Hierarchical channel measurement resource beam shape indication for UE-based predictive beam measurements

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) may obtain a configuration of one or more sets of channel measurement resources (CMRs) and virtual resources, where each of the one or more sets of CMRs has a unique measurement periodicity, and the virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon. The UE may measure channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets based on beam shape information and one or more of the unique measurement periodicities. The UE may generate a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristics. The UE may report channel state information (CSI) that includes the channel characteristics and the predicted channel characteristics.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to hierarchical channel measurement resource (CMR) beam shape indication for user equipment (UE) based predictive beam measurements. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0003] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (such as the Internet of Things (IoT)) and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Summary of the invention

[0004] The systems, methods and devices of the disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0005] In some aspects, the technology described herein relates to a method for wireless communication of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: obtaining a configuration of one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and virtual resources, wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon; measuring channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets based on beam shape information and one or more of the unique measurement periodicities; generating predicted channel characteristics associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristics; and reporting channel state information (CSI) including the channel characteristics and the predicted channel characteristics.

[0006] The present disclosure also provides a device (e.g., UE) comprising a memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to execute these computer-executable instructions to perform the above-mentioned method, a device comprising components for executing the above-mentioned method, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for executing the above-mentioned method.

[0007] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication at a base station (BS), the method comprising: configuring one or more CMR sets and virtual resources for a UE, wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon; indicating beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources; and obtaining CSI, the CSI comprising measured channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resources, wherein the predicted channel characteristics are based on the beam shape information and the measured channel characteristics.

[0008] The present disclosure also provides a device (e.g., a BS) comprising a memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to execute these computer-executable instructions to perform the above-mentioned method, a device comprising components for executing the above-mentioned method, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for executing the above-mentioned method.

[0009] The details of one or more specific implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the specification, drawings, and claims. It should be noted that the relative sizes of the following drawings may not be drawn to scale. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0011] Figure 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of the first frame.

[0012] Figure 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of a DL channel within a subframe.

[0013] Figure 2C is a diagram illustrating an example of the second frame.

[0014] Figure 2D is a diagram illustrating an example of a subframe.

[0015] Figure 3is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) in an access network.

[0016] Figure 4 A diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station architecture is shown.

[0017] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of predicting characteristics of a second set of beams from characteristics of a first set of beams.

[0018] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of predicting an optimal beam from characteristics of a first set of beams.

[0019] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of joint spatial and time domain prediction of beam and / or channel characteristics.

[0020] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the association between various reference signal beam shapes and measurement resources.

[0021] Fig. 9 is a diagram that uses code points to indicate the dynamic beam shape associated with a resource.

[0022] Fig.10 is a diagram of a configuration for compact indication of beam shape information.

[0023] Fig.11 is a diagram of associating beam shape information of a beam set with resources based on an active transmit configuration indication (TCI) state.

[0024] Fig.12 is a message diagram illustrating example messages between a base station and a UE.

[0025] Fig.13 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the flow of data between different elements / components in an example base station.

[0026] Fig.14 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flow between different parts / components in an example UE.

[0027] Fig.15 is a flow chart of an example method for a UE to perform a beam failure detection procedure using beam failure prediction.

[0028] Fig.16 is a flow chart of an example method for a base station to control beam failure prediction at a UE.

[0029] The same reference numbers and names in different drawings indicate the same elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] For the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of the present disclosure, the following description refers to certain specific implementations. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. Some examples in the present disclosure are based on wireless and wired local area network (LAN) communications in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless standards, the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards, and the IEEE 1901 Power Line Communication (PLC) standards. However, the specific implementations described can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving RF signals in accordance with any of the following wireless communication standards: including any of the IEEE 802.11 standards, Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), AMPS, or other known signals for communicating within a wireless network, cellular network, or Internet of Things (IoT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G or 5G or further implementations thereof.

[0031] In wireless communications, beamforming can be used to compensate for power losses in communications between a transmitter and a receiver. For example, in millimeter wave (mmW or mmWave) communications, the frequency can be relatively high and the signal attenuation can be relatively large compared to conventional communication channels. However, due to the uncertain nature of the wireless environment and unexpected obstructions, beams can be prone to beam failures. Techniques for beam management seek to select appropriate beams for communication and quickly select different beams in the event of a beam failure. For example, the UE may measure channel characteristics, such as the layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) or the L1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of various beams. The UE may report channel characteristics to the base station to control the beam used for communication.

[0032] In some implementations, three levels of beam management are used with various selection processes. For example, the first level P1 is used to implement UE measurements of different (wide) TRP Tx beams to support the selection of TRP Tx beams or UE Rx beams. Beamforming at the TRP typically includes intra-TRP / inter-TRP Tx beam scanning from a set of different beams. Beamforming at the UE typically includes UE Rx beam scanning from a set of different beams. For example, based on the measurement of an SSB burst set or a P-CSI-RS resource set, the UE identifies and reports the best SSB / CSI-RS and the corresponding L1-RSRP (also including identifying the associated Rx beam). The second level P2 is used to implement UE measurements on different (narrow) TRP Tx beams to possibly change the inter-TRP / intra-TRP Tx beams. P2 processing can be performed on a potentially smaller set of beams for beam refinement than in P1. For example, the base station may perform beamforming on some UE-specific CSI-RS resources, which are narrow beams superimposed with the SSB reported by the UE in P1. Based on the measurement of the CSI-RS resources, the UE may further identify and report the best CSI-RS resource and the corresponding L1-RSRP (also including the identification of the associated Rx beam). In some specific implementations, P2 can be considered as a special case of P1. P3 is used to implement UE measurements on the same (narrow) TRP Tx beam to change the UE Rx beam if the UE uses beamforming.

[0033] Channel measurements for beam management may consume resources, such as time-frequency resources for reference signals and UE processing power for performing measurements. In order to achieve acceptable performance, more power or overhead is used for measurements and / or reporting. At the same time, beam accuracy may be limited due to constraints on power / overhead, and latency or throughput may be affected by beam switching in the event of beam failure.

[0034] One method for improving beam management is the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence. For example, machine learning or artificial intelligence can be used in beam management to predict beams in the time domain and / or spatial domain to achieve overhead and latency reduction. This prediction provides the possibility of reducing power or overhead and / or improving accuracy, latency or throughput. For example, the prediction of unmeasured beam quality may result in lower power or overhead, or may result in better accuracy. In some cases, machine learning or artificial intelligence may be able to predict future beam blocking, which may improve latency or throughput. However, beam prediction is a highly nonlinear problem. For example, predicting future transmit beam quality may depend on the UE's moving speed or trajectory, the receive beam used, interference, etc. Beam prediction is difficult to model via conventional statistical signaling processing methods. The use of machine learning or artificial intelligence introduces new challenges, such as model training, model deployment, model inference, model monitoring, and model updating. For example, machine learning or artificial intelligence may include a trade-off between performance and UE power. For example, the prediction of future DL-Tx beam quality may be based on UE measurements. Therefore, UE prediction may be better than base station prediction, but consumes more power at the UE. As another example, training models based on real-world data may involve more UE computation and buffering work.

[0035] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a technique for UE-based predictive beam management for generating predictive channel characteristics using beam shape information. For example, a UE may obtain a configuration of one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and virtual resources. A CMR set may define resources for monitoring, on which a base station sends a reference signal on a beam. The UE may receive the reference signal and determine the channel characteristics associated with the CMR set. In some specific implementations, multiple CMR sets may be configured, and each CMR set may have a unique periodicity. A virtual resource may define a resource that is independent of the reference signal thereon. For example, a UE may predict the channel characteristics of a virtual resource based on beam shape information and the channel characteristics associated with the CMR set. The UE may report channel state information (CSI) including a combination of the measured channel characteristics and the predicted channel characteristics. The base station may manage the beam based on the reported CSI.

[0036] Certain implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. A UE may save power by limiting the actual measurement of reference signals when reporting CSI for various beams. In some implementations, beam shape information or the association between a beam and a set of CMRs may be dynamically updated so that the UE provides relevant CSI for beam management.

[0037] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0038] As an example, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements can be implemented as a "processing system", which includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic components, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. The processor may include an interface or be coupled to an interface that can obtain or output a signal. The processor may obtain a signal via an interface and output a signal via an interface. In some specific implementations, the interface may be a printed circuit board (PCB) transmission line. In some other specific implementations, the interface may include a wireless transmitter, a wireless transceiver, or a combination thereof. For example, the interface may include a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, which may be implemented to receive or transmit a signal, or both. One or more processors in a processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0039] Therefore, in one or more example implementations, the functions described herein may be implemented with hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or encoded on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include computer storage media, which may be referred to as non-transitory computer-readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media do not include transient signals. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, a combination of the aforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0040] Figure 1 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, a relay device 105, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). The macro cell includes a base station. The small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell. The small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell. The base station 102 may be configured as a disaggregated RAN (D-RAN) or an open RAN (O-RAN) architecture, in which functionality is split between multiple units, such as a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DUs), or a radio unit (RU). Such an architecture may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is logically split between one or more units, such as one or more CUs and one or more DUs. In some aspects, the CU may be implemented within an edge RAN node, and in some aspects, one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or may be geographically distributed in one or more RAN nodes. The DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU). The base station 102 may generally be referred to as a network entity.

[0041] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Individual units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0042] In some implementations, one or more of the UEs 104 may include a beam management component 140 configured to report channel characteristics for beam management. The beam management component 140 may include a configuration component 142 configured to obtain a configuration of one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. Each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity, and the virtual resource is independent of any transmission of a reference signal thereon. The beam management component 140 may include a measurement component 144 configured to measure channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets based on beam shape information and one or more unique measurement periodicities in the unique measurement periodicity. The beam management component 140 may include a prediction component 146 configured to generate a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic. The beam management component 140 may include a reporting component 148 configured to report CSI including the channel characteristic and the predicted channel characteristic.

[0043] In some implementations, one or more of the base stations 102 may include a prediction control component 120 configured to select a beam for beam management. The prediction control component 120 may include a configuration component 122 configured to configure one or more CMR sets and virtual resources for the UE 104. Each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity, and the one or more virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon. The prediction control component 120 may include a beam shape component 124 configured to indicate beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. The prediction control component 120 may include a CSI component 126 configured to obtain CSI, the CSI including measured channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with at least one of the virtual resources. The predicted channel characteristics are based on the beam shape information and the measured channel characteristics.

[0044] The base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can be connected to the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (such as an S1 interface), which can be wired or wireless. The base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can be connected to the core network 190 via a second backhaul link 184, which can be wired or wireless. In addition to other functions, the base station 102 can also perform one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (such as handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), user and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other over a third backhaul link 134, such as an X2 interface, directly or indirectly, such as through the EPC 160 or the core network 190. The third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0045] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. There can be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' can have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cells can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network can also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which can provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG). A communication link 112 between base station 102 and UE 104 can include UL (also known as a reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 or DL ​​(also known as a forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 112 can use multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, or transmit diversity. The communication link can be through one or more carriers. For each carrier allocated in the carrier aggregation of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, the base station 102 / UE 104 can use a spectrum of up to Y MHz (such as 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz, etc.) bandwidth. These carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (such as more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). The component carrier may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0046] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on IEEE 802.11 standards, LTE, or NR.

[0047] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) to determine whether the channel is available prior to communication.

[0048] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed spectrum may increase coverage of the access network or increase capacity of the access network.

[0049] Whether a small cell 102' or a large cell (such as a macro base station), the base station 102 may include an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or other types of base stations. Some base stations (such as gNB 180) may operate in one or more frequency bands within the electromagnetic spectrum.

[0050] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5GNR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410MHz–7.125GHz) and FR2 (24.25GHz–52.6GHz). Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “below 6GHz” band in various documents and articles. FR2 sometimes presents a similar naming issue, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30GHz to 300GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” (mmW) band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), but it is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in various documents and articles.

[0051] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "below 6 GHz" or the like is used herein, it can broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used herein, it can broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, or may be within the EHF band. Communications using mmW radio frequency bands have extremely high path loss and short distances. The mmW base station 180 can utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for this path loss and short distance.

[0052] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. In general, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS delivery, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services in a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS delivery. The MBMS gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS services to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts a specific service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0053] The core network 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may communicate with a unified data management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. Generally speaking, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to an IP service 197. The IP service 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, or other IP services.

[0054] A base station may include or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, access point, base transceiver station, wireless base station, wireless transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term. Base station 102 provides an access point to EPC 160 or core network 190 for UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include cellular phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare equipment, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or any other similarly functional device. Some of UE 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (such as parking meters, gas pumps, ovens, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0055] Although the following description may focus on 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar areas such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM and other wireless technologies, including future 6G technologies.

[0056] Figure 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a first frame. Figure 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating an example of a DL channel within a subframe. Figure 2C is a diagram 250 illustrating an example of a second frame. Figure 2D 280 is a diagram illustrating an example of a subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may be FDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the subcarrier set are dedicated to either DL or UL, or may be TDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL. A subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell is called a bandwidth part (BWP), and bandwidth adaptation is achieved by configuring a BWP for the UE and informing the UE which of the configured BWPs is the currently active BWP.

[0057] exist Figure 2A , Figure 2CIn the example provided, the 5G NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (most of which are DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X can be used flexibly between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (most of which are UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are full DL and full UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mix of DL, UL and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with the slot format through the received slot format indicator (SFI) (dynamically configured through DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured through radio resource control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G NR frame structure as TDD.

[0058] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures or different channels. A frame (10 milliseconds (ms)) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include mini-slots, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the time slot configuration. For time slot configuration 0, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for time slot configuration 1, each time slot may include 7 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single stream transmission). The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and parameter set (numerology). For slot configuration 0, different parameter sets μ0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different parameter sets 0 to 2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Thus, for slot configuration 0 and parameter set μ, there are 14 symbols per slot and 2 per subframe. μ time slots. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the parameter set. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ *15kHz, where μ is parameter set 0 to 5. Thus, parameter set μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, and parameter set μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. FIG. 2A to FIG. 2DAn example is provided for slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and parameter set μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 microseconds (μs).

[0059] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each slot includes a resource block (RB) (also referred to as a physical RB (PRB)) extending over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into a number of resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0060] like Figure 2A As illustrated, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE. The RS may include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) for channel estimation at the UE (indicated as R for a particular configuration). x , where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are also possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0061] Figure 2B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine RE groups (REGs), each REG including four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by UE 104 to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identification group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identification and the physical layer cell identification group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the aforementioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block (SSB). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent through the PBCH (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0062] like Figure 2CAs illustrated, some of the REs carry DM-RS (indicated as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may send DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be sent in the first one or the first two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be sent in different configurations depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is sent and depending on the specific PUCCH format used.

[0063] The UE may send a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS resource set configuration may define resources for SRS transmission. For example, as illustrated, the SRS configuration may specify that the SRS may be sent in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may send the SRS on one comb for each SRS port. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to achieve frequency-dependent scheduling for the UL. The SRS may also be used for channel estimation to select a pre-decoder for downlink MIMO.

[0064] Figure 2D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH may be located at a position as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), or UCI.

[0065] Figure 31 is a diagram of an example of a base station 102 and a UE 104 in an access network. UE 104 may be an example of a receiving device. In the DL, IP packets from EPC 160 may be provided to controller / processor 375. Controller / processor 375 implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (such as MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (such as RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification) and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling and logical channel prioritization.

[0066] The transmit (Tx) processor 316 and the receive (Rx) processor 370 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1 (including the physical (PHY) layer) may include error detection on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) decoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (such as binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The decoded and modulated symbols can be split into parallel streams. Each stream can be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (such as a pilot) in the time domain or frequency domain, and combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially pre-coded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 104. Each spatial stream may be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318Tx. Each transmitter 318Tx may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0067] At the UE 104, each receiver 354Rx receives a signal through its corresponding antenna 352. Each receiver 354Rx recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (Rx) processor 356. The Tx processor 368 and the Rx processor 356 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The Rx processor 356 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for the UE 104. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 104, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the Rx processor 356. The Rx processor 356 uses a fast Fourier transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 102. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 358. These soft decisions are decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by the base station 102. These data and control signals are provided to the controller / processor 359 which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[0068] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0069] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 102, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (such as MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling and logical channel prioritization.

[0070] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 102 may be used by the Tx processor 368 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the Tx processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354Tx. Each transmitter 354Tx may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0071] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 102 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 104. Each receiver 318Rx receives a signal through its corresponding antenna 320. Each receiver 318Rx recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to an Rx processor 370.

[0072] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 104. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0073] At least one of the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform a combined Figure 1 For example, the memory 360 may include executable instructions that define the beam management component 140. The Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 may be configured to execute the beam management component 140.

[0074] At least one of the Tx processor 316, the Rx processor 370, and the controller / processor 375 may be configured to perform a combined Figure 1 For example, the memory 376 may include executable instructions that define the predictive control component 120. The Tx processor 316, the Rx processor 370, and / or the controller / processor 375 may be configured to execute the predictive control component 120.

[0075] Figure 4 A diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station 400 architecture is shown. The decomposed base station 400 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 410 that may communicate directly with a core network 420 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 420 through one or more decomposed base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 425 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 415 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 405, or both. The CU 410 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 430 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 430 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 440 via respective fronthaul links. The RU 440 may communicate with respective UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 440.

[0076] Each of the units (i.e., CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, and near-RT RIC 425, non-RT RIC 415, and SMO framework 405) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0077] In some aspects, CU 410 may host one or more high-level control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 410. CU 410 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, CU 410 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface such as an E1 interface. CU 410 may be implemented to communicate with DU 430 as needed for network control and signaling.

[0078] DU 430 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 440. In some aspects, DU 430 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to functional divisions such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 430 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 430 or with control functions hosted by CU 410.

[0079] The low-level functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 440. In some deployments, a RU 440 controlled by a DU 430 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on functional partitioning such as low-level functional partitioning. In such an architecture, the RU 440 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 104. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 440 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 430. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU 430 and the CU 410 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture such as a vRAN architecture.

[0080] The SMO framework 405 may be configured to support RAN deployment and configuration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 405 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 405 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 490) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, and near-RT RIC 425. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 405 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 411 via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 405 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 440 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 405 may also include a non-RT RIC 415 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 405 .

[0081] The non-RT RIC 415 may be configured to include logic functions that implement non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 425. The non-RT RIC 415 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 425 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 425 may be configured to include logic functions that implement near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 410, one or more DUs 430, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 425.

[0082] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 425, the non-RT RIC 415 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 425 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 405 or the non-RT RIC 415. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 415 or the near-RT RIC 425 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 415 may monitor long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 405 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0083] Figure 5 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of predicting characteristics of a second set of beams 530 from characteristics of a first set of beams 510. For example, the UE 104 may measure the first set of beams 510 that may be configured as a CMR set. As illustrated, the first set of beams 510 may include relatively wide beams compared to the second set of beams 530. For example, the codebook may define the first set of beams 510 and the second set of beams 530 as a hierarchical beam structure. That is, each beam in the first set of beams 510 may cover multiple narrower beams in the second set of beams 530.

[0084] In one aspect, the machine learning or artificial intelligence model 520 may predict channel characteristics of the second set of beams 530 based on the channel characteristics of the first set of beams 510. For example, the model 520 may be a neural network trained on measured or synthesized training data including beam measurements (e.g., L1 RSRP or L1 SINR) of two layers of hierarchical beams. In one aspect, the beam shape information may define which beams in the second set of beams 530 are covered by beams in the first set of beams 510. For example, the beam shape information may define a beam pointing direction, an angle-specific beamforming gain, or an angular difference from the boresight direction for a specified beam width. During inference, the UE 104 may select which beams in the first set of beams 510 to input into the model 520. The UE 104 may map the output of the model 520 to each beam in the second set of beams 530. For example, the UE 104 may use the model 520 to predict characteristics of the second set of beams 530, which may correspond to virtual resources.

[0085] Figure 6 600 is an example of illustrating prediction of an optimal beam 632 from characteristics of a first set 610 of beams. For example, the UE 104 may measure characteristics of the first set 610 of beams. A machine learning or artificial intelligence model 620 may be trained to predict characteristics of a single beam based on the characteristics of the first set 610 of beams. For example, the model 620 may predict a beam pointing direction, an angle of departure (AoD), an angle of arrival (AoA), an angle-specific beamforming gain of the optimal beam 632, or an angular difference from the boresight direction for the beam width of the optimal beam 632. The prediction of the optimal beam 632 may be referred to as a non-codebook based spatial domain prediction. In some implementations, the UE 104 may indicate the optimal beam 632 as the closest beam in the second set 630 of beams.

[0086] Figure 7700 is a diagram illustrating an example of joint spatial and time domain prediction of beam and / or channel characteristics. The UE 104 may measure a first set of beams (e.g., the first set of beams 510 or 610) over a period of time to generate a time series 710. At block 720, the model 520 for codebook-based SD selection may be used to predict channel characteristics of the second set 530 of beams at a future time point. At block 730, the model 620 for non-codebook-based SD prediction may be used to predict the best beam at a future time point.

[0087] In actual implementation, there may be several technical problems with beam prediction based on machine learning or artificial intelligence. For example, the base station and UE may need to determine which beams will be measured and which beams will be predicted. Efficient resource usage may involve associating different beams with configured CMR sets, so another technical problem is how to efficiently indicate the association between the configured CMR set and the beam shape information. Current measurement and reporting techniques may not support selective transmission and monitoring and / or virtual resources. Specifically, Release 17 of the 3GPP 5G NR standard does not allow joint consideration of CMR sets with different periodicities. That is, each CSI report is only for a specific set of configured resources. The current standard does not provide a process for dynamically updating the beam shape to facilitate selective transmission and monitoring of beams and / or virtual resources.

[0088] The base station may beamform different CSI-RS resources toward different directions in which the UE may move around. That is, as the UE moves around, the UE may experience different channel conditions for each beam. For beam directions that currently provide good channel gain toward the UE, it makes sense to send these corresponding CSI-RS resources most frequently in order to more closely track the corresponding CSI-RS resources to obtain a more accurate / real-time L1-RSRP. For beam directions that do not currently provide the best channel gain, the base station may send these corresponding CSI-RS resources less frequently, and if necessary, the UE may help predict the L1-RSRP for these directions for time domain opportunities that are not sent. Selective transmission and / or monitoring of CSI-RS may reduce system-level CSI-RS overhead consumption and UE power consumption for measuring such beams. Selective transmission and / or monitoring may also help reduce RS overhead consumption for preparing beam switching. For beam directions that currently provide very limited channel gain, the base station may suppress the transmission of beams via CSI-RS, while the UE may help predict the L1-RSRP for these directions. For example, the UE may treat resources on which no beams are transmitted as virtual resources. The use of virtual resources will reduce system-level CSI-RS overhead consumption and UE power consumption for measuring such beams assigned to virtual resources. The use of virtual resources can also help reduce RS overhead consumption for preparing beam switching. Such beam directions associated with different CSI-RS resources with different periodicities (or even not transmitted) can be dynamically updated based on the trajectory of UE movement or real-time L1-RSRP measurement / prediction, so that UE-based beam prediction can be performed based on such information updates.

[0089] Figure 8 is a diagram 800 of the association between various reference signal beam shapes 810 and measurement resources 820. The reference signal beam shape 810 may be defined according to a codebook or by attributes such as: beam pointing direction, AoD, AoA, angle specific beamforming gain; or angular difference from boresight direction for a specified beamwidth.

[0090] The measurement resources 820 may include one or more CMR sets 830, 840 and virtual resources 850. For example, the first CMR set 830 may be configured with a relatively short periodicity 832 (e.g., 5 ms) of CSI-RS resources 834 associated with the first subset of reference signal beam shapes 810. Figure 8, the resources associated with the pattern indication of the reference signal beam shape 810 that matches the pattern of the resources 820. The base station 102 may send CSI-RS on the CSI-RS resources 834 in the first CMR set 830 according to the periodicity 832. The UE 104 may measure channel characteristics based on the CSI-RS received at the UE 104. Example channel characteristics may include CSI values ​​such as L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, pre-decoder matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), channel quality indicator (CQI), or layer indicator (LI). In some specific implementations, the first CMR set 830 may be associated with one or more beams. Specifically, one or more beams associated with the CSI-RS resources in the first CMR set 830 with the shortest periodicity 832 may be dynamically selected to include the current beam and / or the beam to which the UE is most likely to change.

[0091] For the CSI-RS resources 844 for the second subset of the reference signal beam shape 810, the second CMR set 840 can be configured for the UE 104 to have a relatively longer periodicity 842 (e.g., 25 ms or 40 ms). The second subset of beams can be larger (e.g., 4 beams) than the first subset of beams (e.g., 2 beams). Therefore, the base station 102 can send CSI-RS for the second CMR set 840 less frequently than the CSI-RS for the first CMR set 830, and the UE 104 can obtain measurements for the corresponding subset of the reference signal beam shape 810 less frequently. In some implementations, during the period 846 between the CSI-RS resources 844, the CSI-RS can not be sent on the second CMR 840. The period 846 can be considered a virtual resource because the UE 104 can generate the predicted channel characteristics of the second CMR set 840 within the period 846.

[0092] The virtual resources 850 may be associated with a third subset of the reference signal beam shapes 810. The virtual resources 850 may not include any actual CSI-RS resources. That is, the base station 102 may not send CSI-RS on the virtual resources 850, and the UE 104 may not measure CSI-RS on the virtual resources. Instead, the virtual resources 850 may be independent of any reference signals sent in these virtual resources. For example, the UE 104 may predict the channel characteristics of the third subset of the reference signal beam shapes 810 associated with the virtual resources 850 based on the beam shape information and the measured characteristics of the first CMR set 830 and / or the second CMR set 840 (e.g., using the above description of the CSI-RS). Figures 5 to 7 The technology discussed).

[0093] Fig. 9900 is a diagram of using code points to indicate a dynamic beam shape associated with a resource 820. The serving cell may configure the beam shape code point independently or in association with a CSI reporting configuration. The beam shape code point may map each reference signal beam shape 810 (and associated CSI-RS) to an index that may be signaled in a dynamic indication such as a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI). For the illustrated example, the index may be from 0 to 11.

[0094] For example, at block 910, the base station 102 may send an RRC configuration message indicating the code points of the beam shape codebook. The base station 102 may configure the resources 820 for CSI reporting in the same RRC configuration message or via a separate CSI report configuration. At block 920, the base station 102 may send a MAC-CE or DCI that updates the beam shape for the resources 820. For example, the MAC-CE or DCI may identify the code points associated with each CMR. As illustrated, the MAC-CE or DCI may indicate code points 3 and 4 for the first CMR 830 and code points 0-2 and 5 for the second CMR 840. The remaining code points may be assigned to the virtual resource 850 or included in the MAC-CE or DCI. In some implementations, the MAC-CE may include updated beam shape information (e.g., code points) for each resource 820. In some implementations, the MAC-CE may include a pair of resource identifiers and code points. For DCI, a more compact indication may identify code points applicable to all resources associated with the DCI. For example, the serving cell may pre-configure the UE for a CSI reporting setting associated with a codebook that includes all beam shapes that may be associated with CMR sets 830, 840, or virtual resources 850. The DCI (or MAC-CE) may indicate the code points within the codebook for applicable resources as an update to the beam shape for the relevant resources. Thus, the base station may dynamically update the beam shape information so that the UE 104 measures the prioritized beam sets more frequently and uses the predicted channel characteristics of the other beams.

[0095] Fig.101000 is a diagram of a configuration for compact indication of beam information. Configuration 1000 may define multiple beam shape sets 1010. Each beam shape set 1010 (e.g., beam shape sets 1010a-1010l) may identify resources 820 associated with each beam. For example, the beam shape set 1010 may be preconfigured by a serving cell for CSI reporting or in a setting associated with CSI reporting. For example, a CSI report may be linked to two CMR sets 830, 840 and a virtual resource 850. In some implementations, each beam shape set 1010 may include multiple resources corresponding to resources configured for CSI reporting (e.g., 2 CSI-RS resources for CMR set 830, 4 CSI-RS resources for CMR set 840, and 6 virtual resources 850). The DCI or MAC-CE may identify an index of the beam shape set 1010 to indicate the beam shape information associated with each resource.

[0096] In some implementations, UE 104 may, for example, Figure 6 The non-codebook prediction discussed herein can be used to dynamically recommend a beam shape. For example, the UE 104 can report (e.g., in uplink control information (UCI) or uplink MAC-CE) a beam shape set 1010 that associates a beam closest to the best beam 632 with the first CMR set 830. That is, the UE 104 can report a code point or index corresponding to the beam shape set 1010, and the base station can accept the UE recommendation by transmitting a MAC-CE or DCI with the same beam shape set 1010.

[0097] Fig.11 1100 is a diagram of associating beam shape information of a reference signal beam shape set 810 with a resource 820 based on an active transmit configuration indication (TCI) state. The TCI state may be configured with a transmit parameter for downlink transmission. For example, the TCI state may specify a beam. Therefore, the beam shape for the CSI-RS may be in a Type D quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship with a source for downlink transmission. For example, at box 1110, the base station 102 may configure the beam shape of the TCI state. For example, the base station may send a configuration of the TCI state including beam information. At box 1120, the base station 102 may send a MAC-CE activating one or more TCI states. That is, the MAC-CE may select an active TCI state from the configured TCI states. At box 1130, the UE 104 may associate the beam shape information corresponding to the active TCI state with the CMR set 830 having the shortest periodicity 832.

[0098] In one aspect, the beam associated with the active TCI state may be important for channel measurement. The UE and the base station may implicitly agree or independently determine that the beam associated with the active TCI state is captured by the CMR set 830 with the shortest periodicity 832. The beam shape of such resources may be individually identified by the UE. For example, the serving cell may preconfigure a beamforming shape and associate each resource / TCI state with a beamforming shape in the RRC configuration. Alternatively, the MAC-CE that activates the TCI state may identify one of the beamforming shapes for a specific activated TCI state. In some implementations, such a beam shape may be applied to the resources associated with the CSI report after an activation period (e.g., 3ms) after the UE transmits an ACK for the relevant MAC-CE back to the base station. In some implementations, the beam shape of the activated TCI state may be applied to the configured resources in the CMR set 830. If the number of beam shapes in the active TCI state is greater than the number of resources in the CMR set 830, the remaining beam shapes in the TCI state are not mapped to the resources in the CMR set 830. If the number of beam shapes in the active TCI state is less than the number of resources in the CMR set 830, the beam shapes of the remaining resources in the CMR set 830 may be indicated based on other dynamic indications (e.g., codepoints or beam selection).

[0099] In some implementations, the UE 104 may expect that the resources in the CMR set 830 with the shortest periodicity will be in TypeD-QCL relationship with the resources that are the TypeD-QCL sources of the TCI state activated by the MAC-CE or are such TypeD-QCL sources themselves. The beam shapes of the resources may be individually identified. For example, the resource set considered may always include the same number of resources that may be the TypeD-QCL sources of the TCI state activated by the MAC-CE, and the MAC-CE that activates the TCI state may implicitly update the resources included in the resource set considered.

[0100] In an aspect, the UE 104 may report the CSI by sending one or more CSI reports. Each CSI report may include at least one of: a) measured channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets 830, 840 measured by the UE (e.g., on CSI-RS resources 834, 844); b) predicted channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets 830, 840 predicted by the UE (e.g., during a period 846 when CSI-RS is not sent); or c) predicted channel characteristics associated with one or more sets of virtual resources 850.

[0101] For example, a single CSI report may include channel characteristics of both CMR sets 830, 840 and virtual resources 850. For example, dynamic beam information may be associated with the configuration of a single CSI report. In some implementations, a MAC-CE or DCI indicating beam shape information may include an identifier of a CSI report setting associated with the CSI report. UE 104 may associate the beam shape information with the identified CSI report. In some implementations, a MAC-CE for activating semi-persistent CSI reporting may be extended to include beam shape information. In some implementations, a mechanism for non-periodic CSI trigger state configuration may be extended to include beam shape information. Alternatively, a new MAC-CE or DCI format may be defined to carry beam shape information.

[0102] In another example, UE 104 may send multiple CSI reports. For example, each CSI report may correspond to resource set 820 (e.g., CMR set 830, CMR set 840, or virtual resource 850). Multiple CSI reports may be linked together. For example, a first CSI report may be linked with additional CSI reports via CSI report setup, a MAC-CE activating semi-persistent CSI reporting, or a DCI triggering aperiodic CSI reporting. A dynamic indication of beam shape information may be associated with each CSI report individually. For example, referring back to Fig. 9 , one or more code points may be indicated for each CSI report. In some implementations, a single MAC-CE or DCI may indicate beam shaping information for multiple CSI reports. For example, a group of linked CSI reports may be associated with a group identifier, which may be indicated in the MAC-CE or DCI. The UE 104 may associate the beam shaping information indicated by the MAC-CE or DCI with each CSI report associated with the same group identifier. In some implementations, a separate MAC-CE or DCI may provide beam shaping information for each CSI report. The UE 104 may associate the beam shaping information with the corresponding CSI report.

[0103] Fig.12 1 is a message diagram 1200 illustrating example messages between base station 102 and UE 104. UE 104 can be an example of a UE 104 that includes beam management component 140. Base station 102 can include prediction control component 120.

[0104] In some implementations, the UE 104 can optionally send a capability message 1210 to the base station 102. For example, the capability message 1210 can be an RRC message. The capability message 1210 can indicate, for example, that the UE 104 is capable of predicting channel characteristics based on beam shape information.

[0105] The base station 102 may send a configuration 1220. The configuration 1220 may be, for example, an RRC message. For example, the configuration 1220 may include a configuration of the resources 820. For example, the configuration 1220 may identify the CMR sets 830, 840 and the corresponding periodicities 832, 842. In some implementations, the configuration 1220 may include a beam shape codebook 1222. The beam shape codebook 1222 may associate code points with various beams, which may be associated with corresponding CSI-RS. The configuration 1220 may include a configuration of a CSI report 1224. For example, the configuration of the CSI report 1224 may identify the value of the resource 820 to be included in one or more CSI reports 1260. In some implementations, the configuration 1220 may include a configuration of a TCI state 1226.

[0106] The UE 104 may optionally send a UCI or a MAC-CE 1230 including a recommended beam shape 1232. For example, the recommended beam shape 1232 may identify a beam shape codepoint from the beam shape codebook 1222 or the beam shape set 1010.

[0107] The base station 102 may send a MAC-CE or DCI 1240 indicating beam shape information 1242. The beam shape information 1242 may include a beam shape code point 1244 from the beam shape codebook 1222 or the beam shape set 1010. The UE 104 may associate the beam shape information 1242 with the resource 820. In some implementations, the MAC-CE or DCI 1240 may optionally indicate an active TCI state 1246. The UE 104 may implicitly identify the beam shape information to be associated with the first CMR set 830 based on the active TCI state 1246.

[0108] The base station 102 may send CSI-RS 1350 on the CSI-RS resources 834, 844 in the CMR sets 830, 840. The UE 104 may measure the CSI-RS 1350 to determine the channel characteristics associated with the CMR sets 830, 840. The UE 104 may also generate a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources 850 based on the beam shape information 1242 and the measured channel characteristics.

[0109] UE 104 may send one or more CSI reports including channel characteristics associated with CMR sets 830, 840 and predicted channel characteristics associated with virtual resources 850. In some implementations, CSI report 1260 may be a single CSI report including both measured channel characteristics and predicted channel characteristics. In some implementations, CSI report 1260 may include multiple CSI reports, e.g., where each CSI report is associated with resource set 820.

[0110] Fig.13 13 is a conceptual data flow diagram 1300 illustrating the data flow between different parts / components in an example base station 102, which can be an example of a base station 102 including a prediction control component 120. The prediction control component 120 can be composed of Figure 3 The memory 376 and the Tx processor 316, the Rx processor 370 and / or the controller / processor 375 of the predictive control component 120 can be implemented. For example, the memory 376 can store executable instructions defining the predictive control component 120, and the Tx processor 316, the Rx processor 370 and / or the controller / processor 375 can execute these instructions.

[0111] Base station 102 may include a receiver component 1350, which may include, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver for receiving signals as described herein. Base station 102 may include a transmitter component 1352, which may include, for example, an RF transmitter for transmitting signals as described herein. In one aspect, receiver component 1350 and transmitter component 1352 may be co-located on a host such as a Figure 3 In the transceiver illustrated by Tx / Rx 318 in FIG.

[0112] As about Figure 1 As discussed, the predictive control component 120 can include a configuration component 122 , a beam shape component 124 , and a CSI component 126 .

[0113] Receiver component 1350 can receive an UL signal including capability message 1210, UCI or MAC-CE 1230, and CSI report 1260 from UE 104. Receiver component 1350 can provide capability message 1210 to configuration component 122. Receiver component 1350 can provide UCI or MAC-CE 1230 to beamforming component 124. Receiver component 1350 can provide CSI report 1260 to CSI component 126.

[0114] Configuration component 122 can be configured to configure one or more CMR sets 830, 840 and virtual resources 850 for the UE. For example, configuration component 122 can generate RRC configuration 1220 including resources 820. In some implementations, configuration component 122 can include virtual resources 850 in response to capability message 1210 indicating that UE 104 can predict channel characteristics. Configuration component 122 can output configuration 1220 for transmission via transmitter component 1352.

[0115] The beam shape component 124 may be configured to indicate beam shape information for one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. For example, the beam shape component 124 may obtain a recommended beam shape 1232 via the receiver component 1250. The beam shape component 124 may also obtain channel characteristics from the CSI component 126. The beam shape component 124 may select beam shape information to be associated with the configured CMR sets 830, 840 based on the recommended beam shape 1232 and / or the channel characteristics. For example, the beam shape component 124 may select the beam of most interest (e.g., the current beam or the beam change candidate) for association with the first CMR set 830 having the shortest periodicity 832. In some implementations, the beam shape component 124 may implicitly indicate the beam shape information by activating a TCI state associated with the beam information. In other implementations, the beam shape component 124 may output the indication as a selected code point or a selected beam shape set 1010. Beam shape component 124 can output beam shape information 1242 for transmission via transmitter component 1352, such as as a MAC-CE or DCI.

[0116] The CSI component 126 may be configured to obtain CSI including measured channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with virtual resources. For example, the CSI component 126 may obtain one or more CSI reports via the receiver component 1250. The CSI component 126 may obtain the configuration of the CSI report from the configuration component 122. The CSI component 126 may extract the channel characteristics from the CSI report. In some specific implementations, the CSI component 126 may output the channel characteristics to the beam shape component 124 for selecting the beam shape. In some specific implementations, the CSI component 126 may perform other beam management operations based on the channel characteristics, or output the channel characteristics to the corresponding beam management component. Other beam management operations may include, for example, initial access, secondary cell group setting, service beam refinement, link quality and interference adaptation, beam failure or blocking prediction, or radio link failure prediction.

[0117] The various components of the base station 102 may be provided to perform the methods described herein (including Fig.16 In some examples, a component for sending, outputting, or transmitting (or a component for outputting for sending) may include Figure 3 The illustrated base station 102 includes a transceiver 318TX and / or an antenna 320, and / or Fig.13 The transmitter component 1352 of the base station 102 in the embodiment of the present invention. The components for configuring, indicating, obtaining, selecting and updating may include the components discussed above. Figure 3 Controller / processor 375, memory 376 and various other processors and / or Fig.13 various components.

[0118] In some cases, a device may not actually send, for example, signals and / or data, but may have an interface (components for outputting) for outputting signals and / or data for transmission. For example, a processor may output signals and / or data to an RF front end via a bus interface for transmission. Similarly, a device may not actually receive signals and / or data, but may have an interface (components for obtaining) for obtaining signals and / or data received from another device. For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) signals and / or data from an RF front end via a bus interface for reception. In various aspects, the RF front end may include various components, including, for example, Figure 3 The examples in FIG. 1 include the transmit and receive processors, transmit and receive MIMO processors, modulators, demodulators, etc. It is worth noting that Fig.13 are examples, and many other examples and configurations of base station 102 are possible.

[0119] Fig.14 14 is a conceptual data flow diagram 1400 illustrating the flow of data between different parts / components in an example UE 104, which may include a beam management component 140. The beam management component 140 may be implemented by the memory 360 and the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359. For example, the memory 360 may store executable instructions that define the beam management component 140, and the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 may execute these instructions.

[0120] UE 104 may include a receiver component 1470, which may include, for example, an RF receiver for receiving the signals described herein. UE 104 may include a transmitter component 1472, which may include, for example, an RF transmitter for transmitting the signals described herein. In one aspect, receiver component 1470 and transmitter component 1472 may be co-located on a transceiver such as Figure 3 Tx / Rx 352 in.

[0121] As about Figure 1 As discussed, beam management component 140 can include configuration component 142, measurement component 144, prediction component 146, and reporting component 148. In some implementations, beam management component 140 can optionally include capability component 1410.

[0122] Receiver component 1470 can receive DL signals described herein, such as configuration 1220, MAC-CE or DCI 1240, and CSI-RS 1250. Receiver component 1470 can provide configuration 1220 to configuration component 142. Receiver component 1470 can provide MAC-CE or DCI 1240 to prediction component 146. Receiver component 1470 can provide CSI-RS 1250 to measurement component 144.

[0123] In some implementations, the capability component 1410 can be configured to output for transmission an indication of the UE's ability to generate the predicted channel characteristics. For example, the capability component 1410 can output the RRC capability message 1210 via the transmitter component 1472 .

[0124] In some implementations, the configuration component 142 may be configured to obtain a configuration of the resources 820 including one or more CMR sets 830, 840 and the virtual resources 850. For example, the configuration component 142 may receive a configuration 1220, which may be, for example, an RRC configuration message. The configuration component 142 may configure the one or more CMR sets 830, 840 and the associated periodicity 832, 842 for the measurement component 144. In some implementations, the configuration 1220 (or another configuration message) may include a configuration of a beam shaping codebook 1222. The configuration component 142 may configure the beam shaping codebook 1222 for the measurement component 144 and / or the prediction component 146. In some implementations, the configuration 1220 (or another configuration message) may include a configuration of a CSI report 1224. The configuration component 142 may configure the configuration of the CSI report 1224 for the reporting component 148. In some implementations, the configuration 1220 (or another configuration message) may include a configuration of a TCI state 1226. Configuration component 142 can configure TCI state 1226 for receiver component 1470 and / or measurement component 144.

[0125] The measurement component 144 can be configured to measure channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets based on the beam shape information and one or more unique measurement periodicities in the unique measurement periodicity. For example, the measurement component 144 can measure the RSRP or SINR of the CSI-RS 1250, which can be obtained according to the periodicity 832, 842 of the CMR sets 830, 840. The measurement component 144 can output the measured channel characteristics to the prediction component 146 and / or the reporting component 148.

[0126] Prediction component 146 can be configured to generate a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of virtual resources 850 based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic. For example, prediction component 146 can obtain beam shape information via receiver component 1470. In some implementations, prediction component 146 can use beam shape codebook 1222 to determine beam shape information from an indication in MAC-CE or DCI 1240. Prediction component 146 can obtain measured channel characteristics from measurement component 144. In some implementations, prediction component 146 can use machine learning or artificial intelligence based predictions for codebook selection and / or non-codebook based predictions, as described above with respect to Figures 5 to 7 For example, the prediction component 146 can include the model 520 and / or the model 620. The prediction component 146 can store the time series 710 based on the measured channel characteristics. The prediction component 146 can output the predicted channel characteristics to the reporting component 148.

[0127] The reporting component 148 can be configured to report CSI including channel characteristics and predicted channel characteristics. For example, the reporting component 148 can obtain the measured channel characteristics from the measurement component 144 and obtain the predicted channel characteristics from the prediction component 146. The reporting component can generate a CSI report based on the configuration of the CSI report 1224. The reporting component 148 can output one or more CSI reports for transmission via the transmitter component 1472.

[0128] The various components of the base station 102 may be provided to perform the methods described herein (including Fig.15 In some examples, a component for sending, outputting, or transmitting (or a component for outputting for sending) may include Figure 3 The illustrated UE 104 transceiver 354TX and / or antenna 352, and / or Fig.14 The transmitter component 1472 of the UE 104 in the embodiment of the present invention. The components for measuring, generating, reporting, obtaining, selecting and updating may include the components discussed above. Figure 3 Controller / processor 359, memory 360 and other various processors and / or Fig.14 various components.

[0129] In some cases, a device may not actually send, for example, signals and / or data, but may have an interface (components for outputting) for outputting signals and / or data for transmission. For example, a processor may output signals and / or data to an RF front end via a bus interface for transmission. Similarly, a device may not actually receive signals and / or data, but may have an interface (components for obtaining) for obtaining signals and / or data received from another device. For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) signals and / or data from an RF front end via a bus interface for reception. In various aspects, the RF front end may include various components, including, for example, Figure 3 The examples in FIG. 1 include the transmit and receive processors, transmit and receive MIMO processors, modulators, demodulators, etc. It is worth noting that Fig.14 are examples, and many other examples and configurations of UE 104 are possible.

[0130] Fig.15 1 is a flow chart of an example method 1500 for UE 104 to report CSI including measured channel characteristics and predicted channel characteristics. Method 1500 may be performed by UE 104 (such as UE 104, which may include memory 360 and may be the entire UE 104 or a component of UE 104, such as beam management component 140, Tx processor 368, Rx processor 356, or controller / processor 359). Method 1500 may be performed by beam management component 140 in communication with prediction control component 120 of base station 102. Optional boxes are shown with dashed lines.

[0131] At block 1510, the method 1500 includes obtaining a configuration of one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the configuration component 142 to obtain a configuration 1220 of one or more CMR sets 830, 840 and virtual resources 850. Thus, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 and / or the configuration component 142 may provide a means for obtaining a configuration of one or more CMR sets and virtual resources.

[0132] At block 1520, the method 1500 may optionally include reporting a recommended beam shape. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Tx processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the prediction component 146 to report the recommended beam shape. For example, the prediction component 146 may output a MAC-CE or DCI 1230 for transmission via the transmitter component 1472. Thus, the UE 104, the Tx processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 and / or the prediction component 146 may provide a component for reporting a recommended beam shape.

[0133] At block 1530, the method 1500 may optionally include obtaining a MAC-CE or DCI indicating beam shape information. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the prediction component 146 to obtain a MAC-CE or DCI 1240 indicating beam shape information. In some implementations, the beam shape information includes at least one of: a beam pointing direction of a CMR or a virtual resource; an angle-specific beamforming gain; or an angle difference from a boresight direction for a specified beam width. In some implementations, the MAC-CE or DCI 1240 is configured to activate a TCI state. In some implementations, for example, at sub-block 1532, the block 1530 may optionally include obtaining a MAC-CE or DCI including a group identifier indicating a configuration for a plurality of linked CSI reports and including respective beam shape information for each respective resource set associated with the respective linked CSI report. In some implementations, the MAC-CE or DCI includes a codepoint indication of a configured codebook of beam shapes to be associated with one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. In some implementations, the MAC-CE or DCI identifies a beam shape set associated with a CSI report, wherein the beam shape set associates beam shape information with one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. As another example, at sub-box 1534, box 1530 may optionally include: obtaining a MAC-CE or DCI, the MAC-CE or the DCI indicating a configuration for a single CSI report and beam shape information for one or more CMR sets associated with the single CSI report. As another example, at sub-box 1536, box 1530 may optionally include: obtaining multiple MAC-CEs or DCIs, each MAC-CE or DCI is associated with a corresponding linked CSI report and includes corresponding beam shape information for a corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report. Thus, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 and / or the prediction component 146 may provide means for obtaining a MAC-CE or DCI indicating beam shape information.

[0134] At block 1540, the method 1500 may optionally include selecting a beam shape associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state as the beam shape information for the CMR set with the lowest periodicity. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the prediction component 146 to select the beam shape associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state as the beam shape information for the CMR set 830 with the shortest periodicity 832. Thus, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 or the prediction component 146 may provide a component for selecting the beam shape associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state as the beam shape information for the CMR set with the lowest periodicity.

[0135] At block 1545, the method 1500 may optionally include updating a CMR set with the shortest periodicity in one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state. In some specific implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the configuration component 142 to update the CMR set with the shortest periodicity in one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state. Therefore, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 or the configuration component 142 may provide a component for updating the CMR set with the shortest periodicity in one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state.

[0136] At block 1550, the method 1500 includes measuring channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets based on the beam shape information and one or more unique measurement periodicities in the unique measurement periodicities. In some specific implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the measurement component 144 to measure channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets 830, 840 based on the beam shape information and one or more unique measurement periodicities in the unique measurement periodicities 832, 842. Thus, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 or the measurement component 144 may provide a means for measuring channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets based on the beam shape information and one or more unique measurement periodicities in the unique measurement periodicities.

[0137] At block 1560, the method 1500 includes generating a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the prediction component 146 to generate a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources 850 based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic. Thus, the UE 104, the Rx processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 or the prediction component 146 may provide a component for generating a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic.

[0138] At block 1570, the method 1500 includes reporting CSI including channel characteristics and predicted channel characteristics. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the Tx processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the beam management component 140 or the reporting component 148 to report CSI including channel characteristics and predicted channel characteristics. In some implementations, reporting CSI includes outputting at least one CSI report for transmission. The CSI report may include one or more of the following: channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets corresponding to time domain opportunities at which beams are received on the one or more CMR sets; predicted channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets corresponding to time domain opportunities at which beams are not received on the one or more CMR sets; or predicted channel characteristics associated with virtual resources on which beams are not received. In some implementations (e.g., when the method 1500 includes subblock 1534), the at least one CSI report is a single CSI report associated with beam shape information. In some implementations (e.g., when the method 1500 includes subblocks 1532 or 1536), at least one CSI report includes a plurality of linked CSI reports, each linked CSI report being associated with a respective set of resources and respective beam shape information. Thus, the UE 104, Tx processor 368, or controller / processor 359 executing the beam management component 140 or the reporting component 148 may provide means for reporting CSI including channel characteristics and predicted channel characteristics.

[0139] Fig.161 is a flow chart of an example method 1600 for a base station to control UE CSI reporting based on predicted channel characteristics. The method 1600 may be performed by a base station, such as a base station 102, which may include a memory 376 and may be the entire base station 102 or a component of the base station 102, such as a prediction control component 120, a Tx processor 316, an Rx processor 370, or a controller / processor 375. The method 1600 may be performed by the prediction control component 120 in communication with the beam management component 140 of the UE 104.

[0140] At block 1610, the method 1600 includes configuring one or more CMR sets and virtual resources for the UE. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the prediction control component 120 or the configuration component 122 to configure the one or more CMR sets 830, 840 and the virtual resources 850 for the UE 104. Thus, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the prediction control component 120 or the configuration component 122 may provide a component for configuring one or more CMR sets and virtual resources for the UE.

[0141] At block 1620, the method 1600 may optionally include obtaining an indication of a recommended beam shape from the UE. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the Rx processor 370, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the prediction control component 120 or the beam shape component 124 to obtain an indication of the recommended beam shape 1232 from the UE. Thus, the base station 102, the Rx processor 370, or the controller / processor 375 executing the prediction control component 120 or the beam shape component 124 may provide a component for obtaining an indication of the recommended beam shape from the UE.

[0142] At block 1630, the method 1600 includes indicating beam shape information for one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the prediction control component 120 or the beam shape component 124 to indicate beam shape information for one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. In some implementations, the beam shape information includes at least one of: a beam pointing direction of the CMR or virtual resource; an angle-specific beamforming gain; or an angle difference from the boresight direction for a specified beam width. In some implementations, the MAC-CE or DCI includes a code point indication of a configured codebook of beam shapes to be associated with one or more CMR sets and virtual resources. In some implementations, the MAC-CE or DCI identifies a beam shape set associated with a CSI report, wherein the beam shape set associates beam information with one or more CMR sets and virtual resources.

[0143] In some implementations, for example, at sub-block 1632, block 1630 may optionally include: outputting for transmission a MAC-CE or DCI 1240 indicating beam shape information 1242. As another example, at sub-block 1634, block 1630 may optionally include: outputting for transmission a MAC-CE or DCI indicating a configuration for a single CSI report and beam shape information for one or more CMR sets associated with the single CSI report. As another example, at sub-block 1636, block 1630 may optionally include: outputting for transmission a MAC-CE or DCI including a group identifier indicating a configuration for multiple linked CSI reports and including respective beam shape information for each respective resource set associated with the respective linked CSI report. As another example, at sub-box 1638, box 1630 may optionally include: outputting multiple MAC-CEs or DCIs for transmission, each MAC-CE or DCI is associated with a corresponding linked CSI report and includes corresponding beam shape information for a corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report. As another example, at sub-box 1640, box 1630 may optionally include: outputting a MAC-CE configured to activate a TCI state for transmission. In view of the foregoing, the base station 102, Tx processor 316, or controller / processor 375 executing the prediction control component 120 or the beam shape component 124 may provide a component for indicating beam shape information for one or more CMR sets and virtual resources.

[0144] At block 1642, the method 1600 may optionally include updating a CMR set with the shortest periodicity in one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state. In some specific implementations, for example, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the prediction control component 120 or the configuration component 122 to update the CMR set with the shortest periodicity in one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state. Therefore, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the prediction control component 120 or the configuration component 122 may provide a component for updating the CMR set with the shortest periodicity in one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state.

[0145] At block 1650, the method 1600 may optionally include selecting a beam shape associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state as the beam shape information for the CMR set with the shortest periodicity. In some specific implementations, for example, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the prediction control component 120 or the beam shape component 124 to select the beam shape associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state as the beam shape information for the CMR set with the shortest periodicity. Therefore, the base station 102, the Tx processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the prediction control component 120 or the beam shape component 124 may provide a component for selecting the beam shape associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state as the beam shape information for the CMR set with the shortest periodicity.

[0146] At block 1660, the method 1600 includes obtaining CSI including measured channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with virtual resources. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the Rx processor 370, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the prediction control component 120 or the CSI component 126 to obtain CSI including measured channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with virtual resources. For example, the CSI component 126 may obtain the CSI report 1260 via the receiver component 1350. In some implementations (e.g., when the method 1600 includes sub-block 1634), the at least one CSI report is a single CSI report associated with beam shape information. In some implementations (e.g., when the method 1600 includes sub-block 1636 or 1638), the at least one CSI report includes a plurality of linked CSI reports, each linked CSI report being associated with a respective resource set and respective beam shape information. Thus, the base station 102, Rx processor 370, or controller / processor 375 executing prediction control component 120 or CSI component 126 may provide means for obtaining CSI including measured channel characteristics associated with one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with virtual resources.

[0147] The various illustrative logical components, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the specific implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. The interchangeability of hardware and software has been generally described in terms of functionality and is illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0148] The hardware and data processing apparatus for implementing the various illustrative logic components, logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some implementations, specific processes and methods may be performed by circuits specific to a given function.

[0149] In one or more aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuitry, computer software, firmware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or any combination thereof. Specific implementations of the subject matter described in this specification may also be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions, which are encoded on computer storage media for execution by data processing apparatus or to control the operation of data processing apparatus.

[0150] If implemented in software, the function may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium or sent via a computer-readable medium. The process of the method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented in a processor executable software module that may reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any medium that can realize the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection may be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. Disks and optical disks as used herein include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks and blue-ray disks, wherein disks generally reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks reproduce data optically with lasers. The above combination should also be included in the scope of computer-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as a code and instruction set, or any combination of code and instruction sets, on a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0151] Various modifications to the specific implementations described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other specific implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the specific implementations shown herein, but are to be consistent with the broadest scope consistent with the disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0152] Additionally, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the terms "upper" and "lower" are sometimes used for ease of describing the drawings and indicate relative positions corresponding to the orientation of the drawings on a correctly oriented page, and may not reflect the correct orientation of any device as implemented.

[0153] Certain features described in this specification in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations individually or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, while some features are described above as working in a particular combination and even initially claimed as such, in some cases one or more features from a claimed combination may be separated from the combination, and a claimed combination may involve subcombinations or variations of subcombinations.

[0154] Similarly, although the operations are depicted in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all the illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. In addition, the accompanying drawings can schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flow chart. However, other operations not depicted can be incorporated into the schematically illustrated example process. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, at the same time, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing are advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the specific implementation described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all specific implementations, but it should be understood that the described program components and systems can usually be integrated together in a single software product, or be packaged in multiple software products. In addition, other specific implementations are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions described in the claims can be performed in different orders and still achieve the desired result.

[0155] Example aspects

[0156] Embodiment 1 is a method for performing wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: obtaining a configuration of one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and virtual resources, wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resource is independent of any transmission of a reference signal thereon; measuring channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets based on beam shape information and one or more of the unique measurement periodicities; generating predicted channel characteristics associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristics; and reporting channel state information (CSI) including the channel characteristics and the predicted channel characteristics.

[0157] Embodiment 2 is a method according to embodiment 1, wherein the beam shape information includes at least one of: a beam pointing direction of a CMR or virtual resource; an angle-specific beamforming gain; or an angle difference from a boresight direction for a specified beam width.

[0158] Embodiment 3 is a method according to embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises: obtaining a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI) indicating the beam shape information.

[0159] Embodiment 4 is a method according to embodiment 3, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI includes a codepoint indication of a configured codebook of a beam shape to be associated with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resource.

[0160] Embodiment 5 is a method according to embodiment 3, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies a beam shape set associated with a CSI report, wherein the beam shape set associates the beam shape information with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources.

[0161] Embodiment 6 is a method according to embodiment 3, the method further comprising: reporting a recommended beam shape, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies the recommended beam shape previously reported by the UE.

[0162] Embodiment 7 is a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein reporting CSI includes outputting at least one CSI report for sending, and the at least one CSI report includes one or more of the following: the channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to the time domain timing at which the beam is received on the one or more CMR sets; the predicted channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to the time domain timing at which the beam is not received on the one or more CMR sets; or the predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resource on which the beam is not received.

[0163] Embodiment 8 is a method according to embodiment 7, wherein the at least one CSI report is a single CSI report associated with the beam shape information.

[0164] Embodiment 9 is a method according to embodiment 8, and the method further includes: obtaining MAC-CE or DCI, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI indicates the configuration for the single CSI report and the beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets associated with the single CSI report.

[0165] Embodiment 10 is a method according to embodiment 7, wherein the at least one CSI report includes multiple linked CSI reports, each linked CSI report is associated with a corresponding resource set and corresponding beam shape information.

[0166] Embodiment 11 is a method according to embodiment 10, and the method further includes: obtaining a MAC-CE or a DCI, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI includes a group identifier indicating a configuration for the multiple linked CSI reports and includes the corresponding beam shape information for each corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report.

[0167] Embodiment 12 is a method according to embodiment 10 or 11, and the method further includes: obtaining multiple MAC-CEs or DCIs, each MAC-CE or DCI is associated with a corresponding linked CSI report and includes the corresponding beam shape information for the corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report.

[0168] Embodiment 13 is a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, the method further comprising: selecting a beam shape associated with a TypeD-QCL source in an activated transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state as the beam shape information for a CMR set with the shortest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets.

[0169] Embodiment 14 is a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, the method further comprising: obtaining a MAC-CE that activates the TCI state; and updating the CMR set with the shortest periodicity in the one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with the TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state.

[0170] Embodiment 15 is a method for performing wireless communications at a base station, the method comprising: configuring one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and virtual resources for a user equipment (UE), wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon; indicating beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources; and obtaining channel state information (CSI) including measured channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resources, wherein the predicted channel characteristics are based on the beam shape information and the measured channel characteristics.

[0171] Embodiment 16 is a method according to embodiment 15, wherein the beam shape information includes at least one of: a beam pointing direction of a CMR or virtual resource; an angle-specific beamforming gain; or an angle difference from a boresight direction for a specified beam width.

[0172] Embodiment 17 is a method according to embodiment 15 or 16, wherein indicating the beam shape information includes sending a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI) indicating the beam shape information.

[0173] Embodiment 18 is a method according to embodiment 17, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI includes a codepoint indication of a configured codebook of a beam shape to be associated with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources.

[0174] Embodiment 19 is a method according to embodiment 17 or 18, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies a beam shape set associated with a CSI report, wherein the beam shape set associates the beam information with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources.

[0175] Embodiment 20 is a method according to any one of embodiments 17 to 19, the method further comprising: obtaining an indication of a recommended beam shape from the UE, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies the beam shape information from the recommended beam shape.

[0176] Embodiment 21 is a method according to any one of embodiments 15 to 20, wherein obtaining the CSI includes obtaining at least one CSI report, and the at least one CSI report includes one or more of the following: measured channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to the time domain timing when the beam is transmitted on the one or more CMR sets; predicted channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to the time domain timing when the beam is not transmitted on the one or more CMR sets; or predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resource on which the beam is not transmitted.

[0177] Embodiment 22 is a method according to embodiment 21, wherein the at least one CSI report is a single CSI report associated with the beam shape information.

[0178] Embodiment 23 is a method according to embodiment 22, wherein indicating the beam shape information includes outputting a MAC-CE or a DCI for transmission, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI indicates the configuration for the single CSI report and the beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets associated with the single CSI report.

[0179] Embodiment 24 is a method according to embodiment 21, wherein the at least one CSI report includes multiple linked CSI reports, each linked CSI report is associated with a corresponding resource set and corresponding beam shape information.

[0180] Embodiment 25 is a method according to embodiment 24, wherein indicating the beam shape information includes outputting a MAC-CE or a DCI for transmission, the MAC-CE or the DCI including a group identifier indicating a configuration for the multiple linked CSI reports and including the corresponding beam shape information for each corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report.

[0181] Embodiment 26 is a method according to embodiment 24, and the method further includes: outputting multiple MAC-CE or DCI for transmission, each MAC-CE or DCI is associated with a corresponding linked CSI report and includes the corresponding beam shape information for the corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report.

[0182] Embodiment 27 is a method according to any one of embodiments 15 to 26, the method further comprising: selecting a beam shape associated with a TypeD-QCL source in an activated transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state as the beam shape information for a CMR set with the shortest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets.

[0183] Embodiment 28 is a method according to any one of embodiments 15 to 27, wherein indicating the beam shape information includes: outputting a MAC-CE configured to activate a TCI state for transmission; and updating a CMR set with the lowest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets to include resources associated with a TypeD-QCL source of the activated TCI state.

[0184] Embodiment 29 is a device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the device to perform a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 14.

[0185] Embodiment 30 is a device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the device to perform a method according to any one of Embodiments 15 to 28.

[0186] Embodiment 31 is a user equipment (UE), which comprises: a transceiver; a memory storing computer executable instructions; and a processor, which is configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to perform a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 14, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the configuration and send the CSI.

[0187] Embodiment 32 is a base station, comprising: a transceiver; a memory storing computer executable instructions; and a processor, the processor being configured to execute the instructions and causing the base station to perform a method according to any one of embodiments 15 to 28, wherein the transceiver is configured to: send the one or more CMR sets and the configuration of the virtual resources to the UE; send the beam shape information to the UE; and receive the CSI.

[0188] Embodiment 33 is a device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a component for executing the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 14.

[0189] Embodiment 34 is a device for wireless communication, comprising: a component for executing a method according to any one of Embodiments 15 to 28.

[0190] Embodiment 35 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which includes instructions, which when executed by a device, cause the device to perform the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 14.

[0191] Embodiment 36 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which includes instructions, which when executed by a device, cause the device to perform the method according to any one of embodiments 15 to 28.

[0192] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but to conform to the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein unless otherwise specified, the elements mentioned in the singular are not intended to represent "one and only one", but "one or more". The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "used as an example, instance, or illustration". Any aspect described as "exemplary" herein is not necessarily interpreted as being preferred or having an advantage over other aspects. Unless otherwise specified, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C", "one or more of A, B, and C", and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof", including any combination of A, B, and / or C, which may include multiple A, multiple B, or multiple C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or will later become known to a person of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be disclosed to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. Words such as "module," "mechanism," "element," "device," etc. cannot replace the word "component." Therefore, no claim element will be understood to be a part plus function unless the element is explicitly described using the phrase "component for..."

Claims

1. A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory storing computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: Obtaining a configuration of one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and virtual resources, wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon; measuring channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets based on beam shape information and one or more of the unique measurement periodicities; generating a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic; and Channel state information (CSI) including the channel characteristics and the predicted channel characteristics is reported.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the beam shape information comprises at least one of: The beam pointing direction of the CMR or virtual resource; Angle-specific beamforming gain; or The angular difference from the boresight direction for a specified beamwidth.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to obtain a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI) indicating the beam shape information.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI comprises a codepoint indication of a configured codebook of a beam shape to be associated with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resource.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies a beam shape set associated with a CSI report, wherein the beam shape set associates the beam shape information with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to report a recommended beam shape, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies the recommended beam shape previously reported by the apparatus.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein to report the CSI, the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to output at least one CSI report for transmission, the at least one CSI report comprising one or more of the following: the channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to time domain opportunities at which beams are received on the one or more CMR sets; predicted channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to time domain occasions at which no beam was received on the one or more CMR sets; or The predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resource on which no beam was received.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one CSI report is a single CSI report associated with the beam shape information.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to obtain a MAC-CE or a DCI indicating a configuration for the single CSI report and the beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets associated with the single CSI report.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one CSI report comprises a plurality of linked CSI reports, each linked CSI report being associated with a corresponding set of resources and corresponding beam shape information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to obtain a MAC-CE or a DCI, the MAC-CE or the DCI comprising a group identifier indicating a configuration for the plurality of linked CSI reports and comprising the respective beam shape information for each respective resource set associated with the respective linked CSI report.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to obtain multiple MAC-CEs or DCIs, each MAC-CE or DCI is associated with a corresponding linked CSI report and includes the corresponding beam shape information for the corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to select a beam shape associated with a TypeD-QCL source in an activated transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state as the beam shape information for a CMR set having the shortest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: Obtaining a MAC-CE that activates the TCI state; and A CMR set having a shortest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets is updated to include resources associated with the Type D-QCL source of the activated TCI state.

15. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: a memory storing computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: configuring one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and virtual resources for a user equipment (UE), wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resources are independent of any transmission of reference signals thereon; indicating beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resource; and Channel state information (CSI) including measured channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets and predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resources is obtained, wherein the predicted channel characteristics are based on the beam shape information and the measured channel characteristics.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the beam shape information comprises at least one of: The beam pointing direction of the CMR or virtual resource; Angle-specific beamforming gain; or The angular difference from the boresight direction for a specified beamwidth.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein in order to indicate the beam shape information, the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: send a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI) indicating the beam shape information.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI includes a codepoint indication of a configured codebook of a beam shape to be associated with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resource.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies a beam shape set associated with a CSI report, wherein the beam shape set associates the beam information with the one or more CMR sets and the virtual resources.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to obtain an indication of a recommended beam shape from the UE, wherein the MAC-CE or the DCI identifies the beam shape information from the recommended beam shape.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein to obtain the CSI, the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to obtain at least one CSI report, the at least one CSI report comprising one or more of the following: measured channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to time domain opportunities for transmitting beams on the one or more CMR sets; predicted channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets corresponding to time domain opportunities at which no beam was transmitted on the one or more CMR sets; or The predicted channel characteristics associated with the virtual resource on which no beam is transmitted.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one CSI report is a single CSI report associated with the beam shape information.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein, in order to indicate the beam shape information, the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to output a MAC-CE or a DCI for transmission, the MAC-CE or the DCI indicating a configuration for the single CSI report and the beam shape information for the one or more CMR sets associated with the single CSI report.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one CSI report comprises a plurality of linked CSI reports, each linked CSI report being associated with a corresponding set of resources and corresponding beam shape information.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein, in order to indicate the beam shape information, the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to output a MAC-CE or a DCI for transmission, the MAC-CE or the DCI including a group identifier indicating a configuration for the plurality of linked CSI reports and including the corresponding beam shape information for each corresponding resource set associated with a corresponding linked CSI report.

26. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to output multiple MAC-CEs or DCIs for transmission, each MAC-CE or DCI is associated with a corresponding linked CSI report and includes the corresponding beam shape information for the corresponding resource set associated with the corresponding linked CSI report.

27. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to select a beam shape associated with a TypeD-QCL source in an activated transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state as the beam shape information for a CMR set having a lowest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets.

28. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein to indicate the beam shape information, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: outputting a MAC-CE configured to activate TCI state for transmission; and A CMR set having a lowest periodicity among the one or more CMR sets is updated to include resources associated with the Type D-QCL source of the activated TCI state.

29. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a transceiver configured to: Sending the one or more CMR sets and the configuration of the virtual resources to the UE; sending the beam shape information to the UE; and The CSI is received, wherein the apparatus is configured as a base station.

30. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: Transceiver; a memory storing computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to: receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration of one or more channel measurement resource (CMR) sets and a virtual resource, wherein each of the one or more CMR sets has a unique measurement periodicity and the virtual resource is independent of any transmission of a reference signal thereon; measuring channel characteristics associated with the one or more CMR sets based on beam shape information and one or more of the unique measurement periodicities; generating a predicted channel characteristic associated with at least one of the virtual resources based on the beam shape information and the channel characteristic; as well as Channel state information (CSI) including the channel characteristic and the predicted channel characteristic is transmitted via the transceiver.

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