Codebook restrictions for partially coherent uplink codebooks

Abstract

A method (900) is provided by a User Equipment, UE, (204, 312) for implementing an uplink, UL, codebook-based transmission using an 8 transmitter, Tx, partial coherent codebook. The method comprises sending (902), to a network node (202, 310), information indicating the capability of the UE to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partial coherent codebook. The UE receives (904), from the network node, a message comprising an 8Tx partial coherent codebook configuration, and the 8Tx partial coherent codebook configuration comprises at least one codebook limit for a UL layer combination. The UE receives (906), from the network node, an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission, and the rank and predecoder are associated with the 8Tx partial coherent codebook configuration. The UE transmits (908) the UL transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partial coherent codebook configuration.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods that provide codebook restrictions for partially coherent uplink codebooks. Background Art

[0002] In the time domain, New Radio (NR) downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions are organized into equal-sized subframes, each of 1 ms. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration. The slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. For a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, there is only one slot per subframe. In general, for 15·2 μ kHz subcarrier spacing, where μ∈{0,1,2,3,4}, and each subframe has 2 μ Finally, each slot consists of 14 symbols (unless an extended cyclic prefix is ​​configured).

[0003] In the frequency domain, the system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs) and each RS corresponds to 12 consecutive subcarriers. One subcarrier during one symbol interval forms one resource element (RE).

[0004] The channel that carries data in the NR UL is called the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). In NR, there are two possible waveforms that can be used for PUSCH: Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) and Discrete Fourier Transform-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). In addition, there are two transmission schemes specified for PUSCH: codebook-based (CB) precoding and non-codebook-based (NCB) precoding.

[0005] In the Radio Resource Control (RRC), the gNodeB (gNB) configures the transmission scheme via the higher layer parameter txConfig in the PUSCH-Config IE. CB-based transmission can be used for non-calibrated user equipment (UE) and / or for frequency division duplexing (FDD) (i.e., UL / DL reciprocity does not need to be maintained). On the other hand, NCB-based transmission relies on UL / DL reciprocity and is therefore intended for time division duplexing (TDD).

[0006] If the higher layer parameter txConfig is set to 'codebook', CB-based PUSCH is enabled. For dynamically scheduled PUSCH with configured grant type 2, CB-based PUSCH transmission can be summarized as the following steps:

[0007] 1. The UE sends a sounding reference signal (SRS) which is configured in an SRS resource set with the higher layer parameter usage in the SRS-Config IE set set to 'codebook'. A maximum of two SRS resources (for testing up to two virtualizations / beams / panels) can be configured in an SRS resource set, with each SRS resource having a maximum of four ports.

[0008] 2. The gNB determines the number of layers (or rank) and the preferred precoder (i.e., transmit precoding matrix index (TPMI)) from the codebook subset based on the SRS received from one of the SRS resources. The codebook subset is configured via the higher layer parameter codebookSubset based on the reported UE capabilities and is one of the following:

[0009] Fully coherent ('fullyAndPartialAndNonCoherent'), or

[0010] Partially coherent ('partialAndNonCoherent'), or

[0011] Non-coherent ('nonCoherent'),

[0012] 3. If two SRS resources are configured in the SRS resource set, the gNB indicates the selected SRS resource via a 1-bit SRS Resource Indicator (SRI) field in the Downlink Control Information (DCI) scheduled for PUSCH transmission. If only one SRS resource is configured in the SRS resource set, the SRI field is not indicated in the DCI.

[0013] 4. The gNB indicates the number of layers and TPMI via DCI. The DM-RS ports associated with the layers are also indicated in the DCI. The number of bits used in the DCI to indicate the number of layers (if transform precoding is enabled, the number of PUSCH layers is limited to 1) and TPMI is determined as follows (unless UL full power transmission is configured, for which the number of bits may be different):

[0014] If the number of antenna ports is 4, if transform precoding is disabled and if the higher layer parameter maxRank in the PUSCH-Config IE is set to 2, 3 or 4, then 4, 5 or 6 bits (if transform precoding is disabled and maxRank = 2, 3 or 4 and copied from Table 7.3.1.1.2-2 of 3GPP TS 38.212, for 4 antenna ports, it provides precoding information and number of layers, see table);

[0015] 2, 4 or 5 bits if the number of antenna ports is 4, if transform precoding is disabled or enabled, and if the higher layer parameter maxRank in the PUSCH-Config IE is set to 1 (if transform precoding is disabled / enabled and maxRank=1 and copied from Table 7.3.1.1.2-3 of 3GPP TS 38.212, for 4 antenna ports it provides precoding information and number of layers, see table);

[0016] · If the number of antenna ports is 2, if transform precoding is disabled, and if the higher layer parameter maxRank in the PUSCH-Config IE is set to 2, it is 2 or 4 bits (if transform precoding is disabled and maxRank=2 and copied from Table 7.3.1.1.2-4 of 3GPP TS 38.212, for 2 antenna ports, it provides precoding information and number of layers, see table);

[0017] 1 or 3 bits if the number of antenna ports is 2, if transform precoding is disabled or enabled, and if the higher layer parameter maxRank in the PUSCH-Config IE is set to 1 (if transform precoding is disabled / enabled and maxRank=1 and copied from Table 7.3.1.1.2-5 of 3GPP TS 38.212, for 2 antenna ports it provides precoding information and number of layers, see table); and

[0018] If 1 antenna port is used for PUSCH transmission, it is 0 bits.

[0019] 5. The UE performs PUSCH transmission through the antenna port corresponding to the SRS port in the indicated SRS resource.

[0020] Table 1

[0021]

[0022]

[0023] Table 2

[0024]

[0025] Table 3

[0026]

[0027] Table 4

[0028]

[0029] For a given number of layers, the TPMI field indicates the precoding matrix that the UE should use for PUSCH. In a first example, if the number of antenna ports is 4, the number of layers is 1, and transform precoding is disabled, a set of possible precoding matrices is shown in Table 5, which provides the precoding matrix W for single-layer transmission using four antenna ports when transform precoding is disabled, and is copied from Table 6.3.1.5-3 of 3GPP TS 38.211.

[0030] Table 5

[0031]

[0032] In a second example, if the number of antenna ports is 4, the number of layers is 4, and transform precoding is disabled, a set of possible precoding matrices is shown in Table 6, which provides the precoding matrix W for four-layer transmission using four antenna ports when transform precoding is disabled, and is copied from Table 6.3.1.5-7 of 3GPP TS 38.211.

[0033] Table 6

[0034]

[0035] In RAN1#109-e, the following agreement was reached:

[0036] For 8TX UE, the following UE antenna layout is considered for codebook design,

[0037] For non-coherent UEs, consider linear arrays (1D / 2D) with cross-polarized or single-polarized antenna configurations

[0038] For fully / partially coherent UEs, consider linear arrays (1D / 2D)

[0039] Where the array is a cross-polarized antenna configuration or a single-polarized antenna configuration

[0040] Ng>=1 antenna groups can be considered, where each group includes coherent antennas and across groups, antennas can be non-coherent / coherent depending on the device type. Examples of antenna groups are panels.

[0041] · Within an antenna group, the antenna elements are evenly spaced. Across different antenna groups, the company provides detailed information.

[0042] Additional information for the definition of antenna layout

[0043] Based on the number of coherent groups, the following exemplary case can be considered, where within each group, the antenna elements are spaced 0.5λ apart,

[0044] Then d G-H dG-V Respectively represent the horizontal and vertical spacing between the centers of adjacent antenna groups

[0045] Further screening can be done at the next meeting if needed.

[0046] The exemplary placement of antenna groups shown may be used for evaluation purposes, but the codebook design is not limited to what is shown.

[0047] Other antenna arrangements for other use cases are not excluded.

[0048] First, companies can report their results according to their preferred layout.

[0049] Table 7

[0050]

[0051]

[0052] protocol

[0053] For 8TX UE codebook-based uplink transmission, filter one of the following:

[0054] -Alt1-a:

[0055] o Study NR Rel-15 UL 2TX / 4TX codebook and / or 8x1 antenna selection vector as a starting point for the design of codebook for non-coherent UEs

[0056] o Study NR Rel-15 DL Type I codebook as a starting point for the design of codebooks for fully / partially coherent UEs

[0057] -Alt1-b:

[0058] o Study NRRel-15 UL 2TX / 4TX codebook and / or 8x1 antenna selection vector as a support for partial / incoherent

[0059] Starting point for designing the UE codebook

[0060] o Study the NR Rel-15 DL Type I codebook as a starting point for the design of a codebook for fully coherent UEs

[0061] -Alt2-a:

[0062] o Study NR Rel-15 UL 2TX / 4TX codebook and / or 8x1 antenna selection vector as a starting point for the design of codebook for fully / partially / non-coherent UEs

[0063] -Alt2-b:

[0064] o Study NR Rel-15 UL 2TX / 4TX codebook and / or 8x1 antenna selection vector and combine it with the NR Rel-15 DL Type I codebook based case as a starting point for the design of codebooks for fully / partially / incoherent UEs

[0065] -Alt3:

[0066] o Study NR Rel-15 DL Type I codebook as a starting point for the design of codebooks for full / partial / incoherent UEs

[0067] As part of the above alternatives, transmission using one or more precoders corresponding to one or more SRS resources may be studied.

[0068] However, there are certain challenges. For example, as explained above, legacy NR CB-based UL transmission is limited to a maximum of 4 ports (and a maximum of 4 layers). For NR Rel-18, support for up to 8 ports (and possibly more than 4 layers) for UL transmission is discussed. In particular, the NR Rel-18 WID includes the following goals:

[0069] Study and, where justified, specify UL Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), SRS, SRI, and TPMI (including codebook) enhancements to enable 8Tx UL operation, supporting 4 or more layers per UE in the UL for CPE / FWA / vehicle / industrial equipment.

[0070] • NOTE: Potential limitations to the scope of this objective (including coherence assumptions, full power / non-full power modes) will be identified as part of the study.

[0071] How the gNB should configure the precoding matrix and transmission rank for 8Tx UEs remains an open question. Since the 8TX antenna architecture may require a large number of candidate precoders, the DCI overhead may become large, the number of precoders that the UE needs to implement will be large, and the number of UL precoders that the gNB needs to evaluate for each UL transmission will be large, which will generate a lot of overhead and consume computing resources.

[0072] For example, for a partially coherent UE with 8 TX ports and 2 antenna groups (each with 4 ports) (where the antenna ports are assumed to be coherent within a group, but not across groups), there are 2400 possible precoders for rank 1-8 transmissions. This is true when, for each group with 4 ports, the precoder for each group is selected from a Type I codebook designed for a 2x1 cross-polarization ULA with mode 1 and oversampling factor 2 (note that this is similar to the way the old 4-port UL precoder was selected), and is also a possible design for a "partially coherent precoder" for 8TX (i.e., a precoder designed for partially coherent UEs, for which transmission layers are mapped only to antenna ports within an antenna group, but not across groups) according to the above protocol. The number of candidate precoders may be even larger if other antenna array structures and / or higher oversampling factors are considered.

[0073] Furthermore, for partially coherent UEs with 8 TX ports and 4 antenna groups (2 ports per antenna group), there are an additional 2400 possible candidates. Therefore, if both 2 groups of UEs and 4 groups of UEs are to be supported in NR Rel-18 (and / or later releases), there are 4800 precoder candidates just for partially coherent UEs. Summary of the invention

[0074] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, in certain embodiments, methods and systems are provided that enable a UE to select a precoder from a subset of a larger set of possible precoders, which subset may be defined by a predetermined rule or by a network configuration and may depend on UE capability signaling.

[0075] According to certain embodiments, a method for implementing UL codebook-based transmission by a UE using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes: sending information to a network node indicating the ability of the UE to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook. The UE receives a message from the network node including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration, the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration including at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination. The UE receives an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission from the network node. The rank and precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration. The UE sends the UL transmission based on the rank and precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0076] According to certain embodiments, a UE for implementing UL codebook-based transmission using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes a processing circuit configured to send information indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook to a network node. The processing circuit is configured to receive a message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration from the network node, the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration including at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination. The processing circuit is configured to receive an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission from the network node. The rank and precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration. The processing circuit is configured to send the UL transmission based on the rank and precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0077] According to certain embodiments, a method for receiving an UL codebook-based transmission sent using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook by a network node includes: receiving information from a UE indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook. The network node sends a message to the UE including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration, the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration including at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination. The network node sends an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission to the UE, the rank and precoder being associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration. The network node receives from the UE the UL transmission based on the rank and precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0078] According to certain embodiments, a network node for receiving an UL codebook-based transmission sent using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes a processing circuit configured to receive information from a UE indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook. The processing circuit is configured to send a message to the UE including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration, the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration including at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination. The processing circuit is configured to send an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission to the UE, the rank and precoder being associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration. The processing circuit is configured to receive from the UE the UL transmission based on the rank and precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0079] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. For example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of reducing the number of precoder candidates that need to be evaluated by the UL scheduler and reducing UE implementation complexity. In particular, for example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of limiting the set of candidate precoders for 8Tx UEs in the UL.

[0080] As another example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of ensuring that the amount of DCI overhead for 8TX partially coherent UEs becomes configurable. Thus, according to certain embodiments, the amount of DCI overhead required for the gNB to signal the selected TPMI to the UE may be balanced with UL performance.

[0081] Furthermore, certain embodiments may provide the technical advantage of limiting the number of precoders that need to be evaluated by the UL scheduler in the gNB and that must be implemented by the UE.

[0082] Other advantages may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Some embodiments may have none, some, or all of the listed advantages. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0083] For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0084] Figure 1 shows a partially coherent UE with 8 TXs divided into two antenna groups in accordance with certain embodiments;

[0085] Figure 2 Flowcharts and signaling diagrams describing example methods according to certain embodiments are shown;

[0086] Figure 3 An example communication system according to certain embodiments is shown;

[0087] Figure 4 An example UE according to certain embodiments is shown;

[0088] Figure 5 illustrates an example network node according to certain embodiments;

[0089] Figure 6 shows a block diagram of a host according to some embodiments;

[0090] Figure 7 illustrates a virtualization environment in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized according to certain embodiments;

[0091] Figure 8 A host is shown communicating with a UE via a network node over a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments;

[0092] Fig. 9 An example method by a UE for implementing UL codebook based transmission using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook in accordance with certain embodiments is shown; and

[0093] Fig.10 An example method by a network node for receiving a UL codebook based transmission sent using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook is shown in accordance with certain embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0094] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.The embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0095] As used herein, a "node" may be a network node or a UE. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node, such as MSR BS, eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), master eNB (MeNB), secondary eNB (SeNB), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node control relay, base transceiver station (BTS), central unit (e.g., in gNB), distributed unit (e.g., in gNB), baseband unit, centralized baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), transmission point, transmission node, remote radio unit (RRU), remote radio head (RRH), node in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g., mobile switching center (MSC), mobility management entity (MME), etc.), operation & maintenance (O&M), operation support system (OSS), self-organizing network (SON), positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC), etc.

[0096] Another example of a node is a user equipment (UE), which is a non-limiting term and refers to any type of wireless device that communicates with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UEs include a target device, a device-to-device (D2D) UE, a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), a machine type UE, an MTC UE, or a UE with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication capabilities, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a mobile terminal, a smart phone, a notebook embedded device (LEE), a notebook mounted device (LME), a unified serial bus (USB) dongle, etc.

[0097] In some embodiments, the general term "radio network node" or simply "network node (NW node)" is used. It can be any type of network node, which may include a base station, a radio base station, a base transceiver station, a base station controller, a network controller, an evolved Node B (eNB), a Node B, a gNodeB (gNB), a relay node, an access point, a radio access point, a remote radio unit (RRU), a remote radio head (RRH), a central unit (e.g., in a gNB), a distributed unit (e.g., in a gNB), a baseband unit, a centralized baseband, a C-RAN, an access point (AP), etc.

[0098] The term "Radio Access Technology (RAT)" may refer to any RAT, such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRA), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, Next Generation RAT, NR, 4G, 5G, etc. Any device denoted by the term "node", "network node" or "radio network node" may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0099] Figure 1 A partially coherent UE 100 with 8 TXs divided into two antenna groups 102a and 102b is shown in accordance with certain embodiments. The 4 antennas within each antenna group are mutually coherent, and antennas belonging to different antenna groups are mutually incoherent.

[0100] Reference Figure 1 Describe certain embodiments, Figure 1 The system is shown as being equipped with two antenna groups 102a and 102b (N g =2), where each antenna group 102 includes 4 TX antennas and where (N1, N2) = (2, 1), i.e., for each antenna group, two dual-polarization elements are stacked in the horizontal dimension (see 3GPP TS 38.214, Table 5.2.2.2.1-2), which results in a maximum rank of R for each antenna group max = 4. Furthermore, a layer cannot be transmitted from antenna elements belonging to more than one antenna group 102.

[0101] In the following, it is assumed that each layer will be transmitted from a single antenna group 102 (i.e., partially coherent UE). In a particular embodiment, the gNB can indicate to the UE how to map the layers to the two antenna groups 102a and 102b by indicating a TPMI containing the rank (i.e., R) and the corresponding partially coherent precoder. The number of possible partially coherent precoders depends on all possible combinations of layers in each group 102, such that l1+l2=R, {l1,l2}≤R max, where l1 and l2 are the number of layers in antenna group 1 and antenna group 2 102a and 102b, respectively. For example, for rank 6, the possible combinations of layers for antenna group 1 102 are given by [l1, l2]∈{[2,4],[3,3],[4,2]}. Assuming that the precoder for each group 102 is generated using a type I single-panel DL codebook with an oversampling factor given by (O1, O2)=(2,1) (see, e.g., 3GPP TS 38.214 for more details), there are 16, 16, 8, and 8 precoders for ranks 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Therefore, for rank 6, the number of partially correlated precoders is 16*8+8*8+8*16=320. For ranks 1-8, the total number of partially correlated precoders will be 2400 in total.

[0102] In a specific embodiment, N at the UE g N of the antenna groups p The antenna groups are primary groups, for which the number of precoder candidates per group is greater than that for the remaining N g -N p The number of precoder candidates for each secondary group. In a typical case, N p =1. For example, if the precoder candidates for each group are selected from the type I codebook, the number of spatial directions (i.e., the steering vectors for each polarization) is given by N1N2O1O2. In one example of a specific implementation, the product O1O2 for the main group is larger (e.g., twice as large) than for the auxiliary group. This results in a smaller number of precoder candidates in the auxiliary group compared to the main group, which in turn will reduce the number of 8TX precoder candidates.

[0103] Furthermore, for example, if the precoder candidates for each group are selected from a type-I codebook, the co-phase factor of each group is Belongs to the collection In an example of a specific embodiment, the set of common factors for each group in the auxiliary group is in (For example, ). This results in a smaller number of precoder candidates in the secondary group compared to the primary group, which in turn will reduce the number of 8TX precoder candidates.

[0104] In addition to reducing the number of precoder candidates (and therefore reducing DCI overhead), another advantage of certain embodiments is that the UE can use lower resolution beamforming circuitry in the secondary group and higher resolution beamforming circuitry only in the primary group. The lower resolution beamforming circuitry may be more energy efficient, cheaper, etc. than the higher resolution beamforming circuitry. The mapping between antenna elements to the primary antenna group and the secondary antenna group can be transparent to the gNB. For example, the UE can adapt the mapping between antenna elements and antenna groups depending on the measured channel conditions. Note that for the embodiments described herein, it is applicable to partially coherent UEs as well as fully coherent UEs (e.g., assuming that the fully coherent codebook is constructed as a multi-panel codebook with common phase between antenna groups 102).

[0105] In one embodiment, the precoder candidates for each antenna group 102 may be configured such that different beams (steering vectors for each polarization) are needed for different antenna groups 102, which may avoid unacceptable inter-layer interference in the case where antenna groups 102 are pointing in the same direction. For example, if a precoder in the first antenna group with a steering vector pointing in the direction / angle θ1 is selected, then the precoder in the second antenna group must use a steering vector pointing in the direction / angle θ2 ≠ θ1. This can be accomplished by signaling different i-codebooks for each group. 1,1 To configure, for each antenna group 102, as described in 3GPP TS 38.214, the i 1,1 Identifies beams in the horizontal direction based on N1 and O1 for transmission of a layer. For example, according to Tables 5.2.2.2.1-5 to 5.2.2.2.1-8 in 3GPP TS 38.214, when O1 is limited to 2, an odd number i may be signaled for beams in one antenna group. 1,1 = {1,3}, and for the beams in the other group an even number i is signaled 1,1 ={0,2}, which will result in 8, 8, 4, and 4 precoders for ranks 1-4 in each antenna group, respectively. To further reduce the number of precoders, in certain embodiments, |θ2-θ1|>∈ can be maintained, where ∈>0 is a certain threshold. This ensures that the spatial separation between beams in different groups is large enough.

[0106] In a specific embodiment, the precoder candidates for each antenna group 102 are configured so that the layers are distributed as evenly as possible for the two antenna groups 102a and 102b. Assuming that the signaled rank is R, it can be configured in the following way:

[0107] If the UE is configured to transmit an even number of layers (i.e., an even rank), the number of layers for each antenna group 102 must be the same. g=2 (as in the example above), only combinations for which [l1,l2]=[R / 2,R / 2] are allowed.

[0108] If the UE is configured to transmit an odd number of layers (i.e., an odd rank), the number of layers for each antenna group 102 differs by at most one. g = 2 (as shown in the above example), only for combination.

[0109] For example, if the UE is configured with rank 6, the allowed layer configurations across antenna groups are only [l1,l2]=[3,3], and if the UE is configured with rank 7, the allowed layer configurations across antenna groups are [l1,l2]=[3,4] and [l1,l2]=[4,3].

[0110] In a related specific embodiment, for odd ranks, the number of precoders can be further restricted by imposing a predefined layer allocation order on the antenna groups. For example, only combinations for which l1≥l2 are allowed, which for rank 7 only allows the configuration [l1,l2]=[4,3].

[0111] In reference Figure 1 In another specific embodiment described in the scenario described in the above example, the precoder in each antenna group 102 is generated using the old Rel-15 FC 4Tx codebook. In addition, the precoder used for each (or one) of the antenna groups 102 can be further restricted to a subset of possible precoders. For example, the antenna group 102a can only be assigned precoders with odd TPMI indexes, and the antenna group 102b can only be assigned precoders with even TPMI indexes.

[0112] Figure 2 A flow chart and signaling diagram 200 describing an example method according to certain embodiments is shown. As shown, the signaling is between a gNB 202 and a UE 204.

[0113] In a first step 206, the UE 204 signals a capability of UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook, which indicates support for implementing PUSCH transmission using the partially coherent codebook for 8TX. In various specific embodiments, the capability of UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook may include, for example, one or more of the following information:

[0114] ●Support for the maximum number of UL layers N for 8Tx partially coherent codebook;

[0115] Support for the maximum number of UL layers M per antenna group for 8Tx partially coherent codebooks;

[0116] Support for restrictions on specific layer combinations over multiple antenna groups;

[0117] ●Support for bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction;

[0118] ●Support for bit-wise TPMI codebook restriction for each antenna group;

[0119] ●Support for predefined codebook subset restrictions;

[0120] ● Constrained co-phasing of polarization within the antenna group (in the old NR, in addition to the spatial co-phasing of different antenna elements,

[0121] There are also 4 possible ways to phase the two polarizations, which are done by polarization);

[0122] • A constrained oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups (ie, how densely the DFT-based precoder is sampled in the angle domain); and

[0123] ● Support of one or more of the following 8Tx partially coherent codebooks.

[0124] At step 208, gNB 202 configures UE 204 with an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration and a corresponding SRS configuration. In various specific embodiments, the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration may include, for example, one or more of the following information in the PUSCH Config IE:

[0125] • An indication of one of the supported pre-configured codebook subset restrictions for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook;

[0126] A bit string indicating rank and precoder (TPMI) restriction, where each bit in the bit field is associated with a TPMI for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook;

[0127] A bit string indicating the rank and precoder (TPMI) restriction for each antenna group, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with the TPMI for a particular antenna group for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook for that antenna group;

[0128] One or more fields indicating the supported total rank (i.e., the total number of UL layers applied across all antenna groups) for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook;

[0129] • One or more fields indicating the supported rank for each antenna group for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook;

[0130] ● One or more fields indicating which rank combinations are supported on multiple antenna groups for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook (e.g., a UE may be configured with the following rank combinations, or a UE has two antenna groups: [0, 1],

[0131] [0,2], [1,1], and [2,0], which means that all other possible rank combinations are not supported, such as the rank combination [1,2] where a single UL layer is sent on the first antenna group and two UL layers are sent on the second antenna group);

[0132] - one or more fields indicating an oversampling factor for each antenna group, either for a subset of all antenna groups or for all antenna groups; and

[0133] • One or more fields indicating the number of possible polarization co-phasing factors per antenna group, either for a subset of all antenna groups or for all antenna groups.

[0134] In step 210, gNB 202 triggers UE 204 with SRS transmission.

[0135] In step 212, UE 204 transmits SRS. Then, in step 214, gNB 202 receives the SRS, and based on the SRS and the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration, gNB 202 evaluates all candidate precoders and / or ranks, determines a preferred precoder and / or rank, and signals it to the UE.

[0136] At step 216, the UE transmits the PUSCH using the indicated rank and / or precoder.

[0137] Figure 3 An example of a communication system 300 according to some embodiments is shown. In this example, the communication system 300 includes a telecommunications network 302, which includes an access network 304 (such as a radio access network (RAN)) and a core network 306 (which includes one or more core network nodes 308). The access network 304 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 310a and 310b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 310), or any other similar third generation partnership project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network node 310 facilitates direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), for example, by connecting UE 312a, 312b, 312c, and 312d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UE 312) to the core network 306 via one or more wireless connections.

[0138] Example wireless communications over wireless connections include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transferring information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Additionally, in various embodiments, the communication system 300 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether over a wired or wireless connection. The communication system 300 may include and / or interface to any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar types of systems.

[0139] UE 312 may be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are arranged, configured and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 310 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 310 is arranged, capable, configured and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 312 and / or with other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network 302 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or perform other functions, such as management in telecommunication network 302.

[0140] In the depicted example, the core network 306 connects the network node 310 to one or more hosts, such as the host 316. These connections may be direct or may be indirect via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node may be directly coupled to the host. The core network 306 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 308) constructed with hardware and software components. The features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UE, network nodes, and / or hosts, so that their descriptions are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 308. The example core network node includes a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a subscription identifier de-hiding function (SIDF), a unified data management (UDM), a security edge protection agent (SEPP), a network open function (NEF), and / or a user plane function (UPF) One or more functions.

[0141] The host 316 may be owned or controlled by a service provider other than the operator or provider of the telecommunications network 302 and / or the access network 304, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host 316 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data of various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs, analytical functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions implemented by a server.

[0142] Overall, Figure 3 The communication system 300 enables connections between UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standards (e.g., 6G); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low power wide area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0143] In some examples, the telecommunication network 302 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Therefore, the telecommunication network 302 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to the telecommunication network 302. For example, the telecommunication network 302 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive machine type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to other UEs.

[0144] In some examples, UE 312 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to send information to access network 304 according to a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from access network 304. Additionally, the UE may be configured to operate in a single RAT or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, the UE may operate using any one or a combination of WiFi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e., configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0145] In this example, the hub 314 communicates with the access network 304 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 312c and / or 312d) and a network node (e.g., network node 310b). In some examples, the hub 314 can be a controller, a router, a content source and analysis, or any other communication device described herein with respect to the UE. For example, the hub 314 can be a broadband router that enables the UE to access the core network 306. As another example, the hub 314 can be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. The command or instruction can be received from the UE, the network node 310, or received by an executable code, a script, a process, or other instructions in the hub 314. As another example, the hub 314 can be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage for UE data, and in some embodiments, analysis or other processing of the data can be implemented. As another example, the hub 314 can be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 314 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, and then the hub 314 provides it to the UE directly, provides it to the UE after implementing local processing, and / or provides it to the UE after adding additional local content. In another example, the hub 314 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, especially when one or more UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0146] Hub 314 can have constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node 310b. Hub 314 can also allow different communication schemes and / or scheduling between hub 314 and UE (e.g., UE 312c and / or 312d) and between hub 314 and core network 306. In other examples, hub 314 is connected to core network 306 and / or one or more UE via wired connection. In addition, hub 314 can be configured to be connected to M2M service provider and / or connected to another UE via direct connection through access network 304. In some scenarios, UE can establish wireless connection with network node 310, while still connected via hub 314 through wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 314 can be a dedicated hub, that is, its main function is to route communication from network node 310b to UE or from UE to the hub of network node 310b. In other embodiments, the hub 314 may be a non-dedicated hub, ie, a device operable to route communications between the UE and the network node 310b, but which is also operable as a communications origin and / or destination for a particular data channel.

[0147] Figure 4 UE 400 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, UE refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, notebook computers, notebook embedded devices (LEEs), notebook mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted or vehicle-mounted embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communications (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0148] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, such as by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communications, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user owning and / or operating the associated device. Rather, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user, but may not be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller), or may not initially be associated with one. Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0149] UE 400 includes processing circuitry 402, which is operatively coupled to input / output interface 406, power supply 408, memory 410, communication interface 412, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof, via bus 404. Some UEs may utilize Figure 4 All or a subset of the components shown in . The level of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0150] Processing circuit 402 is configured to process instructions and data, and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions stored in memory 410 as a machine-readable computer program. Processing circuit 402 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs), and appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuit 402 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0151] In this example, the input / output interface 406 can be configured to provide one or more interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device can allow a user to capture information into the UE 400. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, web cameras, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, direction pads, trackpads, rollers, smart cards, etc. The presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device can use an interface port of the same type as an input device. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) port can be used to provide input devices and output devices.

[0152] In some embodiments, the power supply 408 is configured as a battery or a battery pack. Other types of power supplies may be used, such as an external power supply (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The power supply 408 may also include a power supply circuit for delivering power from the power supply 408 itself and / or an external power supply to various components of the UE 400 through an input circuit or an interface such as a power cable. For example, the delivered power may be used to charge the power supply 408. The power supply circuit may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from the power supply 408 so that the power is suitable for the corresponding components of the UE 400 to which the power is supplied.

[0153] The memory 410 may be or be configured to include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable cartridge, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory 410 includes one or more application programs 414, such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 416. The memory 410 may store any of a variety of different operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 400.

[0154] The memory 410 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory, such as a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as USIM and / or ISIM, other memories, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a "SIM card". The memory 410 may allow the UE 400 to access instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to offload data or upload data. An article of manufacture (eg, an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system) may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 410 , which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0155] The processing circuit 402 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using a communication interface 412. The communication interface 412 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include an antenna 422 or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 422. The communication interface 412 may include one or more transceivers for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 418 and / or a receiver 420 suitable for providing network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 418 and the receiver 420 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 422) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or may alternatively be implemented separately.

[0156] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functionality of the communication interface 412 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication (such as Bluetooth, near field communication), location-based communication (such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location), another similar communication functionality, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, new radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical network (SONET), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), QUIC, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0157] Regardless of the type of sensor, the UE may provide an output of the data captured by its sensor via a wireless connection to a network node through its communication interface 412. The data captured by the UE's sensor may be transmitted to the network node via another UE via a wireless connection. The output may be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the load of reports from several sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., when humidity is detected, an alarm is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0158] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface that is configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change. For example, the UE can include a motor that adjusts a control surface or rotor of a drone in flight based on the received input, or adjusts a robotic arm that performs a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0159] When the UE is in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, it can be a device for one or more application areas, including but not limited to urban wearable technology, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are the following devices or devices embedded in the following devices: connected refrigerators or freezers, TVs, connected lighting devices, electricity meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, air conditioning systems such as heat pumps, self-driving cars, surveillance systems, weather monitoring devices, parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smart watches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), wearable devices for tactile enhancement or sensory enhancement, sprinklers, animal or item tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any type of medical equipment, such as heart rate monitors or remotely controlled surgical robots. In addition to including, for example, in combination with Figure 4 In addition to the other components described for the UE 400 shown in FIG. 4 , circuits and / or software may also be included depending on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0160] As another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE may be an M2M device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, airplane, or other device capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions related to its operation.

[0161] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together for a single use case. For example, a first UE may be a drone or integrated in a drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller for operating the drone. When the user implements changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the speed of the drone. The first and / or second UE may also include one or more of the above functions. For example, a UE may include a sensor and an actuator and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0162] Figure 5A network node 500 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to: an access point (AP) (e.g., a radio access point), a base station (BS) (e.g., a radio base station, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), and an NR Node B (gNB)).

[0163] Base stations can be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, in other words, their transmit power level), and therefore can be called femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations or macro base stations, depending on the amount of coverage provided. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) components of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. The components of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0164] Other examples of network nodes include a multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access node, a multi-standard radio (MSR) device (such as an MSR BS), a network controller (such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC)), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), an operation and maintenance (O&M) node, an operation support system (OSS) node, a self-organizing network (SON) node, a positioning node (e.g., an evolved serving mobile positioning center (E-SMLC)), and / or a minimization of drive testing (MDT).

[0165] The network node 500 includes a processing circuit 502, a memory 504, a communication interface 506, and a power supply 508. The network node 500 may include multiple physically separated components (e.g., a node B component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding component. In a specific scenario where the network node 500 includes multiple individual components (e.g., a BTS and a BSC component), one or more individual components may be shared between several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple node Bs. In such a scenario, in some instances, each unique node B and RNC pair may be considered as a single individual network node. In some embodiments, the network node 500 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such an embodiment, some components may be repeated (e.g., separate memories 504 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 510 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 500 may also include multiple sets of the various components shown for different wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, radio frequency identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies, integrated into the network node 500. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within the network node 500.

[0166] The processing circuit 502 may include a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, a combination of one or more of resources, or a combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic that is operable to provide network node 500 functionality alone or in combination with other network node 500 components (such as memory 504).

[0167] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 502 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 502 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 512 and baseband processing circuitry 514. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 512 and baseband processing circuitry 514 may be on separate chips (or a set of chips), boards, or units (e.g., a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 512 and baseband processing circuitry 514 may be on the same chip or a set of chips, boards, or units.

[0168] The memory 504 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to persistent memory, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit 502. The memory 504 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 502 and utilized by the network node 500). The memory 504 may be used to store any calculations performed by the processing circuit 502 and / or any data received via the communication interface 506. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 502 and the memory 504 are integrated.

[0169] The communication interface 506 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks and / or UEs. As shown, the communication interface 506 includes a port / terminal 516 for, for example, sending data to the network and receiving data from the network via a wired connection. The communication interface 506 also includes a radio front-end circuit 518, which can be coupled to the antenna 510, or in some embodiments is a part of the antenna 510. The radio front-end circuit 518 includes a filter 520 and an amplifier 522. The radio front-end circuit 518 can be connected to the antenna 510 and the processing circuit 502. The radio front-end circuit can be configured to adjust the signal transmitted between the antenna 510 and the processing circuit 502. The radio front-end circuit 518 can receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 518 can use a combination of a filter 520 and / or an amplifier 522 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. Then, the radio signal can be sent via the antenna 510. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 510 may collect radio signals, which may then be converted to digital data by radio front end circuitry 518. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 502. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0170] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 500 does not include a separate radio front end circuit 518, and instead the processing circuit 502 includes the radio front end circuit and is connected to the antenna 510. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuit 512 is part of the communication interface 506. In other embodiments, the communication interface 506 includes one or more ports or terminals 516, the radio front end circuit 518, and the RF transceiver circuit 512 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 506 communicates with the baseband processing circuit 514 as part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0171] Antenna 510 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 510 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 518 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 510 is separate from network node 500 and may be connected to network node 500 via an interface or port.

[0172] Antenna 510, communication interface 506 and / or processing circuit 502 may be configured to implement any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operation implemented by a network node as described herein. Any information, data and / or signal may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 510, communication interface 506 and / or processing circuit 502 may be configured to implement any sending operation implemented by a network node as described herein. Any information, data and / or signal may be sent to a UE, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0173] The power supply 508 provides power to the various components of the network node 500 in a form suitable for the various components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each corresponding component). The power supply 508 may also include or be coupled to a power management circuit to provide power to the components of the network node 500 for implementing the functions described herein. For example, the network node 500 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., an electrical grid, a power outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as a cable, whereby the external power source provides power to the power circuit of the power supply 508. As another example, the power supply 508 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated in the power circuit. If the external power source fails, the battery can provide backup power.

[0174] An embodiment of the network node 500 may include Figure 5Additional components other than those shown in the figure are used to provide certain aspects of the network node functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality required to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 500 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into the network node 500 and to allow information to be output from the network node 500. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions for the network node 500.

[0175] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a host 600 according to various aspects described herein, and the host 600 may be Figure 3 An embodiment of the host 116.

[0176] As used herein, host 600 may be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including standalone servers, blade servers, cloud-enabled servers, distributed servers, virtual machines, containers, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 600 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0177] Host 600 includes processing circuitry 602, which is operably coupled to input / output interface 606, network interface 608, power supply 610, and memory 612 via bus 604. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The features of these components may be similar to those described with respect to previous figures (such as Figure 4 and Figure 5 ) are substantially similar in features to those described for the devices of FIG. 600 , such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to corresponding components of the host 600 .

[0178] The memory 612 may include one or more computer programs (including one or more host applications 614 and data 616), and the data 616 may include user data, such as data generated by the UE for the host 600 or data generated by the host 600 for the UE. An embodiment of the host 600 may utilize only a subset of the components shown or utilize all of the components shown. The host application 614 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different categories, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., mobile phones, desktop computers, wearable display systems, head-up display systems). The host application 614 may also provide user authentication and authorization checks, and may periodically report health status, routing, and content availability to a central node (such as a device in a core network or at the edge). Thus, the host 600 may select and / or instruct different hosts for over-the-top services for the UE. The host application 614 may support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), and the like.

[0179] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 700 in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0180] In the present context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or apparatus, which may include a virtualized hardware platform, storage device, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to any device or component thereof described herein, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functions are implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components performed by one or more virtual machines (VMs), which are implemented in one or more virtual environments 700 hosted by one or more hardware nodes (such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts). In addition, in embodiments where a virtual node does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node or host), the node may be fully virtualized.

[0181] Application 702 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, a virtual appliance, a network function, a virtual node, a virtual network function, etc.) runs in a virtualized environment 700 to implement some features, functions and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0182] Hardware 704 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc. The software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 706 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 708a and 708b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 708), and / or implement any functionality, features, and / or benefits associated with some embodiments described herein. Virtualization layer 706 may present a virtual operating platform that appears to be network hardware to VMs 708.

[0183] VM 708 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual network or interface and virtual storage, and can be operated by corresponding virtualization layer 706. Different embodiments of instances of virtual device 702 can be implemented on one or more VM 708, and can be implemented in different ways. Virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) in some contexts. NFV can be used to integrate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0184] In the context of NFV, VM 708 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM 708 and a portion of the hardware 704 on which the VM executes, whether hardware dedicated to the VM and / or hardware shared by the VM with other VMs, form a separate virtual network element. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling a specific network function running in one or more VMs 708 on the hardware 704 and corresponds to an application 702.

[0185] The hardware 704 may be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. The hardware 704 may implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 704 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed through management and orchestration 710, where management and orchestration 710 oversees the lifecycle management of the application 702. In some embodiments, the hardware 704 is coupled to one or more radio units, each of which includes one or more transmitters that can be coupled to one or more antennas and one or more receivers. The radio units can communicate directly with other hardware nodes through one or more appropriate network interfaces, and can be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide radio capabilities for virtual nodes, such as radio access points or base stations. In some embodiments, a control system 712 may be used to provide some signaling, and the control system 712 may optionally be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0186] Figure 8 A communication diagram is shown in which a host 802 communicates with a UE 806 via a network node 804 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0187] Now refer to Figure 8 To describe the UE discussed in the preceding paragraphs (such as Figure 3 UE 312a and / or Figure 4 UE 400), network nodes (such as Figure 3 The network node 310a and / or Figure 5 network nodes 500) and hosts (such as Figure 3 Host 316 and / or Figure 6 An example implementation of a host 600).

[0188] Similar to the host 600, an embodiment of the host 802 includes hardware, such as a communication interface, a processing circuit, and a memory. The host 802 also includes software, which is stored in the host 802 or accessible by the host 802 and can be executed by the processing circuit. The software includes a host application, which is operable to provide services to a remote user (e.g., a UE 806 connected via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 850 extending between the UE 806 and the host 802). When providing services to the remote user, the host application can provide user data sent using the OTT connection 850.

[0189] The network node 804 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with the host 802 and the UE 806. The connection 860 can be direct or through a core network (such as Figure 3The core network 306 of the present invention) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private or managed networks. For example, the intermediate network can be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0190] UE 806 includes hardware and software, which is stored in UE 806 or accessible by UE 806 and can be executed by the processing circuit of UE. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or an operator-specific "app", which is operable to provide services to human or non-human users through UE 806 with the support of host 802. In the host 802, the execution host application can communicate with the execution client application via the OTT connection 850 terminated at UE 806 and host 802. When providing services to the user, the client application of the UE can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 850 can transmit both request data and user data. The client application of the UE can interact with the user to generate user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 850.

[0191] The OTT connection 850 may extend via a connection 860 between the host 802 and the network node 804 and via a wireless connection 870 between the network node 804 and the UE 806 to provide a connection between the host 802 and the UE 806. The connection 860 and the wireless connection 870 over which the OTT connection 850 may be provided are drawn abstractly to illustrate communication between the host 802 and the UE 806 via the network node 804 without explicit reference to any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0192] As an example of sending data via the OTT connection 850, in step 808, the host 802 provides user data, which can be implemented by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with the UE 806. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with the UE 806, and the UE 806 shares the data with the host 802 without explicit human-computer interaction. In step 810, the host 802 initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE 806. The host 802 may initiate the transmission in response to a request sent by the UE 806. The request may be caused by human-computer interaction with the UE 806, or by the operation of a client application executed on the UE 806. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the transmission may be transmitted via the network node 804. Therefore, in step 812, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the network node 804 sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host 802 to the UE 806. In step 814 , UE 806 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executing on UE 806 that is associated with a host application executed by host 802 .

[0193] In some examples, UE 806 executes a client application that provides user data to host 802. The user data may be provided as a reaction or response to data received from host 802. Therefore, in step 816, UE 806 may provide user data, which may be implemented by executing a client application. When providing user data, the client application may also take into account user input received from a user via an input / output interface of UE 806. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data is provided, in step 818, UE 806 initiates transmission of the user data to host 802 via network node 804. In step 820, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, network node 804 receives user data from UE 806 and initiates transmission of the received user data to host 802. In step 822, host 802 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 806.

[0194] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 806 using OTT connection 850, with wireless connection 870 forming the last leg. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve, for example, one or more of data rate, latency, and / or power consumption, thereby providing benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed file size restrictions, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery life.

[0195] In an example scenario, the host 802 may collect and analyze plant status information. As another example, the host 802 may process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from the UE for use in creating a map. As another example, the host 802 may collect and analyze real-time data to help control vehicle congestion (e.g., control traffic lights). As another example, the host 802 may store surveillance videos uploaded by the UE. As another example, the host 802 may store or control access to media content, such as video, audio, VR, or AR, which may broadcast, multicast, or unicast the media content to the UE. As other examples, the host 802 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical power loads to balance power generation demand, location services, presentation services (such as compiling charts based on data collected from remote devices, etc.), or any other function for collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or sending data.

[0196] In some examples, a measurement process may be provided for monitoring data rates, delays, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 850 between the host 802 and the UE 806 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 802 and / or the UE 806. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 850 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the monitored quantities of the above examples or by providing the values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 850 may include message formatting, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguration does not require direct changes to the operation of the network node 804. These processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling, which facilitates the host 802 to measure throughput, propagation time, delay, etc. The measurements may be implemented in software that causes messages (particularly empty or 'dummy' messages) to be sent using the OTT connection 850 while monitoring propagation times, errors and the like.

[0197] Although the computing devices (e.g., UE, network node, host) described herein may include a combination of the hardware components shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to implement the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition or similar operations described herein may be implemented by a processing circuit, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with the information stored in the network node, and / or implementing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making a determination as a result of the processing. In addition, although the components are described as a single box located within a larger box, or a single box nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a computing device may include multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component, and functions may be divided between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functions of the components may be divided between a processing circuit and a communication interface. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0198] Fig. 9 An example method 900 for implementing UL codebook-based transmission using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook by a UE 204, 312 according to certain embodiments is shown. The method starts at step 902 when the UE 204, 312 sends information indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook to a network node 202, 310. At step 904, the UE 204, 312 receives a message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration from the network node 202, 310. The 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination. At step 906, the UE 204, 312 receives an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission from the network node 202, 310. The rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration. At step 908, the UE 204, 312 sends the UL transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0199] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction on UL layer combinations restricts UL layer combinations on two or more antenna groups.

[0200] In certain embodiments, data is transmitted on only one of the two or more antenna groups.

[0201] In certain embodiments, data is transmitted on two or more of the antenna groups by the UE 204, 312. The precoder candidates for each antenna group are configured to distribute multiple UL layers between the two or more antenna groups.

[0202] In another specific embodiment, the rank is an even rank and the number of layers for each antenna group is the same.

[0203] In yet another specific embodiment, the rank is an odd rank, and the number of layers for each antenna group differs by at most one.

[0204] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction for a UL layer combination restricts an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups.

[0205] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a common phase of polarizations within at least one antenna group.

[0206] In a particular embodiment, the information indicating the capabilities of the UE 204, 312 includes at least one of: an indication that the UE supports a maximum number of UL layers N for an 8Tx partially coherent codebook; an indication that the UE supports predefined codebook subset restrictions; an indication that the UE supports restricted co-phasing of polarizations within an antenna group; an indication that the UE supports restricted oversampling factors for one or more antenna groups; and an indication that the UE supports 8Tx on two antenna groups and / or 8Tx on four antenna groups.

[0207] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction for a UL layer combination restricts a particular precoder used at the first antenna group to also be used for the second antenna group.

[0208] Fig.10An example method 1000 for receiving an UL codebook-based transmission sent using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook by a network node 202, 310 in accordance with certain embodiments is shown. The method begins at step 1002 when the network node 202, 310 receives information from a UE 204, 312 indicating the ability of the UE 204, 312 to send UL transmissions using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook. At step 1004, the network node 202, 310 sends a message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration to the UE 204, 312. The 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination. At step 1006, the network node 202, 310 sends an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission to the UE 204, 312, and the rank and precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration. At step 1008, the network node 202, 310 receives the UL transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration from the UE 204, 312.

[0209] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction on UL layer combinations restricts UL layer combinations on two or more antenna groups.

[0210] In certain embodiments, data is transmitted by the UE 204, 312 on only one of the two or more antenna groups.

[0211] In certain embodiments, data is transmitted by the UE 204, 312 on two or more of the antenna groups, and the precoder candidates for each antenna group are configured to distribute multiple UL layers between the two or more antenna groups.

[0212] In another specific embodiment, the rank is an even rank and the number of layers for each antenna group is the same.

[0213] In yet another specific embodiment, the rank is an odd rank, and the number of layers for each antenna group differs by at most one.

[0214] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction for a UL layer combination restricts an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups.

[0215] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a common phase of polarizations within at least one antenna group.

[0216] In a particular embodiment, the information indicating the ability of the UE 204, 312 to send UL transmissions using an 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of: an indication that the UE supports a maximum number of UL layers N for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; an indication that the UE supports predefined codebook subset restrictions; an indication that the UE supports restricted co-phasing of polarizations within an antenna group; an indication that the UE supports an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups; and an indication that the UE supports 8Tx on two antenna groups and / or 8Tx on four antenna groups.

[0217] In a particular embodiment, the at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts at least one precoder used at the first antenna group to also be used for the second antenna group.

[0218] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by a processing circuit that executes instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by a processing circuit without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, the processing circuit may be configured to implement the described functionality, regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to separate processing circuits or other components of a computing device, but are generally enjoyed by the entire computing device and / or by end users and wireless networks.

[0219] Example Embodiments

[0220] Group A Example Embodiments

[0221] Example embodiment A1. A method for a user equipment to implement uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using an 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebook, the method comprising: any one of the above-mentioned user equipment steps, features or functions, alone or in combination with the above-mentioned other steps, features or functions.

[0222] Example embodiment A2. The method according to the above embodiment further includes one or more of the above-mentioned additional user equipment steps, features or functions.

[0223] Example Embodiment A3. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via transmission to a network node.

[0224] Group B Example Embodiments

[0225] Example embodiment B1. A method implemented by a network node for receiving an uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using an 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebook, the method comprising: any one of the above-mentioned network node steps, features or functions, alone or in combination with the above-mentioned other steps, features or functions.

[0226] Example embodiment B2. The method according to the above embodiment further includes one or more additional network node steps, features or functions mentioned above.

[0227] Example Embodiment B3. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user device.

[0228] Group C Example Embodiments

[0229] Example embodiment C1. A method for implementing uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebooks by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a message containing a UL reference signal (RS) configuration configuring at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) resource from a network node; receiving a message containing an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration from the network node; receiving an indication of implementing transmission and an indication of a rank and precoder that should be applied to the transmission from the network node, wherein the rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration; and implementing the transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0230] Example Embodiment C2. The method of Example Embodiment C1, comprising sending information to the network node indicating the ability of the UE to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook.

[0231] Example Embodiment C3. The method of Example Embodiment C2, wherein the information indicating the capability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook indicates the capability of the UE to implement PUSCH transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook.

[0232] Example Embodiment C4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C2 to C3, wherein the information indicating the ability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of the following:

[0233] a. Indication of the maximum number of UL layers N supported by the 8Tx partially coherent codebook;

[0234] b. Indication of the maximum number of UL layers M supported by the 8Tx partially coherent codebook for each antenna group;

[0235] c. Indication of support for specific UL layer combinations between different antenna groups;

[0236] d. Support the indication of bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction;

[0237] e. Supports indication of bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group;

[0238] f. Support for indication of predefined codebook subset restrictions;

[0239] g. Indication to limit the co-phasing of polarizations within the antenna group (in the old NR, in addition to the spatial co-phasing of different antenna elements, there are 4 possible ways to co-phase the two polarizations, which is done by polarization)

[0240] h. An indication to limit the oversampling factor (ie, how densely the DFT-based precoder is sampled in the angle domain) for one or more antenna groups;

[0241] i. Indication of supporting one or more of the following 8Tx partially coherent codebooks

[0242] i. 8Tx on a single antenna group, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0243] 1. Indication of the maximum number of layers supported by this configuration

[0244] 2. Indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported by this configuration

[0245] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration

[0246] 4. Indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions are supported for this configuration

[0247] 5. Indication of bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group supported for this configuration

[0248] 6. Indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for this configuration

[0249] 7. Indication of the common phase of polarization within the antenna group for this configuration limit

[0250] 8. Indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration

[0251] ii. 8Tx on two antenna groups, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0252] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0253] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0254] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0255] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0256] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0257] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0258] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0259] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0260] iii. 8Tx on two antenna groups, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in the horizontal dimension, wherein the information indicates

[0261] At least one of the following:

[0262] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0263] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0264] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0265] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0266] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0267] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0268] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0269] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0270] iv. 8Tx on two antenna groups, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in a vertical dimension, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in a horizontal dimension, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0271] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0272] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0273] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0274] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0275] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0276] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0277] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0278] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0279] v. 8Tx on four antenna groups, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0280] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0281] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0282] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0283] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0284] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0285] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0286] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0287] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0288] vi. 8Tx on four antenna groups, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in the horizontal dimension, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0289] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0290] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0291] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0292] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0293] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0294] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0295] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0296] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0297] vii. 8Tx on four antenna groups, where the antenna groups are distributed in both vertical and horizontal dimensions (ie, two rows and two columns)

[0298] 1. The maximum number of layers supported for this configuration;

[0299] 2. Maximum number of UL layers supported per antenna group for this configuration;

[0300] 3. Support for one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions for the configuration;

[0301] 4. Support for bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions for this configuration;

[0302] 5. Support for bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group of the configuration;

[0303] 6. Limit one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0304] 7. Limiting the common phase of polarization within the antenna group for this configuration; and

[0305] 8. Limit the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration.

[0306] Example Embodiment C5. The method of any of Example Embodiments C1 to C4, comprising: receiving a message from the network node triggering transmission of SRS resources.

[0307] Example Embodiment C6. The method of any of Example Embodiments C1 to C5, wherein the transmission comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0308] Example Embodiment C7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C6, wherein the restricted predefined codebook subset is based on restricting a specific UL layer combination on two or more antenna groups.

[0309] Example embodiment C8. A method according to example embodiment C7, wherein limiting specific UL layer combinations on two or more antenna groups includes: limiting specific layer combinations that have a large difference in the number of layers for different antenna groups, i.e., UL layer combinations [1,3] and [1,4] on a UE with two antenna groups (note that it is still possible to support the full use of a single antenna group, i.e., [4 0]).

[0310] Example embodiment C9. The method of any one of example embodiments C1 to C8, wherein the restricted predefined codebook subset is based on restricting a specific UL layer for a specific antenna group.

[0311] Example embodiment C10. The method of example embodiment C9, wherein the number of supported UL layers for the first antenna group is [1, 2, 3, 4] and the number of supported UL layers for the second antenna group is [1, 2].

[0312] Example embodiment C11. A method according to any one of example embodiments C1 to C10, wherein the restricted predefined codebook subset is based on restricting that a specific precoder used at a first antenna group is also used for a second antenna group (i.e., different beams must be used for different antenna groups because if not, then there is a risk that if two antenna groups point in the same direction, sending their corresponding layers in the same direction, this may cause unacceptable inter-layer interference).

[0313] Example embodiment C12. The method of example embodiment C11, wherein limiting specific precoders for each antenna group includes: for example, limiting so that only specific precoders are applicable to a first antenna group, and limiting so that another subset of precoders are applicable to a second antenna group.

[0314] Example embodiment C13. A method according to example embodiment C11, wherein limiting the specific precoder for each antenna group includes: for example, limiting the oversampling factor used for one or more antenna groups for this configuration (i.e., if we use a DFT-based precoder (such as the old NRI-type DL codebook), the oversampling factor can be defined according to each antenna group, or the same oversampling factor can be defined for all antenna groups).

[0315] Example Embodiment C14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C13, wherein the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration is configured in a PUSCH config IE as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0316] Example Embodiment C15. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C14, wherein the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes an indication of one of pre-configured codebook subset restrictions for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook.

[0317] Example embodiment C16. The method of any one of example embodiments C1 to C15, wherein the bit string indicates a rank sum precoder (TPMI) restriction, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a TPMI for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook.

[0318] Example Embodiment C17. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C16, wherein a field is used to indicate which total ranks are supported for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook.

[0319] Example Embodiment C18. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C17, wherein a field is used to indicate which ranks are supported per antenna group for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook.

[0320] Example embodiment C19. A method according to any one of example embodiments C1 to C18, wherein one or more fields are used to indicate which rank combinations are supported on multiple antenna groups for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook (for example, the UE may be configured with the following rank combinations or the UE has two antenna groups: [0,1], [0,2], [1,1] and [2,0], which means that all other possible rank combinations are not supported, such as the rank combination [1,2], where a single UL layer is sent on the first antenna group and two UL layers are sent on the second antenna group).

[0321] Example Embodiment C20. The method of any of Example Embodiments C1 to C19, wherein, for a subset of all antenna groups or for all antenna groups, a field is used to indicate an oversampling factor for each antenna group.

[0322] Example embodiment C21. A method according to any one of example embodiments C1 to C20, wherein the size of the bit field in the DCI used to indicate the rank and precoder (TPMI) to the UE for the 8Tx partial coherent codebook is automatically adjusted based on the required number of entries / code points associated with the configured 8Tx partial codebook.

[0323] Example embodiment C22. The method of any one of example embodiments C1 to C21, wherein the bit field in the DCI is the "precoding information and number of layers" bit field in DCI formats 0_1 and 0_2.

[0324] Example Embodiment C23. The method of Example Embodiments C1 to C22, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to the host via transmission to the network node.

[0325] Example embodiment C24. A user equipment comprising a processing circuit configured to implement any of the methods according to example embodiments C1 to C23.

[0326] Example Embodiment C25. A wireless device comprising a processing circuit configured to implement any of the methods according to Example Embodiments C1 to C23.

[0327] Example embodiment C26. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, implement any of the methods according to example embodiments C1 to C23.

[0328] Example embodiment C27. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, implement any of the methods according to example embodiments C1 to C23.

[0329] Example Embodiment C28. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement any of the methods described in Example Embodiments C1 to C23.

[0330] Group D Example Embodiments

[0331] Example embodiment D1. A method for a network node to receive an uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission sent using an 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebook, the method comprising: sending a message containing a UL reference signal (RS) configuration configuring at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) resource to a user equipment (UE); sending a message containing an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration to the UE; sending an indication to the UE to implement a transmission and an indication of a rank and a precoder that should be applied to the transmission, wherein the rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration; and receiving from the UE the transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

[0332] Example Embodiment D2. The method of Example Embodiment D1, comprising: receiving information from the UE indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook.

[0333] Example embodiment D3. The method according to example embodiment D2, wherein the information indicating the ability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook indicates the ability of the UE to implement PUSCH transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook.

[0334] Example Embodiment D4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D2 to D3, wherein the information indicating the ability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of the following:

[0335] a. Indication of the maximum number of UL layers N supported by the 8Tx partially coherent codebook;

[0336] b. Indication of the maximum number of UL layers M supported by the 8Tx partially coherent codebook for each antenna group;

[0337] c. Indication of support for specific UL layer combinations between different antenna groups;

[0338] d. Support bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction indication;

[0339] e. Supports indication of bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group;

[0340] f. Support for indication of predefined codebook subset restrictions;

[0341] g. Indication to limit the co-phasing of polarizations within the antenna group (in the old NR, in addition to the spatial co-phasing of different antenna elements, there are 4 possible ways to co-phase the two polarizations, which is done by polarization)

[0342] h. An indication to limit the oversampling factor (ie, how densely the DFT-based precoder is sampled in the angle domain) for one or more antenna groups;

[0343] i. Indication of supporting one or more of the following 8Tx partially coherent codebooks

[0344] viii. 8Tx on a single antenna group, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0345] 1. Indication of the maximum number of layers supported by this configuration

[0346] 2. Indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported by this configuration

[0347] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration

[0348] 4. Indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions are supported for this configuration

[0349] 5. Indication of bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group supported for this configuration

[0350] 6. Indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for this configuration

[0351] 7. Indication of the common phase of polarization within the antenna group for this configuration limit

[0352] 8. Indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration

[0353] ix. 8Tx on two antenna groups, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0354] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0355] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0356] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0357] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0358] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0359] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0360] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0361] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0362] x. 8Tx on two antenna groups, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in a horizontal dimension, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0363] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0364] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0365] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0366] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0367] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0368] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0369] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0370] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0371] xi. 8Tx on two antenna groups, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in a vertical dimension, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in a horizontal dimension, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0372] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0373] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0374] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0375] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0376] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0377] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0378] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0379] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0380] xii. 8Tx on four antenna groups, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0381] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0382] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0383] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0384] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0385] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0386] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0387] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0388] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0389] xiii. 8Tx on four antenna groups, wherein the antenna groups are distributed in a horizontal dimension, wherein the information indicates at least one of the following:

[0390] 1. An indication of the maximum number of layers supported by the configuration;

[0391] 2. An indication of the maximum number of UL layers per antenna group supported for this configuration;

[0392] 3. An indication that one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions are supported for this configuration;

[0393] 4. An indication that bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restriction is supported for this configuration;

[0394] 5. An indication that bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group are supported for this configuration;

[0395] 6. An indication of limiting one or more antenna groups for the configuration;

[0396] 7. An indication of a common phase of polarization within the antenna group for the configuration limit; and

[0397] 8. An indication of limiting the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0398] xiv. 8Tx on four antenna groups, where the antenna groups are distributed in both vertical and horizontal dimensions (ie, two rows and two columns)

[0399] 1. The maximum number of layers supported for this configuration;

[0400] 2. Maximum number of UL layers supported per antenna group for this configuration;

[0401] 3. Support for one or more predefined codebook subset restrictions for the configuration;

[0402] 4. Support for bit-by-bit TPMI codebook restrictions for this configuration;

[0403] 5. Support for bit-wise TPMI codebook restrictions for each antenna group of the configuration;

[0404] 6. Limit one or more antenna groups for this configuration;

[0405] 7. Limiting the common phase of polarization within the antenna group for this configuration; and

[0406] 8. Limit the oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups for this configuration.

[0407] Example embodiment D5. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D4, comprising: sending a message to the UE triggering transmission of SRS resources.

[0408] Example Embodiment D6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D5, wherein the transmission comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0409] Example embodiment D7. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D6, wherein the restricted predefined codebook subset is based on restricting a specific UL layer combination on two or more antenna groups.

[0410] Example embodiment D8. A method according to example embodiment D7, wherein limiting specific UL layer combinations on two or more antenna groups includes: limiting specific layer combinations that have a large difference in the number of layers for different antenna groups, i.e., UL layer combinations [1,3] and [1,4] on a UE with two antenna groups (note that it is still possible to support the full use of a single antenna group, i.e., [4 0]).

[0411] Example embodiment D9. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D8, wherein the restricted predefined codebook subset is based on restricting a specific UL layer for a specific antenna group.

[0412] Example embodiment D10. The method of example embodiment D9, wherein the number of UL layers supported for the first antenna group is [1, 2, 3, 4], and the number of UL layers supported for the second antenna group is [1, 2].

[0413] Example embodiment D11. A method according to any one of example embodiments D1 to D10, wherein the restricted predefined codebook subset is based on restricting that a specific precoder used at a first antenna group is also used for a second antenna group (i.e., different beams must be used for different antenna groups because if not, then there is a risk that if two antenna groups point in the same direction, sending their corresponding layers in the same direction, this may cause unacceptable inter-layer interference).

[0414] Example embodiment D12. A method according to example embodiment D11, wherein limiting the specific precoders for each antenna group includes: for example, limiting so that only specific precoders are applicable to the first antenna group, and limiting so that another subset of precoders are applicable to the second antenna group.

[0415] Example embodiment D13. A method according to example embodiment D11, wherein limiting the specific precoder for each antenna group includes: for example, limiting the oversampling factor used for one or more antenna groups for this configuration (i.e., if we use a DFT-based precoder (such as the old NRI-type DL codebook), the oversampling factor can be defined according to each antenna group, or the same oversampling factor can be defined for all antenna groups).

[0416] Example Embodiment D14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D13, wherein the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration is configured in a PUSCH Config IE as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0417] Example Embodiment D15. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D14, wherein the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes an indication of one of pre-configured codebook subset restrictions for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook.

[0418] Example embodiment D16. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D15, wherein the bit string indicates a rank sum precoder (TPMI) restriction, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a TPMI for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook.

[0419] Example Embodiment D17. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D16, wherein a field is used to indicate which total ranks are supported for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook.

[0420] Example embodiment D18. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D17, wherein a field is used to indicate which ranks are supported per antenna group for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook.

[0421] Example embodiment D19. A method according to any one of example embodiments D1 to D18, wherein one or more fields are used to indicate which rank combinations are supported on multiple antenna groups for the configured partially coherent 8Tx codebook (for example, the UE may be configured with the following rank combinations or the UE has two antenna groups: [0,1], [0,2], [1,1], and [2,0], which means that all other possible rank combinations are not supported, such as the rank combination [1,2], where a single UL layer is sent on the first antenna group and two UL layers are sent on the second antenna group).

[0422] Example Embodiment D20. The method of any of Example Embodiments D1 to D19, wherein, for a subset of all antenna groups or for all antenna groups, a field is used to indicate an oversampling factor for each antenna group.

[0423] Example embodiment D21. A method according to any one of example embodiments D1 to D20, wherein the size of the bit field in the DCI used to indicate the rank and precoder (TPMI) to the UE for the 8Tx partial coherent codebook is automatically adjusted based on the required number of entries / code points associated with the configured 8Tx partial codebook.

[0424] Example embodiment D22. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D21, wherein the bit field in the DCI is the "precoding information and number of layers" bit field in DCI formats 0_1 and 0_2.

[0425] Example embodiment D23. A method according to any one of example embodiments D1 to D22, wherein the network node includes a gNodeB (gNB).

[0426] Example Embodiment D24. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D23, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user device.

[0427] Example embodiment D25. A network node comprising a processing circuit configured to implement any of the methods according to example embodiments D1 to D24.

[0428] Example embodiment D26. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, implement any of the methods according to example embodiments D1 to D24.

[0429] Example embodiment D27. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, implement any of the methods according to example embodiments D1 to D24.

[0430] Example Embodiment D28. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement any of the methods described in Example Embodiments D1 to D24.

[0431] Group E Example Embodiments

[0432] Example embodiment E1. A user equipment for implementing uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using an 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebook, the UE comprising: a processing circuit configured to implement any steps described in any of the embodiments of Group A and Group C example embodiments; and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

[0433] Example embodiment E2. A network node for receiving uplink (UL) codebook-based transmissions using an 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebook, the network node comprising: a processing circuit configured to implement any steps described in any of the embodiments of Group B and Group D example embodiments; a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

[0434] Example embodiment E3. A user equipment (UE) for implementing uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using 8-transmitter (Tx) partially coherent codebooks, the UE comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and a processing circuit and configured to adjust signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit; the processing circuit is configured to implement any steps described in accordance with any of the embodiments of Group A and Group C example embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuit; an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information that has been processed by the processing circuit from the UE; and a battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to power the UE.

[0435] Example embodiment E4. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and a processing circuit, the communication interface and processing circuit of the UE being configured to implement any steps described in any of the embodiments of Group A and Group C example embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0436] Example Embodiment E5. The host according to the preceding example embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a network node configured to communicate with the UE to send the user data from the host to the UE.

[0437] Example embodiment E6. A host according to the aforementioned two example embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0438] Example embodiment E7. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data to the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the network node, wherein the UE implements any operation described in any embodiment of Group A to receive the user data from the host.

[0439] Example Embodiment E8. The method according to the preceding example embodiment further comprises: executing, at the host, a host application associated with the client application executed on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0440] Example embodiment E9. The method according to the aforementioned example embodiment further includes: at the host, sending input data to a client application executed on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0441] Example embodiment E10. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and a processing circuit, the communication interface and processing circuit of the UE being configured to implement any steps described in any of the embodiments of Group A and Group C example embodiments to send the user data to the host.

[0442] Example Embodiment E11. The host according to the preceding example embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a network node configured to communicate with the UE to send the user data from the UE to the host.

[0443] Example embodiment E12. A host according to the aforementioned two example embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0444] Example embodiment E13. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data sent by the UE to the host via the network node, wherein the UE implements any steps described in any of the embodiments of Group A and Group C example embodiments to send the user data to the host.

[0445] Example Embodiment E14. The method according to the preceding example embodiment, further comprising: executing, at the host, a host application associated with the client application executed on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0446] Example embodiment E15. The method according to the aforementioned example embodiment further includes: at the host, sending input data to a client application executed on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0447] Example embodiment E16. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the network node being configured to implement any operation described in any of the embodiments of Group B and Group D example embodiments to send the user data from the host to the UE.

[0448] Example embodiment E17. A host according to the aforementioned example embodiment, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive a transmission of user data from the host.

[0449] Example embodiment E18. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data to the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the network node, wherein the network node implements any operation described in any of the embodiments of Group B and Group D to send the user data from the host to the UE.

[0450] Example Embodiment E19. The method according to the preceding example embodiment, further comprising: at the network node, sending the user data provided by the host to the UE.

[0451] Example embodiment E20. A method according to any one of the foregoing two example embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0452] Example embodiment E21. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top service, the communication system comprising: a host, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the network node being configured to implement operations according to any of the embodiments of Group B and Group D example embodiments to send the user data from the host to the UE.

[0453] Example embodiment E22. The communication system according to the preceding example embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and / or the user equipment.

[0454] Example embodiment E23. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to initiate reception of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the network node being configured to implement any operation described in accordance with any of the embodiments in Group B and Group D example embodiments so as to receive the user data from the user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0455] Example embodiment E24. A host according to the aforementioned two example embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0456] Example Embodiment E25. The host of any one of the preceding two example embodiments, wherein initiating the receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

[0457] Example embodiment E26. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating reception of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission that the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node implements any steps described in accordance with any of the embodiments in Group B and Group D example embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

[0458] Example Embodiment E27. The method according to the preceding example embodiment, further comprising: at the network node, sending the received user data to the host.

Claims

1. A method (900) for implementing uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using an 8-transmitter Tx partially coherent codebook by a user equipment (UE) (204, 312), the method comprising: sending (902) information indicating the capability of the UE to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook to a network node (202, 310); receiving (904) a message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration from the network node, wherein the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination; receiving (906) from the network node an indication of a rank and a precoder to be applied for the UL transmission, wherein the rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration; and The UL transmission is sent (908) based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one restriction on the UL layer combination restricts the UL layer combination on two or more antenna groups.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Data is transmitted on only one antenna group among the two or more antenna groups.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Data is sent by the UE on two or more of the antenna groups, and wherein the precoder candidates for each antenna group are configured to distribute multiple UL layers between the two or more antenna groups.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The rank is an even rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group is the same.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The rank is an odd rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group differs by at most one.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a common phase of polarizations within at least one antenna group.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein: The information indicating the capability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of the following: a. an indication of the maximum number of UL layers N supported by the UE for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; b. An indication that the UE supports a predefined codebook subset restriction; c. An indication that the UE supports a constrained common phase of polarization within an antenna group; d. The UE supports an indication of a restricted oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups; as well as e. An indication that the UE supports 8Tx on two antenna groups and / or 8Tx on four antenna groups.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a specific precoder used at a first antenna group to also be used for a second antenna group.

11. A method (1000) by a network node (202, 310) for receiving an uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission sent using an 8-transmitter Tx partially coherent codebook, the method comprising: receiving (1002) information from a user equipment UE (204, 312) indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; sending (1004) a message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration to the UE, wherein the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination; sending (1006) to the UE an indication of a rank and a precoder to be applied for the UL transmission, wherein the rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration; and The UL transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration is received (1008) from the UE.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The at least one restriction on the UL layer combination restricts the UL layer combination on two or more antenna groups.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Data is sent by the UE on only one of the two or more antenna groups.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Data is sent by the UE on two or more of the antenna groups, and wherein the precoder candidates for each antenna group are configured to distribute multiple UL layers between the two or more antenna groups.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The rank is an even rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group is the same.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The rank is an odd rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group differs by at most one.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a common phase of polarizations within at least one antenna group.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein: The information indicating the capability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of the following: a. an indication of the maximum number of UL layers N supported by the UE for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; b. An indication that the UE supports a predefined codebook subset restriction; c. An indication that the UE supports a constrained common phase of polarization within an antenna group; d. The UE supports an indication of an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups; as well as e. An indication that the UE supports 8Tx on two antenna groups and / or 8Tx on four antenna groups.

20. The method according to any one of example embodiments claims 11 to 19, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts at least one precoder used at the first antenna group to also be used for the second antenna group.

21. A user equipment (UE) (204, 312) for implementing uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission using an 8-transmitter Tx partially coherent codebook, the UE comprising a processing circuit (202), the processing circuit being configured to: sending information to a network node (202, 310) indicating the capability of the UE to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; A message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration is received from the network node, wherein: The 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration includes at least one codebook restriction for a UL layer combination; receiving, from the network node, an indication of a rank and a precoder to be applied to the UL transmission, wherein the rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration; as well as The UL transmission is sent based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration.

22. The UE according to claim 21, wherein: The at least one restriction on the UL layer combination restricts the UL layer combination on two or more antenna groups.

23. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: Data is transmitted on only one antenna group among the two or more antenna groups.

24. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: Data is sent by the UE on two or more of the antenna groups, and wherein the precoder candidates for each antenna group are configured to substantially evenly distribute a plurality of UL layers between the two or more antenna groups.

25. The UE according to claim 24, wherein: The rank is an even rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group is the same.

26. The UE according to claim 24, wherein: The rank is an odd rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group differs by at most one.

27. The UE according to any one of claims 21 to 26, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups.

28. The UE according to any one of claims 21 to 27, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a common phase of polarizations within at least one antenna group.

29. The UE according to any one of claims 21 to 28, wherein: The information indicating the capability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of the following: a. an indication of the maximum number of UL layers N supported by the UE for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; b. An indication that the UE supports a predefined codebook subset restriction; c. An indication that the UE supports a constrained common phase of polarization within an antenna group; d. The UE supports an indication of a restricted oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups; as well as e. An indication that the UE supports 8Tx on two antenna groups and / or 8Tx on four antenna groups.

30. The UE according to any one of claims 21 to 29, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a specific precoder used at a first antenna group to also be used for a second antenna group.

31. A network node (202, 310) for receiving an uplink (UL) codebook-based transmission sent using an 8-transmitter Tx partially coherent codebook, the network node comprising a processing circuit (302) configured to: receiving, from a user equipment UE (204, 312), information indicating the UE's ability to send UL transmissions using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; Sending a message including an 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration to the UE; sending an indication of a rank and precoder to be applied to the UL transmission to the UE, wherein: The rank and the precoder are associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration; as well as The UL transmission based on the rank and the precoder associated with the 8Tx partially coherent codebook configuration is received from the UE.

32. The network node according to claim 31, wherein: The at least one restriction on the UL layer combination restricts the UL layer combination on two or more antenna groups.

33. A network according to claim 32, wherein: Data is sent by the UE on only one of the two or more antenna groups.

34. The network of claim 32, wherein: Data is sent by the UE on two or more of the antenna groups, and wherein the precoder candidates for each antenna group are configured to substantially evenly distribute a plurality of UL layers between the two or more antenna groups.

35. The network node according to claim 34, wherein: The rank is an even rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group is the same.

36. The network node according to claim 34, wherein: The rank is an odd rank, and the number of layers of each antenna group differs by at most one.

37. A network node according to any one of claims 31 to 36, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups.

38. The network node according to any one of claims 31 to 37, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts a common phase of polarizations within at least one antenna group.

39. The network node according to any one of claims 31 to 38, wherein: The information indicating the capability of the UE to send the UL transmission using the 8Tx partially coherent codebook includes at least one of the following: a. an indication of the maximum number of UL layers N supported by the UE for the 8Tx partially coherent codebook; b. An indication that the UE supports a predefined codebook subset restriction; c. An indication that the UE supports a constrained common phase of polarization within an antenna group; d. The UE supports an indication of an oversampling factor for one or more antenna groups; as well as e. An indication that the UE supports 8Tx on two antenna groups and / or 8Tx on four antenna groups.

40. The network node according to any one of claims 31 to 39, wherein: The at least one restriction for the UL layer combination restricts at least one precoder used at the first antenna group to also be used for the second antenna group.

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