Method, device and communication node for communication

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium for inter-cell beam management. A wireless communication device may determine a first beam state associated with a first type of signal and a second beam state associated with a second type of signal. The wireless communication device may transmit the first type of signal based on the first beam state. The wireless communication device may transmit the second type of signal based on the second beam state.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The application number of the original application is 202180102686.3, and the original application date is November 5, 2021. The entire content of the original application is incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for inter-cell beam management. Background Art

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a standards organization, is currently in the process of specifying a new radio interface known as 5G New Radio (5GNR) and the Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC). 5G NR will have three main components: the 5G Access Network (5G-AN), the 5G Core Network (5GC), and the User Equipment (UE). To facilitate enabling different data services and requirements, the elements of the 5GC (also known as network functions) have been simplified, with some elements being software-based, allowing them to adapt as needed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to address one or more of the problems associated with the prior art and to provide additional features that will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and those skilled in the art who read this disclosure will understand that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

[0005] At least one aspect relates to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium for inter-cell beam management. A wireless communication device may determine a first beam state associated with a first type of signal and a second beam state associated with a second type of signal. The wireless communication device may communicate the first type of signal based on the first beam state. The wireless communication device may communicate the second type of signal based on the second beam state.

[0006] In some embodiments, the first beam state may be associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from the serving cell. In some embodiments, the second beam state may be associated with the same PCI as the serving cell. In some embodiments, the second beam state may be associated with the serving cell.

[0007] In some embodiments, the first beam state or the second beam state may include at least one of the following: a quasi-co-site (QCL) assumption, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a spatial relationship, a reference signal (RS), a spatial filter, or precoding. In some embodiments, the first type of signal may include a user equipment (UE) dedicated channel or a UE-specific reference signal (RS). In some embodiments, the second type of signal may include a non-UE-dedicated channel or a non-UE-dedicated RS.

[0008] In some embodiments, the first type of signal or the second type of signal may include at least one of the following: a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a search space (SS) set, or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a channel state information RS (CSI-RS) or a sounding RS (SRS).

[0009] In some embodiments, the second type of signal may include at least one of the following: a type-0, type-0A, type-1, type-2 or type-3 common search space (CSS) set; a control resource set (CORESET) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1 or type-2 CSS set; a CORESET or PDCCH with a mark indicating that the CORESET or the PDCCH does not share the same beam state with the first type of signal, indicating that the second scheme or the third scheme is applied to the CORESET or the PDCCH, or indicating that the first scheme is excluded from application to the CORESET or the PDCCH; or a CORESET or PDCCH with an SS set for beam failure recovery, or CORESET#0.

[0010] In some embodiments, if a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set may be associated with a synchronization block (SSB) of a second beam state that is activated or indicated, the wireless communication device may monitor at least one of the following: a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set; a PDCCH associated with a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set; or a CORESET associated with a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set.

[0011] In some embodiments, the second type of signal may include at least one of the following: configuration grant PDSCH; configuration grant PUSCH; a signal scheduled or initialized by downlink control information (DCI). The DCI may correspond to at least one of the following: a type-0, type-0A, type-1, type-2, or type-3 common search space (CSS) set; a control resource set (CORESET) associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set; a CORESET with a flag indicating that the CORESET or the PDCCH does not share the same beam state with the first type of signal, indicating that the second scheme or the third scheme is applied to the CORESET or the PDCCH, or indicating that the first scheme is excluded from application to the CORESET or the PDCCH; or a CORESET with a search space (SS) for beam failure recovery, or CORESET#0.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first type of signal may include at least one of the following: a control resource set (CORESET) or a search space (SS) set other than a second type of signal, or a CORESET or SS set other than a non-UE-specific CORESET or SS set; a CORESET or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) not associated with a type-0 or type-0A common SS (CSS) set; a CORESET or a PDCCH not associated with a type-0, type-0A, or type-1 CSS set; a CORESET or a PDCCH not associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set. An unassociated CORESET or PDCCH; a CORESET or PDCCH associated only with a USS, associated with a USS and one or both of a type-3 CSS set, associated with a USS and one or both of a type-2 or type-3 CSS set, or associated with a USS and one or both of a type-1, type-2, or type-3 CSS set; or a CORESET or PDCCH with a flag indicating that the CORESET or PDCCH shares the same beam state as a first type of signal, or indicating that a first scheme is applied to the CORESET or PDCCH.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first type of signal may include at least one of the following: a signal that is not scheduled or initialized by the second type of signal, or a signal that is not scheduled or initialized by a non-UE-specific CORESET or search space (SS) set; a signal with a flag indicating that the first scheme is applied to the signal; a signal scheduled or initialized by downlink control information (DCI). The DCI may correspond to at least one of the following: a CORESET or SS set other than the second type of signal or other than a non-UE-specific control resource set (CORESET) or search space (SS) set; a CORESET or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) not associated with a type-0 or type-0A common SS (CSS) set; a CORESET or PDCCH not associated with a type-0, type-0A, or type-1 CSS set; a CORESET or PDCCH not associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set. ET or PDCCH; a CORESET or PDCCH associated only with a USS, associated with a USS and one or both of a type-3 CSS set, associated with a USS and one or both of a type-2 or type-3 CSS set, or associated with a USS and one or both of a type-1, type-2 or type-3 CSS set; or a CORESET or PDCCH with a flag indicating that the CORESET or PDCCH shares the same beam state with a signal of the first type, or indicating that a first scheme is applied to the CORESET or PDCCH.

[0014] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may determine at least one beam state including a first beam state or a second beam state according to a beam determination scheme, the beam determination scheme including a first scheme, a second scheme, or a third scheme. In some embodiments, the first scheme may include applying the at least one beam state to at least one uplink (UL) signal, at least one downlink (DL) signal, or both starting from a first time slot, the first time slot defining a number of time units after an acknowledgement of a DCI corresponding to an indication of the at least one beam state. In some embodiments, the first scheme may include applying the at least one beam state to at least one uplink (UL) signal, at least one downlink (DL) signal, or both starting from a first time slot, the first time slot defining a second number of time units after an acknowledgement of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying MAC CE signaling for activating the at least one beam state.

[0015] In some embodiments, if the scheduling or triggering offset corresponding to the first type of signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, at least one beam state determined by the first scheme may be applied to the first type of signal. In some embodiments, if the offset between the first type of signal and the second type of signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, at least one beam state determined by the first scheme may be applied to the first type of signal. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may include a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a search space (SS) set. The second type of signal may be monitored.

[0016] In some embodiments, the second solution may include at least one of the following: applying the at least one beam state to a downlink signal whose scheduling or triggering offset is less than or equal to a threshold. The at least one beam state may be determined based on a control resource set (CORESET). The CORESET may include at least one of the following: a CORESET with a lowest index in the last monitored time unit; a non-UE-specific CORESET; or a CORESET with a lowest index from another second type of signal in the last monitored time unit.

[0017] In some embodiments, if a scheduling or triggering offset between a second type of signal and another second type of signal is less than a threshold, at least one beam state may be determined according to a second scheme. The second type of signal may include at least one of the following: a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), wherein the other second type of signal includes at least one of the following: a control resource set (CORESET) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that schedules or triggers the second type of signal.

[0018] In some embodiments, the third solution may include applying at least one beam state to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The at least one beam state may be indicated by: corresponding media access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, the beam state of a CORESET used to carry scheduling downlink control information (DCI), or the beam state indicated in the scheduling DCI. In some embodiments, the third solution may include applying at least one beam state to a CORESET, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The beam state may be indicated via downlink control information (DCI), a media access control control element (MAC CE), or a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0019] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may have the capability to support the first scheme and the second scheme. In some embodiments, the configuration received by the wireless communication device may enable the first scheme, the second scheme, or both the first and second schemes.

[0020] In some embodiments, the offset between the second type of signal and the corresponding downlink control information (DCI) signaling may be greater than or equal to a threshold. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may use a second beam state. In some embodiments, the downlink signal may be cached, or the beam state or quasi-co-site (QCL) assumption may be determined for the downlink signal based on at least one of the following: the first scheme has a higher priority than the second scheme and a lower priority than the third scheme; the second scheme and the third scheme both have a higher priority than the first scheme; when the first scheme is enabled, the beam state indicated in the second type of signal is not considered; the second scheme has a higher priority than the first scheme, or the second scheme is applied when a condition is met; or the first scheme is applied when the condition is not met.

[0021] In some embodiments, the condition may include at least one of the following: a scheduling offset between the downlink signal and the second type of signal may be less than a threshold, or the second type of signal is within a time unit. In some embodiments, if a control resource set (CORESET) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) may overlap in a time unit, and if a beam state corresponding to the CORESET or PDCCH is different from a beam state corresponding to the PDSCH or CSI-RS, reception of the CORESET or PDCCH may be prioritized.

[0022] In some embodiments, the beam state corresponding to the PDSCH or CSI-RS may be determined according to the first scheme. In some embodiments, the beam state corresponding to the CORESET may be determined according to the third scheme. In some embodiments, the scheduling or triggering offset corresponding to the PDSCH or CSI-RS may be less than a threshold. In some embodiments, if the triggering state of the CSI-RS is not associated with at least one beam state, or if the scheduling offset of the CSI-RS is less than a threshold, the beam state corresponding to the CSI-RS may be determined according to the first scheme.

[0023] In some embodiments, when a CORESET or common search space (CSS) is applied using a beam state associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from a serving cell's PCI, the wireless communication device may monitor at least one of the following: all CSSs in the CORESET; the first CSS monitored in the serving cell; a CSS corresponding to a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a previous beam state, the previous beam state being associated with a PCI that is the same as the identifier of the serving cell or not associated with a PCI that is different from the identifier of the serving cell; a CSS corresponding to an SSB associated with the beam state, or a CSS within a time unit configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0024] In some embodiments, if a second type of signal is monitored within a time unit, the beam state corresponding to the uplink signal and the downlink signal may be determined according to the second scheme. In some embodiments, if the offset between the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or downlink control information (DCI) signaling and the corresponding scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) is less than a threshold, the beam state corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH or CSI-RS may be determined according to the second type of signal. In some embodiments, a mode for enabling the first scheme or inter-cell beam management may be enabled.

[0025] In some embodiments, the second type of signal may have a lowest index (ID) of the plurality of second type of signals. In some embodiments, the beam state may be determined based on the second type of signal associated with the search space having the lowest control resource set (CORESET) index (ID) in a most recent time slot in which the wireless communication device monitored the one or more second type of signals within an active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell.

[0026] In some embodiments, a media access control element (MAC CE) may have a flag for a beam state to deactivate any activated beam state for a second type of signal. In some embodiments, when a first beam state is applied, the beam state for the second type of signal may be deactivated or the second type of signal may not be monitored. In some embodiments, when the beam state is associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from the serving cell's PCI, the wireless communication device may not monitor the second type of signal.

[0027] At least one aspect relates to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium for inter-cell beam management. A wireless communication node may communicate a first type of signal with a wireless communication device based on a first beam state. The wireless communication node may communicate a second type of signal with the wireless communication device based on a second beam state. The first beam state may be associated with the first type of signal, and the second beam state may be associated with the second type of signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict exemplary embodiments of the present invention to facilitate understanding of the present invention. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0029] Figure 1 shows an example cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 2 shows a block diagram of example base stations and user equipment apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0031] Figure 3 A block diagram illustrating an environment for beam-based uplink and downlink (UL / DL) transmissions according to an illustrative embodiment is shown;

[0032] Figure 4 A block diagram of a system for inter-cell beam management for L1-centric mobility with multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs) is shown in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

[0033] Figure 5 A block diagram illustrating beam indication when more than one active beam or TCI state is supported in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

[0034] Figure 6A A block diagram illustrating example beam indication when only one active beam or TCI state is supported in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

[0035] Figure 6B A block diagram illustrating another example beam indication when only one active beam or TCI state is supported in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; and

[0036] Figure 7 A flow chart illustrating a method of inter-cell beam management is shown in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in a sample order, and that the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented, unless otherwise expressly stated.

[0038] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0039] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is shown in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "network 100." This example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter "BS 102"; also known as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter "UE 104"; a wireless communication device that may communicate with cell clusters 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101 via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel). Figure 1 1 , BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within the respective geographic boundaries of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may include at least one base station operating on its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users.

[0040] For example, BS 102 may operate on an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide sufficient coverage to UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127 that may include data symbols 122 / 128. In this disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes" that may practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0041] Figure 2A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM / OFDMA signals) according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. System 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, as described above, system 200 may be used in applications such as Figure 1 Data symbols are communicated (eg, sent and received) in the wireless communication environment 100 of the wireless communication environment.

[0042] System 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 204"). BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 220 as needed. UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 240 as needed. BS 202 communicates with UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for data transmission as described herein.

[0043] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the system 200 may also include Figure 2 Any number of modules in addition to the modules shown. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software may depend on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those familiar with the concepts described herein may implement such functionality in an appropriate manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0044] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230 and includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may optionally couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time-duplexed manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210 and includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may optionally couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time-duplexed manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be time-coordinated such that the uplink receiver circuit is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 for receiving transmissions on the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time as the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Instead, the operations of the two transceivers 210 and 230 can be coordinated in time such that the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 for receiving transmissions on the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time as the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, there is tight time synchronization with minimal guard times between changes in duplex direction.

[0045] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and to cooperate with appropriately configured RF antenna devices 212 / 232 that can support specific wireless communication protocols and modulation schemes. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that the application of the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to specific standards and related protocols. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0046] According to various embodiments, BS 202 may be, for example, an evolved Node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station. In some embodiments, UE 204 may be implemented in various types of user equipment, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wearable computing device, or the like. Processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented or implemented using a general-purpose processor, a content-addressable memory, a digital signal processor, a dedicated integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, the processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0047] Furthermore, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, firmware, or software modules executed by processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or any practical combination thereof. Memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that processor modules 210 and 230 may read information from and write information to memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

[0048] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and / or other components of the base station 202 that enable bidirectional communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX services. In a typical deployment, but not limited to, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface so that the base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). As used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, the terms "configured for," "configured to," and variations thereof refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted, and / or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

[0049] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "OSI model") is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communications used by systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) that are open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each of which represents a conceptual set of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI model also defines logical networks and effectively describes computer packet transmissions by using different layer protocols. The OSI model may also be referred to as a seven-layer OSI model or a seven-layer model. In some embodiments, the first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, the second layer may be a media access control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, the third layer may be a radio link control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, the fourth layer may be a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, the fifth layer may be a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, the sixth layer may be a non-access stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is another layer.

[0050] 2. Systems and Methods for Inter-Cell Beam Management

[0051] In 5G New Radio (NR), analog beamforming can be introduced for mobile communications to ensure robustness at high frequencies. For downlink (DL) transmissions, a quasi-co-sited (QCL) state (also known as a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state or beam state) can be introduced to support beam indication for DL ​​control channels (e.g., the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), DL data channels (e.g., the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)), and channel state information reference signaling (CSI-RS). Similarly, for uplink (UL) transmissions, spatial relation information (the corresponding higher-layer parameter may be referred to as spatialRelationInfo) can be introduced to support beam indication for UL control channels (e.g., the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) and sounding reference signaling (SRS). In addition, beam indication for UL data channels (e.g., the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) can be achieved by mapping with one or more SRS resources indicated by the gNB and the ports of the UL data channels. In this way, the beam configuration of the UL data channel can be derived from the spatial relationship information associated with the SRS resource or port. Then, a unified TCI framework can be introduced, and based on this, a single TCI state can be applied to both or one of the DL signaling (e.g., PDSCH, PDCCH or CSI-RS) and UL signaling (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH or SRS) to determine the corresponding transmit or receive (Tx / Rx) beam.

[0052] While some approaches under 5G NR with flexible configuration are applicable to different scenarios, there may be significant limitations on the maximum number of reference signals (RS) (e.g., up to 64 SSBs) given the user equipment (UE) implementation complexity. From a network perspective, the candidate beams and the introduction of more virtual sites that are transparent to the UE may be very limited. However, due to high path loss and link blocking, coordination (e.g., first handover between adjacent transmit / receive points (TRPs) or cells) may become reliability dependent. Therefore, flexible inter-cell beam management should be considered to support fast handover between two different cells (e.g., from different physical sites).

[0053] To achieve this goal, the following issues should be well addressed. First, in order to minimize network impact, different UE behaviors corresponding to non-dedicated and dedicated channels or RSs can be distinguished. For UE-dedicated channels or RSs, the corresponding beam can be switched to a neighboring cell. For non-dedicated channels or RSs, the corresponding beam indication can be based on the current serving cell. In this case, it can be identified which type of channel and RS is relevant to a dedicated or non-dedicated UE. Second, different UE behaviors can be considered to implement this functionality. For example, there can be two candidate UE types. Under one type, the UE can support more than one activated TCI state. Under another type, the UE can only support a single activated TCI state. Specifically, for the latter case, once the beam is switched to a neighboring cell for data transmission, the UE monitoring requirements can be determined for non-dedicated channels (e.g., common search space for paging and system information / messages). Third, the timeline and default rules for processing beams corresponding to PDSCH or non-periodic CSI-RS (AP-CSI-RS) with a scheduling offset less than a threshold can be considered to be well compatible with inter-cell and intra-cell beam management (e.g., traditional methods).

[0054] A. Antenna Array and Beam Management Context

[0055] Now refer to Figure 3 , a block diagram of an environment for beam-based uplink and downlink (UL / DL) transmission is shown. As shown in the figure, the solid lines may represent the selected transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) beams used for transmission. As an overhead of wide or ultra-wide spectrum resources, the considerable propagation loss caused by extremely high frequencies may be a challenge. To address this issue, antenna arrays using a large number of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) (e.g., up to 1024 antenna elements for one node) and beamforming training techniques may be employed to achieve beam alignment and obtain sufficiently high antenna gain. In order to keep the implementation cost low while still benefiting from the antenna array, analog phase shifters may become very attractive for implementing millimeter wave (mmWave) beamforming. In this way, the number of controllable phases may be limited, and constant modulus constraints may be set on these antenna elements. Given a pre-specified beam pattern, BF training based on variable phase shifts can typically be used to identify the optimal pattern for subsequent data transmission in the case of one TRP and one panel.

[0056] In the present invention, the beam state may be equivalent to the quasi co-location (QCL) state, the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, the spatial relationship (also known as spatial relationship information), the reference signal (RS), the group information, the spatial filter, or the precoding. In addition, the beam state may also be referred to as a beam. Specifically, the Tx beam may be equivalent to the QCL state, the TCI state, the spatial relationship state, the DL reference signal, the UL reference signal, the Tx spatial filter, or the Tx precoding. The Rx beam may be equivalent to the QCL state, the TCI state, the spatial relationship state, the spatial filter, the Rx spatial filter, or the Rx precoding. The beam identifier (ID) may be equivalent to the QCL state index, the TCI state index, the spatial relationship state index, the reference signal index, the spatial filter index, or the precoding index.

[0057] The spatial filter can be a UE-side filter or a gNB-side filter, and can also be referred to as a spatial domain filter. Spatial relationship information can include one or more reference RSs. The RSs can represent the co-location or quasi-co-location spatial relationship between the target RS or channel and one or more reference RSs. The spatial relationship can refer to a beam, spatial parameters, or spatial domain filter.

[0058] The QCL state may include one or more reference RSs and their corresponding QCL type parameters. The QCL type parameters may include at least one of the following aspects or a combination thereof: Doppler spread, Doppler shift, delay spread, average delay, average gain and spatial parameters (also referred to as spatial Rx parameters). In addition, the TCI state may be equivalent to the QCL state. There may be multiple types of QCLs: 'QCL-TypeA' (including {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}), 'QCL-TypeB' (including {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}), 'QCL-TypeC' (including {Doppler shift, average delay}) and 'QCL-TypeD' (including {spatial Rx parameters}).

[0059] RS may include a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB) (also known as a synchronization signal, a physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH)), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), and a physical random access channel (PRACH). In addition, the RS may include at least a DL reference signal and a UL reference signaling. The DL RS may include at least a CSI-RS, an SSB, a DMRS (e.g., a DL DMRS). The UL RS may include at least an SRS, a DMRS (e.g., a UL DMRS), and a PRACH. The UL signal may include a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or an SRS. A DL signal may include a PDCCH, a PDSCH, or a CSI-RS. Group-based reporting may include at least one of a beam group-based report and an antenna group-based report.

[0060] A beam group may include different Tx beams within a group that may be received or transmitted simultaneously, or Tx beams between different groups that may not be received or transmitted simultaneously. In addition, a beam group may be described from the perspective of a UE. An antenna group may include different Tx beams within a group that may be received or transmitted simultaneously, or Tx beams between different groups that may be received or transmitted simultaneously. In addition, an antenna group may include more than N different Tx beams within a group that may not be received or transmitted simultaneously, or no more than N different Tx beams within a group that may be received or transmitted simultaneously, where N is a positive integer. In addition, an antenna group may include Tx beams between different groups that may be received or transmitted simultaneously. An antenna group may be described from the perspective of a UE. An antenna group may be equivalent to an antenna port group, a panel, or a UE panel. In addition, antenna group switching may be equivalent to panel switching.

[0061] Group information may be equivalent to information grouping one or more reference signals, resource sets, panels, subarrays, antenna groups, antenna port groups, antenna port groups, beam groups, transmitting entities / units, or receiving entities / units. Furthermore, group information may indicate a UE panel and certain characteristics related to the UE panel. Furthermore, group information may be equivalent to a group status or group ID. A time unit may be a subsymbol, symbol, time slot, subframe, frame, or transmission opportunity. DCI may be equivalent to PDCCH or CORESET. PDCCH may be equivalent to CORESET.

[0062] B. Inter-cell Beam Management for L1-centric Mobility

[0063] Now refer to Figure 4, which shows a block diagram of a system for inter-cell beam management for L1-centric mobility with multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs). Inter-cell beam management can enable dynamic handover from a serving cell to a neighboring cell, at least for UE-specific channels. The process of inter-cell beam management, or L1-centric mobility, can be as follows.

[0064] First, the UE can receive from the serving cell the configuration of the synchronization signal block (SSB) of the TRP with different PCI for beam measurement, and the configuration used in the radio resources (e.g., physical data and control channels) used for data transmission or reception corresponding to the TRP with different PCI (e.g., configuration for beam measurement of the TRP with different PCI). Second, the UE can perform beam measurement on the TRP with different PCI and report the measurement to the serving cell. Third, based on the above report, the TCI state (e.g., beam state) associated with the TRP with different PCI can be activated from the serving cell (e.g., through L1 / L2 signaling). Fourth, the UE can use UE-dedicated channels to receive and transmit on TRPs with different PCIs. Fifth, for the case of multiple TRPs, the UE can always be in the coverage of the serving cell. For example, the UE can use common channels (e.g., BCCH, PCH, etc.) from the serving cell (as traditional).

[0065] Non-UE-specific search space (SS) sets can be divided into the following categories. First, non-UE-specific SS sets can include type-0 / 0A common search space (CSS) sets. Type 0 CSS set (also known as type 0-PDCCH CSS set) can be configured by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or by searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or by searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon. In addition, the downlink control information (DCI) format in CCS type 0 can be a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by system information, radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) (for example, on the primary cell of the primary cell group (MCG)). Type 0A CSS set (also known as type 0A-PDCCH CSS set) can be configured by searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation in PDCCH-ConfigCommon. In addition, the DCI format in CSS type 0A can be CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI (for example, on the primary cell of the MCG).

[0066] Second, the non-UE-specific SS set may include a type-1 CSS set. The type-1 CSS set (also known as the type-1-PDCCH CSS set) may be configured by the ra-SearchSpace in the PDCCH-ConfigCommon. In addition, the DCI format in the CSS type 1 is CRC-scrambled by the RA-RNTI or TC-RNTI (for example, on the primary cell). Third, the non-UE-specific SS set may include a type-2 CSS set. The type-2 CSS set (also known as the type-2-PDCCH CSS set) may be configured by the pagingSearchSpace in the PDCCH-ConfigCommon. In addition, the DCI format in the CSS type 2 is CRC-scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) on the primary cell of the MCG.

[0067] Fourth, the non-UE-specific SS set may include a type-3 CSS set. The type-3 CSS set (also called a type-3-PDCCH CSS set) may be configured by the SearchSpace in the PDCCH-config with searchSpaceType=common. In addition, the DCI format in CSS type 3 is a CRC scrambled by interrupt RNTI (INT-RNTI), slot format indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), transmit power control (TPC) PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), TPC-PUCCH-RNTI or TPC-SRS-RNTI, and is only for the primary cell, cell RNTI (C-RNTI), modulation and coding scheme C-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI) or configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), etc. Fifth, the non-UE-specific SS set may include a UE-specific search space (USS) set. The USS is a DCI format of a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, semi-persistent CSI-RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI) or CS-RNTI. The USS set (also referred to as USS) can be configured by the SearchSpace in the PDCCH-config with searchSpaceType=ue-specific.

[0068] C. Non-UE dedicated channels or reference signals (RS) and UE dedicated channels or RS

[0069] There may be different considerations for non-UE dedicated channels or RS and UE dedicated channels or RS. Non-UE dedicated channels or RS may be referred to as non-UE dedicated signals, and UE dedicated channels or RS may be referred to as UE dedicated signals. Non-UE dedicated signals may include various types of signals. In some embodiments, non-UE dedicated signals may include non-UE dedicated CORESET, non-UE dedicated PDCCH or non-UE dedicated SS set. In some embodiments, non-UE dedicated signals may include type-0 / 0A, type-1, type-2 or type-3 CSS sets. In addition, type-0 / 0A, type-1, type-2 or type-3 CSS sets may be associated with SSBs of activated or indicated beam states (e.g., TCI states).

[0070] In some embodiments, the non-UE-specific signal may include a control resource set (CORESET) or PDCCH (DCI) associated with CSS type-0 / 0A / 1, or a CORESET or PDCCH (DCI) associated with a CSS type. For example, a PDCCH (using resources in the CORSET) MAC-CE for release-15 / 16 (rel-15 / 16) may be used. The source RS configured or indicated in the beam state (e.g., TCI state) may be associated with an SSB (serving cell). In addition, a type-0 / 0A, type-1, type-2, or type-3 CSS set may be associated with an SSB of an activated or indicated beam state (e.g., TCI state).

[0071] In some embodiments, the non-UE-specific signal may include a CORESET or PDCCH (DCI) with a flag. For example, the flag may indicate that the CORESET does not share the same TCI or QCL assumption with the UE-specific signal, or that beam determination scheme 2 or beam determination scheme 3 is applied to the CORESET. In addition, the flag or indication is introduced for a CORESET / PDCCH that is assumed to be non-UE-specific or a CORESET that is not applied by the beam state (e.g., unified TCI state) determined by beam determination scheme 1. A CORESET with a search space for beam failure recovery (BFR), or CORESET #0. Beam determination schemes 1, 2, and 3 are discussed below in Subsection D.

[0072] In some embodiments, the non-UE-specific PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS may include a PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS scheduled or initialized by a DCI. The DCI may correspond to at least one of the following: CSS type-0 / 0A, CSS type-1, CSS type-2, or CSS type-3; a CORESET associated with CSS type-0 / 0A / 1, or a CORESET associated with CSS type-2; a CORESET with a flag (e.g., a flag indicating that the CORESET shares the same beam state, TCI, or QCL assumption as the UE-specific signal, or a flag indicating that beam determination scheme 1 is applied to the CORESET); a CORESET with a search space for beam failure recovery (BFR), or CORESET#0. In some embodiments, the non-UE-specific PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS may include a PDSCH further including a configured grant PDSCH or a PUSCH further including a configured grant PUSCH.

[0073] The UE-specific signal may include a UE-specific CORESET, PDCCH, or SS set. In some embodiments, the UE-specific CORESET, PDCCH, or SS set may include at least one of the following: a CORESET or SS set other than a non-UE-specific CORESET or SS set; a type-1 CSS, a type-2 CSS, a type-3 CSS, or a USS; a CORESET not associated with a CSS type-0 / 0A; a CORESET not associated with a CSS type-0 / 0A / 1; a CORESET not associated with a CSS type-0 / 0A / 1 / 2; a CORESET associated only with a USS; a CORESET associated with both or one of a USS and a CSS type 3; a CORESET associated with both or one of a USS and a CSS type 2 / 3; or a CORESET associated with both or one of a USS and a CSS type 1 / 2 / 3; and an unmarked CORESET.

[0074] In some embodiments, the UE-specific signal may include a UE-specific PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS. The UE-specific PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS may include at least one of the following: a PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS that is not initialized by a non-UE-specific CORESET or SS set; and a PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, or SRS.

[0075] D. Beam Direction When Considering Multiple Types of Schemes

[0076] There may be several beam indication schemes that can be applied to the UE. For proper operation, flexible coexistence rules may be provided and configured on the UE. There may be multiple beam indication or determination schemes, for example, beam determination schemes 1, 2, and 3.

[0077] Beam determination scheme 1 (e.g., Release 17 (rel-17) unified TCI scheme) may specify that a beam state (e.g., TCI state) will be applied to a DL or UL signal starting from the first time slot, which is X time units (e.g., symbols) after the last symbol of the acknowledgement of the beam state indication (e.g., TCI indication). In this case, more than one beam state (e.g., TCI state) may be activated by the MAC-CE.

[0078] In some embodiments, beam determination scheme 1 may specify that a beam state (e.g., TCI state) is applied to a DL or UL signal starting from the first time slot that is Y time units (e.g., 3 ms) after the last symbol of the PDSCH acknowledgment carrying the MAC-CE for activating the beam state (e.g., TCI state). Furthermore, in this case, the beam state (e.g., TCI state) activated by the MAC-CE may be a single state.

[0079] In addition, if the scheduling or triggering offset corresponding to the UE-specific signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, beam determination scheme 1 may be applied. In some embodiments, if the offset between the DL or UL signal and a non-UE-specific CORESET or PDCCH (e.g., to be monitored) is greater than or equal to a threshold, beam determination scheme 1 may be applied to the DL or UL signal (e.g., UE-specific signal).

[0080] Beam determination scheme 2 (e.g., rel-15 / 16 default beam scheme) may specify a QCL assumption for DL ​​signals (e.g., PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS) whose scheduling is off less than or equal to a threshold determined according to the CORESET. In addition, the CORESET may be the CORESET with the lowest ID in the last monitored time unit (e.g., timeslot). The CORESET may be a non-UE-specific CORESET. For example, the CORESET may be the CORESET with the lowest ID from the non-UE-specific CORESET in the last monitored timeslot. The threshold or trigger offset between the non-UE-specific CORESET or PDCCH and the corresponding PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS may be less than the threshold.

[0081] Beam determination scheme 3 (e.g., Release 15 / 16 (rel-15 / 16) explicit beam indication scheme) may specify that the QCL assumption for the PDSCH will be indicated by the corresponding MAC-CE, by the QCL assumption for the CORESET used to carry the scheduling DCI, or by the beam state (e.g., TCI state) indicated in the scheduling DCI. In some embodiments, beam determination scheme 3 may specify that the QCL assumption or beam state for the CORESET, PDCCH, or CSI-RS is indicated based on the beam state carried by the DCI, the medium access control element (MAC-CE), or the radio resource control (RRC). For example, for AP-CSI-RS, the beam state may be indicated by the trigger state in the DCI.

[0082] For coexistence, there may be two types of default beams, such as beam determination scheme 1 and beam determination scheme 2. Furthermore, there may be UE capabilities for supporting beam determination scheme 1 (e.g., REL-17 beam indication) and beam determination scheme 2 (e.g., REL-15 / 16 default beam). There may be gNB configurations for enabling beam determination scheme 1, beam determination scheme 2, or both beam determination schemes 1 and 2.

[0083] Taking backward compatibility into consideration, rules can be used when all three beam determination schemes described above are executed. The offset between non-UE-specific signals (e.g., PDSCH and CSI-RS) and the corresponding DCI can be greater than or equal to the threshold, which means that beam determination scheme 2 is excluded. Non-UE-specific signals (e.g., PDSCH and CSI-RS) can use the beam state (e.g., TCI state) associated with the PCI of the serving cell, or the beam state (e.g., TCI state) associated with non-UE-specific signals (e.g., CORESET, PDCCH, DCI, or SS set). In some embodiments, non-UE-specific signals (e.g., PDSCH and CSI-RS) can use the beam state (e.g., TCI state) associated with the PCI of the serving cell, or the beam state (e.g., TCI state) associated with non-UE-specific signals (e.g., CORESET, PDCCH, DCI, or SS set).

[0084] In general, considering that there may be transmissions less than a threshold, but the UE may not be aware of their presence, rules are provided for caching corresponding PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS receptions, or for determining the beam state or QCL assumption for PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS with a scheduling offset or triggering offset when the threshold is less than the threshold. This rule may be based on the following: Beam determination scheme 1 may have a higher priority than beam determination scheme 2, but a lower priority than beam determination scheme 3. Furthermore, beam determination schemes 2 and 3 may have a higher priority than beam determination scheme 1.

[0085] In addition, when using beam determination scheme 1, the beam state indicated in the non-UE-specific CORESET / PDCCH may not be considered. Beam determination scheme 2 may be prioritized over beam determination scheme 1 or applied once the following conditions are met: The scheduling offset between the DL signal (e.g., PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS) and the non-UE-specific CORESET to be monitored may be less than a threshold.

[0086] The non-UE-specific signal may be within a time unit. The time unit may be determined based on the size of the time unit and the time unit of the non-UE-specific CORESET or PDCCH. For example, if the DL signal (e.g., PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS) is in the same time slot or the next time slot of the non-UE-specific CORESET to be monitored, beam determination scheme 2 may be applied. The QCL assumption or beam state of the DL signal may be determined based on the CORESET with the lowest ID in the last monitored time slot. In some embodiments, the size of the time unit may be RRC or MAC-CE configured. In this case, according to beam determination scheme 1, UE-specific signals (e.g., UE-specific PDSCH) may still be communicated (e.g., received). The scheduling offset or triggering offset corresponding to the UE-specific signal (e.g., PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS) may be greater than or equal to a threshold. Otherwise, beam determination scheme 1 may be applied.

[0087] If the CORESET or PDCCH and PDSCH overlap in a time unit, and if the beam corresponding to the CORESET or PDCCH (e.g., QCL-Type D) is different from the beam corresponding to the PDSCH (e.g., QCL-Type D), the CORESET or PDCCH reception may be prioritized. In some embodiments, beam determination scheme 1 may be applied to the PDSCH. In some embodiments, beam determination scheme 3 may be applied to the CORESET. In some embodiments, the scheduling offset corresponding to the PDSCH may be less than a threshold.

[0088] In addition, if the CORESET or PDCCH and AP-CSI-RS overlap in a time unit, and if the beam corresponding to the CORESET / PDCCH (e.g., QCL-Type D) is different from the beam corresponding to the AP-CSI-RS (e.g., QCL-Type D), the CORESET or PDCCH reception may be prioritized. In some embodiments, beam determination scheme 1 may be applied to the AP-CSI-RS. In some embodiments, beam determination scheme 3 may be applied to the CORESET. The scheduling offset corresponding to the AP-CSI-RS may be less than a threshold.

[0089] In addition, if the triggering state of the AP CSI-RS is not associated with the beam state, or if the scheduling offset of the CSI-RS is less than a threshold, beam determination scheme 1 (e.g., unified beam state) may be applied. The AP-CSI-RS may include an AP-CSI-RS for channel state information / beam management (CSI / BM). When a CORESET or CSS (e.g., CSS type 2) is applied together with a beam state associated with a PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell, the UE may monitor at least one of the following. The UE may monitor: all CSSs in the CORESET; the CSS monitored in the serving cell; the CSS corresponding to the SSB associated with the previous beam state, the previous beam state being associated with the same PCI as the serving cell, or the previous beam state not being associated with a PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell; the CSS corresponding to the SSB associated with the beam state; and the CSS within a time unit (e.g., window, period) configured by RRC.

[0090] E. Support beam indication when more than one active beam state is supported

[0091] In some embodiments, more than one Rel-17 active DL beam state or QCL may be supported per UE per frequency band, and the gNB may be configured with more than one active beam state. Typically, non-UE-specific channels may be updated via legacy beam indication, but UE-specific channels may be updated via unified beam indication.

[0092] For the default beam, if there is a non-UE-specific SS or CORESET to be monitored in the time unit (the scheduling offset between the reception of DL DCI in the non-UE-specific CORESET or SS and the corresponding PDSCH is < threshold), the default beam can be determined according to the non-UE-specific SS / CORESET (i.e., Rel-15 / 16 scheme); otherwise the default beam is determined according to Rel-17. If the offset between the PDCCH or DCI and its scheduled PDSCH is less than the threshold, the scheduled PDSCH can be determined according to the non-UE-specific SS or CORESET. The non-UE-specific SS or CORESET can have the lowest ID from the non-UE-specific SS or CORESET. The QCL parameters of the PDCCH QCL indication for the non-UE-specific CORESET can be associated with the monitored search space with the lowest CORESET ID in the most recent timeslot, in which one or more non-UE-specific CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE. Modes such as enableAdditionalPCIforInterCellBeam or enableUnifiedTCI can be enabled.

[0093] Now refer to Figure 5 , which shows a block diagram of beam indication when more than one active beam or TCI state is supported. As shown in the figure, non-UE-dedicated channels and UE-dedicated channels can be applied through different TCI states. The former can be indicated using a TCI state associated with the same PCI as the serving cell's PCI, but the latter can be indicated using a TCI state associated with the same or different PCI as the serving cell's PCI. In this case, a threshold of 28 OFDM symbols can be assumed.

[0094] In one case, independent default beam caching or determination of non-UE-specific and UE-specific PDSCHs may be performed. For UE-specific PDSCHs (PDSCHs in slot n+1), the TCI state may be determined based on the updated unified TCI state (e.g., beam determination scheme 1). For non-UE-specific PDSCHs, when the PDSCH has a scheduling offset less than a threshold (e.g., PDSCHs in slot n), the QCL hypothesis for PDSCH reception may be determined based on the CORESET with the lowest ID from the non-UE-specific CORESETs in the last monitored slot (e.g., the TCI state in CORESET#0 under beam determination scheme 2). When the PDSCH has a scheduling offset greater than or equal to a threshold, the QCL hypothesis for PDSCH reception (e.g., PDSCHs in slot n+2) may be determined based on the TCI state indicated in CSS#1 (e.g., beam determination scheme 3).

[0095] In another case, a single default beam buffer or determination for non-UE-specific and UE-specific PDSCHs may be performed. If the scheduling offset between the DL signal (e.g., PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS) and the non-UE-specific CORESET to be monitored is less than a threshold, beam determination scheme 2 may be applied. Otherwise, beam determination scheme 1 may be applied. One or more PDSCHs in slot n and slot n+1 may be determined based on the CORESET with the lowest ID from the non-UE-specific CORESET in the last monitored slot (e.g., the TCI state in CORESET#0 under beam determination scheme 2). If the PDSCH in slot n+1 is transmitted in slot n+2, beam determination scheme 1 (e.g., based on unified TCI) may be applied.

[0096] F. Beam Indication When Only One Active Beam State is Supported

[0097] If only one Rel-17 active DL beam state or QCL is supported for each frequency band, the beam state for beam determination scheme 1 may be applied, while the beam state for beam determination schemes 2 or 3 may be deactivated. To dynamically switch between a non-serving cell and a serving cell, under scheme 1, a flag for the beam state may be present in the unified MAC-CE to deactivate any activated beam state for non-UE-dedicated signals. When the beam state is switched from a serving cell to a non-serving cell, the beam state for the non-dedicated channel may be deactivated. In this way, the non-dedicated CORESET or SS may not be monitored. Under scheme 2, if the beam state is associated with a PCI that is different from the PCI of the serving cell, the UE may not monitor the non-dedicated CORESET or SS.

[0098] Now refer to Figure 6A , a block diagram illustrating an example beam indication when only one active TCI is supported. As shown, in time slot n, a unified TCI for non-serving cells may be activated (e.g., a TCI state associated with a PCI that is different from the PCI of the serving cell), and based on this rule, non-dedicated CORESETs or SSs may not be monitored.

[0099] Now refer to Figure 6B, a block diagram of another example beam indication when only one active TCI is supported is shown. In detail, a unified TCI for the serving cell can be activated (e.g., under beam determination scheme 1), while TCI activation for non-dedicated signals can also be applied (i.e., beam determination scheme 3). As a condition, the same TCI state can be applied to non-dedicated signals and dedicated signals through separate signaling. The CSS can then be monitored accordingly. Thereafter, the serving cell TCI for both dedicated and non-dedicated signals can be deactivated in time slot n+2, while the TCI for non-serving cells can be activated for UE-dedicated signals.

[0100] A comprehensive approach for inter-cell beam management is proposed to accommodate L1 center mobility and improve communication reliability. First, channels or RSs that can be switched to neighboring cells can be identified, and corresponding beam indication methods can be provided for switching neighboring cells. Then, in order to handle channels or RSs that can be switched to neighboring cells and still served by the serving cell, a compatible scheme (including signaling design) can be provided. Here, two different scenarios can be considered in the following two cases: in one case, the UE can support more than one active beam state (e.g., TCI state), and in the other case, the UE can only support a single active beam state. Finally, corresponding timelines and rules can be considered for beams applied to some special channels, such as CORESET with a common search space and PDSCH or AP-CSI-RS with a scheduling offset less than a threshold.

[0101] G. Procedure for Inter-Cell Beam Management

[0102] Now refer to Figure 7 , which shows a flow chart of a method 700 for inter-cell beam management according to the present invention. The method 700 can be implemented using or performed by any of the components detailed above, such as UE 104 or 204 and BS 102 or 202, etc. In short, a wireless communication device can detect a handover between cells (705). The wireless communication device can identify a scheme for a beam state (710). The wireless communication device can determine a beam state for a first type (715). The wireless communication device can determine a beam state for a second type (720). The wireless communication device can communicate a first type of signal with a wireless communication node (725 and 725'). The wireless communication device can communicate a second type of signal with a wireless communication node (730 and 730'). The wireless communication device can monitor the communication (735).

[0103] In more detail, a wireless communication device (e.g., UE 104 or 204) may identify, monitor, or detect a handover between cells (705). A handover between cells may correspond to when a wireless communication device moves from one cell to an adjacent cell. Each cell may include at least one transmission / reception point or at least one wireless communication node (e.g., BSs 102 and 104). A cell may correspond to a coverage area within the communication range of a wireless communication node serving the wireless communication device. A mobile wireless communication device may be physically located in the coverage area of ​​two or more wireless communication nodes.

[0104] The wireless communication device may determine, select, or otherwise identify a scheme to be used to determine the beam state of a signal (710). The wireless communication device may support three modes, such as a first mode, a second mode, and a third mode. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may select a scheme based on the capabilities or configuration of the wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may have the capability to support the first scheme and the second scheme. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may receive a configuration for enabling the first scheme, the second scheme, or both the first scheme and the second scheme. In some embodiments, when the first scheme is enabled, the wireless communication device may consider the beam state indicated in the second type of signal (e.g., a non-UE-specific signal).

[0105] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may identify a scheme based on a priority. In some embodiments, the first scheme may have a higher priority than the second scheme and a lower priority than the third scheme. Both the second scheme and the third scheme may have a higher priority than the first scheme. The second scheme may have a higher priority than the first scheme. In some embodiments, wireless communication may identify a scheme (e.g., the first scheme or the second scheme) based on a condition. The condition may identify or include a scheduling offset between downlink signals. In some embodiments, the condition may also identify that a second type of signal (e.g., a non-UE-dedicated signal) is less than a threshold and that the second type of signal is within a time unit. When the condition is met, the wireless communication device may identify that the second scheme is to be applied. Otherwise, when the condition is not met, the wireless communication device may identify that the first scheme is to be applied. In some embodiments, the offset between the second type of signal and the corresponding downlink control information (DCI) signaling may be greater than or equal to a threshold. In some embodiments, the downlink signal may be buffered. The wireless communication device may determine a beam state or a quasi-co-site (QCL) assumption for the downlink signal.

[0106] The wireless communication device may identify or determine a first beam state for a first type of signal (715). The first beam state may be associated with the first type of signal. The first type of signal may include a UE-dedicated channel or a UE-dedicated reference signal (RS) and may be different from a second type of signal, which may include a non-UE-dedicated channel or a non-UE-dedicated RS. In some embodiments, the first beam state may be associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from a serving cell's physical cell identifier (PCI). In some embodiments, the first beam state may identify or include at least one of a quasi-co-site (QCL) assumption, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a spatial relationship, a reference signal (RS), a spatial filter, or precoding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may determine the first beam state according to a beam determination scheme such as the first scheme, the second scheme, and the third scheme.

[0107] In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a search space (SS) set, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a channel state information RS (CSI-RS), or a sounding RS (SRS). In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a control resource set (CORESET) or a search space (SS) set other than the second type of signal, or a CORESET or SS set other than a non-UE-specific CORESET or SS set. In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that is not associated with a Type-0 or Type-0A common SS (CSS) set. In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or PDCCH that is not associated with a Type-0, Type-0A, or Type-1 CSS set.

[0108] In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or PDCCH that is not associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set. In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or PDCCH that is associated only with a USS, a CORESET or PDCCH that is associated with both or one of a USS and a type-3 CSS set, a CORESET or PDCCH that is associated with both or one of a USS and a type-2 or type-3 CSS set, or a CORESET or PDCCH that is associated with both or one of a USS and a type-1, type-2, or type-3 CSS set. In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or PDCCH with a flag indicating that the CORESET or PDCCH shares the same beam state as the first type of signal, or that a first scheme is applied to the CORESET or PDCCH.

[0109] In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a signal that is not scheduled or initialized by the second type of signal, or a signal that is not scheduled or initialized by a non-UE-specific CORESET or search space (SS) set. For example, the signal may be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PUCCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a sounding reference signal (SRS). In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a signal with a tag. The tag may indicate that the first scheme is applied to the signal. The signal may also be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PUCCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a sounding reference signal (SRS). In some embodiments, the first type of signal may identify or include a signal scheduled or initialized by downlink control information (DCI).

[0110] In some embodiments, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a control resource set (CORESET) or search space (SS) set other than a second type of signal or other than a non-UE-specific CORESET or SS set. In some embodiments, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that is not associated with a type-0 or type-0A common SS (CSS) set. In some embodiments, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH that is not associated with a type-0, type-0A, or type-1 CSS set. In some embodiments, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH that is not associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set. In some embodiments, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH associated only with a USS, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH associated with a USS and one or both of a type-3 CSS set, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH associated with a USS and one or both of a type-2 or type-3 CSS set, or the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH associated with a USS and one or both of a type-1, type-2, or type-3 CSS set. In some embodiments, the DCI may be associated with or correspond to a CORESET or PDCCH having a flag indicating that the CORESET or PDCCH shares the same beam state as a first type of signal, or indicating that a first scheme is applied to the CORESET or PDCCH.

[0111] The wireless communication device may identify or determine a second beam state for a second type of signal (e.g., a non-UE-specific signal) (720). The determination of the second beam state for the second type of signal may be performed by the wireless communication device simultaneously with the determination of the first beam state for the first type of signal. The second beam state may be associated with the second type of signal. The second type of signal may include a non-UE-specific channel or a non-UE-specific RS. The second type of signal may also include a non-UE-specific CORESET, PDDCH, or SS set, etc.

[0112] In some embodiments, the second beam state may be associated with a PCI that is the same as the PCI of the serving cell. In some embodiments, the second beam state may be associated with the serving cell. In some embodiments, the second beam state may identify or include at least one of the following: a quasi co-site (QCL) assumption, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a spatial relationship, a reference signal (RS), a spatial filter, or a precoding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may determine the first beam state according to a beam determination scheme such as the first scheme, the second scheme, and the third scheme. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a search space (SS) set, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a channel state information RS (CSI-RS), or a sounding RS (SRS), etc.

[0113] In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a type-0, type-0A, type-1, type-2, or type-3 common search space (CSS) set. The CSS set may be associated with a synchronization block (SSB) of a second TCI state that is activated or indicated. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a control resource set (CORESET) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or PDCCH with a flag indicating that the CORESET or PDCCH does not share the same beam state as the first type of signal, indicating that the second or third scheme is applied to the CORESET or PDCCH, or that the first scheme is excluded from application to the CORESET or PDCCH. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a CORESET or PDCCH with an SS set for beam failure recovery, or may identify or include CORESET#0.

[0114] In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a configuration grant for a PDSCH. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a configuration grant for a PUSCH. In some embodiments, the second type of signal may identify or include a signal scheduled or initialized by downlink control information (DCI). The signal may be, for example, a PDSCH, a PUSCH, a PUCCH, a CSI-RS, or an SRS. In some embodiments, the DCI may correspond to a type-0, type-0A, type-1, type-2, or type-3 common search space (CSS) set. The CSS may be associated with a synchronization block (SSB) of an activated or indicated second TCI state. In some embodiments, the DCI may correspond to a control resource set (CORESET) associated with a type-0, type-0A, type-1, or type-2 CSS set. In some embodiments, the DCI may correspond to a CORESET with a flag indicating that the CORESET or PDCCH does not share the same beam state as the first type of signal, that the second or third scheme is applied to the CORESET or PDCCH, or that the first scheme is excluded from application to the CORESET or PDCCH. In some embodiments, the DCI may correspond to a CORESET having a search space (SS) for beam failure recovery, or to CORESET#0.

[0115] The wireless communication device may communicate a first type of signal with the wireless communication node (725 and 725'). During the communication, the wireless communication device may send the first type of signal to the wireless communication node. Conversely, the wireless communication node may receive the first type of signal from the wireless communication device. The wireless communication device may communicate a second type of signal with the wireless communication node (730 and 730'). In some embodiments, the second type of signal uses a second beam state (e.g., a TCI state associated with the PCI of the serving cell). During the communication, the wireless communication device may send the second type of signal to the wireless communication node. Conversely, the wireless communication node may receive a second first type of signal from the wireless communication device. Communication of the second type of signal may be performed simultaneously with communication of the first type of signal.

[0116] The wireless communication device may apply a beam state (e.g., a first beam state or a second beam state) when transmitting a first type of signal and a second type of signal. In some embodiments, if a control resource set (CORESET) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) overlap in a time unit, and if the beam state corresponding to the CORESET or PDCCH is different from the beam state corresponding to the PDSCH or CSI-RS, reception of the CORESET or PDCCH may be prioritized.

[0117] Under a first approach, a wireless communication device may apply a beam state (e.g., a first beam state or a second beam state) to at least one uplink (UL) signal, at least one downlink (DL) signal, or both. The beam state may start from a first time slot that defines a number of time units after an acknowledgement of a DCI corresponding to a signal carrying an indication of the first beam state. In some embodiments, the beam state may include more than one beam state activated by a media access control element (MAC CE) signaling. In addition, the wireless communication device may apply the beam state to at least one UL signal, at least one DL signal, or both starting from a first time slot that defines a second number of time units after an acknowledgement of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying MAC CE signaling for activating at least one beam state. In some embodiments, the beam state may include a single beam state. In some embodiments, a mode for enabling the first approach or inter-cell beam management may be enabled.

[0118] The wireless communication device may determine to apply the first beam state based on scheduling or offset. In some embodiments, if the scheduling or triggering offset corresponding to the first type of signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, the wireless communication device may apply the beam state determined by the first scheme to the first type of signal. In some embodiments, if the offset between the first type of signal and the second type of signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, the wireless communication device may apply a beam state determined by the first scheme to the first type of signal. In some embodiments, the beam state corresponding to the PDSCH or CSI-RS may be determined by the wireless communication device according to the first scheme. The scheduling or triggering offset corresponding to the PDSCH or CSI-RS may be less than a threshold. In some embodiments, if the triggering state of the CSI-RS is not associated with at least one beam state, or if the scheduling offset of the CSI-RS is less than a threshold, the wireless communication device may determine the beam state corresponding to the CSI-RS according to the first scheme.

[0119] Under the second approach, the wireless communication device may apply a beam state (e.g., a first beam state or a second beam state) to a downlink signal whose scheduling or triggering offset is less than or equal to a threshold. The beam state may be determined by the wireless communication device based on a control resource set (CORESET). The second type of signal may include a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a search space (SS) set. The second type of signal may be monitored by the wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the CORESET may identify or include the CORESET with the lowest index in the last monitored time unit. In some embodiments, the CORESET may identify or include a non-UE-specific CORESET. In some embodiments, the CORESET may identify or include the CORESET with the lowest index from another second type of signal in the last monitored time unit.

[0120] In some embodiments, if the scheduling or triggering offset between the second type of signal and another second type of signal is less than a threshold, the wireless communication device may determine at least one beam state according to the second scheme. The second type of signal may include at least one of the following: a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The other second type of signal may include at least one of the following: a control resource set (CORESET) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that schedules or triggers the second type of signal, etc.

[0121] Under the third solution, the wireless communication device may apply a beam state (e.g., a first beam state or a second beam state) to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The at least one beam state may be indicated by: corresponding media access control element (MAC CE) signaling, the beam state of a CORESET carrying scheduling downlink control information (DCI), or the beam state indicated in the scheduling DCI. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may apply the beam state to a CORESET, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The beam state may be indicated via downlink control information (DCI), a media access control element (MAC CE), or a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, the beam state corresponding to the CORESET may be determined according to the third solution.

[0122] The wireless communication device may monitor communications (735). In some embodiments, if a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set may be associated with a synchronization block (SSB) of an activated or indicated second beam state, the wireless communication device may monitor the Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set, etc. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may monitor a PDCCH associated with a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set; or a CORESET associated with a Type-0, Type-0A, Type-1, or Type-2 CSS set, etc.

[0123] In some embodiments, when a CORESET or common search space (CSS) is applied using a beam state associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from the serving cell's PCI, the wireless communication device may monitor the CSS. The wireless communication device may monitor: all CSSs in the CORESET; the monitored CSS in the serving cell; the CSS corresponding to a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a previous beam state, the previous beam state being associated with a PCI that is the same as the serving cell's PCI or not associated with a PCI that is different from the serving cell's PCI; the CSS corresponding to the SSB associated with the beam state; or the CSS within a time unit configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, etc.

[0124] In some embodiments, if a second type of signal is to be monitored in a time unit, the wireless communication device may determine the beam state corresponding to the uplink signal and the downlink signal according to the second scheme. In some embodiments, if the offset between the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or downlink control information (DCI) signaling and the corresponding scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) is less than a threshold, the wireless communication device may determine the beam state corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH or CSI-RS based on the second type of signal.

[0125] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may determine whether to monitor for a first type of signal or a second type of signal based on the applied beam state. In some embodiments, a media access control control element (MAC CE) may have a flag for the beam state to deactivate any activated beam state for the second type of signal. In some embodiments, when the first beam state is applied, the beam state for the second type of signal may be deactivated, or the wireless communication device may not monitor for the second type of signal. In some embodiments, when the beam state is associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from the serving cell's PCI, the wireless communication device may not monitor for the second type of signal.

[0126] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may monitor an active bandwidth part (BWP) of a serving cell. In some embodiments, a second type of signal may have a lowest index (ID) of a plurality of second type of signals. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may determine a beam state based on a second type of signal associated with a search space having a lowest control resource set (CORESET) index (ID) in a most recent time slot in which the wireless communication device monitored one or more second type of signals within the active bandwidth part (BWP) of the serving cell.

[0127] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented merely as examples and not as limitations. Similarly, each figure may depict exemplary architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present solution. However, these people will understand that the solution is not limited to the exemplary architectures or configurations shown, but can be implemented using various alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.

[0128] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using designations such as "first," "second," etc., does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations are used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements may be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0129] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols such as those referenced in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0130] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, components, circuits, methods, and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which, for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions do not result in a departure from the scope of the present invention.

[0131] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC), which may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, modules, and circuits may also include an antenna and / or a transceiver to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0132] If implemented in software, these functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, including any medium capable of transmitting a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0133] As used herein, the term "module" refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, each module is described as a discrete module; however, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according to the embodiments of the present invention.

[0134] In addition, memory or other memory and communication components may be used in embodiments of the present solution. It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it is apparent that any appropriate distribution of functions between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present solution. For example, functions shown as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are merely references to appropriate devices for providing the functions, rather than representing a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0135] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed, as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising: determining, by the wireless communication device, a first beam state associated with a first type of signal, wherein the first beam state is associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from a serving cell; determining, by the wireless communication device, a second beam state associated with a second type of signal based on a control resource set (CORESET) having a lowest index in a last monitored time unit, wherein the second type of signal comprises a downlink signal having a scheduling offset less than a threshold, and wherein the second beam state comprises a quasi co-sited (QCL) assumption; as well as The second beam state is applied by the wireless communication device to signals of the second type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first beam state comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second type of signal comprises: Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of signal comprises: A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) associated with only one or both of the UE-specific search space (USS) and the Type-3 common search space (CSS) set. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the type 3 CSS is configured by a search space in a PDCCH configuration having a common search space type.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the second type of signal comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and If the PDCCH and the PDSCH overlap in a time unit, and if a beam state corresponding to the PDCCH is different from a beam state corresponding to the PDSCH, reception of the PDCCH is prioritized.

7. A wireless communication device comprising: At least one processor configured to: determining a first beam state associated with a signal of a first type, wherein the first beam state is associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) different from a PCI of a serving cell; determining a second beam state associated with a second type of signal based on a control resource set (CORESET) having a lowest index in a last monitored time unit, wherein the second type of signal comprises a downlink signal having a scheduling offset less than a threshold, and wherein the second beam state comprises a quasi co-sited (QCL) assumption; and The second beam state is applied to the second type of signal.

8. The wireless communication device of claim 7, wherein the first beam state comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

9. The wireless communication device of claim 7, wherein the second type of signal comprises: Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

10. The wireless communication device of claim 7, wherein the first type of signal comprises: A PDCCH associated with only one or both of the UE-specific search space (USS) and the type-3 common search space (CSS) set. 11 . The wireless communication apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the Type 3 CSS is configured by a search space in a PDCCH configuration having a common search space type.

12. The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the first type of signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the second type of signal comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and If the PDCCH and the PDSCH overlap in a time unit, and if a beam state corresponding to the PDCCH is different from a beam state corresponding to the PDSCH, reception of the PDCCH is prioritized.

13. A method for communication, comprising: communicating, by the wireless communication node and the wireless communication device, a first type of signal, wherein a first beam state is associated with the first type of signal and a second beam state is associated with the second type of signal, the first beam state being associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from a serving cell's PCI, and communicating, by the wireless communication node and the wireless communication device, signals of the second type, the second beam state being applied to the signals of the second type by the wireless communication device, and The second beam state includes a quasi co-sited (QCL) assumption and is determined by the wireless communication device based on a control resource set (CORESET) with a lowest index in a last monitored time unit, wherein the second type of signal is a downlink signal with a scheduling offset less than a threshold.

14. A wireless communication node, comprising: At least one processor configured to: communicating a first type of signal with a wireless communication device via a transceiver, wherein a first beam state is associated with the first type of signal and a second beam state is associated with the second type of signal, the first beam state being associated with a physical cell identifier (PCI) that is different from a serving cell's PCI, and communicating the second type of signal with the wireless communication device via the transceiver, the second beam state being applied to the second type of signal by the wireless communication device, The second beam state includes a quasi co-sited (QCL) assumption and is determined by the wireless communication device based on a control resource set (CORESET) with a lowest index in a last monitored time unit, wherein the second type of signal is a downlink signal with a scheduling offset less than a threshold.

15. The wireless communication node of claim 14, wherein the first beam state comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

16. The wireless communication node of claim 14, wherein the second type of signal comprises: Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

17. The wireless communication node of claim 14, wherein the first type of signal comprises: A PDCCH associated with only one or both of the UE-specific search space (USS) and the type-3 common search space (CSS) set.

18. The wireless communication node of claim 17, wherein the Type 3 CSS is configured by a search space in a PDCCH configuration having a common search space type.

19. The wireless communication node of claim 14, wherein the first type of signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the second type of signal comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and If the PDCCH and the PDSCH overlap in a time unit, and if a beam state corresponding to the PDCCH is different from a beam state corresponding to the PDSCH, reception of the PDCCH is prioritized.

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