Concurrent channel state information (CSI) capability reporting using multiple codebooks

Abstract

The invention relates to concurrent channel state information (CSI) capability reporting using multiple codebooks. A user equipment (UE) that transmits concurrent channel state information (CSI) processing capability information to a base station is disclosed. The capability information may take various forms and is intended to constrain the base station in the type of CSI requests that may be made to the UE. For example, the UE may indicate different CSI processing capabilities for intra-CC and inter-CC conditions and / or for different codebook types. The UE may also specify a combination of codebook types supported for concurrent CSI reporting. The UE may also specify a maximum resource or weighting factor for different codebook types. The UE may also limit the rank information it provides and use a priority rule to "discard" CSI report data due to the payload size limit. The base station may direct or the UE may implement improved utilization of CSI resources shared for multiple concurrent CSI reports. The minimum time requirement for CSI reporting may also be relaxed.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application number 202080004511.4, filed on February 12, 2020, and invention name “Concurrent Channel State Information (CSI) Capability Reporting Using Multiple Codebooks”. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to wireless devices, and more particularly to systems and methods for reporting channel state information (CSI) capabilities when performing concurrent CSI processing using multiple codebooks. Background Art

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems has grown rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablets have become increasingly sophisticated. Mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) support phone calls, as well as provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using a global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating complex applications that utilize these capabilities. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH, and LTE-A. TM wait.

[0004] In order to provide improved communication between a base station (BS) and a wireless user equipment (UE) device, the UE may calculate various metrics indicating the channel quality fed back to the base station. The UE may generate these various metrics for the channel based on a downlink (DL) reference signal received from the base station. Without loss of generality, these metrics may be collectively referred to as channel state information (CSI). The channel state information may include estimates of spectral efficiency, number of data layers, precoding matrix, etc. in scenarios of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna systems, etc. The CSI of the channel may also be calculated based on other performance metrics, such as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the channel, the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), the signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR), etc.

[0005] The base station can use the channel state information to adjust its communication with the UE to provide improved communication with the UE. For example, the channel state information can be used by the BS to determine the code rate and modulation scheme to be assigned to each UE. The code rate and modulation scheme can be selected to not only maximize the throughput to a specific UE, but also improve the overall throughput of the base station communication area (e.g., cell) through scheduling. The use of channel quality information thus allows the base station to more fully utilize the state of the wireless channel to improve the communication throughput with various UEs.

[0006] Given that base stations use channel state information to improve downlink communications with UEs, generating appropriate CSI is very important. Therefore, improvements are desired in the art. Summary of the invention

[0007] Embodiments of apparatus, systems, and methods for wireless devices to perform improved reporting of concurrent channel state information (CSI) capabilities to a base station are presented herein.

[0008] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device such as a user equipment (UE) transmits concurrent channel state information (CSI) processing capability information to a base station. The concurrent CSI processing capability information may take various forms and is intended to constrain the base station in the types of CSI requests that may be made to the UE. For example, the UE may indicate different CSI processing capabilities for intra-CC and inter-CC cases and / or for different codebook types. The UE may also specify a combination of supported codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting and / or may specify different concurrent CSI reporting capabilities for different component carrier configurations. The UE may also specify maximum resources or weighting factors for different codebook types.

[0009] When a UE generates a CSI report to a base station, the UE may limit the rank information it provides based on the type of CSI processing performed. The UE may also use priority rules based on the type of CSI processing to "drop" CSI report data due to payload size limitations. The base station may also direct or the UE may achieve improved utilization of CSI resources shared for multiple concurrent CSI reports. The minimum time requirements for CSI reporting may also be relaxed.

[0010] It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various other computing devices.

[0011] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the themes described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be interpreted as narrowing the scope or essence of the themes described in this invention in any way. Other features, aspects and advantages of the themes described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings.

[0013] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system is shown;

[0014] Figure 2 A base station in communication with user equipment is shown;

[0015] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to one embodiment is shown;

[0016] Figure 4 shows an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to one embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C Various carrier aggregation configurations according to the prior art are shown;

[0018] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating various implementations of a UE reporting concurrent CSI processing capability to a base station;

[0019] Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating various additional implementations of a UE reporting concurrent CSI processing capabilities to a base station;

[0020] Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for a base station to receive and utilize CSI processing capability information received from a UE according to some embodiments;

[0021] Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method for a UE to receive and process a CSI request from a base station according to some embodiments;

[0022] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating a method for a base station to issue a single CSI configuration command containing multiple CSI configuration requests according to some embodiments;

[0023] Fig.11A The configuration of multi-channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI reports is shown;

[0024] Fig. 11BUE configuration of single channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI reports according to some embodiments is shown;

[0025] Fig.12 is a flow chart illustrating a method for a UE to configure single channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for multiple received CSI configuration requests according to some embodiments;

[0026] Fig.13A The configuration of multi-channel measurement and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI reports is shown;

[0027] Fig. 13B illustrates UE configuration of single channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI requests according to some embodiments;

[0028] Fig.14 shows Z minimum timing and Z' minimum timing for CSI-RS processing according to some embodiments; and

[0029] Fig.15A and Fig. 15B is a table containing possible CSI calculation delay requirements according to some embodiments.

[0030] Although the present invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternative forms falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Acronyms

[0032] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms used that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows:

[0033] UE: User Equipment

[0034] RF: Radio Frequency

[0035] BS: Base Station

[0036] DL: Downlink

[0037] UL: Uplink

[0038] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0039] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0040] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0041] NR: New Radio

[0042] TX: Transmit / transmit

[0043] RX: Receive

[0044] RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0045] PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0046] PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0047] CC: Component Carrier

[0048] CA / DC: Carrier Aggregation / Dual Connectivity

[0049] CSI: Channel State Information

[0050] CRS: Cell-specific reference signal

[0051] CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal

[0052] CMR: Channel Measurement Resource

[0053] IMR: Interference Measurement Resource

[0054] NZP: Non-Zero Power

[0055] ZP: Zero Power

[0056] MCS: Modulation and Coding Scheme

[0057] RE: Resource Element

[0058] CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

[0059] PMI: Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0060] RI: Rank Indicator

[0061] the term

[0062] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in this disclosure:

[0063] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, for example, CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., expressed as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0064] Carrier Medium—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that transport signals such as electrical, electromagnetic or digital signals.

[0065] Computer system (or computer)—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0066] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone TM , based on Android TM phones), tablets (e.g., iPad TM 、Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices or other handheld devices, etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to include any electronic device, computing device and / or telecommunication device (or combination of devices) that is convenient for a user to transport and capable of wireless communication.

[0067] Wireless Device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0068] Communication device - any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A wireless device is an example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0069] Base Station (BS)—The term "base station" has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0070] Processing element (or processor) - refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing functions in a device (e.g., a user equipment device or a cellular network device). Processing elements may include, for example, processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above combinations.

[0071] Wi-Fi—The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its usual meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks or RATs that are served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provide connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0072] Automatic—refers to an action or operation being performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the need for the action or operation to be directly specified or performed by a user input. Thus, the term "automatic" is in contrast to a user manually performing or specifying an action, wherein the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," wherein the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing in information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user action. The form may be automatically filled out by a computer system, wherein the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without requiring any user input to specify the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user may invoke automatic filling out of a form, but not participate in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0073] Configured to - Various components may be described as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such environments, "configured to" is a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some environments, "configured to" can be a broad statement that generally means "having a structure of circuitry" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, the component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Typically, circuits that form the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuits.

[0074] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". The description of a component being configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not invoke the interpretation of the sixth paragraph of Section 112 of Title 35 of the United States Code on that component.

[0075] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary Communication System

[0076] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system is shown that can implement various aspects of the present disclosure according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 1 The system is only an example of one possible system, and the embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0077] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102, which communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N via a transmission medium. Each user device may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device. Therefore, user device 106 is referred to as a UE or a UE device. A UE device is an example of a wireless device.

[0078] The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site, and may include hardware and / or software that implements wireless communication with UEs 106A to 106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, and various possible networks). Therefore, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and / or between user devices and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, sometimes a base station may be considered to represent a network in consideration of the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Therefore, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood as a UE that communicates with a network.

[0079] The base station 102 and the user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0080] Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cell networks that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0081] Note that UE 106 can communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 can be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standard or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, UE 106 can be configured to reestablish a packet data network connection, such as according to the various methods described herein. UE 106 can also be configured or alternatively configured to use WLAN, BLUETOOTH, or other wireless communication standards. TM , one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0082] Figure 2 An exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or a tablet, or substantially any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 may execute any of the method embodiments described in the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to execute (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method embodiments described herein or any of any of the method embodiments described herein. UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5GNR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0083] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and / or a transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio component may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Typically, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, an analog RF signal processing circuit (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or a digital processing circuit (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains.

[0084] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include a shared radio component for communicating using any of LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and a shared radio component for communicating using Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH. TM Each of the independent radio components for communication. Other configurations are also possible.

[0085] Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0086] Figure 3A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 according to some embodiments is shown. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that can execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that can perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a motion sensing circuit 370, which may detect the motion of the UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of various other motion sensing components. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and convert those addresses into locations in a memory (e.g., a memory 306, a read-only memory (ROM) 350, a NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as a display circuit 304, a radio component 330, a connector I / F 320, and / or a display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

[0087] As shown, SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of UE 106. For example, UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH TM , Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and may include multiple antennas (e.g., as shown by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communications with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use antenna 335 to perform wireless communications with the aid of radio circuitry 330. As described above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0088] The UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the method of the UE 106 to perform concurrent generation of multiple codebooks for CSI reporting, such as described further herein. The one or more processors 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, for example by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the one or more processors 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition, as Figure 3 As shown, the processor 302 can be coupled to other components and / or can interoperate with other components to perform concurrent generation of multiple codebooks for CSI reporting according to various embodiments disclosed herein. One or more processors 302 can also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

[0089] In some embodiments, radio 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for each respective RAT standard. Figure 3 As shown, the radio component 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (eg, an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a BLUETOOTH controller. TM Controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (referred to as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with SOC 300 (more specifically, with one or more processors 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or BLUETOOTH TM The controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments may be implemented in the UE device 106 having fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs.

[0090] Additionally, embodiments are contemplated in which the controller may implement functionality associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications, the cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and / or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

[0091] Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0092] Figure 4 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 4 The base station of is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0093] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106 of the telephone network described in the embodiment of the present invention. The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured or alternatively configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0094] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio component 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio component 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receiving chain, a transmitting chain, or both. The radio component 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including but not limited to NR, LTE, LTE-A WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, for example it may include at least one Ethernet port, and the radio component 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0095] Channel State Information

[0096] A wireless device such as a user equipment may be configured to measure the quality of a downlink channel and report information related to the quality measurement to a base station. For example, a UE may periodically send channel state information (CSI) to a BS. The base station may then receive and use the channel state information to determine adjustments to various parameters during communications with the wireless device. Specifically, the BS may use the received channel state information to adjust the coding of its downlink transmissions to improve the downlink channel quality.

[0097] In most cellular systems, a base station transmits a pilot signal (or reference signal) called a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), which is used to estimate the channel between the base station and the UE. The UE receives the reference signal and calculates the channel state information (CSI) based on the reference signal. The UE then reports the channel state information back to the base station. The base station can then generate downlink data based on the received CSI and transmit the downlink data to the UE. In other words, the base station can adjust the way the downlink data is encoded and generated based on the channel state information received from the UE.

[0098] In the NR standard, the channel state information fed back from the UE may typically include two or more of the following: channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix index (PMI), rank indicator (RI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), SSBRI (SS / PBCH resource block indicator) and layer indicator (LI), as well as other possible information.

[0099] The channel quality indicator may be provided to the base station for link adaptation, for example, to provide guidance on which modulation and coding scheme (MCS) the base station should use when transmitting data. When the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be high, the UE may feedback a high CQI value. This may cause the base station to use a relatively high modulation order and a low channel coding rate to transmit data. Alternatively, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be low, the UE may feedback a low CQI value. This may cause the base station to use a relatively low modulation order and a high channel coding rate to transmit data.

[0100] PMI feedback is the preferred precoding matrix information provided to the base station to indicate which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should use. In other words, the UE measures the quality of the downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on the received pilot signal received on the channel, and recommends which MIMO precoding the base station is expected to apply through PMI feedback. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is represented in matrix form, which provides linear MIMO precoding. The base station and the UE may share a codebook consisting of multiple precoding matrices, and each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook has a unique index. Therefore, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI may include an index (one or more indexes) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook. This enables the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Therefore, the PMI may indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

[0101] Rank indicator information (RI feedback) indicates the number of preferred transmission layers for the UE when the base station and UE have multiple antennas, thereby enabling multi-layer transmission through spatial multiplexing. RI and PMI together allow the base station to know which precoding needs to be applied to which layer based on the number of transmission layers.

[0102] In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined according to the number of transmission layers. In other words, for R-layer transmission, N Nt×R matrices are defined (in this article, R represents the number of layers, Nt represents the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N represents the size of the codebook). Here, the number of transmission layers (R) is consistent with the rank value of the precoding matrix (Nt×R matrix), so R is called a "rank indicator (RI)".

[0103] Thus, the channel state information may include an assigned rank (e.g., a rank indicator or RI). For example, a MIMO-enabled UE communicating with a BS may include four receiver chains, e.g., may include four antennas. The BS may also include four or more antennas to enable MIMO communication (e.g., 4×4 MIMO). Thus, the UE may be able to concurrently receive up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS. Layer-to-antenna mapping may be applied, e.g., each layer may be mapped to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port may send and / or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include multiple bits and may indicate the number of signals that the BS may send to the UE in an upcoming time period (e.g., during an upcoming transmission time interval or TTI). For example, an indication of rank 4 may indicate that the BS will send 4 signals to the UE. In the example of 4×4 MIMO, the length of the RI may be two bits (e.g., because two bits are sufficient to distinguish 4 different rank values).

[0104] Carrier Aggregation

[0105] Carrier aggregation is a scheme in which multiple component carriers (or cells) can be used for wireless communication between a base station and a UE. Carrier aggregation can be used in LTE-Advanced and NR to increase the data transmission bandwidth between a base station and a UE, thereby increasing the bit rate. In carrier aggregation, a UE can be configured with multiple component carriers, where each component carrier is called a cell, such as a primary cell or a secondary cell.

[0106] When the network configures the UE for channel state information (CSI) reporting, the network will inform the UE which component carrier is the subject of the CSI reporting request, ie, for which component carrier channel and interference measurements are performed. The network may configure multiple CSI requests simultaneously (ie, concurrently).

[0107] The term "intra-CC" refers to the case where multiple CSI reports are requested for the same component carrier. For example, these multiple CSI requests can be wideband (Type I) reports and narrowband (Type II) reports. The term "inter-CC" refers to the case where multiple CSI reports are requested for different component carriers. The two (or more) component carriers can be "intra-band" (in the same frequency band) or "inter-band" (in different frequency bands).

[0108] Below is the background on intra-band component carriers and inter-band component carriers. One way to achieve carrier aggregation is to use contiguous component carriers within the same operating band, called intra-band contiguous ( Figure 5A For example, due to operator frequency allocation scenarios, it may not always be possible to arrange component carriers in an intra-band contiguous manner. A second way to achieve carrier aggregation is to use non-contiguous intra-band component carriers ( Figure 5B), where the component carriers are in the same operating band but have one or more gaps between them. A third way to implement carrier aggregation is to use non-contiguous inter-band component carriers ( Figure 5C ), where the component carriers belong to different operating frequency bands.

[0109] In the currently proposed standard (Release 16 MIMO CSI enhancement), there are six different codebook types for channel state information reporting (feedback). The six different codebook types are as follows:

[0110] Version 15 Type I Single Panel

[0111] Version 15 Type I Multi-Panel

[0112] Version 15 Type II

[0113] Version 15 Type II Port Selection

[0114] Version 16 Type II

[0115] Version 16 Type II Port Selection

[0116] As shown, there are four different codebook types in Release 15, and two additional codebook types are added in Release 16. In Release 15, Type I refers to wideband or lower resolution CSI, where channel measurements are made over a large portion (e.g., all) of the cell transmission spectrum. Type I can be used for single panels (single panel or antenna array) or multiple panels (multiple panels or multiple antenna arrays). In Release 15, Type II refers to sub-band or higher resolution CSI feedback, where the channel is measured for a specific smaller portion of the spectrum. Release 16 enhances Type I ICSI feedback primarily by achieving compression overhead and allowing even higher resolution CSI feedback.

[0117] In some scenarios, the UE may be requested to perform multiple instances of CSI reporting simultaneously, such as generation and transmission of channel state information. For example, in the case of a cellular system implementing carrier aggregation, the UE may be requested to perform different types of CSI reporting for different component carriers (or the same component carrier) simultaneously. For another example, the base station may request the UE to perform aperiodic CSI reporting for a CC while scheduling periodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting for the same or another CC.

[0118] UE implementation of concurrent CSI reporting with different codebook types raises many issues. The currently proposed Release 16 standard is unclear about concurrent CSI reporting, and therefore the base station can request almost any kind of CSI report concurrently. In other words, the base station can configure the UE to perform multiple different types of CSI reports concurrently. This may place a heavy burden on the UE. For example, the base station may request the UE to perform measurements for type I CSI reports and at the same time request the UE to perform measurements for type II CSI reports. These multiple instances of CSI processing of different codebook types may be required to share the baseband processing power of the UE. Therefore, the open requirement for concurrent CSI reporting may complicate the design of the UE modem and may burden the UE designer with how to support simultaneous CSI type I and type II reporting.

[0119] The term "CSI-RS processing" may refer to the UE processing a CSI reference signal (RS) received on a downlink channel, such as performing channel and interference measurements on the received CSI reference signal to determine the quality of the downlink channel. In terms of CSI-RS processing, the UE currently reports the CSI processing capability of each codebook type independently. When the UE is reporting the capability of each CSI codebook type, the UE may assume a worst-case scenario when two or more (or all) codebook types are configured simultaneously. In other words, since the currently proposed standard allows concurrent CSI processing of different codebook types, and the UE reports the capability information of each codebook type independently, the UE may not expect to assume and therefore report the worst-case scenario capability of each codebook type so that it can operate correctly when all codebook types are configured simultaneously. For example, the CSI reporting capability information may include the maximum number of ports for each CSI resource, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum number of total ports. In the case where the network does not actually configure all codebook types simultaneously, such worst-case capability reporting will not be able to fully utilize the capabilities of the UE. Therefore, it is expected to make improvements in this field.

[0120] Specifically, various embodiments are described herein in which a UE provides improved concurrent CSI processing capability reporting that, at least in some cases, operates to constrain or limit a cellular network (base station) in the types of concurrent CSI reports that the UE may request. This may operate to reduce the burden on the UE modem design and may also improve the operation of the UE.

[0121] The embodiments described herein can be divided into five general categories as follows:

[0122] 1) UE concurrent CSI processing capability reporting

[0123] 2) Enhanced UE CSI-RS processing capability reporting

[0124] 3) Concurrent CSIs share the same CMR / IMR CSI-RS

[0125] 4) Concurrent CSI report processing time relaxation

[0126] 5) Concurrent CSI rank restriction

[0127] 1.UE concurrent CSI processing capability report

[0128] Currently, general UE channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) processing capabilities are defined in TS 38.214, which states in part: "In any time slot, a UE is not expected to have more active CSI-RS ports or active CSI-RS resources than reported as capabilities..."

[0129] In some embodiments, the UE operations described herein may be operable to provide improved reporting of concurrent CSI processing capabilities, thereby enabling the UE to provide greater input on the concurrent CSI reporting it is requested to perform. Figure 6 Various embodiments for improved reporting of concurrent CSI processing capabilities are described.

[0130] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an improved method for reporting concurrent CSI processing capabilities.

[0131] At 522, the UE powers on or leaves airplane mode. In other words, at 522, the UE enters a state where it begins actively searching for a cellular connection.

[0132] At 524, the UE establishes an RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection with the base station. Thus, at 524, the UE is connected to the cell of the base station. In some embodiments, the UE and the network implement carrier aggregation, where the cellular network can transmit data to the UE using one or more component carriers. As described above with respect to FIG. 5, one or more component carriers can be implemented as intra-CC or inter-CC, and can also be intra-band contiguous, intra-band non-contiguous, and inter-band non-contiguous.

[0133] At 526, the UE reports its channel state information (CSI) processing capabilities to the base station. As an example, the UE may report one or more CSI configurations that it supports, and may also report one or more Z values, where Z is the minimum required number of symbols for CSI calculation for a given CSI configuration. As part of the reporting of the CSI processing capabilities, the UE may perform one or more of 532-538, as described below.

[0134] In addition to (or instead of) reporting any standard CSI processing capability information, in some embodiments, the UE may also report capability information about concurrent CSI processing that the UE is capable of performing, such as Figure 6 As indicated in one or more of 532-538 of . Therefore, the UE may report capability information about concurrent CSI processing by performing one or more of 532-538. This allows the UE to provide greater control over the concurrent CSI processing it may be requested to perform. This may help reduce the processing burden of the UE when performing CSI reporting.

[0135] As shown at 532, in some embodiments, for capability reporting of concurrent CSI processing for multiple codebook types, the UE may report a specific type of concurrent CSI reporting processing for intra-CC and inter-CC cases. In other words, the UE may report a first type of capability, where multiple CSI reports are being requested for the same component carrier (intra-CC). The UE may report different types of processing for the case where two or more CSI report requests are issued for two or more different component carriers (inter-CC). More specifically, the UE may report its concurrent CSI processing capability, which indicates that the UE supports concurrent CSI reporting for the inter-CC case, and that the UE does not support concurrent CSI reporting for the intra-CC case.

[0136] The capability report in 532 takes into account that it is more reasonable to support concurrent CSI reporting for the inter-CC case because different component carriers may each have independent baseband processing power allocated for carrier aggregation (CA). The capability report in 532 also takes into account that it is less reasonable to support concurrent CSI reporting for the intra-CC case since no separate independent baseband processing power may be allocated for a single component carrier, and therefore, attempting to support concurrent CSI reporting for the intra-CC case may lead to complications in UE design.

[0137] As shown at 534, in some embodiments, the UE may report that in the case of multiple CSI requests for the same component carrier, the UE should not be configured with concurrently active CSI reports with different codebook types (different CodebookType). In other words, at 534, the UE reports its capability information such that in any time slot in the cell (for any single component carrier), the UE is not configured with active CSI-RS ports or active CSI-RS resources corresponding to CSI reports of different codebook types (as per TS 38.331). In other words, the capability information in 534 indicates to the base station that for multiple CSI requests for a single component carrier, the UE should not be configured to perform concurrent CSI reports of different codebook types for the same carrier.

[0138] As shown at 536, in some embodiments, for capability reporting of concurrent CSI processing, the UE may separately indicate or specify different concurrent CSI reporting capabilities for various component carrier scenarios, including: concurrent CSI intra-CC, concurrent CSI inter-CC intra-band, and concurrent CSI inter-CC inter-band.

[0139] As mentioned above, the concurrent CSI intra-CC case refers to the case where two or more CSI requests are issued for the same component carrier.

[0140] The concurrent CSI inter-CC intra-band case refers to the case where two or more CSI requests are issued for different component carriers and the different component carriers are in the same frequency band.

[0141] The concurrent CSI inter-CC inter-band case refers to the case where two or more CSI requests are issued for different component carriers and the different component carriers are in different frequency bands.

[0142] An example of a concurrent CSI processing capability report may indicate that the UE supports the use of different codebook types in concurrent CSI processing for inter-CC and inter-band cases, but does not support the use of different codebook types in intra-CC and inter-CC intra-band cases. Note that the capability report may be per feature set, per frequency band, per frequency band combination, or per frequency band per frequency band combination.

[0143] As shown at 538, in some embodiments, the UE reports only certain supported combinations of codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting. In other words, at 538, the UE reports certain combinations of codebook types as supporting concurrent CSI reporting, where combinations of codebook types that are not reported as supported are not supported. Thus, the capability information instructs the base station to configure the UE only with supported combinations of codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting, and therefore instructs the base station not to configure the UE with unsupported combinations of codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting.

[0144] As mentioned above, there are currently six different types of codebooks for CSI reporting. This generates a large number of potential codebook combinations. Some potential combinations will be impractical. In order to reduce the complexity of the UE, in this embodiment, the UE only reports the ability to support a smaller subset of the most likely possible codebook combinations.

[0145] In some embodiments, the UE provides capability information indicating that it can support the following combinations:

[0146] {Rev 15 Type I Single Panel, Rev 15 Type II}

[0147] {Release 15 Type I Single Panel, Release 16 Type II}

[0148] Each of these two combinations includes a "Type I single panel" where Type 1 is a lower resolution CSI report. One benefit of Type I is that the UE can report a higher rank, up to 8-layer MIMO operation. Type II is a typical configuration for multi-user MIMO and may involve a base station pairing a UE with another UE. Relative to Type I, Type II involves higher resolution of CSI reporting and a smaller number of layers.

[0149] 2) Enhanced UE CSI-RS processing capability reporting

[0150] In some embodiments, the UE operations described herein may be operable to provide improved reporting of CSI resource capabilities to the base station. This may help the base station provide better CSI processing requests to the UE, especially in the case of concurrent CSI requests. Figure 7 Various implementations for improved reporting of CSI resource capabilities are described.

[0151] Figure 7 1 is a flow chart showing an improved method for reporting CSI resource capability (CSI-RS processing capability) to a base station. As shown in the figure, Figure 7 The operations in may be performed in a similar manner, wherein in 522, the UE receives power or exits the flight mode, in 524, the UE performs an RRC connection with the base station, and in 526, reports CSI processing capability information.

[0152] In addition to reporting any standard CSI processing capability information in 526, in some embodiments, the UE may also report capability information about the UE's CSI resources, such as Figure 7 Indicated in one or more of 552-558 of . The term CSI-RS refers to a reference signal sent by a base station and measured by a UE when generating channel state information. More specifically, the UE may measure the channel and interference associated with the CSI reference signal and generate channel state information based on these measurements.

[0153] In 552-558, the UE provides enhanced information about CSI resources or CSI-RS processing capabilities, which may include information related to the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports supported by the UE. Figure 7 One or more of steps 552-558, and instead of or in addition to Figure 6 In addition to performing one or more of steps 532-538 of the method, one or more of steps 552-558 may also be performed. In other words, any combination of steps 532-538 and 552-558 may be performed, for example, any combination, two combinations, three combinations or more combinations of any of these methods may be performed together.

[0154] As shown at 552, in addition to independently reporting the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS for each codebook type, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports, the UE may also report the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports for all (or across all) codebook types. Thus, in 552, the UE reports the total number of all CSI resources for all codebook types. In other words, the maximum number of CSI ports per CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports may each be summed across all codebook types, and this information may be provided to the base station. This reporting of the total number of CSI resources may be performed separately for intra-CC and inter-CC scenarios.

[0155] From the network's perspective, the requests made to the UE should respect the maximum number of resources per codebook type. Furthermore, the network may ensure that any / all CSI requests made to the UE use less than the total number of CSI resources of all codebook types reported by the UE in 552. In other words, as long as {maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, maximum number of CSI-RS, total number of ports) over all activated concurrent CSI-RS processes is below the total UE reporting capability (summed over all codebook types), the UE will have resources to support multiple concurrent CSI requests.

[0156] Note that different codebook types utilize different amounts of CSI resources. For example, codebook type I uses much less CSI resources (has much less computational complexity) than codebook type II. If all codebook types employed the same amount of computational complexity, then the summed reporting performed in 552 would be most useful. Given that this is not the case, the UE may perform additional reporting as described below.

[0157] As shown at 554, the UE may also report the joint CSI-RS processing capability of each codebook type / UE combination that the UE can support. For example, the UE may report as follows:

[0158] {Release 15 Type I Single Panel, Release 15 Type II}: {Maximum number of ports / CSI-RS_1, Maximum number of CSI-RS_1, Maximum total number of ports_1)

[0159] {Release 15 Type I Single Panel, Release 16 Type II}: {Maximum number of ports / CSI-RS_2, Maximum number of CSI-RS_2, Maximum total number of ports_2)

[0160] Thus, as previously described at 538, in the event that the UE reports only certain supported combinations of codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting, the UE may additionally report the maximum number of ports / CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI-RS, the maximum total number of ports for each of these supported combinations. In the example given above, Release 16 Type II requires a greater amount of computational resources than Release 15 Type II. Thus, the UE may report a different amount of resources required for each combination.

[0161] The UE may indicate weighting factors for each codebook type as part of its capability report, as shown at 556. The calculation of these weighting factors may involve summing and weighting the resource utilization of different codebook types as follows, where i is the codebook index:

[0162] max i {W i ×MaxPortPerCSIRS i}

[0163] sum i {W i ×NumberOfCSIRS i}

[0164] sum i {W i ×TotalNumberOfPorts i}

[0165] The weighting factors are a rough estimate of the relative complexity of each of the codebook types. These weighting factors can be used by the base station to determine the appropriate CSI request to make to the UE. As a simple example, assume that the total number of CSI resources is 128, and there are two codebook types, codebook type A and codebook type B. Further assume that the weighting factor for the CSI resources in the type A codebook is 1, and the weighting factor for the CSI resources in the type B codebook is set to 2, indicating that the type B codebook requires twice as many CSI resources as the type A codebook. In this case, the base station will know that 128 CSI resources are available when the type A codebook is used, and 64 CSI resources are available when the type B codebook is used.

[0166] Alternatively or in addition, the UE may report several combinations of maximum CSI-RS configurations for each codebook type as part of its capability reporting at 556. For example, for {Release 15 Type I single panel, Release 16 Type II}, the UE may report the following combinations of maximum CSI resources that may be used:

[0167] {16,0,0}, {16,16,128},

[0168] {16,16,256}, {16,0,0},

[0169] {16,16,64}, {16,16,96},

[0170] {16,16,32}, {16,16,80}, etc.

[0171] Each of these combinations includes three values, where the first value represents the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, the second value represents the maximum number of CSI resources, and the third value represents the maximum total number of ports. In the first exemplary combination above, few or no resources are allocated for Release 15 Type I single panels, and most resources are allocated for Release 16 Type II. In the second exemplary combination above, most resources are allocated for Release 15 Type I single panels, and few resources are allocated for Release 16 Type II. The last two combinations above have a more balanced resource allocation between Release 15 Type I single panels and Release 16 Type II.

[0172] Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating the operations performed by the base station 102 in response to receiving a CSI processing capability report from a UE, as described above in Figure 6 and Figure 7 As described in.

[0173] As shown, at 562, the base station receives a CSI processing capability report from the UE. The CSI processing capability report received from the UE may include the CSI processing capability report described above. Figure 6 and Figure 7 Thus, the CSI processing capability report received from the UE may include any one or more of the information sets generated in 532, 534, 536, and / or 538, and may also or alternatively include any one or more of the information sets generated in 552, 554, 556, and / or 558.

[0174] At 564, the base station 102 operates to dynamically signal future CSI processing requests to the UE based on or subject to the constraints or information in the capability report received in 562. Thus, in 562, the base station 102 may operate to constrain the manner in which it generates CSI processing requests to the UE based on the CSI capabilities received from the UE.

[0175] Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the UE and the base station 102 in receiving and processing a CSI request.

[0176] As shown, at 572, the UE receives a CSI request from the base station 102. In some embodiments, at 572, the UE may receive multiple concurrent CSI requests from the base station 102. Specific operations of 572 are discussed further below.

[0177] At 574, the UE receives a CSI reference signal from the base station 102. The CSI reference signal may be received before or after receiving the CSI request in 572. In the case where the CSI reference signal is received in 574 before receiving the CSI processing request in 572, the CSI reference signal may be included in the same time slot as the CSI processing request. If the UE receives multiple concurrent CSI requests from the base station 102 in 572, the UE may also receive corresponding multiple CSI reference signals in 574.

[0178] At 576, the UE prepares channel state information (CSI) characterizing a downlink channel between the base station and the UE in accordance with the CSI request received from the base station at 572. At 572, the UE may perform at least one channel measurement on the downlink channel and at least one interference measurement on the downlink channel. In the event that the UE has received multiple concurrent CSI processing requests at 572, the UE may perform measurements and generate multiple instances of a CSI report for each processing request at 576, e.g., a CSI report may be generated for each of the received CSI requests. In some embodiments, as discussed further below, the UE performs a single set of measurements for generating two or more CSI reports.

[0179] At 578 , the UE transmits a channel state information report to the base station 102 .

[0180] At 580, the base station 102 receives the CSI reports from the UE and uses them to adjust its generation and transmission of downlink data. In other words, the base station 102 adjusts the generation and transmission of downlink data to the UE based on the information received in the CSI reports.

[0181] 3. Concurrent CSIs share the same CMR / IMR CSI-RS

[0182] When the network wishes to trigger the UE to perform CSI reporting (e.g., Fig. 9572), the base station may provide configuration information to the UE to configure an instance of a CSI report. This is currently done using the field CSI-ReportConfig in accordance with TS 38.331. Here, the base station configures the UE with the UE report and the codebook type required to notify the UE of the reference signal to be measured. When the base station expects to configure two different instances of a CSI report concurrently, it is currently required that the base station perform a separate and independent configuration to configure different channel measurement resources (CMRs) and interference measurement resources (IMRs) for each instance of the CSI report. Thus, for example, the base station currently configures a first set of CMRs and IMRs for a type 1 CSI report and a different second set of CMRs and IMRs for a type I CSI report. In addition, currently, the codebookConfig parameter is independently configured and only one codebook type is allowed to be configured.

[0183] However, in the case of concurrent CSI reporting, it is likely that two instances of the CSI report are measuring the same channel. Therefore, concurrent instances of CSI processing are not completely independent, even when they are being performed for different codebook types. For example, these different concurrent instances of CSI reporting may share multiple common processing components, such as one or more of channel estimation and interference estimation, which are typically common to all CSI reports. The main differences between different concurrent instances of CSI reporting occur after channel measurements and interference measurements have been made, such as how the UE selects a precoder and reports it. Therefore, in current systems, when concurrent CSI reporting is configured by overlapping (and redundant) configurations (two different CSI-ReportConfigs), the UE may be required to perform two or more different instances of channel measurements and interference measurements, which may be unnecessary.

[0184] Therefore, the separate configuration of independent CMR and IMR for concurrent CSI processing may be a waste of resources. In other words, it has been determined that the separate configuration of independent channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for concurrent CSI processing is unnecessary in at least some cases. The unnecessary requirement of separate channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for concurrent CSI processing is inefficient and complicates UE CSI processing.

[0185] In some embodiments, (in Fig. 9572 of ), the base station sends a CSI-ReportConfig, wherein the base station configures the UE with a set of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources for concurrent CSI processing, that is, wherein a single CSI-ReportConfig operates to trigger multiple instances of CSI reporting. Therefore, the new CSI-ReportConfig message includes a list of multiple codebookConfig parameters, allowing the base station to configure multiple different codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting. This allows the UE to process a unified set of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources (CMR and IMR) for multiple concurrent instances of CSI reporting. Therefore, the base station may send a single CSI configuration message (CSI-ReportConfig) to the UE, which specifies a set of CMRs and IMRs, but may specify two or more codebook types, and triggers multiple instances of concurrent CSI reporting. The base station may also send one CSI reference signal for UE measurement instead of multiple CSI reference signals. This operates to reduce network signaling / overhead, UE processing complexity, and the risk of generating an incorrect configuration for one of the CSI reports.

[0186] Examples of parameter variations are shown below.

[0187] "CodebookConfig CodebookConfig"->sequence of codebookConfig(size(1..maxNrofConcurrentCodebook))

[0188] Therefore, instead of separate codebook configuration fields, the base station may generate a single codebook configuration field containing a sequence of two or more codebooks to be used concurrently.

[0189] Existing technology operates in Fig.11A , where different channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources (CMR and IMR) are configured for each instance of a CSI report. As shown in the figure, a first instance of CMR and IMR resources is configured for a first CSI report (CSI Report 1), and a second instance of CMR and IMR resources is configured for a second CSI report (CSI Report 2).

[0190] Fig.10 The flowchart of illustrates operations according to the embodiments described herein. Fig.10 The flowchart provides Fig. 9 A more detailed exemplary implementation of the operations performed in . Fig. 11B Also shown is a timeline of operations as described herein.

[0191] like Fig.10As shown, at 622, the base station issues a single CSI configuration request (CSI-ReportConfig) for multiple CSI reports (e.g., CSI reports 1 and 2). The single CSI configuration request may specify a single channel measurement resource (CMR) and a single interference measurement resource (IMR) for performing multiple CSI measurements for the multiple CSI reports.

[0192] At 624, the UE receives a single CSI configuration request from the base station.

[0193] At 626, based on the received CSI configuration request specifying two (or more) CSI requests, the UE configures a single channel measurement resource (CMR) for multiple CSI reports (e.g., for both CSI reports 1 and 2), and similarly configures a single interference measurement resource (IMR) for multiple CSI reports (e.g., for both CSI reports 1 and 2) (e.g., Fig. 11B shown).

[0194] At 628, the UE may then perform a single channel estimation on the received CSI reference signal and may also perform a single interference measurement on the received CSI reference signal.

[0195] At 630, the UE provides two (or more) CSI reports back to the base station (eg, Fig. 11B ), where the two (or more) CSI reports are based on a single channel measurement and interference measurement. Although the examples above are described in the context of two CSI report requests, the above method can be used with any number of CSI report requests and subsequent CSI reports.

[0196] In other embodiments, when the network (base station) has not been configured as described above and still issues two (or more) CSI configuration commands (two or more instances of CSI-ReportConfig) specifying two or more different sets of CSI reports, the UE may be configured to use only one of the multiple sets of channel and interference measurement resources for one of the codebook types in order to perform the requested concurrent CSI reporting. Thus, even when the base station operates according to the prior art and issues multiple concurrent CSI requests, the UE may use this optimization, assuming that the configuration of the ports used for CMR and IMR is the same for each of the concurrent instances of CSI reporting.

[0197] Fig.12 This operation is shown. As shown at 642, the base station issues multiple CSI configuration requests (multiple CSI-ReportConfigs) for multiple CSI reports (eg, CSI reports 1 and 2).

[0198] At 642, the UE receives a plurality of CSI configuration requests from a base station.

[0199] At 646, based on the received multiple CSI configuration requests specifying two (or more) CSI reports, the UE configures a single channel measurement resource (CMR) for one of the CSI reports (e.g., CSI report 1), and similarly configures a single interference measurement resource (IMR) for the one CSI report (CSI report 1), such as Fig. 13B shown.

[0200] At 648, the UE may then perform a single channel estimation on the received CSI reference signal and may also perform a single interference measurement on the received CSI reference signal.

[0201] At 650, the UE provides multiple (eg, two) CSI reports back to the base station (eg, Fig. 11B ), where the two CSI reports are based on a single channel measurement and interference measurement for only one of the CSI requests. Although the examples above are described in the context of two CSI report requests, the above method can be used with any number of CSI report requests and subsequent CSI reports.

[0202] 4. Concurrent CSI report processing time relaxation

[0203] For aperiodic CSI requests, in current technology, as defined in TS 38.214, the UE minimum CSI processing timing is defined with parameters Z and Z'. The embodiments described herein operate to redefine these processing time parameters to extend or "relax" them to account for the fact that the UE may be performing multiple concurrent CSI requests and therefore may require more time to complete various channel measurements and interference measurements.

[0204] like Fig.14 As shown, an aperiodic (AP) CSI request is received from the base station over the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) as a PDCCH AP-CSI trigger (as downlink control information or DCI). An aperiodic CSI reference signal (APCSI-RS) is also transmitted by the base station to the UE. The aperiodic CSI reference signal is shown as being transmitted later than the AP CSI request, but it can be earlier in the same time slot. After transmitting the AP CSI-RS, the UE performs measurements on the reference signal and then generates one or more CSI reports that are transmitted back to the base station on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). This is done by Fig.14 “PUSCH CSI” is shown in the figure.

[0205] In some embodiments, the time value Z is defined to start from the last symbol of the last PDCCH of all PDCCHs that trigger concurrent CSI-RS reporting. In other words, the time value Z is defined to start from the last symbol of the last set of downlink control information (DCI) associated with the last CSI request (in the last PDCCH containing the CSI request). Therefore, in the case where the US receives multiple CSI report requests (for concurrent CSI reporting) through multiple downlink control channels (multiple PDCCHs), the time value Z starts only from the last symbol of the last downlink control information in the last downlink control channel (last PDCCH) containing the CSI report request. In other words, the time value measurement Z starts only when the last of the concurrent CSI report requests that have been received is completed.

[0206] The time value Z' starts from the last symbol of the last AP-CSI-RS activated for concurrent CSI-RS reporting among all AP-CSI-RS. Therefore, in the case where the base station transmits multiple non-periodic reference signals (multiple AP CSI-RS) for concurrent CSI reporting, Z' starts only from the last symbol of the last received reference signal.

[0207] The time values ​​Z and Z' represent the minimum amount of time allowed for the UE to perform the necessary channel measurements and generate and transmit the resulting CSI reports. In the embodiments described herein, the Z and Z' values ​​are redefined to account for concurrent CSI reporting scenarios, thereby giving the UE more time to complete its operations in scenarios where the UE is already required to generate multiple concurrent CSI reports.

[0208] In some embodiments, the Z and Z' values ​​are "hard-coded" into the cellular specifications, where UE manufacturers and network vendors agree on minimum values ​​for Z and Z' and implement these values ​​into their equipment. Fig.15A and Fig. 15B Each shows a table containing example values ​​of Z and Z' that are used to illustrate relaxation time values ​​for concurrent CSI reporting.

[0209] In one embodiment, the UE CSI processing time is set to the maximum value of the CSI reporting times within the concurrent CSI reports being performed.

[0210] In another embodiment, the UE CSI processing time is set to the sum of Z and Z' corresponding to each CSI reporting instance in the concurrent CSI reporting being performed. This provides the most relaxed timing requirement, where the Z and Z' time values ​​for all CSI reporting instances are summed. These summed Z and Z' values ​​can account for the situation where concurrent CSI reporting is actually completed serially (rather than concurrently).

[0211] The relaxation time values ​​Z and Z' may be used as follows. First, the base station configures and triggers one or more aperiodic CSI reports as described above. Fig. 9 These CSI requests are received in 572 of . Aperiodic CSI requests (AP-CSI) can be triggered and configured in downlink control information (DCI) format 0_1. In the DCI, the base station (e.g., gNB) can provide the configuration of CSI reference signals (CSI-RS / SSB) that the UE can use to measure channels and interference. This includes frequency domain and time domain allocations, i.e., when the CSI-RS / SSB will be transmitted from the gNB for UE measurement. The term "SSB" refers to the combination of synchronization signal (SS) and physical broadcast channel (PBC), which is called "SSB" in NR.

[0212] In the DCI, the base station (e.g., gNB) may also provide the configuration of the PUSCH for carrying CSI content. This includes both frequency domain and time domain allocations, for example, including when the UE should start transmitting CSI reports on the uplink channel (PUSCH).

[0213] Therefore, in the DCI, the base station can configure the time offset between the downlink control information containing the CSI request and the CSI reference signal (between DCI and CSI-RS / SSB), and the offset between the DCI containing the CSI request and the transmission of the CSI report on the uplink channel PUSCH (between DCI and PUSCH). This enables the UE to know when to measure the CSI reference signal (CSI-RS / SSB), and also enables the UE to know when to transmit the resulting CSI report on the PUSCH. In order not to exceed the UE capabilities, the former (the time period between DCI and CSI-RS / SSB) should be greater than or equal to Z, and the latter (the time period between DCI and PUSCH) should be greater than or equal to Z'. As described above, the minimum time value Z starts from the last symbol of the last PDCCH (last DCI) among all PDCCHs (among all DCIs), which triggers a concurrent CSI-RS report. In addition, the minimum time value Z' starts from the last symbol of the last AP-CSI-RS activated for concurrent CSI-RS reporting among all aperiodic CSI reference signals.

[0214] Thus, in summary, in some embodiments, a UE may receive at least one channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration from a base station on a downlink channel, wherein at least one CSI reporting configuration includes information for configuring multiple concurrent CSI processing reports. The UE may also receive multiple CSI reference signals for concurrent CSI reporting. At least one CSI reporting configuration may specify a first minimum time offset between the last symbol of the last downlink control information (DCI) containing the CSI reporting configuration and the CSI reference signal and a second minimum time offset between the last symbol of the last CSI reference signal in the CSI reference signal and the uplink channel. The UE may then perform at least one measurement on each CSI reference signal in the CSI reference signal to generate CSI and transmit the CSI in an uplink channel. The UE may perform at least one measurement based on the first minimum time offset and may transmit the CSI in the uplink channel based on the second minimum time offset.

[0215] 5. Concurrent CSI rank limit

[0216] Concurrent CSI reporting is best suited for single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). For example, Type I CSI reporting has lower resolution but supports up to 8 ports for SU-MIMO, while Type I CSI reporting has higher resolution and supports up to 4 ports for MU-MIMO.

[0217] In some embodiments, for concurrent CSI reporting, the UE restricts the rank information to certain specified values ​​based on the type of CSI report. For example, the rank information (RI) reported by the UE during concurrent CSI reporting is restricted to a first set of values ​​for type I CSI reports and a second set of values ​​for type I CSI reports. As an example, the rank restrictions (specified RI values ​​that can be reported by the UE) can be as follows:

[0218] Rank 1 / 2 for type IICSI reports

[0219] Rank 3 / 4 for Type I CSI reporting

[0220] In some embodiments, the RI reported by the UE for different concurrent CSI reports do not overlap, as shown above. The rank restrictions described herein are "hard drop rules", meaning that even if additional rank data can fit into the CSI payload, there is no point in transmitting this additional data because it is considered redundant with the data already transmitted.

[0221] When the UE reports a high resolution for a layer and then reports a low resolution for the same layer, this may be a waste of uplink resources because the low resolution report for the same layer is redundant. In other words, it may not make sense to transmit a Type I and a Type II report for the same two layers because the Type II report is better (higher resolution) than the Type I. So, for example, if there are two layers and a Type II report has been made, there is no point in also transmitting a Type I report. The above-mentioned rank restriction operation helps reduce or eliminate this reporting redundancy. Since Type II is currently limited to 4 layers or less, Type I may be useful for scenarios where there are more than 4 layers, and therefore ranks 3 and 4 are reserved for Type I CSI reports, while ranks 1 and 2 are reserved for Type I CSI reports.

[0222] In some embodiments, when concurrent CSI reporting information cannot fit into the CSI payload in PUCCH or PUSCH, some CSI may be dropped based on a predetermined priority rule. An example of a priority rule is:

[0223] Type I Single Panel / Multi-Panel > Version 16 Type II > Version 16 Port Selection > Version 15 Type II > Version 15 Type II Port Selection

[0224] Here, the first element (Type I single panel / multi-panel) has the highest priority, followed by the next element (Release 16 Type II), and so on. Type I single panel has the lowest CSI overhead and carries at least basic MIMO reporting, so in this example, Type I has the highest priority (will be discarded last). Release 16 Type 2 supports higher resolution and includes overhead compression, and therefore has the next priority. The relative priority between Release 16 Type II and Release 16 Port Selection is less important. Release 15 Type II has higher overhead and lower number of layers, and therefore has a lower priority. Note that any of the various priority orders can be used as desired.

[0225] Therefore, in the event that the UE generates multiple CSI reports and lacks sufficient payload capacity, the UE may prioritize certain CSI reports over other CSI reports and may therefore selectively transmit higher priority reports and discard (not transmit) one or more lower priority reports.

[0226] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0227] Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the present invention may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs may be used to implement the present invention. In other embodiments, one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs may be used to implement the present invention.

[0228] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory storage element) may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system is caused to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0229] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium (or a memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0230] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station of a cellular network; as well as and sending capability information related to a codebook type combination to the base station, wherein the capability information includes capabilities for corresponding supported codebook type combinations, and wherein the capability information for the corresponding supported codebook type combinations includes a maximum number of ports per channel state information (CSI) resource, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum number of total ports.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the capability information can be used by the base station to formulate concurrent CSI processing requests.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are requested for two or more different component carriers, the capability information indicates support for concurrent CSI reporting; and Wherein when multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are requested for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types, the capability information indicates that concurrent CSI reporting is not supported.

4. The method according to claim 1, The capability information specifies a separate concurrent CSI reporting capability for each of the following scenarios: 1) Requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for a single component carrier; 2) requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for multiple component carriers, and the multiple component carriers are in the same operating frequency band; and 3) Requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for multiple component carriers, and the multiple component carriers are in different operating frequency bands.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the codebook type combination is selected from the group consisting of: Version 15 Type I Single Panel, Version 15 Type II; and Version 15 Type I single panel, Version 16 Type II.

6. The method according to claim 1, The capability information uses multiple codebook types to respectively specify capabilities for two or more different component carriers and capabilities for a single component carrier.

7. The method according to claim 1, The capability information includes a weighting factor for each codebook type in a plurality of codebook types, wherein the weighting factor can be used by the base station to evaluate usage of CSI resources in a CSI processing request.

8. A device, comprising: A processor configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, perform operations including: establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station of a cellular network; and and sending capability information related to a codebook type combination to the base station, wherein the capability information includes capabilities for corresponding supported codebook type combinations, and wherein the capability information for the corresponding supported codebook type combinations includes a maximum number of ports per channel state information (CSI) resource, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum number of total ports.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the capability information is usable by the base station to formulate concurrent CSI processing requests.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein when multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are requested for two or more different component carriers, the capability information indicates support for concurrent CSI reporting; and Wherein when multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are requested for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types, the capability information indicates that concurrent CSI reporting is not supported.

11. The device according to claim 8, The capability information specifies a separate concurrent CSI reporting capability for each of the following scenarios: 1) Requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for a single component carrier; 2) requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for multiple component carriers, and the multiple component carriers are in the same operating frequency band; and 3) Requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for multiple component carriers, and the multiple component carriers are in different operating frequency bands.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the codebook type combination is selected from the group consisting of: Version 15 Type I Single Panel, Version 15 Type II; and Version 15 Type I single panel, Version 16 Type II.

13. The device according to claim 8, The capability information uses multiple codebook types to respectively specify capabilities for two or more different component carriers and capabilities for a single component carrier.

14. The device according to claim 8, The capability information includes a weighting factor for each codebook type in a plurality of codebook types, wherein the weighting factor can be used by the base station to evaluate usage of CSI resources in a CSI processing request.

15. A device, comprising: A processor configured to cause a base station of a cellular network to: establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (UE); as well as Channel state information (CSI) capability information is received from the UE, wherein the CSI capability information comprises information about a concurrent CSI processing capability of the UE, wherein the CSI capability information comprises a capability for each supported codebook type combination, and wherein the capability information for each supported codebook type combination comprises a maximum number of ports per CSI resource, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum number of total ports.

16. The device according to claim 15, The CSI capability information can be used by the base station to formulate a concurrent CSI processing request for the UE.

17. The device according to claim 15, wherein when multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are requested for two or more different component carriers, the CSI capability information indicates that the UE supports concurrent CSI reporting; and Wherein when multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are requested for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types, the CSI capability information indicates that the UE does not support concurrent CSI reporting.

18. The device according to claim 15, The CSI capability information specifies a separate concurrent CSI reporting capability for each of the following scenarios: 1) Requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for a single component carrier; 2) requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for multiple component carriers, and the multiple component carriers are in the same operating frequency band; and 3) Requesting multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing for multiple component carriers, and the multiple component carriers are in different operating frequency bands.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the CSI capability information specifies a capability of concurrent CSI for each frequency band and a capability of concurrent CSI for each frequency band combination, respectively.

20. The device according to claim 15, The CSI capability information uses multiple codebook types to respectively specify capabilities for two or more different component carriers and capabilities for a single component carrier.

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