Systems and methods for supporting multi-layer transmissions in wireless networks

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for supporting multi-layer data transmissions, aimed at enabling multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmissions or multi-layer transmissions at an earlier point in time, for example, immediately after or during an initial access procedure. An apparatus (e.g., user equipment), in response to a request from a network device (e.g., a base station), may generate a channel state information (CSI) report based on measurements of a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) block (SS-PBCH block, SSB) transmitted over a plurality of antenna ports. The CSI report may include information related to a device-specific CSI and / or information indicating a sub-channel quality. The network device may send configuration information related to the CSI report, a measurement configuration of the SSB, and / or a configuration supporting early MIMO transmissions. The method shown in the present invention reduces a large delay between SSB detection and MIMO transmission during the initial access process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for supporting multi-layer data transmission in a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0002] In the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR), the synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) block (SSB) is transmitted through one antenna port, that is, antenna port p = 4000 is used for the transmission of the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) of PBCH. Antenna port is a virtual concept and is not necessarily equivalent to the transmission on a given antenna. For example, a base station (BS) can use two antennas to transmit one antenna port. User equipment (UE) may not know the antenna architecture at the base station, nor how to send such a 1-port SSB through one or more antennas at the base station.

[0003] Dual-polarized antennas are widely used at base stations and UEs at frequencies in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range (e.g., 26 GHz, 38 GHz, 39 GHz, 73 GHz) and mid-band range (e.g., 3.5 GHz, 3.7 GHz, 4.7 GHz, 4.9 GHz). For dual-polarized antennas, two linearly polarized antennas are usually superimposed at the same position, but are separated by about 90 degrees in polarization directions such as the vertical polarization direction and the horizontal polarization direction or the ±45 degree tilted polarization direction. For dual-polarized antennas, independent signals can be sent from antennas with different polarization directions. There can be multiple antennas corresponding to the same polarization direction, for example, the first group of antennas and the second group of antennas correspond to the vertical polarization direction and the horizontal polarization direction or the ±45 degree tilted polarization direction, respectively. In this case, the antenna in the vertical polarization direction or the -45 degree tilted polarization direction can be superimposed with the antenna in the horizontal polarization direction or the +45 degree tilted polarization direction. The first group of antennas and the second group of antennas in the vertical polarization direction and the horizontal polarization direction or the ±45 degree tilted polarization direction may also be independently arranged, for example, the first group of antennas is located at one position and the second group of antennas is located at another position. In this case, the number of antennas in the first group of antennas and the second group of antennas may be the same or different.

[0004] For 1-port SSB and dual-polarized antennas, typically, the base station sends the same SSB signal through dual-polarized antennas, and the UE also uses dual-polarized antennas for measurement. In 5G NR, it is expected that the measurement result should be no less than the result of the measurement based on any dual-polarized antenna at the device, or no less than the result of the measurement based on the polarized antenna of any polarization direction at the device when considered separately. The measured signals from the dual-polarized antennas at the UE can be compared or combined, and the exact manner of processing (e.g., maximum power, average power) is determined by the UE. Since the same SSB signal is sent through the dual-polarized antennas at the base station, the UE may not be able to distinguish which (which) polarized antennas of the base station the received signal comes from, or which polarized antenna in which polarization direction the received signal comes from. The base station can select one or more antennas in one polarization direction to send SSB, but this selection is unknown to the UE.

[0005] In an existing wireless communication system that may include 4G long-term evolution (LTE) and 5G NR, data transmission such as multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission can only be enabled after a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established. As shown in FIG1 , a signal flow diagram between a base station (BS) 10 and a UE 15 is shown, and signals and channels such as SSB, a physical random access channel (PRACH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying system information (SI) or a random access response (RAR) or an RRC connection establishment message, and / or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carrying Msg3 are sent using one antenna port or one layer.

[0006] In existing wireless communication systems, the base station 10 may configure the UE 15 to measure a multi-port channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) and report channel state information (CSI) after establishing an RRC connection. MIMO transmission (e.g., layer 2 transmission) may be enabled after the CSI is reported to the base station 10 (e.g., at step 25). Therefore, in existing wireless communication systems, there may be a large delay 20 between the UE 15 detecting the first SSB and the MIMO transmission of the UE 15 in RRC connection mode at step 29, as shown in FIG. 1 . Summary of the invention

[0007] As described above, in existing wireless communication systems (e.g., 4G LTE, 5G NR), there may be a large delay between SSB detection during the initial access process and MIMO data transmission in RRC connection mode. A device (e.g., user equipment (UE)) is unable to send a CSI report using a PUSCH scheduled by an RAR uplink grant in a non-contention-based random access process because the device may not know whether a multi-port reference signal (RS) exists or how the multi-port RS is configured before the RRC connection is established. When a network device (e.g., a base station) is deployed with a dual-polarized antenna, when using existing measurement and reporting techniques, the network device may not know the quality of polarization subchannels (e.g., in the vertical polarization direction and the horizontal polarization direction, in the ±45 degree tilt polarization direction) and / or the isolation or interference between polarization subchannels.

[0008] Various aspects of the present invention provide methods and devices for overcoming the above-mentioned defects, and specific methods for enabling MIMO transmission or multi-layer transmission at an earlier time point. In some embodiments, the earlier time point may be immediately after the initial access process. In some embodiments, the earlier time point may be during the initial access process. Various aspects of the present invention also provide methods and devices for reducing the large delay between initial access and MIMO transmission.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for supporting data transmission in a wireless network is provided, the method involving: receiving a request for a channel state information (CSI) report associated with one or more synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) blocks (SSB), wherein the one or more SSBs are sent on two antenna ports; the method may also include: sending a response to the request for the CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), wherein the response includes at least one of the following: an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response; or the CSI report, based on a measurement of the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports.

[0010] In some embodiments, when receiving the request for the CSI report on a random access response (RAR), the method may further include: transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) before receiving the RAR as a response. In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports may be received before the PRACH transmission. In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission transmitted on the two antenna ports may be received in a time period between the PRACH transmission and the receipt of the request for the CSI report.

[0011] In some embodiments, the CSI report may include at least one of the following: SSB resource indicator (SSBRI); reference signal received power (RSRP); signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR); rank indicator (RI); channel quality indicator (CQI); precoding matrix indicator (PMI); per SSB port signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) or per SSB port CQI, wherein each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port; or per PMI SINR or per PMI CQI, wherein each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding PMI. In some embodiments, when the CSI report includes the RI indicating the maximum rank, after sending the CSI report, the device may operate based on the following assumption: the maximum number of layers of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is equal to the reported maximum rank or the minimum integer 2 n , the minimum integer 2 nLess than or equal to the reported maximum rank, where n=0, 1, 2, 3, ... In some embodiments, for each per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI, the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI may be determined based on the corresponding SSB port and one or more remaining SSB ports of the same SSB, wherein the one or more remaining SSB ports are considered as interference during determination of the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI.

[0012] In some embodiments, the CSI report may be sent from message 3 PUSCH during random access (RA).

[0013] In some embodiments, the method may further include: receiving one or more signals indicating system information in a master information block (MIB) and / or a secondary information block (SIB). In some embodiments, the one or more signals may include one or more of the following: information related to at least one of a measurement configuration or a reporting configuration of the CSI report, the CSI report being based on the one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports; information indicating whether the CSI report will be transmitted via the message 3PUSCH; information indicating whether the CSI report will be transmitted via the PUCCH; information related to a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission after the CSI report is transmitted. In some embodiments, the information related to at least one of the measurement configuration or reporting configuration of the CSI report may include at least one of the following: information indicating whether one or more SSBRIs will be reported; information indicating the number of the one or more SSBRIs to be reported; information indicating which parameter or parameters of SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port or CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI or CQI per PMI will be reported; or information indicating whether the CSI report is limited to SSBs associated with PRACH transmissions.

[0014] In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports may include one or more of the following: one or more primary synchronization signals (PSS); one or more secondary synchronization signals (SSS); a physical broadcast channel (PBCH); and one or more DMRS of the PBCH.

[0015] In some embodiments, the device is a user equipment (UE). However, it should be noted that the device may be other types of equipment, such as but not limited to an access point (AP) and a transmit receive point (TRP).

[0016] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting data transmission in a wireless network, the apparatus comprising a processor and a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor executes a method consistent with the above-mentioned embodiment. Examples of different types of apparatuses include, but are not limited to, user equipment (UE), base station (BS), access point (AP), and transmit receive point (TRP).

[0017] According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided, the method involving: sending a request for a channel state information (CSI) report associated with one or more synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) blocks (SSBs), wherein the one or more SSBs are transmitted on two antenna ports. The method may also include: receiving a response to the request for the CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), wherein the response includes at least one of the following: an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response; or the CSI report is based on a measurement of the one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports.

[0018] In some embodiments, when the request for the CSI report is sent on a random access response (RAR), the method may further include: receiving a physical random access channel (PRACH) before sending the RAR. In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports may be sent before the PRACH reception. In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission sent on the two antenna ports may be sent in a time period between the PRACH reception and the sending of the request for the CSI report.

[0019] In some embodiments, the CSI report may include at least one of the following: SSB resource indicator (SSBRI); reference signal received power (RSRP); signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR); rank indicator (RI); channel quality indicator (CQI); precoding matrix indicator (PMI); signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) per SSB port or CQI per SSB port, wherein each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port; or SINR per PMI or CQI per PMI, wherein each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding PMI. In some embodiments, when the CSI report includes the RI indicating the maximum rank, after receiving the CSI report, the network device may operate based on the following assumption: the maximum number of layers of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is equal to the reported maximum rank or a minimum integer 2n, and the minimum integer 2n is less than or equal to the reported maximum rank, where n=0, 1, 2, 3, ... In some embodiments, for each per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI, the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI may be determined based on the corresponding SSB port and one or more remaining SSB ports of the same SSB, wherein the one or more remaining SSB ports are considered as interference during determination of the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI.

[0020] In some embodiments, the network device may receive the CSI report from the message 3PUSCH during random access (RA).

[0021] In some embodiments, the method may further include: sending one or more signals indicating system information in a master information block (MIB) and / or a secondary information block (SIB). In some embodiments, the one or more signals may include one or more of the following: information related to at least one of a measurement configuration or a report configuration of the CSI report, the CSI report being based on the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports; information indicating whether the CSI report will be sent via the message 3PUSCH; information indicating whether the CSI report will be sent via the PUCCH; information related to a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission after sending the CSI report. In some embodiments, the information related to at least one of the measurement configuration or reporting configuration of the CSI report may include at least one of the following: information indicating whether one or more SSBRIs will be reported; information indicating the number of the one or more SSBRIs to be reported; information indicating which parameter or parameters of SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port or CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI or CQI per PMI will be reported; or information indicating whether the CSI report is limited to SSBs associated with PRACH transmissions.

[0022] In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports include one or more of the following: one or more primary synchronization signals (PSS); one or more secondary synchronization signals (SSS); a physical broadcast channel (PBCH); and one or more DMRS of the PBCH.

[0023] In some embodiments, the network device is a base station. However, it should be noted that the network device may be other types of devices, such as but not limited to access points (APs), transmit receive points (TRPs), and user equipment (UEs).

[0024] According to one aspect of the present invention, a network device supporting data transmission in a wireless network is provided, the network device comprising a processor and a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor executes a method consistent with the above-mentioned embodiment. Examples of different types of network devices include, but are not limited to, a base station (BS), an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP), and a user equipment (UE).

[0025] In some embodiments of the present invention, MIMO transmission or multi-layer PDSCH transmission (e.g., 2-layer PDSCH transmission) for single-user and multi-user can be enabled at an earlier time point, such as during or immediately after the initial access process. In some embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus (e.g., UE) can perform instantaneous broadband transmission with double capacity. In some embodiments of the present invention, multi-user multiplexing and cell capacity during the initial access process can be improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more fully understand the embodiments of the present invention and its advantages, the following description is made by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates the reasons why a large delay may occur between initial access and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission in an existing wireless communication system.

[0028] Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of a communication system that may occur in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 2B is another schematic diagram of a possible communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 3 is a block diagram of units or modules in a device where embodiments of the present invention may occur.

[0031] Figure 4 is a block diagram of units or modules in a device where embodiments of the present invention may occur.

[0032] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the transmission and reception of 1-port SSB of the dual-polarized antenna.

[0033] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the 2-port SSB transmission of the dual-polarized antenna.

[0034] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network device that is unaware of the quality and / or isolation of polarization sub-channels measured at a UE.

[0035] Figure 8 An example of a signal flow diagram between a network device and a device such as a UE provided in an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the device uses a CSI report sent on a PUSCH such as Msg3PUSCH to reduce the delay between SSB detection and MIMO transmission.

[0036] Fig. 9 An example of a CSI report sent from a device to a network device on a PUSCH provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the CSI report includes at least one of a rank indicator (RI) or a channel quality indicator (CQI).

[0037] Fig.10 An example of a CSI report sent from a device to a network device on a PUSCH provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the CSI report includes a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) per SSB port.

[0038] Fig.11 An example of a signal flow diagram for sending configuration information related to a CSI report and / or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0039] Fig.12 An example of how to determine a CSI report for an SSB different from the SSB associated with a PRACH transmission provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0040] Fig.13 An example of using the same beam transmitted from a network device to perform polarization-based multiplexing between devices for multiple UEs provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] For illustrative purposes, specific exemplary embodiments are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0042] The embodiments presented herein provide information sufficient to implement the claimed subject matter and illustrate methods of implementing such subject matter. After reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize that the application of these concepts is not specifically mentioned herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications are within the scope of the present invention and the appended claims.

[0043] In addition, it should be understood that any module, component or device for executing instructions disclosed herein may include or otherwise access one or more non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media for storing information, such as computer / processor readable instructions, data structures, program modules and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video discs or digital versatile discs (i.e., DVDs), Blu-ray discs, and the like. TM Such non-transitory computer / processor storage media may be part of, accessible to, or connected to a device. Computer / processor readable / executable instructions for implementing the applications or modules described herein may be stored or otherwise saved by such non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media.

[0044] Various aspects of the present invention utilize dual-polarized antennas at network equipment (e.g., base stations) and devices (e.g., UEs) to enable MIMO data transmission during or immediately after an initial access process. In some embodiments, a device may receive a request for a channel state information (CSI) report. The request for a CSI report may be sent in a random access response (RAR). The CSI report may be generated based on measurements of one or more synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) blocks (SSBs) sent on 2 antenna ports. In the present invention, one or more SSBs sent on 2 antenna ports may be referred to as one or more 2-port SSBs. The CSI report may be sent to a network device on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), for example using Msg3 PUSCH or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

[0045] In some embodiments, one or more 2-port SSBs may be transmitted from dual polarized antennas of a network device (e.g., a base station). In some cases, each port of a 2-port SSB may be transmitted by one or more antennas of the network device in one polarization direction (e.g., a -45 or +45 degree tilt polarization direction) or in one polarization direction relative to a reference plane (e.g., a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction relative to the surface of the earth).

[0046] In some embodiments, a CSI report for one or more SSBs transmitted on two antenna ports (i.e., a CSI report for a 2-port SSB) may include information related to device-specific CSI and / or information indicating subchannel quality. The information related to device-specific CSI may include at least one of a rank indicator (RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), which are mainly used for single-user MIMO transmission of a specific device. The information indicating the quality of the subchannel may include a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) per SSB port, a CQI per SSB port, a SINR per PMI, or a CQI per PMI. The SINR per SSB port, the CQI per SSB port, the SINR per PMI, or the CQI per PMI may reflect the quality of the subchannel and / or the isolation between the subchannels (e.g., a subchannel in the vertical polarization direction and a subchannel in the horizontal polarization direction) to achieve intra-device multiplexing and / or inter-device multiplexing of the same or different signals / channels. The subchannels may be measured at a specific device to determine the quality of the subchannels or the isolation between the subchannels. In some cases, the specific device may be a UE. In some cases, information indicating the quality of the subchannels may also be considered a type or part of CSI.

[0047] Various aspects of the present invention include signaling for facilitating or utilizing CSI reporting on one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports (i.e., 2-port SSBs). The signaling may include broadcast signaling indicating whether the device is expected to determine or calculate CSI based on measurements of one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports (i.e., 2-port SSBs). Alternatively or in addition, the broadcast signaling may indicate whether the device can report CSI associated with one or more SSBs that are different from the SSBs associated with PRACH transmissions. Alternatively or in addition, the broadcast signaling may indicate whether the beam measurement is limited to one SSB associated with the PRACH transmission. This information may be particularly relevant or useful when the device moves during the initial access process. This information may also be particularly relevant or useful when the quality of the newly measured one or more SSBs is better than the quality of the one or more SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission.

[0048] Although the phrase "initial access" is used above and below, it should be understood that "initial access" may be replaced with "contention-based random access" or "contention-free random access".

[0049] Below the picture Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 3 A context is provided for a network and devices that may be in the network and in which various aspects of the invention may be implemented.

[0050] refer to Figure 2A , a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided as an illustrative example but not limiting. The communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 may be a next generation (e.g., sixth generation (6G) or higher) radio access network, or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electric devices (ED) 110a to 120j (generally referred to as 110) may be interconnected with each other and may be additionally or alternatively connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, generally referred to as 170) in the radio access network 120. The core network 130 may be part of the communication system and may be dependent on or independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. In addition, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0051] Figure 2B An exemplary communication system 100 is shown in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. In general, the system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of the system 100 may be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) via broadcast, narrowcast, user device to user device, etc. The system 100 may operate efficiently by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0052] In this example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110c, radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Figure 2B A certain number of these components or elements are shown in FIG. 1 , but any number of these components or elements may be included in system 100 .

[0053] EDs 110a to 110c are used to operate and / or communicate in the system 100. For example, EDs 110a to 110c are used to transmit and / or receive via a wireless communication channel. Each ED 110a to 110c represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation, and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment (UE / user device), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, mobile user unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, laptop, computer, touch pad, wireless sensor or consumer electronic device.

[0054] Figure 2B An exemplary communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented is shown. In general, the communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to transmit data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 may be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) via broadcast, multicast, unicast, user device to user device, etc. The communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0055] In this example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (ED) 110a to 110d, radio access networks (RAN) 120a to 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Figure 2B A certain number of these components or elements are shown, but any reasonable number of these components or elements may be included in the communication system 100 .

[0056] EDs 110a to 110d are used to operate and / or communicate in the communication system 100. For example, EDs 110a to 110d are used to transmit and / or receive via a wireless or wired communication channel. EDs 110a to 110d represent any suitable end-user devices for wireless operation, and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment (UE / user device), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor or consumer electronic device.

[0057] exist Figure 2B In the embodiment, RAN 120a and 120b include base stations 170a and 170b, respectively. Base stations 170a and 170b are used to wirelessly connect to one or more of EDs 110a to 110c so as to access any other base stations 170a and 170b, core network 130, PSTN 140, Internet 150 and / or other networks 160. For example, base stations 170a and 170b may include (or may be) one or more of several known devices, such as a base transceiver station (BTS), a base station (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a home eNodeB, a gNodeB, a transmission and receive point (TRP), a site controller, an access point (AP) or a wireless router.

[0058] In some examples, one or more of base stations 170a and 170b may be a ground base station attached to the ground. For example, a ground base station may be mounted on a building or a tower. Alternatively, one or more of base stations 172 may be a non-ground base station or a non-terrestrial TRP (NT-TRP) that is not attached to the ground. A flying base station is an example of a non-ground base station. A flying base station may be implemented using a communication device supported or carried by a flying device. Non-limiting examples of flying devices include airborne platforms (e.g., airships or spaceships), balloons, quadcopters, and other aircraft. In some implementations, a flying base station may be supported or carried by an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone or a quadcopter). A flying base station may be a movable or mobile base station that can be flexibly deployed in different locations to meet network requirements. A satellite base station is another example of a non-ground base station. A satellite base station may be implemented using a communication device supported or carried by a satellite. A satellite base station may also be referred to as an orbital base station.

[0059] Any ED 110a to 110d may alternatively or also be configured to connect, access or communicate with any other base stations 170a and 170b, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination thereof.

[0060] EDs 110a to 110d and base stations 170a, 170b, and 172 are examples of communication devices that may be used to implement some or all of the operations and / or embodiments described herein. Figure 2BIn the illustrated embodiment, base station 170a constitutes part of RAN 120a, which may include other base stations, one or more base station controllers (BSC), one or more radio network controllers (RNC), relay nodes, elements and / or devices. Any base station 170a, base station 170b may be a separate element, as shown, or multiple elements distributed in the corresponding RAN, and so on. Similarly, base station 170b is part of RAN 120b, which may include other base stations, elements and / or devices. Each base station 170a and 170b sends and / or receives wireless signals within a specific geographic area (sometimes referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area"). The cell can be further divided into cell sectors, and base stations 170a and 170b can, for example, use multiple transceivers to provide services to multiple sectors. In some embodiments, there may be established micro cells or femto cells supported by wireless access technology. In some embodiments, multiple transceivers may be used for each cell using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, etc. The number of RANs 120a and 120b shown is only exemplary. Any number of RANs may be considered when designing the communication system 100.

[0061] Base stations 170a, 170b, 172 use wireless communication links such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. to communicate with one or more EDs of EDs 110a to 110c through one or more air interfaces 190a, 190c. Air interfaces 190a, 190c can use any suitable wireless access technology. For example, the communication system 100 can implement one or more orthogonal or non-orthogonal channel access methods in air interfaces 190a, 190c, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA).

[0062] The base stations 170a, 170b, 172 may implement universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (UMTS terrestrial radio access, UTRA) to establish air interfaces 190a, 190c using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). In this case, the base stations 170a, 170b, 172 may implement protocols such as high speed packet access (HSPA), evolved HPSA (evolved HPSA, HSPA+), etc., wherein HSPA+ may optionally include high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) and / or high speed uplink packet access (HSPUA). Alternatively, the base stations 170a, 170b, 172 may use LTE, LTE-A and / or LTE-B to establish air interfaces 190a, 190c with evolved UTMS terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA). It is contemplated that the communication system 100 may use multiple access operations, including those described above. Other wireless technologies used to implement the air interface include IEEE 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, IS-2000, IS-95, IS-856, GSM, EDGE, and GERAN. Of course, other multiple access schemes and wireless protocols may also be used.

[0063] The RANs 120a and 120b communicate with the core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services to the EDs 110a to 110c. The RANs 120a and 120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be directly served by the core network 130 and may or may not employ the same radio access technology as the RANs 120a and / or RANs 120b. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a and 120b and / or the EDs 110a to 110c and (ii) other networks (e.g., the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160).

[0064] EDs 110a to 110d communicate with each other through one or more sidelink (SL) air interfaces 190b and 190d using wireless communication links such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. SL air interfaces 190b and 190d may use any suitable wireless access technology and may be substantially similar to the air interfaces 190a and 190c used by EDs 110a to 110c to communicate with one or more of base stations 170a and 170b, or may be substantially different from the air interfaces 190a and 190c. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods in the SL air interfaces 190b and 190d, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). In some embodiments, the SL air interface 180 may be implemented at least in part on an unlicensed spectrum.

[0065] In addition, some or all of the EDs 110a to 110d may include operations for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. The EDs may communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and the Internet 150 over a wired communication channel, rather than (or in addition to) wireless communications. The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and / or subnets (intranets) and incorporate protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the transmission control protocol (TCP), the user datagram protocol (UDP), and the like. The EDs 110a to 110d may be multi-mode devices capable of operating according to a variety of wireless access technologies and include a plurality of transceivers required to support a variety of wireless access technologies.

[0066] In some embodiments, the signal is sent from a terrestrial BS to a UE, or from a UE directly to a terrestrial BS, and in both cases, the signal is not reflected by a RIS. However, the signal may be reflected by obstacles and reflectors such as buildings, walls, and furniture. In some embodiments, the signal is transmitted between a UE and a non-terrestrial BS (e.g., a satellite, a drone, and an aerial platform). In some embodiments, the signal is transmitted between a relay node and a UE or between a relay node and a BS or between two relay nodes. In some embodiments, the signal is transmitted between two UEs. In some embodiments, one or more RIS are used to reflect signals from a transmitter and a receiver, wherein any one of the transmitter and the receiver includes a UE, a terrestrial or non-terrestrial BS, and a relay node.

[0067] Figure 3 Another example of ED 110 and network devices is shown, including base stations 170a, 170b (at 170) and NT-TRP 172. ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. ED 110 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable devices, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

[0068] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation, and may include devices such as (or may be referred to as) user equipment (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile user unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, consumer electronic device, smart book, vehicle, car, truck, bus, train or IoT device, industrial equipment or devices in the above devices (such as communication modules, modems, or chips), etc. The next generation ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. Base stations 170a and 170b are T-TRPs, hereinafter referred to as T-TRP 170. Also in Figure 3 , the NT-TRP is hereinafter referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 may be dynamically or semi-statically opened (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), closed (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured in response to one or more of connection availability and connection necessity.

[0069] ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown in this figure. One, some or all of the antennas may also be panels. Transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated into, for example, a transceiver. The transceiver is used to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver is also used to demodulate data or other content received by at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received by wireless or wired means. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for sending and / or receiving wireless signals or wired signals.

[0070] ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. Memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by ED 110. For example, memory 208 may store software instructions or modules that implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and are executed by one or more processing units 210. Each memory 208 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, on-processor cache, etc.

[0071] ED 110 may also include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (e.g., connected to Figure 2A or Figure 2B The input / output devices may interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communications.

[0072] ED 110 also includes a processor 210 for performing operations, including operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmission to NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, and processing sidelink transmissions with another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding received symbols. According to an embodiment, the downlink transmission may be received by receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal sent by NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on an indication of a beam direction, such as beam angle information (BAI), received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding, and obtaining system information. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation, for example, using a reference signal received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170.

[0073] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form a part of the transmitter 201 and / or the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may form a part of the processor 210.

[0074] Each of the processor 210 and the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that are used to execute instructions stored in the memory (e.g., the memory 208). Alternatively, the processor 210 and some or all of the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be implemented using dedicated circuits, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0075] In some implementations, T-TRP 170 may use other names, such as base station, base transceiver station (BTS), wireless base station, network node, network device, network side device, sending / receiving node, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), home eNodeB, next generation NodeB (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP) or wireless router, relay station, remote radio head, ground node, ground network device or ground base station, base band unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), centralized unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a micro BS, a relay node, a host node, etc., or a combination thereof. T-TRP 170 may refer to the above-mentioned devices, or to a device in the above-mentioned devices (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip). Although the accompanying descriptions of the drawings and examples and embodiments of the present invention generally use the terms AP, BS, and AP or BS, it should be understood that such devices may be any of the above-mentioned types.

[0076] In some embodiments, various parts of T-TRP 170 can be distributed. For example, some modules of T-TRP 170 can be located away from the device that houses the antenna of T-TRP 170, and can be coupled to the device that houses the antenna through a communication link (not shown) (sometimes referred to as fronthaul, such as common public radio interface (CPRI)). Therefore, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 can also refer to the modules on the network side that perform processing operations such as ED 110 location determination, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation and encoding / decoding, which are not necessarily part of the device that houses the antenna of T-TRP 170. These modules can also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, T-TRP 170 can actually be multiple T-TRPs that operate together to serve ED110, for example, through coordinated multi-point transmission.

[0077] The T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown in this figure. One, some or all of the antennas may also be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated into a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 also includes a processor 260 for performing operations, including operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP 172, and processing transmissions received from the NT-TRP 172 via the backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing for downlink transmission or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing transmissions received in uplink transmission or via backhaul transmission may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of a synchronization signal block (SSB), generating system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 also generates an indication of a beam direction (e.g., BAI), which may be scheduled by the scheduler 253 for transmission. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110, determining the location of the deployed NT-TRP 172, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling, such as configuring one or more parameters of the ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is sent by the transmitter 252. It should be noted that the "signaling" used herein may also be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling can be transmitted in a control channel (such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), and static or semi-static high-layer signaling can be included in a packet transmitted in a data channel (such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)).

[0078] The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included in or operate separately from the T-TRP 170, which may schedule uplink transmissions, downlink transmissions, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring unscheduled (“configured grants”) resources. The T-TRP 170 also includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functionality and / or embodiments described herein and executed by one or more processors 260.

[0079] Although not shown, the processor 260 may constitute a part of the transmitter 252 and / or the receiver 254. In addition, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not shown, the memory 258 may form a part of the processor 260.

[0080] The processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the processing components of the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 258). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the processing components of the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuits (e.g., FPGA, GPU, or ASIC).

[0081] Although NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone only as an example, NT-TRP 172 can be implemented in any suitable non-ground form. In addition, in some implementations, NT-TRP 172 may use other names, such as non-ground node, non-ground network device, or non-ground base station. NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. One, part or all of the antennas may also be panels. Transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may be integrated into a transceiver. NT-TRP 172 also includes a processor 276 for performing operations, including operations related to: preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170, and processing transmissions received from T-TRP 170 via backhaul. Processing operations associated with preparing for downlink transmission or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations associated with processing transmissions received in uplink transmission or via backhaul transmission may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 may generate signaling, such as configuring one or more parameters of ED 110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing, but does not implement higher-level functions, such as functions of the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer. Since this is only an example, more generally, NT-TRP 172 may implement higher-level functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0082] The NT-TRP 172 also includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and / or the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0083] Processor 276 and the processing components of transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 278). Alternatively, processor 276 and some or all of the processing components of transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry (e.g., an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC). In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 may actually be multiple NT-TRPs that operate together to serve ED 110, such as through coordinated multi-point transmission.

[0084] The T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172, and / or ED 110 may include other components, but these components are omitted for clarity.

[0085] One or more steps of the exemplary methods provided herein may be performed according to Figure 3 The corresponding unit or module is executed. Figure 3 Units or modules in a device are shown, such as in ED 110, in T-TRP 170, or in NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. A signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps can be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. The corresponding units or modules can be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules can be integrated circuits, such as programmed FPGAs, GPUs, or ASICs. It should be understood that if the above modules are implemented using software for execution by a processor or the like, these modules can be retrieved by the processor in whole or in part as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves can include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0086] Other details about ED 110, T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, these details are omitted here.

[0087] according to Figure 4 One or more steps of the methods of each embodiment provided herein may be executed by a corresponding unit or module. Figure 4Units or modules in a device are shown, such as in ED 110, in T-TRP 170, or in NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. A signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps can be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. The corresponding units or modules can be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules can be integrated circuits, such as programmed FPGAs, GPUs, or ASICs. It should be understood that if the above modules are implemented using software for execution by a processor or the like, these modules can be retrieved by the processor in whole or in part as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves can include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0088] Other details about ED 110, T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, these details are omitted here.

[0089] In future wireless networks, the number of new devices with different functions can grow exponentially. In addition, as the demand for service quality becomes more diverse, more new applications and new use cases may appear in future wireless networks than those currently available in 5G. This will bring new key performance indications (KPIs) that may be extremely challenging for future wireless networks (such as 6G networks), so perception technology and AI technology, especially ML (deep learning) technology, have been introduced into the telecommunications field to improve system performance and efficiency.

[0090] Communications that apply AI / ML technology include AI / ML communications at the physical layer and AI / ML communications at the media access control (MAC) layer. For the physical layer, AI / ML communications may help optimize component design and improve algorithm performance, such as the application of AI / ML in channel coding, channel modeling, channel estimation, channel decoding, modulation, demodulation, MIMO, waveforms, multiple access, PHY element parameter optimization and update, beamforming and tracking, and perception and positioning. For the MAC layer, AI / ML communications can use AI / ML capabilities for learning, prediction, and decision-making to solve complex optimization problems with better strategies and optimal solutions, such as optimizing functions in MAC, such as intelligent TRP management, intelligent beam management, intelligent channel resource allocation, intelligent power control, intelligent spectrum utilization, intelligent modulation and coding scheme (MCS), intelligent hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) strategy, intelligent transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) mode adaptation, etc.

[0091] AI / ML architectures typically involve multiple nodes, which can be organized in both centralized and distributed ways and can be deployed in access networks, core networks, edge computing systems, or third-party networks. Centralized training and computing architectures are limited by huge communication overhead and strict user data privacy. Distributed training and computing architectures include several frameworks, such as distributed machine learning and federated learning. AI / ML architectures include intelligent controllers that can be executed as a single agent or multiple agents based on joint optimization or individual optimization. A new protocol and signaling mechanism is needed so that the corresponding interface links can be personalized with customized parameters to meet specific needs, while minimizing signaling overhead and maximizing the spectrum efficiency of the entire system through personalized AI technology.

[0092] Additional terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks can enable a range of new services and applications, such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility. Terrestrial network-based perception and non-terrestrial network-based perception can provide intelligent context-aware networks to enhance the UE experience. For example, terrestrial network-based perception and non-terrestrial network-based perception can involve opportunities for positioning and sensing applications based on a new set of features and service capabilities. Applications such as terahertz imaging and spectroscopy have the potential to provide continuous, real-time physiological information for future digital health technologies through dynamic, non-invasive, and contactless measurements. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) methods will not only enable advanced cross reality (XR) applications, but will also enhance the navigation of autonomous objects such as vehicles and drones. In addition, in terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, measured channel data as well as perception and positioning data can be obtained through large bandwidths, new spectrums, dense networks, and more light-of-sight (LOS) links. Based on this data, a wireless environment map can be drawn through AI / ML methods, where channel information is linked with its corresponding positioning or environmental information to provide enhanced physical layer design based on the map.

[0093] A sensing coordinator is a node in the network that can assist in sensing operations. These nodes can be independent nodes dedicated only to sensing operations, or other nodes (e.g., TRP 170, ED110, or core network nodes) that perform sensing operations in parallel with communication transmission. A new protocol and signaling mechanism is needed so that the corresponding interface links can be executed with customized parameters to meet specific requirements while minimizing signaling overhead and maximizing overall system spectrum efficiency.

[0094] AI / ML and perception methods are data-intensive. In order to introduce AI / ML and perception in wireless communications, more and more data needs to be collected, stored, and exchanged. The characteristics of wireless data have expanded considerably in multiple dimensions, for example, from sub-6GHz carrier frequencies, millimeter carrier frequencies to terahertz carrier frequencies, from space, outdoor scenes to indoor scenes, and from text, voice to video. These data collection, processing, and usage operations are performed in a unified framework or in different frameworks.

[0095] Reference is made to control information in some embodiments of this document. Control information may sometimes be referred to alternatively as control signaling, or signaling. In some cases, control information may be dynamically transmitted, for example, in a physical layer in a control channel, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). An example of dynamically indicated control information is information sent in physical layer control signaling, such as uplink control information (UCI) sent in PUCCH or PUSCH or downlink control information (DCI) sent in PDCCH. A dynamic indication may be an indication in a low layer (e.g., physical layer / layer 1 signaling) rather than an indication in a high layer (e.g., rather than in RRC signaling or MAC CE). A semi-static indication may be an indication in semi-static signaling. Semi-static signaling used herein may refer to non-dynamic signaling, such as high layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and / or MAC CE. Dynamic signaling used herein may refer to dynamic signaling, such as physical layer control signaling sent in the physical layer, such as DCI sent in the PDCCH or UCI sent in the PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0096] In existing wireless communication systems (e.g., 4G LTE, 5G NR), the grant for uplink (UL) transmission carried in the RAR includes a 1-bit field for CSI request.

[0097] In 4G LTE, this 1-bit CSI request field may be used in a non-contention-based random access procedure (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) connection has been established for the UE and the UE uses only a random access preamble allocated to the UE itself) to request CSI so that a CSI report may be received from the UE via a PUSCH scheduled by a RAR UL grant. In a contention-based random access procedure (e.g., no RRC connection is established for the UE; an initial access procedure), this 1-bit CSI request field may be reserved and not used. In 5G NR, this CSI request field is inherited from 4G LTE but is retained in various versions of the 5G NR standard until Release 17.

[0098] In 5G NR, SSB is transmitted through one antenna port, and in RRC connected mode, reference signal received power (RSRP) is used for beam measurement and reporting (e.g., CSI reporting). The device (e.g., UE) does not know the antenna polarization at the network equipment (e.g., base station (BS)). For example, the UE does not know whether the base station uses a left-hand circularly polarized antenna or a right-hand circularly polarized antenna, a linearly polarized antenna, or a dual-polarized antenna to send and receive signals. In the case where the device and the network equipment have dual-polarized antennas, the network equipment typically sends the same SSB signal through the dual-polarized antenna, and the device also uses the dual-polarized antenna for measurement. Figure 5 A portion of a network 600 including a base station 605 and a UE 610 is shown. As an example, a single base station beam 607 and a single UE beam 612 are shown, which are only one of multiple beams that can be used at each device. These beams 607, 612 can be beam pairs that have been previously measured, reported and / or selected as the preferred beam pair for communication between devices at the time. The base station beam 607 and the UE beam 612 are each shown to include two polarization directions, namely the horizontal polarization direction and the vertical polarization direction, which are indicated by the overlapping horizontal and vertical lines in the "+" symbol. At millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, a device (e.g., a UE) uses its dual-polarized antenna for measurement under the same receive beamforming weights. When considered separately, the beam measurement results reported by the device are expected to be no less than the measurement results based on any dual-polarized antenna at the device, or no less than the measurement results based on the polarized antenna in any polarization direction at the device. The precise processing of the measurement (e.g., maximum power, average power) is determined by the device. The transmission and reception of SSB on the 1-port of the dual-polarized antenna is as follows: Figure 5 In addition, in RRC connected mode, the device can perform RSRP measurement based on a 2-port channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The RSRP value reported to the network device (e.g., base station) is the average of the RSRP values ​​measured from the 2 CSI-RS ports.

[0099] In a co-pending application (assignee reference 92019493PCT01), the assignee of both that application and the present application describes a method for implementing 2-port SSB to utilize dual-polarized antennas to reduce latency and / or overhead for beam-based initial access, particularly for millimeter wave bands. For such 2-port SSB, each SSB port is transmitted through a base station antenna with one polarization direction (e.g., a -45 or +45 degree tilted polarization direction) or one polarization direction relative to a reference plane (e.g., a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface).

[0100] Figure 6 Base station 705 is shown. Three base station beams 707a, 707b, and 707c are shown. Each of base station beams 707a, 707b, and 707c is shown as including two polarization directions, which are indicated by overlapping horizontal and vertical lines, and the overlapping horizontal and vertical lines are represented by a "+" symbol. In order to reduce latency and / or overhead, one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports (i.e., one or more 2-port SSBs) can be used during the initial access process. Figure 6 As shown, each SSB port of the 2-port SSB corresponds to a base station antenna in one polarization direction (e.g., a –45 or +45 degree tilted polarization direction) or one polarization direction relative to a reference plane or direction (e.g., a vertical / horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface, a ±45 degree tilted polarization direction relative to a ray leaving the earth). A device (e.g., a UE) can map its own dual-polarization antenna to a dual-polarization antenna of a network device (e.g., a base station). Through such mapping and association, the device can be able to reduce the time required for the initial access process by performing parallel beam training on dual-polarization antennas or dual-polarization directions.

[0101] As described above, there are limitations in existing wireless communication systems when MIMO data transmission is enabled. The limitations include a large delay between SSB detection during initial access and MIMO data transmission in RRC connection mode. These limitations may also include the inability to obtain CSI early. Specifically, a device (e.g., UE) may not use a PUSCH scheduled by an RAR UL grant in a non-contention-based random access process to send a CSI report because the device does not know whether a multi-port RS exists and / or how to configure the multi-port RS before the RRC connection is established.

[0102] Another disadvantage may include that the network equipment is not aware of the quality of the polarization sub-channels and / or the isolation or interference between the polarization sub-channels, such as Figure 7 shown. Figure 7A portion of a network 800 including a base station 805 and a UE 810 is shown. As an example, a single base station beam 807 and a single UE beam 812 are shown, which are only one of multiple beams that can be used at each device. These beams 807, 812 can be beam pairs that have been previously measured, reported and / or selected as the preferred beam pair for communication between devices at that time. The base station beam 807 and the UE beam 812 are each shown to include two polarization directions, namely the polarization directions associated with dual-polarized antennas, such as the vertical polarization direction indicated by the "|" symbol above the beam and the horizontal polarization direction indicated by the "—" symbol below the beam. Existing beam measurement and / or reporting mechanisms mix measurements in two polarization directions, such as measurements from a vertically polarized antenna at the base station 805 to a vertically polarized antenna at the UE 810 (i.e., V2V) and from a horizontally polarized antenna at the base station 805 to a horizontally polarized antenna at the UE 810 (i.e., H2H). Therefore, when using the existing beam measurement and / or reporting mechanism, a base station deployed with dual-polarization antennas may not know the quality of the polarization subchannel for a specific UE and / or the isolation or interference between the polarization subchannels (e.g., vertical polarization direction, horizontal polarization direction).

[0103] The present invention provides systems and methods that can overcome some or all of the above-mentioned shortcomings of existing communication systems and can enable single-user and multi-user MIMO transmissions during or immediately after the initial access process. Some aspects of the present invention can reduce the delay between SSB detection during the initial access process and MIMO data transmission. This can enable MIMO data transmission earlier than existing communication systems, thereby improving user experience and spectrum efficiency.

[0104] Figure 8 An example of a signal flow diagram 900 for signaling between a network device 901 and an apparatus 902 provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown, and the signal flow diagram 900 can reduce the delay between SSB detection at the apparatus 902 and MIMO transmission at the network device 901 by using a CSI report sent on a PUSCH or a PUCCH. For example, a CSI report can be sent using a message 3 (Msg3) PUSCH of a contention-based random access. Since the CSI report is determined based on the measurement of the SSB, the CSI report is associated with one or more SSBs sent on two antenna ports.

[0105] In step 910, the network device 901 (eg, a base station) transmits one or more 2-port SSBs on at least one beam using a dual-polarized antenna of the network device 901. Figure 8It is shown that the 2-port SSB is transmitted from the network device 901 to the apparatus 902 (e.g., UE), but the network 901 can transmit the 2-port SSB in a broadcast manner. In some embodiments, each antenna port (e.g., each SSB port) of the 2-port SSB of the network device 901 corresponds to an antenna of the network device 901 in one polarization direction (e.g., vertical polarization direction or horizontal polarization direction, -45 or +45 degree tilt polarization direction).

[0106] At step 915, the device 902 measures the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the SSB and may also generate a CSI report or determine CSI based on measurements of one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports (e.g., 2-port SSBs) or 2-port SSBs associated with PRACH transmissions. The CSI report may be referred to as a 2-port CSI report because the CSI report is based on measurements of 2-port SSBs (i.e., SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports).

[0107] In some embodiments, the one or more SSBs sent on two antenna ports in step 910 include one or more signals, such as one or more primary synchronization signals (PSS), one or more secondary synchronization signals (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and / or one or more demodulation reference signals (DMRS) of PBCH.

[0108] In some embodiments, the network device 901 sends one or more signals indicating system information. The one or more signals indicating system information may be sent in a master information block (MIB) and / or a secondary information block (SIB). The MIB or SIB may be included within or outside one or more 2-port SSBs.

[0109] In step 920, the apparatus 902 transmits a random access preamble to the network device 901 on a physical random access channel (PRACH). The PRACH transmission of step 920 is associated with at least one SSB transmitted in step 910.

[0110] In some embodiments, the network device 901 may periodically transmit one or more 2-port SSBs on at least one beam using a dual-polarized antenna of the network device 901. As shown in step 930, such periodic transmission of the one or more 2-port SSBs may occur within a random access response (RAR) window 925 or within a time period between transmitting a PRACH and receiving a request for a CSI report, which request is transmitted by the network device 901 in step 940. In some embodiments, at least one SSB transmitted in step 930 is associated with the PRACH transmission of step 920. In some embodiments, since the periodic transmission of the one or more 2-port SSBs may or may not occur within the RAR window 925, the use of Figure 8 925, the CSI report may be determined based on the measurement of the one or more SSBs sent in step 930. If no 2-port SSBs are sent within the RAR window 925, the CSI report may be determined based on the measurement of the one or more SSBs sent in step 910. As discussed in further detail below, the periodic transmission of one or more 2-port SSBs within a RAR window or time period may be particularly useful when the device is in motion and, therefore, provide newer and more relevant SSB measurements compared to the initial SSB measurement at step 910.

[0111] In step 940, the network device 901 sends a request for a CSI report to the apparatus 902. In some embodiments, in response to the PRACH transmission in step 920, the request for a CSI report may be sent on the RAR.

[0112] After receiving the request for the CSI report, in step 950, the device 902 sends a response to the CSI report request. In some embodiments, the response may be sent using PUSCH (e.g., using Msg3PUSCH) during a random access (RA) procedure. In some embodiments, the response may be sent on PUCCH. The response may include at least one of: an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response; or a CSI report. As described above, in steps 910 or 930, the CSI report may be determined based on measurements of one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports (i.e., one or more 2-port SSBs). The CSI report may be determined based on measurements of one or more SSBs that were recently received, or a recent measurement of an SSB associated with a PRACH transmission that is at least X symbols or slots earlier than the symbol or slot in which the PUSCH or PUCCH carrying the CSI report is transmitted, where X is a positive integer.

[0113] In some embodiments, when one or more 2-port SSBs are transmitted at step 930, the transmission being within the RAR window 925 or within the time period between transmitting the PRACH (at step 920) and receiving the request for the CSI report (at step 940), the device 902 may determine the CSI report based on measurements of the most recently received one or more 2-port SSBs or the most recently measured SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission. These SSBs are newer and therefore more up to date than the SSBs transmitted at step 910. In this way, when the RAR including the CSI request is sent to the device 902, the CSI report to be reported at step 950 may remain up to date.

[0114] In step 960, after the network device 901 receives the CSI report, the network device 901 enables multi-layer transmission to the device 902. The CSI report received by the network device 901 may include information related to the device-specific CSI and / or information indicating the quality of the subchannel. In some embodiments, the information related to the device-specific CSI may include at least one of a rank indicator (RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), which are mainly used for single-user MIMO transmission of a specific device. In some embodiments of the signal flow diagram 900, the specific device may be the device 902. The information indicating the quality of the subchannel may include a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) per SSB port, a CQI per SSB port, a SINR per PMI, or a CQI per PMI. The SINR per SSB port, the CQI per SSB port, the SINR per PMI, or the CQI per PMI may reflect the quality of the subchannel and / or the isolation between subchannels (e.g., the subchannel in the vertical polarization direction and the subchannel in the horizontal polarization direction) to achieve intra-device multiplexing and / or inter-device multiplexing of the same or different signals / channels. The subchannel may be measured at the device 902 to determine the quality of the subchannel or the isolation between the subchannels. In some cases, the device 902 may be a UE. In some cases, the information indicating the quality of the subchannel may also be considered as a type or part of the CSI.

[0115] Fig. 9 An example of the content of a CSI report 980 sent via a PUCCH or a PUSCH provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the CSI report includes at least one of a rank indicator (RI) or a channel quality indicator (CQI). Fig. 9 A portion of a network 970 including a network device 901 (e.g., a base station) and an apparatus 902 (e.g., a UE) is shown. As an example, a single network device beam 977 and a single apparatus beam 982 are shown, each beam having two polarization directions (a horizontal polarization direction "-" and a vertical polarization direction "|") indicated by a "+" sign. Fig. 9, CSI report 980 is shown as including RI and CQI, RI=2, CQI=7. Although CSI report 980 is shown as including RI and CQI, it should be understood that this is only by way of example, and CSI report 980 may include one or more of SSB resource indicator (SSBRI), RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, precoding matrix indicator (PMI), per-SSB port SINR, per-SSB port CQI, per-PMI SINR, or per-PMI CQI. In some embodiments where the CSI report includes an RI indicating a maximum rank, after sending the CSI report, device 902 may operate based on the assumption that the maximum number of layers of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is equal to the value of the reported rank indication (i.e., the reported maximum rank) or the minimum integer 2 n , the smallest integer 2 n Less than or equal to the reported maximum rank (n=0, 1, 2, 3, ...). Based on this assumption, the device 902 may not wait for the network device to explicitly configure the maximum number of MIMO layers for PDSCH. For example, if the rank indication included in the CSI report is greater than 1, for example, RI=4, the device 902 may assume a multi-layer physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a maximum of 4 layers without receiving an explicit configuration for receiving multi-layer PDSCH from the network device 901.

[0116] In some embodiments, the CSI report may also or additionally include per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI, per-PMI SINR or per-PMI CQI or some combination thereof. In some embodiments, each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port and / or a corresponding PMI. Per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI may indicate one or more of the quality of a subchannel, the isolation of parallel subchannels, or the interference of parallel subchannels. When deriving the SINR or CSI of a (specific) SSB port, one or more other SSB ports of the same SSB may be considered as interference. In this way, the isolation or interference of parallel subchannels in dual polarization directions may be reflected in the reported per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI. Per-PMISINR or per-PMI CQI may indicate one or more of the quality of a subchannel, the isolation of parallel subchannels, or the interference of parallel subchannels.

[0117] Fig.10Another example of the content of a CSI report 981 determined and sent from an apparatus 902 (eg, a UE) to a network device 901 (eg, a base station) according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Fig.10 The CSI report 981 is sent on the PUCCH or PUSCH and is shown as including a per-SSB port SINR (i.e., SINR in V2V) indicating the quality of the subchannel from the vertically polarized antenna at the network device 901 to the vertically polarized antenna at the device 902 and a per-SSB port SINR (i.e., SINR in H2H) indicating the quality of the subchannel from the horizontally polarized antenna at the network device 901 to the horizontally polarized antenna at the device 902. In some embodiments, the CSI report is sent on the PUCCH or PUSCH and includes a per-SSB port CQI, such as a CQI in V2V and a CQI in H2H. In order to take into account possible movement and / or rotation of the network device 901 and / or the device 902, in some embodiments, the CSI report may include a SINR or CQI for each SSB port (SINR per SSB port or CQI per SSB port) or a SINR or CQI for each reported PMI (SINR per PMI or CQI per PMI). In this case, how the network device 901 sends each SSB port (e.g., through a polarized antenna in one polarization direction, using multiple antennas to send precoding) and how the device 902 receives each SSB port (e.g., through a polarized antenna in one polarization direction, using multiple antennas to receive precoding) are left to the network device 901 and the device 902 to choose, respectively.

[0118] Each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port. Each SSB port can be transmitted through an antenna in one polarization direction of the network device 901. For example, each SSB port can be transmitted from an antenna in a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction of the network device 901. Each SSB port SINR or each SSB port CQI can reflect the reception quality of a subchannel in one polarization direction.

[0119] In order to achieve concurrent transmission on parallel subchannels in dual polarization directions, each per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI value can be determined based on a specific SSB port and one or more other SSB ports of the same SSB. When determining the SINR or CQI of a specific SSB port, one or more other SSB ports of the same SSB can be regarded as interference. In this way, the determined SINR or CQI included in the CSI report can reflect the isolation or interference between subchannels in dual polarization directions. In some embodiments, the SINR per SSB port or the CQI per SSB port can also facilitate the intra-device spatial multiplexing of network devices scheduling signals or channels and / or the polarization domain multiplexing of signals or channels. In some embodiments, the SINR per SSB port or the CQI per SSB port can also facilitate the inter-device spatial multiplexing of network devices scheduling signals or channels and / or the polarization domain multiplexing of signals and / or channels. The network device can schedule the multiplexing of the same and / or different signals or channels.

[0120] In some embodiments, the CSI report includes a per-PMI SINR or a per-PMI CQI. Each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding PMI. When determining the SINR or CQI for a particular PMI, one or more other PMIs may be considered as interference for that particular PMI. In some embodiments, the per-PMI SINR or per-PMI CQI may also facilitate intra-device multiplexing of network devices scheduling signals and / or channels. The network device may schedule multiplexing of the same and / or different signals or channels.

[0121] According to some embodiments, a signaling method is provided for enabling the transmission of CSI reports associated with one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports (i.e., one or more 2-port SSBs). In some embodiments, the CSI report can be sent on PUSCH (e.g., Msg3 PUSCH) or PUCCH.

[0122] Fig.11 An example of a signal flow diagram for sending configuration information related to a CSI report and / or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0123] At step 1110, the network device 901 (e.g., a base station) may send one or more signals to the device 902 (e.g., a UE) to transmit configuration information, which may be used by the device 902 to determine whether and / or how to generate or send a CSI report based on one or more 2-port SSBs. Fig.11The configuration information is shown to be sent from the network device 901 to the apparatus 902 (eg, UE), but the network device 901 may send the configuration information in a broadcast manner. In some embodiments, the configuration information sent in step 1110 may be included as a Figure 8 The configuration information sent in step 1110 may be part of the signaling sent in step 910 (e.g., in the MIB carried on the PBCH). In some embodiments, the configuration information sent in step 1110 may be a separate signaling step. Figure 8 Before or after the signaling sent in step 910.

[0124] In some embodiments, the configuration information may be in the form of system information. The configuration information may be sent in the MIB and / or SIB. In this case, the configuration information may be sent by the network device 901 within or after one or more 2-port SSBs or together with one or more 2-port SSBs. In other words, in some embodiments, in step 1110, the network device 901 may broadcast the configuration information within or after one or more 2-port SSBs or together with one or more 2-port SSBs. In some embodiments where the configuration information is in the form of system information, if the configuration information is included in the MIB, the configuration is carried on the PBCH, which may be included in one or more 2-port SSBs. If the configuration information is included in the SIB, the configuration information is carried on the PDSCH. The configuration information may be sent after one or more 2-port SSBs (e.g., received by the UE in a time slot later than the time slot of the 2-port SSB) or sent together with one or more 2-port SSBs.

[0125] The information transmitted by the configuration information may include one or more of the following: configuration information related to measurement configuration information or report format configuration of a CSI report based on one or more 2-port SSBs (i.e., based on one or more SSBs sent on 2 antenna ports of the network device 901), configuration information indicating whether the CSI report will be sent via the PUSCH (e.g., MSg-3PUSCH), configuration information indicating whether the CSI report will be sent via the PUCCH, or information related to a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration for supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission after sending a CSI report.

[0126] The configuration information related to the measurement configuration information may be, for example, related to notifying the device 902 that Figure 8 The reference signal (e.g., SSS, PBCH-DMRS, additional CSI-RS, additional CSI-RS for tracking) measured in step 910 or 915 of the apparatus 902 may be Figure 8The reporting format configuration information may be related to what type of measurement (e.g., RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port, CQI per SSB port, SINT per PMI, CQI per PMI) may be performed at step 915 in the report format configuration information. The reporting format configuration information may be related to, for example, notifying the apparatus 902 that the apparatus 902 will Figure 8 The type of report information (e.g., RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port, CQI per SSB port, SINT per PMI, CQI per PMI) sent back to the network device 901 in step 950 is related.

[0127] In some embodiments, each identified type of configuration information may be included in a respective signal. In some embodiments, several identified types of configuration information may be included in one signal.

[0128] In some embodiments, at step 1110, the network device 901 may transmit one or more signals including configuration information, the configuration information being related to at least one of measurement configuration information or report format configuration information for CSI reporting based on one or more 2-port SSBs (i.e., based on one or more SSBs transmitted on 2 antenna ports of the network device 901). The configuration information related to at least one of measurement configuration information or report format configuration information for CSI reporting based on one or more 2-port SSBs includes one or more of the following: information indicating whether an SSB resource indicator (SSBRI) is to be reported; information indicating the number of SSBRIs to be reported; information indicating which parameter or parameters of SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port, CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI, or CQI per PMI are to be reported; or information indicating whether CSI reporting is limited to SSBs associated with PRACH transmission.

[0129] Still reference Fig.11 After receiving one or more signals transmitting configuration information related to CSI reports and / or DMRS, at step 1120, the apparatus 902 may, for example, send a response to the network device 901. The response may include an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response and / or the CSI report. The CSI report may be based on measurements of one or more SSBs transmitted on two antenna ports of the network device 901 (i.e., one or more 2-port SSBs transmitted from the network device 901). If the response includes a CSI report, the CSI report may be as described above with respect to Figure 8 Thus, in some embodiments, step 1120 may correspond to Figure 8 Step 950, or including as in Figure 8 Information that is part of the signaling sent in step 950.

[0130] In some embodiments, a network device sends (e.g., broadcasts) a signal including configuration information (information to be included in a CSI report) indicating whether the device expects to determine or measure CSI based on one or more 2-port SSBs. The information to be included in the CSI report includes at least one of SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port, CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI, or CQI per PMI. It should be noted that each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port and / or a corresponding PMI. In some embodiments, signaling including information indicating whether the device expects to determine or measure CSI based on one or more 2-port SSBs can enable the network device to enable or disable the CSI determination or measurement activity at a potential device, for example, disabling the activity when there is no urgent need for MIMO data transmission. This can save energy for the associated network device and / or device.

[0131] In some embodiments, the network device sends (e.g., broadcasts) a signal that includes configuration information indicating whether measurement resources are limited to SSBs associated with PRACH transmissions. Based on the indication, the device can report CSI of one or more SSBs that are different from the SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission. Due to the indication, the device does not have to be limited to reporting CSI of the SSB associated with the PRACH transmission, but can report CSI of other SSBs that have been recently received with better reception quality. In some embodiments, the SSBRI can be reported via the PUSCH (e.g., Msg3 PUSCH). In some embodiments, information indicating whether measurement resources are limited to SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission can be sent in the MIB and / or SIB. In this way, Fig.12 As shown, during the initial access process, for example when the device moves across SSBs or across beams, the device can be enabled to report CSI of an SSB or network device beam that is different from the SSB or network device beam associated with the PRACH transmission.

[0132] Fig.12 An example of determining a CSI report based on an SSB different from an SSB associated with a PRACH transmission provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Fig.12 A portion of a network 970 including a network device 901 and an apparatus 902 is shown. Fig.12, SSB#1 and SSB#2 are periodically transmitted on different beam directions (i.e., beam 992 and beam 994). At a first moment, device 902 measures and selects SSB#1 for PRACH transmission, i.e., device 902 selects a PRACH resource or timing or sequence associated with SSB#1, where SSB#1 is the SSB associated with the PRACH transmission. When device 902 moves in the direction indicated by arrow 1200, at a second moment, for example, in a time period between transmitting the PRACH and receiving a request for a CSI report, the measurement of SSB#2 may have better quality than SSB#1 associated with the PRACH transmission. Therefore, the CSI report may be determined based on the measurement of SSB#2.

[0133] In some embodiments, the network device sends (e.g., broadcasts) a signal including configuration information related to reporting format configuration information for CSI reporting based on one or more 2-port SSBs to be sent from the device to the network device on the PUSCH or PUCCH. The network device may indicate reporting format configuration information for the CSI report based on one or more of SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port, CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI, or CQI per PMI. For example, the network device may indicate the parameters to be reported in the CSI report by the parameters to be reported, such as SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port, CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI, or CQI per PMI, so that the device may know which information to include in the CSI report. This information may also enable the network device to select a desired operating mode. Examples of operation modes include device-specific throughput maximization mode, intra-device polarization domain multiplexing mode, intra-device PMI-based multiplexing mode, inter-device polarization-based multiplexing mode (even when using the same beam transmitted from the network device). Report format configuration information for CSI reporting based on one or more 2-port SSBs can be sent in the MIB and / or SIB.

[0134] Fig.13 An example of using the same beam transmitted from a network device to perform polarization-based multiplexing between devices provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Fig.13A portion of a network 970 including a base station 901, a first UE 1301, and a second UE 1302 is shown. A single base station beam 1307 is shown. The base station beam 1307 is shown to include two polarization directions, namely a vertical polarization direction indicated by a "|" symbol above the beam and a horizontal polarization direction indicated by a "—" symbol below the beam. A signal sent by the base station 901 in the vertical polarization direction is detected and received by the beam 1304 in the vertical polarization direction at the first UE 1301, and a signal sent by the base station 901 in the horizontal polarization direction is detected and received by the beam 1305 in the horizontal polarization direction at the second UE 1302.

[0135] As described above, upon receiving a request for a CSI report, the device sends a response to the CSI report request. In some embodiments, the device includes in the response an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response. Assuming that the response can be sent on PUSCH or PUCCH, the indication can provide an indication of whether the CSI report is present in the message carried in PUSCH or PUCCH. An indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response to the CSI report request may be required because the device may choose not to generate the CSI report for power saving purposes. For example, when a network device sends signaling (e.g., MIB and / or SIB) indicating that the CSI report will be sent via PUSCH (e.g., in Msg3) by broadcast, the device may choose not to generate the CSI report to save energy at the device. When the device chooses not to generate the CSI report, the device may include an indication that the CSI report is not included in the response (e.g., a response to the CSI report request) so that the network device does not need to search for the CSI report in the response received from the device. When the CSI report is included in the response, the device may include an indication that the CSI report is included in the response to the CSI report request. In this way, the blind detection complexity at the network device can be reduced.

[0136] In some embodiments, a network device may send (e.g., broadcast) one or more signals to transmit information related to DMRS configuration information supporting multi-layer (or multi-port) PDSCH transmission. In order to enable MIMO transmission or multi-layer PDSCH transmission (e.g., 2-layer transmission) immediately after sending a CSI report via PUSCH (e.g., Msg3PUSCH) or PUCCH, DMRS configuration information supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission may be provided to the device. Such DMRS configuration information may be provided to the device before enabling MIMO transmission or multi-layer PDSCH transmission. In some embodiments, DMRS configuration information supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission may be predefined or indicated by a network device using MIB, SIB, or RAR. In some embodiments using MIB, SIB, or RAR to indicate DMRS configuration information supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission, the device may determine the presence or bit length of an indication of an antenna port in a DCI format that the device can detect based on the received DMRS configuration information.

[0137] Although one or more steps of the above method are based on a dual-polarized antenna with a vertical polarization direction and / or a horizontal polarization direction, it should be understood that these methods can be performed using a dual-polarized antenna with a ±45-degree tilted polarization direction. Similarly, although one or more steps of the above method are based on a dual-polarized antenna with a polarization direction (i.e., vertical / horizontal polarization direction, ±45-degree tilted polarization direction) that differs by approximately 90 degrees, it should be understood that these methods can be performed using a dual-polarized antenna with a non-90-degree (e.g., 60-degree) difference in polarization direction. In addition, although one or more steps of the above method are based on a dual-polarized antenna with two polarization directions, it should be understood that the method can be performed using an antenna structure or architecture that can be considered to enable a network device or apparatus to be equipped with an antenna capable of transmitting or receiving in M ​​polarization directions, where M is an integer greater than 2. In this case, the 2-port SSB mentioned in the embodiments or examples shown above or elsewhere in the present invention can be replaced with an M-port SSB.

[0138] It should be understood that one or more steps in the embodiment method provided herein can be performed by corresponding units or modules. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. A signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. The corresponding unit / module can be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more units / modules can be integrated circuits, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC). It should be understood that if these modules are software, these modules can be retrieved in whole or in part by a processor as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves can include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0139] Although combinations of features are shown in the illustrated embodiments, it is not necessary to combine all of the features to achieve the advantages of the various embodiments of the present invention. In other words, a system or method designed according to an embodiment of the present invention does not necessarily include all of the features shown in any of the drawings or all of the parts schematically shown in the drawings. In addition, selected features of an exemplary embodiment can be combined with selected features of other exemplary embodiments.

[0140] Although the present invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not to be interpreted in a limiting sense. Those skilled in the art will appreciate various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments and other embodiments of the present invention with reference to this description. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to cover any such modifications or embodiments.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a device for supporting data transmission in a wireless network, characterized in that: include: receiving a request for a channel state information (CSI) report associated with one or more synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) blocks (SSBs), wherein the one or more SSBs are transmitted on two antenna ports; Sending a response to the request for the CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the response comprising at least one of the following: an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response; or The CSI report is based on the measurement of the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When receiving the request for the CSI report on a random access response (RAR), the method further comprises: Before receiving the RAR as a response, a physical random access channel (PRACH) is sent.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports are received before the PRACH is transmitted.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The one or more SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission transmitted on the two antenna ports are received within a time period between the PRACH transmission and receipt of the request for the CSI report.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The CSI report includes at least one of the following: SSB resource indicator (SSBRI); Reference signal received power (RSRP); Signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR); Rank indicator (RI); Channel quality indicator (CQI); Precoding matrix indicator (PMI); a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) per SSB port or a CQI per SSB port, wherein each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port; or Per-PMI SINR or per-PMI CQI, where each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding PMI.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that When the CSI report includes the RI indicating the maximum rank, after sending the CSI report, the apparatus operates based on the assumption that the maximum number of layers of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is equal to the reported maximum rank or the smallest integer 2 n , the minimum integer 2 n Less than or equal to the reported maximum rank, where n = 0 to N, N is an integer.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: For each per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI, the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI is determined based on the corresponding SSB port and one or more remaining SSB ports of the same SSB, wherein the one or more remaining SSB ports are considered as interference during determination of the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The CSI report is sent from message 3 PUSCH during random access (RA).

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that Also includes: One or more signals indicating system information are received in a master information block (MIB) and / or a secondary information block (SIB).

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The one or more signals include one or more of the following: information related to at least one of a measurement configuration or a reporting configuration for the CSI report, the CSI report being based on the one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports; Information indicating whether the CSI report will be sent via the message 3PUSCH; Information indicating whether the CSI report is to be sent via the PUCCH; After sending the CSI report, information related to the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The information related to the at least one of the measurement configuration or the reporting configuration of the CSI report comprises at least one of the following: Information indicating whether one or more SSBRIs are to be reported; information indicating a quantity of the one or more SSBRIs to be reported; Information indicating which parameter or parameters among SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port or CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI or CQI per PMI is to be reported; or Information indicating whether the CSI report is limited to the SSB associated with the PRACH transmission.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports include one or more of the following: One or more primary synchronization signals (PSS); One or more secondary synchronization signals (SSS); Physical broadcast channel (PBCH); One or more DMRS of PBCH.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that The device is a user equipment (UE).

14. A device for supporting data transmission in a wireless network, characterized in that: include: processor; A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. A method implemented by a network device for supporting data transmission in a wireless network, characterized in that: include: Sending a request for a channel state information (CSI) report associated with one or more synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel (SS-PBCH) blocks (SSBs), wherein the one or more SSBs are transmitted on two antenna ports; Receiving a response to the request for the CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the response comprising at least one of the following: an indication of whether the CSI report is included in the response; or The CSI report is based on the measurement of the one or more SSBs sent on the two antenna ports.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that When sending the request for the CSI report on a random access response (RAR), the method further comprises: Before sending the RAR, a physical random access channel (PRACH) is received.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports are transmitted before the PRACH is received.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The one or more SSBs associated with the PRACH transmission transmitted on the two antenna ports are transmitted in a time period between the PRACH reception and the transmission of the request for the CSI report.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that The CSI report includes at least one of the following: SSB resource indicator (SSBRI); Reference signal received power (RSRP); Signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR); Rank indicator (RI); Channel quality indicator (CQI); Precoding matrix indicator (PMI); a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) per SSB port or a CQI per SSB port, wherein each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding SSB port; or Per-PMI SINR or per-PMI CQI, where each SINR or CQI is associated with a corresponding PMI.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that When the CSI report includes the RI indicating the maximum rank, after receiving the CSI report, the network device operates based on the following assumption: the maximum number of layers of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is equal to the reported maximum rank or the smallest integer 2 n , the minimum integer 2 n Less than or equal to the reported maximum rank, where n = 0 to N, N is an integer.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that For each per-SSB port SINR or per-SSB port CQI, the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI is determined based on the corresponding SSB port and one or more remaining SSB ports of the same SSB, wherein the one or more remaining SSB ports are considered as interference during determination of the per-SSB port SINR or the per-SSB port CQI.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21, characterized in that The network device receives the CSI report from the message 3PUSCH during random access (RA).

23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, characterized in that Also includes: One or more signals indicating system information are sent in a master information block (MIB) and / or a secondary information block (SIB).

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The one or more signals include one or more of the following: information related to at least one of a measurement configuration or a reporting configuration for the CSI report, the CSI report being based on the one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports; Information indicating whether the CSI report will be sent via the message 3PUSCH; Information indicating whether the CSI report is to be sent via the PUCCH; After sending the CSI report, information related to the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration supporting multi-layer PDSCH transmission.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The information related to the at least one of the measurement configuration or the reporting configuration of the CSI report comprises at least one of the following: Information indicating whether one or more SSBRIs are to be reported; information indicating a quantity of the one or more SSBRIs to be reported; Information indicating which parameter or parameters among SSBRI, RSRP, SINR, RI, CQI, PMI, SINR per SSB port or CQI per SSB port, SINR per PMI or CQI per PMI is to be reported; or Information indicating whether the CSI report is limited to the SSB associated with the PRACH transmission.

26. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 25, characterized in that The one or more SSBs transmitted on the two antenna ports include one or more of the following: One or more primary synchronization signals (PSS); One or more secondary synchronization signals (SSS); Physical broadcast channel (PBCH); One or more DMRS of PBCH.

27. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 26, characterized in that The network device is a base station.

28. A network device supporting data transmission in a wireless network, characterized in that: include: processor; A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27.

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