Method and apparatus for multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. Methods and apparatus for multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling. A method includes receiving first information for a set of cells, second information for a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states respectively associated with each cell in the set of cells, and providing a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules reception of a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a corresponding first cell of the set of cells. The first DCI format includes a first TCI field indicating a combination of TCI states, the combination of TCI states including a number of TCI states equal to a number of cells in the set of cells. The method further includes determining a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states, and receiving a first PDSCH or a second PDSCH following the first PDSCH on the first cell, respectively, based on the first TCI state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to wireless communication systems. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling. Background Art

[0002] 5G mobile communication technology defines a wide frequency band so that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be realized not only in "below 6 GHz" frequency bands such as 3.5 GHz, but also in "above 6 GHz" frequency bands called millimeter waves (mmWave) including 28 GHz and 39 GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technology (called super 5G system) in terahertz (THz) frequency bands (e.g., 95 GHz to 3 THz frequency bands) in order to achieve a transmission rate fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technology and an ultra-low latency one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technology.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technology, in order to support services and meet performance requirements related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC), standardization has been underway on the following items: beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio wave path loss in millimeter waves and increasing radio wave transmission distance, dynamic operation of parameter sets (e.g., operating multiple subcarrier intervals) and time slot formats to support efficient use of millimeter wave resources, initial access technology for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadband, definition and operation of BWP (bandwidth part), new channel coding methods (such as LDPC (low-density parity check) codes for large-volume data transmission and polar codes for highly reliable transmission of control information), L2 preprocessing, and network slicing for providing dedicated networks dedicated to specific services.

[0004] Currently, in view of the services that 5G mobile communication technology is to support, discussions are ongoing on improvements and performance enhancements of initial 5G mobile communication technology, and there is already physical layer standardization on technologies such as: V2X (Vehicle to Everything) for assisting driving determination of autonomous vehicles based on information about the location and status of the vehicle sent by the vehicle and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) for system operation intended to comply with various regulatory-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE power saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) as UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in areas where communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] In addition, in terms of air interface architecture / protocol, standardization is already underway on technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing nodes for network service area extension by supporting wireless backhaul links and access links in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including DAPS (Conditional Handover and Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access (2-step RACH for NR) for simplifying the random access procedure. In terms of system architecture / service, standardization is also already underway on 5G baseline architecture (e.g., service-based architecture or service-based interface) for combining network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN) technologies, and mobile edge computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE location.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, the number of connected devices, which has been growing exponentially, will be connected to the communication network, and it is expected that enhanced functions and performance of the 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of the connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is planned related to: extended reality (XR) for effectively supporting AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), MR (mixed reality), etc., 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve not only as a basis for developing new waveforms for providing terahertz band coverage for 6G mobile communication technology, multi-antenna transmission technologies (such as full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and massive antennas), metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional spatial multiplexing technology using OAM (orbital angular momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Smart Surface), but also as a basis for developing full-duplex technology for improving frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technology and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for achieving system optimization by utilizing satellites and artificial intelligence (AI) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for achieving services with a complexity level that exceeds the limits of UE operating capabilities. Summary of the invention

[0008] Technical issues

[0009] Currently, there is a need to enhance multi-beam operations for multi-cell scheduling in wireless communication systems.

[0010] Solution to the problem

[0011] The present disclosure relates to multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling.

[0012] In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes receiving first information of a set of cells, second information of a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states respectively associated with cells in the set of cells, and providing a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a first downlink control indicator (DCI) format. The first DCI format schedules the reception of a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells. The first DCI format includes a first TCI field indicating a combination of TCI states. The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells. The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to the cells in the set of cells. The method also includes determining a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell, and receiving a first PDSCH or a second PDSCH after the first PDSCH on the first cell based on the first TCI state.

[0013] In another embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE includes a transceiver configured to receive first information of a set of cells, second information of a set of TCI states respectively associated with cells in the set of cells, and a first PDCCH providing a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules the reception of a first PDSCH on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells. The first DCI format includes a first TCI field indicating a combination of TCI states. The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells. The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to the cells in the set of cells. The UE also includes a processor operably coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to determine a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell. The transceiver is also configured to receive a first PDSCH or a second PDSCH after the first PDSCH on the first cell, respectively, based on the first TCI state.

[0014] In another embodiment, a base station is provided. The base station includes a transceiver configured to send first information of a set of cells, second information of a corresponding set of TCI states associated with each cell in the set of cells, and a first PDCCH providing a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules the transmission of a first PDSCH on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells. The first DCI format includes a first TCI field indicating a combination of TCI states. The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells. The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to the cells in the set of cells. The base station also includes a processor operably coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to determine a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell. The transceiver is also configured to send a first PDSCH or a second PDSCH after the first PDSCH on the first cell based on the first TCI state.

[0015] Other technical features may be clear to those skilled in the art from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

[0016] Before the following detailed description, it may be advantageous to set forth the definitions of certain words and phrases used in this patent document. The term "coupling" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not these elements are in physical contact with each other. The terms "send", "receive" and "communication" and their derivatives include both direct and indirect communication. The terms "include" and "comprise" and their derivatives mean unlimited inclusion. The term "or" is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase "associated with..." and its derivatives refer to including, being included in, interconnected with, being included in, being connected to or connected with, being coupled to or coupled with, being communicable with, cooperating with, interweaving, juxtaposing, approaching, being combined with or combined with, having, having...attributes, being related to or being related to, etc. The term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The function associated with any particular controller can be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. When used with a list of items, the phrase "at least one of" means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one of the items in the list may be needed. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes any combination of A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A, B, and C.

[0017] In addition, the various functions described below may be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed by a computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, processes, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or parts thereof suitable for implementation in a suitable computer-readable program code. The phrase "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code (including source code, object code, and executable code). The phrase "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a compact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), or any other type of memory. "Non-transitory" computer-readable media do not include wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transmit temporary electrical or other signals. Non-transitory computer-readable media include media in which data can be permanently stored and media in which data can be stored and overwritten later, such as rewritable optical disks or erasable storage devices.

[0018] Definitions for other specific words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most, instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0019] Advantageous Effects of the Invention

[0020] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system can be effectively enhanced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0022] Figure 1 An example wireless network according to an embodiment as disclosed herein is shown;

[0023] Figure 2 An example base station according to an embodiment as disclosed herein is shown;

[0024] Figure 3 shows an example user equipment (UE) according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0025] Figure 4 shows an example antenna block or array forming a beam according to an embodiment as disclosed herein;

[0026] Figure 5A diagram showing a formatted message unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE that may be utilized according to various embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0027] Figure 6 A flow chart showing a method for TCI state determination for a co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH according to various embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0028] Figure 7 A flow chart showing a method of TCI status indication through MC-DCI format regarding a list of cells for simultaneous TCI update according to various embodiments as disclosed herein; and

[0029] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method of TCI state indication through MC-DCI format with respect to a set of reference TCI states according to an embodiment as disclosed herein is shown.

[0030] Fig. 9 A block diagram showing a terminal (or user equipment (UE)) according to an embodiment as disclosed herein; and

[0031] Fig.10 A block diagram of a base station (BS) according to embodiments as disclosed herein is shown.

[0032] It may be noted that, to the extent possible, the same reference numerals have been used to represent the same elements in the drawings. In addition, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the elements in the drawings are shown for simplicity and may not necessarily be drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help enhance understanding of various aspects of the present invention. In addition, one or more elements may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details relevant to understanding embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that are clear to those of ordinary skill in the art who benefit from the description herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) mobile communications are gathering increasing momentum recently, with global technical activities for various candidate technologies from industry and academia. Candidate enablers for 5G / NR mobile communications include massive antenna technology from traditional cellular frequency bands to high frequencies to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveforms (e.g., new radio access technologies (RATs)) to flexibly accommodate various services / applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, etc.

[0034] Discussed below Figures 1 to 10The various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are for illustration only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged system or device.

[0035] The following documents and standard descriptions are incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein: 3GPP TS 38.211 Rel-16 v17.2.0, "NR; Physical channels and modulation (NR; physical channels and modulation)" (referred to herein as "REF 1"); 3GPP TS 38.212 Rel-16 v17.2.0, "NR; Multiplexingand channel coding (NR; multiplexing and channel coding)" (referred to herein as "REF 2"); 3GPP TS 38.213 Rel-16 v17.2.0, "NR; Physical layer procedures for control (NR; physical layer procedures for control)" (referred to herein as "REF 3"); 3GPP TS 38.214 Rel-16 v17.2.0, "NR; Physical layer procedures for data (NR; physical layer procedures for data)" (referred to herein as "REF 4"); 3GPP TS 38.321 Rel-16 v17.1.0, “NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification” (herein referred to as “REF 5”); 3GPP TS 38.331 Rel-16 v17.1.0, “NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification” (herein referred to as “REF 6”); 3GPP TS 38.300 Rel-16 v17.1.0, “NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall Description; Stage 2” (herein referred to as “REF 7”).

[0036] Wireless communication has been one of the most successful innovations in modern history. The number of subscribers to wireless communication services recently exceeded 5 billion and continues to grow rapidly. The demand for wireless data services is growing rapidly due to the increasing popularity of smartphones and other mobile data devices (such as tablets, "notebook" computers, netbooks, e-book readers and machine-type devices) among consumers and enterprises. To meet the high growth of mobile data services and support new applications and deployments, improving radio interface efficiency and coverage is critical.

[0037] In order to meet the increased demand for wireless data services since the deployment of 4G communication systems and to realize various vertical applications, 5G / NR communication systems have been developed and are currently being deployed. 5G / NR communication systems are implemented in high-frequency (mmWave) bands (e.g., 28 GHz or 60 GHz bands) to achieve high data rates, or in low-frequency bands (such as 6 GHz) to achieve robust coverage and mobility support. In order to reduce the propagation loss of radio waves and increase the transmission distance, beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna technology are discussed in 5G / NR communication systems.

[0038] In addition, in the 5G / NR communication system, system network improvements are being developed based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access network (RAN) ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, cooperative communications, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), and receiving-side interference cancellation.

[0039] The discussion of 5G systems and frequency bands associated therewith is for reference, as certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in 5G systems. However, the present disclosure is not limited to 5G systems or frequency bands associated therewith, and embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in conjunction with any frequency band. For example, aspects of the present disclosure may also be applied to the deployment of 5G communication systems, 6G, or even later versions that may use terahertz (THz) frequency bands.

[0040] The following Figure 1-Figure 3 Various embodiments are described that are implemented in a wireless communication system and using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication techniques. Figure 1-Figure 3 The description is not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system.

[0041] Figure 1 An example wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1The embodiment of the wireless network shown is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown, the wireless network includes gNB 101 (e.g., base station BS), gNB 102, and gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130 (such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network).

[0043] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a first plurality of user equipment (UE) within coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes UE 111, which may be located in a small business; UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise; UE 113, which may be a WiFi hotspot; UE 114, which may be located in a first residence; UE 115, which may be located in a second residence; and UE 116, which may be a mobile device such as a cellular phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless PDA, etc. gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G / NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication technologies.

[0044] Depending on the network type, the term "base station" or "BS" may refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as a transmission point (TP), a transmission-reception point (TRP), an enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G / NR base station (gNB), a macro cell, a femto cell, a WiFi access point (AP), or other wireless enabling devices. The base station may provide wireless access according to one or more wireless communication protocols (e.g., 5G / NR Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, etc.). For convenience, the terms "BS" and "TRP" are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to a network infrastructure component that provides wireless access to a remote terminal. In addition, depending on the network type, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may refer to any component, such as a "mobile station", "subscriber station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal", "reception point", or "user equipment". For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to a remote wireless device that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or smartphone) or is generally considered a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0045] Dashed lines illustrate the approximate extents of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on the configuration of the gNB and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstacles.

[0046] although Figure 1 An example of a wireless network is shown, but Figure 1 Various changes may be made. For example, the wireless network may include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. In addition, gNB 101 may communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide wireless broadband access to network 130 to these UEs. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 may communicate directly with network 130 and provide direct wireless broadband access to network 130 to the UEs. In addition, gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 may provide access to other or additional external networks, such as an external telephone network or other type of data network.

[0047] As described in more detail below, any gNB (e.g., 101, 102, 103, etc.) may communicate with a UE (e.g., 111, 112, 113, etc.) in multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling. Similarly, any of the UEs may perform multi-beam operation using multi-cell scheduling.

[0048] Figure 2 An example base station (e.g., gNB 102) is shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 The embodiment of gNB 102 shown in FIG. is for illustration only, and Figure 1 gNBs 101 and 103 may have the same or similar configurations. However, gNBs have a variety of configurations, and Figure 2 The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of the gNB.

[0049] like Figure 2 As shown, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 205a-205n, multiple transceivers 210a-210n, a controller / processor 225, a memory 230, and a backhaul or network interface 235.

[0050] The transceivers 210a-210n receive incoming RF signals from the antennas 205a-205n, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network 100. The transceivers 210a-210n downconvert the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are processed by receive (RX) processing circuits in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or the controller / processor 225, which generate processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The controller / processor 225 may further process the baseband signals.

[0051] In various aspects, the transceiver may send a MC-DCI format to the UE to provide all or part of the values ​​of the cell-common and cell-specific fields for scheduling PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission, as described herein. The transceiver may send a MC-DCI format including one or more values ​​of the TCI status field.

[0052] Transmit (TX) processing circuitry in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or the controller / processor 225 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, network data, email, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 225. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The transceivers 210a-210n up-convert the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antennas 205a-205n.

[0053] The controller / processor 225 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 225 may control the reception of UL channel signals and the transmission of DL channel signals by the transceivers 210a-210n in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 225 may also support additional functionality, such as more advanced wireless communication functionality. For example, the controller / processor 225 may support beamforming or directional routing operations, in which outgoing / incoming signals from / to multiple antennas 205a-205n are weighted differently to effectively direct the outgoing signals in a desired direction. The controller / processor 225 may support any of a variety of other functions in the gNB 102.

[0054] The controller / processor 225 can also execute programs and other processes resident in the memory 230. For example, the processor 225 can support scheduling processes in multi-beam operations for multi-cell scheduling. The controller / processor 225 can move data into or out of the memory 230 as required by the executed process. For example, the processor can be configured to implement at least a portion of the method 600, 700, or 800 stored as instructions in the memory 230.

[0055] The controller / processor 225 is also coupled to a backhaul or network interface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connection or over a network. The interface 235 may support communication over any suitable wired or wireless connection. For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as a system supporting 5G / NR, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 may allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 235 may allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired or wireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 235 includes any suitable structure that supports communication over a wired or wireless connection, such as Ethernet or a transceiver.

[0056] Memory 230 is coupled to controller / processor 225. Portions of memory 230 may include RAM, and other portions of memory 230 may include flash memory or other ROM.

[0057] although Figure 2 An example of a gNB 102 is shown, but the Figure 2 For example, gNB 102 may include Figure 2 Any number of each component shown in Figure 2The various components in may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components may be added according to specific needs.

[0058] Figure 3 An example UE 116 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3 The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only, and Figure 1 UEs 111-115 may have the same or similar configurations. However, UEs have a variety of configurations, and Figure 3 The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of the UE.

[0059] like Figure 3 As shown, UE 116 includes antenna 305, transceiver 310, and microphone 320. UE 116 also includes speaker 330, processor 340, input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 345, input 350, display 355, and memory 360. Memory 360 includes operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362.

[0060] Transceiver 310 receives incoming RF signals from antenna 305 transmitted by a gNB of network 100. Transceiver 310 downconverts the incoming RF signals to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is processed by RX processing circuitry in transceiver 310 and / or processor 340, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry transmits the processed baseband signal to speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or is processed by processor 340 (such as for web browsing data).

[0061] In various aspects, a transceiver may receive an MC-DCI format to provide all or part of the values ​​of the cell-common and cell-specific fields for scheduling PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission, as described herein. A transceiver may receive an MC-DCI format including one or more values ​​of the TCI status field. A UE may determine whether the MC-DCI includes the TCI status field.

[0062] The TX processing circuit in the transceiver 310 and / or the processor 340 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 320, or receives other outgoing baseband data (such as network data, email, or interactive video game data) from the processor 340. The TX processing circuit encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The transceiver 310 up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna 305.

[0063] The processor 340 may include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 340 may control the transceiver 310 to receive DL channel signals and transmit UL channel signals according to well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0064] The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 360, such as processes for supporting multi-beam operations for multi-cell scheduling. The processor 340 can move data into or out of the memory 360 as needed for the executed process. In some embodiments, the processor 340 is configured to execute the application 362 based on the OS 361 or in response to a signal received from the gNB or operator. For example, in various embodiments, the UE 116 can perform multi-beam operations using multi-cell scheduling. The processor 340 is also coupled to the I / O interface 345, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptops and handheld computers. The I / O interface 345 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 340.

[0065] Processor 340 is also coupled to input 350 including, for example, a touch screen, keyboard, etc., and display 355. An operator of UE 116 may use input 350 to enter data into UE 116. Display 355 may be a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or other display capable of presenting text (such as from a website) and / or at least limited graphics.

[0066] Memory 360 is coupled to processor 340. Portions of memory 360 may include random access memory (RAM), and other portions of memory 360 may include flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0067] although Figure 3 An example of UE 116 is shown, but the Figure 3 Make various changes. For example, Figure 3 The various components in may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components may be added as required. As a specific example, processor 340 may be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). In another example, transceiver 310 may include any number of transceivers and signal processing chains, and may be connected to any number of antennas. In addition, although Figure 3 The UE 116 is shown configured as a mobile phone or smart phone, but the UE may be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0068] Figure 4 An example antenna block or array 400 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, in various embodiments, the antenna block or array 400 may be implemented in any of the BSs 101-103 and / or UEs 111-116. Figure 4 The embodiment of antenna block or array 400 shown in FIG. 4 is for illustration only. Figure 4 The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of an antenna block or array.

[0069] The 3GPP NR specification supports up to 32 CSI-RS antenna ports, which enables the gNB to be equipped with a large number of antenna elements, such as 64 or 128. In this case, multiple antenna elements are mapped to one CSI-RS port.

[0070] For FR2, such as mmWave bands, while the number of antenna elements can be larger for a given form factor, the number of CSI-RS ports (which can correspond to the number of digital precoding ports) is often limited due to hardware constraints (such as the feasibility of installing a large number of ADCs / DACs at mmWave frequencies), such as Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 4 , one CSI-RS port is mapped to a large number of antenna elements that can be controlled by a set of analog phase shifters 401. One CSI-RS port can correspond to a subarray that produces a narrow analog beam through analog beamforming 405. By varying the phase shifter set across symbols or subframes, the analog beam can be configured to sweep across a wider range of angles 420. The number of subarrays (equal to the number of RF chains) is proportional to the number of CSI-RS ports N. CSI-PORT The digital beamforming unit 410 spans N CSI-PORT The analog beams are linearly combined to further increase the precoding gain. While the analog beams are wideband (and therefore not frequency selective), the digital precoding can vary across frequency subbands or resource blocks. Receiver operation can be similarly envisioned.

[0071] Since the above-described system utilizes multiple simulated beams for transmission and reception (where one or a small number of simulated beams are selected from a large number of simulated beams, for example, from time to time after a training duration), the term "multi-beam operation" is used to refer to the overall system aspect. For the purpose of description, this includes indicating an assigned DL or UL transmit (TX) beam (also referred to as "beam indication"), measuring at least one reference signal for calculating and performing beam reporting (also referred to as "beam measurement" and "beam reporting", respectively), and receiving DL or UL transmissions by selecting a corresponding receive (RX) beam.

[0072] The multi-beam operation of the antenna block or array 400 is achieved by applying spatial filters to the signals and channels. An example of a spatial filter is a transmission configuration indication (TCI). In various aspects, the beam sends an MC-DCI format with a TCI status / deactivation MAC CE to the UE. The TCI field may be absent or present in the MC-DCI. When absent, the UE may determine the TCI state of the cell so scheduled based on the most recent TCI state indicated individually for each cell in the set of co-scheduled cells.

[0073] The above system is also applied to high frequency bands, such as FR-2, e.g. > 52.6 GHz. In this case, the system can only use analog beams. Due to the O2 absorption loss near 60 GHz (about 10 dB additional loss at 100 m distance), more and sharper analog beams (thus a larger number of radiators in the array) will be needed to compensate for the additional path loss.

[0074] In some examples, the term "beam" is used to refer to a spatial filter used for transmission or reception of a signal or channel. For example, a beam (of an antenna) can be the main lobe of the radiation pattern of an antenna array, or subarray or antenna panel, or the main lobe of the radiation patterns of multiple antenna arrays, subarrays or panels combined, used for such transmission or reception.

[0075] Throughout this disclosure, the term "configuration" or "higher layer configuration" and variations thereof (such as "configured", etc.) are used to refer to one or more of: system information signaling such as through a MIB or SIB (such as SIB1), common or cell-specific higher layer / RRC signaling, or dedicated or UE-specific or BWP-specific higher layer / RRC signaling.

[0076] The present disclosure considers enhancements to cross-carrier scheduling operations in a carrier aggregation (CA) framework to support joint scheduling of multiple cells.

[0077] The present disclosure recognizes that in early 5G NR systems, downlink or uplink data transmission may be scheduled only for a single serving cell. In other words, the DCI format provides scheduling information parameters for PDSCH or PUSCH on a single serving cell. If the serving cell is a scheduling cell, the UE receives the DCI format for PDSCH / PUSCH in the PDCCH that the UE receives on the corresponding scheduling cell. Based on the carrier indication field (CIF) in the DCI format, the UE can determine the serving cell on which the UE can receive PDSCH or send PUSCH.

[0078] However, as recognized in the present disclosure, early 5G NR systems do not support co-scheduling multiple PDSCHs or multiple PUSCHs on multiple cells using a single / common control signaling (such as by using a single DCI format). For such operation, the UE receives multiple DCI formats, each of which can schedule one of multiple PDSCHs or PUSCHs. Such operation achieves the desired results, but with higher signaling overhead. In various scenarios, several scheduling parameters or corresponding UE operations may be shared / common among multiple PDSCHs or PUSCHs on a jointly scheduled cell (referred to as a co-scheduled cell).

[0079] For example, a UE may use the same PUCCH resource to send HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to multiple PDSCHs. Therefore, indications for the same PUCCH resource (and corresponding operations for PUCCH transmission) may be repeated multiple times unnecessarily. In addition, in some scenarios, such as intra-band CA, physical channel conditions may be relevant, so various scheduling parameters regarding link adaptation, MIMO / beamforming operations, and even possible resource allocation may be common and repeated among co-scheduled cells. Such unnecessary overhead in control signaling may be significant, particularly when the number of co-scheduled cells is large, such as 4-8 cells. In addition, the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field detection needs to be repeated multiple times, which causes significant signaling overhead, particularly for a large number of co-scheduled cells.

[0080] Multi-beam operation is used in operation in high frequency bands such as mm-frequency bands FR2-1 and FR2-2. Multi-beam operation is enabled by spatial filters applied to signals and channels sent or received by the UE based on gNB indications such as through an indication of the Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state. The Rel-17 unified TCI framework provides a setting where the UE applies the indicated TCI state to all control and data channels following the TCI state indication for either the downlink direction (DLTCI state) or the uplink direction (UL TCI state) or both the downlink and uplink directions (Joint DL / UL TCI state).

[0081] It should be clarified whether and how the unified TCI framework is applied to multi-cell scheduling. For example, the UE needs to determine which beam / TCI state is applied to the PDSCH or PUSCH jointly scheduled by the multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. In addition, the UE needs to determine whether the MC-DCI can include a TCI state indication, and when the MC-DCI includes a TCI state indication, the UE needs to determine how to apply the indicated TCI state. For example, when the TCI state indication is provided by the MC-DCI format, the UE needs to determine the cell to which the indicated TCI state is applied.

[0082]

[0013] Therefore, as addressed by the present disclosure in various embodiments, there is a need for multi-cell scheduling, wherein multiple cells may be jointly scheduled with reduced signaling overhead, such as by using only a single DCI format.

[0083] As addressed by embodiments of the present disclosure, there is another need to achieve multi-cell scheduling using reasonable DCI format sizes (which may be the same as or slightly larger than traditional DCI format sizes), while at the same time, reasonably maintaining scheduling flexibility compared to a scenario with multiple separate DCI formats for each cell.

[0084] As addressed by further embodiments of the present disclosure, when designing methods for multi-cell scheduling, it is also necessary to consider the number of co-scheduled cells and the relative similarity of channel / radio conditions among the co-scheduled cells.

[0085] The present disclosure also addresses the additional need to determine the TCI state applicable to the co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH, and also determines how to apply the TCI state provided by the MC-DCI format.

[0086] The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for multi-beam operation for multi-cell scheduling. One motivation for multi-cell scheduling using a single DCI format is enhanced cross-carrier scheduling operation for a larger number of cells (such as 4-8 cells) operating in an intra-band CA framework in frequency bands below 6 GHz or above 6 GHz (referred to as FR1 or FR2, respectively). In general, embodiments are applied to any deployment, vertical or scenario, including inter-band CA, with eMBB, URLLC and IIoT and extended reality (XR), mMTC and IoT, with sidelink / V2X communications, with multiple TRPs / beams / panels, in unlicensed / shared spectrum (NR-U), for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), for aerial systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as drones, for private or non-public networks (NPN), for operation with reduced capability (RedCap) UEs, etc.

[0087] Embodiments of the present disclosure are summarized below and are further fully described below. Combinations of embodiments are also applicable, but for the sake of brevity, they are not described in detail.

[0088] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide multi-cell scheduling operations. A set of multiple co-scheduled cells may be provided to the UE by a high layer. The term co-scheduled set of cells is used to refer to a set of serving cells, wherein the UE is able to be scheduled for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on two or more cells in the set of co-scheduled cells jointly through a single DCI format or by using complementary methods such as those described below (e.g., under a mechanism for multi-cell scheduling). For ease of presentation, such a DCI format may be referred to as a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. The MC-DCI format may be a new DCI format, such as DCI format 0_3 for a co-scheduled PUSCH or 1_3 for a co-scheduled PDSCH. In addition, a subset of a set of co-scheduled cells may be indicated to the UE via a DCI format (such as an MC-DCI format) in the PDCCH or via a MAC CE in the PDSCH, wherein the cells of the subset may change across different PDCCH monitoring opportunities (MO). For example, a first MC-DCI format in a first MO may indicate a first set / subset of co-scheduled cells, and a second DCI format in a second MO may indicate a second set / subset of co-scheduled cells.

[0089] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide mechanisms for multi-cell scheduling. For a UE configured with a set of co-scheduled cells, a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling may provide all or part of the information of the values ​​of the cell-common and cell-specific fields for scheduling PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on corresponding two or more cells in the set of co-scheduled cells. When the DCI format provides partial information, the UE may determine the remaining information according to RRC signaling or by using other complementary methods.

[0090] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TCI field that is not present in a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. In further embodiments, the MC-DCI format does not include a field for indicating the TCI state. Therefore, the UE determines the TCI state of the co-scheduled cells through the MC-DCI format based on the most recent TCI state individually indicated for each cell in the set of co-scheduled cells through the single-cell scheduling DCI (SC-DCI) format. The UE can provide the minimum processing time or application time among the most recent SC-DCI format and MC-DCI format of the TCI state based on the UE capability requirements.

[0091] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TCI field present in a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. In further embodiments, the MC-DCI format may include one or more values ​​of a TCI state field, wherein each value corresponds to a cell or a group of cells in a set of cells co-scheduled by the MC-DCI format. In various aspects, the value of the TCI state field corresponds to a TCI state configured / activated for a list of multiple cells configured for simultaneous TCI state updates, and the number of values ​​of the TCI state field in the MC-DCI state is based on the number of lists of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates. In other aspects, the MC-DCI format may include a value of a TCI state field, wherein the value is based on a set of reference TCI states configured / activated on a reference cell. In further aspects, multiple TCI state indications corresponding to different cells or groups of cells in a set of co-scheduled cells may be provided using multiple separate values ​​in the MC-DCI format or using a single value based on a joint multi-cell TCI state map or table. In one example, when the MC-DCI format includes multiple TCI state indications, the MC-DCI format may include a single TCI state field having multiple values, or may include multiple TCI state fields each having a separate value corresponding to one of the indicated TCI states.

[0092] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide for determining the presence or absence of a TCI field in an MC-DCI format. In further embodiments, the UE determines whether the MC-DCI format includes or does not include a TCI status field based on the specification of the system operation or based on a high-level configuration. In addition, the MC-DCI format may include an indication (such as a 1-bit flag) indicating whether the UE needs to apply a value provided by a recent SC-DCI format (or a recent MC-DCI format) for the TCI status of a co-scheduled cell or a reference value configured or activated by a high-level layer (such as an RRC or MAC CE) on a reference cell.

[0093] In various embodiments, a UE (e.g., 111, 112, 113) may be configured with a list of up to M TCI-State configurations within a higher layer parameter PDSCH-Config to decode the PDSCH based on a detected PDCCH with DCI intended for the UE and a given serving cell, where M depends on the UE capability maxNumberConfiguredTCIstatesPerCC (maximum number of TCI states configured per CC). Each TCI-State contains parameters for configuring a quasi-co-location relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and a DM-RS port of a PDSCH, a DM-RS port of a PDCCH, or a CSI-RS port of a CSI-RS resource. The quasi-co-location relationship is configured by a higher layer parameter qcl-Type1 for a first DL RS and qcl-Type2 for a second DL RS (if configured). For the case of two DL RSs, the QCL type may not be the same, regardless of whether the reference is to the same DL RS or different DL RSs. The quasi co-location type corresponding to each DL RS is given by the higher-layer parameter qcl-Type in QCL-Info and can take one of the following values:

[0094] - "Type A": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}

[0095] - "Type B": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}

[0096] - "Type C": {Doppler shift, average delay}

[0097] - "Type D": {Spatial Rx parameters}.

[0098] The UE may be configured with a list of up to 128 DLorJointTCIState configurations within the higher layer parameter PDSCH-Config for providing quasi-co-located reference signals for the DM-RS of the PDSCH and the DM-RS of the PDCCH in a component carrier (CC) for the CSI-RS, and, if applicable, for determining the UL TX spatial filter for PUSCH and PUCCH resources and SRS based on dynamic grants and configured grants in the CC.

[0099] If there is no DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState configuration in the BWP of a CC, the UE may apply the DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState configuration according to the reference BWP of the reference CC. If the UE is configured with DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState in any CC in a band, the UE is not expected to be configured with TCI-State, SpatialRelationInfo or PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo except SpatialRelationInfoPos in CCs in the same band. The UE may assume that, when the UE is configured with TCI-State in any CC in the CC list configured by simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1-r16, simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2-r16, simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList1-r16 or simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2-r16, the UE is not configured with DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState in any CC in the same frequency band in the CC list.

[0100] The UE receives an activation command as described in clause 6.1.3.14 of REF 5 at [10, TS 38.321] or 6.1.3.x of REF 5 at [10, TS 38.321], which is used to map up to 8 TCI states and / or TCI state pairs, where one TCI state is for a DL channel / signal and one TCI state is for a UL channel / signal, to codepoints of the DCI field “Transmission Configuration Indication” of one CC / DL BWP or a set of CC / DL BWPs, and, if applicable, one CC / UL BWP or a set of CC / UL BWPs. When a set of TCI state IDs is activated for a set of CC / DL BWPs, and, if applicable, for a set of CC / UL BWPs, wherein the applicable list of CCs is determined by the CC indicated in the activation command, the same set of TCI state IDs is applied for all DL and / or UL BWPs in the indicated CC.

[0101] Figure 5A diagram of a formatted message 500 is shown, which illustrates a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE that can be utilized according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE can be sent by the base station 102 to the UE 116 for multi-beam operation with multi-cell scheduling. Figure 5 It is for illustration and is not intended as a limitation on the type of formatted message unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE that may be utilized in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0102] refer to Figure 5 , the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE is identified by a MAC subheader with an eLCID as specified in Table 6.2.1-1b of TS38.321 (REF 5). It has a variable size including the following fields:

[0103] - Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the serving cell to which the MAC CE applies. The length of this field is 5 bits. If the indicated serving cell is configured as part of simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3 or simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4, as specified in TS 38.331 (REF 6), then this MAC CE applies to all serving cells in the set simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3 or simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4, respectively;

[0104] -DL BWP ID: This field, as the code point of the DCI Bandwidth Part Indicator field, indicates the DL BWP to which the MAC CE applies, as specified in TS 38.212 (REF 2). The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits;

[0105] -UL BWP ID: This field, as the code point of the DCI Bandwidth Part Indicator field, indicates the UL BWP to which the MAC CE applies, as specified in TS 38.212 (REF 1). The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits;

[0106] -Pi: This field indicates whether each TCI code point has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. If the Pi field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes a DL TCI state and a UL TCI state. If the Pi field is set to 0, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes only a DL TCI state or a UL TCI state;

[0107] -D / U: This field indicates whether the TCI State ID in the same octet is used for the joint / downlink or uplink TCI state. If this field is set to 1, the TCI State ID in the same octet is used for the joint / downlink. If this field is set to 0, the TCI State ID in the same octet is used for the uplink;

[0108] -TCI State ID: This field indicates the TCI state identified by TCI-StateId, as specified in TS38.331 (REF 6). If D / U is set to 1, a 7-bit length TCI State ID is used, i.e., TCI-StateId as specified in TS38.331 (REF 6). If D / U is set to 0, the most significant bit of the TCI State ID is considered to be a reserved bit, and the remaining 6 bits indicate the UL-TCIState-Id, as specified in TS 38.331 (REF 6). The maximum number of activated TCI states is 16;

[0109] -R: Reserved bit, set to 0.

[0110] In addition, referring to Table 1 below, an example CellGroupConfig (cell group configuration) information element (IE) is shown, which is used to configure a primary cell group (MCG) or a secondary cell group (SCG). A cell group includes a MAC entity, a set of logical channels with an associated RLC entity, and a primary cell (SpCell) and one or more secondary cells.

[0111] Table 1: Example of CellGroupConfig Information Element (IE)

[0112]

[0113]

[0114]

[0115]

[0116] simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1 and simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2 are lists of serving cells that may be updated simultaneously for TCI relations with MAC CE. simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1 and simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2 may not contain the same serving cells. The network will typically not configure serving cells in these lists that are configured with a BWP with two different values ​​for coresetPoolIndex.

[0117] simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4 are lists of serving cells to which the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE applies simultaneously, as specified in [TS 38.321 v17.1.0 clause 6.1.3.47]. Different lists may not contain the same serving cells. The network configures only serving cells configured with unifiedtci-statetype in these lists.

[0118] When the bwp-id or cell of the QCL-TypeA / D source RS in the QCL-Info configured with the TCI state of DLorJointTCIState is not configured, the UE assumes that the QCL-TypeA / D source RS is configured in the CC / DL BWP in which the TCI state applies.

[0119] When tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" or tci-PresentDCI-1-2 is configured for CORESET, a UE with activated DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState receives DCI format 1_1 / 1_2, which provides the indicated DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState for all CCs or CCs in the same CC list configured by simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1-r17, simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2-r17, simultaneousTCI-UpdateList3-r17, simultaneousTCI-UpdateList4-r17. DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 may or may not have (if applicable) a DL assignment. If DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 / does not have DL assignment, the UE may assume the following:

[0120] -CS-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC of the DCI

[0121] - The values ​​of the following DCI fields are set as follows:

[0122] -RV=all "1"

[0123] -MCS=all 1

[0124] -NDI=0

[0125] - Set to all “0”s for FDRA type 0, or all “1”s for FDRA type 1, or all “0”s for dynamicSwitch (same as in Table 10.2-4 of REF 3 at [6, TS 38.213]).

[0126] After the UE receives an initial higher-layer configuration of more than one DLorJointTCIState and before applying the indicated TCI state among the configured TCI states, the UE assumes that the DM-RS of the PDSCH and the DM-RS of the PDCCH and the CSI-RS applying the indicated TCI state are quasi-co-located with the SS / PBCH blocks identified by the UE during the initial access procedure.

[0127] After the UE receives an initial higher layer configuration of more than one DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState and before applying the indicated TCI state among the configured TCI states, the UE assumes that the UL TX spatial filters for PUSCH and PUCCH and SRS based on the dynamic grant and the configured grant for the indicated TCI state (if applicable) are the same as the UL TX spatial filters used for PUSCH transmissions scheduled by the RAR UL grant during the initial access procedure.

[0128] After the UE receives a higher layer configuration of more than one DLorJointTCIState as part of a reconfiguration with a synchronization procedure as described in [12, TS 38.331] and before applying the indicated TCI state among the configured TCI states, the UE assumes that the DM-RS of the PDSCH and the DM-RS of the PDCCH and the CSI-RS to which the indicated TCI state is applied are quasi-co-located with the SS / PBCH blocks or CSI-RS resources identified by the UE during the random access procedure initiated by the reconfiguration with a synchronization procedure as described in REF6 [12, TS 38.331].

[0129] After the UE receives a higher layer configuration of more than one DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState as part of a reconfiguration with a synchronization procedure as described in [12, TS 38.331] and before applying the indicated TCI state among the configured TCI states, the UE assumes that the UL TX spatial filters for PUSCH and PUCCH and SRS based on the dynamic grant and the configured grant for the indicated TCI state (if applicable) are the same as the UL TX spatial filters used for PUSCH transmissions scheduled by the RAR UL grant during the random access procedure initiated by the reconfiguration with a synchronization procedure as described in REF 6 [12, TS 38.331].

[0130] If the UE receives a higher layer configuration of a single DLorJointTCIState that can be used as an indicated TCI state, the UE obtains the QCL assumption from the configured TCI state of the DM-RS of the PDSCH and the DM-RS of the PDCCH and CSI-RS to which the indicated TCI state is applied.

[0131] If the UE receives a higher layer configuration of a single DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState that may be used as the indicated TCI state, the UE determines the UL TX spatial filter (if applicable) according to the configured TCI state for PUSCH and PUCCH and SRS based on the dynamic grant and the configured grant to which the indicated TCI state is applied.

[0132] When the UE is about to transmit the last symbol of a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a DCI carrying a TCI state indication and without a DL assignment, or corresponding to a PDSCH scheduling by a DCI carrying a TCI state indication, and if the indicated TCI state is different from the previously indicated TCI state, the indicated DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIstate shall be changed from at least the last symbol of the PUCCH after The first time slot and Each symbol is determined on the carrier with the smallest SCS among the carriers to which beam indication is applied.

[0133] If the UE is configured with a pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationListForMultiPDSCH-r17 in which one or more rows contain multiple SLIVs for a PDSCH on the DL BWP of a serving cell, and the UE is receiving a DCI carrying a TCI-State indication and without a DL assignment, the UE does not expect the DCI to indicate a number of SLIVs greater than one in the rows of pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationListForMultiPDSCH-r17.

[0134] If the UE is configured with [NumberOfAdditionalPCI] and is configured with a PDCCH-Config containing two different values ​​for coresetPoolIndex in ControlResourceSet, the UE receives an activation command for the CORESET associated with each coresetPoolIndex, as described in clause 6.1.3.14 of REF 5 [10, TS 38.321], which is used to map up to 8 TCI states to the codepoint of the DCI field "TransmissionConfiguration Indication" in one CC / DL BWP. When a set of TCI state IDs is activated for a coresetPoolIndex, the activated TCI state corresponding to one coresetPoolIndex may be associated with one physical cell ID, and the activated TCI state corresponding to another coresetPoolIndex may be associated with another physical cell ID.

[0135] When the UE supports two TCI states in the code point of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication", the UE may receive an activation command as described in clause 6.1.3.24 of REF 5 [10, TS 38.321], the activation command is used to map up to 8 combinations of one or two TCI states to the code point of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication". It is not expected that the UE receives more than 8 TCI states in the activation command.

[0136] When the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication" is present in DCI format 1_2, and when the number of code points S in the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication" of DCI format 1_2 is less than the number of TCI code points activated by the activation command, as described in clauses 6.1.3.14 and 6.1.3.24 of REF 5 [10, TS38.321], only the first S activated code points are applied to DCI format 1_2.

[0137] When the UE is to send a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information in slot n corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the activation command, the mapping of the indication between the TCI state and the code point of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication" shall be from slot n to , where m is the SCS configuration for PUCCH, and is used for frequency range 1 with a value of 0 The subcarrier spacing configuration is Provided by K-Mac or (If K-Mac is not provided). If tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" or tci-PresentDCI-1-2 is configured for a CORESET scheduling PDSCH, and the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than timeDurationForQCL (duration of the QCL) (if applicable), then after the UE receives the initial higher layer configuration of the TCI state and before receiving the activation command, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with the SS / PBCH blocks determined during the initial access procedure with respect to qcl-Type set to "Type A" and, where applicable, also with respect to qcl-Type set to "Type D".

[0138] If the UE is configured with the higher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI set to "enabled" for a CORESET scheduling PDSCH, the UE assumes that the TCI field is present in DCI format 1_1 of the PDCCH sent on the CORESET. If the UE is configured with the higher layer parameter tci-PresentDCI-1-2 for a CORESET scheduling PDSCH, the UE assumes that the TCI field with the DCI field size indicated by tci-PresentDCI-1-2 is present in DCI format 1_2 of the PDCCH sent on the CORESET. If the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format in which the TCI field is not present and the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH of the serving cell is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL (if applicable), where the threshold is based on reported UE capabilities [13, TS 38.306], then for the purpose of determining PDSCH antenna port quasi co-location, the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption for the PDSCH is the same as the TCI state or QCL assumption of the CORESET applied for PDCCH transmissions within the active BWP of the serving cell.

[0139] When the UE is configured with both sfnSchemePdcch and sfnSchemePdsch scheduled by DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 / 1_2, if the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH of the serving cell is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL (if applicable):

[0140] - If the UE supports DCI scheduling without the TCI field, the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption for the PDSCH is the same as the TCI state or QCL assumption of the CORESET applied for reception of DL DCI within the active BWP of the serving cell, regardless of the number of active TCI states of the CORESET. If the UE does not support dynamic transition between SFN PDSCH and non-SFN PDSCH, the UE shall be activated with a CORESET with two TCI states.

[0141] - Otherwise, if the UE does not support DCI scheduling without the TCI field, the UE may expect the TCI field to be present when scheduled by DCI format 1_1 / 1_2.

[0142] When a UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch and not configured with sfnSchemePdcch, the UE may expect the TCI field to be present if the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH of the serving cell is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL (if applicable) when scheduled by DCI format 1_1 / 1_2.

[0143] For PDSCH scheduled by DCI formats 1_0, 1_1, 1_2, when the UE is configured with sfnSchemePdcch set to "sfnSchemeA" and no sfnSchemePdsch is configured, and no TCI codepoint with two TCI states is present in the activation command, and if the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL (if applicable) and the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH is indicated to have two TCI states, the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption for the PDSCH is the same as the first TCI state or QCL assumption applied to the CORESET used for PDCCH transmission within the active BWP of the serving cell.

[0144] If the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format in which the TCI field is present, the TCI field in the DCI in the scheduled component carrier points to the activated TCI state in the scheduled component carrier or DL ​​BWP, and the UE may use the TCI-State to determine the PDSCH antenna port quasi-co-location based on the value of the "Transmission Configuration Indication" field in the detected PDCCH with DCI. If the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with the RS in the TCI state relative to the QCL type parameter given by the indicated TCI state, where the threshold is based on the reported UE capabilities [13, TS 38.306]. For a single slot PDSCH, the indicated TCI state shall be based on the activated TCI state in the slot with the scheduled PDSCH. For multi-slot PDSCH or the UE is configured with the higher layer parameter [pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationListForMultiPDSCH-r17], the indicated TCI state shall be based on the activated TCI state in the first slot with scheduled PDSCH, and the UE may expect the activated TCI state to be the same across slots with scheduled PDSCH. When the UE is configured with a CORESET associated with a search space set for cross-carrier scheduling and the UE is not configured with enableDefaultBeamForCCS, the UE expects tci-PresentInDCI to be set to "enabled" or tci-PresentDCI-1-2 to be configured for the CORESET, and if one or more of the TCI states configured for serving cells scheduled by the search space set contains qcl-Type set to "Type D", the UE expects the time offset between the detected PDCCH in the search space set and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH to be greater than or equal to the threshold timeDurationForQCL.

[0145] Independently of the configuration of tci-PresentInDCI and tci-PresentDCI-1-2 in RRC connected mode, if the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL and at least one configured TCI state of the serving cell for scheduling the PDSCH contains qcl-Type set to "Type D", the UE may assume at least one of the following:

[0146] - The DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with the RS, with respect to the QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi-co-location indication for the CORESET, which is associated with the monitored search space with the lowest controlResourceSetId in the latest slot in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE. In this case, if the qcl-Type of the PDSCH DM-RS set to "Type D" is different from the qcl-Type of the PDCCH DM-RS with which they overlap in at least one symbol, the UE is expected to receive the PDCCH associated with this CORESET with priority. This also applies to the intra-band CA case (when the PDSCH and the CORESET are in different component carriers).

[0147] - If the UE is configured with enableDefaultTCI-StatePerCoresetPoolIndex and the UE is configured by the higher layer parameter PDCCH-Config containing two different values ​​of coresetPoolIndex in different ControlResourceSets, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH associated with the value of coresetPoolIndex of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with the RS, relative to the QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi-co-location indication of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest controlResourceSetId among the CORESETs that are configured with the same value of coresetPoolIndex as the PDCCH scheduling the PDSCH, in the latest slot in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell and associated with the same value of coresetPoolIndex as the PDCCH scheduling the PDSCH are monitored by the UE. In this case, if the "QCL-TypeD" of the PDSCH DM-RS is different from the "QCL-TypeD" of the PDCCH DM-RS with which they overlap in at least one symbol, and they are associated with the same value of coresetPoolIndex, the UE is expected to receive the PDCCH associated with that CORESET preferentially. This also applies to intra-band CA cases (when PDSCH and CORESET are in different component carriers).

[0148] - If the UE is configured with enableTwoDefaultTCI-States and at least one TCI codepoint indicates two TCI states, the UE may assume that the PDSCH transmission opportunities of the serving cell or the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH are quasi-co-located with the RS with respect to the QCL parameters associated with the TCI state corresponding to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states. When the UE is configured by the higher layer parameter repetitionScheme set to "tdmSchemeA" or is configured with the higher layer parameter repetitionNumber, and the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the first PDSCH transmission opportunity is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the mapping of TCI states to PDSCH transmission opportunities is determined according to clause 5.1.2.1 by replacing the indicated TCI state with the TCI state corresponding to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states based on the activated TCI state in the slot with the first PDSCH transmission opportunity. In this case, if the "QCL-TypeD" in the two TCI states corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points containing two different TCI states is different from the "QCL-TypeD" of the PDCCH DM-RS with which they overlap in at least one symbol, the UE is expected to receive the PDCCH associated with the CORESET preferentially. This also applies to the intra-band CA case (when the PDSCH and CORESET are in different component carriers).

[0149] -If the UE is not configured with sfnSchemePdsch and the UE is configured with sfnSchemePdcch set to "sfnSchemeA" and no TCI codepoint with two TCI states is present in the activation command and the CORESET with the lowest ID in the latest timeslot is indicated with two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with the RS with respect to the QCL parameters associated with the first of the two TCI states indicated for the CORESET.

[0150] In all the above cases, if the configured TCI state of the serving cell of the scheduled PDSCH is configured with qcl-Type set to "Type D", the UE can obtain other QCL assumptions based on the indicated TCI state for its scheduled PDSCH, regardless of the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH.

[0151] If a PDCCH carrying a scheduling DCI is received on one component carrier, and the PDSCH scheduled by this DCI is on another component carrier: determine timeDurationForQCL based on the subcarrier spacing of the scheduled PDSCH. If µ PDCCH <µ PDSCH , then additional timing delay is added to timeDurationForQCL, where d is defined in 5.2.1.5.1a-1, otherwise d is zero. When the UE is configured with enableDefaultBeamForCCS, if the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, or if the TCI field is not present in the DL DCI, the UE obtains its QCL assumption for the scheduled PDSCH according to the activated TCI state of the lowest ID of the PDSCH in the active BWP applicable to the scheduled cell.

[0152] As described in [18, TS 38.822], a UE that has indicated that the capability beamCorrespondenceWithoutUL-BeamSweeping is set to "1" may determine the spatial domain filters to be used when performing the applicable channel access procedure described in [16, TS 37.213] to send UL transmissions on the channel as follows: if the UE is indicated with an SRI corresponding to an UL transmission, the UE may use the same spatial domain filters as the spatial domain transmit filters associated with the indicated SRI; if the UE is configured with a TCI-State configuration with DLorJointTCIState or UL-TCIState, the UE may use the same spatial domain transmit filters as the spatial domain receive filters that the UE may use to receive DL reference signals associated with the indicated TCI state.

[0153] When a PDCCH reception includes two PDCCHs in two corresponding search space sets, as described in clause 10.1 of REF 3 [6, TS 38.213], for determining the time offset between reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH, the PDCCH candidate that ends later in time is used. When a PDCCH reception includes two PDCCH candidates according to two corresponding search space sets, as described in clause 10.1 of REF 3 [6, TS 38.213], for the configuration of tci-PresentInDCI or tci-PresentDCI-1-2, the UE expects the same configuration in the first CORESET and the second CORESET associated with the two PDCCH candidates; and if the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format in which the TCI field is not present, and if the scheduling offset is equal to or greater than timeDurationForQCL, then, if applicable, the PDSCH QCL assumption is based on the CORESET with the lower ID among the first CORESET and the second CORESET associated with the two PDCCH candidates.

[0154] For periodic CSI-RS resources in an NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher-layer parameter trs-Info, the UE may expect the TCI state to indicate one of the following quasi-co-location types: "Type C" with SS / PBCH blocks and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same SS / PBCH blocks, or "Type C" with SS / PBCH blocks and, when applicable, "Type D" with CSI-RS resources in an NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher-layer parameter repetition.

[0155] For periodic / semi-persistent CSI-RS, the UE may assume that the indicated DLorJointTCIState does not apply.

[0156] For non-periodic CSI-RS resources in an NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher-level parameter trs-Info, the UE may expect the TCI-State indication qcl-Type to be set to "Type A" with periodic CSI-RS resources in an NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher-level parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, qcl-Type to be set to "Type D" with the same periodic CSI-RS resources.

[0157] For CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet that are not configured with the higher-layer parameter trs-Info and the higher-layer parameter repetition, the UE may expect the TCI-State to indicate at least one of the following quasi co-location types:

[0158] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources;

[0159] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info and, when applicable, "Type D" with SS / PBCH blocks; or

[0160] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition; or

[0161] - When "Type D" is not applicable, "Type B", with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info.

[0162] For CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition, the UE may expect the TCI status to indicate at least one of the following quasi co-location types:

[0163] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources;

[0164] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition; and

[0165] - "Type C" with SS / PBCH blocks, and when applicable, "Type D" with the same SS / PBCH blocks, the reference RS may additionally be a SS / PBCH block with a PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell. The UE may assume that the center frequency, SCS, SFN offset are the same for the SS / PBCH blocks according to the serving cell and the SS / PBCH blocks with a PCI different from the serving cell.

[0166] For the DM-RS of the PDCCH, the UE may expect a TCI-State other than the indicated DLorJointTCIState or a DLorJointTCIState indicating one of the following quasi co-location types:

[0167] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources;

[0168] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition; and

[0169] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet that are not configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info and the higher layer parameter repetition, and "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources when applicable.

[0170] When the UE is configured with sfnSchemePdcch set to 'sfnSchemeA' and the CORESET is activated with two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDCCH in the CORESET are quasi-co-located with the DL-RS of the two TCI states. When the UE is configured with sfnSchemePdcch set to 'sfnSchemeB' and the CORESET is activated with two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDCCH are quasi-co-located with the DL-RS of the two TCI states except for the quasi-co-location parameters {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} of the second indicated TCI state.

[0171] For the DM-RS of the PDSCH, the UE may expect a TCI-State other than the indicated DLorJointTCIState or a DLorJointTCIState indicating at least one of the following quasi co-location types:

[0172] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources;

[0173] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition; and

[0174] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet that are not configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info and the higher layer parameter repetition, and "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources when applicable.

[0175] For the DM-RS of the PDCCH, the UE may expect the indicated DLorJointTCIState to indicate one of the following quasi co-location types:

[0176] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources; and

[0177] - "Type A", with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D", with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition.

[0178] For DM-RS of PDSCH, if the UE is configured with [TCI-State] with [tci-StateId_r17], the UE may expect the indicated DLorJointTCIState to indicate one of the following quasi co-location types:

[0179] - "Type A" with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D" with the same CSI-RS resources; and

[0180] - "Type A", with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter trs-Info, and, when applicable, "Type D", with CSI-RS resources in NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet configured with the higher layer parameter repetition.

[0181] When the UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch set to "sfnSchemeA" and the UE is indicated in the code point of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication" in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH that there are two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH are quasi-co-located with the DL-RSs of the two TCI states. When the UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch set to "sfnSchemeB" and the UE is indicated in the code point of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication" in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH that there are two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH are quasi-co-located with the DL-RSs of the two TCI states in addition to the quasi-co-location parameters {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} of the second indicated TCI state.

[0182] In carrier aggregation (CA), two or more component carriers (CCs) corresponding to two or more cells are aggregated. The UE can receive or transmit simultaneously on one or more CCs / cells depending on its capabilities. A UE with a single timing advance capability for CA can simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells sharing the same timing advance (multiple serving cells grouped in one TAG). A UE with multiple timing advance capabilities for CA can simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells with different timing advances (multiple serving cells grouped in multiple TAGs). NG-RAN ensures that each TAG contains at least one serving cell. A UE without CA capability can receive on a single CC and transmit only on a single CC corresponding to one serving cell (one serving cell in one TAG).

[0183] CA is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs in frequency. When CA is deployed, frame timing and SFN are aligned across cells that may be aggregated, or an offset of a multiple of the timeslot between PCell / PSCell and SCell is configured to the UE. The maximum number of configured CCs for a UE is 16 for DL ​​and 16 for UL.

[0184] When CA is configured, the UE has one RRC connection with the network. One serving cell provides NAS mobility information upon RRC connection establishment / reestablishment / handover, and one serving cell provides security input upon RRC connection establishment / handover. This cell is called the primary cell (PCell). Depending on the UE capabilities, a secondary cell (SCell) can be configured to form a set of serving cells together with the PCell. Therefore, the set of configured serving cells of the UE includes one PCell and one or more SCells.

[0185] Reconfiguration, addition and removal of SCells can be performed by RRC. The network can also add, remove, keep or reconfigure SCells for use with the target PCell at intra-NR handover and during connection recovery from RRC_INACTIVE. When adding a new SCell, dedicated RRC signaling is used to send all required system information for the SCell, i.e., the UE does not need to obtain broadcast system information directly from the SCell when in connected mode.

[0186] In order to achieve reduced UE battery consumption when CA is configured, an activation / deactivation mechanism for cells is supported. When a SCell is deactivated, the UE does not need to receive the corresponding PDCCH or PDSCH, cannot be transmitted in the corresponding uplink, and CQI measurements do not need to be performed. However, when the SCell is active, the UE receives PDSCH and PDCCH (if the UE is configured to monitor the PDCCH in that SCell) and is expected to be able to perform CQI measurements. NG-RAN ensures that when a PUCCH SCell (a secondary cell configured with PUCCH) is deactivated, the SCells of the secondary PUCCH group (a group of SCells whose PUCCH signaling is associated with the PUCCH on the PUCCH SCell) should not be activated. NG-RAN ensures that the SCell mapped to the PUCCH SCell is deactivated before the PUCCH SCell is changed or removed.

[0187] When the set of serving cells is reconfigured, the SCells added to the set are initially activated or deactivated, and the SCells remaining in the set (unchanged or reconfigured) do not change their activation state (activated or deactivated).

[0188] The SCell is activated or deactivated at handover or when the connection is recovered from RRC_INACTIVE.

[0189] In order to achieve reduced UE battery consumption and reduced UE complexity when CA is configured, one UL BWP and one DL BWP or one DL / UL BWP pair for each uplink carrier can be active simultaneously in the active serving cell, and all other BWPs configured by the UE are deactivated. On the deactivated BWP, the UE does not monitor the PDCCH and does not transmit on the PUCCH, PRACH and UL-SCH.

[0190] To achieve fast SCell activation when CA is configured, a dormant BWP can be configured for the SCell. If the active BWP of the activated SCell is the dormant BWP, the UE stops monitoring PDCCH and sending SRS / PUSCH / PUCCH on the SCell, but continues to perform CSI measurements, AGC and beam management (if configured). DCI is used to control the dormant BWP entering / leaving one or more SCells or one or more SCell groups.

[0191] The dormant BWP is one of the dedicated BWPs of the UE configured by the network via dedicated RRC signaling. SpCell and PUCCH SCell cannot be configured with a dormant BWP.

[0192] Cross-carrier scheduling using the carrier indicator field (CIF) allows the DCI format provided by the PDCCH on the serving / scheduling cell to schedule resources on another serving / scheduling cell with the following restrictions. When cross-carrier scheduling from SCell to PCell is not configured for the UE, the UE's transmission or reception on the PCell can be scheduled only by the DCI format provided by the PDCCH reception on the PCell. When cross-carrier scheduling from SCell to PCell is configured for the UE: the PDCCH on the SCell can provide a DCI format that schedules the PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission of the UE on the PCell; the PDCCH on the PCell can provide a DCI format that schedules the PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission of the UE on the PCell; or only one SCell can be configured to the UE for cross-carrier scheduling on the PCell. When the SCell is configured to the UE as a scheduling cell, the UE's PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission is scheduled by the DCI format provided by the PDCCH reception on the SCell. When the SCell is not configured to the UE as a scheduling cell, the UE's PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission is scheduled by a DCI format provided by PDCCH reception on another serving cell. The PDCCH reception on the scheduling cell may have the same or different parameter set as the associated PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on the scheduled cell.

[0193] A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may be used to schedule DL transmissions on the PDSCH and UL transmissions on the PUSCH, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) on the PDCCH includes a downlink assignment including at least a modulation and coding format, resource allocation, and hybrid ARQ information related to the DL-SCH, and an uplink scheduling grant including at least a modulation and coding format, resource allocation, and hybrid ARQ information related to the UL-SCH.

[0194] In addition to scheduling, the PDCCH can also be used to: activate and deactivate configured PUSCH transmissions with configured grants; activate and deactivate PDSCH semi-persistent transmissions; notify one or more UEs of the timeslot format; notify one or more UEs of PRBs and OFDM symbols where the UE can assume that no transmission is intended for the UE; transmit TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH; transmit one or more TPC commands for SRS transmission by one or more UEs; convert the active bandwidth portion of the UE; initiate a random access procedure; instruct the UE to monitor the PDCCH during the next occurrence of the DRX on duration; and in the IAB context, indicate the availability of soft symbols for the IAB-DU.

[0195] The UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates in configured monitoring occasions in one or more configured control resource sets (CORESETs) according to the corresponding search space set configuration.

[0196] A CORESET consists of a set of PRBs with a duration of 1 to 3 OFDM symbols. Resource elements Resource element groups (REGs) and control channel elements (CCEs) are defined within a CORESET, where each CCE consists of a set of REGs. A control channel is formed by aggregation of CCEs. Different code rates for control channels are achieved by aggregating different numbers of CCEs. Interleaved and non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping is supported in a CORESET.

[0197] Polarization coding is used for DCI formats in PDCCH. Each resource element group carrying PDCCH carries its own DM-RS. QPSK modulation is used for the coded symbols of the DCI formats in PDCCH.

[0198] The UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs on an active DLBWP on each activated serving cell configured with PDCCH monitoring according to the corresponding search space set, where monitoring means receiving each PDCCH candidate and decoding the received information after demodulation according to the DCI format used for monitoring of the PDCCH candidates.

[0199] Throughout the present disclosure, embodiments are described in terms of multiple PDSCHs or multiple PUSCHs co-scheduled on multiple serving cells (such as a subset / set of cells among one or more sets of co-scheduled cells). The embodiments are general and can be applied to various other scenarios, such as when a UE is co-scheduled to: (a) receive multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs from / transmit multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs to multiple transmit-receive points (TRPs) or other communication entities (such as multiple distributed units (DUs) multiple remote radio heads (RRHs), etc.), for example, in distributed MIMO operation, where the TRPs / DUs / RRHs can be associated with one or more cells; (b) receive multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs in multiple time units (such as multiple time slots or multiple transmission time intervals (TTIs)) (c) receiving / transmitting multiple PDSCH / PUSCHs on one or more TRPs / cells, where the UE may receive / transmit more than one PDSCH / PUSCH on each jointly scheduled TRP / cell; (d) receiving / transmitting multiple PDSCH / PUSCHs for multiple transport blocks (TBs) or for multiple codewords (CWs) corresponding to a single TB or multiple TBs; or (d) receiving / transmitting multiple PDSCH / PUSCHs for multiple semi-persistently scheduled PDSCHs (SPSPDSCHs) or for multiple configured granted PUSCHs (CG PUSCHs) jointly activated on one or more TRPs / cells.

[0200] Therefore, any reference to "co-scheduled cells" may be replaced by "co-scheduled TRP / DU / RRH", or "co-scheduled timeslot / TTI", or "co-scheduled PDSCH / PUSCH", or "co-scheduled TB / CW", or "co-scheduled SPS-PDSCH / CG-PUSCH", etc. Similarly, other related terms may be replaced by similar terms, such as "multi-cell scheduling", etc.

[0201] Various embodiments contemplate the reception of multiple PDSCHs or the transmission of multiple PUSCHs on corresponding cells, including carriers of the same cell, such as on an UL carrier (also referred to as a normal UL (NUL) carrier) or a supplementary UL (SUL) carrier. The embodiments also apply to situations where scheduling is for a mix of PDSCHs and PUSCHs. For example, a UE may receive a first PDSCH on a corresponding first cell and may send a second PUSCH on a corresponding second cell, wherein the first PDSCH and the second PUSCH are jointly scheduled.

[0202] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide multi-cell scheduling operations. A set of multiple co-scheduled cells may be provided to the UE by a high layer. The term "a set of co-scheduled cells" is used to refer to a set of serving cells, wherein the UE may be scheduled for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on two or more cells in the set of co-scheduled cells jointly through a single DCI format or by using complementary methods (such as those described in more embodiments below). For ease of presentation, such a DCI format may be referred to as a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. The MC-DCI format may be a new DCI format, such as DCI format 0_3 for a co-scheduled PUSCH or 1_3 for a co-scheduled PDSCH. In addition, a subset of a set of co-scheduled cells may be indicated to the UE via a DCI format (such as an MC-DCI format) in the PDCCH or via a MAC CE in the PDSCH, wherein the cells of the subset may change across different PDCCH monitoring opportunities (MO). For example, a first MC-DCI format in a first MO may indicate a first set / subset of co-scheduled cells, and a second DCI format in a second MO may indicate a second set / subset of co-scheduled cells.

[0203] In one example, multi-cell scheduling may also include operations related to DL / UL transmission, such as reporting HARQ-ACK information, beam / CSI measurement or reporting, sending or receiving UL / DL reference signals, and the like.

[0204] In one example, the UE may be configured with multiple sets of co-scheduled cells by a higher layer (such as by a UE-specific RRC configuration). For example, the UE may be configured with a first set of cells, such as {cell #0, cell #1, cell #4, cell #7}, and a second set of cells, such as {cell #2, cell #3, cell #5, cell #6}. Multiple sets of co-scheduled cells may be scheduled according to the same scheduling cell or different scheduling cells.

[0205] In one example, the set of co-scheduled cells may include a primary cell (PCell / PSCell) and one or more SCells. In another example, the set of co-scheduled cells may include only SCells. In one example, the scheduling cell may belong to the set of co-scheduled cells. In another example, the scheduling cell may not belong to the set of co-scheduled cells. In another example, the UE does not expect the scheduling cell to belong to the set of co-scheduled cells.

[0206] In one example, according to the specification of system operation, the set of co-scheduled cells is defined as a set of all scheduled cells having the same scheduling cell, and no additional high-level configuration is required to indicate the set of co-scheduled cells. Therefore, the DCI format or other complementary methods for multi-cell scheduling can jointly schedule any number of scheduled cells having the same scheduling cell. For example, the MC-DCI format can include a bitmap to indicate which scheduled cells are jointly scheduled.

[0207] In another example, the set of co-scheduled cells may have two or more scheduling cells. For example, the UE may receive a first MC-DCI format in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity on a first scheduling cell for scheduling a set of co-scheduled cells, and may receive a second MC-DCI format in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity on a second scheduling cell for scheduling a set of co-scheduled cells. The DCI format may be associated with any search space set type (CSS or USS) or may be limited to being associated only with a USS set. For example, the DCI format may be associated with multicast scheduling and the CRC may be scrambled by the G-RNTI and the PDCCH candidates may be monitored according to the CSS set, or may be associated with unicast scheduling and the CRC may be scrambled by the C-RNTI and the PDCCH candidates may be monitored according to the USS set. Such PDCCH monitoring according to two scheduling cells may be simultaneous, such as in the same symbol span or in the same time slot, or may be non-overlapping, such as in different time slots (as configured by a higher layer, or as indicated in the PDCCH or via a MAC CE). The UE may or may not expect that both the first scheduled cell and the second scheduled cell may schedule PUSCH transmission or PDSCH reception on the same cell through the DCI format in the PDCCH reception in the same time interval (such as a span) or time slot. For example, for a given scheduled cell, the UE may be configured to monitor the PDCCH that provides MC-DCI corresponding to a set of co-scheduled cells that include the given scheduled cell only on the first scheduled cell, or only on the second scheduled cell, or on both the first scheduled cell and the second scheduled cell. The UE may also monitor the PDCCH to detect a DCI format that provides scheduling only on one cell in the set of co-scheduled cells (single-cell scheduling DCI format). For example, the UE may be configured to monitor the PDCCH on the first scheduled cell for single-cell scheduling on the serving cell, and monitor the PDCCH on the second scheduled cell for multi-cell scheduling on a set of co-scheduled cells including the serving cell.

[0208] The UE may report one or more of the following to the gNB as a capability: a maximum number of sets of co-scheduled cells, or a maximum number of cells within a set of co-scheduled cells, or a maximum total number of co-scheduled cells across different sets, or a maximum number of co-scheduled cells per PDCCH monitoring occasion. In one example, the capability may depend on the operating band or on a frequency range, such as above or below 6 GHz.

[0209] Multi-cell scheduling may be an optional UE feature with capability signaling, which may additionally be separate for PDSCH reception and PUSCH transmission. For example, a UE may report a capability of a maximum number of {2, 4, 8, 16} co-scheduled cells for DL ​​and a capability of a maximum number of {2, 4} co-scheduled cells for UL. A UE may be configured with a set / subset of multiple co-scheduled cells such that the size of the set / subset does not exceed the corresponding value of the UE capability report. For example, a UE may be configured with a separate set of co-scheduled cells for PDSCH reception compared to a set of co-scheduled cells for PUSCH transmission.

[0210] The UE may also be configured with multiple cells that do not belong to any set of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE may be configured with cell #8 that does not belong to the first set of co-scheduled cells or the second set of co-scheduled cells in the previous example.

[0211] In one example, restrictions may be applied to co-scheduled cells, and the UE may expect the co-scheduled cells in the corresponding set to: have the same set of parameters (SCS configuration and CP); have the same set of parameters for the corresponding active DL / UL BWP; have the same duplex configuration, for example, all cells have FDD configuration or all cells have TDD configuration, and in the case of TDD configuration, also have the same UL-DL configuration; be in the same frequency band (intra-band CA) or in the same frequency range (such as FR1 or FR2 or FR2-1 or FR2-2); or have the same license type, for example, all cells are licensed or all cells are unlicensed.

[0212] In one example, if the scheduling cell belongs to a set of co-scheduled cells, the above restrictions may not apply to the scheduling cell. For example, the scheduling cell may have a different SCS configuration than the (other) cells in the set of co-scheduled cells. For example, the scheduling cell may be in FR1 and FDD bands, while the set of co-scheduled cells may be jointly scheduled in FR2 and TDD bands.

[0213] The serving cell may belong to only a single set of co-scheduled cells, such that the set of co-scheduled cells does not include any common cells, or may belong to multiple sets of co-scheduled cells to enable greater scheduling flexibility for the serving gNB. For example, the serving cell may belong to a first set of co-scheduled cells and a second set of co-scheduled cells, such as when the cells in the first set of co-scheduled cells and the second set of co-scheduled cells have a common characteristic (such as a common parameter set, duplex configuration, operating band / range, etc.). In addition, the serving cell may belong to both the first set of co-scheduled cells and the second set of co-scheduled cells when the serving cell has a first common characteristic with a cell in the first set of co-scheduled cells and a second common characteristic with a cell in the second set of co-scheduled cells, wherein the first common characteristic may be different from the second common characteristic. When a first cell using paired spectrum operation (FDD) and a second cell using unpaired spectrum operation (TDD) are in the same set of co-scheduled cells and the DCI format schedules a first PDSCH reception on the first cell and a second PDSCH reception on the second cell and the second PDSCH reception includes symbols that are UL symbols on the second cell (e.g., as determined based on the UL-DL configuration provided by the SIB or UE-specific RRC signaling), the UE does not receive the second PDSCH over the UL symbols or does not receive the second PDSCH over any symbols on the second cell. Alternatively, the UE may apply rate matching to the second PDSCH around the UL symbols on the second cell, so that the UE receives the second PDSCH at the adjusted rate in the other remaining symbols. Similar UE behavior may be applied when the first scheduled cell and the second scheduled cell use unpaired spectrum operation with different UL-DL configurations (such as on different frequency bands).

[0214] In the first method, the UE is expected to be provided with multi-cell scheduling for all cells in a set of co-scheduled cells. For example, for a first set of co-scheduled cells including cells {cell #0, cell #1, cell #4, cell #7}, the DCI format schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on all four cells {cell #0, cell #1, cell #4, cell #7} in the first set of co-scheduled cells. When the UE is configured with a first set of co-scheduled cells and a second set of co-scheduled cells, in one example, the UE expects that no service / scheduling cell is configured in both the first set and the second set (i.e., there is no overlap between the first set and the second set). In another example, the first set and the second set may have a common element, i.e., both the first set and the second set may include a first service / scheduling cell. For example, the latter may be applied when both the first set and the second set correspond to the same scheduling cell. For example, the first cell may be a scheduling cell. In one example, the MC-DCI format needs to indicate a set of co-scheduled cells from multiple sets of co-scheduled cells. For example, a first MC-DCI may indicate a first set of co-scheduled cells to jointly schedule all cells in the first set of co-scheduled cells, and a second MC-DCI may indicate a second set of co-scheduled cells to jointly schedule all cells in the second set of co-scheduled cells.

[0215] In a second method, a UE may be provided with multi-cell scheduling for a subset of a set of co-scheduled cells. For example, a DCI format may schedule PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on only two cells in a first set of cells (such as {cell #0, cell #4}).

[0216] In a first option of the second method, a subset of cells may be indicated by a MAC CE. Such a MAC CE command may include one or more of the following: an indication for activating or deactivating / releasing a subset of cells, an indication for the number of sets of co-scheduled cells, and an indication for the number of subsets of co-scheduled cells in a set of a corresponding number of co-scheduled cells.

[0217] For example, a MAC CE activates a first subset of a set of co-scheduled cells, and a subsequent DCI format for multi-cell scheduling is applied to the first subset of cells activated by the MAC CE. The UE may receive another MAC CE command to deactivate the first subset of co-scheduled cells or to activate a second subset of co-scheduled cells, where the second subset may be a subset of the same set of co-scheduled cells or a subset of a different set of co-scheduled cells. If the UE receives a MAC CE to deactivate the first subset of co-scheduled cells but not to activate the second subset of co-scheduled cells, then in one alternative, the UE does not expect to receive a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling, and the UE may not monitor the PDCCH according to the corresponding search space set until the UE receives a new MAC CE activating the second subset of co-scheduled cells. In another alternative, the UE may receive a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling even before receiving a new MAC CE activating the second subset of co-scheduled cells, but the UE expects to be provided with an indication of the subset of co-scheduled cells through a DCI format or by using a complementary method for multi-cell scheduling (such as described in Embodiment E-0-1).

[0218] In a second option for the second method, a subset of the set of co-scheduled cells may be provided by a DCI format in the PDCCH / PDSCH. The subset of cells may change between PDCCH monitoring occasions (MOs) for PDSCH / PUSCH scheduling, as indicated by the corresponding DCI format. For example, a first MC-DCI format in a first PDCCH MO indicates PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling on a first subset of cells, while a second MC-DCI format in a second PDCCH MO indicates PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling on a second subset of cells.

[0219] In a first example, a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling provides an index for a subset of co-scheduled cells, such as a CIF value corresponding to a subset of one or more cells in a set of co-scheduled cells. For example, UE-specific RRC signaling may indicate a first / second / third / fourth index and a corresponding first / second / third / fourth subset, which includes one or more cells in a set of co-scheduled cells, wherein the subset may also include all cells in the co-scheduled cells. Then, a 2-bit CIF field in the DCI format may provide a value indicating a subset of scheduled cells. Such a CIF typically refers to a set of co-scheduled cells, rather than a single scheduled cell, and may therefore be referred to as a "set-level" CIF (compared to a later "cell-level" CIF). A UE may be provided with a separate configuration of a first number of sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells for PDSCH reception, compared to a second number of sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells for PUSCH transmission. Thus, the UE may be provided with a first set of indices for an aggregate-level CIF for PDSCH reception that is different from a second set of indices for an aggregate-level CIF for PUSCH transmission. For example, the UE may be provided with 4 bits for an "aggregate-level" CIF for PDSCH reception, and 3 bits for an "aggregate-level" CIF for PUSCH transmission. The aggregate-level CIF may also be referred to as a cell aggregate indicator function value or a carrier aggregate indicator function value.

[0220] In one example, when a two-stage approach for jointly scheduling a set / subset of co-scheduled cells is used, as described in the following embodiments, when the first-stage DCI is on the first PDCCH on the first cell, and the second-stage DCI is on the first PDSCH on the second cell, and the first PDSCH schedules the second PDSCH / PUSCH, in one option, the UE regards the scheduling cell for the second PDSCH / PUSCH as the first cell, and the corresponding CIF association is defined relative to the first cell and its configuration. In another option, the UE regards the scheduling cell for the second PDSCH / PUSCH as the second cell, and the corresponding CIF association is defined relative to the second cell and its configuration.

[0221] In another example, the DCI format may include a 1-bit flag field to indicate whether the DCI format is for single-cell scheduling or for multi-cell scheduling, so that the UE can interpret the field of the DCI format that may also include the CIF field accordingly. Then, for single-cell scheduling, the CIF field can be interpreted as in the case of single-cell cross-carrier scheduling, and for multi-cell scheduling, the CIF field can be interpreted as indicating a subset of a set of co-scheduled cells. In one example, instead of an explicit 1-bit flag for indicating single-cell scheduling or multi-cell scheduling, the UE may be configured with a set / subset of multiple co-scheduled cells, some of which include only one scheduled cell, while others include more than one scheduled cell. Therefore, the CIF value for single-cell scheduling can be separated from the CIF value for multi-cell scheduling. For example, CIF values ​​0, 1, 2, 3 correspond to scheduling individual cells, and CIF values ​​4, 5, 6, 7 correspond to a set / subset of co-scheduled cells, and the function of the 1-bit flag can be absorbed in the CIF. Therefore, the UE can determine whether the DCI format is for single-cell scheduling or for multi-cell scheduling based on the CIF value.

[0222] In another example, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling provides the number of co-scheduled cells, and the index of the co-scheduled cells is provided by an additional method, such as by an additional DCI format or by higher layer signaling, as described in the following embodiments.

[0223] In another example, the CIF field in the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling may be a bitmap mapping to a separate cell or a subset of cells in a set of co-scheduled cells. For example, when the UE is configured with a maximum number of N scheduled cells (such as N=8 cells) associated with a scheduled cell, the UE may be configured with a bitmap having N bits, wherein a value of "1" for a bit in the bitmap indicates scheduling on the corresponding cell, and a value of "0" for a bit in the bitmap indicates no scheduling on the corresponding cell. For example, the bitmap may be an ascending or descending order of a cell index or (cell-level) CIF value or cell index of a scheduled cell. For example, the leftmost bit (correspondingly, the rightmost bit) may correspond to a scheduled cell with a minimum cell index or cell-level CIF, and the second left-most bit (correspondingly, the second right-most bit) may correspond to a scheduled cell with a second smallest cell index or cell-level CIF, and so on. For example, if the UE is configured with a number of scheduled cells (M), such as M=4 cells, which is less than the maximum supported number of N scheduled cells, such as N=8 cells, then in one option, the bitmap may include 8 bits, and the remaining rightmost (respectively, the remaining leftmost) MN bits, such as 8-4=4 bits, may be all zero or all ones. In another option, the bitmap may include only M=4 bits.

[0224] In other options for the second method, the UE may implicitly determine the index of the cell for co-scheduling without explicit gNB indication. For example, the UE may determine the index of the cell for co-scheduling based on a PDCCH monitoring parameter, such as: a CORESET index; a search space set index or a carrier indicator parameter nCI corresponding to the search space set index; or a set of CCEs in a search space set or the first / last CCE in a search space set; wherein the UE receives a PDCCH providing a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling.

[0225] The UE may be configured for a mapping between a value of a PDCCH monitoring parameter (such as a search space set) and the number of co-scheduled cells or an index of co-scheduled cells. In one example, a first value and a second value of a parameter n_CI in the search space set may indicate a first subset and a second subset of co-scheduled cells, respectively. According to this example, the parameter n_CI may correspond to a single cell or may correspond to a group of cells, such as a subset / set of co-scheduled cells.

[0226] In another option, the UE may implicitly determine the set of co-scheduled cells based on other fields in the MC-DCI format without the need for an explicit CIF field. For example, when the UE is provided with a joint TDRA table for multi-cell scheduling, the index of the joint TDRA table may indicate a set / subset of co-scheduled cells. For example, an entry / row in a joint TDRA table configured by RRC includes first TDRA information for a first cell and second TDRA information for a second cell, and so on, while the entry may not include information for a third cell. Therefore, when the MC-DCI format includes an indication of an entry / row of the joint TDRA table, it means that the first cell and the second cell are jointly scheduled by the MC-DCI format, while the third cell is not scheduled. In one example, other DCI fields with joint indications, such as the FDRA field, may be used in addition to TDRA.

[0227] In another example, the UE expects the MC-DCI to include a number N TDRA fields corresponding to the maximum number N of scheduled cells supported / configured by the scheduled cell, wherein a certain value of the TDRA field (such as all zeros or all ones) is reserved to indicate that there is no scheduling on the corresponding cell. Therefore, when the MC-DCI receives an MC-DCI format including M TDRA fields (from N TDRA fields) with reserved values, the UE determines that the MC-DCI does not schedule the corresponding M cells and only jointly schedules NM cells. In an example, other DCI fields with separate indications, such as the FDRA field, may be used in addition to the TDRA.

[0228] In another example, when a HARQ process number (HPN) field or a redundancy version field or a new data indicator field is provided separately for each scheduled cell in the MC-DCI format and a combination of those fields (such as all those fields) has the same value (such as HPN 15 (counting from 0 to 15 for a 4-bit HPN field), RV 1, and NDI 1) for a subset of co-scheduled cells, the subset of co-scheduled cells may be assumed to be not scheduled by the MC-DCI format.

[0229] In another example, when an MCS field is provided separately for each scheduled cell in the MC-DCI format and the MCS field has a predetermined value (such as 0) for a subset of co-scheduled cells, the subset of co-scheduled cells may be assumed to be not scheduled by the MC-DCI format.

[0230] Reception or transmission on a corresponding subset of cells co-scheduled by a single DCI format or by using complementary methods (such as those described in the following embodiments) may refer to PDSCH or PUSCH that may or may not overlap in time. For example, a UE may be instructed to receive PDSCH or transmit PUSCH on corresponding co-scheduled cells, where all receptions / transmissions are in the same time slot, or at least one reception / transmission is in a different time slot from the remaining receptions / transmissions.

[0231] A first set of cell-common parameters and a second set of cell-specific parameters may be provided to a UE configured for multi-cell scheduling, the values ​​of the first set of cell-common parameters being applied to scheduling on all co-scheduled cells, and the values ​​of the second set of cell-specific parameters being applied to scheduling on each corresponding co-scheduled cell. The UE may determine the cell-common and cell-specific scheduling information parameters based on the specification of system operation or based on a high-level configuration. For some cell-specific scheduling information parameters, the UE may be provided with a difference compared to a reference value, wherein the reference value may correspond to, for example, a first scheduled cell from a set of scheduled cells. For example, the reference value may correspond to a scheduled cell with a minimum cell index or a minimum (cell-level) CIF value.

[0232] For a UE configured with a set of multiple co-scheduled cells, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling may provide complete or partial information of cell-common or cell-specific scheduling parameters for multiple PDSCH receptions or multiple PUSCH transmissions on the corresponding multiple co-scheduled cells. When the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling provides partial information for scheduling parameters, the UE may determine the remaining information according to UE-specific RRC signaling or by other supplementary methods.

[0233] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a mechanism for multi-cell scheduling. For a UE configured with a set of co-scheduled cells, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling may provide all or part of the values ​​of the cell-common and cell-specific fields for scheduling PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on corresponding two or more cells in the set of co-scheduled cells. When the DCI format provides partial information, the UE may determine the remaining information according to RRC signaling or by using other complementary methods.

[0234] In a first method, referred to as a concatenated DCI format for multi-cell scheduling, a single DCI format may include information on all scheduling parameters for all co-scheduled PDSCH receptions or PUSCH transmissions, possibly except for some information provided by a higher layer or predetermined by the specification of the system operation or implicitly determined by the UE. For example, the MC-DCI format may provide values ​​for separate fields for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on each of a plurality of co-scheduled cells. The first value corresponds to the first cell, the second value corresponds to the second cell, and so on. Thus, the DCI format fields for multiple cells are concatenated, so that such a DCI format is referred to as a concatenated DCI format for multi-cell scheduling. This method may be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling cells with different channel characteristics or configurations (such as for inter-band CA operation) or for co-scheduling PDSCH reception and PUSCH transmission. Some DCI fields may be common to the cells and are provided only once in the concatenated DCI format. In one example, the functionality of a field in a first DCI format that provides information for multiple cells and schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on a single cell (such as the SCell dormancy indicator field described in REF 3 TS 38.213 v17.1.0) can remain the same in a second DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on multiple cells, and the field can remain as in the first DCI format. Alternatively, such a field can be omitted from the second DCI format.

[0235] In a second method, referred to as multi-cell scheduling via multi-cell mapping, multi-cell mapping may be used to provide information for multi-cell scheduling of multiple PDSCH / PDCCHs on multiple corresponding cells to a UE, wherein a field in a DCI format may be interpreted as providing multiple values ​​of corresponding scheduling parameters for multiple co-scheduled cells. Such an interpretation may be based on a configured one-to-many mapping / table, or based on multiple configured offset values ​​for corresponding cells applied to a reference value indicated by the DCI format. For example, the field may be an MCS field, wherein the value indicated in the DCI format may be used for PDSCH reception on a first cell, and the value of PDSCH reception on a second cell may be determined based on the first value and the configured offset value. The same MCS value may also be applied to all PDSCH receptions or PUSCH transmissions. This method may be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling cells having several similar physical channel characteristics or configurations, such as for intra-band CA operations.

[0236] In a third method, referred to as single-cell DCI pointing to PDSCH with multi-cell scheduling, information for multi-cell scheduling may be provided to the UE using a single-cell scheduling DCI format (i.e., a DCI format that schedules a first PDSCH on a first cell), wherein the first PDSCH includes scheduling information for reception of a second PDSCH or transmission of a second PUSCH on a subset of one or more sets of co-scheduled cells. This method may be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling several (such as 4-8) cells with different channel characteristics or configurations, such as for inter-band CA operation.

[0237] In the first option of the third method, the first PDSCH includes a MAC CE providing scheduling information of multiple PDSCHs or PUSCHs. Therefore, the MAC CE may include multiple modified DCIs (M-DCIs), wherein each M-DCI includes all or part of the scheduling information of the PDSCH / PUSCH in the multiple PDSCH / PUSCHs.

[0238] In the second option of the third method, multi-cell scheduling information is multiplexed as M-DCI in the PDSCH. The UE receives a first PDSCH scheduled by a single-cell scheduling DCI format, and the UE receives additional scheduling information for one or more PDSCH / PUSCH on one or more corresponding co-scheduled cells. The UE allocates the coded modulation symbols of the M-DCI to the time / frequency resources within the first PDSCH, for example in a frequency-first, time-second manner, except for reserved resources corresponding to reference signals or other cell-level broadcast transmissions. The UE may start receiving the M-DCI in the first symbol of the first PDSCH or in the first symbol after the first symbol with DM-RS RE in the first PDSCH. The M-DCI may be jointly coded and include a single CRC.

[0239] In a fourth method, referred to as multi-stage PDCCH / DCI for multi-cell scheduling, a multi-stage DCI method (such as 2-stage DCI) may be used to provide a UE with information for multi-cell scheduling of multiple PDSCH / PUSCHs on multiple corresponding cells, wherein, for example, a first-stage DCI format includes a set of fields common to the cells, and a second-stage DCI format includes cell-specific fields. The UE receives the first-stage DCI format in a first PDCCH and receives the second-stage DCI format in a second PDCCH. The first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are linked. In one example, the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are in the same search space set. For example, the method may be advantageous for co-scheduling several cells having several common physical characteristics, such as time domain resource allocation or frequency domain resource allocation using the first-stage DCI format and receiving cell-specific parameters when the second PDCCH is received in the same time slot as the first PDCCH, without incurring delays or making the DCI format size too large (which would result if the first-stage DCI format and the second-stage DCI format were combined into a single DCI format). The first stage DCI format may also indicate the time / frequency resources used to provide the PDCCH of the second stage DCI format, such as the index of the PDCCH candidate for the corresponding CCE aggregation level, so that the UE can interpret the content of the second stage DCI format or reduce the number of PDCCH receptions. The UE may determine the association among multiple linked multi-stage PDCCH / DCIs (such as two PDCCH / DCIs), which provide multi-cell scheduling information based on the parameters of the linked DCI format (such as the size of the DCI format or the RNTI associated with the DCI format), or through explicit indications in some fields in the DCI format, or based on PDCCH monitoring parameters (such as CORESET, search space, CCE or the monitoring opportunity in which the UE receives the first linked PDCCH and the second linked PDCCH).

[0240] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TCI field that is not present in a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. In another embodiment, the MC-DCI format does not include a field for indicating the TCI state. Therefore, the UE determines the TCI state of the co-scheduled cells through the MC-DCI format based on the most recent TCI state indicated individually for each cell in the set of co-scheduled cells through the single-cell scheduling DCI (SC-DCI) format. The UE can provide the minimum processing time or application time among the most recent SC-DCI format and the MC-DCI format of the TCI state based on the UE capability requirements.

[0241] For example, the UE receives an indication of a first TCI state of a first cell using a first SC-DCI format, and receives an indication of a second TCI state of a second cell using a second SC-DCI format. When the UE receives an MC-DCI format after the first SC-DCI format and the second SC-DCI format, and the MC-DCI format jointly schedules the PDSCH or PUSCH on the first cell and the second cell, the MC-DCI format may not include the TCI state field, and the UE applies the first TCI state and the second TCI state for the first cell and the second cell, respectively. Here, it is assumed that the first DCI format and the second DCI format are the most recent SC-DCI formats before the reception of the MC-DCI format.

[0242] In one example, in order to determine the most recent SC-DCI format that provides an indication of the TCI state of a co-scheduled cell via an MC-DCI format, the UE determines the most recent DCI format as a SC-DCI format before the UE receives the MC-DCI format that is (in the first option) no later than N symbols before the first / last symbol of the PDCCH including the MC-DCI format, or (in the second option) no later than N symbols before the first / last symbol of the first / earliest (or last / latest) PDSCH in the corresponding co-scheduled PDSCH or the first / earliest (or last / latest) PUSCH in the corresponding co-scheduled PUSCH, or when the most recent SC-DCI corresponds to the Mth cell, no later than N symbols before the first / last symbol of the Mth PDSCH or PUSCH in the corresponding co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH of the Mth cell. For example, if the UE receives an SC-DCI format in a second PDCCH, the UE is not expected to apply the TCI state indicated by the SC-DCI format received by the UE before the MC-DCI format for the cells in the set of co-scheduled cells indicated by the MC-DCI format, and the second PDCCH starts / ends in a symbol that is N symbols (i.e., less than N symbols) later than the first (or last) symbol before the first (or last) symbol of the first PDCCH including the MC-DCI format (in the first option) or (in the second option) later than the first (or last) PDSCH in the corresponding co-scheduled PDSCH or the first (or last) PUSCH in the corresponding co-scheduled PUSCH (i.e., less than N symbols) before the first (or last) symbol. Here, the first / earliest (or last / latest) PDSCH or PUSCH can be based on the starting symbol (or ending) symbol of the PDSCH or PUSCH relative to the SCS, as described later. In one example, N symbols are considered after the (first or) last symbol of the PDCCH including the SC-DCI format. In another example, N symbols are considered after the (first or) last symbol of the PUCCH or PUSCH to be transmitted by the UE, wherein the PUCCH or PUSCH will include HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the SC-DCI format (or corresponding to the PDSCH scheduled by the SC-DCI format). For example, the above option can be modified so that N symbols are replaced with the start of the first time slot after N symbols.For example, the UE determines the most recent SC-DCI format corresponding to the first cell before the MC-DCI format as the first SC-DCI format indicating the first TCI state applicable to the first cell when scheduling or not scheduling the second PDSCH on the first cell, so that the first / last symbol of the PDCCH including the MC-DCI format, or the first PDSCH / PUSCH corresponding to the first cell among the PDSCH / PUSCH jointly scheduled by the MC-DCI format is in a time slot that is the same as or after the first time slot, and the first time slot is after the time slot, or after the first / last symbol of the time slot, or N symbols after the first / last symbol of the PUCCH or PUSCH that will provide HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the first SC-DCI format (or corresponding to the second PDSCH scheduled by the first SC-DCI format).

[0243] Here, N symbols (or the first time slot after N symbols) are based on the UE capability of the minimum processing time or application time, such as PDSCH processing time, or PUSCH processing time, or the duration of QCL application, or beam application time, such as , as considered in [TS 38.214 v17.2.0]. In another example, N symbols are based on UE capabilities for PDCCH processing time, such as the minimum number of symbols required before transmitting HARQ-ACK corresponding to DCI format 1_1 or 0_1 or 1_2 or 0_2, DCI format 1_1 or 0_1 or 1_2 or 0_2 is reused for TCI state indication or SCell sleep indication or for release / deactivation of SPS PDSCH, etc., as considered in REF 4 [TS 38.214, v17.2.0] or REF3 [TS 38.213, v17.2.0]. Here, the symbol can be relative to:

[0244] *The SCS of the scheduled cell (active BWP) for which the UE receives the SC-DCI format;

[0245] * SCS of the scheduled cell (active BWP) in MC-DCI format or SC-DCI format;

[0246] * Common SCS of (active BWP of) the set of cells configured for co-scheduling, if applicable;

[0247] * the minimum (or maximum) SCS configuration (of active BWP) among the set of co-scheduled cells;

[0248] * The SCS configuration of the cell with the smallest cell index (or with the largest cell index) among the set of co-scheduled cells (such as the SCS of the active BWP or the configured minimum or maximum SCS);

[0249] * the SCS configuration of the cell with the smallest cell-level CIF (or with the largest cell-level CIF) among the set of co-scheduled cells (such as the SCS of the active BWP or the configured minimum or maximum SCS); or

[0250] * the SCS configuration with the active BWP with the smallest SCS among the (configured / active) BWPs in CCs / cells to which the indicated DL / UL / joint TCI state applies, which CCs / cells are active at the end of a PUCCH or PUSCH carrying positive HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the indicated TCI state (such as a DCI format indicating the TCI state, or a corresponding PDSCH scheduled by a DCI format indicating the TCI state); or

[0251] * Reference SCS configured by the gNB or predetermined in the specification for system operation, such as 15kHz for one or both of FR1 and FR2, or such as SCS=30kHz for FR1 and SCS=120kHz for FR2-1, etc.

[0252] Similar methods and examples described above for determining the TCI state of a co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH based on the most recent SC-DCI format may be applied when the UE determines the TCI state of a co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH based on the most recent MC-DCI format (or a combination of the most recent SC-DCI format and the MC-DCI format, whichever is most recent) that provides a TCI state indication, as described in the following embodiments.

[0253] Figure 6 A flow chart of a method 600 for TCI state determination of a co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example, the method 600 may be performed by a UE 116. Figure 6 This is for illustration only and is not intended as a limitation on the types of methods that may be utilized in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0254] refer to Figure 6, the UE is configured with a set of co-scheduled cells including a first cell and a second cell, 610. The UE receives a first SC-DCI (or MC-DCI) format indicating a first TCI state of the first cell, 620. The UE receives a second SC-DCI (or MC-DCI) format indicating a second TCI state of the second cell, 630. The UE receives a third MC-DCI format scheduling PDSCH or PUSCH on the set of co-scheduled cells after the first SC-DCI (or MC-DCI) format and the second SC-DCI (or MC-DCI) format, 640. The first SC-DCI (or MC-DCI) format and the second SC-DCI (or MC-DCI) format are the most recent DCI formats before the third MC-DCI format, which indicate the TCI states of the first cell and the second cell, taking into account processing or beam application time. The UE receives a first PDSCH or sends a first PUSCH according to PDSCH or PUSCH on a first cell using a first indicated TCI state, and receives a second PDSCH or sends a second PUSCH according to PDSCH or PUSCH on a second cell using a second indicated TCI state, 650.

[0255] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TCI field present in a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. In further embodiments, the MC-DCI format may include one or more values ​​of a TCI state field, wherein each value corresponds to a cell or a group of cells in a set of cells co-scheduled by the MC-DCI format. In one aspect, the value of the TCI state field corresponds to the TCI state of the number of lists of cells configured / activated for simultaneous TCI state updates, and the number of values ​​of the TCI state field in the MC-DCI state is based on the number of lists of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates. In another aspect, the MC-DCI format may include a value of a TCI state field, wherein the value is from a set of reference TCI states configured / activated on a reference cell. On the other hand, multiple TCI state indications corresponding to different cells or groups of cells in a set of co-scheduled cells may be provided using multiple separate values ​​in the MC-DCI format or using a single value based on a joint multi-cell TCI state map or table. In one example, when the MC-DCI format includes multiple TCI state indications, the MC-DCI format may include a single TCI state field having multiple values, or may include multiple TCI state fields each having a separate value corresponding to one of the indicated TCI states.

[0256] On the other hand, when the set of co-scheduled cells indicated by the MC-DCI format is consistent with (or a subset of) a single list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update, the MC-DCI format includes a single value of the TCI state field, and the UE applies the indicated TCI state to all co-scheduled cells. For example, when the UE is configured for a list #1={cell #1, cell #2, cell #3, cell #4} for simultaneous TCI states, and the UE receives a first MC-DCI format for a joint scheduling set #1={cell #1, cell #2, cell #3, cell #4}, the first MC-DCI state may include a single value of the TCI state, and the indicated TCI state is applied to all co-scheduled cells in the set #1. In addition, when the UE receives a second MC-DCI format for a joint scheduling set #2={cell #2, cell #3}, since the set #2 is a subset of the list #1, the second MC-DCI state may include a single value of the TCI state, and the indicated TCI state is applied to all co-scheduled cells in the set #2.

[0257] In more aspects, when the set of co-scheduled cells indicated by the MC-DCI format includes (or overlaps with) a list of M different cells for simultaneous TCI state update, the MC-DCI format includes M values ​​of the TCI state field, and the UE applies the M indicated TCI states to the corresponding co-scheduled cells in the M different lists. For example, the UE applies the first TCI state of the M indicated TCI states to the first cell in the set of co-scheduled cells included in the first list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update through the MC-DCI format, and the UE applies the second TCI state of the M indicated TCI states to the second cell in the set of co-scheduled cells included in the second list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update through the MC-DCI format, and so on. The MC-DCI format contains M values ​​of the TCI state field in ascending (or descending) order of list index among the M different lists of cells for simultaneous TCI state update.

[0258] For example, when the UE is configured with list #2 = {cell #5, cell #6, cell #7, cell #8} for simultaneous TCI states in addition to the above-mentioned list #1, and the UE receives a third MC-DCI format for joint scheduling set #3 = {cell #3, cell #4, cell #5, cell #6}, the third MC-DCI state may include two values ​​of the TCI state, wherein the UE applies the first indicated TCI state value to {cell #3, cell #4} corresponding to list #1, and applies the second indicated TCI state value to {cell #5, cell #6} corresponding to list #2.

[0259] In various examples, the mapping of the value of the TCI status field to the group / list of cells may be provided by a high-level configuration. For example, the order of the values ​​of the TCI status field and the information of the corresponding group / list of cells may be provided to the UE. For example, the first TCI status value in the MC-DCI format may correspond to the third list of cells, and the second TCI status value in the MC-DCI format may correspond to the first list of cells, and so on, may be provided to the UE via a high-level configuration.

[0260] In one example, when the MC-DCI format schedules a set of co-scheduled sets, and when the MC-DCI format indicates a TCI state of a first cell in the set of co-scheduled cells included in a first list of cells for simultaneous TCI states, in one option, the indicated TCI state applies only to the first cell (and not to a second cell in the first list of cells that is not scheduled by the MC-DCI format). In another option, the TCI state indicated by the MC-DCI format applies to all cells in the first list of cells, regardless of whether the cells are scheduled by the MC-DCI format.

[0261] Figure 7 A flow chart of a method 700 for TCI status indication through MC-DCI format for a list of cells for simultaneous TCI update according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example, the method 700 may be performed by a UE 116. Figure 7 This is for illustration only and is not intended as a limitation on the types of methods that may be utilized in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0262] refer to Figure 7 , the UE is configured with a first list of cells and a second list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update, 710. The UE is configured with a set of co-scheduled cells that schedules a PDSCH or a PUSCH on the set of co-scheduled cells and includes a first cell in the first list of cells and a second cell in the second list of cells, 720. The UE receives an MC-DCI format including a first value and a second value of the TCI state field, 730. The UE applies a first TCI state corresponding to the first value to the first cell (or the first list of cells), and applies a second TCI state corresponding to the second value to the second cell (or the second list of cells), 740.

[0263] In yet another implementation, when the set of co-scheduled cells indicated by the MC-DCI format includes (or overlaps with) a list of M different cells for simultaneous TCI state updates, the MC-DCI format may include only a single value for the TCI state field, wherein the single value corresponds to a list of a single cell for simultaneous TCI state and the MC-DCI format provides an index to the corresponding list. Thus, the indication in the MC-DCI format may include a list index as well as a TCI state value corresponding to a cell from the list for which the list index is provided. For other cells in the set of cells co-scheduled by the first MC-DCI format, the UE applies the most recent TCI state provided by a second MC-DCI format or SC-DCI format received prior to the MC-DCI format, possibly taking into account processing time or application time as described above.

[0264] In the above example setting, the UE may receive the fourth MC-DCI format for scheduling set #3 = {cell #3, cell #4, cell #5, cell #6}, and the MC-DCI format indicates list index #2 (2 bits are used when a list of up to 4 cells is configured) and the corresponding TCI state. Therefore, the UE applies the indicated TCI state to {cell #5, cell #6} corresponding to list #2. For {cell #3, cell #4} corresponding to list #1, the UE applies the most recent TCI state provided by the most recent MC-DCI format or SC-DCI format before the fourth MC-DCI format (possibly taking into account the TCI state application / processing time).

[0265] The method can be extended to include multiple values ​​corresponding to multiple lists. For example, the TCI status field may include a first list index and a first TCI status value corresponding to a cell in a first list of cells (associated with the first list index), and a second list index and a second TCI status value corresponding to a cell in a second list of cells (associated with the second list index). Alternatively, the MC-DCI format may include a bitmap indicating which lists TCI status values ​​are provided for, and the number of values ​​of the TCI status corresponding to the list indicated by the bitmap (e.g., having a value of 1 in the bitmap). The size of the bitmap may be equal to the number of lists of cells for simultaneous TCI states, such as 4 bits when a list of 4 cells is configured. For example, when the second and third bits of the bitmap are 1, the MC-DCI format will include two values ​​of the TCI status field, corresponding to the second and third lists of cells.

[0266] There are multiple options regarding the number of values ​​for the TCI Status field in the MC-DCI format.

[0267] In a first option, when the UE is configured with a list of L different cells for simultaneous TCI status updates, the MC-DCI format may include M values, where M ≤ L, where M is equal to the number of lists overlapping with the set of co-scheduled cells indicated by the MC-DCI format or associated with the search space set according to which the MC-DCI format is monitored. For example, the UE may be configured with L=4 different lists for simultaneous TCI status updates, and the MC-DCI format may include only M=2 values ​​for the TCI status field.

[0268] In a second option, when the UE is configured with a list of L different cells for simultaneous TCI status updates, the MC-DCI format may include M values, where M ≤ L, where M is equal to the maximum number of lists that overlap with any set of co-scheduled cells associated with the same scheduling cell, or is equal to the maximum number of lists that overlap with any set of co-scheduled cells configured for the UE.

[0269] In a third option, when the UE is configured with a list of L different cells for simultaneous TCI status update, the MC-DCI format includes M = L values ​​of the TCI status field.

[0270] For the case where the MC-DCI format for scheduling a set of co-scheduled cells includes M values ​​of TCI status indication, which is greater than the number M1 of the list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update that overlaps with the set of co-scheduled cells (i.e., M > M1), such as for the second option or the third option above, multiple alternatives may be considered.

[0271] In one alternative, the MC-DCI format may include (M – M1) reserved values ​​of the TCI status field corresponding to the non-scheduled list, such as all 0s. In another alternative, the MC-DCI format may include (M – M1) non-reserved values ​​of the TCI status field corresponding to the non-scheduled list. For example, the MC-DCI format may include M = L values ​​of the TCI status field, where the M1 values ​​correspond to a first list of cells for simultaneous TCI status updates that overlap with a set of co-scheduled cells, and the (L – M1) values ​​correspond to a second list of cells for simultaneous TCI status updates that are not scheduled by the MC-DCI format. The latter alternative allows the use of the TCI status indication of the MC-DCI format even for cells that are not scheduled by the MC-DCI format.

[0272] In a fourth option, the MC-DCI format may include a single value for the TCI state field, wherein the single value points to a row index from a table configured / activated by a higher layer, and the row of the table provides up to L values ​​corresponding to the TCI state ID of a cell from a list of L configured cells for simultaneous TCI state updates. The table may be provided by an RRC configuration or a MAC-CE activation command. Thus, the UE determines a first TCI state of a first cell from a first list based on a first value of an indicated row of the table, and determines a second TCI state of a second cell from a second list based on a second value of an indicated row of the table. Thus, the table provides a joint mapping or multi-cell mapping for TCI state indication, wherein each tuple / row corresponds to a list of L configured cells. When the MC-DCI format schedules a set of co-scheduled cells including cells in a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates, the indicated row of the table does not provide a TCI state ID value, and the UE applies the most recent TCI state provided by another MC-DCI format or SC-DCI format received before the MC-DCI format, possibly taking into account processing time or application time, as previously described.

[0273] In one example, the MC-DCI format may include a single value of the TCI status field, where the single value points to a row index from a table configured by a higher layer, and the row of the table provides:

[0274] - Up to N_max values ​​corresponding to cell TCI state IDs from N_max cells configured with multi-cell scheduling (i.e., cells included in a set of at least one configured co-scheduled cells), associated with a scheduling cell, or across different scheduling cells;

[0275] - Up to N_g values ​​corresponding to TCI state IDs of up to N_g subsets of cells configured with multi-cell scheduling, associated with a scheduling cell, or across different scheduling cells;

[0276] - Or up to N values ​​corresponding to the TCI state IDs of all N configured serving cells associated with the scheduling cell or across different scheduling cells.

[0277] For example, when the TCI status field in the MC-DCI format points to a row in a joint multi-cell TCI status table as described above, and the row in the table provides a TCI state ID for a first cell, the UE applies the TCI state ID to any second cell in a list of cells that are the same as the first cell (such as a list of the same cells for simultaneous TCI state updates).

[0278] In another example, when the first cell and the second cell are in the same list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update, and the row of the joint multi-cell TCI state table as described above provides a first TCI state ID of the first cell and a second TCI state ID of the second cell, the UE expects the first TCI state ID to be the same as the second TCI state ID.

[0279] In yet more examples, the joint multi-cell TCI state table described above includes 8 combinations (such as 8 pairs or 8 triplets, etc.) of TCI state IDs corresponding to different cells or subsets of cells or lists of cells, as described above. Therefore, the MC-DCI format may include 3 bits indicating one of the 8 combinations of TCI state IDs. In another example, the above table may include more combinations, such as N>8 combinations of TCI state IDs corresponding to different cells or subsets of cells or lists of cells. In such a case, the MC-DCI format may include ceil(log2(N)) bits of the TCI state field. For example, the table may include N=16 combinations, and the TCI state field may include 4 bits.

[0280] For example, the TCI states in the combination of TCI states provided by the row in the joint multi-cell table indicated by the TCI state for multi-cell scheduling of a set / subset / number / list of cells may include the TCI states configured by higher layers or activated by MAC-CE for the corresponding cells.

[0281] For example, the UE may be configured via a higher layer (such as RRC information) with a first set of 64 TCI states for a first cell and a second set of 64 TCI states for a second cell. For example, the UE may be configured via a higher layer (such as RRC configuration) with a third set of 16 pairs of TCI states for multi-cell PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on the first cell and the second cell, wherein each pair from the 16 pairs includes a first TCI state in the first set of 64 TCI states on the first cell and a second TCI state in the second set of 64 TCI states on the second cell. For example, the code point provided in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format indicates one of the 16 pairs of TCI states based on the first index and the second index of the configured TCI states on the first cell and the second cell.

[0282] In another example, a first set of 8 activated TCI states out of 64 configured TCI states for a first cell may be provided to the UE via a first MAC-CE command, and a second set of 8 activated TCI states out of 64 configured TCI states for a second cell may be provided to the UE via a second MAC-CE command. For example, the UE may be configured via a higher layer (such as an RRC configuration) with a third set of 16 pairs of TCI state indexes for multi-cell PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on the first cell and the second cell, wherein each of the 16 pairs includes a first TCI state index in the first set of 8 activated TCI states on the first cell and a second TCI state in the second set of 8 activated TCI states on the second cell. For example, the code point provided in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format indicates one of the 16 pairs of activated TCI states based on the first index and the second index of the activated TCI states on the first cell and the second cell. For example, a code point in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format may indicate a pair of values, wherein each pair includes a first index n1 in the set {0, 1, …, 7} and a second index n2 in the set {0, 1, …, 7}, wherein the first index and the second index correspond to an n1th activated TCI state on the first cell and an n2th activated TCI state on the second cell. For example, the pair (2, 5) indicates an activated TCI state index n1 = 2 on the first cell (which may point to a configured TCI state index m1, such as m1 = 21), and an activated TCI state index n2 = 5 on the second cell (which may point to a configured TCI state index m2, such as m2 = 17), wherein the indexes m1 and m2 are provided by the first MAC-CE command and the second MAC-CE command.

[0283] For example, although the configured index of the activated value of each cell can be updated separately by the MAC-CE activation / deactivation / update command of each cell, the linkage provided by the combination is maintained based on the RRC configuration. For example, the UE may receive a third MAC-CE command and a fourth MAC-CE command received later for the first cell and the second cell at a later time, which provide the configured indexes m1 = 14 and m2 = 26 for the sub-selected pair (n1, n2) = (2, 5).

[0284] In another example, the combination of TCI state IDs provided by the rows in the joint multi-cell TCI state table described above may include a TCI state ID or each cell activated by a MAC-CE command for each cell set / subset / list of cells in the cell corresponding to the row. For example, the UE receives a first MAC-CE that activates the first 8 TCI states of the first cell (e.g., according to the first 64 configured TCI states), and a second MAC-CE that activates the second 8 TCI states of the second cell (e.g., according to the second 64 configured TCI states). The UE then receives a third MAC-CE including a joint multi-cell TCI state table that activates 8 pairs of TCI states for multi-cell scheduling from the 8×8=64 pairs of (individually) activated TCI states for the first cell and the second cell.

[0285] In another example, the combination of TCI state IDs provided by the rows in the joint multi-cell TCI state table described above may include a TCI state ID that is an RRC-configured TCI state ID for each cell in the cell corresponding to the row. For example, the UE receives first RRC information that configures the first 64 TCI states of the first cell, and second RRC information that configures the second 64 TCI states of the second cell. The UE then receives a MAC-CE including a joint multi-cell TCI state table that activates 8 pairs of TCI states for multi-cell scheduling from 64×64=4096 pairs of configured TCI states for the first cell and the second cell. For example, at least when the UE does not monitor the single-cell scheduling DCI format of the first cell or the second cell, the UE may not need a separate MAC-CE command for each cell (or list of cells).

[0286] In one example, the signaling method for the joint multi-cell TCI state table may be based on the number of TCI states configured (or activated) for each cell in a set of cells or based on the signaling method of the TCI state applicable to each cell in a set of cells for multi-cell scheduling. For example, if the number of configured (or activated) TCI states for one cell or for all cells / each cell in a set of cells is less than (or equal to) a threshold value (such as 8 TCI states), the joint multi-cell TCI table may be provided by RRC configuration. For example, when the number of configured (or activated) TCI states for one cell or for all cells / each cell in a set of cells is greater than (or equal to) a threshold value, the joint multi-cell TCI table may be provided by a MAC-CE activation command. For example, when the UE has not received any separate per-cell MAC-CE command for activation of TCI states for one cell or for each cell / all cells in a set of cells (such as when the single-cell scheduling DCI format of the cell (e.g., DCI format 1_0 / 1_1 / 1_2) includes a TCI field corresponding to one / each cell, which has a value directly from the set of TCI states configured by RRC rather than from the set of TCI states activated by MAC-CE), then the joint multi-cell TCI table can be provided by the RRC configuration. For example, when the UE has received (at least) one separate per-cell MAC-CE command for activation of TCI states for (at least) one cell or for each cell / all cells in a set of cells (such as when a single-cell scheduling DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 / 1_1 / 1_2) for one / each cell includes a TCI field with a value from a set of TCI states activated by MAC-CE, which is a subset of the set of TCI states configured by RRC corresponding to one / each cell), then the joint multi-cell TCI table may be provided by the MAC-CE activation command. Similar methods apply to fields other than the TCI field, such as the RM indicator field, the ZP CSI-RS trigger field, the TDRA, etc.

[0287] In one example, the UE may determine that the TCI state indicated by the MC-DCI format is invalid. For example, when the TCI field of the MC-DCI indicates a TCI state combination pointing to a first TCI state of the first cell and the first TCI state is not a valid TCI state for the first cell. For example, the TCI state combination includes a first TCI state index for the first cell, which is not configured by the RRC for the first cell or activated for the first cell by a (per-cell) MAC-CE command for TCI state activation for the first cell. For example, the TCI state combination indicates TCI state index 6 for the first cell, while the MAC-CE command for TCI state activation for the first cell only activates 4 TCI states with indices 0 to 3, so TCI state index 6 is not activated / available / applicable and is therefore invalid.

[0288] When a first TCI state corresponding to a first cell in a TCI state combination indicated by a TCI field of a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format 1_3 is invalid, in one option, the UE discards the first TCI state for the first cell. For example, the UE does not apply the first TCI state as the "indicated" TCI state for the first cell (e.g., when the UE operates in the Rel-17 unified TCI framework). For example, the UE applies or continues to apply the most recently indicated TCI state, such as the TCI state indicated by a previous single-cell scheduling DCI (SC-DCI) format or a previous MC-DCI format, taking into account any processing time, such as PDSCH / PUSCH processing time or time for QCL application, or beam application time, as previously described in the present disclosure (e.g., when the UE operates in the Rel-17 unified TCI framework). For example, the UE applies a default spatial relationship for the first PDSCH or the first cell corresponding to the first cell scheduled by MC-DCI format 1_3 (e.g., when the UE operates in the Rel-15 / 16 TCI framework). In another option, the UE discards the first PDSCH corresponding to the first cell scheduled by MC-DCI format 1_3 (e.g., when the UE operates in Rel-15 / 16 TCI framework). In another option, the UE discards all TCI states indicated by the TCI state combination of MC-DCI format 1_3 for all cells scheduled by MC-DCI or for all cells in the set of corresponding cells for multi-cell scheduling. In yet another option, the UE completely discards MC-DCI format 1_3 and discards all PDSCHs scheduled by MC-DCI (i.e., does not receive any PDSCH).

[0289] In one example, the UE may report the capability of the number of TCI states that the UE can support across multiple co-scheduled cells / sets of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE reports that the UE can support (only) N=1 or 2 TCI states in the same symbol or time slot across multiple serving cells / carrier frequencies / bands. For example, the UE capability may be based on the number of independent RF chains or antenna panels or arrays or sub-arrays supported by the UE. For example, a joint multi-cell table may be provided to the UE via RRC configuration or via a MAC-CE for cell set level sub-selection of activated TCI states, the joint multi-cell table being used to indicate a combination of TCI states of one or more sets / subsets / numbers / lists of co-scheduled cells or a list of serving cells (such as a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates). For example, a multi-cell scheduling DCI format may include a code point that indicates a combination of TCI states of one or more sets / subsets / numbers / lists of co-scheduled cells or a list of serving cells (such as a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates). For example, the UE does not anticipate that the combination of TCI states provided by RRC configuration or by MAC-CE command or by a code point in a DCI format is such that the UE will need to apply more than N different TCI states for PDSCH reception or for PUSCH transmission. In another example, the UE may report a first such number of the maximum number of TCI states for DL ​​(such as for co-scheduled PDSCH reception) and a second such number of the maximum number of TCI states for UL (such as for co-scheduled PUSCH transmission).

[0290] For example, the UE may apply one or more default or reference TCI states to multiple co-scheduled cells, such as a set or subset or list of co-scheduled cells. For example, the default or reference TCI state may be applied prior to receiving a dedicated TCI state indication (such as a DCI format providing the indicated TCI state or a MAC-CE command activating the number of TCI states to be indicated by the DCI format). For example, the UE may apply the default or reference TCI state when the scheduling offset of the corresponding PDSCH reception (or PUSCH transmission) is less than the number of symbols or time slots used for beam indication application (e.g., beamAppTime) (such as for processing DCI or obtaining TCI state, beam switching delay, etc.).

[0291] In one example, the UE may determine separate default or reference TCI states for different co-scheduled cells. In another example, the UE may determine the same default or reference TCI state for different co-scheduled cells. In one example, determining the same or different default or reference TCI states for co-scheduled cells may be based on UE capabilities. For example, a UE with the capability to report N TCI states simultaneously may apply N separate default or reference TCI states. For example, a UE with the capability to report only one TCI state at the same time / symbol / time slot may apply a single / same default or reference TCI state for different co-scheduled cells.

[0292] In another embodiment, the UE may be configured with a reference cell, and the UE may be configured with a set of reference TCI states or may be provided with a MAC CE activation command to activate the set of reference TCI states. Thus, the UE may receive an MC-DCI format indicating a TCI state in a set of configured / activated reference TCI states. The UE applies the indicated TCI state to all cells in a set of co-scheduled cells. In one example, the reference cell may be a scheduled cell on which the UE receives the corresponding MC-DCI format. In another example, the reference cell may be a cell in a set of scheduled cells, such as a cell with a minimum or maximum cell index or CIF among a set of co-scheduled cells. In one example, the reference cell may be a PCell for the UE. In one example, the reference cell is provided by a high-level configuration.

[0293] In another example, the reference cell for TCI state indication is specific to a set of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE may be configured / determined for a first reference cell for a first set of co-scheduled cells and a second reference cell for a second set of co-scheduled cells. In another example, the reference cell may be common to different sets of co-scheduled cells with the same scheduling cell. For example, a first reference cell is applied to a first set and a second set of co-scheduled cells corresponding to a first scheduling cell. For example, the UE may be configured / determined for a third set and a fourth set of co-scheduled cells corresponding to a second scheduling cell. In another example, the reference cell may be common to a set of all co-scheduled cells corresponding to all scheduling cells. Similar examples apply to a set of configured / activated reference TCI states applicable to a set of co-scheduled cells.

[0294] In yet another example, when the UE is configured for both a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update and a reference TCI state on a reference cell, the MC-DCI format (or SC-DCI format) may include a 1-bit field to indicate whether the value provided by the TCI state field in the MC-DCI (or SC-DCI) format corresponds to the list of cells or to the reference TCI state.

[0295] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method 800 for TCI state indication via MC-DCI format with respect to a set of reference TCI states according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example, the method 800 may be performed by the UE 116. Figure 8 This is for illustration only and is not intended as a limitation on the types of methods that may be utilized in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0296] refer to Figure 8 , the UE is configured with a set of co-scheduled cells, 810. The UE identifies a reference set of TCI states on a reference cell, 820. The UE receives an MC-DCI format including a value of a TCI state field, 830. The UE applies a reference TCI state corresponding to the value in the set of reference TCI states to the set of co-scheduled cells, 840.

[0297] In one example, when the MC-DCI format includes one or more values ​​of the TCI state field, the UE applies the indicated TCI state (based on any of the above methods) to the co-scheduled PDSCH or co-scheduled PUSCH jointly scheduled by the MC-DCI format.

[0298] In another example, the indicated TCI state corresponds to a subsequent PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on the corresponding cell scheduled by a subsequent SC-DCI format or MC-DCI format, such as the BeamAppTime_r17 symbol after the last symbol of the PUCCH, which includes HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the PDSCH scheduled by the MC-DCI format, or corresponds to the MC-DCI format when the MC-DCI format schedules the PUSCH. Therefore, for the reception of the PDSCH or the transmission of the PUSCH scheduled by the MC-DCI format, the UE applies the TCI state provided by the most recent TCI state indicated for the corresponding cell using the previous SC-DCI format or MC-DCI format.

[0299] In some examples, the UE determines whether the TCI state indicated by the MC-DCI format is DL or UL or a joint DL / UL TCI state (and not a DL TCI state) based on a higher layer configuration or a MAC CE activation command for the TCI state (e.g., a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates).

[0300] For example, the UE may be provided with a higher layer configuration, such as an RRC information element unifiedTCI-StateType, which indicates whether the configured TCI state of the serving cell is according to a joint TCI state type applicable to both downlink and uplink operations, or whether the configured TCI state of the serving cell has a separate type requiring separate TCI state indications for DL ​​and UL operations. In one example, the UE expects all co-scheduled cells to have the same unifiedTCI-StateType, so all cells operate with a joint DL / UL TCI state, or all cells operate with separate DL / UL TCI states. In another example, each co-scheduled cell or each list of cells in a set of co-scheduled cells may have a separate / different unifiedTCI-StateType. In one example, the cells in a list of cells (such as a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state update) are provided with the same configuration for unifiedTCI-StateType, but different lists may have separate / different configurations for unifiedTCI-StateType.

[0301] For example, when the MAC CE command activates the TCI state of a cell or a list of cells and provides the "direction" of the activated TCI state as the DL TCI state (correspondingly, the UL TCI state or the joint DL / UL TCI state) and the MC-DCI indicates the TCI state, the UE applies the TCI state as the DL TCI state of the cell or the list of cells (correspondingly, the UL TCI state or the joint DL / UL TCI state).

[0302] In yet another example, only a DL MC-DCI format such as DCI format 1_3 includes the TCI status field, and a UL MC-DCI format such as DCI format 0_3 does not include the TCI status field. In one example, both DL MC-DCI format 1_3 and UL DCI format 0_3 may include the TCI status field.

[0303] For example, the UE does not expect to receive a first list of cells for simultaneous DL TCI states (respectively, UL TCI states) and a second list of cells for simultaneous joint DL / UL TCI states of cells sharing a common. Therefore, when the MC-DCI format indicates that its list of associated cells for simultaneous TCI states is configured for the TCI state of a cell for a DL TCI state (respectively, UL TCI state), the indicated TCI state is the DL TCI state (respectively, UL TCI state). For example, when the MC-DCI format indicates that its list of associated cells for simultaneous TCI states is configured for the TCI state of a cell for a joint DL / UL TCI state, the indicated TCI state is the joint DL / UL TCI state.

[0304] In some examples, for an MC-DCI format that schedules a set of co-scheduled cells (such as DCI format 1_3 (or 0_3)), the MC-DCI format may indicate a first TCI state and a second TCI state of a first cell and a second cell in the set of co-scheduled cells, wherein the first TCI state is a DL TCI state (or UL TCI state) and the second TCI state is a joint DL / UL TCI state.

[0305] In one example, when the UE is not configured with a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates, the UE may be configured whether the MC-DCI format includes a cell-specific value for the TCI state field (i.e., a separate TCI state provided by each cell or a subset of each cell in a set of co-scheduled cells) or a cell-common value that provides a single TCI state applicable to all cells in the set of co-scheduled cells.

[0306] The above methods and examples are described using the concept of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates. The same methods and examples are applicable to replacing the list of cells for simultaneous TCI states by a list of other configured cells (such as a subgroup of cells), which list of other configured cells may be different from the list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates. In one example, the same subgroup of cells may be configured for multiple fields in the MC-DCI format, such as for the TDRA field, the TCI state field, the rate matching mode indicator field, the ZP CSI-RS trigger field, etc.

[0307] For example, for any field in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format that is (pre)determined to operate based on a joint multi-cell table, the UE may be provided with a "cell set level" MAC-CE command that provides a joint multi-cell table. For example, a "cell set level" MAC-CE command provides a list of "activated" combinations, which are sub-selections among possible combinations of values ​​for the corresponding field across different co-scheduled cells. For example, the multi-cell scheduling DCI format provides a code point for the corresponding field indicating a row of a joint multi-cell table, i.e., an "activated" combination in a list of activated combinations. For example, the value provided by each activated combination may be based on a set of configured values ​​provided by a higher layer, or based on a subset of activated values ​​for each cell from a set / subset / number / list of cells that is used separately by other MAC-CE commands. For example, each combination may include an explicit value for the corresponding field, or may include an index to the corresponding value, wherein the index is provided by a higher layer configuration or a MAC-CE command.

[0308] In another example, a cell set level sub-selection is provided RRC configuration, wherein a combination of sub-selections of values ​​is based on a corresponding set of RRC configured values ​​(or corresponding indices) for each respective cell, or based on a corresponding set of MAC-CE activated / selected values ​​(or corresponding indices) for each respective cell. For example, although the configured index of the activation value of each cell may be updated individually for each cell through a MAC-CE activation / deactivation / update command, the linkage provided by the combination is maintained based on the RRC configuration. For example, a combination of indexes (n1, n2) = (2, 5) may be provided to the UE through RRC configuration, wherein indexes n1 = 2 and n2 = 5 may point to corresponding values ​​with configured indexes m1 = 21 and m2 = 17 based on a first MAC-CE command and a second MAC-CE command received for a first cell and a second cell, while indexes n1 = 2 and n2 = 5 may point to corresponding values ​​with configured indexes m1 = 14 and m2 = 26 based on a third MAC-CE command and a fourth MAC-CE command received later for the first cell and the second cell at a later point in time.

[0309] For example, the field may include one or more of the following: a rate matching indicator, a ZP CSI-RS trigger, a TCI, an SRS request, an SRS offset indicator, or a TDRA. For example, a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling may include 4 bits for a rate matching indicator so that a code point may indicate one of 16 combinations of rate matching mode indicator values ​​for cells that are co-scheduled. For example, each combination includes up to 4 values ​​corresponding to up to 4 cells. For example, a list of 16 combinations is provided by a high-level configuration or a MAC-CE command. For example, one of up to 4 values ​​in each combination includes a code point or index of a rate matching mode indicator for the corresponding cell. For example, a combination of SRS offset indicators may include a list of up to 4 values ​​of SRS offsets, or may include a list of up to 4 indexes, each index being based on an index set of SRS offset values ​​configured by RRC or activated by MAC-CE for the corresponding cell. Similar methods apply to other parameters, such as ZP CSI-RS triggering, SRS request, or TDRA.

[0310] In one example, the uplink MIMO field is a field common to the cells of the set of co-scheduled PUSCHs. For example, the same SRI and the same PMI can be shared by all co-scheduled PUSCHs. For example, when the UE is configured with two SRS resource sets for codebook-based or non-codebook-based PUSCH transmission on the first cell in the set of co-scheduled cells, the multi-cell scheduling DCI format may include a cell-common "SRS resource set indicator", "second SRI" and "second PMI" fields, which are commonly applied to the co-scheduled PUSCH on the first cell. For example, the UE ignores those DCI fields of the remaining cells of the set of co-scheduled cells that are not configured with two SRS resource sets for codebook-based or non-codebook-based PUSCH transmission.

[0311] In other examples, the SRI and PMI fields and, when configured / applicable, the second SRI, second PMI and SRS resource set indicator fields are cell-specific fields provided separately for each of the co-scheduled cells.

[0312] In yet another example, a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling includes a first SRI and PMI field for a first cell and a second SRI and PMI field for a second cell, wherein:

[0313] - the first cell and the second cell are subsets of a set of co-scheduled cells;

[0314] - the first cell is configured / activated / indicated to follow the first UL TCI or the first path loss RS,

[0315] - The second cell is configured / activated / indicated to follow the second UL TCI or the second path loss RS.

[0316] In some other examples, the TPC command field for the co-scheduled PUSCH may be a cell-specific field in a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling that is provided separately for each co-scheduled PUSCH. In another example, the TPC command field for the co-scheduled PUSCH may be shared for each subset of co-scheduled cells that follow the same path loss reference signal or follow the same SRS or UL TCI state for PUSCH transmission. Thus, the DCI format may include a number of TPC command fields equal to the (maximum) number of path loss RS or SRS resources or UL TCIs corresponding to the set of co-scheduled cells.

[0317] In one example, a serving cell in a set of co-scheduled cells may operate with two or more transmit-receive points (TRPs). Here, operation with one or TRPs may be based on, for example, a configuration of one or two CORESETpoolIndex values ​​or a configuration with use of one or two SRS resource sets as "codebook" or "non-codebook", respectively. In such a case, in an alternative, the two TRPs of the serving cell have the same unifiedTCI-StateType, and thus the same TCI state is applied to the two TRPs. For example, when the serving cell is configured with unifiedTCI-StateType as joint, then the same TCI state is applied to both DL and UL of the two TRPs of the serving cell. For example, when the serving cell is configured with unifiedTCI-StateType as separate, the first TCI state is applied as the DL TCI state of the two TRPs, and the second TCI state is applied as the UL TCI state of the two TRPs of the serving cell. In a second alternative, each TRP of a serving cell may have a separate configuration for unifiedTCI-StateType, so that the first TRP of a serving cell is configured with unifiedTCI-StateType as joint, and the second TRP of a serving cell is configured with unifiedTCI-StateType as separate.

[0318] In one example, the UE expects not to be configured with two TRPs for any serving cell in a set of co-scheduled cells. In another example, the UE may be configured with two TRPs for some co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE does not expect to be configured with a set of co-scheduled cells including a first cell and a second cell, wherein the first cell is configured with one TRP and the second cell is configured with two TRPs. In one example, the UE does not expect to be configured with a set of co-scheduled cells including a first cell and a second cell, wherein the first cell is configured with two TRPs with the same unifiedTCI-StateType configuration and the second cell is configured with two TRPs with different unifiedTCI-StateType configurations. In one example, the UE expects all cells and corresponding TRPs within a list of identical cells (such as a list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates) to have the same configuration for unifiedTCI-StateType.

[0319] In one example, the MC-DCI format may indicate a first TCI state value corresponding to a first TRP of a first list of cells (such as a first list of cells for simultaneous TCI state updates), and a second TCI state value corresponding to a second TRP of the first list of cells. For example, when a first cell from the first list of cells does not include a configuration for the second TRP, the UE discards the value for the first cell (and the value may be applied to the second TRP of the second cell from the first list of cells).

[0320] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide for determining the presence or absence of a TCI field in an MC-DCI format. In one embodiment, the UE determines whether the MC-DCI format includes or does not include a TCI status field based on the specification of the system operation or based on a high-level configuration. In addition, the MC-DCI format may include an indication (such as a 1-bit flag) indicating whether the UE needs to apply a value provided by the most recent SC-DCI format (or the most recent MC-DCI format) or a reference value configured or activated by a high-level layer (such as RRC or MAC CE) on a reference cell for the TCI status of a co-scheduled cell.

[0321] In one example, the specification for system operation determines whether the MC-DCI format includes or does not include a value for the TCI status field.

[0322] In another example, a higher layer such as RRC provides information on whether the MC-DCI format includes one or more values ​​of the TCI status field, for example based on the method described in the above embodiments, or whether the MC-DCI format does not include a value of the TCI status field, wherein the behavior is as described in the above embodiments.

[0323] In one example, the MC-DCI format may include an indication (such as a 1-bit field) indicating whether the UE applies the TCI state provided by the most recent SC-DCI format (or the most recent MC-DCI format) for the PDSCH or PUSCH co-scheduled by the MC-DCI format or whether the UE applies the reference TCI state. In this article, the reference TCI state may be configured by a high layer such as RRC or activated by a MAC-CE command. The reference TCI state may be provided separately for each of the co-scheduled cells, or the same reference TCI state may be provided for all co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE may be provided with a first reference TCI state for a first subgroup of cells and a second reference TCI state for a second subgroup of cells, wherein the first subgroup and the second subgroup of cells are from a set of co-scheduled cells. The indication may be configurable by a high layer. For example, the reference TCI state may be based on a set of reference TCI states as described in the above embodiments. For example, the reference TCI state may be the first (or last) TCI state or the reference TCI state with the minimum (or maximum) TCI state ID according to a set of reference TCI states activated by MAC CE or configured by RRC.

[0324] In one example, the MC-DCI format includes such an indication only when the TCI status field is not present in the MC-DCI format. In another example, the MC-DCI format also includes such an indication when the TCI status field is present in the MC-DCI format, for example, because the UE does not apply the TCI status indicated by the MC-DCI format to the co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH (due to beam application time delay), and therefore needs to rely on other TCI status indications for the co-scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH (such as the previously indicated TCI status or the default TCI status).

[0325] For example, such an indication may be beneficial when the UE fails to receive and decode a first SC-DCI format (or first MC-DCI format) with a TCI state indication, and thus the UE shall apply an "older" TCI state indicated by a second SC-DCI format (or second MC-DCI format) with a TCI state indication that the UE was able to successfully receive and decode, wherein the second SC-DCI format (or second MC-DCI format) was sent by the gNB earlier than the first SC-DCI format (or first MC-DCI format). Therefore, the gNB may provide a 1-bit indication in an MC-DCI format sent after the first SC-DCI format (or first MC-DCI format) that the gNB prefers the UE to use the "old" TCI state indicated by the second SC-DCI / MC-DCI format or to use the reference / default TCI state. In one example, when such a field is not provided in the MC-DCI format, the UE applies the "old" TCI state indicated by the second SC-DCI / MC-DCI format.

[0326] The above methods and examples for TCI status indication may be applied to other scheduling parameters for multi-cell scheduling, such as rate matching mode, ZP CSI-RS triggering, etc. For example, the corresponding field may not be present in the MC-DCI format, and the UE determines the corresponding parameter value indicating the value of the parameter according to the most recent SC-DCI format (or MC-DCI format), possibly taking into account the UE / gNB processing or application time. For example, the corresponding field may be present in the MC-DCI format and provided for a list of cells or a subgroup of cells. For example, the corresponding field may be present in the MC-DCI format and provided relative to a reference value on a reference cell. For example, the MC-DCI format may include one or more indications (such as a 1-bit indication) corresponding to a set of co-scheduled cells or to a subgroup of multiple cells in a set of co-scheduled cells, wherein the indications indicate whether the UE needs to apply a value from the most recent SC-DCI format (or MC-DCI format) for the scheduling parameter or apply a reference value provided by a higher layer configuration or MAC-CE activation command. For example, such an indication may be provided separately for each corresponding scheduling parameter, or the same indication may be provided for different corresponding scheduling parameters such as a group of scheduling parameters. For example, the same indication may be provided for TCI status, rate matching mode, ZP CSI-RS triggering, etc.

[0327] Fig. 9 A block diagram of a terminal (or user equipment (UE)) according to embodiments disclosed herein is shown.

[0328] like Fig. 9As shown, the terminal according to the embodiment may include a transceiver 910, a memory 920 and a processor (or controller) 930. The transceiver 910, the memory 920 and the processor (or controller) 930 of the terminal may operate according to the communication method of the above-mentioned terminal. However, the components of the terminal are not limited thereto. For example, the terminal may include Fig. 9 The components described in more or less. In addition, the processor (or controller) 930, the transceiver 910, and the memory 920 may be implemented as a single chip. In addition, the processor (or controller) 930 may include at least one processor. In addition, Fig. 9 The terminal corresponds to Figure 1 UE 111-116.

[0329] The transceiver 910 is collectively referred to as a terminal receiver and a terminal transmitter, and can send / receive signals to / from a base station or another terminal. The signals sent to or received from the terminal may include control information and data. The transceiver 910 may include an RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of the transmitted signal, and an RF receiver for amplifying the frequency of the low noise and down-converting the received signal. However, this is only an example of the transceiver 910, and the components of the transceiver 910 are not limited to the RF transmitter and the RF receiver.

[0330] In addition, the transceiver 910 may receive a signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor (or controller) 930 , and transmit a signal output from the processor (or controller) 930 through a wireless channel.

[0331] The memory 920 may store programs and data required for the operation of the terminal. In addition, the memory 920 may store control information or data included in a signal obtained by the terminal. The memory 920 may be a storage medium such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, or a combination of storage media.

[0332] The processor (or controller) 930 may control a series of processes so that the terminal operates as described above. For example, the processor (or controller) 930 may receive a data signal and / or a control signal, and the processor (or controller) 930 may determine a result of receiving a signal sent by a base station and / or another terminal.

[0333] Fig.10 A block diagram of a base station (BS) according to embodiments disclosed herein is shown.

[0334] like Fig.10As shown, the base station of the present disclosure may include a transceiver 1010, a memory 1020, and a processor (or controller) 1030. The transceiver 1010, the memory 1020, and the processor (or controller) 1030 of the base station may operate according to the communication method of the above-mentioned base station. However, the components of the base station are not limited thereto. For example, the base station may include Fig.10 The components described in more or less. In addition, the processor (or controller) 1330, the transceiver 1010, and the memory 1020 may be implemented as a single chip. In addition, the processor (or controller) 1330 may include at least one processor. In addition, Fig.10 The base station corresponds to Figure 1 BS 101-103.

[0335] The transceiver 1010 is collectively referred to as a base station receiver and a base station transmitter, and can send signals to / receive signals from a terminal, another base station, and / or a core network function (or entity). The signals sent to or received from the base station may include control information and data. The transceiver 1010 may include an RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of the transmitted signal, and an RF receiver for amplifying the low noise and down-converting the frequency of the received signal. However, this is only an example of the transceiver 1010, and the components of the transceiver 1010 are not limited to the RF transmitter and the RF receiver.

[0336] In addition, the transceiver 1010 may receive a signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor (or controller) 1030 , and transmit a signal output from the processor (or controller) 1030 through a wireless channel.

[0337] The memory 1020 may store programs and data required for the operation of the base station. In addition, the memory 1020 may store control information or data included in a signal obtained by the base station. The memory 1020 may be a storage medium such as a ROM, RAM, hard disk, CD-ROM, and DVD, or a combination of storage media.

[0338] The processor (or controller) 1030 may control a series of processes so that the base station operates as described above. For example, the processor (or controller) 1030 may receive a data signal and / or a control signal, and the processor (or controller) 1030 may determine the result of receiving a signal sent by a terminal and / or a core network function.

[0339] The methods according to the embodiments described in the claims or detailed description of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0340] When the electrical structure and method are implemented in software, a computer-readable recording medium having one or more programs (software modules) recorded thereon may be provided. The one or more programs recorded on the computer-readable recording medium are configured to be executable by one or more processors in an electronic device. The one or more programs include instructions for executing the method according to the claims or embodiments described in the detailed description of the present disclosure.

[0341] The program (e.g., software module or software) may be stored in a random access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory including flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk storage device, a compact disk-ROM (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), other types of optical storage devices, or a magnetic tape cartridge. Alternatively, the program may be stored in a memory system that includes a combination of some or all of the above memory devices. Furthermore, each memory device may be included in plural.

[0342] The program may also be stored in an attachable storage device that can be accessed via a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), or a storage area network (SAN), or a combination thereof. The storage device may be connected to an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure via an external port. Other storage devices on the communication network may also be connected to an apparatus that performs an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0343] In the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure, the elements included in the present disclosure are expressed in singular or plural form, depending on the embodiment. However, the singular or plural form is appropriately selected for ease of explanation, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Therefore, an element expressed in plural form may also be configured as a single element, and an element expressed in singular form may also be configured as plural elements.

[0344] Although the drawings show different examples of user equipment, various changes may be made to the drawings. For example, the user equipment may include any number of each component in any suitable arrangement. Generally, the drawings do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular configuration. In addition, although the drawings show operating environments in which various user equipment features disclosed in this patent document may be used, these features may be used in any other suitable system.

[0345] The above flow charts illustrate example methods that can be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various changes can be made to the methods shown in the flow charts herein. For example, although shown as a series of steps, the various steps in each figure can overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In another example, a step can be omitted or replaced by another step.

[0346] Although the drawings show different examples of user equipment, various changes may be made to the drawings. For example, the user equipment may include any number of each component in any suitable arrangement. Generally, the drawings do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular configuration. In addition, although the drawings show operating environments in which various user equipment features disclosed in this patent document may be used, these features may be used in any other suitable system.

[0347] Although the present disclosure has been described with exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to those skilled in the art. The present disclosure is intended to cover these changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims. The description in this application should not be interpreted as implying that any particular element, step or function is an essential element that must be included in the scope of the claims. The scope of the patent subject matter is defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: take over: The first information of the set of cells, second information of a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states respectively associated with cells in the set of cells, and A first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a first downlink control indicator (DCI) format is provided, wherein: The first DCI format schedules reception of a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells, The first DCI format includes a combined first TCI field indicating a TCI state, The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells, and The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to cells in the set of cells; determining a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell; and A first PDSCH or a second PDSCH subsequent to the first PDSCH is received on the first cell based on the first TCI state.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A second PDCCH providing a second DCI format is received, wherein: The second PDCCH reception ends after the first PDCCH reception ends. The second DCI format schedules reception of a second PDSCH on a second cell in the set of cells, and The second district is not within the first district; determining a second TCI state associated with a second cell in the combination of TCI states; and A second PDSCH is received on the second cell based on the second TCI state.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update, wherein the list of cells includes a first cell and a second cell in the first cell; and Sure: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, a second TCI state associated with the second cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update, wherein the list of cells includes a first cell among the first cells; and Sure: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is additionally associated with all other cells in the list of cells.

5. A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: A transceiver configured to receive: The first information of the set of cells, second information of a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states respectively associated with cells in the set of cells, and A first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of a first DCI format is provided, wherein: The first DCI format schedules reception of a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells, The first DCI format includes a combined first TCI field indicating a TCI state, The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells, and The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to cells in the set of cells; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to determine a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell, The transceiver is also configured to receive the first PDSCH or the second PDSCH after the first PDSCH on the first cell based on the first TCI state.

6. The UE according to claim 5, wherein: The transceiver is further configured to receive a second PDCCH providing a second DCI format, The second PDCCH reception ends after the first PDCCH reception ends. The second DCI format schedules reception of a second PDSCH on a second cell in the set of cells, The second district is not in the first district. The controller is further configured to determine a second TCI state associated with a second cell in the combination of TCI states, and The transceiver is also configured to receive a second PDSCH on a second cell based on a second TCI state.

7. The UE according to claim 5, wherein: The transceiver is further configured to receive third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update; The list of cells includes a first cell and a second cell in the first cell; and The controller is also configured to determine: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, a second TCI state associated with the second cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state.

8. The UE according to claim 5, wherein: The transceiver is further configured to receive third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update; The list of cells includes a first cell among the first cells; and The controller is also configured to determine: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is additionally associated with all other cells in the list of cells.

9. A method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: send: The first information of the set of cells, second information of a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states respectively associated with cells in the set of cells, and A first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of a first DCI format is provided, wherein: The first DCI format schedules transmission of a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells, The first DCI format includes a combined first TCI field indicating a TCI state, The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells, and The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to cells in the set of cells; and determining a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell, The first PDSCH or the second PDSCH following the first PDSCH is sent on the first cell based on the first TCI state.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The method further comprises: transmitting a second PDCCH providing a second DCI format, wherein the second PDCCH transmission ends after the end of the first PDCCH transmission, and the second DCI format schedules transmission of a second PDSCH on a second cell in the set of cells, wherein the second cell is not among the first cell, determining a second TCI state associated with a second cell in the combination of TCI states, and A second PDSCH is sent on the second cell based on the second TCI state.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The method further comprises: sending third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update, wherein the list of cells includes a first cell and a second cell in the first cell; and Sure: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, a second TCI state associated with the second cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state.

12. A base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: The transceiver is configured to send: The first information of the set of cells, second information of a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states respectively associated with cells in the set of cells, and A first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of a first DCI format is provided, wherein: The first DCI format schedules transmission of a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a corresponding first cell in the set of cells, The first DCI format includes a combined first TCI field indicating a TCI state, The combination of TCI states includes a number of TCI states equal to the number of cells in the set of cells, and The TCI states in the combination of TCI states have a one-to-one mapping to cells in the set of cells; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to determine a first TCI state in the combination of TCI states that has a one-to-one mapping with the first cell, The transceiver is also configured to send the first PDSCH or the second PDSCH after the first PDSCH on the first cell based on the first TCI state.

13. The base station according to claim 12, wherein: The transceiver is further configured to transmit a second PDCCH providing a second DCI format, The second PDCCH transmission ends after the first PDCCH transmission ends, The second DCI format schedules transmission of a second PDSCH on a second cell in the set of cells, wherein the second cell is not among the first cell, The controller is further configured to determine a second TCI state associated with a second cell in the combination of TCI states, and The transceiver is also configured to send a second PDSCH on the second cell based on the second TCI state.

14. The base station according to claim 12, wherein: The transceiver is further configured to send third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update; The list of cells includes a first cell and a second cell in the first cell; and The controller is also configured to determine: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, a second TCI state associated with the second cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state.

15. The base station according to claim 12, wherein: The transceiver is further configured to send third information of a list of cells for simultaneous TCI status update, wherein the list of cells includes a first cell among the first cells; and The controller is also configured to determine: a first TCI state associated with the first cell in the first TCI state, and The first TCI state is additionally associated with all other cells in the list of cells.

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