Method and apparatus for downlink resource allocation for multi-transmit and multi-receive point transmission

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for downlink resource allocation for multi-transmit and receive point transmission. A method and apparatus provide for receiving (602) a configuration of a plurality of Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states of a serving cell for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission, wherein each of the plurality of TCI states includes parameters for configuring a quasi-co-location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port of the PDSCH. Receiving (604) a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) that includes Downlink Control Information (DCI) for scheduling the PDSCH. Determining (606) whether an offset between the reception of the PDCCH and the reception of the PDSCH is less than a predetermined threshold, wherein in response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, selecting a configuration pair of TCI states including a first TCI state and a second TCI state from the received configuration of the plurality of TCI states. Decoding (608) the PDSCH based on the selected configuration pair of TCI states.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application "Method and Apparatus for Downlink Resource Allocation for Multi-Transmitter and Receiver Point Transmission" with Chinese application number 202080021758.7, international application date of March 27, 2020, PCT application number PCT / IB2020 / 052960, which entered the Chinese national phase on September 16, 2021. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for downlink resource allocation for multi-TRP transmission, and more particularly to situations where non-overlapping frequency resources are associated with different transmission configuration indicator states, and / or where the transmission configuration indicator state indicated by downlink control information may not be applicable. Background Art

[0003] Currently, user equipment such as wireless communication devices communicate with other communication devices using wireless signals within a network environment that may include one or more cells, where various communication connections with the network and other devices operating within the network can be supported. The network environment typically involves one or more sets of standards, each set defining various aspects of any communication connection made when using the corresponding standard within the network environment. Examples of standards being developed and / or existing standards include New Radio Access Technology (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and / or Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE).

[0004] At any given time, the conditions associated with establishing and maintaining a communication connection between a wireless communication device and a network via a particular cell can change as the relationship between the particular wireless communication device and one or more base stations changes. In some of these same and other instances, the degree to which the communication connection can change or the manner in which the communication connection is desired to adapt can depend on the type of communication connection. At least one type of emerging communication connection includes any particular user equipment that can connect to the network via potentially more than one access point and / or via one or more individual antenna elements at one or more access points. This is sometimes referred to as multi-TRP or multi-transmitter receiver point.

[0005] Initially, this concept was considered relevant to supporting communication for cell-edge users, but has increasingly been of broader interest for other communication conditions, such as supporting MIMO or multiple-input multiple-output type of communication, where both the transmitter and the receiver have multiple antenna receiving elements. However, each transmit / receive point potentially has a unique set of conditions that need to be identified and used relative to the transmission or reception of information via a particular transmit / receive point. Alternatively, in some cases where various antenna elements are considered to be quasi-co-located, some or all of the previously identified information related to a particular transmit / receive point can be reused or shared with another transmit / receive point. Some of these communications can be identified as ultra-reliable low-latency type of communications.

[0006] The inventors have recognized that communication between a particular user and a network can be improved by better managing the use and selection of information, such as transmission configuration indicator states associated with potentially multiple transmit and receive points, including cases where non-overlapping frequency resources are associated with different transmission configuration indicator states, or when the transmission configuration indicator state indicated by downlink control information may not be applicable. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present application provides a method in a user equipment. The method includes: receiving a configuration of a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states for a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel transmission, where each of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states includes parameters for configuring a quasi-co-location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port for physical downlink shared channel transmission. Receiving a physical downlink control channel that includes downlink control information for scheduling the physical downlink shared channel. Determining whether an offset between the reception of the physical downlink control channel and the reception of the physical downlink shared channel is less than a predetermined threshold, where in response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, selecting a configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states that includes a first transmission configuration indicator state and a second transmission configuration indicator state from the received configuration of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. Decoding the physical downlink shared channel based on the selected configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states.

[0008] According to another possible embodiment, a user equipment is provided. The user equipment includes a controller and a transceiver. The transceiver receives a configuration of a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states of a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel transmission, where each of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states includes parameters for configuring a quasi - co - location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port for physical downlink shared channel transmission. The transceiver also receives a physical downlink control channel, and the physical downlink control channel includes downlink control information for scheduling the physical downlink shared channel. The controller determines whether an offset between the reception of the physical downlink control channel and the reception of the physical downlink shared channel is less than a predetermined threshold, where, in response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, a configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states including a first transmission configuration indicator state and a second transmission configuration indicator state is selected from the received configuration of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The controller also decodes the physical downlink shared channel based on the selected configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states.

[0009] According to another possible embodiment, a method in a network entity is provided. The method includes: sending a configuration of a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states of a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel transmission, where each of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states includes parameters that can be used to configure a quasi - co - location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port for physical downlink shared channel transmission. Sending a physical downlink control channel, including downlink control information for scheduling the physical downlink shared channel. It can be determined whether an offset between the reception of the physical downlink control channel and the reception of the physical downlink shared channel is less than a predetermined threshold. In response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, a set of configurations of transmission configuration indicator states including a first transmission configuration indicator state and a second transmission configuration indicator state is selected from the received configuration of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The selected set of configurations of transmission configuration indicator states can be used to decode the physical downlink shared channel.

[0010] According to yet another possible embodiment, a network entity is provided. The network entity includes a controller and a transceiver. The transceiver transmits a configuration of a plurality of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states of a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, where each of the plurality of TCI states includes parameters that can be used to configure a quasi co-location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port of the PDSCH transmission. The transceiver also transmits a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) including downlink control information for scheduling the PDSCH. It can be determined whether an offset between the reception of the PDCCH and the reception of the PDSCH is less than a predetermined threshold. In response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, a configuration set of TCI states including a first TCI state and a second TCI state is selected from the received configurations of the plurality of TCI states. The selected configuration set of TCI states can be used to decode the PDSCH.

[0011] These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present application will be apparent from the description of one or more preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary network environment in which the present invention is adapted to operate;

[0013] Figure 2 is an exemplary table identifying the association of physical resource block (PRB) bundles with one or more precoders;

[0014] Figure 3 is another exemplary table identifying the association of physical resource block bundles with one or more precoders - including some partial bundles;

[0015] Figure 4 is yet another exemplary table identifying the association of physical resource block bundles with one or more precoders;

[0016] Figure 5 is yet another exemplary table identifying the association of physical resource block bundles with one or more precoders;

[0017] Figure 6 is a flowchart of downlink resource allocation for multi-TRP transmission in a user equipment;

[0018] Figure 7 is a flowchart in a network entity for downlink resource allocation for multi-TRP transmission; and

[0019] Figure 8 is an exemplary block diagram of a device according to a possible embodiment. Detailed Implementation Manner

[0020] Although the present disclosure permits various forms of embodiments, the presently preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings and will be described hereinafter. It should be understood that the present disclosure is considered to be illustrative of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific embodiments shown.

[0021] The embodiments provide a method and an apparatus for downlink resource allocation for multi-transmit and receive point (TRP) transmission.

[0022] For a multi-TRP physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scenario in which non-overlapping frequency resources are associated with different transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one or more methods are provided, which may include defining resource allocation type one (e.g., by parameter RB start , L RBs definition), defining precoding resource block group (PRG) partitioning, and extending the "wideband" PRG definition.

[0023] For a multi-TRP PDSCH scenario, one or more methods are provided, which may include how to determine the TCI state when the TCI state indicated by downlink control information (DCI) is not applicable.

[0024] Figure 1 is an example block diagram of a system 100 according to a possible embodiment. The system 100 may include a wireless communication device 110 such as a user equipment (UE), a base station 120 such as an enhanced Node B (eNB) or a next-generation Node B (gNB), and a network 130. The wireless communication device 110 may be a wireless terminal, a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a flip phone, a personal digital assistant, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or any other device capable of transmitting and receiving communication signals over a wireless network.

[0025] The network 130 may include any type of network capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the network 130 may include a wireless communication network, a cellular phone network, a time division multiple access (TDMA)-based network, a code division multiple access (CDMA)-based network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a long term evolution (LTE) network, a fifth generation (5G) network, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-based network, a satellite communication network, a high altitude platform network, the Internet, and / or other communication networks.

[0026] The fifth generation (5G) wireless systems are expected to provide connectivity for a variety of applications. 3GPP follows this vision, where the 5G New Radio (NR) design takes into account three different service categories: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), which addresses human-centric use cases for accessing multimedia content, services, and data; massive machine type communication (mMTC), for a large number of connected devices that typically send relatively small amounts of non-latency-sensitive data; and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), which can have strict requirements in terms of latency and reliability. This meets the requirements of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for IMT 2020.

[0027] In 3GPP, the performance target for URLLC transmissions for control plane latency is 10 ms, and the user plane latency is 0.5 ms for both the downlink and uplink directions. For both intra-frequency and inter-frequency handovers within New Radio (NR), the mobility interruption time is 0 ms. Reliability is defined as the probability of successfully transmitting a predetermined number of bytes within a specific latency. The requirements for the latter depend on the usage scenario. For example, the target reliability for a general URLLC case is 99.999%, the user plane latency is 1 ms, and the payload size is 32 bytes.

[0028] According to at least some existing systems, for example, according to TS 38.214 V15.4.0, a user equipment (UE) can be configured by a higher layer with a list of up to M TCI-State configurations to decode the PDSCH intended for the serving cell, where M depends on the UE's capabilities. Each TCI-State contains parameters for configuring the quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between one or two downlink reference signals (DL RS) and the demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The quasi-co-location relationship is configured by the higher layer parameter qcl-Type1 for the first DL RS, and qcl-Type2 for the second DL RS (if configured). For the case of two DL RS, regardless of whether the same DL RS or different DL RS are referred to, the QCL types should not be the same. The quasi-co-location type corresponding to each DL RS is given by the higher layer parameter qcl-Type in QCL-Info and can take one of the following values:

[0029] -'QCL-TypeA': {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread};

[0030] -'QCL-TypeB': {Doppler shift, Doppler spread};

[0031] -'QCL-TypeC': {Doppler shift, mean delay}; and

[0032] -'QCL-TypeD': {Spatial reception parameter}.

[0033] According to TS 38.214 V15.4.0, if the UE is configured with the higher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI and this parameter is set to "enabled" for the control resource set (CORESET) that schedules the PDSCH, then the UE assumes that the transmission configuration indication (TCI) field is present in DCI format 1_1 of the PDCCH sent on the CORESET. If tci-PresentInDCI is not configured for the CORESET that schedules the PDSCH or for scheduling the PDSCH by DCI format 1_0, and the time offset between the reception of the downlink (DL) DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold Threshold-Sched-Offset used to determine the quasi co-location of the PDSCH antenna ports, where the threshold is based on the reported UE capabilities, then the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption for the PDSCH is the same as any one of the TCI states or QCL assumptions applicable to the CORESET used for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission. If tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled", the TCI field in the DCI in the scheduled component carrier points to the activated TCI state in the scheduled component carrier or downlink bandwidth part (BWP), and when the PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_1, the UE shall use the TCI-State according to the value of the "transmission configuration indication" field in the PDCCH detected with the DCI to determine the quasi co-location of the PDSCH antenna ports. The UE may assume that if the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold Threshold-Sched-Offset, where the threshold is based on the reported UE capabilities, then the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS in the TCI state with respect to the QCL type parameter given by the indicated TCL state.

[0034] In 3GPP, the candidates for multi-TRP-based URLLC scheduled by at least a single DCI are as follows:

[0035] Solution 1 (SDM): There are n (n <= N s ) TCI states within a single time slot, and the time-frequency resource allocations overlap

[0036] Solution 1a:

[0037] Each transmission occasion is one layer or a group of layers of the same transport block (TB), and each layer or group of layers is associated with a TCI and a group of DMRS ports.

[0038] A single codeword with one redundant version (RV) is used across all spatial layers or layer groups. From the perspective of the UE, different coded bits are mapped to different layers or layer groups, and the mapping rule is the same as that in Rel-15.

[0039] Scheme 1b:

[0040] Each transmission occasion is one layer or a group of layers of the same TB, and each layer or layer group is associated with a TCI and a set of DMRS ports.

[0041] A single codeword with one RV is used for each spatial layer or layer group. The RVs corresponding to each spatial layer or layer group can be the same or different.

[0042] For further study (FFS): Codeword-to-layer mapping when the total number of layers <= 4.

[0043] Scheme 1c:

[0044] One type of transmission occasion is: one layer of the same TB, where one DMRS port is associated with multiple TCI state indices; or one layer of the same TB, where multiple DMRS ports are associated with multiple TCI state indices one by one.

[0045] It is possible to discuss applying different MCS / modulation orders to different layers or layer groups.

[0046] Scheme 2 (FDM): There are n (n <= N f ) TCI states within a single time slot, with non-overlapping frequency resource allocations.

[0047] Each non-overlapping frequency resource allocation is associated with one TCI state.

[0048] The same single / multiple DMRS ports are associated with all non-overlapping frequency resource allocations.

[0049] Scheme 2a:

[0050] A single codeword with one RV is used for the entire resource allocation. From the perspective of the UE, common RB mapping (codeword-to-layer mapping as in Rel-15) is applied to the entire resource allocation.

[0051] Scheme 2b:

[0052] A single codeword with one RV is used for each non-overlapping frequency resource allocation. The RVs corresponding to each non-overlapping frequency resource allocation can be the same or different.

[0053] It is possible to discuss applying different modulation and coding schemes (MCS) / modulation orders to different non-overlapping frequency resource allocations.

[0054] Details of the frequency resource allocation mechanism of FDM 2a / 2b for allocation granularity and time domain allocation can be discussed.

[0055] Scheme 3 (TDM): n (n <= N t1 ) TCI states within a single time slot, and the time resource allocation does not overlap.

[0056] Each transmission occasion of the TB has a TCI and an RV, and the time granularity is a mini-slot.

[0057] All transmission occasions within the time slot use a common MCS with the same single or multiple DMRS ports.

[0058] The RV / TCI states can be the same or different between transmission occasions.

[0059] FFS channel estimation interpolation across mini-slots with the same TCI index.

[0060] Scheme 4 (TDM): n (n <= N t2 ) TCI states, with K (n <= K) different time slots.

[0061] Each transmission occasion of the TB has a TCI and an RV.

[0062] All transmission occasions across K time slots use a common MCS with the same single or multiple DMRS ports.

[0063] The RV / TCI states can be the same or different between transmission occasions.

[0064] FFS channel estimation interpolation across time slots with the same TCI index.

[0065] Note that the M-TRP / panel-based URLLC schemes should be compared in terms of improved reliability, efficiency, and specification impact.

[0066] Note: The support for the number of layers per TRP can be discussed

[0067] According to at least some embodiments of the present disclosure, the TCI states or QCL assumptions for PDSCH can be used interchangeably. The solution is applicable to time slots / mini-slots.

[0068] Frequency resource allocation type 1

[0069] According to TS 38.214:

[0070] In the downlink resource allocation of type 1, the resource block assignment information indicates to the scheduled UE the size A set of continuously allocated non-interleaved or interleaved virtual resource blocks within the active bandwidth part of the PRB, except when decoding DCI format 1_0 in any common search space, in which case, if CORESET 0 is configured for the cell, the size of CORESET 0 shall be used, and if CORESET 0 is not configured for the cell, the size of the initial DL bandwidth part shall be used.

[0071] The downlink type 1 resource allocation field includes a resource indication value (RIV) corresponding to the starting virtual resource block (RB RBs ) and the length with respect to the consecutive allocated resource blocks L start . The resource indication value is defined as

[0072] If then

[0073]

[0074] Otherwise

[0075]

[0076] where L RBs ≥ 1 and shall not exceed

[0077] When the DCI size of DCI format 1_0 in the USS is derived from the DCI size of DCI format 1_0 in the common search space (CSS) but applied to another active BWP of size , the downlink type 1 resource block assignment field includes a resource indication value (RIV) corresponding to the starting resource block and the length with respect to the virtual consecutive allocated resource blocks , where it is given by

[0078] - The size of CORESET 0 when CORESET 0 is configured for the cell;

[0079] - The size of the initial DL bandwidth part when CORESET 0 is not configured for the cell.

[0080] The resource indication value is defined as

[0081] If then

[0082]

[0083] Otherwise

[0084]

[0085] where L' RBs = L RBs / K, RB' start = RB start / K, where L' RBs shall not exceed

[0086] If then K is the maximum value in the set {1, 2, 4, 8} that satisfies ; otherwise K = 1.

[0087] In one embodiment : If a set of PRBs is used to schedule a UE in a time slot, where the set of PRBs consists of'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations, and each non - overlapping frequency resource allocation is associated with a TCI state,

[0088] ● The downlink type 1 resource block assignment field may include resource indication values (RIVs) corresponding to the starting resource blocks RBstart = 0, K, 2K,...,(Nf - 1)K and lengths for the virtual consecutive allocated resource blocks LRBs = K, 2K,…,(Nf)K, where (In other examples: ); K is given by one or more of the following: specification / radio resource control (RRC) signaling / 'm' / VRB bundling size / RBG size / PRG size / DCI indication / gap between non - overlapping frequency resource allocations;

[0089] ○ In one implementation, K = m * virtual resource block (VRB) bundling size

[0090] ○ In another implementation, K = m * LCM(VRB bundling size, physical resource block (PRB) bundling size); LCM represents the least common multiple

[0091] ○ In one implementation, for m = 1 → K = 1

[0092] ○ In another implementation, for the PRG size P determined to be "wideband" B ′ WP.i , K = m

[0093] ○ In another implementation, for an RBG size greater than 1; KRBG = LCM(K, RBG size); where K is determined by one of the above schemes; and where K in (Nf and LRB) is replaced by KRBG

[0094] The resource indication value is defined as:

[0095] If then

[0096]

[0097] Otherwise

[0098]

[0099] Wherein, L' RBs = L RBs / K, RB' start = RB start / K, and wherein, L' RBs shall not exceed

[0100] In a related embodiment, if the DCI size is derived from the size of another DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0 in CSS) but applied to another active BWP having a size the downlink type 1 resource block assignment field includes a resource indication value (RIV) corresponding to the starting resource block with respect to the virtual consecutive allocated resource blocks and length, wherein, is given by

[0101] - The size of CORESET 0 if CORESET 0 is configured for the cell;

[0102] - The size of the initial DL bandwidth part if CORESET 0 is not configured for the cell.

[0103] The resource indication value is defined as:

[0104] If then

[0105]

[0106] Otherwise

[0107]

[0108] Wherein, L' RBs = L RBs / K, RB' start = RB start / K, and wherein, L' RBs shall not exceed

[0109] If Kspecial is the LCM(KMTRP, K), K is in the set {1, 2, 4, 8} that satisfies The maximum value; otherwise, K = 1; and among them, KMTRP is the value of K (or KRBG) determined in the above embodiments; where K in (Nf and LRB) is replaced by Kspecial.

[0110] PRB bundling

[0111] According to TS 38.214:

[0112] The UE may assume that the precoding granularity is P′ in the frequency domain BWP.i Contiguous resource blocks. P′ BWP.i Can be equal to one of the values in {2, 4, wideband}.

[0113] If P′ BWP.i Is determined to be "wideband", it is not expected to use non - contiguous PRBs to schedule the UE, and the UE may assume that the same precoding is applied to the allocated resources.

[0114] If P′ BWP.i Is determined to be one of the values in {2, 4}, the precoding resource block group (PRG) divides the bandwidth part i into P′ BWP.i Contiguous PRBs. The actual number of contiguous PRBs in each PRG can be one or more.

[0115] The UE may assume that the same precoding is applied to any downlink contiguous allocation of PRBs in the PRG.

[0116] When receiving a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH with DCI format 1_1 and the CRC scrambled by C - RNTI, MCS - C - RNTI, or CS - RNTI, if the higher - layer parameter prb - BundlingType is set to "dynamicBundling (dynamic bundling)", the higher - layer parameters bundleSizeSet1 and bundleSizeSet2 configure two sets of P′ BWP.i Values. The first set can take one or two P′ BWP.i Values in {2, 4, wideband}, and the second set can take one P′ BWP.i Value.

[0117] If the PRB bundling size indicator transmitted in DCI format 1_1 as defined in Section 7.3.1.2.2 of [2, TS 38.212]

[0118] - Is set to "0", when receiving a PDSCH scheduled by the same DCI, the UE shall use the P′ BWP.i Value in the second set of P′ BWP.i Values.

[0119] - Is set to '1' and for the first set of P′BWP.i Configure a value P′ that the UE shall use when receiving a PDSCH scheduled by the same DCI. BWP.i Value

[0120] - Set to “1” and for the first set of P′ BWP.i The value is configured with two values, namely “n2-wideband” (corresponding to two P′ BWP.i Value 2 and wideband) or “n4-wideband” (corresponding to two values P′ BWP.i 4 and wideband), and the UE shall use this value when receiving a PDSCH scheduled by the same DCI, as follows:

[0121] - If the scheduled PRBs are consecutive and the size of the scheduled PRBs is greater than then P′ BWP.i is the same as the scheduled bandwidth; otherwise, P′ BWP.i is set to the remaining configured value 2 or 4 respectively.

[0122] When receiving a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH with DCI format 1_1 and the CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI or CS-RNTI, if the higher layer parameter prb-BundlingType is set to'staticBundling' (static bundling), then this P′ BWP.i value is configured with a single value indicated by the higher layer parameter bundleSize.

[0123] When RBG = 2 is configured for the UE for bandwidth part i according to Subclause 5.1.2.2.1, or when the UE is configured with an interleaving unit of 2 for the VRB-to-PRB mapping provided by the higher layer parameter vrb-ToPRB-Interleaver given by PDSCH-Config for bandwidth part i, it is not expected that the UE is configured with P′ BWP.i = 4.

[0124] i. PRG definition

[0125] In one embodiment, if a set of PRBs is used to schedule the UE in a time slot, where

[0126] ● The PBR group consists of'm' non-overlapping frequency resource allocations, where each non-overlapping frequency resource allocation is associated with a TCI state

[0127] ● Each non-overlapping frequency resource allocation includes non-consecutive PRBs or consecutive PRBs (e.g., based on RA type 1)

[0128] ● The UE determines the PRG size P′ BWP.i (e.g., based on configuration and / or DCI)

[0129] ● The precoded resource block group (PRG) separates the bandwidth part i into semi - continuous PRBs with P'. BWP，i The semi - continuous PRBs are separated.

[0130] ○ A semi - continuous PRB is a PRB where there are at most "x" PRBs between two consecutive PRBs in a semi - continuous PBR group

[0131] □■ 'x' can be specified (e.g., x = 2RB or 4RB); can depend on the number of TCI states; can be configured by RRC; can be signaled in DCI; can be UE - capability; can depend on one or more of vrb bundling size (e.g., the vrb - ToPRB - Interleaver parameter in TS 38.331), PRG size, and RBG size

[0132] ● In one example, if

[0133] ○ One TCI state is associated with the PDSCH, x = 0;

[0134] ○ Multiple TCI states are associated with the PDSCH, x = vrb bundling size, and the UE is not expected to be configured / indicate more than 2 RBs.

[0135] ● In another example, if more than one TCI state is associated with the PDSCH, the UE does not expect to be configured / indicate a PRG size different from the vrb bundling size ('x' = 0).

[0136] ● In another example, if multiple TCI states are associated with the PDSCH, then x = vrb bundling size multiplied by (the number of TCI states - 1)

[0137] ■□ 'x' can be different for the following parts

[0138] ● SCS: For example, a smaller SCS can have a higher "x" value (e.g., because the channel variation across RBs in the frequency domain may be smaller)

[0139] ○ For example, PRG size = 4RB, vrb bundling size = 2RB;

[0140] ■ For SCS = 15 - 30 kHz, x = 2RB, and

[0141] ■ For SCS > 30 KHz, x = 0RB

[0142] ● Number of layers

[0143] ● and / or the start of the bandwidth part

[0144] According to TS 38.211:

[0145] The UE shall assume that the virtual resource blocks are mapped to physical resource blocks according to the indicated mapping scheme, either non-interleaved or interleaved mapping. If no mapping scheme is indicated, the UE shall assume non-interleaved mapping.

[0146] For non-interleaved VRB-to-PRB mapping, virtual resource block n is mapped to physical resource block n, except for PDSCH transmissions scheduled with DCI format 1_0 in the common search space, in which case virtual resource block n is mapped to physical resource block where is the physical resource block with the lowest number in the control resource set that receives the corresponding DCI.

[0147] For interleaved VRB-to-PRB mapping, the mapping process is defined as:

[0148] - The resource block bundle is defined as

[0149] - For PDSCH transmissions scheduled with DCI format 1_0 using the CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI in the Type0-PDCCH common search space in CORESET 0, the set of resource blocks in the initial active downlink bandwidth part is partitioned into resource block bundles in ascending order of resource block number and bundle number, where L = 2 is the bundle size,

[0150] - If resource block bundle N bundle - 1 includes resource blocks, otherwise it includes L resource blocks,

[0151] - All other resource block bundles include L resource blocks.

[0152] - For PDSCH transmissions scheduled with DCI format 1_0 in any common search space other than the Type0-PDCCH common search space in bandwidth part i starting at , the set of virtual resource blocks is partitioned into N bundle virtual resource block bundles in ascending order of virtual resource block number and virtual bundle number, and the set of physical resource blocks is partitioned into N bundle physical resource block bundles in ascending order of physical resource block number and physical bundle number, where L = 2 is the bundle size, is the physical resource block with the lowest number in the control resource set that receives the corresponding DCI.

[0153] - Resource block bundle 0 includes resource blocks,

[0154] - If then resource block bundle N bundle - 1 includes resource blocks, otherwise it contains L resource blocks,

[0155] - All other resource block bundles include L resource blocks.

[0156] - For all other PDSCH transmissions, the set of resource blocks with the starting position in the bandwidth part is divided into resource block bundles in ascending order of resource block number and bundle number, where L i is the bundle size of bandwidth part i provided by the higher layer parameter vrb - ToPRB - Interleaver, and

[0157] - Resource block bundle 0 includes resource blocks,

[0158] - If then resource block bundle N bundle - 1 includes resource blocks, otherwise it includes L i resource blocks,

[0159] - All other resource block bundles contain L i resource blocks.

[0160] - For the virtual resource blocks within the interval j ∈ {0, 1,..., N bundle - 1}, they are mapped to physical resource blocks according to the following method

[0161] - Virtual resource block bundle N bundle - 1 is mapped to physical resource block bundle N bundle - 1

[0162] - Virtual resource block bundle j ∈ {0, 1,..., N bundle - 2} is mapped to physical resource block bundle f(j), where

[0163] f(j) = rC + c

[0164] j = cR + r

[0165] r = 0, 1,..., R - 1

[0166] c = 0, 1, ..., C - 1

[0167] R = 2

[0168]

[0169] - It is not expected that the UE configures L simultaneously i = 2 and the PRG size is 4, as defined in [6, TS 38.214]

[0170] - If the bundling size is not configured, the UE should assume L i = 2.

[0171] The UE may assume the same precoding in the frequency domain within a PRB bundling and determine the bundling size through Section 5.1.2.3 in [6, TS 38.214]. The UE should not assume the same precoding for different common resource block bundlings.

[0172] In one example, RBstart = 0, L = 2; P′ BWP.i = 4; The VRB bundling j is mapped to the PRB bundling f(j); Each bundling consists of two consecutive PRBs. The mapping is shown in the following table: For a PRG size of 4 RBs, the PRB bundlings 0 and 2 share the same precoder, and the PRB bundlings 1 and 3 share the same precoder, etc. (each color represents a PRB bundling sharing the same precoder). In Figure 2 the table shown, x = 2 PRBs.

[0173] Figure 2 FIG. illustrates an exemplary table 200 identifying the association of physical resource block (PRB) bundlings with one or more precoders.

[0174] In an exemplary embodiment, if the PDSCH is associated with a single TCI and based on one or more factors such as UE capabilities / higher layer parameters / the number of TCI states associated with the PDSCH / PRG size, etc., it is not expected that the UE configures the VRB bundling size L i = 2 and the PRG size 4; If the PDSCH is associated with multiple TCI states, the UE may configure the VRB bundling size L i = 2 and the PRG size 4.

[0175] In another example, RBstart = 0, L = 2; P′ BWP.i = 4; x = 1 RB.

[0176] In this example, the upper halves of PRB bundle 0 and PRB bundles 1 and 2 share the same precoder; the lower halves of PRB bundles 1 and 2 and the entire PRB bundle 3 share the same precoder, and so on.

[0177] Figure 3 Another exemplary table 300 is illustrated that identifies associations of physical resource block bundles with one or more precoders - including associations of some partial bundles.

[0178] In another example, RBstart = 0, L = 4; P′ BWP.i = 4.

[0179] Figure 4 Yet another exemplary table 400 is illustrated that identifies associations of physical resource block bundles with one or more precoders.

[0180] In yet another example, number of RBs; RBstart = 0, L = 4; P′ BWP.i = 2.

[0181] Figure 5 is yet another exemplary table 500 that identifies associations of physical resource block bundles with one or more precoders.

[0182] In one example (e.g., using an interleaved VRB-to-PRB mapping), even-numbered virtual resource block (VRB) bundles are associated with a first TCI state (e.g., a first TRP), and odd-numbered virtual resource block (VRB) bundles are associated with a second TCI state (e.g., a second TRP). Adjacent VRB bundle indices are separated by C, e.g., PRB bundle, where R = 2, has an interleaved VRB-to-PRB mapping. PRBs associated with the same TCI state are consecutive. In one example, R is the number of TCI states associated with the PDSCH (e.g., for the same TB (transport block)).

[0183] In one example, the PDSCH is associated with R TCI states, and the virtual resource block bundle j in set i ∈ {i+(0,R,2R,..,N bundle -R)} is associated with TCI state i, i = 0,1,...,R-1. The virtual resource block bundle j ∈ {0,1,...,N bundle -2} is mapped to the physical resource block bundle f(j), where,

[0184] f(j) = rC + c

[0185] j = cR + r

[0186] r = 0, 1, ..., R - 1

[0187] c = 0, 1, ..., C - 1

[0188]

[0189] The VRB bundle to PRB bundle interleaver is a block interleaver with the number of rows = R, written column - by - column and read row - by - row. In one example, the spacing or offset between adjacent VRB bundle indices can be indicated to the UE in higher - layer signaling or in DCI (e.g., an indication based on the value of C in an equation or an indication of the value of N bundle ).

[0190] In one example (e.g., having a non - interleaved VRB - to - PRB mapping), the first part of the virtual resource block (VRB) (e.g., the first half of the allocated VRBs, ceil(N / 2), where N is the number of VRBs allocated for transmission) is associated with the first TCI state (e.g., the first TRP), and the second part of the virtual resource block (e.g., the second half of the allocated VRBs, N - ceil(N / 2) or floor(N / 2)) is associated with the second TCI state (e.g., the second TRP).

[0191] In one example, the complex - valued symbol blocks y (p) (0), …, y (p) assigned for PDSCH according to [TS 38.214] and not reserved for other purposes are mapped p,μ to the resource elements (k′, l) p,μ in ascending order of index k′ first and then index l on the allocated virtual resource blocks associated with the same TCI state, where k′ = 0 is the first sub - carrier in the lowest - numbered virtual resource block allocated for transmission associated with the same TCI state. In one example, the mapping to the resource elements (k′, l) p,μ is first on the allocated virtual resource blocks associated with the first TCI state and then on the allocated virtual resource blocks associated with the second TCI state. In one example, the complex - valued symbol blocks correspond to a single codeword with one RV and are mapped across all allocated virtual resource blocks - i.e., the virtual resource blocks associated with the first TCI state and the second TCI state. In another example, the first complex - valued symbol block corresponding to the first codeword with the first RV is mapped to the resource elements (k′, l) p,μ on the allocated virtual resource blocks associated with the first TCI state; and the second complex - valued symbol block corresponding to the second codeword with the second RV is mapped to the resource elements (k′, l) p,μ . The first and second codewords are associated with the same TB.

[0192] ii. Wideband PRG

[0193] In one embodiment, if a set of PRBs is used to schedule a UE in a time slot, where

[0194] ● The PBR set consists of'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations, where each non - overlapping frequency resource allocation is associated with a TCI state

[0195] ● The UE determines the PRG size P B ′ WP.i (e.g., based on configuration and / or DCI)

[0196] ● If P B ′ WP.i is determined to be "wideband", it is not expected to use discontinuous PRBs associated with the TCI state to schedule the UE, and the UE may assume that the same precoding is applied to the allocated resources associated with the TCI state.

[0197] In related embodiments that may apply, for example, to non - interleaved RA type 1, the UE may be scheduled with discontinuous PRBs, but the PRBs associated with each TCI state are continuous. The offset between discontinuous PRBs (e.g., between'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations) is determined based on one or more of the following:

[0198] ● Signaled (e.g., via RRC and / or DCI)

[0199] o In one embodiment, an RRC parameter (e.g., a new parameter or an already - used parameter, such as vrb - ToPRB - Interleaver which may potentially obtain a new value) configures the offset unit, and the DCI indicates how many units of offset become the offset between'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations.

[0200] o In another embodiment, the offset unit is fixed in the specification (e.g., as a function of the total allocated resources), and the DCI signals the offset between'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations.

[0201] o In another embodiment, the RRC parameter configures a set of possible offset values (which may include offset '0' RB), and the DCI selects one of the possible offset values as the offset between'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations.

[0202] o In another embodiment, the RRC parameter configures a set of possible fractional values (e.g., {1 / 4, 1 / 2}), and the DCI selects one of the possible fractional values; then the offset between'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations is determined based on the following part

[0203] □■Multiply the fraction value by the [total] allocated resources (number of RBs / RBGs / PRGs);

[0204] ●The offset is zero

[0205] ●Number of TCI states

[0206] ●PRG / RBG size

[0207] In related embodiments, the UE may be scheduled with discontinuous PRBs, but the PRBs associated with each TCI state are continuous. If the determined offset between discontinuous PRBs (e.g., between'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations) is 'G' RBs, then the RBs corresponding to each of the'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations are determined based on the total allocated resources,'m' / number of TCI states, and 'G'.

[0208] ●In one example, the nominal number of RBs corresponding to each of the'm' non - overlapping frequency resource allocations is determined based on floor([total allocated resources-(m - 1)×G] / m)Determination of TCI state when the TCI state indicated by DCI is not applicable

[0209] According to TS 38.214: If the UE is configured with the higher - layer parameter tci - PresentInDCI for the CORESET used for scheduling the PDSCH set to "enabled", the UE assumes that the TCI field exists in DCI format 1_1 of the PDCCH transmitted on the CORESET.

[0210] If

[0211] (a) tci - PresentInDCI is not configured for the CORESET used for scheduling the PDSCH, or

[0212] (b) the PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_0 and the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold Threshold - Sched - Offset, where the threshold is based on the reported UE capabilities [13, TS38.306],

[0213] then, for determining the PDSCH antenna port quasi - co - location, the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption of the PDSCH is the same as any one of the TCI state or QCL assumption of the CORESET used for PDCCH transmission.

[0214] According to TS 38.214:

[0215] For the following two cases: When

[0216] (a) tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" and

[0217] (b) when tci-PresentInDCI is not configured in RRC connected mode,

[0218] If the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold Threshold-Sched-Offset, then with respect to the QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi-co-location indication for the CORESET associated with the monitored search space having the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest time slot, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with the RS in the TCI state. In this latest time slot, the UE monitors one or more CORESETs in the active BWP of the serving cell.

[0219] In this case, if the 'QCL-TypeD' of the PDSCH DM-RS is different from the 'QCL-TypeD' of the PDCCH DM-RS that overlaps with it in at least one symbol, it is expected that the UE prioritizes the reception of the PDCCH associated with this CORESET. This also applies to the case of in-band CA (when the PDSCH and CORESET are in different component carriers). If none of the configured TCI states contain 'QCL-TypeD', the UE shall obtain other QCL assumptions from the indicated TCI state of the PDSCH scheduled for it, regardless of the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH.

[0220] According to TS 38.306:

[0221] timeDurationForQCL

[0222] defines the minimum number of OFDM symbols required for the UE to perform PDCCH reception and apply the spatial QCL information received in the DCI for PDSCH processing, as described in Section 5.1.5 of TS 38.214

[12] , i.e., Threshold-Sched-Offset. The UE shall indicate a value for the minimum number of OFDM symbols for each subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz and 120 kHz.

[0223] In one embodiment , if the DCI associated with the PDCCH does not transmit the TCI / QCL information for PDSCH antenna port quasi-co-location or the indicated TCI / QCL information is not applicable (e.g., due to some timing restrictions), and the UE is scheduled to receive the PDSCH via the PDCCH, the UE may assume

[0224] ● The TCI state or QCL assumption for PDSCH is the same as any one of the TCI state or QCL assumption of the CORESET applicable to PDCCH transmission (UE's PDCCH reception) for single-TRP operation.

[0225] ● The TCI state or QCL assumption for PDSCH is derived from any one of the TCI state or QCL assumption of the CORESET applicable to PDCCH transmission (UE's reception) for multi-TRP operation (e.g., in Scenario 2 of the multi-TRP transmission discussed above; when the number of non-overlapping resource groups is greater than 1).

[0226] ● In one example, a CORESET can be associated with two TCI states (a first TCI state and a second TCI state, more generally, R TCI states). In one example, the two TCI states can be indicated in a MAC-CE. In another example, the TCI state tuple (first TCI state, second TCI state) combination can be configured by a higher layer (e.g., RRC), and the MAC-CE indication of the TCI state for PDCCH only indicates the first TCI state. The UE uses the first TCI state for PDCCH reception. If only the first TCI state is configured for the CORESET, the UE assumes that the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH received on the CORESET is for single-TRP operation. The TCI state or QCL assumption for PDSCH is the same as any one of the TCI state or QCL assumption (first TCI state) of the CORESET applicable to the CORESET, or the same as the first TCI state of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest time slot according to the above conditions. If the first TCI state and the second TCI state are configured for the CORESET, the UE assumes that the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH received on the CORESET is for multi-TRP operation. The TCI state or QCL assumption for PDSCH from the first TRP is the same as any one of the TCI state or QCL assumption (first TCI state) of the CORESET applicable to the CORESET, or the same as the first TCI state of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest time slot according to the above conditions, and the PDSCH from the second TRP is the same as the TCI state or QCL assumption of the second TCI state associated with the CORESET.

[0227] In related embodiments, for multi-TRP operation, the UE assumes the TCL state or QCL assumption for PDSCH repetition associated with the following parts

[0228] ● The first TRP, the same as the following

[0229] o applicable to any one of the TCI states or QCL assumptions for the CORESET used for PDCCH transmission; or

[0230] ○ For the QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi - co - location with respect to the CORESET associated with the monitored search space having the lowest CORESET - ID in the latest time slot, the UE may assume that the DM - RS ports of the first PDSCH repetition of the serving cell are quasi - co - located with the RS in the TCI state. In this latest time slot, one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE.

[0231] ● The second TRP,

[0232] ○ the same as any one of the TCI states or QCL assumptions applicable to one of the following situations

[0233] □■ the most recently monitored CORESET in the previous time slot / mini - slot; or

[0234] □■ the second - strongest receiver beam / reference signal (CSI - RS or SS block); the UE may indicate to the network the reference signal ID corresponding to the second - strongest receiver beam / reference signal (and the first - strongest), e.g., in a periodic manner / opportunity; or

[0235] ○ or determined based on the TCI state or QCL assumption related to the first TRP

[0236] □■ For example, a higher - layer TCI state relationship may be defined between two TCI states

[0237] ○ Alternatively, for the QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi - co - location with respect to the CORESET associated with the monitored search space, the UE may assume that the DM - RS ports of the second PDSCH repetition of the serving cell are quasi - co - located with the RS in the TCI state, and the monitored search space has

[0238] □■ the second - lowest CORESET - ID in the latest time slot, in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE; or

[0239] □■ the highest CORESET - ID in the latest time slot, in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE; or

[0240] □■ The CORESET-ID associated with the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest time slot (e.g., via specification or higher layer signaling or physical layer signaling), in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE in the latest time slot, or

[0241] □■ The (lowest) CORESET-ID in the second latest time slot, in which the UE monitors one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell in the second latest time slot

[0242] Note: The above embodiments include several alternatives for determining the TCI / QCL relationships of different TRPs.

[0243] Resource splitting across non-overlapping groups

[0244] In one embodiment, if different MCS / layer numbers are used for different TRPs; the determination of RBs belonging to different PDSCH repetitions is done based on TBS / MCS / layer number. The TBS can be determined based on the number of non-overlapping frequency resources and the indicated / determined MCS / layer number.

[0245] In a related embodiment, the number of RBs for each of the'm' non-overlapping frequency allocation groups is determined based on the determined / indicated MCS (e.g., the modulation order can be different across the sets, but the target code rate can be the same). For example, if the modulation order of the first group is QPSK and that of the second group is 16QAM, the first group has 4 times the resources of the second group.

[0246] In a related embodiment, if the MCS is different, a restricted set of different modulation orders / MCS is allowed across the'm' sets (e.g., only QPSK and 16QAM). If the MCS is the same, a higher modulation order is also possible.

[0247] In a related embodiment, the smallest and largest RB sets in the'm' groups can be (almost) equal to each other or (almost) twice each other.

[0248] HARQ-ACK feedback in multi-TRP transmission

[0249] In one embodimentIf the UE receives more than one codeword in the PDSCH, where the more than one codeword is transmitted from different TRPs with multiple TCI states and encoded from the same transport block (TB), and where each of the more than one codewords is self - decodable, the UE generates HARQ - ACK feedback information for each of the more than one codewords of the PDSCH. The PDSCH includes one or more time - frequency resources for repeating the PDSCH transmission, where the repeated PDSCH transmissions are multiplexed in the time domain, frequency domain, and / or spatial domain. For each codeword related to different TCI states but from the same TB, separate HARQ - ACK feedback information may be beneficial because it enables the network entity to adjust the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for each TRP based on the HARQ - ACK feedback information of each codeword (if different MCSs for each codeword are allowed) and / or dynamically change the transmitting TRP for re - transmission of the TB or subsequent new TB transmissions.

[0250] In one implementation, multiple HARQ - ACK feedback information is transmitted in multiple PUCCH resources, where each of the multiple PUCCH resources is associated with one TRP / one TCI state (i.e., received by at least one associated TRP. For example, the "PUCCH - SpatialRelationInfo" for the PUCCH resource configured for multiple PUCCH resources and one TCI state among the multiple TCI states of the PDSCH refer to the same quasi - co - located reference signal resource). In one example, the HARQ - ACK feedback information for each codeword with a TCI state is transmitted in one PUCCH resource, and this PUCCH resource refers to the QCL RS resource that is the same as the TCI state. In another example, multiple HARQ - ACK feedback information for more than one codeword is jointly transmitted in one PUCCH resource associated with one of the multiple TCI states. This implementation uses spatial diversity for PUCCH transmission and may increase the reliability of HARQ - ACK feedback with an increased PUCCH resource overhead.

[0251] The UE receives an indication of multiple PUCCH resources for HARQ-ACK feedback in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH. To avoid increasing the size of the DCI bit field for PUCCH resource indication, the PUCCH resource indicator field values are mapped to one or more higher layer configured PUCCH resource indices. Alternatively, one PUCCH resource is indicated in the scheduling DCI, and based on the indicated PUCCH resource, the remaining PUCCH resources are derived based on a configured / predefined PUCCH resource relationship or a configured TCI state grouping. For example, if the UE receives an indication of a first PUCCH resource with a first 'PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo', then based on the grouping of TCI states and the corresponding grouping of 'PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo' / PUCCH resources, the UE selects a second and a third PUCCH resource with a second and a third 'PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo' respectively, where the first, second, and third 'PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo' are in the same group.

[0252] In another implementation, the HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to multiple codewords are transmitted in one PUCCH resource to reduce the PUCCH resource overhead.

[0253] In another embodiment , the UE receives information on the demodulation signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) threshold, and sends an indication of whether the demodulation SINR of the codeword is higher than the threshold and the HARQ-ACK feedback information for that codeword. For example, the UE generates HARQ-ACK feedback information for a given codeword with at least the following 3 states:

[0254] ● Not acknowledged (NACK), demodulation SINR is lower than the configured threshold;

[0255] ● NACK, demodulation SINR is higher than the configured threshold;

[0256] ● Acknowledged (ACK)

[0257] The above extended HARQ-ACK feedback information can be used to immediately indicate to a network entity the short-term channel blockage of a certain TRP. When receiving an indication that the demodulation SINR of a codeword associated with a TCI state is lower than the configured threshold, the network entity can schedule a retransmission of the TB with an appropriate TCI state combination.

[0258] Figure 6FIG. 600 is a flow chart in a user equipment for downlink resource allocation for multi-TRP transmission. The method includes: receiving 602 a configuration of a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states of a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel transmission, where each of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states includes parameters for configuring a quasi-co-location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port for physical downlink shared channel transmission. Receiving 604 a physical downlink control channel, which includes downlink control information for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel. Determining 606 whether an offset between the reception of the physical downlink control channel and the reception of the physical downlink shared channel is less than a predetermined threshold, where in response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, a configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states including a first transmission configuration indicator state and a second transmission configuration indicator state is selected from the received configurations of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. Decoding 608 the physical downlink shared channel based on the selected configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states.

[0259] In some cases, the method may further include: determining whether there is a transmission configuration indicator field in the downlink control information of the received physical downlink control channel, where the transmission configuration indicator field may indicate a particular one of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states associated with the physical downlink shared channel. In response to determining that there is no transmission configuration indicator field in the downlink control information, a configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states including a first transmission configuration indicator state and a second transmission configuration indicator state may be selected from the received configurations of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. In response to determining that there is a transmission configuration indicator field in the downlink control information, it may be determined whether an offset between the reception of the physical downlink control channel and the reception of the physical downlink shared channel is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0260] In some of these cases, in response to determining that the offset between the reception of the physical downlink control channel and the reception of the physical downlink shared channel is not less than the predetermined threshold, the transmission configuration indicator state associated with the physical downlink shared channel may be based on the indication in the transmission configuration indicator field present in the downlink control information.

[0261] In some cases, the offset may be defined by the minimum number of orthogonal frequency division modulation symbols required for the user equipment to perform physical downlink control channel reception and apply the spatial quasi-co-location information received in the downlink control information for physical downlink shared channel processing.

[0262] In some cases, at least one of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states may include a type of quasi-co-location information that includes spatial reception parameters.

[0263] In some cases, the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state may be different.

[0264] In some cases, the configuration pair that determines the transmission configuration indicator state including the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state may further include a configuration pair that determines the transmission configuration indicator state based on a media access control - control element indication.

[0265] In some cases, the downlink control information of the physical downlink control channel may include a downlink resource block assignment for scheduling a set of resource blocks in a time slot to receive the physical downlink shared channel. The method may further include determining a precoding resource block group size based on the downlink control information and the associated downlink resource block assignment, wherein a first portion of the set of resource blocks may be associated with a first transmission configuration indicator state. A second portion of the resource block group may be associated with a second transmission configuration indicator state; wherein the first portion and the second portion do not overlap in the frequency domain. In response to determining that the precoding resource block group size is wideband, wherein the wideband includes a spectral allocation of assigned frequency resources having a bandwidth exceeding a predetermined wideband threshold, decode the physical downlink shared channel based on the assumption that the same precoding can be applied to the resource blocks associated with the first transmission configuration indicator state and the same precoding is applied to the resource blocks associated with the second transmission configuration indicator state. In response to determining that the precoding resource block group size is not wideband, decode the physical downlink shared channel based on the assumption that even - numbered resource block bundles are associated with the first transmission configuration indicator state, odd - numbered resource block bundles are associated with the second transmission configuration indicator state, and the same precoder is applied to the physical resource blocks of the precoding resource block group having the precoding resource block group size, and wherein the resource bundle includes a plurality of resource blocks, and the number of resource blocks is equal to the precoding resource block group size.

[0266] In some of these cases, the set of resource blocks includes N_RB resource blocks, wherein the first portion may include the first resource blocks, and the second portion may include the remaining resource blocks.

[0267] In other such cases, the method may further include determining a gap in the frequency domain between the first portion and the second portion of the set of resource blocks, and decoding the physical downlink shared channel based on the determined gap.

[0268] In some of these cases, the gap may be determined based on at least one of an associated radio resource control parameter, an indication in the associated downlink control information, and a scheduling group of the resource blocks.

[0269] In some cases, the resource allocation type associated with a set of resource blocks can be a type of downlink resource allocation that can indicate in downlink control information a starting resource block bundle index and how many resource block bundles are scheduled.

[0270] Figure 7 FIG. 700 is a flowchart of a method in a network entity for downlink resource allocation for multi-TRP transmission. The method includes transmitting 702 a configuration of multiple transmission configuration indicator states of a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel transmission, where each of the multiple transmission configuration indicator states includes parameters that can be used to configure a quasi-co-location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal port of the physical downlink shared channel transmission. Transmitting 704 a physical downlink control channel that includes downlink control information for scheduling the physical downlink shared channel. A determination 706 can be made as to whether an offset between reception of the physical downlink control channel and reception of the physical downlink shared channel is less than a predetermined threshold, where, in response to determining that the offset is less than the predetermined threshold, a configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states including a first transmission configuration indicator state and a second transmission configuration indicator state can be selected from the received configuration of the multiple transmission configuration indicator states. The selected configuration pair of transmission configuration indicator states can be used to decode 708 the physical downlink shared channel.

[0271] It should be understood that although there are specific steps as shown in the figure, various additional or different steps can be performed according to embodiments, and one or more specific steps can be rearranged, repeated, or completely eliminated according to specific circumstances. In addition, certain steps that can be repeatedly performed simultaneously can be performed on an ongoing or continuous basis while performing other steps. Moreover, different steps can be performed by different elements or within a single element of the disclosed embodiments.

[0272] Figure 8 FIG. 800 is an example block diagram of an apparatus 800 (e.g., wireless communication device 110) according to a possible embodiment. The apparatus 800 can include a housing 810, a controller 820 within the housing 810, an audio input and output circuit 830 coupled to the controller 820, a display 840 coupled to the controller 820, a transceiver 850 coupled to the controller 820, an antenna 855 coupled to the transceiver 850, a user interface 860 coupled to the controller 820, a memory 870 coupled to the controller 820, and a network interface 880 coupled to the controller 820. The apparatus 800 can perform the methods described in all embodiments.

[0273] The display 840 can be a viewfinder, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a plasma display, a projection display, a touch screen, or any other device for displaying information. The transceiver 850 can include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The audio input and output circuitry 830 can include a microphone, a speaker, a transducer, or any other audio input and output circuitry. The user interface 860 can include a keypad, a keyboard, buttons, a touchpad, a joystick, a touch screen display, another additional display, or any other device for providing an interface between the user and the electronic device. The network interface 880 can be a universal serial bus (USB) port, an Ethernet port, an infrared transmitter / receiver, an IEEE 1394 port, a WLAN transceiver, or any other interface that can connect the device to a network, a device, or a computer and can send and receive data communication signals. The memory 870 can include random access memory, read-only memory, optical memory, solid state memory, flash memory, removable memory, a hard disk drive, a cache, or any other memory that can be coupled to the device.

[0274] The device 800 or the controller 820 can implement any operating system, such as or Android TM or any other operating system. The device operating software can be written in any programming language such as C, C++, Java, or VisualBasic. The device software can also run on an application framework such as a framework,.NET framework, or any other application framework. The software and / or the operating system can be stored in the memory 870 or elsewhere on the device 800. The device 800 or the controller 820 can also use hardware to implement the disclosed operations. For example, the controller 820 can be any programmable processor. The disclosed embodiments can also be implemented on a general or special purpose computer, a programmable microprocessor or microprocessor, peripheral integrated circuit elements, application specific integrated circuits or other integrated circuits, hardware / electronic logic circuits (such as discrete components), programmable logic devices (such as programmable logic arrays), or field programmable gate arrays, etc. Generally, the controller 820 can be any controller or one or more processor devices capable of operating the device and implementing the disclosed embodiments. Some or all of the additional elements of the device 800 can also perform some or all of the operations of the disclosed embodiments.

[0275] The methods of the present disclosure can be implemented on a programmed processor. However, the controller, flowchart, and modules can also be implemented on a general or special-purpose computer, a programmable microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit elements, an integrated circuit, a hardware electronic or logic circuit (such as a discrete element circuit), or a programmable logic device, etc. Generally, any device on which a finite state machine capable of implementing the flowchart shown in the figures resides can be used to implement the processor functions of the present disclosure.

[0276] Although the present disclosure has been described in terms of its specific embodiments, it is obvious that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, in other embodiments, various components of the embodiments can be interchanged, added, or replaced. In addition, all elements in each figure are not necessary for the operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, by simply adopting the elements of the independent claims, those of ordinary skill in the art in the field of the disclosed embodiments will be able to make and use the teachings of the present disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0277] In this document, relative terms such as "first" and "second" may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action, without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The phrases "at least one", "at least one selected from the following group", or "at least one selected from" followed by a list are defined to mean one, some, or all of the elements in the list, but not necessarily all. The term "comprising", "including", or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element starting with "a" or "an" etc. does not, without further limitation, exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. In addition, the term "another" is defined as at least second or more. As used herein, terms such as "including" and "having" are defined as "comprising". In addition, the background art section is written as the inventor's own understanding of the context of some embodiments at the time of filing, and includes the inventor's own recognition of any problems in the prior art and / or problems encountered in the inventor's own work.

Claims

1. A user equipment, comprising: a controller; a transceiver that receives a configuration of a set of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, each TCI state in the set of TCI states corresponding to parameters for configuring a quasi - co - location (QCL) relationship between one or more downlink reference signals and one or more downlink reference signal ports associated with the PDSCH transmission; wherein, the transceiver further receives a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the PDCCH including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the PDSCH for PDSCH transmission; wherein, the transceiver further receives a media access control control element (MAC - CE), the MAC - CE indicating at least two configured TCI states of the set of TCI states; wherein, the controller selects, based on a time offset between receiving the PDCCH and receiving the PDSCH being less than a threshold, or based on the absence of a TCI field in the DCI, at least two configured TCI states in the set of TCI states indicated in the received MAC - CE, the at least two configured TCI states including a first configured TCI state and a second configured TCI state different from the first configured TCI state, and wherein at least one of the at least two configured TCI states corresponds to QCL - TypeD; and wherein, the controller further decodes the PDSCH based on at least two selected configured TCI states in the set of TCI states.

2. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein, the time offset between receiving the PDCCH and receiving the PDSCH satisfying the threshold includes the time offset being less than the threshold.

3. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein, the controller determines that the time offset between receiving the PDCCH and receiving the PDSCH is greater than the threshold; and wherein, based on the time offset being greater than the threshold, the transceiver receives an indication of at least one configured TCI state associated with the PDSCH in the TCI field of the DCI.

4. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein, the time offset defines a minimum number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols for receiving the PDCCH and applying spatial QCL information for decoding the PDSCH, and wherein the spatial QCL information is received in the DCI.

5. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein, at least one TCI state in the set of TCI states includes QCL information of a QCL type, wherein the QCL information includes spatial reception parameters.

6. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein, the DCI includes a resource block assignment, the resource block assignment including a set of resource blocks for receiving the PDSCH; Wherein, the controller determines the precoding resource block group size based on the resource block assignment; Wherein, the controller associates a first resource block subset of the resource block set with a first TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states; and Wherein, the controller further associates a second resource block subset of the resource block set with a second TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states, wherein the first resource block subset and the second resource block subset do not overlap in the frequency domain.

7. A method in a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving a configuration of a set of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with a serving cell for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, each TCI state in the set of TCI states corresponding to parameters for configuring a quasi - co - location (QCL) relationship between one or more downlink reference signals and one or more downlink reference signal ports associated with the PDSCH transmission; receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the PDCCH including downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the PDSCH for PDSCH transmission; receiving a media access control control element (MAC - CE), the MAC - CE indicating at least two configured TCI states of the set of TCI states; selecting, based on a time offset between receiving the PDCCH and receiving the PDSCH being less than a threshold, or based on the absence of a TCI field in the DCI, at least two configured TCI states in the set of TCI states indicated in the received MAC - CE, the at least two configured TCI states including a first configured TCI state and a second configured TCI state different from the first configured TCI state, and wherein at least one of the at least two configured TCI states corresponds to QCL - TypeD; and decoding the PDSCH based on the at least two selected configured TCI states in the set of TCI states.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, the time offset between receiving the PDCCH and receiving the PDSCH satisfying the threshold includes the time offset being less than the threshold.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: determining that the time offset between receiving the PDCCH and receiving the PDSCH is greater than the threshold; and receiving an indication of at least one configured TCI state associated with the PDSCH in the TCI field of the DCI based on the time offset being greater than the threshold.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein, the time offset defines the minimum number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols for receiving the PDCCH and applying spatial QCL information for decoding the PDSCH, and wherein the spatial QCL information is received in the DCI.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein, At least one TCI state in the set of TCI states includes QCL type QCL information, wherein the QCL information includes spatial reception parameters.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein, the DCI includes a resource block assignment, and the resource block assignment includes a set of resource blocks for receiving the PDSCH; the method further comprises: determining a precoding resource block group size based on the resource block assignment; associating a first resource block subset of the set of resource blocks with a first TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states; and associating a second resource block subset of the set of resource blocks with a second TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states, wherein the first resource block subset and the second resource block subset do not overlap in the frequency domain.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: based on determining that the precoding resource block group size is wideband, decoding the PDSCH based on the assumption that the same precoding is applied to the resource blocks associated with the first TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states and the same precoding is applied to the resource blocks associated with the second TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states, wherein wideband includes a frequency resource spectrum allocation with an assigned frequency resource exceeding a wideband threshold; and based on determining that the precoding resource block group size is not wideband, decoding the PDSCH based on the assumption that even-numbered resource block bundles are associated with the first TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states, odd-numbered resource block bundles are associated with the second TCI state of the at least two configured TCI states, and the same precoder is applied to the physical resource blocks of the precoding resource block group of the precoding resource block group size, and wherein resource bundling includes a plurality of resource blocks, and the number of resource blocks is equal to the precoding resource block group size.

14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: determining a gap in the frequency domain between the first resource block subset and the second resource block subset, and decoding the PDSCH based on the determined gap.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the gap is determined based on radio resource control (RRC) parameters, an indication associated with the DCI, the set of resource blocks, or a combination thereof.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein, the resource allocation type associated with the set of resource blocks includes a downlink resource allocation type, and the downlink resource allocation type indicates a starting resource block bundle index and the number of scheduled resource block bundles in the DCI.

Images