with eMBB services, a small number of repetitions or even no repetitions may be used to save PUCCH resources and potentially UE battery power consumption.

[0135] Figure 7 An example of a cellular communication system 700 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is illustrated. In the embodiments described herein, the cellular communication system 700 is a 5G system (5GS) comprising a next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) and a 5G core (5GC). In this example, the RAN includes base stations 702-1 and 702-2 that control corresponding (macro) cells 704-1 and 704-2, which in the 5GS include NR base stations (gNBs) and optional next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs) (e.g., LTE RAN nodes connected to the 5GC). Base stations 702-1 and 702-2 are generally referred to herein as base stations 702, and individually as base stations 702. Similarly, (macro) cells 704-1 and 704-2 are generally referred to herein as (macro) cells 704, and individually as (macro) cells 704. The RAN may also include several low-power nodes 706-1 to 706-4 that control corresponding small cells 708-1 to 708-4. Low power nodes 706-1 to 706-4 can be small base stations (such as pico or femto base stations) or remote radio heads (RRHs), etc. It is worth noting that, although not shown, one or more of the small cells 708-1 to 708-4 may alternatively be provided by the base station 702. Low power nodes 706-1 to 706-4 are generally referred to as low power nodes 706 herein, and are individually referred to as low power nodes 706. Similarly, small cells 708-1 to 708-4 are generally referred to as small cells 708 herein, and are individually referred to as small cells 708. The cellular communication system 700 also includes a core network 710, which is referred to as 5GC in a 5G system (5GS). The base station 702 (and the optional low power node 706) are connected to the core network 710.

[0136] Base station 702 and low power node 706 provide services to wireless communication devices 712-1 through 712-5 in corresponding cells 704 and 708. Wireless communication devices 712-1 through 712-5 are generally referred to herein as wireless communication devices 712, and individually as wireless communication devices 712. In the following description, wireless communication device 712 is often a UE, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0137] PUCCH repetition in time slots towards multiple TRPs

[0138] In one embodiment, the UL control information (UCI) carried by one of the PUCCH formats is repeated multiple times within a time slot, each time towards a different TRP.

[0139] It is noted that in the following content of the present disclosure, "transmission heading" in this respect means that the UE is adjusting its maximum or maximum radiation direction and / or transmission power and / or transmission timing for the expected reception of a given TRP. For example, the UE transmits a beam pointing in the direction of the desired TRP or selects a beam of a directional antenna panel that is facing a certain desired direction of the TRP for transmission at the UE. It is also noted that a certain TRP may be described in the specification by a spatial relationship, a unified TCI state (a TCI state that can be used for both DL and UL indications) or a UL TCI state. Therefore, the "transmission headings" TRP1 and TRP2 can be equivalently described as using, for example, a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship, respectively, for PUCCH transmission.

[0140] It should also be noted that even in Release 15 of NR, since which node receives a certain message in the uplink is transparent to the UE, it is possible for uplink signals to be received by multiple TRPs. It is possible that an uplink transmitted by a Release 15 UE is received by two TRPs. The difference here is that by introducing the framework of "transmission direction", the UE is "aware" that its multiple transmissions are intended for more than one TRP and can therefore optimize the transmissions in terms of beam direction, power control, and timing according to the specification.

[0141] Figure 8An example is shown in FIG, where the PUCCH with FH is repeated twice in a time slot. A gap may be configured between the two repetitions to allow the UE time to switch its receive panel or beam in high carrier frequencies (frequencies above 20 GHz, such as FR2). The same number of symbols, starting first and second RBs are used in the repetition (i.e., the second transmission opportunity). The first transmission opportunity is towards TRP1, while the second transmission is towards TRP2. In the case of channel blocking, as often occurs in FR2, this repetition can be used to reduce the blocking probability. Note that, as discussed above, the term TRP may not necessarily be captured in the 3GPP specification. Instead, in the 3GPP specification, TRP may be represented by a spatial relationship, a unified TCI state (discussed in Release 17 of NR), or a UL TCI state. Two or more spatial relationships or two or more UL TCIs or two or more unified TCI states may be activated for PUCCH resources for transmissions to two or more TRPs.

[0142] In some embodiments, as Figure 8 The gap symbol(s) shown may be configured to the UE in the PUCCH-Config information element (see 3GPP TS 38.331) or in a field within the PUCCH-Config. In a specific embodiment, as Figure 9 As shown in , the gap symbol(s) are configured and controlled via the parameter 'startingSymbolOffset' which is part of the PUCCH-FormatConfig field within PUCCH-Config.

[0143] If the parameter "startingSymbolOffset" is enabled, there are (one or more) gap symbols between the first transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity, such as Figure 8 If the parameter "startingSymbolOffset" is not configured, there is no gap symbol(s) between the first transmission opportunity of the PUCCH and the second transmission opportunity of the PUCCH, and the UE transmits the second transmission opportunity of the PUCCH in the symbol after the last symbol of the first transmission opportunity of the PUCCH.

[0144] Note that in some other embodiments, the gap between two PUCCH transmission opportunities can be a configurable number of integer symbols. In this embodiment, the parameter 'startingSymbolOffset' can be an integer between 0 and a non-negative integer K. The starting symbol of the second PUCCH transmission opportunity is then offset by K symbols relative to the last symbol of the first PUCCH transmission opportunity.

[0145] Subslot-based PUCCH repetition towards multiple TRPs

[0146] In one embodiment, the PUCCH may be repeated in subslot level. Figure 10 An example is shown in FIG, where the PUCCH is repeated twice in two subslots, each subslot having 7 symbols, with the first transmission opportunity towards TRP1 and the second transmission opportunity towards TRP2. The same time and frequency resources (i.e., the starting symbol (with reference to the start of the subslot) of the first and second hops, the number of symbols, and the starting resource block (RB)) are used for both repetitions in each subslot.

[0147] Figure 11 is another example of a subslot based PUCCH repetition with 2 symbols per subslot. The number of subslot based repetitions can be more than 2. In that case, the pattern towards (remember that the "toward" can be specified by spatial relationship or UL or unified TCI state) different TRPs can be alternated between TRPs (i.e., based on a cycle), Figure 12 An example is shown in . Alternatively, the mapping can be in sequence one TRP after another TRP, Figure 13 Although the example shown does not use frequency hopping, it is possible that frequency hopping can be configured together with repetition, e.g., extended Figures 11 to 13 In the example above, FH can be used within a repetition (e.g., with different starting RBs for the first and second symbols in each repetition) or across repetitions (e.g., with different starting RBs for different repetitions). Subslot PUCCH repetition can be used for all PUCCH formats supported in a subslot (including PUCCH formats 0 and 2). Repetition can also be performed over more than one slot.

[0148] Indication of the number of PUCCH repetitions

[0149] In NR Release 15, the number of slot-based PUCCH repetitions is configured for each PUCCH format by higher layers (such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling between the gNB and the UE). Considering the mixed traffic types of the UE and the different reliability and latency requirements of different traffic types, different repetition numbers (either slot-based or subslot-based) may be required for PUCCHs associated with different traffic types.

[0150] In one embodiment, multiple repetition times may be configured for each PUCCH format, and different repetition times may be used depending on the service type associated with the PUCCH (or the physical layer priority of the UCI carried by the PUCCH).

[0151] In another embodiment, the number of repetitions for the associated PUCCH varies with the UCI content type, where the UCI content type can be: hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK), scheduling request (SR), channel state information (CSI) (where CSI can be further divided into CSI-part 1 and CSI-part 2), or two or more of HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI multiplexed together.

[0152] For example, one RRC parameter signaled from the gNB to the UE specifies the number of repetitions for the PUCCH carrying SR, and a different RRC parameter specifies the number of repetitions for the PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK. Physical layer priority levels can also be assigned to various types of UCI, e.g., high-priority SR and low-priority SR. The number of PUCCH repetitions can then depend on the UCI type and / or physical layer priority of the UCI carried by the PUCCH. If the PUCCH carries a mix of UCI types, the number of PUCCH repetitions can be determined by the most important UCI carried. For example, if the UCI types are ordered from more important to less important as follows: HARQ-ACK > SR > CSI, where HARQ-ACK and SR have higher priority and CSI has lower priority, then if the PUCCH carries a mix of {SR, HARQ-ACK}, the number of PUCCH repetitions can be determined by the priority of HARQ-ACK (i.e., the most important UCI carried, since HARQ-ACK is more important than SR).

[0153] In another embodiment, if a PUCCH carrying a UCI type (e.g., HARQ-ACK) is scheduled by DL control information (DCI), the scheduling DCI can include a field, wherein the DCI field dynamically indicates the number of repetitions of the PUCCH. The number of dynamically signaled PUCCH repetitions may depend on the UCI type and / or the physical layer priority of the UCI carried by the PUCCH. The size of the DCI field used to indicate the number of repetitions of the PUCCH (including 0 bits, i.e., no DCI field) may be configurable by higher layer parameters.

[0154] In another embodiment, an existing DCI field may be used to indicate the number of PUCCH repetitions. For example, the "PUCCH resource indicator" field in the DCI can be used to indicate the number of PUCCH repetitions. For example, one code point in the PUCCH resource indicator field in the DCI may be configured with one PUCCH repetition number, while another code point in the PUCCH resource indicator field in the DCI may be associated with another PUCCH repetition number. Some code points of the PUCCH resource indicator field may be associated with a single PUCCH (i.e., the PUCCH repetition number is 1). In another embodiment, the PUCCH resource indicator field in the DCI may be divided into two subfields, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the number of PUCCH repetitions, and the second subfield is used to indicate the PUCCH resources to be used for PUCCH transmission.

[0155] In one embodiment, a repetition value (a first repetition value) is configured for UCI feedback for URLLC-based services (or high physical layer priority), while another (a second repetition value) is used for eMBB services (or low physical layer priority). Although the PUCCH can carry various types of UCI content (HARQ-ACK, SR, CSI, or a combination thereof), the PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK is used for illustration.

[0156] In order to dynamically switch between the first and second repetition values (which are configured by higher layers), some mechanism is needed to indicate this switch to the UE, as the gNB and UE must be aligned on the repetition number used for PUCCH. The first repetition number may be used for PUCCH transmission if the PUCCH carries HARQ-ACK associated with a PDSCH scheduled using one or more of the following criteria:

[0157] - Indicate two TCI states in the transmission configuration indication field (if present) of the DCI scheduling PDSCH;

[0158] - One of the DL multi-TRP PDSCH schemes (i.e., configured by the higher layer parameter RepetitionSchemeConfig-r16 in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.1.0) is used for the associated PDSCH;

[0159] - The priority indicator field of the scheduling DCI (if present) is set to "1" (i.e. high physical layer priority);

[0160] - Setting the priority level to “1” (i.e., high physical layer priority) in the RRC parameters of the SPS configuration, where the SPS DSCCH or SPS release DCI is associated with HARQ-ACK carried by PUCCH;

[0161] - PDSCH is scheduled by a specified DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_2); and

[0162] - Activate PUCCH resources with 2 TCI states.

[0163] Otherwise, a second number of repetitions may be used.In yet another embodiment, which number of repetitions to use may be dynamically indicated in the DCI.

[0164] Handling conflicts between PUCCH and other uplink channels and signals

[0165] One or more of the PUCCH repetitions may temporally overlap with other uplink channels and / or signals, including another PUCCH, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH). Multiplexing and / or prioritization procedures are then applied to resolve conflicts. If different levels of physical layer priority are provided, the conflict resolution process takes into account the relative physical layer priorities of the conflicting uplink channels / signals.

[0166] In one embodiment, if a UE is scheduled to transmit PUCCH repetitions and another overlapping UL channel signal with the same priority to the same TRP (e.g., TRP1), the UE multiplexes them before transmitting to another TRP (e.g., TRP2). (Note that toward the same TRP means that the PUCCH and the other UL channel have the same spatial relationship reference, or use the same unified TCI state, or use the same UL TCI state).

[0167] In another embodiment, if the UE is scheduled to transmit PUCCH repetition and another overlapping UL channel signal to the same TRP, the UE selects the channel (or signal) with higher priority to transmit and discards the channel (or signal) with lower priority.

[0168] In case the UE is scheduled to transmit PUCCH repetitions to TRP1 and another overlapping UL channel with lower priority to either TRP 1 or TRP2, then the other channel is dropped. If the overlapping UL channel has a higher priority, then the PUCCH is dropped.

[0169] In another embodiment, if the UE is scheduled to transmit PUCCH repetitions to either TRP1 or TRP2 and transmit another overlapping PUSCH with the same priority to TRP2, the PUCCH is multiplexed with the PUSCH and transmitted to TRP2. In one embodiment, the uplink multiplexing and prioritization process is applied separately and independently to the transmission process towards each TRP (e.g., each spatial relationship).

[0170] In another embodiment, the uplink multiplexing and prioritization process is combined to take into account transmissions to multiple TRPs. For example, if PUCCH (with repetitions) and PUSCH (with repetitions) overlap on two TRPs (e.g., TRP1 and TRP2), PUCCH may be selected for transmission towards TRP1 (and PUSCH to TRP1 discarded), and PUSCH may be selected for transmission towards TRP2 (and PUCCH to TRP2 discarded). Figure 14 and Figure 15 An example is shown in .

[0171] In another embodiment, the conflict between PUCCH and other UL channels / signals is handled separately for each PUCCH repetition (sub-slot based repetition or slot based repetition), and the conflict between PUCCH and other UL channels / signals is also handled separately for each TRP.

[0172] Handling of symbols that are invalid for PUCCH transmission

[0173] For PUCCH repetition, it may happen that the resources intended for transmission are invalid resources.In this context, the resources may be Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols or resource elements.

[0174] The UE can determine or identify invalid symbol(s) for PUCCH repetition due to various reasons.In principle, any symbol that cannot be counted as available for uplink transmission is invalid for PUCCH repetition.

[0175] For multi-TRP PUCCH transmission, although PUCCH can be transmitted to multiple TRPs for diversity, there are still scenarios where some symbols cannot be used for PUCCH transmission. In the following discussion, these symbols are referred to as invalid symbols. For a given invalid symbol, if it would otherwise be used for PUCCH transmission of M-TRP#j, this PUCCH repetition may be dropped or delayed, thereby affecting the entire PUCCH transmission towards M-TRP#j.

[0176] In the following, various scenarios causing symbols to be unavailable for uplink transmission (and therefore unavailable for PUCCH repetition) are described for M-TRP. By "M-TRP" is meant that the UEs are configured for uplink transmission where their reception is intended for more than one TRP, i.e., using multiple spatial relationships, multiple UL TCI states, or multiple unified TCI states.

[0177] In one example, symbols indicated as downlink by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated are considered invalid symbols for PUCCH repetition.

[0178] In another example, for operation in unpaired spectrum, symbols indicated by ssb-PositionsInBurst in system information block #1 (SIB1) or ssb-PositionsInBurst in ServingCellConfigCommon for receiving synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks are considered invalid symbols for PUCCH repetition.

[0179] In another example, for operation in unpaired spectrum, the symbol(s) indicated by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in the MIB of the CORESET for the Type0-PDCCH CSS set are considered as invalid symbol(s) repeated for PUCCH.

[0180] In another example, for operation in unpaired spectrum, if numberInvalidSymbolsForDL-UL-Switching is configured, then the symbol(s) following the last symbol indicated as downlink in each contiguous set of all symbols indicated as downlink by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated are considered to be invalid symbol(s) repeated for PUCCH. The symbol(s) given by numberInvalidSymbolsForDL-UL-Switching are defined using the reference SCS configuration referenceSubcarrierSpacing provided in tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon.

[0181] In another example, if the UE

[0182] - is configured with multiple serving cells and is configured to operate in half-duplex (eg, half-duplex-behavior-r16='enable'), and

[0183] - cannot transmit and receive simultaneously on any of the multiple serving cells, and

[0184] - Indicates the ability to support half-duplex operation in carrier aggregation (CA) with unpaired spectrum; and

[0185] - is not configured to monitor the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for detecting DCI format 2-0 on any of the multiple serving cells,

[0186] Then: if a symbol is indicated to the UE via ssb-PositionsInBurst in SIB1 or ssb-PositionsInBurst in ServingCellConfigCommon for receiving SS / PBCH blocks in any of multiple serving cells, the symbol is considered to be an invalid symbol in any of the multiple serving cells for PUCCH repetition.

[0187] In another example, if the UE is configured by higher layers to receive PDCCH, PDSCH or CSI-RS on a reference cell in a symbol, the symbol is considered an invalid symbol in any of the multiple serving cells for PUCCH repetition.

[0188] In another example, symbols on the shared spectrum are considered invalid if the UE has not gained access to the channel when required.

[0189] In another example, if a symbol on the shared spectrum overlaps with an idle period corresponding to a semi-static channel access procedure, the symbol is considered invalid.

[0190] If a PUCCH repetition overlaps with any invalid symbol, the overlapping PUCCH repetition cannot be transmitted as is.

[0191] - In one method, PUCCH repetitions that overlap with (one or more) invalid symbols are discarded. The remaining PUCCH repetitions are reserved for potential transmissions. The mapping between the TRP and each PUCCH transmission opportunity is consistent with the nominal PUCCH transmission opportunity. For example, if 4 PUCCH repetitions are to be transmitted at time [t1 t2 t3 t4], and the associated TRP index is [1 2 12], and if the invalid symbol occurs at t2, the PUCCH transmission at t2 will be discarded, and the actual PUCCH transmission will occur at [t1 t3 t4]. The associated TRP index will be [1 1 2].

[0192] In another approach, PUCCH repetitions that overlap with (one or more) invalid symbols are delayed until the PUCCH repetitions can be transmitted along with at least n consecutive valid symbols within the slot. Here n is the duration of one PUCCH repetition in symbols. Subsequent PUCCH repetitions are also delayed. In one variant, all PUCCH repetitions are transmitted, despite being delayed due to invalid symbols. In another variant, PUCCH repetitions are delayed and transmitted until a timing limit is reached.

[0193] Timing impact of PUCCH repetition

[0194] When PUCCH repetition is indicated via DCI or configured to be sent over multiple slots, references to the PUCCH transmission slot should refer to the last slot of the PUCCH repetition. For a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) based activation command received in the PDSCH (e.g., for beam switching (i.e., TCI state update)), the time at which the UE applies the command (e.g., the TCI state provided in the activation command) is based on the last slot among the multiple slots in which the PUCCH is repeated.

[0195] For example, if PUCCH repetition is configured by higher layers or indicated via DCI to carry HARQ-ACK, and the UE receives a MAC CE command activating the TCI state, the UE shall apply the command according to the timing described below:

[0196] - After the UE receives a MAC CE activation command for one of the TCI states, the UE The activation command is applied in the first time slot after k, where k is the last time slot in which the UE will transmit a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information with ACK for the PDSCH providing the activation command, and μ is the SCS configuration for the PUCCH. The active BWP is defined as the active BWP in the time slot when the activation command is applied.

[0197] In another example, if PUCCH repetition is used to carry HARQ ACK, and when the UE receives a MAC CE command to activate SRS resources, the UE shall apply the command according to the timing described below:

[0198] -UE applies the corresponding actions in 38.321 and the corresponding settings of the spatial filter to wherein k is the last slot in which the UE shall transmit a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information having an ACK value corresponding to the reception of the PDSCH providing the PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo, and μ is the SCS configuration for the PUCCH.

[0199] Similarly, in another embodiment, when PUCCH repetition is configured by higher layers or indicated via DCI, the time at which the UE applies PDSCH RE mapping corresponding to the activated (one or more) zero power (ZP) CSI-RS resources provided by the "SP ZP CSI-RS resource set activation / deactivation MAC CE" activation command in TS38.321 is based on the last time slot among the multiple time slots in which the PUCCH is repeated. The following is an example of how this embodiment is captured in the 3GPP specification:

[0200] For a UE configured with the ZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet list(s) provided by the higher layer parameter sp-ZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetsToAddModList:

[0201] - When the UE is to transmit a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information in slot n, where n is the last slot in which the UE is to transmit a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a PDSCH carrying an activation command, as described in clause 6.1.3.19 of [10, TS 38.321], for the ZP CSI-RS resource(s), the ZP CSI-RS resource(s) shall be selected from slot n. The corresponding actions in [10, TS 38.321] and the UE assumptions about PDSCH RE mapping corresponding to the activated ZP CSI-RS resource(s) are applied starting from the first slot thereafter, where μ is the SCS configuration for PUCCH.

[0202] - When the UE is to transmit a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information in slot n, where n is the last slot in which the UE is to transmit a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a PDSCH carrying a deactivation command, as described in clause 6.1.3.19 of [10, TS 38.321], for the activated(s) ZP CSI-RS resource(s), the ZP CSI-RS resource(s) shall be deactivated from slot n. The corresponding actions in [10, TS 38.321] and the UE assumption regarding the PDSCH RE mapping stop corresponding to the deactivated(s) ZP CSI-RS resource(s) start to apply from the first slot thereafter, where μ is the SCS configuration for PUCCH.

[0203] Although the above embodiment is written with respect to the "SP ZP CSI-RS resource set activation / deactivation MAC CE" activation command, the embodiment can also be extended to the following MAC CE activation command in TS 38.321:

[0204] - MAC CE for enhanced TCI state activation / deactivation for UE-specific PDSCH;

[0205] - SP CSI reporting activation / deactivation MAC CE on PUCCH;

[0206] -SP CSI-RS / CSI-IM resource set activation / deactivation MAC CE;

[0207] -SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC CE;

[0208] -SP positioning SRS activation / deactivation MAC CE; and

[0209] - Enhanced SP / AP SRS spatial relationship indication MAC CE.

[0210] Figure 16 The diagram illustrates the operation of a UE 712 and a base station 702 in accordance with at least some of the above-described embodiments. Note that optional steps are indicated by dashed lines / boxes. As shown, the base station 702 provides and the UE 712 receives a first configuration of a first relationship and a second spatial relationship of an uplink channel, as well as an indication of a number of transmission opportunities / repetitions (step 1600). The uplink channel may be a PUCCH, and more particularly, may be one of PUCCH formats 0 through 4. As discussed above, the UE 712 may also receive from the base station 702 a configuration of gap symbols between adjacent transmission opportunities / repetitions (step 1600A).

[0211] In addition, the base station 702 may also provide, and the UE 712 may also receive, a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition times for the uplink channel (step 1602), where which repetition time is used depends on whether one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0212] a. Indicate 2 TCI states in the transmission configuration indication field (if any) of the DCI scheduling PDSCH

[0213] b. One of the DL multi-TRP PDSCH schemes (i.e., configured by the higher layer parameter RepetitionSchemeConfig-r16) is used for the associated PDSCH

[0214] c. The priority indicator field of the DCI (if present) is set to "1"

[0215] d. PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2

[0216] e. Activate PUCCH resources with 2 TCI states

[0217] f. PUCCH carries a certain type of UCI

[0218] As discussed above, in one embodiment, the number of repetitions used for an uplink channel may also depend on the type of traffic associated with the uplink channel.

[0219] As discussed above, in one embodiment, the UE 712 may also receive one or more configurations for determining a number of transmission repetitions from the base station 702, wherein one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in downlink control information DCI (step 1602A).

[0220] The UE 712 then transmits an uplink channel a number of times in a first set of sub-time slots according to the first spatial relationship and a second set of sub-time slots according to the second spatial relationship, according to the number of transmission repetitions (step 1604). The total number of sub-time slots in the first set and the second set of sub-time slots is equal to the number of repetitions, where each sub-time slot includes a number of OFDM symbols. In one embodiment, the first set and the second set of sub-time slots do not overlap in time. In one embodiment, the first set and the second set of sub-time slots are in the same time slot. In one embodiment, the first set and the second set of sub-time slots are either explicitly or implicitly configured. In one embodiment, the time and frequency resource allocation in each sub-time slot of the first set and the second set of sub-time slots is identical (i.e., having relatively identical starting symbols, identical number of symbols, and identical resource blocks within the sub-time slot).

[0221] As discussed above, in one embodiment, the UE 712 may discard a transmission repetition when it is overlapping with another UL channel having a higher priority (step 1604A).

[0222] As discussed above, in one embodiment, UE 712 may multiplex one transmission repetition with overlapping UL channels having the same priority (step 1604A).

[0223] As discussed above, in one embodiment, if the UE 712 collides with an invalid symbol, the UE 712 may omit the corresponding transmission opportunity, or may delay the corresponding transmission opportunity until sufficient valid symbols are available (step 1604B).

[0224] As discussed above, in one embodiment, the UE 712 may receive a MAC CE command from the base station 702 (step 1606). The UE 712 may then adjust the timing of applying the MAC CE command based on the time slot or subslot on which the last PUCCH transmission carrying the corresponding HARQ-ACK associated with the MAC CE command was transmitted (step 1608).

[0225] Figure 171700 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Optional features are indicated by dashed boxes. Radio access node 1700 may be, for example, base station 702 or 706, or a network node that implements all or part of the functionality of base station 702 or gNB described herein. As shown, radio access node 1700 includes a control system 1702, which includes one or more processors 1704 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and / or the like), a memory 1706, and a network interface 1708. One or more processors 1704 are also referred to herein as processing circuitry. Furthermore, radio access node 1700 may include one or more radio units 1710, each of which includes one or more transmitters 1712 and one or more receivers 1714 coupled to one or more antennas 1716. Radio unit 1710 may be referred to as, or part of, a radio interface circuit. In some embodiments, the radio unit(s) 1710 are external to the control system 1702 and are connected to the control system 1702 via, for example, a wired connection (e.g., a fiber optic cable). However, in some other embodiments, the radio unit(s) 1710 and potentially the antenna(s) 1716 are integrated with the control system 1702. The one or more processors 1704 operate to provide one or more functions of the radio access node 1700 as described herein. In some embodiments, the function(s) are implemented in software, for example, stored in the memory 1706 and executed by the one or more processors 1704.

[0226] Figure 18 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualized embodiment of a radio access node 1700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is equally applicable to other types of network nodes. In addition, other types of network nodes may have similar virtualized architectures. Furthermore, optional features are represented by dashed boxes.

[0227] As used herein, a "virtualized" radio access node is an implementation of a radio access node 1700 in which at least a portion of the functionality of the radio access node 1700 is implemented as virtual component(s) (e.g., via virtual machine(s) executing on physical processing node(s) in a network(s)). As shown, in this example, the radio access node 1700 may include a control system 1702 and / or one or more radio units 1710, as described above. The control system 1702 may be connected to the radio unit(s) 1710 via, for example, an optical cable. The radio access node 1700 includes one or more processing nodes 1800, which are coupled to or included as part of the network(s) 1802. If present, the control system 1702 or the radio unit(s) are connected to the processing node(s) 1800 via the network 1802. Each processing node 1800 includes one or more processors 1804 (e.g., CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, and / or the like), memory 1806, and a network interface 1808.

[0228] In this example, the functionality 1810 of the radio access node 1700 described herein is implemented at one or more processing nodes 1800 or distributed across the one or more processing nodes 1800 and the control system 1702 and / or the radio unit(s) 1710 in any desired manner. In some specific embodiments, some or all of the functionality 1810 of the radio access node 1700 described herein is implemented as virtual components that are executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a virtual environment(s) hosted by the processing node(s) 1800. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, additional signaling or communication between the processing node(s) 1800 and the control system 1702 is used to carry out at least some of the desired functionality 1810. Notably, in some embodiments, the control system 1702 may not be included, in which case the radio unit(s) 1710 communicates directly with the processing node(s) 1800 via an appropriate network interface(s).

[0229] In some embodiments, a computer program comprising instructions is provided that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to implement a node (e.g., processing node 1800) or functionality of the radio access node 1700 that implements one or more of the functions 1810 of the radio access node 1700 in a virtual environment according to any of the embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0230] Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1700 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The radio access node 1700 includes one or more modules 1900, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 1900 provide the functionality of the radio access node 1700 described herein. This discussion is also applicable to Figure 18 processing nodes 1800, where module 1900 may be implemented at one of processing nodes 1800, or distributed across multiple processing nodes 1800, and / or distributed across (one or more) processing nodes 1800 and control system 1702.

[0231] Figure 20 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2000 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 2000 may be, for example, the UE 712 described herein. As shown, the wireless communication device 2000 includes one or more processors 2002 (e.g., a CPU, ASIC, FPGA, and / or the like), a memory 2004, and one or more transceivers 2006. Each transceiver 2006 includes one or more transmitters 2008 and one or more receivers 2010 coupled to one or more antennas 2012. The transceiver(s) 2006 include radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna(s) 2012, the radio front-end circuitry being configured to condition signals transmitted between the antenna(s) 2012 and the processor(s) 2002, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The processor 2002 is also referred to herein as processing circuitry. The transceiver 2006 is also referred to herein as radio circuitry. In some embodiments, the functionality of the wireless communication device 2000 described above may be implemented in whole or in part by software, such as stored in the memory 2004 and executed by the processor(s) 2002. Note that the wireless communication device 2000 may include Figure 20Additional components not shown, such as, for example, one or more user interface components (e.g., input / output interfaces including a display, buttons, a touch screen, a microphone, (one or more) speakers and / or the like and / or any other components for allowing information to be input into the wireless communication device 2000 and / or allowing information to be output from the wireless communication device 2000), a power source (e.g., a battery and associated power circuitry), etc.

[0232] In some embodiments, a computer program comprising instructions is provided that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to implement the functionality of the wireless communication device 2000 according to any of the embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0233] Figure 21 2 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2000 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 2000 includes one or more modules 2100, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 2100 provide the functionality of the wireless communication device 2000 described herein.

[0234] refer to Figure 22 According to an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunications network 2200, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, comprising an access network 2202 (such as a RAN) and a core network 2204. The access network 2202 includes a plurality of base stations 2206A, 2206B, and 2206C, such as Node Bs, eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless access points (APs), each defining a corresponding coverage area 2208A, 2208B, and 2208C. Each base station 2206A, 2206B, and 2206C is connectable to the core network 2204 via a wired or wireless connection 2210. A first UE 2212 located in the coverage area 2208C is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding base station 2206C. A second UE 2214 in the coverage area 2208A is also wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 2206A. Although multiple UEs 2212, 2214 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is in the coverage area or where a single UE is connected to the corresponding base station 2206.

[0235] The telecommunications network 2200 itself is connected to a host computer 2216, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-enabled server, a distributed server, or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 2216 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 2218 and 2220 between the telecommunications network 2200 and the host computer 2216 may extend directly from the core network 2204 to the host computer 2216, or may be made via an optional intermediate network 2222. The intermediate network 2222 may be one or a combination of more than one of a public, private, or managed network; the intermediate network 2222, if present, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 2222 may include two or more subnets (not shown).

[0236] Figure 22 The communication system as a whole enables connectivity between connected UEs 2212, 2214 and a host computer 2216. This connectivity can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2224. The host computer 2216 and the connected UEs 2212, 2214 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 2224, using the access network 2202, the core network 2204, any intermediate networks 2222, and possibly additional infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 2224 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 2224 passes are unaware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 2206 may not or need not be informed of the past routing of incoming downlink communications having data originating from the host computer 2216 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 2212. Similarly, the base station 2206 need not be aware of the future routing of outbound uplink communications originating from the UE 2212 to the host computer 2216 .

[0237] Now refer to Figure 23Describe an example implementation of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the previous paragraphs according to an embodiment. In the communication system 2300, the host computer 2302 includes hardware 2304, the hardware 2304 including a communication interface 2306, and the communication interface 2306 is configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection for an interface with different communication devices of the communication system 2300. The host computer 2302 further includes a processing circuit 2308 that may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 2308 may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or a combination of these (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 2302 further includes software 2310, which is stored in the host computer 2302 or accessible by the host computer 2302 and executable by the processing circuit 2308. The software 2310 includes a host application 2312. The host application 2312 may be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 2314 connected via an OTT connection 2316 terminating at the UE 2314 and the host computer 2302. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 2312 may provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 2316.

[0238] The communication system 2300 further includes a base station 2318, which is provided in the telecommunications system and includes hardware 2320 that enables it to communicate with the host computer 2302 and with the UE 2314. The hardware 2320 may include a communication interface 2322 for establishing and maintaining wired or wireless connections with different communication devices of the communication system 2300, and for establishing and maintaining connections with at least the communication devices located in the coverage area ( Figure 23 The communication interface 2322 may be configured to facilitate a connection 2328 to the host computer 2302. The connection 2328 may be direct, or it may pass through a core network (e.g., a core network of the telecommunications system) of the telecommunications system. Figure 23 23 (not shown), and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 2320 of the base station 2318 further includes processing circuitry 2330, which may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or a combination thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 2318 further has software 2332 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0239] The communication system 2300 further includes the aforementioned UE 2314. The hardware 2334 of the UE 2314 may include a radio interface 2336 configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 2326 with a base station serving the coverage area in which the UE 2314 is currently located. The hardware 2334 of the UE 2314 further includes processing circuitry 2338, which may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or a combination thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 2314 further includes software 2340, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 2314 and executable by the processing circuitry 2338. The software 2340 includes a client application 2342. The client application 2342, supported by the host computer 2302, may be operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 2314. In host computer 2302, a host application 2312 executing on the host computer 2302 can communicate with a client application 2342 executing on the host computer 2302 via an OTT connection 2316 terminated between UE 2314 and host computer 2302. When providing a service to a user, client application 2342 can receive request data from host application 2312 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 2316 can transmit both the request data and the user data. Client application 2342 can interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0240] Notice, Figure 23 The host computer 2302, base station 2318, and UE 2314 shown in FIG may each be similar to or identical to Figure 22 The host computer 2216, one of the base stations 2206A, 2206B, 2206C and one of the UEs 2212, 2214. That is, the internal workings of these entities may be as follows: Figure 23 As shown in , and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Figure 22 network topology.

[0241] exist Figure 23 23. In the diagram, an OTT connection 2316 has been abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between a host computer 2302 and a UE 2314 via a base station 2318, without explicitly mentioning any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to be hidden from the UE 2314, the service provider operating the host computer 2302, or both. While the OTT connection 2316 is active, the network infrastructure may further make decisions (e.g., based on network reconfiguration or load balancing considerations) by which it dynamically changes the routing.

[0242] The wireless connection 2326 between the UE 2314 and the base station 2318 is consistent with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of an OTT service provided to the UE 2314 using the OTT connection 2316, in which the wireless connection 2326 forms the last segment. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve the utilization of the PUCCH and thereby provide benefits such as enhancing PUCCH reliability, maintaining low latency, and / or saving UE power consumption.

[0243] A measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments. Optional network functionality may also be provided for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2316 between the host computer 2302 and the UE 2314 in response to changes in measurement results. The network functionality and / or measurement process for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2316 may be implemented using the software 2310 and hardware 2304 of the host computer 2302, or using the software 2340 and hardware 2334 of the UE 2314, or both. In some embodiments, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication device through which the OTT connection 2316 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by supplying values for the monitored quantities exemplified above, or other physical quantities from which the software 2310, 2340 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 2316 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, and the like; the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 2318 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2318. Such processes and functionality may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates host computer 2302 measurements of throughput, propagation time, latency, and the like. Measurements may be achieved because software 2310 and 2340 uses the OTT connection 2316 to cause messages (particularly empty or 'dummy' messages) to be transmitted while it monitors propagation time, errors, and the like.

[0244] Figure 24 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 22 and 23 For the sake of simplicity of this disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section will be included. Figure 24Reference is made to the accompanying drawings of FIG. In step 2400, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 2402 of step 2400 (which may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2404, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 2406 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station transmits the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 2408 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0245] Figure 25 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 22 and Figure 23 For the sake of simplicity of this disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section will be included. Figure 25 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings of FIG. In step 2500 of the method, a host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2502, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission may be delivered via a base station. In step 2504 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0246] Figure 26 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 22 and Figure 23 For the sake of simplicity of this disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section will be included. Figure 26. In step 2600 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2602, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 2604 (which may be optional) of step 2600, the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 2606 (which may be optional) of step 2602, the UE executes a client application that provides user data as a reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data is provided, in sub-step 2608 (which may be optional), the UE initiates transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 2610 of the method, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the host computer receives user data transmitted from the UE.

[0247] Figure 27 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 22 and 23 For the sake of simplicity of this disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section will be included. Figure 27 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings. In step 2700 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 2702 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 2704 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0248] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions or benefits disclosed herein may be performed by one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may include several of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuits and other digital hardware, and the processing circuits may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, and other digital hardware may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuits may be configured to execute program codes stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program codes stored in the memory include program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols, and instructions for implementing one or more of the technologies described herein. In some implementations, a processing circuit may be used to cause the corresponding functional units to perform the corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0249] Although the processes in the figures may illustrate a particular order of operations performed by certain embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that such order is exemplary (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.).

[0250] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure are as follows:

[0251] Group A Examples

[0252] Embodiment 1: A method for uplink transmission performed by a user equipment (UE) (712) in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or TCI state, the method comprising:

[0253] Receiving (1600) from a base station (702) in a wireless communication network a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for an uplink channel, and an indication of a number of transmission repetitions for the uplink channel; and

[0254] • Transmitting (1604) an uplink channel a number of times according to a number of transmission repetitions in a first set of subslots according to a first spatial relationship and in a second set of subslots according to a second spatial relationship.

[0255] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the uplink channel is a physical uplink control channel PUCCH.

[0256] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the total number of sub-time slots in the first set of sub-time slots and the second set of sub-time slots is equal to the number of transmission repetitions.

[0257] Embodiment 4: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein each subslot in the time slot comprising the first set of subslots and the second set of subslots comprises a number of OFDM symbols.

[0258] Embodiment 5: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the first set of sub-time slots and the second set of sub-time slots do not overlap in time.

[0259] Embodiment 6: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the first set of sub-timeslots and the second set of sub-timeslots are in the same time slot.

[0260] Embodiment 7: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the time and frequency resource allocation in each sub-slot of the first set of sub-slots and the second set of sub-slots has the same pattern.

[0261] Embodiment 8: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the uplink channel is one of PUCCH formats 0 to 4.

[0262] Embodiment 9: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 8 further comprises: receiving (1600A) from the base station (702) another configuration of gap symbols between adjacent transmission repetitions.

[0263] Embodiment 10: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 9, further comprising:

[0264] Receiving (1602) from the base station (702) a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for an uplink channel, wherein which repetition number to use depends on whether one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0265] o Indicate two TCI states in the transmission configuration indication field (if present) of the DCI scheduling PDSCH;

[0266] o One of the DL multi-TRP PDSCH schemes (i.e., configured by higher layer parameter RepetitionSchemeConfig-r16) is used for the associated PDSCH;

[0267] o The priority indicator field of the DCI (if present) is set to "1";

[0268] o PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2;

[0269] o Activate PUCCH resources with 2 TCI states; and

[0270] o A certain UCI type is carried by PUCCH.

[0271] Embodiment 11: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 9, further comprising:

[0272] • Receiving (1602) from the base station (702) a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for an uplink channel, wherein which repetition number to use depends on a type of traffic associated with the uplink channel.

[0273] Embodiment 12: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 9 further comprises: receiving (1602A) one or more configurations for determining the number of transmission repetitions from a base station (702), wherein one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in downlink control information DCI.

[0274] Embodiment 13: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 12, further comprising: discarding (1604A) the transmission repetition when the transmission repetition overlaps with another uplink channel with a higher priority.

[0275] Embodiment 14: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 12, further comprising: multiplexing a transmission repetition with an overlapping uplink channel having the same priority (1604A).

[0276] Embodiment 15: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 12 further comprises: if the UE (712) collides with an invalid symbol, omitting the corresponding transmission repetition.

[0277] Embodiment 16: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 12, further comprising: if the UE (712) collides with an invalid symbol, delaying the corresponding transmission repetition until sufficient valid symbols are available (step 1604B).

[0278] Embodiment 17: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 16 further comprises: receiving (1606) a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command from the base station (702).

[0279] Embodiment 18: The method of embodiment 17, further comprising: adjusting (1608) the timing of applying the MAC CE command according to the time slot or sub-time slot on the last transmission repetition carrying the corresponding HARQ-ACK associated with the MAC CE command.

[0280] Group B Examples

[0281] Example 19: A method for uplink transmission performed by a base station (702) in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network includes two or more transmission and reception points TRPs, each TRP is associated with a spatial relationship or TCI state, and the method includes: providing (1600) a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship of an uplink channel to a user equipment UE (712) in the wireless communication network, and an indication of the number of transmission repetitions in the uplink channel.

[0282] Embodiment 20: The method of embodiment 19, wherein the uplink channel is a physical uplink control channel PUCCH.

[0283] Embodiment 21: The method of embodiment 19 or 20, further comprising: providing (1600A) to the UE (712) another configuration of gap symbols between adjacent transmission repetitions.

[0284] Embodiment 22: The method of any one of embodiments 19 to 21, further comprising: providing (1602) to the UE (712) a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel, wherein which repetition number to use depends on whether one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0285] Indicate two TCI states in the transmission configuration indication field (if present) of the DCI scheduling PDSCH;

[0286] One of the DL multi-TRP PDSCH schemes (i.e., configured by the higher layer parameter RepetitionSchemeConfig-r16) is used for the associated PDSCH;

[0287] The priority indicator field of the DCI (if present) is set to "1";

[0288] PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2;

[0289] Activate PUCCH resources with 2 TCI states; and

[0290] A certain UCI type is carried by PUCCH.

[0291] Embodiment 23: The method of any one of embodiments 19 to 21 further comprises: providing (1602) a second configuration of multiple transmission repetition times for an uplink channel to the UE (712), wherein which repetition time is used depends on the service type associated with the uplink channel.

[0292] Embodiment 24: The method of any one of embodiments 19 to 21 further comprises: providing (1602A) to the UE (712) one or more configurations for determining the number of transmission repetitions, wherein one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in the downlink control information DCI.

[0293] Embodiment 25: The method of any one of embodiments 19 to 24 further comprises: providing (1606) a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command to the UE (712).

[0294] Group C Examples

[0295] Embodiment 26: A wireless device for uplink transmission in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or TCI state, the wireless device comprising:

[0296] Processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of Group A embodiments; and

[0297] A power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0298] Embodiment 27: A base station for uplink transmission in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or TCI state, the base station comprising:

[0299] Processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of Group B embodiments; and

[0300] A power supply circuit configured to supply power to the base station.

[0301] Embodiment 28: A user equipment (UE) for uplink transmission in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or a TCI state, the UE comprising:

[0302] Antennas configured to transmit and receive wireless signals;

[0303] a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and to the processing circuit and configured to condition signals passed between the antenna and the processing circuit;

[0304] Processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of Group A embodiments;

[0305] an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuitry;

[0306] an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and

[0307] • A battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0308] Embodiment 29: A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0309] Processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

[0310] A communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE);

[0311] • wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the base station being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0312] Embodiment 30: The communication system described in the previous embodiment further includes a base station.

[0313] Embodiment 31: The communication system of the previous two embodiments further includes a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0314] Embodiment 32: The communication system of the preceding three embodiments, wherein:

[0315] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application, thereby providing user data; and

[0316] • The UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with a host application.

[0317] Embodiment 33: A method implemented in a communication system, the communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0318] At the host computer, providing user data; and

[0319] • Initiating, at a host computer, a transmission carrying user data to a UE via a cellular network including a base station, wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0320] Embodiment 34: The method of the previous embodiment further includes: transmitting user data at the base station.

[0321] Embodiment 35: The method of the previous two embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising executing a client application associated with the host application at the UE.

[0322] Embodiment 36: A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to execute the methods of the preceding three embodiments.

[0323] Embodiment 37: A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0324] Processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

[0325] A communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE);

[0326] • Wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the components of the UE are configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0327] Embodiment 38: The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0328] Embodiment 39: The communication system of the previous two embodiments, wherein:

[0329] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application, thereby providing user data; and

[0330] • The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0331] Embodiment 40: A method implemented in a communication system, the communication system comprising a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0332] At the host computer, providing user data; and

[0333] • Initiating, at a host computer, a transmission carrying user data to a UE via a cellular network including a base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A.

[0334] Embodiment 41: The method of the previous embodiment further includes: receiving user data from the base station at the UE.

[0335] Embodiment 42: A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0336] a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment UE to a base station;

[0337] • Wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0338] Embodiment 43: The communication system of the previous embodiment further includes a UE.

[0339] Embodiment 44: The communication system of the previous two embodiments further includes a base station, wherein the base station includes a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward user data carried by the transmission from the UE to the base station to the host computer.

[0340] Embodiment 45: The communication system of the preceding three embodiments, wherein:

[0341] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application; and

[0342] • The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data.

[0343] Embodiment 46: The communication system of the preceding four embodiments, wherein:

[0344] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application, thereby providing the requested data; and

[0345] • The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data in response to the request data.

[0346] Embodiment 47: A method implemented in a communication system, the communication system comprising a host computer, a base station and a user equipment UE, the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted from the UE to the base station, wherein the UE performs any step of the steps of any embodiment in Group A.

[0347] Embodiment 48: The method of the previous embodiment further includes: at the UE, providing user data to the base station.

[0348] Example 49: The method of the previous two examples further comprises:

[0349] At the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing user data to be transferred; and

[0350] At the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

[0351] Example 50: The method of the previous three examples further comprises:

[0352] At the UE, executing the client application; and

[0353] At the UE, input data for the client application is received, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application;

[0354] • wherein user data to be transmitted is provided by a client application in response to input data.

[0355] Embodiment 51: A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment UE to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the base station being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group B.

[0356] Example 52: The communication system of the previous embodiment further includes a base station.

[0357] Embodiment 53: The communication system of the previous two embodiments further includes a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0358] Embodiment 54: The communication system of the preceding three embodiments, wherein:

[0359] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application; and

[0360] • The UE is configured to execute a client application in association with a host application, thereby providing user data to be received by the host computer.

[0361] Embodiment 55: A method implemented in a communication system comprising a host computer, a base station and a user equipment UE, the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving from the base station user data originating from a transmission that the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A.

[0362] Embodiment 56: The method of the previous embodiment further includes: receiving user data from the UE at the base station.

[0363] Embodiment 57: The method of the previous two embodiments further includes: at the base station, initiating transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

[0364] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, the above use of it should take precedence. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should take precedence over any subsequent listing(s).

[0365] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0366] 5G fifth generation

[0367] 5GC fifth generation core

[0368] 5GS fifth generation system

[0369] ACK

[0370] AF application function

[0371] AMF access and mobility functions

[0372] AN access network

[0373] AP access point

[0374] ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

[0375] AUSF authentication server function

[0376] BWP Bandwidth Part

[0377] CE control element

[0378] CP-OFDM Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0379] CPU Central Processing Unit

[0380] CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0381] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0382] DFT Discrete Fourier Transform

[0383] DL Downlink

[0384] DN Data Network

[0385] DSP digital signal processor

[0386] eNB Enhanced or evolved Node B

[0387] EPS Evolved Packet System

[0388] E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

[0389] FDM frequency domain multiplexing

[0390] FH Frequency Hopping

[0391] FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array

[0392] gNB new air interface base station

[0393] gNB-DU new air interface base station distributed unit

[0394] HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0395] HSS Home Subscriber Server

[0396] IoT

[0397] IP Internet Protocol

[0398] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0399] MAC Media Access Control

[0400] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0401] MTC Machine Type Communication

[0402] NACK Negative Acknowledgement

[0403] NEF network open function

[0404] NF Network Function

[0405] NR New Radio

[0406] NRF Network Function Repository functionality

[0407] NSSF network slice selection function

[0408] OCC Orthogonal Cover Code

[0409] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0410] OTT Over-the-Top

[0411] PC personal computer

[0412] PCF policy control function

[0413] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0414] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0415] P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway

[0416] PRB Physical Resource Block

[0417] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0418] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0419] QoS Quality of Service

[0420] RAM Random Access Memory

[0421] RB Resource Block

[0422] RE resource element

[0423] ·RM Reed-Muller

[0424] RAN Radio Access Network

[0425] ROM Read Only Memory

[0426] RRC Radio Resource Control

[0427] RRH Remote Radio Head

[0428] RS reference signal

[0429] RTT round trip time

[0430] SCEF service capability exposure function

[0431] SDM Space Division Multiplexing

[0432] SMF session management capabilities

[0433] SSB Synchronous Signal Block

[0434] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0435] TDM time domain multiplexing

[0436] TRP Transmission and Reception Point

[0437] UCI Uplink Control Information

[0438] UDM unified data management

[0439] UE User Equipment

[0440] UL uplink

[0441] UPF User Plane Function

[0442] URLLC ultra-reliable low latency

[0443] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and all such improvements and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for uplink transmission performed by a user equipment (UE) (712) in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the method comprising: Receiving (step 1600) from a base station (702) in the wireless communication network a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of an uplink channel, wherein: N is an integer greater than 1; and The first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured to form a mapping pattern on the transmission repetition of the uplink channel, wherein the mapping pattern is a cyclic mapping or a sequential mapping; Receiving downlink control information (DL), DCI, indicating said uplink channel resources for said transmission repetition of said uplink channel; and ·Transmitting (step 1604) the uplink channel in N consecutive sub-timeslots in the uplink channel resource, and applying the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a first subset of the sub-timeslots according to the mapping pattern, and applying the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a second subset of the sub-timeslots.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is one of the following: A unified TCI state that can be used for both downlink and uplink channel transmissions; and Uplink TCI state, which can only be used for uplink channel transmission.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The uplink channel is a physical uplink control channel PUCCH.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein Each of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship includes one or more of the following: A synchronization signal block (SSB) index, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) index, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) index for determining a spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; Path loss reference signal index; and • One or more power control parameters.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein Each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state includes one or more of the following: A synchronization signal block (SSB) index, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) index, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) index for determining a spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; Path Loss Reference Signal Index; and • and one or more power control parameters.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The total number of sub-time slots in the first subset of the sub-time slots and the second subset of the sub-time slots is equal to a number of transmission repetitions.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein The first subset of the sub-time slots and the second subset of the sub-time slots are in the same time slot.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein Each of the sub-slots includes a number of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein The first subset of the sub-time slots and the second subset of the sub-time slots do not overlap in time.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The same uplink channel resource is allocated in each of the sub-timeslots.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein The uplink channel is one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) formats 0 to 4.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein The first subset of the sub-time slots includes one or more sub-time slots, and the second subset of the sub-time slots includes one or more sub-time slots.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein The cyclic mapping of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the cyclic mapping of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is configured on the repetitions of the uplink channel, wherein the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to every other repetition of the uplink channel starting from the first repetition, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the remaining repetitions.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: Every other repetition of the uplink channel, starting with a first repetition, is transmitted in the first subset of the sub-time slots, and the remaining repetitions are transmitted in the second subset of the sub-time slots.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein The sequential mapping of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the sequential mapping of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is configured on the repetitions of the uplink channel, wherein the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to every two consecutive repetitions in time of the uplink channel starting from the first two consecutive repetitions, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the remaining repetitions.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein: Every third consecutive repetition of the uplink channel starting with a first repetition is transmitted in the first subset of the sub-time slots, and the remaining repetitions are transmitted in the second subset of the sub-time slots.

17. The method of any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising: receiving (step 1602) a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel from the base station (702), wherein the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel depending on whether one or more of the following conditions are met: Indicating two TCI states in the transmission configuration indication field of the DCI format of the scheduling-associated physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, and for the PDSCH, carrying a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment HARQ-ACK on the uplink channel; The associated PDSCH corresponds to a specific PDSCH scheme; The priority indicator field of the DCI scheduling the associated PDSCH is set to "1"; The associated PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2; activating resources for the uplink channel with two TCI states; and The uplink channel carries a certain uplink UL control information UCI type.

18. The method of any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising: receiving (step 1602) a second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel from the base station (702), wherein the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel depending on a traffic type associated with the uplink channel.

19. The method of any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising: One or more configurations for selecting a transmission repetition number for the uplink channel are received (step 1602A) from the base station (702), wherein one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in the DCI.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein The uplink channel carries uplink control information UCI.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The number of transmission repetitions of the uplink channel varies according to the type of the UCI.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein: The type of the UCI is one of the following: a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ acknowledgment ACK, a scheduling request SR, a channel state information CSI, or two or more of HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI multiplexed together.

23. The method of any one of claims 1 to 22, further comprising: When a transmission repetition of the uplink channel is overlapping with another uplink channel having a higher priority, such transmission repetition of the uplink channel is discarded (step 1604A).

24. The method of any one of claims 1 to 22, further comprising: One transmission repetition of the uplink channel is multiplexed with another overlapping uplink channel having the same priority (step 1604A).

25. The method of any one of claims 1 to 22, further comprising: If the transmission collides with an invalid symbol, the corresponding transmission repetition is omitted (step 1604B).

26. The method of any one of claims 1 to 22, further comprising: If a transmission collides with an invalid symbol, the corresponding transmission repetition is delayed (step 1604B) until sufficient valid symbols are available.

27. The method of any one of claims 1 to 26, further comprising: If the uplink channel carrying HARQ-ACK is transmitted in time slot n, applying a medium access control MAC control element CE command starting from the first time slot 3 milliseconds after time slot n, the HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the MAC CE command from the base station (702).

28. The method of any one of claims 1 to 26, wherein The configuration can be via Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages, MAC CE commands, or both.

29. A user equipment (UE) (712) adapted to communicate in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the UE being adapted to: Receiving (step 1600) from a base station (702) in the wireless communication network a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of an uplink channel, wherein: N is an integer greater than 1; as well as The first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured to form a mapping pattern on the transmission repetition of the uplink channel, wherein the mapping pattern is a cyclic mapping or a sequential mapping; Receiving downlink control information (DL) DCI indicating the uplink channel resources used for the transmission repetition of the uplink channel; as well as ·Transmitting (step 1604) the uplink channel in N consecutive sub-timeslots in the uplink channel resource, and applying the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a first subset of the sub-timeslots according to the mapping pattern, and applying the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a second subset of the sub-timeslots.

30. The UE (712) of claim 29, wherein: The UE (712) is further adapted to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 to 28.

31. A user equipment (UE) adapted to communicate in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the UE (712; 2000) comprising: One or more transmitters (2008); one or more receivers (2010), and a processing circuit (2002) associated with the one or more transmitters (2008) and the one or more receivers (2010), the processing circuit (2002) being configured to cause the UE (712; 2000): A configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state, and an indication of N transmission repetitions of an uplink channel are received (step 1600) from a base station (702) in the wireless communication network, wherein: N is an integer greater than 1; and The first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured to form a mapping pattern on the transmission repetition of the uplink channel, wherein the mapping pattern is a cyclic mapping or a sequential mapping; receiving downlink control information (DCI) indicating the uplink channel resources for the transmission repetition of the uplink channel; and The uplink channel is transmitted (step 1604) in N consecutive sub-timeslots in the uplink channel resource, and according to the mapping pattern, the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a first subset of the sub-timeslots, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the uplink channel transmission repetitions in a second subset of the sub-timeslots.

32. The UE (712; 2000) of claim 31, wherein: The processing circuit (2002) is further configured to cause the UE (712; 2000) to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 to 28.

33. A method for uplink transmission performed by a base station (702) in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the method comprising: providing (step 1600) to a user equipment UE (712) in the wireless communication network a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state for uplink channel resources, and an indication of N transmission repetitions for transmitting an uplink channel, wherein: N is an integer greater than 1; and The first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured to form a mapping pattern on the transmission repetition of the uplink channel, wherein the mapping pattern is a cyclic mapping or a sequential mapping; and • Providing downlink control information (DL) DCI to the UE (712) indicating the uplink channel resources used for the transmission repetition of the uplink channel.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein: Each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is one of the following: A unified TCI state that can be used for both downlink and uplink channel transmissions; and Uplink TCI state, which can only be used for uplink channel transmission.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein The uplink channel is a physical uplink control channel PUCCH.

36. The method of any one of claims 33 to 35, wherein Each of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship includes one or more of the following: A synchronization signal block (SSB) index, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) index, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) index for determining a spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; Path Loss Reference Signal Index; and • One or more power control parameters.

37. The method of any one of claims 33 to 35, wherein Each of the first TCI state and the second TCI state includes one or more of the following: A synchronization signal block (SSB) index, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) index, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) index for determining a spatial filter to be used for uplink channel transmission; Path Loss Reference Signal Index; and • and one or more power control parameters.

38. The method of any one of claims 33 to 37, wherein The uplink channel is one of PUCCH formats 0 to 4.

39. The method of any one of claims 33 to 37, wherein The cyclic mapping of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the cyclic mapping of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is configured on the repetitions of the uplink channel, wherein the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to every other repetition of the uplink channel starting from the first repetition, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the remaining repetitions.

40. The method of any one of claims 33 to 37, wherein The sequential mapping of the first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the sequential mapping of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is configured on the repetitions of the uplink channel, wherein the first spatial relationship or the first TCI state is applied to every two consecutive repetitions in time of the uplink channel starting from the first two consecutive repetitions, and the second spatial relationship or the second TCI state is applied to the remaining repetitions.

41. The method of any one of claims 33 to 40, further comprising: A second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel is provided (step 1602) to the UE (712), wherein the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel depending on whether one or more of the following conditions are met: Indicating two TCI states in the transmission configuration indication field of the DCI format of the scheduling-associated physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, and for the PDSCH, carrying a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment HARQ-ACK on the uplink channel; The associated PDSCH corresponds to a specific PDSCH scheme; The priority indicator field of the DCI scheduling the associated PDSCH is set to "1"; The associated PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2; Activating resources for the uplink channel with two TCI states; and The uplink channel carries a certain uplink UL control information (UCI) type.

42. The method of any one of claims 33 to 40, further comprising: A second configuration of a plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel is provided (step 1602) to the UE (712), wherein the transmission repetition number for the uplink channel is selected from the plurality of transmission repetition numbers for the uplink channel depending on a traffic type associated with the uplink channel.

43. The method of any one of claims 33 to 40, further comprising: One or more configurations for selecting a transmission repetition number for the uplink channel are provided (step 1602A) to the UE (712), wherein one of the one or more configurations is dynamically indicated in the DCI.

44. The method of any one of claims 33 to 40, wherein The uplink channel carries uplink UL control information UCI.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein: The number of transmission repetitions of the uplink channel varies according to the type of the UCI.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein The type of the UCI is one of the following: a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ acknowledgment ACK, a scheduling request SR, a channel state information CSI, or two or more of HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI multiplexed together.

47. A base station (702) adapted to communicate in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the base station (702) being adapted to: providing (step 1600) to a user equipment UE (712) in the wireless communication network a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state for uplink channel resources, and an indication of N transmission repetitions for transmitting an uplink channel, wherein: N is an integer greater than 1; as well as The first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured to form a mapping pattern on the transmission repetition of the uplink channel, wherein the mapping pattern is a cyclic mapping or a sequential mapping; as well as • Providing downlink control information (DL) DCI to the UE (712) indicating the uplink channel resources used for the transmission repetition of the uplink channel.

48. The base station (702) of claim 47, wherein: The base station (702) is further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 34 to 46.

49. A base station (702; 1700) adapted to communicate in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication network comprising two or more transmission and reception points (TRPs), each TRP being associated with a spatial relationship or transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, the base station (702; 1700) comprising a processing circuit (1704; 1804), the processing circuit (1704; 1804) being configured to cause the base station (702; 1700): providing (1600) a configuration of a first spatial relationship and a second spatial relationship for uplink channel resources or a configuration of a first TCI state and a second TCI state to a user equipment UE (712) in the wireless communication network, and an indication of N transmission repetitions for transmitting an uplink channel, wherein: N is an integer greater than 1; as well as The first spatial relationship and the second spatial relationship or the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured to form a mapping pattern on the transmission repetition of the uplink channel, wherein the mapping pattern is a cyclic mapping or a sequential mapping; as well as • Providing downlink control information (DL) DCI to the UE (712) indicating the uplink channel resources used for the transmission repetition of the uplink channel.

50. The base station (702; 1700) of claim 49, wherein: The processing circuit (1704; 1804) is further configured to cause the base station (702; 1700) to perform the method of any one of claims 34 to 46.

Images