Mapping unified transmit state for multipoint control channel reception using rules

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a technique for performing multiple transmission and reception point operations in a wireless communication system. One or more rules may be used, for example, to indicate a transmit control indication status for future monitoring of a control channel. The indicated state may be used to provide and receive control information for performing multiple transmit and receive point operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to a system, apparatus and method for communication using a unified transmission control state for multi-transmission reception point operation in a wireless communication system.

[0002] Related technical description

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using a global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these capabilities. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, and the like. TM wait.

[0004] The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functionalities in wireless communication devices has also created a continuing need for improved wireless communications and improved wireless communication devices. In particular, it is important to ensure the accuracy of signals transmitted and received by user equipment (UE) devices (e.g., by wireless devices such as cellular phones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications). In addition, increasing the functionality of UE devices may put a great strain on the battery life of UE devices. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce the power requirements in UE device design while allowing the UE device to maintain good transmission and reception capabilities to improve communications. Therefore, improvements are desired in this area. Summary of the invention

[0005] Embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method for communicating with multiple transmit and receive points using a unified transmit control state in a wireless communication system are presented herein.

[0006] According to one set of embodiments, a method at a cellular network may include: establishing communications with a user equipment (UE) via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs), and sending to the UE an indication of a plurality of transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs. The method may also include selecting a TCI state from the plurality of TCI states for a control channel message from the cellular network to the UE via the plurality of TRPs according to a first rule, and sending a first control channel message to the UE via at least one of the plurality of TRPs using the selected TCI state. The method may also include exchanging data with the UE according to the first control channel message.

[0007] A set of embodiments may include a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include establishing communications with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs), and receiving from the cellular network an indication of a plurality of transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs. The method may also include selecting a TCI state from a plurality of TCI states according to a first rule for monitoring a control channel message from the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs, and monitoring the control channel message using the selected TCI state. The method may also include receiving a first control channel message from the cellular network via at least one of the plurality of TRPs using the selected TCI state, and exchanging data with the cellular network according to the first control channel message.

[0008] One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include establishing communications with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs), and receiving from the cellular network an indication of a rule for selecting a TCI state from a common plurality of transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs. The method may also include receiving from the cellular network an indication of a plurality of activated unified TCI states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs, and selecting a TCI state for control channel monitoring from the activated plurality of TCI states based on the rule. The method may also include monitoring a control channel using the selected TCI state; receiving a control channel message from at least one of the plurality of TRPs and using the selected TCI state; and exchanging data with the cellular network based on the control channel message.

[0009] It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0010] This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topics described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the topics described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings.

[0012] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system is illustrated in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 2 An exemplary base station in communication with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device is illustrated in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0015] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 5 is a communication flow chart illustrating various aspects of an exemplary possible method for communicating for multi-TRP operations using a unified transmit control state in a wireless communication system according to some embodiments.

[0017] Figures 6 to 19 Exemplary aspects of various possible communication methods for performing multi-TRP operations in a wireless communication system using a unified transmit control state according to some embodiments are illustrated.

[0018] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to be limited to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Acronyms

[0020] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. Definitions of the most commonly used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are provided below:

[0021] UE: User Equipment

[0022] RF: Radio Frequency

[0023] BS: Base Station

[0024] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0025] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0026] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0027] NR: New Radio

[0028] TX: Send

[0029] RX: Receive

[0030] RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0031] PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0032] TRP: Transmit Receive Point

[0033] TCI: Transmit Control Indicator

[0034] QCL: Quasi-Co-location

[0035] DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0036] CSI: Channel State Information

[0037] CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

[0038] the term

[0039] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in this disclosure:

[0040] Storage media—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, for example, CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media, which may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0041] Carrier medium —Memory media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that convey signals (such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or digital signals).

[0042] Computer system (or computer) —Any of various types of computing systems or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0043] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE Device") —Any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone TM , based on Android TM phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad TM 、Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhoneTM ), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunication device (or a combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0044] Wireless Devices —Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0045] Communications equipment —Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communications, where the communications may be wired or wireless. A communications device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A wireless device is an example of a communications device. A UE is another example of a communications device.

[0046] Base Station (BS) - The term "base station" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0047] Processing element (or processor) —refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing functions in a device (e.g., a user equipment device or a cellular network device). Processing elements may include, for example: a processor and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above combinations.

[0048] Wi-Fi —The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provides connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0049] Automatically—refers to the performance of an action or operation by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the need for the action or operation to be directly specified or performed by a user input. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to the performance or specification of an operation manually by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing in information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to user actions. The form may be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user may invoke the automatic filling out of a form, but not participate in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that a user has taken.

[0050] Configured as —Various components may be described as being “configured to” perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad statement that generally means “having a structure” that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a collection of electrical conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad statement that generally means “having a circuit” that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Typically, circuits that form a structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.

[0051] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". The description of a component being configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke the interpretation of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph (s) for that component.

[0052] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary Communication System

[0053] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system that can implement various aspects of the present disclosure according to some embodiments is illustrated. Note that Figure 1The system is only one example of a possible system, and the embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0054] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102, which communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user equipment 106A, 106B, etc. to 106N through a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device in this document. Therefore, the user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or a UE device.

[0055] The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site, and may include hardware and / or software that implements wireless communication with UEs 106A to 106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, as well as various possible networks). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and / or between user devices and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, sometimes a base station may be considered to represent a network in consideration of the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Therefore, a UE communicating with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood as a UE communicating with a network.

[0056] The base station 102 and the user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0057] Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cell networks that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0058] Note that UE 106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standard or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to perform techniques for communicating using a unified TCI state for multiple TRP operations in a wireless communication system, such as according to the various methods described herein. UE 106 may also be configured or may alternatively be configured to use WLAN, Bluetooth, or the like. TM , one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0059] Figure 2 An exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with a base station 102 according to some embodiments is illustrated. UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or tablet computer, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an unmanned flight controller (UAC), a car, or almost any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 may perform any method implementation in the method implementation scheme described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any method implementation in the method implementation scheme described herein or any part of any method implementation in the method implementation scheme described herein. UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0060] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and / or a transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio component may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas (e.g., for a multiple-input, multiple-output or "MIMO" antenna system) for performing wireless communications. Typically, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, an analog RF signal processing circuit (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or a digital processing circuit (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and / or a transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0061] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to use the antennas to send and / or receive directional wireless signals (e.g., beams). Similarly, BS 102 may also include any number of antennas and may be configured to use the antennas to send and / or receive directional wireless signals (e.g., beams). In order to receive and / or send such directional signals, the antennas of UE 106 and / or BS 102 may be configured to apply different "weights" to different antennas. The process of applying these different weights may be referred to as "precoding".

[0062] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include shared radio components for communicating using any of LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and shared radio components for communicating using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. TM Each of the independent radio components for communication. Other configurations are also possible.

[0063] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include multiple user identity modules (SIMs, sometimes referred to as SIM cards). In other words, UE 106 may be a multi-SIM (MUSIM) device, such as a dual SIM device. Any of the various SIMs may be a physical SIM (e.g., a SIM card) or an embedded (e.g., a virtual) SIM. Any combination of physical and / or virtual SIMs may be included. Each SIM may provide a user with various services (e.g., packet switching services and / or circuit switching services). In some embodiments, UE 106 may share a common receive (Rx) chain and / or transmit (Tx) chain for multiple SIMs (e.g., UE 106 may have a dual SIM dual standby architecture). Other architectures are possible. For example, UE 106 may be a dual SIM dual active architecture, may include separate Tx chains and / or Rx chains for various SIMs, may include more than two SIMs, etc.

[0064] Different identities (e.g., different SIMs) may have different identifiers, such as different UE identities (UE IDs). For example, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) may be an identity associated with a SIM (e.g., in a MUSIM device, each SIM may have its own IMSI). An IMSI may be unique. Similarly, each SIM may have its own unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). Thus, IMSI and / or IMEI may be examples of possible UE IDs, however other identifiers may be used as UE IDs.

[0065] Different identities may have the same or different relationships with various public land mobile networks (PLMNs). For example, a first identity may have a first home PLMN, while a second identity may have a different home PLMN. In such cases, one identity may be pre-occupied on the home network (e.g., on a cell provided by BS102), while another identity may be roaming (e.g., also pre-occupied on the same cell provided by BS102 or pre-occupied on a different cell provided by the same or different BS102). In other cases, multiple identities may be simultaneously home (e.g., on the same or different cells of the same or different networks) or may be roaming at the same time (e.g., on the same or different cells of the same or different networks). It should be understood that multiple combinations are possible. For example, two SIM subscriptions on a MUSIM device may belong to the same peer / carrier (e.g., AT&T / AT&T or CMCC / CMCC). As another exemplary possibility, SIM-A may be roaming into SIM-B's network (SIM-A CMCC user roams to AT&T, and SIM-B is also AT&T).

[0066] Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0067] Figure 3 A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 according to some embodiments is illustrated. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that can execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that can perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370, which may include a component for sensing or measuring any of various possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit that is configured to detect the motion of the UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of various other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuit 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, which are used, for example, to measure the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of the UE 106. Any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuits may also or alternatively be included in the UE 106, as desired. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as display circuit 304, radio 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0068] As shown, SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of UE 106. For example, UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, Bluetooth TM, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include or be coupled to at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and may include multiple antennas (e.g., illustrated by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communications with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use antenna 335 with the aid of radio circuitry 330 to perform wireless communications. The communication circuit may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0069] UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing methods for UE 106 to perform techniques such as those further described herein for communicating using unified TCI states for multi-TRP operation in a wireless communication system. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, for example by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition, the processor 302 may be coupled to a processor such as a processor 106 and a processor 106a. Figure 3 The other components shown and / or can interoperate with the other components to perform techniques for communication of multiple TRP operations using a unified TCI state in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 can also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

[0070] In some embodiments, radio 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for each corresponding RAT standard. Figure 3 As shown, the radio component 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a Bluetooth controller. TM Controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (referred to as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with SOC 300 (and more specifically, with processor 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or Bluetooth controller 355 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface.TM The controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are illustrated within the radio 330, other embodiments may be implemented in the UE device 106 having fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs.

[0071] Additionally, embodiments are contemplated in which the controller may implement functionality associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications, the cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and / or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

[0072] Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0073] Figure 4 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 4 The base station of is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0074] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106 to the telephone network described in the foregoing. The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0075] In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB". In such embodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transmit and receive points (TRPs). Furthermore, a UE capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0076] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio component 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio component 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio component 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, 5G NR SAT, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0077] Base station 102 may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards. In some examples, base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio component for performing communications according to LTE and a 5G NR radio component for performing communications according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5GNR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multimode radio component that can perform communications according to any one of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, 5G NR SAT and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0078] As further described later herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting a specific implementation of the features described herein. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support a specific implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, for example, it may include at least one Ethernet port, and the radio component 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0079] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 404 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 404. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 404.

[0080] Additionally, as described herein, radio 430 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio 430. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio 430.

[0081] Reference signal

[0082] A wireless device (such as a user equipment) may be configured to perform various tasks including using reference signals (RS) provided by one or more cellular base stations. For example, initial access and beam measurements of the wireless device may be performed based at least in part on synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) provided by one or more cells provided by one or more cellular base stations within the communication range of the wireless device. Another type of reference signal commonly provided in a cellular communication system may include a channel state information (CSI) RS. Various types of CSI-RS may be provided for tracking (e.g., for time and frequency offset tracking), beam management (e.g., CSI-RS configured with repetitions to help determine one or more beams for uplink and / or downlink communications), and / or channel measurement (e.g., CSI-RS configured in a resource set for measuring the quality of a downlink channel and reporting information related to the quality measurement to a base station), as well as various possibilities. For example, in the case where the CSI-RS is used for CSI acquisition, the UE may periodically perform channel measurements and transmit channel state information (CSI) to the BS. The base station may then receive and use the channel state information during communication with the wireless device to determine adjustments to various parameters. In particular, the BS may use the received channel state information to adjust the coding of its downlink transmissions to improve downlink channel quality.

[0083] In many cellular communication systems, a base station may periodically transmit some or all such reference signals (or pilot signals), such as SSB and / or CSI-RS. In some cases, aperiodic reference signals (e.g., aperiodic reference signals for aperiodic CSI reporting) may also or alternatively be provided.

[0084] As a detailed example, at least according to some embodiments, in the 3GPP NR cellular communication standard, the channel state information fed back from the UE based on the CSI-RS for CSI acquisition may include one or more of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), a SSBRI (SS / PBCH resource block indicator, and a layer indicator (LI).

[0085] Channel quality information may be provided to the base station for link adaptation, for example, to provide guidance on which modulation and coding scheme (MCS) the base station should use when sending data. For example, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be high, the UE may feedback a high CQI value, which may cause the base station to send data using a relatively high modulation order and / or a low channel coding rate. For another example, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be low, the UE may feedback a low CQI value, which may cause the base station to send data using a relatively low modulation order and / or a high channel coding rate.

[0086] The PMI feedback may include preferred precoding matrix information and may be provided to the base station to indicate which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should use. In other words, the UE may measure the quality of the downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on the pilot signal received on the channel, and may recommend which MIMO precoding the desired base station applies through PMI feedback. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is represented in matrix form, which provides linear MIMO precoding. The base station and the UE may share a codebook consisting of multiple precoding matrices, wherein each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook may have a unique index. Therefore, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI may include an index (or possibly multiple indexes) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix (or multiple matrices) in the codebook. This may enable the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Therefore, at least according to some embodiments, the PMI may indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

[0087] For example, when the base station and UE have multiple antennas, the rank indicator information (RI feedback) may indicate the number of transmission layers that the UE determines can be supported by the channel, which can achieve multi-layer transmission through spatial multiplexing. RI and PMI together may allow the base station to know which precoding needs to be applied to which layer, for example, depending on the number of transmission layers.

[0088] In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined based on the number of transmission layers. In other words, for R layer transmission, N N codebooks can be defined. t ×R matrix (for example, where R represents the number of layers, N t denotes the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N denotes the size of the codebook). In such a scenario, the number of transmission layers (R) may conform to the rank value of the precoding matrix (N t ×R matrix), and thus R in this context may be referred to as a “rank indicator (RI)”.

[0089] Thus, the channel state information may include an assigned rank (e.g., a rank indicator or RI). For example, a MIMO-enabled UE communicating with a BS may include four receiver chains, e.g., may include four antennas. The BS may also include four or more antennas to implement MIMO communication (e.g., 4×4 MIMO). Thus, the UE is able to simultaneously receive up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS. Layer-to-antenna mapping may be applied, e.g., each layer may be mapped to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port may transmit and / or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include multiple bits and may indicate the number of signals that the BS may transmit to the UE in an upcoming time period (e.g., during an upcoming transmit time interval or TTI). For example, an indication of rank 4 may indicate that the BS will transmit 4 signals to the UE. As one possibility, the length of the RI may be two bits (e.g., because two bits are sufficient to distinguish 4 different rank values). Note that other numbers and / or configurations of antennas (e.g., at either or both of the UE or BS) and / or other numbers of data layers are also possible according to various embodiments.

[0090] Figure 5 - Mapping of TCI states for multi-TRP operation

[0091] In accordance with some cellular communication technologies, a UE may communicate with multiple transmit receive points (TRPs), including potentially simultaneously. Such communications may be scheduled using downlink control information (DCI), which may be provided using control signaling such as on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), which may be sent in one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) and / or search space sets (SSSs). DCI may be provided in a single DCI (sDCI) mode, in which a single DCI communication (e.g., from only one TRP) may be used to schedule communications between multiple TRPs (mTRPs) and a wireless device / UE, or in a multi-DCI mode, in which each of the multiple TRPs may provide DCI communications that schedule their own communications with the wireless device.

[0092] Communications scheduled in such a multi-TRP scenario may include data communications (e.g., which may be transmitted using a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and / or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and / or aperiodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmissions, as well as various possibilities. In addition, aperiodic CSI-RS transmissions may include CSI-RS configured for multiple possible purposes (such as for beam management, tracking, or CSI acquisition).

[0093] Transmissions to / from the UE to a TRP may be directed based on a Transmit Control Indication (TCI) state. For example, a TCI state may correspond to an uplink and / or downlink beam. A UE may be configured to use one or more TCI states simultaneously. A few years after the initial deployment of NR, it became clear that the TCI state framework in Rel-15 may be considered overly flexible, which may result in significant signaling overhead. A unified TCI framework was introduced in Rel-17, which may facilitate simplified multi-beam operation, for example, for frequency range (FR) 2. According to the unified TCI framework, one TCI indication may be applied to multiple channels (for example, PDSCH, PUSCH, PDCCH, and PUCCH may all be mapped to a single common TCI state). Therefore, the UE may always know to use a common TCI state to receive DCI, for example, on a PDCCH. Since Rel-17 may focus on a single TRP (sTRP) use case, for example, for Rel-18, an extension of the unified TCI framework focusing on multiple TRP use cases may be beneficial. For example, one objective may be to enhance the unified TCI architecture by extending the unified TCI architecture for multi-TRP (mTRP) use cases (e.g., by specifying extensions to the Rel-17 unified TCI architecture for indication of multiple downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) TCI states focused on multi-TRP use cases).

[0094] In the case of mTRP operation with unified TCI states, the UE may be provided with up to two pairs of unified TCI states for two TRPs (e.g., or potentially more pairs for more TRPs). It should be understood that the TCI states may be DL-only, UL-only, or joint (e.g., usable for both DL and UL). In the context of unified indication of TCI states, any TCI state may be associated with one or more channels. For example, some potential pairs may be as follows:

[0095] Unified TCI state pair #1 may consist of <one DL TCI state X1, one UL TCI state X2> for TRP#1.

[0096] Unified TCI state pair #2 may consist of <one DL TCI state Y1, one UL TCI state Y2> for TRP #2.

[0097] Note that these are examples and other pairs may be used as desired. In addition, it should be understood that some TRPs may be associated with only a single TCI state. In such cases, the TCI state may be joint, UL, or DL. Thus, for example, in at least some cases, some TRPs may be used for only one direction.

[0098] One potential issue to be addressed by extending the unified TCI architecture to mTRP is how to associate multiple unified TCI states (e.g., two DL TCI states) for control channel (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring and reception. In other words, if the UE is configured with the two example TCI state pairs described above, the UE may not have sufficient information to determine whether to use TCI state X1 or Y1 to receive the PDCCH (e.g., DCI). In addition, since the PDCCH / DCI may not be scheduled (e.g., scheduled by a previous PDCCH / DCI), it may be beneficial for the UE to know which of the active TCI states (e.g., including multiple DL and / or joint TCI states) will be used (e.g., by the network) to provide the PDCCH / DCI.

[0099] Therefore, it may be beneficial to specify techniques for selecting a TCI state for monitoring and receiving control channels (e.g., PDCCH and / or DCI) in a multi-TRP scenario (e.g., with multiple activated TCI states available for downlink communications). In some cases, a single DCI (sDCI) may be used to provide control information for multiple TRPs (mTRPs). To illustrate a set of such possible techniques, Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing TCI state mapping and selection for multi-TRP operations in a wireless communication system according to at least some embodiments. Figure 5 Aspects of the method may allow a UE and a network to each determine the same TCI state for DCI and / or PDCCH purposes, for example, so that the UE can monitor and receive control channels, DCI and / or PDCCH without monitoring additional TCI states for control channels that will not be used by the network for that purpose. Among the various possibilities, Figure 5 The method may be useful in sDCI mTRP scenarios.

[0100] Figure 5 Various aspects of the method may be implemented by a wireless device, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations and / or TRPs (such as UE 106 and BS 102 shown and described with respect to various figures herein), or more generally, as desired, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements or components, etc. shown in the above figures. For example, a processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0101] It is noted that although the present invention is described in a manner involving the use of communication techniques and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents, Figure 5However, this description is not intended to limit the present disclosure and may be used in any suitable wireless communication system as required. Figure 5 In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in an order different from that shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0102] According to some embodiments, the wireless device may establish a wireless link with a cellular network (502). According to some embodiments, the wireless link may include a cellular link according to 5G NR. For example, the UE may establish a session with the AMF entity of the cellular network through one or more base stations (e.g., TRP and / or gNB) that provide radio access to the cellular network. As another possibility, the wireless link may include a cellular link according to LTE. According to various embodiments, other types of cellular links are also possible, and the cellular network may also or alternatively operate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.).

[0103] Establishing a wireless link may include establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a serving cellular base station, at least according to some embodiments. Establishing an RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the UE and the cellular base station, establishing environmental information for the UE, and / or any of a variety of other possible features, for example, involving establishing an air interface of the UE for cellular communication with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing the RRC connection, the UE may operate in an RRC connected state. In some cases, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a certain period of inactivity relative to data communications), in which case the UE may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some cases, for example, due to UE mobility, changes in wireless medium conditions, and / or any of a variety of other possible reasons, the UE may perform a handover (e.g., when in an RRC connected mode) or a cell reselection (e.g., when in an RRC idle mode or an RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell.

[0104] According to at least some embodiments, a UE may establish multiple wireless links, for example, with multiple TRPs of a cellular network, based on a multi-TRP configuration. In such a scenario, the UE may be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling) with one or more TCIs, for example, which may correspond to various beams that may be used to communicate with the TRPs. In addition, it may be the case that one or more configured TCI states may be activated for the UE at a particular time (e.g., via RRC, medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs), and / or DCI signaling). For example, multiple TCI states may be activated.

[0105] According to some embodiments, the radio link may be associated with a corresponding control resource set (CORESET) and / or search space set (SSS). For example, in various possibilities, the first TCI state may be associated with the first CORESET and / or SSS.

[0106] At least in some cases, establishing the wireless link may include the UE providing capability information of the UE. Such capability information may include information related to any of a variety of types of UE capabilities.

[0107] At least in some cases, establishing a wireless link may include the UE exchanging configuration information with the network. Among various possibilities, the configuration information may include information related to the selection of a TCI state (from a plurality of active TCI states) for the UE to use to monitor / receive a control channel (e.g., PDCCH and / or DCI). For example, the network may provide the UE with one or more rules for use to select such a TCI state. In some embodiments, such one or more rules may be pre-configured at the UE and at the network (e.g., included in a wireless standard implemented by the UE), and therefore may not be indicated as part of establishing a link.

[0108] As another possibility, the configuration information may include an indication of one or more CORESETs and / or SSSs for the UE. For example, the UE may be configured to use any number of CORESETs and / or any number of SSSs. It should be understood that the various CORESETs and / or SSSs may be configured differently. For example, different CORESETs and / or SSSs may be associated with different rules for selecting a TCI state for monitoring a control channel. Similarly, different CORESETs and / or SSSs may be configured to select a TCI state for monitoring a control channel (e.g., PDCCH) using different methods (e.g., different of the various methods discussed further below).

[0109] As another possibility, the configuration information may include an indication of a division of multiple SSSs and / or CORESETs into two or more pools. For example, the network may indicate that a group of SSSs is to be considered a first pool and a second group of SSSs is to be considered a second pool. Similarly, the network may indicate that a group of CORESETs is to be considered a first pool and a second group of CORESETs is to be considered a second pool. In other words, multiple SSSs (or CORESETs) may be grouped / divided into multiple pools of SSSs (or CORESETs).

[0110] Among various possibilities, the configuration information may be exchanged via RRC.

[0111] According to some embodiments, the network may select (e.g., activate) multiple TCI states for the UE (503). For example, the TCI state may be selected based on the current location of the UE, the movement of the UE, channel conditions, and / or other factors. In some cases, the TCI state group may include two or more unified TCI state pairs, for example corresponding to one, two, or even more TRPs. It is worth noting that in at least some cases, the multiple active TCI states may include more than one TCI state that can be used for DL ​​communication. In other words, the two or more active TCI states may be DL-only and / or joint DL and UL.

[0112] According to some implementations, the network may indicate multiple active TCI states to the UE (504). For example, the network may send a (eg, unified) indication (or indications) of a set of TCI states to the UE.

[0113] The network may indicate multiple active TCI states to the UE using any type (or combination of types) of signaling. For example, the network may use RRC, MAC and / or DCI signaling / messages to activate TCI states. The indication may be sent as a single message or a combination of multiple messages.

[0114] The UE may receive an indication of an active TCI state. The UE may or may not respond to, acknowledge, or otherwise send information about the activation to the network. As one possibility, the UE may send one or more suggested TCI states and / or information about TCI states.

[0115] Figure 6An example according to some embodiments is illustrated, in which UE 106 is configured to have TCI state 0 from TRP#1 and TCI state 3 from TRP#2. Each of these TCI states may be capable of being used for DL ​​communication. When UE 106 moves from coverage area 602 of TRP#1 to coverage area 604 of TRP#2, the active TCI state may be updated. For example, when UE 106 moves completely into 604 (and is no longer in 602), the TCI state associated with TRP#1 may be deactivated, and one or more TCI states associated with TRP#2 (e.g., which may be different from TCI state 3) may be activated.

[0116] According to some embodiments, the network may select a TCI state for sending a control channel message to the UE (505). The selected TCI state may be one of a plurality of active states. The selected TCI state may be a DL or joint TCI state.

[0117] According to some embodiments, the UE may select a TCI state for monitoring and reception of the control channel (506). For example, the UE may select a single TCI state (e.g., a single TCI state among the multiple active TCI states indicated in 504, which may include multiple DL and / or joint TCI states) to monitor the PDCCH and / or DCI.

[0118] In some embodiments, the UE may select different TCI states (eg, among the multiple active TCI states indicated in 504) to monitor control channels associated with different CORESETs and / or SSSs.

[0119] A variety of methods may be used to select the TCI state for the control channel, as further explained below. Among various possibilities, these methods may include using one of a plurality of rules, semi-static configuration, and / or dynamic signaling.

[0120] One approach may be to use implicit mapping, for example, based on one or more rules encoded in a specification such as a wireless standard. As an example of such a rule, a DL or joint TCI state with a minimum identifier (ID) (e.g., a TCI state ID) within a plurality of active TCI states may be selected for control channel monitoring and reception. More generally, such a rule may be based on the ranking or other characteristics of the TCI state IDs of the DL or joint TCI states. For example, the rule may be configured such that the highest ID or median ID may be selected among various possibilities.

[0121] As another possible rule, within multiple active TCI states, a DL or joint TCI state with a quasi co-located (QCL) source RS on a serving cell may be selected for control channel monitoring and reception. In other words, if such a TCI state is available, the rule may be to select a DL or joint TCI state associated with a serving cell. If multiple activated DL or joint TCI states have QCL source RSs on a serving cell, or if no activated DL or joint TCI state has a source RS with QCL on a non-serving cell, the TCI state may be selected based on the order of the TCI state IDs (e.g., the TCI state with the smallest ID may be selected).

[0122] Figure 7 An example of implicit TCI state determination / selection for control channel monitoring and reception according to some embodiments is provided. Figure 7 , TCI states #1 and #3 may be activated for DL ​​or joint communications. Correspondingly, according to some embodiments, TCI state #1 with a QCL source RS on the serving cell may be selected for control channel monitoring and reception (e.g., according to a rule for selecting a TCI state associated with a serving cell). As another possibility, TCI state #1 may be selected based on a rule for selecting a DL or joint TCI state with the lowest ID (e.g., note that in this example, TCI state #0 may not be activated (e.g., not activated at all, or used for DL ​​use)).

[0123] According to some embodiments, another approach may be an explicit indication of one of a plurality of activated TCI states. For example, such an explicit indication may be an RRC-based association of activated TCI states for control channel monitoring and reception under the sDCI mTRP use case. However, it should be understood that other types of signaling (e.g., instead of or in addition to RRC) may be used as desired. Examples of using RRC, MAC, and / or DCI signaling are discussed below.

[0124] In addition, it should be understood that such explicit indications may be sent by the network and received by the UE at any time. For example, such explicit indications may be sent during 502 (e.g., in association with establishing, updating, or reconfiguring a wireless link), during 504 (e.g., in association with activating a TCI state or changing which TCI states are active), and / or at any other time (e.g., such explicit indications may be replaced, refreshed, or updated periodically or as needed). Thus, the UE may receive such explicit indications and may select a (e.g., potentially new / changed) TCI state (or states) for control channel monitoring and reception in response to receiving the indication. In some embodiments, the indication may be sent together with an indication of when or under what conditions the TCI state should be updated. For example, the indication may be provided a certain amount of time before when the TCI state should be updated (e.g., when the UE and the network should begin applying the TCI state).

[0125] As an example, for a CORESET associated with a unified TCI state, the UE may be explicitly configured (eg, by RRC or other higher layers) to associate one of the active TCI states with PDCCH / DCI reception. Figure 8 An example information element (IE) that can be used to indicate one TCI state among multiple active TCI states according to some embodiments is illustrated. As shown, a CORESET can be identified by its ID and a unified TCI index (e.g., UnifiedTCIIndex-R18) field can be used to indicate the TCI state to be used for control channel monitoring and reception. The unified TCI index field can indicate an index of a unified TCI state for the CORESET, for example, as specified in TS 38.213 (e.g., clauses 9 and 10) and TS 38.214 (e.g., clauses 5.1 and 6.1). Thus, the unified TCI index field can use an index of an active DL or joint TCI state to indicate which of the active states is used for control channel monitoring and reception. In the event that the unified TCI index field is missing, the UE can apply a default value (e.g., 0). In the event that there are two active DL or joint TCI states, the unified TCI index can be 0 or 1 (e.g., as specified in TS 38.213 and TS 38.214). Figure 8 However, in the case where there are more than two active DL or joint TCI states, the unified TCI index may be more than 1 bit and may have a larger maximum value.

[0126] As another example, for an SSS associated with a CORESET associated with a unified TCI state, the UE may be explicitly configured (eg, by RRC or other higher layers) to associate one of the active TCI states with control channel monitoring and reception. Fig. 9An example IE that can be used to indicate one TCI state among multiple active TCI states according to some embodiments is illustrated. As shown, the SSS can be identified by its ID and a unified TCI index field can be used to indicate the TCI state to be used for control channel monitoring and reception. Optionally, a CORESET can also be identified. Similar to the previous example, the unified TCI index field can indicate the index of the unified TCI state for the SSS, for example, as specified in TS 38.213 (e.g., clauses 9 and 10) and TS 38.214 (e.g., clauses 5.1 and 6.1). Therefore, the unified TCI index field can use the index of the active DL or joint TCI state to indicate which of the active states is used for the PDCCH. In the event that the unified TCI index field is missing, the UE can apply a default value (e.g., 0). In the event that there are two active DL or joint TCI states, the unified TCI index can be 0 or 1 (e.g., as Fig. 9 ). However, in the case where there are more than two active DL or joint TCI states, the unified TCI index may have a larger maximum value. In some embodiments, for type 0, 1, or 2 SSS, the CSI-RS associated with the TCI indicated by Rel-17 may be a QCL with an SSB associated with the serving cell physical cell ID (PCI), which may be used to indicate the physical layer identity of the serving cell.

[0127] therefore, Figure 8 and Fig. 9 Some examples of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) codes are provided to implement these two options for higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling for explicit indication. As shown, a new IE "UnifiedTCIIndex-r18" may be added to a CORESET configuration or SSS configuration to explicitly configure the TCI state for the PDCCH from an activated unified DL and / or joint TCI state. The activated TCI states may be indexed in the order of their IDs. Thus, a value of "0" may correspond to the smallest TCI state ID, while a value of "1" may correspond to the next larger TCI state ID, and so on.

[0128] As noted above, in another example, semi-static signaling may be used to explicitly indicate a TCI state (e.g., in multiple active DL or joint TCI states) for control channel monitoring and reception. For example, such as under the sDCI mTRP use case, a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE)-based association may be used for control channel monitoring and reception. A new MAC-CE may be used to indicate a TCI state for control channel monitoring and reception. The MAC-CE may be identified by a MAC subheader with a dedicated logical channel ID (LCID). The LCID may be encoded in a specification (e.g., a 3GPP standard).

[0129] In some embodiments, a CORESET-specific or SSS-specific MAC-CE may be used to indicate TCI to the UE. The (e.g., new) MAC-CE may have a fixed size of two octets (e.g., 16 bits) and may include some or all of the following fields:

[0130] Serving Cell ID: This field may indicate the identity of the serving cell to which the MAC-CE applies.

[0131] CORESET ID: This field may indicate the CORESET for which the TCI status is indicated.

[0132] SSSID: This field may indicate the SSS for which the TCI status is being indicated.

[0133] Unified TCI Index: An index indicating the TCI state for monitoring the activation of PDCCH / DCI according to this MAC-CE. The Unified TCI Index field may be as described above with respect to Figure 8 and Fig. 9 Configured as discussed.

[0134] Fig.10 and Fig.11 Depicted are example MAC-CE structures that may be used to indicate a TCI state for control channel monitoring and reception (e.g., new) MAC-CE according to some embodiments. Using these MAC-CEs, the network may indicate a TCI state for a CORESET (e.g., using Fig.10 ) or for SSS (for example, using Fig.11 ) TCI status. These MAC-CEs may include a serving cell ID, an ID of a CORESET or SSS, the number of reserved bits (R in the figure), and a unified TCI index. It should be understood that alternative designs of MAC-CEs may be used as needed.

[0135] Thus, the UE may select the indicated TCI state (e.g., for a CORESET or SSS) for control channel monitoring and reception. It should be understood that such indications may be handled in a semi-static manner, e.g., to remain valid until changed. In addition, according to some embodiments, the network may indicate different TCI states for any number of different CORESETs and / or SSSs by sending a corresponding MAC-CE for each CORESET or SSS.

[0136] In addition, MAC signaling may be used to explicitly indicate TCI states for control channel monitoring and reception for more than one CORESET or more than one SSS. For example, a CORESET common or SSS common MAC-CE may be used to indicate TCI state associations for control channel monitoring and reception. In this case, according to some embodiments, the (e.g., new) MAC-CE may have a fixed size of three octets (e.g., 24 bits) for the COREST common MAC-CE and a fixed size of six octets (e.g., 48 bits) for the SSS common MAC-CE.

[0137] According to some embodiments, such MAC-CE may include Fig.12 or Fig.13 The fields depicted in . The serving cell ID and unified TCI index fields may be as described above with respect to other examples. Fields C0, C1, C2, etc. may indicate the CORESET or SSS to which the indicated TCI (e.g., via the unified TCI index field) should be applied. In other words, the MAC-CE may include a bitmap of any number of SSSs or CORESETs. The bitmap may indicate which of the SSSs or CORESETs use the indicated TCI state for control channel monitoring and reception. For example, a value of "1" may be set to indicate that the TCI state is applied to the corresponding CORESET or SSS, and a value of "0" may indicate that the TCI state will not be applied to the corresponding CORESET or SSS. A value of "0" may indicate that the UE should continue to use the previously set TCI state. Therefore, the bitmap may indicate which SSSs or CORESETs may be updated. Alternatively, a value of "0" may indicate that the UE should use the default TCI state. According to some embodiments, Fig.12 May indicate the MAC-CE structure in a CORESET-based implementation. According to some embodiments, Fig.13 The MAC-CE structure in a SSS-based implementation may be indicated.

[0138] Thus, the UE may select the indicated TCI state (e.g., for a CORESET or SSS) for control channel monitoring and reception. It should be understood that such indications may be handled in a semi-static manner, e.g., to remain valid until changed. In addition, according to some embodiments, the network may indicate different TCI states for any number of different CORESETs and / or SSSs by sending corresponding MAC-CEs for the different TCI states and using a bitmap to indicate which CORESETs or SSSs are used for the different TCI states.

[0139] In some embodiments, a MAC-CE indicating multiple TCI states (e.g., using multiple TCI index fields) may include multiple bitmaps (e.g., associated with different TCI index fields). Such a MAC-CE may allow different TCI states for different groups of CORESETs or SSSs to be indicated in a single MAC-CE.

[0140] As another example, according to some embodiments, dynamic signaling such as DCI can be used to signal which TCI state should be used for control channel monitoring and reception. As a possibility, the DCI format can be modified for this purpose. For example, according to some embodiments, in Fig.14 A Rel-17 DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 including a unified TCI status indication (and no scheduled data) is shown in FIG. The DCI format may be modified to include a plurality of TCI status indications, such as the following: Fig.15 and Fig.16 The "CORESET indication" or "SSS indication" field shown is used to signal which TCI state should be used for control channel monitoring and reception. These DCI messages can be used to associate the TCI state (e.g., for control channel monitoring and reception) for each CORESET or each search space set, respectively.

[0141] The TCI field may identify one or more TCI states, for example, by corresponding TCI state index(es) or TCI state ID. For example, the TCI field may indicate a pair of TCI states.

[0142] According to some embodiments, the CORESET indication field may be fixed to 12 bits or a variable size depending on the number of CORESETs configured (e.g., via RRC signaling in 502). According to some embodiments, the SSS indication field may be fixed to 40 bits or a variable size depending on the number of SSSs configured (e.g., via RRC signaling in 502). Note that different fixed sizes (e.g., other than 12 or 40 bits) may be used as desired. Both the CORESET indication and the SSS indication fields may be in the form of bitmap signaling. Thus, each bit in the bitmap may correspond to a CORESET or an SSS. The bitmap value may be interpreted according to any of a variety of rules.

[0143] According to one possible rule, a value of "1" may indicate that the corresponding CORESET or SSS is associated with the minimum TCI state index of the TCI states indicated by the TCI field. A value of "0" may indicate the highest TCI state index. It should be understood that these values ​​may be reversed as desired.

[0144] According to another possible rule, a value of "1" may indicate that the corresponding CORESET or SSS is updated to be associated with the (e.g., single / only) TCI state indicated by the TCI field. A value of "0" may indicate that it is not updated. Alternatively, a value of "0" may indicate that the UE should use the default TCI state. It should be understood that these values ​​may be reversed as needed.

[0145] Other rules may be used as desired. For example, the rules discussed above with respect to implicit mapping may be used in association with DCI signaling.

[0146] As another possibility, the Rel-17 DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 including the unified TCI status indication (and scheduling data) may be modified to include the following: Fig.17 and Fig.18 The "CORESET indication" or "SSS indication" field shown is used to signal which TCI state should be used for control channel monitoring and reception. The TCI, CORESET, and SSS fields may be interpreted as discussed above with respect to the example of DCI that does not schedule data.

[0147] As yet another possibility, according to some embodiments, a two-step signaling approach may be used. Fig.19 An example of two-step signaling according to some embodiments is illustrated. As noted above, a group of CORESETs or SSSs may first be divided into two or more pools through configuration information (e.g., RRC signaling during 502, etc.). For example, they may be divided into pool #1 (1902) of CORESETs or SSSs and pool #2 (1904) of CORESETs or SSSs.

[0148] Then, during 506, a TCI selection field (1910, 1912) may be sent in the DCI to indicate which TCI state should be applied for different pools (e.g., for control channel monitoring). As shown, field 1910 may be applied to pool #1, and field 1912 may be applied to pool #2. For example, such a field may be added to DCI formats 1_1 and / or 1_2 (e.g., in addition to CRC 1908 and other existing fields 1906 of the DCI according to Rel. 17). In various possibilities, the TCI selection field may be 1 bit. The first TCI selection field may be applied to the first CORESET or SSS pool, and the second TCI selection field may be applied to the second CORESET or SSS pool. The TCI selection field may use any of a variety of rules to indicate which of the configured DL or joint TCI states (e.g., as indicated in 504) may be applied to the corresponding pool. For example, any of the rules discussed elsewhere herein may be applied as needed.

[0149] As one possibility, a value of '0' in the TCI Selection field may indicate that a TCI state with a smallest ID is applied to the corresponding pool, and a value of '1' may indicate that a TCI state with a largest ID is applied to the corresponding pool.

[0150] As another possibility, a value of "0" in the TCI Selection field may indicate that a default TCI state is applied or that the current TCI state for the corresponding pool is not updated, and a value of "1" may indicate that the TCI state for the corresponding pool is updated. A specific TCI state may be indicated in the same DCI message (e.g., in a TCI State field (not shown)) or in a different message (e.g., directly through an ID or indirectly according to a certain rule) for updates elsewhere.

[0151] As another possibility, the TCI selection field may indicate an index of a TCI state within a set of active DL or joint TCI states, eg, indicating that the TCI state with that index should be selected for the pool corresponding to the TCI selection field.

[0152] In some embodiments, the indicated TCI state may be applied as soon as possible (e.g., by default). For example, the UE and the network may apply the indicated state at the next control channel opportunity (e.g., for an active CORESET and / or SSS). Thus, if a TCI state is sent during the first window of the PDCCH, Fig.19 If the DCI shown is present, the indicated state may be used to send / receive / monitor PDCCH at the next subsequent window of PDCCH.

[0153] In some embodiments, the DCI may include an additional field to indicate a delay for applying the indicated TCI state.

[0154] Fig.19 It also illustrates how the second step of this two-step signaling according to some embodiments may be applied to a UE moving between the coverage areas of two TRPs during time t0 to t3. Fig.19 In FIG. 1 , two DL TCI states (e.g., TCI#1 and TCI#3) may have been activated by the network before time instance "t0". At each of times t0, t1, t2, and t3, the network may send DCI to the UE, and each DCI may include two TCI selection fields 1910 and 1912. Fig.19 , the shaded bar may represent a DCI message sent to the UE at the indicated time instance. The DCI message may use different DCI formats. The values ​​of the TCI selection fields 1910 and 1912 in different DCIs may change as shown in the table.

[0155] exist Fig.19 In the example, it can be assumed that a value of "0" of the TCI selection field indicates that the TCI state with the smallest ID is applied to the corresponding pool, and a value of "1" of the TCI selection field indicates that the TCI state with the largest ID is applied to the corresponding pool. Fig.19 , according to the TCI selection field in the DCI received at time instances "t0" and "t1", the UE may select the activated TCI with the smallest ID for both the CORESET pool or the SSS pool (e.g., TCI#1 is the smallest of TCI#1 and #3), and may therefore operate in sDCI sTRP mode with TRP#1 at time t0 and t1. At time t2, for example, when the UE moves to the boundary of two TRPs, the network may trigger the UE to monitor SSS pool #1 from TRP#1 and SSS pool #2 from TRP#2, so that seamless switching is achieved. In order to achieve this multiple TRP communication, as Fig.19 , the network may set the TCI selection field 1910 with a value of "0" and the TCI selection field 1912 with a value of "1" in the DCI sent at time instance "t2". As a result, after detecting the DCI at time instance "t2", the UE may monitor the PDCCH using the TCI state with the smallest ID (e.g., TCI#1) for SSS pool 1902 and the TCI state with the largest ID (e.g., TCI#3) for SSS pool 1904. Similarly, at time instance "t3", the network may send a DCI with both TCI selection fields 1910 and 1912 being "1", and thus the TCI state with the largest ID (e.g., TCI#3) may be applied to both SSS pools. Therefore, the UE may operate in sDCIsTRP mode using TRP#2 starting at time t3.

[0156] Thus, between each of these times (e.g., between t0 and t1, between t1 and t2, etc.), the UE may select the indicated TCI state for each pool (e.g., according to 1910 for pool #1, according to 1912 for pool #2) for monitoring the control channel. For example, between time t2 and t3, the UE may select TCI state 1 based on the value "0" of field 1910 to monitor the control channel of SSS pool #1 1902, and additionally select TCI state 3 based on the value "1" of field 1912 in the DCI received at time t2 to monitor the control channel of SSS pool #2 1904.

[0157] It should be understood that although Fig.19 An example with 2 SSS pools and 2 corresponding TCI selection fields is depicted, but any number of SSS or CORESET pools (and correspondingly, an equal number of TCI selection fields) may be used as desired. Fig.19 In the example of , the TCI selection field may be illustrated as 1 bit each. However, a longer TCI selection field may be used as needed.

[0158] like Fig.19 As shown, one DCI may be used to update the TCI state of the UE which may monitor subsequent DCIs.

[0159] According to some embodiments, the UE may monitor the selected TCI state for control channel transmission from the network (507). For example, the UE may tune the receiving circuit according to the selected TCI state for control channel reception at a time / frequency associated with, for example, a PDCCH for an active SSS and / or CORESET. Thus, the UE may be ready to receive DCI and / or other control channel messages according to the selected TCI state.

[0160] According to some embodiments, the network may send control channel information to the UE based on the selected TCI state (508). It should be understood that the network may also determine (e.g., based on the various rules and methods discussed with respect to 506) what TCI state the UE may monitor for control channel transmission. Thus, the network may send the control channel using the selected TCI state. For example, the network may send one or more DCI messages to the UE on the PDCCH using the selected TCI state.

[0161] According to some embodiments, the UE and the network may communicate according to a control channel (510). For example, the control channel may include DCI for scheduling uplink and / or downlink data. The DCI may indicate a TCI state (or states) for the data. The TCI state for the data may be the same or different from the selected TCI state (e.g., for control channel monitoring). Thus, the UE and the network may exchange data using the TCI state indicated for the data according to the channel.

[0162] However, according to some embodiments, the UE may continue to monitor the selected TCI state for further control channel transmissions. For example, the UE may periodically tune to the selected TCI state (e.g., at a time / frequency location associated with a control channel for an associated SSS and / or CORESET).

[0163] Thus, at least according to some embodiments, Figure 5 The method can be used to provide a framework according to which the UE and the network can select a TCI state (e.g., from multiple active TCI states that can be associated with multiple TRPs) for control channel monitoring and reception, and thereby be used to assist the network in effectively and efficiently scheduling and performing wireless communications with the UE in at least some cases.

[0164] As pointed out above, Figure 5 The order shown is merely an example. For example, it should be understood that 502 to 506 may occur in any order and / or at the same or overlapping times. For example, 505 may occur at the same time as 503; then, the indication of multiple states (e.g., 504) may occur along with the indication of any rules or further signaling (e.g., MAC-CE, DCI, etc.), as discussed further below with respect to 506. In such cases, 503 to 505 may occur as part of 502 or at any later time.

[0165] Similarly, any of these steps may be repeated any number of times (e.g., as the UE moves, etc.). According to some embodiments, any or all of 502 to 504 may not be repeated as frequently as 505 to 510. In other words, according to some embodiments, the multiple active TCI states (e.g., 503, 504) may be updated less frequently than the TCI states used for control channel monitoring (e.g., 505 to 507).

[0166] In the following, further exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0167] One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include establishing communications with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs); receiving from the cellular network an indication of a plurality of transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; selecting a TCI state from the plurality of TCI states for use in monitoring a control channel message from the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs according to a first rule; monitoring the control channel message using the selected TCI state; receiving a first control channel message from the cellular network via at least one of the plurality of TRPs using the selected TCI state; and exchanging data with the cellular network based on the first control channel message.

[0168] In some embodiments, the method may further include determining a corresponding TCI identifier for a corresponding TCI state in the plurality of TCI states.

[0169] In some embodiments, the first rule includes selecting the TCI state with the lowest TCI identifier.

[0170] In some embodiments, the method may also include determining whether a corresponding TCI state among the multiple TCI states is associated with a serving cell.

[0171] In some embodiments, the first rule includes: in response to determining that exactly one TCI state of the multiple TCI states is associated with the serving cell, selecting the exactly one TCI state associated with the serving cell as the selected TCI state.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first rule includes: in response to determining that no TCI state in the multiple TCI states is associated with the serving cell, selecting a TCI state in the multiple TCI states having a lowest TCI identifier.

[0173] In some embodiments, the first rule includes: in response to determining that multiple TCI states among the multiple TCI states are associated with the serving cell, selecting a TCI state with a lowest TCI identifier among the multiple TCI states associated with the serving cell.

[0174] One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include establishing communications with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs); receiving from the cellular network an indication of a rule for selecting a transmit control indication (TCI) state from a common plurality of TCI states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; receiving from the cellular network an indication of a plurality of activated unified TCI states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; selecting a TCI state for control channel monitoring from the activated plurality of TCI states based on the rule; monitoring a control channel using the selected TCI state; receiving a control channel message from at least one of the plurality of TRPs and using the selected TCI state; and exchanging data with the cellular network in accordance with the control channel message.

[0175] In some embodiments, the indication of the rule is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0176] In some embodiments, the RRC signaling includes a unified TCI index field.

[0177] In some embodiments, the first possible value of the unified TCI index field indicates that the rule will select the TCI state with the highest TCI index among the activated multiple TCI states.

[0178] In some embodiments, the second possible value of the unified TCI index field indicates that the rule is to select the TCI state with the lowest TCI index among the activated multiple TCI states.

[0179] In some embodiments, the indication of the rule includes configuration of one of: a control resource set (CORESET); or a search space set.

[0180] A set of embodiments may include a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include establishing communications with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs); receiving from the cellular network an indication of a plurality of transmit control indication (TCI) states activated for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; receiving from the cellular network a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) including an index of a first TCI state in the plurality of TCI states; selecting the first TCI state based on the index for monitoring control channel messages from the plurality of TRPs; monitoring a control channel for control channel messages according to the first TCI state; receiving a first control channel message from at least one of the plurality of TRPs and using the first TCI state; and exchanging data with the cellular network according to the first control channel message.

[0181] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE has a fixed size and is identified by a MAC subheader with a dedicated logical channel identifier (LCID).

[0182] In some embodiments, exchanging data with the cellular network according to the first control channel message includes receiving data using at least two TCI states of the plurality of TCI states.

[0183] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is specific to a first control resource set (CORESET).

[0184] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is specific to a first search space set (SSS).

[0185] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is common to multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) and includes a bitmap indicating to which of the multiple CORESETs the index of the first TCI state is applied.

[0186] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is common to multiple search space sets (SSSs) and includes a bitmap indicating to which of the multiple SSSs the index of the first TCI state is applied.

[0187] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE includes an identifier of a serving cell to which the index of the first TCI state applies.

[0188] In some embodiments, the control channel comprises a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0189] In some embodiments, the first control channel message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message.

[0190] In some embodiments, the plurality of TCI states includes exactly two TCI states, and the index is indicated in a 1-bit unified TCI index field of the MAC-CE.

[0191] In some embodiments, the plurality of TCI states includes more than two TCI states, and the index is indicated in a unified TCI index field including more than one bit of the MAC-CE.

[0192] One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include establishing communications with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs); receiving from the cellular network an indication of a plurality of transmit control indication (TCI) states activated for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; receiving from the cellular network a first downlink control information (DCI) message including an indication of a first TCI state in the plurality of TCI states; selecting the first TCI state for monitoring additional DCI based on the indication; monitoring the additional DCI using the first TCI state; receiving a second DCI message during the monitoring; receiving the second DCI message from at least one of the plurality of TRPs and using the first TCI state; and exchanging data with the cellular network in accordance with the second DCI message.

[0193] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes an indication of one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) to which the first TCI state is to be applied.

[0194] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 that does not schedule data, and the indication of the one or more CORESETs is included in place of a reserved field relative to 3GPP Release 17.

[0195] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 for scheduling data, and the indication of the one or more CORESETs is included as an additional field relative to 3GPP Release 17.

[0196] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes an indication of one or more search space sets (SSSs) to which the first TCI state is to be applied.

[0197] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 that does not schedule data, and the indication of the one or more SSSs is included in place of a reserved field relative to 3GPP Release 17.

[0198] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 for scheduling data, and the indication of the one or more SSSs is included as an additional field relative to 3GPP Release 17.

[0199] In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a message from the cellular network indicating that a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) or a plurality of search space sets (SSSs) are divided into a first pool and a second pool.

[0200] In some embodiments, the first DCI message indicates that the first TCI state is associated with the first pool.

[0201] In some embodiments, the selecting the first TCI state is further based on determining that a CORESET or SSS of the first pool is active.

[0202] In some embodiments, the first DCI message also includes an indication of a second TCI state among the plurality of TCI states, and further indicates that the second TCI state is associated with the second pool.

[0203] In some embodiments, the method also includes selecting the second TCI state for receiving a third DCI message associated with the CORESET or SSS of the second pool.

[0204] In some embodiments, the first DCI message indicates via a 1-bit indication that the first TCI state is associated with the first pool to apply a TCI state having a lowest TCI index value among the multiple TCI states.

[0205] In some embodiments, the first DCI message indicates via a 1-bit indication that the first TCI state is associated with the first pool to apply a TCI state having a highest TCI index value among the multiple TCI states.

[0206] According to a set of embodiments, a method at a cellular network may include: establishing communication with a user equipment (UE) via multiple transmit and receive points (TRPs); sending to the UE indications of multiple transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the multiple TRPs; selecting a TCI state from the multiple TCI states for a control channel message from the cellular network to the UE via the multiple TRPs according to a first rule; sending a first control channel message to the UE via at least one of the multiple TRPs using the selected TCI state; and exchanging data with the UE based on the first control channel message.

[0207] In some embodiments, the first rule is specified by a 3GPP wireless standard.

[0208] In some embodiments, the method further includes: sending an indication of the first rule to the UE.

[0209] In some embodiments, the first control channel message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message sent on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0210] In some embodiments, the method also includes: at a later time, determining that the UE has moved, and in response to the determination that the UE has moved: sending to the UE an indication of a second plurality of TCI states for downlink communications from the multiple TRPs; selecting a second TCI state from the second plurality of TCI states for control channel messages from the cellular network to the UE via the multiple TRPs according to the first rule; sending a second control channel message to the UE via at least one TRP of the multiple TRPs using the second TCI state; and exchanging data with the UE according to the second control channel message.

[0211] According to a set of embodiments, a method at a cellular network may include: establishing communication with a user equipment (UE) via multiple transmit and receive points (TRPs); sending to the UE an indication of multiple transmit control indication (TCI) states activated for downlink communication via the multiple TRPs; selecting a first TCI state from the multiple TCI states for sending a control channel message to the UE; sending to the UE a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) including an index of the first TCI state; sending a first control channel message to the UE and using the first TCI state; and exchanging data with the UE based on the first control channel message.

[0212] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE has a fixed size and is identified by a MAC subheader with a dedicated logical channel identifier (LCID).

[0213] In some embodiments, exchanging data with the UE according to the first control channel message includes: sending data using at least two TCI states among the multiple TCI states.

[0214] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is specific to a first control resource set (CORESET).

[0215] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is specific to a first search space set (SSS).

[0216] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is common to multiple control resource sets (CORESETs) and includes a bitmap indicating to which of the multiple CORESETs the index of the first TCI state is applied.

[0217] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE is common to multiple search space sets (SSSs) and includes a bitmap indicating to which of the multiple SSSs the index of the first TCI state is applied.

[0218] In some embodiments, the MAC-CE includes an identifier of a serving cell to which the index of the first TCI state applies.

[0219] According to a set of embodiments, a method at a cellular network may include: establishing communication with a user equipment (UE) via multiple transmit and receive points (TRPs); sending to the UE an indication of multiple transmit control indication (TCI) states activated for downlink communication from the multiple TRPs; selecting a first TCI state from the multiple TCI states for sending a second downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE; sending to the UE a first DCI message including an indication of the first TCI state; sending the second DCI message to the UE using the first TCI state; and exchanging data with the UE based on the second DCI message.

[0220] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes an indication of: one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) to which the first TCI state is to be applied; or one or more search space sets (SSSs) to which the first TCI state is to be applied.

[0221] In some embodiments, the first DCI message includes DCI format 1_1 or 1_2.

[0222] In some embodiments, the method further includes: sending a message to the UE indicating that a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) or a plurality of search space sets (SSSs) are divided into a first pool and a second pool.

[0223] In any of the above embodiments, among various possibilities, the control channel may be a PDCCH.

[0224] In any of the above embodiments, the control channel message may be a downlink control information (DCI) message.The DCI message may have any DCI format.

[0225] In any of the above embodiments, the TCI state can be a unified TCI state.

[0226] Yet another example embodiment may include a method comprising: performing, by a wireless device, any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0227] Another example embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio component coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operably coupled to the radio component, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all portions of the foregoing examples.

[0228] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium including program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0229] Yet another set of exemplary embodiments may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0230] Yet another set of exemplary embodiments may include an apparatus comprising means for performing any or all elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0231] Another set of example embodiments may include an apparatus comprising a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0232] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0233] By interpreting each message / signal X received by a user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X sent by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y sent by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods for operating a UE described herein may become the basis for the corresponding method for operating a base station.

[0234] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs may be used to implement the subject matter. In other embodiments, one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs may be used to implement the subject matter.

[0235] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory storage element) may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system is caused to perform a method, such as any method implementation of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementation of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0236] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium (or a memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute these program instructions from the memory medium, wherein these program instructions are executable to implement any method implementation in the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementation in the method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0237] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to include all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: Establishing communication with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs); receiving, from the cellular network, an indication of a plurality of unified transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; selecting a TCI state from the plurality of unified TCI states for use in monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for downlink control information (DCI) messages from the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs according to a first rule; monitoring the PDCCH for the DCI message using the selected TCI state; receiving a first DCI message from the cellular network via at least one TRP of the plurality of TRPs using the selected TCI state; as well as Data is exchanged with the cellular network according to the first DCI message.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A respective TCI identifier is determined for a respective TCI state of the plurality of unified TCI states.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first rule comprises: The TCI state having the lowest TCI identifier is selected.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine whether a corresponding TCI state among the multiple unified TCI states is associated with a serving cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first rule comprises: In response to determining that exactly one TCI state of the plurality of unified TCI states is associated with the serving cell, selecting the exactly one TCI state associated with the serving cell as the selected TCI state.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first rule comprises: In response to determining that no TCI state among the plurality of unified TCI states is associated with the serving cell, the TCI state among the plurality of TCI states having a lowest TCI identifier is selected.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first rule comprises: In response to determining that multiple TCI states of the multiple unified TCI states are associated with the serving cell, the TCI state having a lowest TCI identifier among the multiple TCI states associated with the serving cell is selected.

8. A method comprising: Establishing communication with a cellular network via a plurality of transmit and receive points (TRPs); receiving, from the cellular network, an indication of rules for selecting a transmit control indication (TCI) state from a common plurality of TCI states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; receiving, from the cellular network, an indication of a plurality of unified TCI states activated for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; selecting a TCI state for control channel monitoring from the activated plurality of TCI states based on the rule; monitoring the control channel using the selected TCI state; receiving a control channel message from at least one TRP of the plurality of TRPs and using the selected TCI state; as well as Data is exchanged with the cellular network according to the control channel message.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the indication of the rule is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the RRC signaling includes a unified TCI index field.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a first possible value of the unified TCI index field indicates that the rule is to select the TCI state with the highest TCI index among the activated multiple unified TCI states.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a second possible value of the unified TCI index field indicates that the rule is to select the TCI state with the lowest TCI index among the activated multiple unified TCI states.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the indication of the rule comprises configuration of one of: Control Resource Set (CORESET); or Search space set.

14. An apparatus comprising a processor configured to cause a user equipment to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a radio operably coupled to the processor.

16. A method comprising: On cellular networks: establishing communications with a user equipment (UE) via a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs); sending, to the UE, an indication of a plurality of unified transmit control indication (TCI) states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; selecting a TCI state from among the plurality of unified TCI states for control channel messages from the cellular network to the UE via the plurality of TRPs according to a first rule; sending a first control channel message to the UE via at least one TRP of the plurality of TRPs using the selected TCI state; as well as Exchange data with the UE according to the first control channel message.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first rule is specified by a 3GPP wireless standard.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: An indication of the first rule is sent to the UE.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first control channel message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message sent on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

20. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: At a later time, determining that the UE has moved, and in response to determining that the UE has moved: sending, to the UE, an indication of a second plurality of unified TCI states for downlink communications from the plurality of TRPs; selecting, according to the first rule, a second TCI state from the second plurality of unified TCI states for control channel messages from the cellular network to the UE via the plurality of TRPs; sending a second control channel message to the UE via at least one TRP of the plurality of TRPs using the second TCI state; as well as and exchanging data with the UE according to the second control channel message.

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