System and method for quasi-co-polarization direction indication by using dual-polarized antenna

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to an indication of a polarization direction association indicating an association between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port, or between a first resource having at least one port and a first port of a second resource having at least one port, to assist a user equipment (UE) in performing a polarization direction association between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port. In one embodiment, a base station (e.g., a UE) matches a polarization direction with the base station in downlink (downlink, DL) reception or uplink (uplink, UL) transmission. The first resource may be one of a CSI-RS, a PDCCH, a PDSCH, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, an SRS, or a PRACH. The second resource may be one of an SSB, a CSI-RS, an SRS, or a PRACH, and the SSB may include one or more of a PSS, an SSS, a PBCH, and a DMRS of the PBCH. Other aspects may include group-based partitioning of antenna ports within the first resource and the second resource for providing quasi-co-polarization direction association.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for supporting quasi-co-polarized direction indication using dual-polarized antennas. Background Art

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

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

[0004] In 5G NR, the quasi-co-location (QCL) type QCL typeD is introduced to support beam indication. QCL typeD is defined as a spatial receiver (Rx) parameter configured by the base station to help the UE determine the appropriate UE receive or transmit beam to communicate with the base station. The QCL typeD parameter may include a reference signal (RS) previously measured by the UE and reported to the base station and transmitted by the base station. In the report transmitted from the UE to the base station, the RS resource index indicates the transmit beam that produces the corresponding reporting quality at the base station. After indicating the target signal or target channel using the QCL typeD parameter (including the source RS (also called the QCL source RS)), the UE assumes that the target signal or target channel is quasi-co-located (QCLed) to the indicated source RS with typeD. In other words, the UE can receive the target signal or target channel using the receive beam used to receive the source RS. It can be seen that the terms "source" and "target" are used to indicate the direction of the QCL relationship, that is, the target and the source QCL. In a broader sense of the QCL relationship, the source can also be regarded as QCL to the target. In the ensuing discussion, when there is no ambiguity, the terms "source" and "target" are omitted for the sake of brevity. Summary of the invention

[0005] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may reduce UE complexity in selecting dual-polarized antennas for DL ​​reception or UL transmission.

[0006] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may improve CSI measurement accuracy and DL detection performance at a UE by providing a better understanding of one or more base station polarization directions and antenna architectures.

[0007] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may reduce power consumption of a base station and a UE by using only selected one or more polarized antennas for transmission or reception.

[0008] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may provide additional robustness, if needed, to cope with polarization mismatch caused by UE rotation.

[0009] During the design of QCL typeD parameters, the polarization direction of the signal or channel is not considered. According to some aspects of the present invention, a method is provided, comprising: receiving an indication of a quasi co-polarization-direction (QCPD) association between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port, or between a first resource having at least one port and a first port of a second resource having at least one port; wherein the first resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH); wherein the second resource is one of a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB), a CSI-RS, an SRS, or a PRACH, wherein the SSB may include a primary synchronization signal (PSS). signal, PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one or more of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

[0010] In some embodiments, the first resource having at least one port is a first resource having X ports, where X is an integer, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

[0011] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: the even-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or the odd-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second port of the second resource having two ports.

[0012] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: a first half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or a second half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second port of the second resource having two ports.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first resource having at least one port is a first resource having Y ports, where Y is an integer, and the first port of the second resource having at least one port is a first port of a second resource having two ports.

[0014] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having Y ports and the first port of the second resource having two ports also includes an indication of the following items: the port of the first resource having Y ports transmits or receives in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports.

[0015] In some embodiments, the first resource having at least one port is a first resource having one port, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

[0016] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having 1 port and the second resource having two ports also includes an indication that the first resource having 1 port transmits or receives in the same polarization direction as the two polarization directions used to transmit or receive the second resource having two ports.

[0017] In some embodiments, the polarization direction is one of the following: vertical polarization direction; or horizontal polarization direction; or -45 degree slant polarization direction; or +45 degree slant polarization direction.

[0018] In some embodiments, the two polarization directions are: a vertical polarization direction and a horizontal polarization direction; or a −45 degree slant polarization direction and a +45 degree slant polarization direction.

[0019] According to some aspects of the present invention, there is provided a device including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method described above or in detail below is executed.

[0020] According to some aspects of the present invention, a method is provided, comprising: receiving a polarization direction indication of a resource having at least one port, wherein the resource is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a physical random access channel (PRACH) or a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB); the resource having at least one port is a resource having L ports, wherein L is an integer, and the even-indexed ports in the resource having the L ports are transmitted in the first polarization direction through a base station antenna or a user equipment (user equipment, UE) antenna, the odd-indexed ports in the resource with L ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the second polarization direction; or the resource with at least 1 port is a resource with M ports, wherein M is an integer, the first half of the ports in the resource with M ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the first polarization direction, and the second half of the ports in the resource with M ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the second polarization direction; or the resource with at least 1 port is a resource with N ports, wherein N is an integer, and the ports in the resource with N ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the first polarization direction; or the resource with at least 1 port is a resource with 1 port, and the resource with 1 port is sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in two polarization directions.

[0021] In some embodiments, the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction are respectively one of the following: vertical polarization direction; horizontal polarization direction; -45 degree slant polarization direction; or +45 degree slant polarization direction; wherein the two polarization directions are: vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction; or -45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction.

[0022] According to some aspects of the present invention, there is provided a device including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method described above or in detail below is executed.

[0023] According to some aspects of the present invention, a method is provided, comprising: sending an indication of a quasi co-polarization-direction (QCPD) association between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port, or between a first resource having at least one port and a first port of a second resource having at least one port; wherein the first resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH); wherein the second resource is one of a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB), a CSI-RS, an SRS, or a PRACH, wherein the SSB may include a primary synchronization signal (Primary Synchronization Signal). signal, PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one or more of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

[0024] In some embodiments, the first resource having at least one port is a first resource having X ports, where X is an integer, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

[0025] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: the even-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or the odd-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second port of the second resource having two ports.

[0026] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: a first half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or a second half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second port of the second resource having two ports.

[0027] In some embodiments, the first resource having at least one port is a first resource having Y ports, where Y is an integer, and the first port of the second resource having at least one port is a first port of a second resource having two ports.

[0028] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having Y ports and the first port of the second resource having two ports also includes an indication of the following items: the port of the first resource having Y ports transmits or receives in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports.

[0029] In some embodiments, the first resource having at least one port is a first resource having one port, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

[0030] In some embodiments, the QCPD association between the first resource having 1 port and the second resource having two ports also includes an indication that the first resource having 1 port transmits or receives in the same polarization direction as the two polarization directions used to transmit or receive the second resource having two ports.

[0031] In some embodiments, the polarization direction is one of the following: vertical polarization direction; or horizontal polarization direction; or -45 degree slant polarization direction; or +45 degree slant polarization direction.

[0032] In some embodiments, the two polarization directions are: a vertical polarization direction and a horizontal polarization direction; or a −45 degree slant polarization direction and a +45 degree slant polarization direction.

[0033] According to some aspects of the present invention, there is provided a device including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the processor, perform the above or the following detailed description

[0034] According to some aspects of the present invention, a method is provided, comprising: sending a polarization direction indication of a resource having at least one port, wherein the resource is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a physical random access channel (PRACH) or a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB); the resource having at least one port is a resource having L ports, wherein L is an integer, and the even-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted in the first polarization direction through a base station antenna or a user equipment (user equipment, UE) antenna, the odd-indexed ports in the resource with L ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the second polarization direction; or the resource with at least 1 port is a resource with M ports, wherein M is an integer, the first half of the ports in the resource with M ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the first polarization direction, and the second half of the ports in the resource with M ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the second polarization direction; or the resource with at least 1 port is a resource with N ports, wherein N is an integer, and the ports in the resource with N ports are sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in the first polarization direction; or the resource with at least 1 port is a resource with 1 port, and the resource with 1 port is sent or received by the base station antenna or the UE antenna in two polarization directions.

[0035] In some embodiments, the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction are respectively one of the following: vertical polarization direction; horizontal polarization direction; -45 degree slant polarization direction; or +45 degree slant polarization direction; wherein the two polarization directions are: vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction; or -45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction.

[0036] According to some aspects of the present invention, there is provided a device including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method described above or in detail below is executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] In order to more fully understand the embodiments of the present invention and its advantages, the following description is made by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0038] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

[0039] Figure 1B is another schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

[0040] Figure 2 A block diagram showing units or modules in a device in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

[0041] Figure 3 A block diagram showing units or modules in a device in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

[0042] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing the transmission and reception of 1-port SSB using a dual-polarized antenna.

[0043] Figure 5 An example of a signal flow diagram between a network device and a device such as a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, which can reduce the delay between SSB detection and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission using channel state information (CSI) reporting transmitted via a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) such as Msg3 PUSCH.

[0044] Figure 6It is a schematic diagram of a portion of a network including a base station and a UE according to one aspect of the present invention, which is used to illustrate the quasi-co-polarization direction (QCPD) association between a 16-port channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource and a 2-port SSB resource.

[0045] Figure 7 1 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a network including a base station and a UE according to one aspect of the present invention, the schematic diagram being used to illustrate a QCPD association between an 8-port CSI-RS resource and one port of a 2-port SSB resource.

[0046] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a network including a base station and a UE according to one aspect of the present invention, and is used to illustrate a QCPD association between a 1-port CSI-RS resource and a 2-port SSB resource.

[0047] Fig. 9 A representation of mutual QCPD association between PUCCH, PUSCH or SRS and SSB or CSI-RS according to one aspect of the present invention is shown.

[0048] Fig.10 An example of a signal flow diagram for transmission of configuration information related to quasi-co-polarization direction association according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] For illustrative purposes, specific exemplary embodiments are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] The embodiments set forth herein represent information sufficient to practice the claimed subject matter and illustrate methods of practicing such subject matter. After reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize that the application of these concepts is not specifically mentioned herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications are within the scope of the present invention and the appended claims.

[0051] In addition, it should be understood that any module, component or device for executing instructions disclosed herein may include or otherwise access one or more non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media for storing information, such as computer / processor readable instructions, data structures, program modules and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video discs or digital versatile discs (i.e., DVDs), Blu-ray discs, and the like. Optical disks, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other storage technology. Any of these non-transitory computer / processor storage media can be part of a device or can be accessed or connected by a device. Computer / processor readable / executable instructions for implementing the applications or modules described herein can be stored or otherwise saved by such non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media.

[0052] Various aspects of the present invention are directed to an indication of polarization direction association, which is used to indicate an association in polarization direction between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port, or between a first resource having at least one port and a first port of a second resource having at least one port, so as to assist a UE in matching polarization direction with a base station in downlink (DL) reception or uplink (UL) transmission. In some embodiments, the first resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a sounding reference signal (SRS). In some embodiments, the second resource is one of a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB), a CSI-RS, an SRS, or a PRACH, wherein the SSB may include one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH. Specific examples may include an association between a CSI-RS resource and an SSB resource or an SSB port.During the measurement of 2-port SSB (where each SSB port is transmitted in one polarization direction relative to the surface of the earth or transmitted through a base station antenna corresponding to one polarization direction), the UE obtains information about how the UE can use the UE dual-polarization antenna to receive the signal transmitted through the dual-polarization antenna at the base station to maximize the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of each SSB port, for example, switching the dual-polarization antenna of the UE, where the signals received from the dual-polarization antennas may be combined. With the indication of the polarization direction association from the base station, the UE can assume that the CSI-RS is transmitted in one or more polarization directions that are the same or similar to the associated SSB. Therefore, the UE can receive the CSI-RS according to a reception behavior similar to that of receiving the associated SSB. In other words, the base station indication of the quasi-co-polarization direction (QCPD) association between the SSB and the CSI-RS can help subsequent CSI-RS reception at the UE, for example, selecting from the dual-polarization antenna and combining the signals from the dual-polarization antenna.

[0053] Various aspects of the present invention also include group-based partitioning of antenna ports within the first resource and / or the second resource to provide quasi-co-polarization directional association.

[0054] The following Figure 1A , Figure 1B and Figure 2 A context is provided for a network and devices that may be located in the network and that may implement various aspects of the invention.

[0055] refer to Figure 1A , a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided as an illustrative example but not limiting. The communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 may be a next generation (e.g., sixth generation (6G) or higher) radio access network, or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electronic devices (electric devices, ED) 110a to 120j (generally referred to as 110) may be interconnected with each other, or may be or may alternatively be connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, generally referred to as 170) in the radio access network 120. The core network 130 may be part of the communication system and may be dependent on or independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. In addition, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0056] Figure 1B An exemplary communication system 100 is shown in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. In general, the system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to transmit data and other content. The purpose of the system 100 may be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) by broadcast, narrowcast, user device to user device, etc. The system 100 may operate efficiently by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0057] In this example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110c, radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Figure 1B A certain number of these components or elements are shown in FIG. 1 , but any suitable number of these components or elements may be included in system 100 .

[0058] ED 110a to ED 110c are used to operate and / or communicate in system 100. For example, ED 110a to ED110c are used to transmit and / or receive through a wireless communication channel. Each ED 110a to ED 110c represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation, and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment / device (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, mobile user unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication device (MTC), personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, laptop, computer, touch pad, wireless sensor or consumer electronic device.

[0059] Figure 1B An exemplary communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented is shown. In general, the communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to transmit data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 may be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) by broadcast, multicast, unicast, user device to user device, etc. The communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0060] In this example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110d, radio access networks (RANs) 120a to 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Figure 1B A certain number of these components or elements are shown in FIG. 1 , but any suitable number of these components or elements may be included in communication system 100 .

[0061] ED 110a to ED 110d are used to operate and / or communicate in the communication system 100. For example, ED 110a to ED110d are used to transmit and / or receive through a wireless or wired communication channel. Each ED 110a to ED 110d represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation, and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment / device (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile user unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, laptop, computer, tablet computer, wireless sensor or consumer electronic device.

[0062] exist Figure 1B In the embodiment, RAN 120a and RAN 120b include base stations 170a and 170b, respectively. Each base station 170a and 170b is used to wirelessly connect to one or more EDs among ED 110a to ED 110c, so as to access any other base stations 170a and 170b, core network 130, PSTN 140, Internet 150 and / or other networks 160. For example, base stations 170a and 170b may include (or may be) one or more of several known devices, such as base transceiver station (BTS), node B (NodeB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB), home eNodeB, gNodeB, transmission and receive point (TRP), site controller, access point (AP) or wireless router.

[0063] In some examples, one or more of base stations 170a and 170b may be a ground base station attached to the ground. For example, a ground base station may be mounted on a building or a tower. Alternatively, one or more of base stations 172 may be a non-ground base station or a non-terrestrial TRP (NT-TRP) that is not attached to the ground. A flying base station is an example of a non-ground base station. A flying base station may be implemented using a communication device supported or carried by a flying device. Non-limiting examples of flying devices include airborne platforms (e.g., airships or spaceships), balloons, quadcopters, and other aircraft. In some implementations, a flying base station may be supported or carried by an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone or a quadcopter). A flying base station may be a mobile base station or a movable base station that can be flexibly deployed in different locations to meet network requirements. A satellite base station is another example of a non-ground base station. A satellite base station may be implemented using a communication device supported or carried by a satellite. A satellite base station may also be referred to as an orbital base station.

[0064] Alternatively or additionally, any ED 110a - 110d may be configured to connect, access or communicate with any other base stations 170a and 170b, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination thereof.

[0065] EDs 110a to 110d and base stations 170a, 170b, and 172 are examples of communication devices that may be used to implement some or all of the operations and / or embodiments described herein. Figure 1BIn the illustrated embodiment, base station 170a is part of RAN 120a, which may include other base stations, one or more base station controllers (BSC), one or more radio network controllers (RNC), relay nodes, elements and / or devices. Any base station 170a and 170b may be a single element as shown, or multiple elements distributed in the corresponding RAN, etc. Similarly, base station 170b is part of RAN 120b, which may include other base stations, elements and / or devices. Each base station 170a and 170b sends and / or receives wireless signals within a specific geographic area or region (sometimes referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area"). The cell can be further divided into cell sectors, and base stations 170a and 170b can, for example, use multiple transceivers to provide services to multiple sectors. In some embodiments, there may be established micro cells or femto cells supported by wireless access technology. In some embodiments, for example, multiple transceivers may be used for each cell via multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The number of RANs 120a and RANs 120b shown is only exemplary. Any number of RANs may be considered when designing the communication system 100.

[0066] Base stations 170a, 170b, 172 use wireless communication links such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. to communicate with one or more of EDs 110a to 110c through one or more air interfaces 190a, 190c. Air interfaces 190a, 190c can use any suitable wireless access technology. For example, the communication system 100 can implement one or more orthogonal or non-orthogonal channel access methods in air interfaces 190a, 190c, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA).

[0067] Base stations 170a, 170b, 172 can implement Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) to establish air interfaces 190a, 190c using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). In this case, base stations 170a, 170b, 172 can implement protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved HPSA (HSPA+), etc. Among them, HSPA+ optionally includes High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​Packet Uplink Access (HSPUA). Alternatively, base stations 170a and 170b, 172 can use LTE, LTE-A and / or LTE-B to establish air interfaces 190a, 190c with Evolved UTMS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA). Considering that the communication system 100 can use multi-channel access operation, including the scheme described above. Other wireless technologies used to implement the air interface include IEEE 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, IS-2000, IS-95, IS-856, GSM, EDGE and GERAN. Of course, other multiple access schemes and wireless protocols can also be used.

[0068] The RAN 120a and RAN 120b communicate with the core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services to the EDs 110a to 110c. The RAN 120a and RAN 120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown). These other RANs may or may not be directly served by the core network 130 and may or may not use the same radio access technology as the RAN 120a and / or RAN 120b. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RAN 120a and RAN 120b and / or the EDs 110a to 110c and (ii) other networks (e.g., the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160).

[0069] EDs 110a to ED 110d communicate with each other through one or more sidelink (SL) air interfaces 190b and 190d using wireless communication links such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. SL air interfaces 190b and 190d may use any suitable wireless access technology and may be substantially similar to air interfaces 190a and 190c used by EDs 110a to ED110c to communicate with one or more of base stations 170a and 170b, or may be substantially different from air interfaces 190a and 190c. For example, the communication system 100 can implement one or more channel access methods in the SL air interface 190b, 190d, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). In some embodiments, the SL air interface 180 can be implemented at least partially on an unlicensed spectrum.

[0070] In addition, some or all of the EDs 110a to 110d may include operations for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. The EDs may communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and with the Internet 150 over a wired communication channel, rather than wirelessly (or in addition to wirelessly). The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and / or subnets (intranets) and incorporate protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The EDs 110a to 110d may be multi-mode devices capable of operating according to a variety of wireless access technologies and include a plurality of transceivers required to support a variety of wireless access technologies.

[0071] In some embodiments, the signal is sent from a terrestrial BS to a UE, or from a UE directly to a terrestrial BS, in both cases the signal is not reflected by a RIS. However, the signal may be reflected by obstacles and reflectors such as buildings, walls, and furniture. In some embodiments, the signal is sent between a UE and a non-terrestrial BS (e.g., a satellite, a drone, and an aerial platform). In some embodiments, the signal is sent between a relay node and a UE or between a relay node and a BS or between two relay nodes. In some embodiments, the signal is transmitted between two UEs. In some embodiments, one or more RIS are used to reflect signals from a transmitter and a receiver, wherein any one of the transmitter and the receiver includes a UE, a terrestrial or non-terrestrial BS, and a relay node.

[0072] Figure 2 Another example of an ED 110 and network devices including base stations 170a and 170b (at 170) and NT-TRP 172 is shown. ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. ED 110 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drone, robot, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility.

[0073] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user equipment for wireless operation, and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment / device (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile user unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) equipment, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, consumer electronic device, smart book, vehicle, car, truck, bus, train or IoT device, industrial equipment, or devices in the above devices (such as communication modules, modems or chips), etc. The next generation ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. Base stations 170a and 170b are T-TRPs, hereinafter referred to as T-TRP 170. Also in Figure 3 , the NT-TRP is hereinafter referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 may be dynamically or semi-statically opened (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), closed (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured in response to one or more of connection availability and connection necessity.

[0074] ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. Alternatively, one, some or all of the antennas may be panels. Transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated into a transceiver, for example. The transceiver is used to modulate data or other content for transmission via at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver is also used to demodulate data or other content received via at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received via wireless or wired means. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for sending and / or receiving wireless signals or wired signals.

[0075] ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. Memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by ED 110. For example, memory 208 may store software instructions or modules that implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and are executed by one or more processing units 210. Each memory 208 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices. Any suitable type of memory may be used, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, processor cache.

[0076] ED 110 may also include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (e.g., Figure 2 A or Figure 2 B is connected to the Internet 150 wired interface). The input / output device supports interaction with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to the user or receiving information from the user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display or touch screen, including network interface communication.

[0077] ED 110 also includes a processor 210 for performing various operations, including operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmission to NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing sidelink transmissions to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding received symbols. According to an embodiment, the downlink transmission may be received by receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal sent by NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming according to an indication of a beam direction received from the T-TRP 170, such as beam angle information (BAI). In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding, and obtaining system information. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation, for example, using a reference signal received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170.

[0078] The processor 210 may be a part of the transmitter 201 and / or the receiver 203, but is not shown in the figure. The memory 208 may be a part of the processor 210, but is not shown in the figure.

[0079] The processor 210, and the processing components in the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203, respectively, may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, which are used to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 208). Alternatively, the processor 210, and some or all of the processing components in the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be implemented using a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other dedicated circuit.

[0080] In some implementations, T-TRP 170 may be referred to by other names: base station, base transceiver station (BTS), wireless base station, network node, network device, network side device, transmitting / receiving node, Node B, evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), home base station, next generation base station (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP) or wireless router, relay station, ground node, ground network device or ground base station, base band unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), centralized unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a micro BS, a relay node, a host node, etc., or a combination thereof. T-TRP 170 may refer to the aforementioned device, or may refer to a device in the aforementioned device (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip). Although the accompanying descriptions of the drawings and examples and embodiments of the present invention generally use the terms "AP, BS" and "AP or BS", it should be understood that such a device may be any of the aforementioned types.

[0081] In some embodiments, various parts of T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some modules of T-TRP 170 may be located away from the device that houses the T-TRP 170 antenna, and may be coupled to the device that houses the antenna through a communication link (not shown) sometimes referred to as a fronthaul, such as a common public radio interface (CPRI). Therefore, in some embodiments, the term "T-TRP 170" may also refer to modules on the network side that perform processing operations such as ED 110 location determination, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, which are not necessarily part of the device that houses the T-TRP 170 antenna. These modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, T-TRP 170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs that operate together to serve ED 110 through coordinated multi-point transmission and the like.

[0082] The T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown. Alternatively, one, some or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 also includes a processor 260 for performing various operations, including operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP 172, and processing transmissions received from the NT-TRP 172 via backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink transmission or backhaul transmission may include operations such as coding, modulation, precoding (e.g., multiple input multiple output (MIMO) precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received uplink transmissions or transmissions received via backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. Processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of a synchronization signal block (SSB) and generating system information. In some embodiments, processor 260 also generates an indication of a beam direction, such as a BAI, which may be scheduled for transmission by scheduler 253. Processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of ED 110 and determining the location of deploying NT-TRP 172. In some embodiments, processor 260 may generate, for example, signaling for configuring one or more parameters of ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by processor 260 is sent by transmitter 252. Please note that "signaling" used herein may also be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling can be transmitted in a control channel such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and static or semi-static high-layer signaling can be included in a message transmitted in a data channel such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0083] The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included in the T-TRP 170 or run separately from the T-TRP 170, and the scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring unscheduled (“configured grants”) resources. The T-TRP 170 also includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules that are used to implement some or all of the functionality and / or embodiments described herein and executed by the processor 260.

[0084] Processor 260 may be part of transmitter 252 and / or receiver 254, but is not shown in the figure. Similarly, processor 260 may implement scheduler 253, but is not shown in the figure. Memory 258 may be part of processor 260, but is not shown in the figure.

[0085] The processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the processing components in the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, which are used to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 258). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components in the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as an FPGA, a GPU or an ASIC.

[0086] Although NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone only as an example, NT-TRP 172 can be implemented in any suitable non-ground form. In addition, NT-TRP 172 may adopt other names in some implementations, such as non-ground node, non-ground network device or non-ground base station. NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. Alternatively, one, part or all of the antennas can be panels. Transmitter 272 and receiver 274 can be integrated into a transceiver. NT-TRP 172 also includes a processor 276 for performing various operations, including operations related to: preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170, and processing transmissions received from T-TRP 170 via backhaul. Processing operations associated with preparing a transmission for downlink transmission or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations associated with processing received uplink transmissions or transmissions received via backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 may generate signaling, for example, for configuring one or more parameters of ED 110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing, but does not implement higher-level functions such as functions of the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer. Since this is only an example, in general, NT-TRP 172 may implement higher-level functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0087] NT-TRP 172 also includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Processor 276 may be part of transmitter 272 and / or receiver 274, but is not shown. Memory 278 may be part of processor 276, but is not shown.

[0088] The processor 276, and the processing components in the transmitter 272 and the receiver 274, respectively, may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, which are used to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 278). Alternatively, the processor 276, and some or all of the processing components in the transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as a programmed FPGA, GPU or ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be a plurality of NT-TRPs that operate together to serve the ED 110 through coordinated multi-point transmission or the like.

[0089] The T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172, and / or ED 110 may include other components, but these components have been omitted for clarity.

[0090] One or more steps of the example methods provided herein may be performed by Figure 3 The corresponding unit or module provided is executed. Figure 3 Units or modules in devices such as ED 110, T-TRP 170, or NT-TRP 172 are shown. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. The signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. The signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps can be performed by artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) modules. The corresponding units or modules can be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules can be integrated circuits, such as programmed FPGAs, GPUs, or ASICs. It should be understood that if these modules are implemented by (for example) a processor using software for execution, these modules can be retrieved by the processor in whole or in part as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances, and these modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0091] Other details about ED 110, T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, these details are omitted here.

[0092] One or more steps of the example methods provided herein may be performed by Figure 4 The corresponding unit or module provided is executed. Figure 4Units or modules in devices such as ED 110, T-TRP 170, or NT-TRP 172 are shown. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. The signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. The signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps can be performed by artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) modules. The corresponding units or modules can be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules can be integrated circuits, such as programmed FPGAs, GPUs, or ASICs. It should be understood that if these modules are implemented by (for example) a processor using software for execution, these modules can be retrieved by the processor in whole or in part as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances, and these modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0093] Other details about ED 110, T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, these details are omitted here.

[0094] For future wireless networks, the number of new devices may grow exponentially and the functions will be diversified. In addition, compared with the current situation of 5G, many new applications and new use cases may appear in future wireless networks, and the demand for service quality will be more diversified. This will bring new key performance indicators (KPIs) for future wireless networks (such as 6G networks), which is extremely challenging, so sensing technology and AI technology, especially deep learning (ML) technology, are introduced into the telecommunications field to improve the performance and efficiency of the system.

[0095] Communications that apply AI / ML technology include AI / ML communications at the physical layer and AI / ML communications at the media access control (MAC) layer. For the physical layer, AI / ML communications can be used to optimize component design and improve algorithm performance, for example, AI / ML in channel coding, channel modeling, channel estimation, channel decoding, modulation, demodulation, MIMO, waveforms, multiple access, PHY unit parameter optimization and update, beamforming and tracking, sensing and positioning. For the MAC layer, AI / ML communications can use AI / ML capabilities to learn, predict and make decisions to solve complex optimization problems using better strategies and optimal solutions, for example, optimizing functions in MAC, such as intelligent TRP management, intelligent beam management, intelligent channel resource allocation, intelligent power control, intelligent spectrum utilization, intelligent modulation and coding scheme (MCS), intelligent hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) strategy, intelligent transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) mode adaptation, etc.

[0096] AI / ML architectures typically include multiple nodes, where the multiple nodes can be organized in two modes: centralized mode and distributed mode, both of which can be deployed in access networks, core networks, edge computing systems, or third-party networks. Centralized training and computing architectures are limited by large communication overheads and strict user data privacy. Distributed training and computing architectures include several frameworks, such as distributed machine learning and federated learning. AI / ML architectures include intelligent controllers that can execute as a single agent or multiple agents based on joint optimization or individual optimization. New protocols and signaling mechanisms are required so that the corresponding interface links can be personalized with customized parameters to meet specific requirements, while minimizing signaling overhead and maximizing overall system spectrum efficiency through personalized AI techniques.

[0097] In addition, terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks can enable a range of new services and applications such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation, tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility. Terrestrial network-based sensing and non-terrestrial network-based sensing can provide intelligent, context-aware networks to enhance the UE experience. For example, terrestrial network-based sensing and non-terrestrial network-based sensing can include opportunities for positioning and sensing applications based on a set of new functions and service capabilities. Applications such as THz imaging and spectroscopy have the potential to provide continuous, real-time physiological information for future digital health technologies through dynamic, non-invasive, and contactless measurements. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) methods can not only enable advanced cross reality (XR) applications, but also improve the navigation of autonomous objects such as vehicles and drones. In addition, in terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, measured channel data and sensing and positioning data can be obtained through large bandwidths, new spectrum, dense networks, and more light-of-sight (LOS) links. Based on this data, a wireless environment map can be drawn through AI / ML methods, where channel information is linked with its corresponding positioning or environmental information to provide an enhanced physical layer design based on the map.

[0098] Sensing coordinators are nodes in the network that can assist in sensing operations. These nodes can be standalone nodes dedicated to sensing operations or other nodes (e.g., TRP 170, ED 110, or core network nodes) that perform sensing operations in parallel with communication transmissions. New protocols and signaling mechanisms are needed so that the corresponding interface links can be personalized with customized parameters to meet specific requirements while minimizing signaling overhead and maximizing overall system spectral efficiency.

[0099] AI / ML and sensing methods require data. In order to incorporate AI / ML and sensing into wireless communications, more and more data needs to be collected, stored, and exchanged. The characteristics of wireless data have expanded considerably in multiple dimensions, for example, from sub-6GHz, millimeter to terahertz carrier frequencies, from space, outdoor to indoor scenarios, and from text, voice to video. These operations of data collection, processing, and use are all performed in a unified framework or in different frameworks.

[0100] Reference is made to control information in some embodiments of this document. Control information may sometimes be referred to alternatively as control signaling, or signaling. In some cases, for example, control information may be dynamically sent in the physical layer in a control channel, such as in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). An example of dynamically indicated control information is information sent in physical layer control signaling, such as uplink control information (UCI) sent in PUCCH or PUSCH or downlink control information (DCI) sent in PDCCH. A dynamic indication may be an indication in a low layer (e.g., physical layer / layer 1 signaling) rather than an indication in a high layer (e.g., except in RRC signaling or MAC CE). A semi-static indication may be an indication in semi-static signaling. Semi-static signaling used herein may refer to non-dynamic signaling, such as high layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and / or MAC CE. Dynamic signaling used herein may refer to dynamic signaling, such as physical layer control signaling sent in the physical layer, such as DCI sent in the PDCCH or UCI sent in the PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0101] As mentioned above, in the QCL typeD parameters introduced in 5G NR, the polarization direction is not considered.

[0102] In the 5G new radio (NR) release 17 (R17) non-terrestrial network (NTN), it is supported to indicate the polarization type in left hand circular polarization (LH-CP), right hand circular polarization (RH-CP) and linear polarization for each cell. In this case, the SSBs in a cell are transmitted using the same polarization type (LH-CP, RH-CP or linear polarization). For the serving cell, the polarization type indication is provided in the system information block (SIB). The indication of the base station polarization type can be used to help reduce blind detection at the UE.

[0103] In 5G NR R17 NTN, several features are proposed for inclusion in the standard. The first feature is the polarization type indication for each SSB / beam that can be selected from LH-CP or RH-CP, or the time division multiplexed (TDMed) even or odd SSBs transmitted using LH-CP or RH-CP respectively. In this first feature, each SSB or beam is assigned a polarization type, and the polarization type can be notified to the UE, or the polarization type can be known to the UE, that is, as a predefined default type. The second feature is to reuse the existing QCL indication mechanism for the polarization type indication that can be selected from LH-CP or RH-CP. In this second feature, if the RS QCLs to the SSB, the RS has the same polarization type as the SSB. The third feature is the dynamic polarization type indication selected from LH-CP or RH-CP for polarization-based multiplexing. In this third feature, downlink channel information (DCI) is used to indicate the polarization type of the scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH. Since satellites cannot dynamically change polarization types or transmit LH-CP and RH-CP simultaneously, none of the three proposed functions were accepted in the 5G NR R17 NTN standard.

[0104] The limitations of the above functions proposed for 5G NR include: (1) the beam indication in terms of QCL typeD (spatial Rx parameters) in R15 and R16 does not take into account the polarization aspect, (2) the polarization type indication in R17 NTN does not take into account dual linear polarization antennas with two different polarization directions, which are widely deployed in the mmWave and mid-band frequency ranges, and (3) there is a lack of a mechanism for polarization direction selection or polarization direction mapping for dual linear polarization antennas.

[0105] Some embodiments of the present invention provide methods for solving one or more of the above-mentioned disadvantages, and in particular provide methods for polarization direction selection and / or polarization direction mapping for a communication system with dual linear polarization antennas.

[0106] In a co-pending application (assignee reference 92019493PCT01), the assignee of both that application and the present application describes a method for implementing 2-port SSB to reduce latency and / or overhead for beam-based initial access (particularly in the mmWave band) using dual-polarized antennas. For such 2-port SSB, each SSB port transmits via one or more base station antennas in one polarization direction (e.g., a –45 degree or +45 degree slant polarization direction) or in one polarization direction (e.g., a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction) relative to a reference plane (e.g., the surface of the earth). The dual-polarized antennas at the base station can apply the same or different beamforming weights (e.g., the same or different beams). For situations where the base station applies the same beamforming weights (e.g., the same beam) to the base station antennas in both polarization directions, by distinguishing the polarization directions of the base station antennas using 2-port SSB and providing this information to the UE, the UE can decouple the UE dual-polarized antennas and simultaneously measure the two UE receive beams, such as Figure 4 As shown. In this way, the delay of the initial access based on the beam can be reduced. It should be noted that the base station and the UE can use antennas in two polarization directions to send and receive with different beamforming weights.

[0107] Figure 4 A portion of a network 400 including a base station 405 and a UE 410 is shown. Three base station transmit beams 407a, 407b, and 407c are shown. Each of the base station transmit beams 407a, 407b, and 407c is shown as including two polarization directions represented by overlapping horizontal and vertical lines, which are represented by a "+" symbol. The UE 410 is shown as having two concurrent receive beams in two polarization directions. The first beam 412a is shown as transmitting or receiving in the vertical polarization direction (|), and the second beam 412b is shown as transmitting or receiving in the horizontal polarization direction (-). When the UE 410 changes its orientation or switches the receiving panel or antenna, the two polarization directions at the UE 410 may shift. The two concurrent UE receive beams 412a and 412b can help reduce the delay of UE side beam scanning during initial access.

[0108] In another co-pending application (assignee reference 9423941PCT01), the assignee of that application and the assignee of the present application both describe a method for enabling early MIMO transmission during and / or immediately after initial access using dual-polarized antennas at a base station and a UE. Specifically, the UE may be requested to report 2-port CSI measured from a 2-port SSB and carried via a PUSCH (e.g., Msg3-PUSCH). The 2-port SSB may be transmitted from a dual-polarized antenna at a base station in one polarization direction (e.g., a -45 degree or +45 degree slanted polarization direction) or in one polarization direction relative to a reference plane (e.g., a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface), i.e., each SSB port corresponds to a polarized antenna at the base station. The 2-port CSI may consist of a rank indicator (RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI) and a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) mainly used for single-user multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission and / or an SINR report for each SSB port reflecting the quality / isolation of the subchannel (e.g., vertical polarization direction, horizontal polarization direction) to achieve intra-UE multiplexing or inter-UE multiplexing of the same signal / channel or different signals / channels.

[0109] Figure 5An example of a signal flow diagram 500 of signaling performed between a base station 501 and a UE 502 is shown, which signaling can reduce the delay between SSB detection at the UE 502 and MIMO transmission by the base station 501 using CSI reports transmitted via PUSCH or PUCCH (as detailed in the co-pending application assignee reference 9423941PCT01). Since the CSI report is determined based on measurements of one or more 2-port SSBs, the CSI report is associated with one or more SSBs transmitted via two antenna ports. In step 510, the base station 501 transmits one or more 2-port SSBs on at least one beam using a dual-polarized antenna of the base station 501. In step 515, the UE 502 measures the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the one or more 2-port SSBs, and can also generate a CSI report based on measurements of one or more 2-port SSBs or 2-port SSBs associated with PRACH transmissions. Since the CSI report is based on the measurement of one or more 2-port SSBs or 2-port SSBs associated with PRACH transmission, the CSI report may be referred to as a 2-port CSI report. In step 520, the UE 502 transmits a random access preamble to the base station 501 on a physical random access channel (PRACH). In some implementations, the base station 501 may periodically transmit one or more 2-port SSBs on at least one beam using a dual-polarized antenna of the base station 501. As described in step 530, such periodic transmission of one or more 2-port SSBs may be performed again within a random access response (RAR) window 525 or within a time period between the transmission of the PRACH and the reception of the CSI report request transmitted by the base station 501 in step 540. In step 540, the base station 501 transmits a CSI report request to the UE 502. Upon receiving the CSI report request, the UE 502 transmits a response to the CSI report request in step 550. In step 560 , after base station 501 receives the CSI report, base station 501 enables multi-layer transmission for UE 502 .

[0110] Some embodiments of the present invention are intended to use configuration information in the form of quasi-co-polarization direction association between one or more RSs or one or more channels to assist the UE in matching the polarization direction with the polarization direction of the base station for DL ​​reception and / or UL transmission. Such configuration information can be transmitted from the base station to the UE. One or more RSs and one or more channels may include, but are not limited to, SSB, CSI-RS, PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, and PRACH. Since there may be multiple RSs or channels of the same class that need to be distinguished, one or more RSs or one or more channels of the same class may be referred to alternatively as RS resources or channel resources with different resource indexes. Since an RS resource or channel resource can be transmitted through one or more antenna ports, the quasi-co-polarization direction association can be from RS or channel resource to RS or channel resource, from antenna port to antenna port, from antenna port to RS or channel resource, or from RS or channel resource to antenna port. Specifically, when in a quasi-co-polarization directional association, a first RS or channel regarded as a source RS or channel and a second RS or channel regarded as a target RS or channel associated with the source RS or channel are transmitted through multiple antenna ports, the antenna ports can be divided into antenna port groups, and a quasi-co-polarization directional association indication or a mapping from an antenna port group to an antenna port, from an antenna port group to an antenna port group, or from an antenna port to an antenna port group is introduced.

[0111] It should be understood that the PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH and PUSCH may be replaced by a DMRS of the PDCCH, a DMRS of the PDSCH, a DMRS of the PUCCH and a DMRS of the PUSCH, respectively.

[0112] In some embodiments, a new parameter is provided for transmission from a base station to a UE for indicating polarization direction reference information about a dual linear polarization antenna having two polarization directions. The parameter for indicating the polarization direction reference information can be regarded as a new QCL type, for example, it can be referred to as QCL type E for polarization direction. However, the above statement is not intended to limit the scope or implementation of the present invention, but is used as another way to understand the described concepts. For simplicity, but not limiting the present invention, the association in terms of polarization direction indicated by the polarization direction reference information can be abbreviated as quasi co-polarization-direction (QCPD) or quasi co-location of polarization direction (QCL-PD), and is also referred to as such in the present invention.

[0113] For the specific scenario where CSI-RS is regarded as the target RS and SSB is regarded as the source RS, a polarization direction association indication is provided for the CSI-RS resource with reference to the SSB resource or the SSB port of the SSB resource. When receiving configuration information including the polarization direction association indication from the base station, the UE may assume that the CSI-RS resource is transmitted by the base station in one or more polarization directions that are the same or similar to the SSB resource or the SSB port resource. Therefore, the UE can receive the CSI-RS resource in a receiving behavior similar to that of receiving the SSB resource or the SSB port of the SSB resource. Three examples of providing polarization direction association indications are described below. It should be understood that other methods of providing polarization direction association indications not explicitly described herein may be within the scope of the present invention.

[0114] In a first example, an X-port CSI-RS resource (e.g., for time / frequency tracking or CSI / beam measurement / reporting) can be configured to have a QCPD relationship with a 2-port SSB resource, where X=1, 2...N (N is a positive integer). This configuration can be used when the SINR of each of the two reported SSB ports of the 2-port SSB resource is higher than a specific threshold. In some embodiments, this scenario may occur when the transmit polarization direction at the base station and the receive polarization direction at the UE are well matched, for example, when both the base station and the UE send and receive the two antenna ports of the 2-port SSB resource through the vertical polarization direction and the horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface and the wireless propagation channel is also in line-of-sight conditions.

[0115] In this first example, in order to reduce the signaling overhead of the QCPD indication for each port, a predefined rule may be used. In some embodiments, when the X-port CSI-RS resource is configured to have a QCPD relationship with a 2-port SSB resource, the UE may assume that any even-indexed CSI-RS port has a QCPD relationship with port #0 of the SSB resource and the odd-indexed CSI-RS port has a QCPD relationship with port #1 of the SSB resource. In some embodiments, port #0 of the SSB resource may be transmitted via a vertically polarized antenna at a base station or via a vertically polarized direction relative to the earth's surface, and port #1 of the SSB resource may be transmitted via a horizontally polarized antenna at a base station or via a horizontally polarized direction relative to the earth's surface. In some embodiments, when the X-port CSI-RS resource is configured to have a QCPD relationship with a 2-port SSB resource, the UE may assume that the first half of the indexed CSI-RS port has a QCPD relationship with port #0 of the SSB resource and the second half of the indexed CSI-RS port has a QCPD relationship with port #1 of the SSB resource. In some embodiments, port #0 of the SSB resource can be transmitted through a vertically polarized antenna at the base station or through a vertical polarization direction relative to the earth's surface, and port #1 of the SSB resource can be transmitted through a horizontally polarized antenna at the base station or through a horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface. It should also be understood that port #0 of the SSB resource and port #1 of the SSB resource in the above embodiments can be switched. Although it is pointed out above that the mapping relationship between the even or odd indexed SSB / CSI-RS port and the vertical polarization direction or the horizontal polarization direction has a specific relationship, it should be understood that the vertical polarization direction or the horizontal polarization direction can be switched (for example, the even indexed SSB / CSI-RS port or the first half of the indexed SSB / CSI-RS port corresponds to the horizontal polarization direction, and the odd indexed SSB / CSI-RS port or the second half of the indexed SSB / CSI-RS port corresponds to the vertical polarization direction). In some embodiments, the mapping relationship between the even or odd indexed SSB / CSI-RS port and the vertical polarization direction or the horizontal polarization direction can be configured by the base station. Rule-based antenna port grouping and mapping of polarization direction association indications in Figure 6 Shown in.

[0116] Figure 6An exemplary portion of a network 600 including a base station 605 and a UE 610 is shown. The base station 605 is shown to include an antenna panel 607, which includes a dual-polarized antenna, i.e., having two polarization directions, including a vertical polarization direction represented by a "|" symbol and a horizontal polarization direction represented by a "-" symbol, the two polarization directions being collectively shown as a "+" symbol. The UE 610 is shown to include two antenna panels 612 and 613, which include dual-polarized antennas. The first antenna panel 612 of the UE 610 is shown to have a polarization direction that is well matched to the polarization direction of the antenna panel 607 of the base station 605. At this time instance, the polarization direction of the second antenna panel 613 of the UE 610 is not well matched to the polarization direction of the antenna panel 607 of the base station 605. However, if the UE 610 were to redirect itself, the second antenna panel 613 could be more well matched to the polarization direction of the antenna panel 607 of the base station 605 at another time instance. In addition, the first antenna panel 612 and the second antenna panel 613 can be used together to receive signals from the base station 605 or send signals to the base station 605.

[0117] Figure 6 Also included are tabular representations 620, 630 of polarization direction associations. The base station 605 may provide polarization direction association indications for a 16-port CSI-RS resource with reference to a 2-port SSB resource as shown in 620. 630 also shows a more detailed view of the polarization direction associations between the CSI-RS ports of a CSI-RS resource and the SSB ports of an SSB resource, wherein even-numbered CSI-RS ports are associated with SSB port #0 632 of SSB resource #2 and odd-numbered CSI-RS ports are associated with SSB port #1 634 of SSB resource #2. As described above, alternative associations may include the first half of the CSI-RS ports associated with SSB port #0 and the second half of the CSI-RS ports associated with SSB port #1. Furthermore, the example of a 16-port CSI-RS resource is merely an example, and more generally, an L-port CSI-RS resource may be considered, where L is an integer.

[0118] In some embodiments, the base station may send configuration information indicating the co-location relationship between dual-polarized antennas at the base station. As an example, the base station may notify the UE that each CSI-RS port corresponds to one or more base station polarized antennas, and that adjacent even- and odd-indexed CSI-RS ports (e.g., port #0 and port #1, port #2 and port #3, etc.) are transmitted from the co-located dual-polarized antennas at the base station. For example, when each CSI-RS port corresponds to a base station polarized antenna, the two base station antennas corresponding to CSI-RS port #0 and port #1 are superimposed, with the same center position, but with an offset of approximately 90 degrees in the azimuth direction or polarization direction. For example, when each CSI-RS port corresponds to multiple base station polarized antennas, the two groups of base station antennas corresponding to CSI-RS port #0 and port #1 are superimposed, with the same center position (the first antenna in the first group is superimposed with the first antenna in the second group, and so on), but with an offset of approximately 90 degrees in the azimuth direction or polarization direction. In some embodiments, such configuration information may be included as part of an indication of the polarization direction association of the CSI-RS or some other reference signal or channel.

[0119] In some embodiments, a polarization direction association indication of a CSI-RS resource provided with reference to an SSB resource can enable the UE to reuse the measurement results and / or reception behavior of the SSB resource to reduce the CSI-RS measurement complexity of the UE. Specifically, the polarization direction association indication can provide the UE with information on the polarization type and / or one or more polarization directions, and potentially provide the co-location relationship between base station antennas used to transmit CSI-RS resources. This can help the UE determine how to utilize the UE's own dual-polarized antenna to receive and process CSI-RS. In addition, by providing the UE with this additional information of one or more base station polarization directions and antenna arrangements, the CSI measurement accuracy at the UE can also be improved.

[0120] In a second example, an X-port CSI-RS resource (e.g., for time / frequency tracking or CSI / beam measurement / reporting) can be configured to have a QCPD relationship with 1 SSB port in a 2-port SSB resource, where X=1, 2...M (M is a positive integer). This configuration can be used when only one of the SINRs of each of the two reported SSB ports from the 2-port SSB resource is above a specific threshold. In some embodiments, under line-of-sight channel conditions, this scenario may occur when one polarization direction at the UE is perpendicular to the transmit polarization plane at the base station, while the other polarization direction at the UE is still aligned or parallel to the transmit polarization plane at the base station. In some embodiments, under non-line-of-sight channel conditions, where the polarization direction of one SSB port of the transmission changes during signal reflection and becomes perpendicular to the receive polarization plane at the UE, while the polarization direction of the other SSB port is still approximately aligned or parallel to the receive polarization plane at the UE, this scenario may occur.

[0121] In this second example, the UE may assume that all CSI-RS ports in the CSI-RS resource have a QCPD relationship with the indicated SSB port of the SSB resource. In some embodiments, the UE may assume that all CSI-RS ports in the CSI-RS resource are transmitted in the same or similar polarization direction as the indicated SSB port of the SSB resource (for example, transmitted by a vertically polarized antenna, a horizontally polarized antenna, or a -45 degree or +45 degree oblique polarized antenna at the base station, or in a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction relative to the surface of the earth). In some embodiments, the UE may perform CSI-RS reception and / or measurement using only antennas corresponding to the indicated polarization direction (for example, UE antennas with reported SINRs for each SSB port higher than a specific threshold), and turn off other antennas. In this way, the measurement complexity and power consumption at the UE can be reduced. In some embodiments, this QCPD association between the CSI-RS resource and the SSB port of the SSB resource can be used to handle changes in polarization plane or polarization direction matching or changes in isolation between polarization subchannels that may occur during UE movement and / or rotation. In some embodiments, the base station may provide updates to the QCPD association to the UE when appropriate. For example, after the UE rotates and / or moves position, the 8-port CSI-RS resource that previously had a QCPD relationship with port #0 of an SSB resource may be updated via instruction to have a QCPD relationship with port #1 of the SSB resource or a different SSB resource.

[0122] Figure 7An exemplary portion of a network 700 including a base station 705 and a UE 710 is shown. The base station 705 is shown to include an antenna panel 707 including a dual polarized antenna. The UE 710 is shown to include a single antenna panel 712 including a dual polarized antenna. At this time instance, the UE antenna panel 712 of the UE 710 is shown to have a polarization direction that does not match the polarization direction of the antenna panel 707 of the base station 705 well.

[0123] Figure 7 Also included are tabular representations 720, 732 of polarization direction associations. The base station 705 may provide polarization direction association indications for 8-port CSI-RS resources with reference to a single port of a 2-port SSB resource as shown in 720. 732 also shows a more detailed view of polarization direction associations between CSI-RS ports of a CSI-RS resource and SSB ports of an SSB resource, where all CSI-RS ports are associated with SSB port #0 of SSB resource #2. It should be understood that the example of an 8-port CSI-RS resource is only an example, and more generally, a P-port CSI-RS resource may be considered, where P is an integer.

[0124] In a third example, a 1-port CSI-RS resource (e.g., for time / frequency tracking or CSI / beam measurement / reporting) can be configured to have a QCPD relationship with a 2-port SSB resource. This configuration can be used when the SINR of each SSB port of the two reports from the 2-port SSB changes (i.e., increases and decreases) and the SSB port with the larger SINR value of each SSB port changes alternately over time. This may occur when the UE rotates. For this polarization direction association indication received from the base station, the UE can assume that the 1-port CSI-RS resource is transmitted from a dual-polarized antenna at the base station. That is, the base station transmits the same signal of the 1-port CSI-RS resource through the base station antenna in two polarization directions. In some embodiments, the UE can also receive the 1-port CSI-RS resource by merging or comparing the signals received from the UE's own dual-polarized antenna. In some embodiments, the polarization direction association indication enables a fallback transmission mode that can provide additional robustness to cope with polarization plane or polarization direction mismatches due to UE rotation and / or movement.

[0125] Figure 8An exemplary portion of a network 800 including a base station 805 and a UE 810 is shown. The base station 805 is shown to include an antenna panel 807, which includes a dual-polarized antenna. The UE 810 is shown to include two antenna panels 812 and 813, each of which includes a dual-polarized antenna. The first antenna panel 812 of the UE 810 is shown to have a polarization direction that is well matched to the polarization direction of the antenna panel 807 of the base station 805. At this time instance, the polarization direction of the second antenna panel 813 of the UE 810 is not well matched to the polarization direction of the antenna panel 807 of the base station 805.

[0126] Figure 8 Also included are tabular representations of polarization direction associations 820, 832. The base station 805 can provide a polarization direction association indication for a 1-port CSI-RS resource with reference to a 2-port SSB resource as shown in 820, the 2-port SSB resource including two SSB ports. 832 also shows a more detailed view of the polarization direction association between the 1-port CSI-RS resource and the 2-port SSB resource, wherein the 1-port CSI-RS resource is associated with both SSB ports (SSB port #0 and SSB port #1) of SSB resource #2.

[0127] The above examples mainly focus on the use of the association between CSI-RS and SSB for QCPD indication. More generally, the QCPD indication is used to indicate the association between a first resource having at least 1 port and a second resource having at least 1 port or between a first resource having at least 1 port and a first port of a second resource having at least 1 port. In some embodiments, the first resource is one of CSI-RS, PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS or PRACH. In some embodiments, the second resource is one of SSB, CSI-RS, SRS or PRACH, wherein the SSB may include one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

[0128] In addition, it should be understood that various aspects of the present invention may also be extended to other downlink DL signals and / or channels, as well as other uplink (UL) signals and / or channels. Therefore, in some embodiments, the QCPD association may be mutual, i.e., the target UL signal or channel has a QCPD relationship with the source DL signal or channel, and the target DL signal or channel has a QCPD relationship with the source UL signal or channel.

[0129] In some embodiments, a QCPD association between a PDSCH and at least one of an SSB or CSI-RS may be identified. For example, an X-port (where X is an integer greater than 1) PDSCH-DMRS and an associated X-layer PDSCH may be configured to have a QCPD relationship with a 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resource. In some embodiments, the UE may assume that an even-indexed PDSCH-DMRS port or an odd-indexed PDSCH-DMRS port and an associated PDSCH layer are transmitted through a base station antenna having the same polarization direction (e.g., vertical polarization direction or horizontal polarization direction) as port #0 or port #1 of the indicated SSB or CSI-RS resource, respectively. In some embodiments, the UE may assume that the first half or second half of the PDSCH-DMRS port and the associated PDSCH layer are transmitted through a base station antenna having the same polarization direction (e.g., vertical polarization direction or horizontal polarization direction) as port #0 or port #1 of the indicated SSB or CSI-RS resource, respectively.

[0130] In some embodiments, a Y-port PDSCH-DMRS and an associated Y-layer PDSCH (where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1) may be configured to have a QCPD relationship with 1 port of a 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resource, wherein the UE may assume that the Y-port PDSCH-DMRS and one or more associated PDSCH layers are transmitted via a base station antenna having the same polarization direction (e.g., vertical polarization direction or horizontal polarization direction) as the indicated port of the SSB or CSI-RS resource.

[0131] In some embodiments, the 1-port PDSCH-DMRS and the associated 1-layer PDSCH can be configured to have a QCPD relationship with two antenna ports in a 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resource, wherein the UE can assume that the 1-port PDSCH-DMRS and the associated PDSCH layer are transmitted through the base station antenna in two polarization directions (e.g., vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction, -45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction) like the indicated SSB or CSI-RS resource. Such QCPD indication can assist the UE in matching the polarization direction with the base station during PDSCH reception and reduce the detection complexity at the UE.

[0132] More generally, in some embodiments, the QCPD is an indication of the polarization direction of a resource having at least 1 port, wherein the resource is one of CSI-RS, PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, PRACH, or SSB. In some embodiments, the resource having at least 1 port is a resource having L ports, wherein L is an integer, the even-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted or received in the first polarization direction through the base station antenna or UE antenna, and the odd-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted or received in the second polarization direction through the base station antenna or UE antenna. In some embodiments, the resource having at least 1 port is a resource having M ports, wherein M is an integer, the first half of the ports in the resource having M ports are transmitted or received in the first polarization direction through the base station antenna or UE antenna, and the second half of the ports in the resource having M ports are transmitted or received in the second polarization direction through the base station antenna or UE antenna. In some embodiments, the resource having at least 1 port is a resource having N ports, where N is an integer, and the ports in the resource having N ports are transmitted or received through a base station antenna or a UE antenna in a first polarization direction. In some embodiments, the resource having at least 1 port is a resource having 1 port, and the resource having 1 port is transmitted or received through a base station antenna or a UE antenna in two polarization directions.

[0133] In some embodiments, a mutual QCPD association between PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS or PRACH and SSB or CSI-RS, or between SSB, CSI-RS, PDCCH or PDSCH and SRS or PRACH is provided. For example, an X-port PUSCH-DMRS and an associated X-layer PUSCH, or an X-port PUCCH-DMRS and an associated X-layer PUCCH, or an X-port SRS (where X is an integer greater than 1) can be configured to have a QCPD relationship with a 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resource, where the UE can assume that an even-indexed PUSCH-DMRS port or an odd-indexed PUSCH-DMRS port (or a first-half PUSCH-DMRS port or a second-half PUSCH-DMRS port) and an associated PUSCH layer, or an even ... first-half PUSCH-DMRS port or a second-half PUSCH-DMRS port) and an associated PUSCH layer, or an even-indexed PUSCH-DMRS port ( The PUCCH-DMRS port or odd-indexed PUCCH-DMRS port (or the first half of the PUCCH-DMRS port or the second half of the PUCCH-DMRS port) and the associated PUCCH layer, or the even-indexed SRS port or the odd-indexed SRS port (or the first half of the SRS port or the second half of the SRS port) are respectively received by a base station antenna having the same polarization direction (for example, vertical polarization direction or horizontal polarization direction, -45 degrees or +45 degrees slant polarization direction) as port #0 or port #1 of the SSB or CSI-RS resource indicated by the transmission.

[0134] In some embodiments, a Y-port PUCCH-DMRS or PUSCH-DMRS and an associated Y-layer PUCCH or PUSCH (where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1) may be configured to have a QCPD relationship with one of the 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resources, wherein the UE may assume that the Y-port PUCCH-DMRS or PUSCH-DMRS and the associated PUCCH or PUSCH layer are received through a base station antenna having the same polarization direction (e.g., a vertical polarization direction or a horizontal polarization direction, a -45 degree or +45 degree slant polarization direction) as the indicated port transmitting the SSB or CSI-RS resource.

[0135] In some embodiments, a 1-port PUCCH-DMRS or PUSCH-DMRS and an associated 1-layer PUCCH or PUSCH may be configured to have a QCPD relationship with each other with two antenna ports in a 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resource, wherein the UE may assume that the 1-port PUCCH-DMRS or PUSCH-DMRS and the associated PUCCH or PUSCH layer are received by the base station antenna in two polarization directions because both polarization directions are used to transmit the indicated 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resource. This mutual QCPD indication may assist the UE in matching the polarization direction with the base station during PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, or PRACH transmission and reduce the detection complexity at the base station. The mutual QCPD association may instead indicate one or more transmit polarization directions at the UE, rather than one or more receive polarization directions at the base station. That is, the UE may transmit some or all antenna ports of a target signal or channel (e.g., PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, PRACH) in a polarization direction corresponding to the polarization direction of some or all antenna ports in the receiving source SSB or CSI-RS resource.

[0136] In some embodiments, in addition to replacing the typeD QCL indication, the QCPD indication or typeE QCL indication may also refer only to the polarization domain and be configured by the base station as a supplement to the typeD QCL indication. For example, the QCPD indication or typeE QCL indication may be configured as one of {port #0 / 1 interleaving, port #0 only, port #1 only, both ports #0&1}, where port #0 and port #1 may correspond to a −45 degree slant polarization direction and a +45 degree slant polarization direction or a vertical polarization direction and a horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface, respectively. After notifying the UE of one of the QCPD or typeE QCL relationships, the UE may assume that the target resource has a QCPD relationship with the source resource according to the indicated relationship (e.g., even / odd index port association, resource to port association, port to resource association). For example, the QCPD indication or typeE QCL indication may be configured as one of {V / H interleaving, only V, only H, both V&H}, where V and H correspond to a vertical polarization direction and a horizontal polarization direction relative to the earth's surface, respectively.

[0137] Fig. 9 Tabular representations 910, 920 of examples of mutual QCPD associations 910 between 4-port SRS resources and 2-port SSB resources are shown. A more detailed view of the mutual QCPD associations between the 4-port SRS resources and the 2-port SSB resources is shown at 920, where even-indexed SRS ports #0 and #2 are associated with SSB port #0, as shown at 922, and odd-indexed SRS ports #1 and #3 are associated with SSB port #1, as shown at 924. Furthermore, the example of a 4-port SRS resource is only an example, and more generally, a Z-port SRS resource may be considered, where Z is an integer.

[0138] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may reduce UE complexity in selecting dual-polarized antennas for DL ​​reception or UL transmission.

[0139] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may improve CSI measurement accuracy and DL detection performance at a UE by providing a better understanding of one or more base station polarization directions and antenna architectures.

[0140] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may reduce power consumption of a base station and a UE by using only selected one or more polarized antennas for transmission or reception.

[0141] In some embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may provide additional robustness, if needed, to cope with polarization mismatch caused by UE rotation.

[0142] Although the above embodiments show examples for SSB for beam measurement, it should be understood that the concepts disclosed herein can be extended to other types of reference signals for beam measurement, such as CSI-RS, tracking reference signal (TRS), and positioning reference signal (PRS).

[0143] Although the above embodiments show examples for dual-polarized antennas with vertical / horizontal polarization directions, it should be understood that the concepts disclosed herein can be extended to dual-polarized antennas with ±45 degree slant polarization directions.

[0144] Although the above-mentioned embodiments show an example of a dual-polarized antenna with a 90-degree offset in the polarization direction (i.e., vertical / horizontal polarization direction, ±45-degree slant polarization direction), it should be understood that the concepts disclosed herein can be extended to a dual-polarized antenna with a non-90-degree offset (e.g., 60 degrees) in the polarization direction or a multi-polarized antenna (e.g., three polarization directions of 0 degrees, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees).

[0145] Although the above embodiments show examples for two polarization directions, it should be understood that the concepts disclosed herein can be extended to other antenna architectures that can be considered to be equipped with more than two polarization directions (e.g., 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

[0146] Fig.10 An example of a signal flow diagram for transmission of configuration information related to polarization direction association indication between the base station 1005 and the UE 1010 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0147] In step 1020, the base station 1005 may transmit configuration information including a QCPD association indication to the UE 1010. Fig.10 It is shown that the configuration information is transmitted from the base station 1005 to the UE 1010, but the base station 1005 may transmit the configuration information to more than one UE in a broadcast manner. It should be noted that polarization direction association and QCPD association are used interchangeably in the present invention.

[0148] The information transmitted by the configuration information may include an association between a first resource having at least 1 port and a second resource having at least 1 port or between a first resource having at least 1 port and a first port of a second resource having at least 1 port. In some embodiments, the first resource is one of CSI-RS, PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, or PRACH. In some embodiments, the second resource is one of SSB, CSI-RS, SRS, or PRACH, wherein the SSB may include one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

[0149] Still reference Fig.10 , when configuration information including a polarization direction association indication is received from the base station in step 1020, in step 1030, the UE 1010 may assume that the first resource having at least 1 port is transmitted by the base station 1005 in the same or similar polarization direction as the second resource having at least 1 port or the first port of the second resource having at least 1 port.

[0150] In step 1040, the base station 1005 transmits the second resource having at least one port or the first port of the second resource having at least one port. In step 1050, the base station 1005 transmits the first resource having at least one port. According to the configuration information received in step 1020, the UE 1010 is ready to receive the first resource having at least one port according to the polarization direction associated indication.

[0151] Although one or more steps of the above method are based on a dual-polarized antenna with a vertical polarization direction and / or a horizontal polarization direction, it should be understood that these methods can be performed using a dual-polarized antenna with a ±45-degree slant polarization direction. Similarly, although one or more steps of the above method are based on a dual-polarized antenna with a 90-degree offset in the polarization direction (i.e., vertical / horizontal polarization direction, ±45-degree slant polarization direction), it should be understood that these methods can be performed using a dual-polarized antenna with a non-90-degree offset (e.g., 60 degrees) in the polarization direction. In addition, although one or more steps of the above method are based on a dual-polarized antenna with two polarization directions, it should be understood that these methods can be performed using an antenna structure or architecture that can be regarded as a network device or apparatus equipped with an antenna capable of sending or receiving in M ​​polarization directions, where M is an integer greater than 2. In this case, the 2-port SSB or CSI-RS resources mentioned in the embodiments or examples described above or elsewhere in the present invention can be replaced with M-port SSB or CSI-RS resources.

[0152] It should be understood that one or more steps in the embodiment method provided herein can be performed by corresponding units or modules. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. A signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. The corresponding unit / module can be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more units / modules can be integrated circuits, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). It should be understood that if these modules are software, these modules can be retrieved in whole or in part by a processor as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves can include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0153] Although combinations of features are shown in the illustrated embodiments, it is not necessary to combine all of the features to achieve the advantages of the various embodiments of the present invention. In other words, a system or method designed according to an embodiment of the present invention does not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the accompanying drawings or in all of the parts schematically shown in the accompanying drawings. In addition, selected features of an exemplary embodiment may be combined with selected features of other exemplary embodiments.

[0154] Although the present invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not to be interpreted in a limiting sense. Those skilled in the art will appreciate various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments and other embodiments of the present invention after reference to this description. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to cover any such modifications or embodiments.

Claims

1. A method, characterized in that include: Receiving an indication of a quasi-co-polarization-direction (QCPD) association between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port or between a first resource having at least one port and a first port of a second resource having at least one port; The first resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS) or a physical random access channel (PRACH); The second resource is one of a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB), CSI-RS, SRS or PRACH, wherein the SSB may include one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first resource having at least one port is a first resource having X ports, where X is an integer, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: The even-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or The odd-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second ports of the second resource having two ports.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: The first half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or The second half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second port of the second resource having two ports.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first resource having at least one port is a first resource having Y ports, where Y is an integer, and the first port of the second resource having at least one port is a first port of a second resource having two ports.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having Y ports and the first port of the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of: The ports of the first resource having Y ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first ports of the second resource having two ports.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first resource having at least one port is a first resource having one port, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having one port and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of: The first resource having one port transmits or receives in the same polarization direction as two polarization directions used for transmitting or receiving the second resource having two ports.

9. The method according to any one of claims 3, 4 or 6, characterized in that: The polarization direction is one of the following: vertical polarization direction; or Horizontal polarization direction; or – 45 degrees slant polarization direction; or +45 degrees slant polarization direction.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The two polarization directions are: vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction; or –45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction.

11. A device, characterized in that: include: processor; A computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed.

12. A method, characterized in that include: Receiving a polarization direction indication of a resource having at least one port, wherein the resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a physical random access channel (PRACH), or a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB); The resource having at least one port is a resource having L ports, wherein L is an integer, the even-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted or received in a first polarization direction through a base station antenna or a user equipment (UE) antenna, and the odd-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted or received in a second polarization direction through the base station antenna or the UE antenna; or The resource having at least one port is a resource having M ports, wherein M is an integer, a first half of the ports in the resource having the M ports are sent or received in a first polarization direction through a base station antenna or a UE antenna, and a second half of the ports in the resource having the M ports are sent or received in a second polarization direction through the base station antenna or the UE antenna; or The resource having at least one port is a resource having N ports, wherein N is an integer, and the ports in the resource having N ports are sent or received through a base station antenna or a UE antenna in a first polarization direction; or The resource having at least one port is a resource having one port, and the resource having one port is sent or received in two polarization directions through a base station antenna or a UE antenna.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first polarization direction and the second polarization direction are respectively one of the following: Vertical polarization direction; Horizontal polarization direction; – 45 degrees slant polarization direction; or +45 degrees slant polarization direction; Wherein, the two polarization directions are: vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction; or –45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction.

14. A device, characterized in that include: processor; A computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method according to claim 12 or 13 is executed.

15. A method, characterized in that include: Sending an indication of a quasi-co-polarization-direction (QCPD) association between a first resource having at least one port and a second resource having at least one port or between a first resource having at least one port and a first port of a second resource having at least one port; The first resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS) or a physical random access channel (PRACH); The second resource is one of a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB), CSI-RS, SRS or PRACH, wherein the SSB may include one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first resource having at least one port is a first resource having X ports, where X is an integer, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: The even-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or The odd-indexed ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second ports of the second resource having two ports.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having X ports and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of at least one of the following: The first half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first port of the second resource having two ports; or The second half of the ports of the first resource having X ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the second port of the second resource having two ports.

19. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first resource having at least one port is a first resource having Y ports, where Y is an integer, and the first port of the second resource having at least one port is a first port of a second resource having two ports.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having Y ports and the first port of the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of: The ports of the first resource having Y ports transmit or receive in the same polarization direction as the first ports of the second resource having two ports.

21. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first resource having at least one port is a first resource having one port, and the second resource having at least one port is a second resource having two ports.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The QCPD association between the first resource having one port and the second resource having two ports further includes an indication of: The first resource having one port transmits or receives in the same polarization direction as two polarization directions used for transmitting or receiving the second resource having two ports.

23. The method according to any one of claims 17, 18 or 20, characterized in that The polarization direction is one of the following: vertical polarization direction; or Horizontal polarization direction; or – 45 degrees slant polarization direction; or +45 degrees slant polarization direction.

24. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The two polarization directions are: vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction; or –45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction.

25. A device, characterized in that include: processor; A computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method according to claims 15 to 24 is performed.

26. A method, characterized in that include: Sending a polarization direction indication of a resource having at least one port, wherein the resource is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a physical random access channel (PRACH), or a synchronization signal-physical broadcast channel block (SSB); The resource having at least one port is a resource having L ports, wherein L is an integer, the even-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted or received in a first polarization direction through a base station antenna or a user equipment (UE) antenna, and the odd-indexed ports in the resource having L ports are transmitted or received in a second polarization direction through the base station antenna or the UE antenna; or The resource having at least one port is a resource having M ports, wherein M is an integer, a first half of the ports in the resource having the M ports are sent or received in a first polarization direction through a base station antenna or a UE antenna, and a second half of the ports in the resource having the M ports are sent or received in a second polarization direction through the base station antenna or the UE antenna; or The resource having at least one port is a resource having N ports, wherein N is an integer, and the ports in the resource having N ports are sent or received through a base station antenna or a UE antenna in a first polarization direction; or The resource having at least one port is a resource having one port, and the resource having one port is sent or received in two polarization directions through a base station antenna or a UE antenna.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The first polarization direction and the second polarization direction are respectively one of the following: Vertical polarization direction; Horizontal polarization direction; – 45 degrees slant polarization direction; or +45 degrees slant polarization direction; Wherein, the two polarization directions are: vertical polarization direction and horizontal polarization direction; or –45 degree slant polarization direction and +45 degree slant polarization direction.

28. A device, characterized in that include: processor; A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method according to claim 26 or 27 is executed.

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