Methods and apparatus for multi-trp operation

Abstract

A method and apparatus for multiple-transmission reception point (multi-TRP) operation are disclosed. The method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: configuring to receive a first signaling from a network, wherein the first signaling is for multi-TRP operation; and / or receiving a second signaling from the network, wherein the second signaling is for multi-TRP operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of wireless communication systems, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for multiple-transmission reception point (multi-TRP) operation, such as wireless communication systems operating in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. More specifically, the objective is to provide solutions based on a unified TCI framework for the activation and indication of the transmission configuration indication (TCI) state in multi-TRP operation. Background Technology

[0002] MIMO is an effective method to enhance wireless link capacity by multiplexing transmit and receive antennas. MIMO refers to a practical technique that allows the simultaneous transmission and reception of multiple data signals through the same wireless channel, thereby significantly improving spectral efficiency. Significant progress has been made in supporting the efficient operation of multiple TRP (Transmit and Receive) technology, a key aspect of MIMO.

[0003] In current technology, single TRP operations use a unified TCI framework, while multi-TRP operations do not. How to provide an activation and indication solution for the transmission configuration indication (TCI) status in multi-TRP operations based on a unified TCI framework remains an unsolved problem. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a method and apparatus for multiple-transmission-reception point (multi-TRP) operation.

[0005] In a first aspect of this application, a method for performing multiple TRP operations by user equipment (UE) includes: configuring to receive first signaling from a network, wherein the first signaling is used for multiple TRP operations; and / or receiving second signaling from the network, wherein the second signaling is used for multiple TRP operations.

[0006] In a second aspect of this application, a method for performing multiple TRP operations by a network includes: configuring first signaling to user equipment (UE), wherein the first signaling is used for multiple TRP operations; and / or transmitting second signaling to the UE, wherein the second signaling is used for multiple TRP operations.

[0007] In a third aspect of this application, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to perform the methods described above.

[0008] In a fourth aspect of this application, a network includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to perform the methods described above.

[0009] In a fifth aspect of this application, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium is provided having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described above.

[0010] In a sixth aspect of this application, a chip includes a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program stored in a memory to cause a device on which the chip is mounted to perform the methods described above.

[0011] In a seventh aspect of this application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program causes a computer to perform the above-described method.

[0012] In an eighth aspect of this application, a computer program product includes a computer program that causes a computer to perform the methods described above.

[0013] In a ninth aspect of this application, a computer program is provided, wherein the computer program causes a computer to perform the above-described method. Attached Figure Description

[0014] To more clearly illustrate the embodiments or related technologies of this application, the accompanying drawings described in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings are merely some embodiments of this application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without incurring any cost.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of multiple-transmission-reception point (multi-TRP) according to an embodiment of this application.

[0016] Figure 2This is a block diagram of one or more user equipment (UE) and base station (e.g., gNB) in a communication network system according to embodiments of this application.

[0017] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating a multi-TRP operation method performed by user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of this application.

[0018] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of a multi-TRP operation method performed by a base station according to an embodiment of this application.

[0019] Figure 5 These are schematic diagrams illustrating two MAC CE examples according to embodiments of this application.

[0020] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a DCI example according to an embodiment of this application, wherein one DCI indicates a TCI state from an active TCI state list corresponding to one TRP, and the other DCI indicates a TCI state from an active TCI state list corresponding to other TRPs.

[0021] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a DCI example according to an embodiment of this application, wherein one DCI simultaneously indicates a TCI state from an active TCI state list corresponding to one TRP and a TCI state from an active TCI state list corresponding to other TRPs.

[0022] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the TCI field in the DCI being expanded to 4 bits according to an embodiment of this application, wherein the added 1 bit is used to indicate the TRP.

[0023] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram showing the TCI field in the DCI extended to 6 bits according to an embodiment of this application.

[0024] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating how PUCCH resources or sets of PUCCH resources can be associated with different TRPs, according to embodiments of this application.

[0025] Figure 11 This is a system block diagram for wireless communication according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical content, structural features, achieved objectives, and effects of this application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Specifically, the terminology used in the embodiments of this application is only used to describe the purpose of specific embodiments and is not intended to limit this application.

[0027] Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is one of the key technologies in new radio (NR) systems and has been successfully deployed commercially. In MIMO communication systems, both the user equipment (UE) and the base station contain a large number of antenna elements. Especially for the base station, these antenna elements can be distributed across different panels, such as... Figure 1 As shown. Figure 1 As shown, in multi-TRP operation, each panel is placed in a different location to enable better communication between the base station and the UE. Specifically, in the current specification, panels located in different locations are referred to as multiple TRPs. By utilizing spatial diversity, multi-TRP operation can simultaneously optimize the throughput and transmission reliability of both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) channels, especially in frequency range 2 (FR 2), when there are unpredictable obstructions between the TRP and the UE.

[0028] Figure 2 According to some embodiments of this application, a communication network system 40 for communication is provided, comprising one or more user equipment (UE) 10 and a base station (e.g., gNB) 20 (or network). The communication network system 40 includes one or more UEs 10 and a base station 20. The one or more UEs 10 may include a memory 12, a transceiver 13, and a processor 11 coupled to the memory 12 and transceiver 13. The base station 20 may include a memory 22, a transceiver 23, and a processor 21 coupled to the memory 22 and transceiver 23. The processor 11 or 21 may be configured to implement the functions, processes, and / or methods presented herein. Layers of the wireless interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 is operatively coupled to the processor 11 or 21 and stores various information for operating the processor 11 or 21. The transceiver 13 or 23 is operatively coupled to the processor 11 or 21 for transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals.

[0029] Processor 11 or 21 may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipsets, logic circuits, and / or data processing devices. Memory 12 or 22 may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, memory cards, storage media, and / or other storage devices. Transceiver 13 or 23 may include baseband circuitry for processing radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented by modules (e.g., processes, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. These modules may be stored in memory 12 or 22 and executed by processor 11 or 21. Memory 12 or 22 may be integrated within processor 11 or 21 or external to processor 11 or 21, in which case they may be communicatively coupled to processor 11 or 21 in various known ways.

[0030] In some embodiments, processor 11 is configured to receive first signaling from network 20, wherein the first signaling is for multi-transmitter receive point (multi-TRP) operation, and / or transceiver 13 is configured to receive second signaling from network 20, wherein the second signaling is for multi-TRP operation.

[0031] In some embodiments, processor 21 is configured to configure first signaling to UE 10, wherein the first signaling is used for multiple TRP operations, and / or transceiver 23 is configured to send second signaling to UE 10, wherein the second signaling is used for multiple TRP operations.

[0032] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating a multi-TRP operation method 300 performed by a user equipment according to an embodiment of this application. In some embodiments, the multi-TRP operation method 300 performed by the UE includes: step 310, configuring to receive first signaling from the network, wherein the first signaling is used for multi-TRP operation, and / or step 320, receiving second signaling from the network, wherein the second signaling is used for multi-TRP operation.

[0033] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating a multi-transmitter receive point (multi-TRP) operation method 400 performed by a base station (or network) according to an embodiment of this application. In some embodiments, the network-performed multi-TRP operation method 400 includes: step 410, configuring first signaling to a UE, wherein the first signaling is used for multi-TRP operation; and / or step 420, transmitting second signaling to the UE, wherein the second signaling is used for multi-TRP operation.

[0034] In some embodiments, the first signaling configures different joint / downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) transmission configuration indication (TCI) status lists corresponding to different TRPs, and / or different joint / independent TCI status indications corresponding to different TRPs; the second signaling activates and / or indicates the TCI status corresponding to different TRPs, and / or supports switching between joint TCI status and independent TCI status. In some embodiments, the first signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and the second signaling includes a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), downlink control information (DCI), and / or higher-layer parameters.

[0035] In some embodiments, the MAC CE includes a conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, which is associated with different time units and activates TCI states corresponding to different TRPs. In some embodiments, in odd-numbered time units, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier (ID) field in the conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE comes from a first joint / DL or ULTCI state list corresponding to a first TRP; and / or in even-numbered time units, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from a second joint / DL or ULTCI state list corresponding to a second TRP.

[0036] In some embodiments, the MAC CE includes a first traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit and a second traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, which transmit simultaneously within the same time unit. In some embodiments, the TCI state identifier (ID) field in the first traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE indicates a TCI state from a first joint / downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) TCI state list corresponding to a first TRP, and / or the TCI state identifier field in the second traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit indicates a TCI state from a second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to a second TRP.

[0037] In some embodiments, in at least one of the Conventional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC CE, the First Conventional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC Control Unit, and the Second Conventional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC CE, a first field in the R field is used to indicate the association between a TCI state indicated by a TCI state identifier field and a TRP. In some embodiments, if a first field in the R field indicates a first value, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from a first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the first TRP; and / or if the first field indicates a second value, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from a second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the second TRP.

[0038] In some embodiments, in at least one of the Traditional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC CE, the First Traditional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC Control Unit, and the Second Traditional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC CE, a TCI state identifier field can be used to activate up to two TCI states corresponding to different TRPs. In some embodiments, in at least one of the Traditional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC Control Unit, the Second Traditional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC Control Unit, and the Second Traditional Unified TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC Control Unit, a second field in the R field is used to indicate whether a TCI state identifier field activates one or two TCI states. In some embodiments, if a TCI state identifier field indicates one TCI state, the association between that TCI state and the TRP is indicated by a first field in the R field. In some embodiments, the first field in the R field can also be used to indicate a TRP index.

[0039] In some embodiments, in at least one of the conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit, the first conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit, and the second conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit, all TCI state identifier fields share the first and second fields in the R field, or each TCI state identifier field has the first and second fields in the R field.

[0040] In some embodiments, the DCI includes a first DCI and a second DCI, wherein the first DCI indicates a TCI state from a list of activated TCI states corresponding to one TRP, and the second DCI indicates a TCI state from a list of activated TCI states corresponding to another TRP. In some embodiments, the first DCI and the second DCI are located in different time units.

[0041] In some embodiments, the DCI simultaneously indicates the TCI status from the list of activated TCI statuses corresponding to one TRP and the TCI status from the list of activated TCI statuses corresponding to another TRP. In some embodiments, one TCI field in the DCI is expanded to 4 bits, with the added bit used to indicate the TRP. In some embodiments, one TCI field in the DCI is expanded to 6 bits, with the first 3 bits used to indicate the TCI status from the list of activated TCI statuses corresponding to one TRP and the last 3 bits used to indicate the TCI status from the list of activated TCI statuses corresponding to another TRP.

[0042] In some embodiments, the DCI includes a downlink (DL) DCI, wherein a 1-bit TRP indicator is added to the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) field to indicate the association between a PUCCH resource and a TRP. In some embodiments, when the User Equipment (UE) receives the TRP indicator in the PUCCH field of the DL DCI, the UE transmits the PUCCH indicated by the PUCCH field using a TCI state corresponding to the TRP. In some embodiments, higher-layer parameters include PUCCH-Resource or PUCCH-ResourceSet, and a 1-bit TRP indicator RRC signaling is added to the higher-layer parameters to indicate the association between a PUCCH resource or a set of PUCCH resources and a TRP. In some embodiments, when the UE receives the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI, the UE transmits the indicated PUCCH using the TCI state corresponding to the TRP, based on the TRP indicator RRC signaling in the higher-layer parameters. In some embodiments, a PUCCH resource or a PUCCH resource set is associated with a different TRP, and / or the PUCCH resource or a PUCCH resource set is divided into different portions, each corresponding to a different TRP. In some embodiments, the TRP indicator is an explicit TRP index or other index associated with a TRP, such as an index of the CORESET pool, an SRS resource set index, or a CSI-RS resource set index.

[0043] In some embodiments, higher-level parameters are extended to be TRP-specific. In some embodiments, higher-level parameters include unifiedtci-StateType-TRP1 and unifiedtci-StateType-TRP2, where unifiedtci-StateType-TRP1 indicates that the first TRP is a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state, and unifiedtci-StateType-TRP2 indicates that the second TRP is a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state. In some embodiments, for multi-TRP operations, a MAC control unit (MAC CE) is used to support dynamic switching between joint TCI states and independent TCI states. In some embodiments, the MAC CE has 2 bits, where the first bit indicates whether the TCI state corresponding to the first TRP is joint or independent, and the second bit indicates whether the TCI state corresponding to the second TRP is joint or independent. In some embodiments, the MAC CE is further merged into another MAC CE, which is a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE.

[0044] Specifications and / or discussion related to Example 1:

[0045] In the current specification, for a single TRP operation with a unified TCI framework, a list of joint / DL TCI states including M joint / DL TCI states and a list of UL TCI states including N UL TCI states are configured in the high-level parameters PDSCH-Config and BWP-UplinkDedicated, respectively. The joint / DL TCI states provide a reference RS for determining the QCL information of the UL TX spatial filtering for DL ​​signals (including PDSCH, PDCCH, CSI-RS) and / or UL signals (including PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS). The UL TCI states provide a reference RS for determining the UL TX spatial filtering. The unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit (CE) selects several joint / DL TCI states from the joint / DL TCI state list and / or several UL TCI states from the ULTCI state list for activation or deactivation. The TCI state field in the DL DCI (e.g., DCI 1_1 and DCI 1_2) indicates one or two TCI states to be applied.

[0046] In the current specification, for multi-TRP operations without a unified TCI framework, downlink beam indication and UL TX spatial filtering are accomplished through TCI status and spatial relationship signaling, respectively. Each DL and UL channel has its own TCI status list and spatial relationship list. For example, the TCI status lists for PDSCH and PDCCH are configured in the higher-layer parameters PDSCH-Config and PDCCH-Config, respectively. Similarly, the spatial relationship lists for PUCCH and SRS are configured in the higher-layer parameters PUCCH-Config and SRS-Config, respectively. Different MAC CEs are used for TCI status activation / deactivation of different channels. For example, the UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE for PDCCH uses enhanced TCI status indication; the UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE for PDSCH uses (enhanced) TCI status activation / deactivation; the multi-TRP PUCCH repetition MAC CE for PUCCH uses PUCCH spatial relationship activation / deactivation; while the spatial relationship for PUSCH is determined based on the SRI field in the DCI. Specifically, the TCI status field in DL DCI (e.g., DCI 1_1 and DCI 1_2) indicates one or two TCI statuses to be applied to PDSCH reception.

[0047] In Rel-18 WID, a unified TCI framework was introduced for multi-TRP operation. To support multi-TRP operation, it is recommended to configure two joint / DL TCI state lists and two UL TCI state lists via RRC parameters. The first and second joint / DL TCI state lists each contain M1 and M2 joint / DL TCI states, respectively. The first and second UL TCI state lists each contain N1 and N2 UL TCI states, respectively. The joint / DL TCI states from the first and second joint / DL TCI state lists provide reference RSs corresponding to the first and second TRPs to determine the QCL information and UL TX spatial filtering corresponding to the first and second TRPs. The UL TCI states from the first and second UL TCI state lists provide reference RSs corresponding to the first and second TRPs to determine the UL TX spatial filtering corresponding to the first and second TRPs.

[0048] Examples related to Example 1:

[0049] In some examples, the traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE associated with different time units activates the TCI states corresponding to different TRPs. In odd-numbered time units, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from the first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the first TRP; in even-numbered time units, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from the second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the second TRP. Therefore, the network can activate the TCI states corresponding to different TRPs separately by transmitting MAC CEs at different time units.

[0050] In some examples, two conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CEs can be transmitted simultaneously within the same time unit. Specifically, the TCI state identifier field in the first MAC CE indicates a TCI state from the first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the first TRP, while the TCI state identifier field in the second MAC CE indicates a TCI state from the second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the second TRP. Therefore, the network can simultaneously activate TCI states corresponding to different TRPs by transmitting MAC CEs within the same time unit.

[0051] In some examples, one of the R fields (labeled T) in the traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit (CE) is used to indicate the association between the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field and a TRP. If the T field is "0", the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from the first joint / DL or ULTCI state list corresponding to the first TRP. If the T field is "1", the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from the second joint / DL or ULTCI state list corresponding to the second TRP. Therefore, the network can individually activate TCI states corresponding to different TRPs by adjusting the T field.

[0052] In some examples, a TCI state identifier field in a traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit can be used to activate up to two TCI states corresponding to different TRPs. One TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier field comes from a first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to a first TRP, and the other comes from a second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to a second TRP. TCI states corresponding to different TRPs do not need to be activated simultaneously every time. For this purpose, a new field (labeled N) is added to indicate whether the TCI state identifier field activates one or two TCI states. If the number of TCI states indicated by the TCI state identifier field is one, the association between that TCI state and the TRP needs to be indicated. Subsequently, a new field (labeled T) is added to indicate the TRP index. Therefore, the network can determine whether to activate TCI states corresponding to different TRPs simultaneously or individually. Figure 5 An example of two MAC control units is shown. Figure 5 In (a), all TCI status identifier fields share an N field and a T field. Figure 5 In (b), each TCI status identifier field has a corresponding N field and T field.

[0053] Specifications and / or discussion related to Example 2:

[0054] In the current specification, for single TRP operations with a unified TCI framework, the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC control unit is used to activate / deactivate the joint / DL TCI state and / or the UL TCI state. For simplicity, the joint / DL TCI state and the UL TCI state are collectively referred to as TCI states. The set of these activated TCI states can be called the activated TCI state list. After activating a TCI state, a TCI field (3 bits) in the DCI indicates the TCI state from the activated TCI state list, used to determine QCL information and / or UL TX spatial filtering.

[0055] In Rel-18 WID, a unified TCI framework was introduced for multi-TRP operations. Due to the presence of multiple TRPs, two TCI states corresponding to the two TRPs are activated by two separate MAC control units or two parts of a single MAC control unit. Therefore, there are two lists of active TCI states corresponding to the two TRPs respectively. For multi-TRP operations based on a single DCI, only one TRP can transmit the PDCCH, so at any given time, only one DCI corresponds to one of the TRPs. Therefore, this DCI needs to indicate both TCI states from the two lists of active TCI states simultaneously. Thus, mechanisms are needed to enable the DCI to indicate both TCI states. It is important to note that these mechanisms apply not only to multi-TRP operations based on a single DCI but also to multi-TRP operations based on multiple DCIs.

[0056] Examples related to Example 2:

[0057] In some examples, one DCI indicates a TCI state from one active TCI state list corresponding to a TRP, and another DCI indicates a TCI state from another active TCI state list corresponding to a different TRP. These two DCIs may reside in different time units. The User Equipment (UE) distinguishes which DCI indicates which TRP's TCI state based on the time unit information. Figure 6 An example of this mechanism is illustrated. The first MAC control unit (CE) activates several TCI states corresponding to the first TRP. In the first time unit, the UE receives the first DCI. If the TCI field in the first DCI is "001", it indicates the first TCI state corresponding to the first TRP in the first list of activated TCI states. After the application time, the UE applies this new TCI state to receive downlink signals from the first TRP and send uplink signals to the first TRP. The second MAC control unit activates several TCI states corresponding to the second TRP. In the second time unit, the UE receives the second DCI. If the TCI field in the second DCI is "010", it indicates the third TCI state corresponding to the second TRP in the second list of activated TCI states. After the application time, the UE applies this new TCI state to receive downlink signals from the second TRP and send uplink signals to the second TRP. Furthermore, the first and second time units can be odd and even time slots, respectively.

[0058] In some examples, a DCI simultaneously indicates a TCI state corresponding to one TRP from one list of active TCI states, and a TCI state corresponding to another TRP from another list of active TCI states. An example of this mechanism is... Figure 7As shown. The first MAC control unit activates several TCI states corresponding to the first TRP. The second MAC control unit activates several TCI states corresponding to the second TRP. At the first time point, the UE receives the first DCI. If the TCI field in the first DCI is "010", it indicates the third TCI state corresponding to the first TRP in the first activated TCI state list, and the third TCI state corresponding to the second TRP in the second activated TCI state list. After the application time, the UE applies these two new TCI states to receive downlink signals from the first TRP and the second TRP, and to send uplink signals to the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0059] In some examples, the TCI field in the DCI is expanded to 4 bits. The added bit is used to indicate the TRP. This approach is more flexible and explicit. An example of this mechanism is as follows: Figure 8 As shown. The first MAC control unit (CE) activates several TCI states corresponding to the first TRP. At the first time point, the UE receives the first DCI. If the TCI field in the first DCI is "0001", it indicates the first TCI state corresponding to the first TRP in the list of first activated TCI states. After the application time, the UE applies this new TCI state to receive downlink signals from the first TRP and send uplink signals to the first TRP. The second MAC control unit activates several TCI states corresponding to the second TRP. At the second time point, the UE receives the second DCI. If the TCI field in the second DCI is "1010", it indicates the third TCI state corresponding to the second TRP in the list of second activated TCI states. After the application time, the UE applies this new TCI state to receive downlink signals from the second TRP and send uplink signals to the second TRP.

[0060] In some examples, the TCI field in the DCI is expanded to 6 bits. The first 3 bits indicate the TCI state from one list of active TCI states corresponding to one TRP, and the last 3 bits indicate the TCI state from another list of active TCI states corresponding to another TRP. An example of this mechanism is as follows: Figure 9As shown. The first MAC control unit activates several TCI states corresponding to the first TRP. The second MAC control unit activates several TCI states corresponding to the second TRP. At the first time point, the UE receives the first DCI. If the TCI field in the first DCI is "001010", it indicates the first TCI state corresponding to the first TRP in the first activated TCI state list, and the third TCI state corresponding to the second TRP in the second activated TCI state list. After the application time, the UE applies these two new TCI states to receive downlink signals from the first TRP and the second TRP, and to send uplink signals to the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0061] Specifications and / or discussion related to Example 3:

[0062] In the current specification, each UL channel is configured with a channel-specific list of spatial relationships, and each UL channel has a channel-specific MAC control unit (CE) to select which spatial relationship to apply. Specifically, the PUCCH spatial relationship list is configured in the higher-layer parameter PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo, and the (enhanced) PUCCH spatial relationship activation / deactivation MAC control unit selects the spatial relationship to apply. For multi-TRP operations without a unified TCI framework, a spatial relationship is associated with a TRP, so the UE can know which TRP to send the PUCCH to based on the applied spatial relationship.

[0063] In Rel-18 WID, a unified TCI framework was introduced for multi-TRP operations. For multi-TRP operations with a unified TCI framework, the TCI status and indicative MAC control unit are not channel-specific. Typically, two TCI statuses corresponding to two TRPs are applied to UL transmissions. The UE cannot determine which TRP to send the PUCCH to based on the applied TCI status. Therefore, mechanisms are needed to indicate which TRP the PUCCH is sent to. It should be noted that these mechanisms can also be applied to other UL signals, such as PUSCH and SRS.

[0064] Examples related to Example 3:

[0065] In some examples, adding a 1-bit TRP indicator to the PUCCH in the DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_1, DCI format 1_2) can be used to indicate the association between the PUCCH resource and the TRP. The TRP indicator can be an explicit TRP index or other indexes associated with the TRP, such as an index of the CORESET pool, an SRS resource set index, or a CSI-RS resource set index. When the UE receives the PUCCH TRP indicator in the DCI, the UE sends the PUCCH indicated by the PUCCH resource indicator field of the DCI using the TCI state corresponding to the TRP. For example, when the PUCCH TRP indicator and the PUCCH resource indicator field in DCI format 1_1 are "0" and "000" respectively, the UE sends the first PUCCH using the TCI state corresponding to the first TRP.

[0066] In some examples, adding a 1-bit TRP indicator RRC signaling to the higher-layer parameters PUCCH-Resource or PUCCH-ResourceSet can be used to indicate the association between a PUCCH resource or PUCCH resource set and a TRP. The TRP indicator can be an explicit TRP index, a CORESET pool index, an SRS resource set index, or a CSI-RS resource set index. When the UE receives the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI, the UE sends the indicated PUCCH using the TCI state corresponding to the TRP, based on the TRP indicator RRC signaling in PUCCH-Resource or PUCCH-ResourceSet. For example, when the TRP indicator RRC signaling in the PUCCH resource is configured to "0" and the PUCCH resource indicator field in DCI format 1_1 is "000", the UE sends the first PUCCH using the TCI state corresponding to the first TRP.

[0067] In some examples, a PUCCH resource or a set of PUCCH resources can be implicitly associated with different TRPs. A PUCCH resource or a set of PUCCH resources can be divided into two parts, with different parts corresponding to different TRPs. Figure 10 Two classification methods are demonstrated. For example, when the PUCCH resource indication field in DCI format 1_1 is “000”, the UE sends the first PUCCH using the TCI state corresponding to the first TRP. When the PUCCH resource indication field in DCI format 1_1 is “011”, the UE sends the fourth PUCCH using the TCI state corresponding to the second TRP.

[0068] Specifications and / or discussion related to Example 4:

[0069] In the current specification, for a single TRP operation with a unified TCI framework, the switching between the unified TCI state and the independent TCI state is not dynamic, but is configured through the high-level parameter unifiedtci-StateType.

[0070] Examples related to Example 4:

[0071] In some examples, for multi-transmitter-receiver (multi-TRP) operations, it is proposed to extend the higher-layer parameters to be TRP-specific. For example, the higher-layer parameter unifiedtci-StateType-TRP1 indicates whether the first TRP is in a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state, while the higher-layer parameter unifiedtci-StateType-TRP2 indicates whether the second TRP is in a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state.

[0072] In some examples, for multi-TRP operations, a MAC control unit (CE) is proposed to support dynamic switching between joint TCI states and independent TCI states. For instance, the MAC CE uses 2 bits, where the first bit indicates whether the TCI state corresponding to the first TRP is joint or independent, and the second bit indicates whether the TCI state corresponding to the second TRP is joint or independent. This MAC CE can also be merged into another MAC CE, such as a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE.

[0073] In summary, some embodiments of this application provide solutions for activating and indicating TCI states in multi-TRP operations with a unified TCI framework. Two joint / DL or UL TCI state lists are established in the RRC signaling. Different joint / DL or UL TCI state lists correspond to different TRPs. Several methods are proposed for activating TCI states from the TCI state lists corresponding to different TRPs. Several methods are proposed for indicating TCI states from activated TCI state lists corresponding to different TRPs. Several methods are proposed for indicating which TRP the PUCCH is sent to. The advantages of some embodiments include at least one of the following: 1. Establishing two joint / DL or UL TCI state lists corresponding to different TRPs in the RRC signaling. 2. Proposing several methods for activating TCI states from the TCI state lists corresponding to different TRPs. 3. Proposing several methods for indicating TCI states from activated TCI state lists corresponding to different TRPs. 4. Proposing several methods for indicating which TRP the PUCCH is sent to.

[0074] Figure 11 This is a block diagram of a wireless communication example system 700 according to an embodiment of this application. The embodiments described herein can be implemented into the system using any appropriately configured hardware and / or software. Figure 11 System 700 is shown, comprising radio frequency (RF) circuitry 710, baseband circuitry 720, application circuitry 730, memory / storage device 740, display 750, camera 760, sensor 770, and input / output (I / O) interface 780, which are coupled to each other at least as shown. Application circuitry 730 may include circuitry, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may include any combination of general-purpose and special-purpose processors, such as a graphics processor or application processor. The processor may be coupled to the memory / storage device and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications and / or operating systems to run on the system.

[0075] Although the contents of this application have been described in conjunction with what are considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the contents of this application are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but are intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for multiple transmit receiver point (TRP) operation, executed by user equipment (UE), characterized in that, include: Configured to receive first signaling from the network, wherein the first signaling is used for multiple TRP operations; and Receive a second signaling from the network, wherein the second signaling is used for multiple TRP operations; The first signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, and the second signaling includes Media Access Control (MAC) Controller (CE), Downlink Control Information (DCI), and / or higher-layer parameters. The first signaling includes different joint / downlink or uplink transmission configuration indication (TCI) status lists corresponding to different TRPs, and different joint / independent TCI status indications corresponding to different TRPs. The second signaling activates and / or indicates TCI statuses corresponding to different TRPs, and supports switching between joint TCI statuses and independent TCI statuses. The N field in the MAC CE is used to indicate whether the TCI status identifier field activates one or two TCI statuses. If the number of TCI statuses indicated by the TCI status identifier field is one, it indicates the association between the TCI status and the TRP. The T field in the MAC CE is used to indicate the TRP index.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The MAC CE includes a traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, which is associated with different time units, and the activation of the traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE corresponds to the TCI state of the different TRPs.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, In odd-numbered time units, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state identifier ID field in the conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE comes from the first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the first TRP, and / or in even-numbered time units, the TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID field comes from the second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the second TRP.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The MAC CE includes a first traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE and a second traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE transmitted simultaneously in the same time unit.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID field in the first conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE comes from the first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the first TRP, and / or the TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID field in the second conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE comes from the second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to the second TRP.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, In at least one of the conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, the first conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, and the second conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, the first field in the R field is used to indicate the association between a TCI state indicated by a TCI state ID field and a TRP.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, If the first field in the R field indicates a first value, then the TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID field comes from a first joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to a first TRP, and / or if the first field in the R field indicates a second value, then the TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID field comes from a second joint / DL or UL TCI state list corresponding to a second TRP.

8. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, In at least one of the conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, the first conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, and the second conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, a TCI state ID field is used to activate up to two TCI states corresponding to different TRPs.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, In at least one of the conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, the first conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, and the second conventional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, the second field in the R field is used to indicate that a TCI state ID field activates one or two TCI states.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, If the number of TCI states indicated by the TCI state ID field is one, then the association between the TCI state and the TRP is indicated by the first field in the R field.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first field in the R field is also used to indicate the TRP index.

12. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, In at least one of the traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, the first traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, and the second traditional unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE, all TCI state ID fields share the first and second fields in the R field, or each TCI state ID field has the first and second fields in the R field.

13. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The DCI includes a first DCI and a second DCI, wherein the first DCI indicates a TCI state from an activated TCI state list corresponding to one TRP, and the second DCI indicates a TCI state from an activated TCI state list corresponding to another TRP.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first DCI and the second DCI are located in different time units.

15. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The DCI simultaneously indicates the TCI state from the list of activated TCI states corresponding to one TRP and the TCI state from the list of activated TCI states corresponding to another TRP.

16. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The TCI field in the DCI is expanded, and the expanded bits are used to indicate different TRPs.

17. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The N field in the MAC CE is used to indicate the number of active TCI states.

18. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, One of the TCI fields in the DCI is extended to 6 bits, where the first 3 bits are used to indicate the TCI state from the list of activated TCI states corresponding to one TRP, and the last 3 bits are used to indicate the TCI state from the list of activated TCI states corresponding to another TRP.

19. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The DCI includes a DL DCI, in which a 1-bit TRP indicator is added to the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) field to indicate the association between a PUCCH resource and a TRP.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, When the UE receives the TRP indicator of the PUCCH field in the DL DCI, the UE sends the PUCCH using a TCI state corresponding to the TRP.

21. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The higher-layer parameters include PUCCH-Resource or PUCCH-ResourceSet, with a 1-bit TRP indicator RRC signaling added to the higher-layer parameters to indicate the association between a PUCCH resource or PUCCH resource set and a TRP.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, When the UE receives a PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI, the UE sends a PUCCH with the indication using the TCI state corresponding to the TRP, according to the TRP indicator RRC signaling in the higher layer parameters.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The PUCCH resource or the set of PUCCH resources is associated with different TRPs, and / or the PUCCH resource or the set of PUCCH resources is divided into different parts, the different parts corresponding to the different TRPs.

24. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The high-level parameters are extended to be TRP-specific.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that, The higher-level parameters include unifiedtci-StateType-TRP1 and unifiedtci-StateType-TRP2. unifiedtci-StateType-TRP1 indicates that the first TRP is the joint TCI state or the independent TCI state, and unifiedtci-StateType-TRP2 indicates that the second TRP is the joint TCI state or the independent TCI state.

26. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, For multiple TRP operations, the MAC CE is used to support dynamic switching between the joint TCI state and the independent TCI state.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, The MAC CE has 2 bits, wherein the first bit of the 2 bits indicates whether the TCI state corresponding to the first TRP is joint or independent, and the second bit indicates whether the TCI state corresponding to the second TRP is joint or independent.

28. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, The MAC CE is further merged into another MAC CE, which is a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE.

29. A method for multiple transmit-receive point (TRP) operation, performed by a network device, characterized in that, include: Configure first signaling to user equipment (UE), wherein the first signaling is used for multiple TRP operations; and Transmit a second signaling message to the UE, wherein the second signaling message is used for multiple TRP operations; The first signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, and the second signaling includes Media Access Control (MAC) Controller (CE), Downlink Control Information (DCI), and / or higher-layer parameters. The first signaling includes different joint / downlink or uplink transmission configuration indication (TCI) status lists corresponding to different TRPs, and different joint / independent TCI status indications corresponding to different TRPs. The second signaling activates and / or indicates TCI statuses corresponding to different TRPs, and supports switching between joint TCI statuses and independent TCI statuses. The N field in the MAC CE is used to indicate whether the TCI status identifier field activates one or two TCI statuses. If the number of TCI statuses indicated by the TCI status identifier field is one, it indicates the association between the TCI status and the TRP. The T field in the MAC CE is used to indicate the TRP index.

30. A user equipment, characterized in that, include: Memory; transceiver; A processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver; The processor is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

31. A network device, characterized in that, include: Memory; transceiver; A processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver; The processor is configured to perform the method of claim 29.

32. A non-transient machine-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer stores instructions that, when executed, enable the computer to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 29.

33. A chip, characterized in that, include: The processor is configured to invoke and run a computer program stored in memory to cause a device on which the chip is mounted to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 29.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer program is stored, which causes the computer to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 29.

35. A computer program product, characterized in that, Includes a computer program, wherein the computer program causes the computer to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 29.

Images