Method and apparatus for performing beam management in a cellular system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. Methods and apparatus for prediction-based beam management in cellular systems. A method for a user equipment to report information related to beam prediction is provided. The method includes receiving first information related to reception of a reference signal for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report amounts related to beam prediction, third information related to determining the one or more report amounts, fourth information related to transmitting the one or more report amounts, and third information related to transmitting the one or more report amounts. And an RS for beam measurement based on the first information. The method further includes measuring the RS, determining one or more report amounts indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS, and transmitting a channel having the one or more report amounts based on the fourth information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for prediction-based beam management in cellular systems. Background Art

[0002] 5G mobile communication technology defines a wide frequency band so that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be realized not only in "below 6 GHz" frequency bands such as 3.5 GHz, but also in "above 6 GHz" frequency bands called millimeter waves (mmWave) including 28 GHz and 39 GHz. In addition, implementation of 6G mobile communication technology (called super 5G system) in terahertz frequency bands (e.g., 95 GHz to 3 THz frequency bands) has been considered in order to achieve a transmission rate fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technology and an ultra-low latency one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technology.

[0003] At the start of the development of 5G mobile communication technology, in order to support services and meet performance requirements related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC), standardization is underway regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio wave path loss in millimeter waves and increasing radio wave transmission distance, dynamic operation of parameter sets (e.g., operating multiple subcarrier intervals) and time slot formats to support efficient use of millimeter wave resources, initial access technology for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadband, definition and operation of BWP (bandwidth part), new channel coding methods such as LDPC (low-density parity check) codes for large-volume data transmission and polar codes for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 preprocessing, and network slicing for providing dedicated networks dedicated to specific services.

[0004] Currently, in consideration of the services supported by 5G mobile communication technology, discussions are underway on improvements and performance enhancements of initial 5G mobile communication technology, and there is already physical layer standardization on various technologies such as: V2X (Vehicle to Everything) for assisting driving determination of autonomous vehicles based on information about the position and status of a vehicle transmitted by the vehicle and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) for system operation intended to comply with various regulatory-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE energy saving, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) as UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in areas where communication with a terrestrial network is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] In addition, standardization has been ongoing for air interface architecture / protocols of technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing nodes for network service area expansion by supporting wireless backhaul links and access links in an integrated manner, mobility enhancements including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access (two-step RACH for NR) for simplifying the random access procedure. Standardization is also ongoing for 5G baseline architecture (e.g., service-based architecture or service-based interface) for combining network function virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) technologies, and system architecture / services for mobile edge computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE location.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, the already exponentially growing number of connected devices will be connected to the communication network, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functionality and performance of the 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of the connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is planned related to: extended reality (XR) for effectively supporting AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), MR (mixed reality), etc., 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a foundation for developing not only new waveforms for providing terahertz band coverage for 6G mobile communication technology, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and massive antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional spatial multiplexing technologies using OAM (orbital angular momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Smart Surfaces), but also full-duplex technologies for improving frequency efficiency and improving system networks for 6G mobile communication technology, AI-based communication technologies for achieving system optimization by leveraging satellites and AI (artificial intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technologies for achieving services at a level of complexity that exceeds the limits of UE operating capabilities by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources. Summary of the invention

[0008] Technical Solution

[0009] The present disclosure relates to prediction-based beam management in cellular systems.

[0010] In one embodiment, a method for a user equipment (UE) to report information related to beam prediction is provided. The method includes receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from a base station (BS), the RRC message including first information related to the reception of a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, and fourth information related to sending one or more report quantities. The method also includes receiving an RS for beam measurement from the BS based on the first information. The method also includes measuring the RS, determining one or more report quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS, and sending a channel with one or more report quantities based on the fourth information.

[0011] In another embodiment, a UE is provided. The UE includes a transceiver configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message from a base station (BS), the RRC message including first information related to the reception of an RS for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, and fourth information related to sending one or more report quantities. The UE includes a transceiver, which is also configured to receive an RS for beam measurement from the BS based on the first information. The UE also includes a processor operably coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to measure the RS, and determine one or more report quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS. The transceiver is also configured to send a channel with one or more report quantities based on the fourth information.

[0012] In yet another embodiment, a base station (BS) is provided. The BS includes a transceiver configured to send a radio resource control (RRC) message to a user equipment (UE), the RRC message including first information related to reception of an RS for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, and fourth information related to sending one or more report quantities. The BS includes a transceiver, the transceiver further configured to send the RS for beam measurement to the UE based on the first information. The transceiver is further configured to receive a channel having one or more report quantities based on the third information and the RS based on the fourth information.

[0013] Other technical features may be clear to those skilled in the art from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

[0014] Before the following detailed description, it may be advantageous to set forth the definitions of certain words and phrases used in this patent document. The term "coupling" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not these elements are in physical contact with each other. The terms "send", "receive" and "communication" and their derivatives cover both direct and indirect communication. The terms "include" and "comprise" and their derivatives mean including but not limited to. The term "or" is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase "associated with..." and its derivatives mean including, included in, interconnected with, included in, included in, connected to, connected to, coupled to, coupled to, communicated with, collaborated with, interlaced, juxtaposed, close to, bound to, bound to, have, have the nature of, have to, or have a relationship with, etc. The term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functions associated with any particular controller can be centralized or distributed, whether local or remote. The phrase "at least one of" when used with a list of items means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items can be used, and that only one of the items in the list may be required. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

[0015] In addition, the various functions described below may be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed by a computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, processes, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof suitable for implementation in a suitable computer-readable program code. The phrase "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a compact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), or any other type of memory. "Non-transitory" computer-readable media excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transmit temporary electrical or other signals. Non-transitory computer-readable media include media in which data can be permanently stored and media in which data can be stored and later rewritten, such as rewritable optical disks or erasable memory devices.

[0016] Definitions for certain other words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most, instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0018] Figure 1 An example wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0019] Figure 2 An example gNodeB (gNB) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figure 3 An example UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 4A shows examples of wireless transmit and receive paths according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 4B shows examples of wireless transmit and receive paths according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 5 An example of a transmitter structure for beamforming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 6 A diagram illustrating an example beam measurement model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 7 A diagram showing an example beam prediction based on measurements of a wide beam according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 8 A diagram showing an example beam prediction based on measurements of sparse beams according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] Fig. 9 A flowchart illustrating an example UE process for space / time domain beam prediction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0028] Fig.10 A flow chart of an example UE process for sending assistance information to a serving cell to perform beam prediction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Fig.11A flow chart of an example UE process for sending assistance information to a serving cell to perform beam prediction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0030] Fig.12 A block diagram showing the structure of a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0031] Fig.13 A block diagram showing the structure of a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Discussed below Figure 1-Figure 13 The various non-limiting embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are illustrative only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged system or device.

[0033] Wireless communication has been one of the most successful innovations in modern history. Recently, the number of subscribers to wireless communication services exceeded 5 billion and continues to grow rapidly. Due to the increasing popularity of smartphones and other mobile data devices (such as tablets, "notebook" computers, netbooks, e-book readers, and machine-type devices) among consumers and enterprises, the demand for wireless data services is increasing rapidly. In order to meet the high growth of mobile data services and support new applications and deployments, improvements in radio interface efficiency and coverage are essential. In order to meet the increased demand for wireless data services since the deployment of 4G communication systems, and to enable various vertical applications, 5G communication systems have been developed and are currently being deployed.

[0034] In order to meet the demand for wireless data services that have increased since the deployment of 4G communication systems, and to realize various vertical applications, 5G / NR communication systems have been developed and are currently being deployed. 5G / NR communication systems are implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands (e.g., 28 GHz or 60 GHz bands) to achieve higher data rates, or in lower frequency bands (e.g., 6 GHz) to achieve robust coverage and mobility support. In order to reduce the propagation loss of radio waves and increase the transmission distance, beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna technology are discussed in 5G / NR communication systems.

[0035] In addition, in the 5G / NR communication system, system network improvements are being developed based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access network (RAN) ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, cooperative communications, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), and receiving-side interference cancellation.

[0036] The discussion of 5G systems and frequency bands associated therewith is for reference, as certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in 5G systems. However, the present disclosure is not limited to 5G systems or frequency bands associated therewith, and embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in conjunction with any frequency band. For example, aspects of the present disclosure may also be applied to the deployment of 5G communication systems, 6G, or even later versions that may use terahertz (THz) frequency bands.

[0037] The following documents and standard descriptions are incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein: [1] 3GPP TS 38.211 v16.1.0, “NR; Physical channels and modulation”; [2] 3GPP TS 38.212 v16.1.0, “NR; Multiplexing and Channel coding”; [3] 3GPP TS 38.213 v16.1.0, “NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Control”; [4] 3GPP TS 38.214 v16.1.0, “NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Data”; [5] 3GPP TS 38.215 v17.1.0, “NR; Physical layer measurements”; [6] 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.1.0, “NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification”; [7] 3GPP TS 38.321 v17.1.0, “NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification”; [8] 3GPP TS 38.133 v17.6.0, “NR; Requirements for support of radio resource management”; [9] 3GPP TS 38.300 v17.0.0, “NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall Description”.

[0038] The following Figure 1-Figure 3 Various embodiments are described that are implemented in a wireless communication system and utilizing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication techniques. Figure 1-Figure 3 The description is not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to how different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system.

[0039] Figure 1 An example wireless network 100 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 The embodiment of the wireless network 100 shown is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, wireless network 100 includes gNB 101 (e.g., base station, BS), gNB 102, and gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130 (such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network).

[0041] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a first plurality of user equipment (UE) within coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs include UE 111, which may be located in a small business; UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise; UE 113, which may be a WiFi hotspot; UE 114, which may be located in a first residence; UE 115, which may be located in a second residence; and UE 116, which may be a mobile device such as a cellular phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless PDA, etc. gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs include UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G / NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication technologies.

[0042] Depending on the network type, the term "base station" or "BS" may refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as a transmission point (TP), a transmission-reception point (TRP), an enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G / NR base station (gNB), a macro cell, a femto cell, a WiFi access point (AP), or other wireless enabling devices. The base station may provide wireless access according to one or more wireless communication protocols (e.g., 5G / NR Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, etc.). For convenience, the terms "BS" and "TRP" are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to a network infrastructure component that provides wireless access to a remote terminal. In addition, depending on the network type, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may refer to any component, such as a "mobile station", "subscriber station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal", "reception point", or "user equipment". For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to a remote wireless device that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or smartphone) or is generally considered a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0043] The dashed lines illustrate the approximate extent of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on the configuration of the gNB and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstacles.

[0044] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-116 include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for prediction-based beam management in a cellular system. In some embodiments, one or more of the BSs 101-103 include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof to support prediction-based beam management in a cellular system.

[0045] although Figure 1 An example of a wireless network is shown, but Figure 1Various changes may be made. For example, wireless network 100 can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. In addition, gNB 101 can communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 can communicate directly with network 130 and provide the UEs with direct wireless broadband access to network 130. In addition, gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as an external telephone network or other type of data network.

[0046] Figure 2 An example gNB 102 is shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 The embodiment of the gNB 102 shown in FIG. is for illustration only, and Figure 1 gNBs 101 and 103 may have the same or similar configurations. However, gNBs have a variety of configurations, and Figure 2 The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of the gNB.

[0047] like Figure 2 As shown, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 205a-205n, multiple transceivers 210a-210n, a controller / processor 225, a memory 230, and a backhaul or network interface 235.

[0048] The transceivers 210a-210n receive incoming radio frequency (RF) signals from the antennas 205a-205n, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the wireless network 100. The transceivers 210a-210n downconvert the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are processed by receive (RX) processing circuits in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or the controller / processor 225, which generate processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The controller / processor 225 may further process the baseband signals.

[0049] Transmit (TX) processing circuitry in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or the controller / processor 225 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, web data, email, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 225. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. The transceivers 210a-210n up-convert the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 205a-205n.

[0050] The controller / processor 225 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 225 may control the reception of uplink (UL) channel signals and the transmission of downlink (DL) channel signals by the transceivers 210a-210n in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 225 may also support additional functionality, such as more advanced wireless communication functionality. For example, the controller / processor 225 may support beamforming or directional routing operations, in which outgoing / incoming signals from / to multiple antennas 205a-205n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. As another example, the controller / processor 225 may support methods for prediction-based beam management in a cellular system. The controller / processor 225 may support any of a variety of other functionality in the gNB 102.

[0051] The controller / processor 225 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 230, such as processes for supporting prediction-based beam management in a cellular system, as described in various embodiments of the present disclosure. The controller / processor 225 can move data into or out of the memory 230 as required by the executed process.

[0052] The controller / processor 225 is also coupled to a backhaul or network interface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connection or over a network. The interface 235 may support communication over any suitable wired or wireless connection. For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as a cellular communication system supporting 5G / NR, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 may allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 235 may allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired or wireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 235 includes any suitable structure that supports communication over a wired or wireless connection, such as Ethernet or a transceiver.

[0053] Memory 230 is coupled to controller / processor 225. A portion of memory 230 may include RAM, and another portion of memory 230 may include flash memory or other ROM.

[0054] although Figure 2 An example of a gNB 102 is shown, but the Figure 2 For example, gNB 102 may include any number of Figure 2 In addition, Figure 2The various components in may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components may be added according to specific needs.

[0055] In this disclosure, the italic name of a parameter implies that the parameter is provided by a higher layer. A DL transmission or an UL transmission may be based on an OFDM waveform including a variant using discrete Fourier transform (DFT) precoding, which is referred to as DFT-spread-OFDM, which is generally applicable to UL transmissions.

[0056] In the present disclosure, a subframe (SF) refers to a transmission time unit for the LTE RAT, and a slot refers to a transmission time unit for the NR RAT. For example, the slot duration may be a multiple of the SF duration. NR may use a DL or UL slot structure that is different from the LTE SF structure. The differences may include a structure for transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a location and structure of a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), a transmission duration, etc. In addition, an eNB refers to a base station serving a UE operating in the LTE RAT, and a gNB refers to a base station serving a UE operating in the NR RAT. The exemplary embodiment examines the same parameter set, which includes a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration and a cyclic prefix (CP) length of an OFDM symbol, for transmissions for the LTE RAT and the NR RAT. In this case, the OFDM symbol for the LTE RAT is the same as the OFDM symbol for the NR RAT, the subframe is the same as the slot, and for brevity, the term slot is used in the remainder of the present disclosure.

[0057] The unit used for DL ​​signaling or UL signaling on a cell is called a slot and may include one or more symbols. The bandwidth (BW) unit is called a resource block (RB). One RB includes multiple subcarriers (SCs). For example, a slot may have a duration of one millisecond, and an RB may have a bandwidth of 180 kHz and include 12 SCs with an inter-SC spacing of 15 kHz. The subcarrier spacing (SCS) may be determined by the SCS configuration μ as kHz. The unit of one subcarrier on one symbol is called a resource element (RE). The unit of one RB on one symbol is called a physical RB (PRB).

[0058] MIMO technology has played an important role in improving system throughput in both NR and LTE, and this role will continue and be further expanded in future generations of wireless technology.

[0059] An antenna port is defined so that the channel on which a symbol on the antenna port is transmitted can be inferred from the channel on which another symbol on the same antenna port is transmitted. There is not necessarily a one-to-one correspondence between antenna ports and antenna elements, and multiple antenna elements may be mapped to one antenna port.

[0060] Figure 3 An example UE 116 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3 The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only, and Figure 1 UEs 111-115 may have the same or similar configurations. However, UEs have a variety of configurations, and Figure 3 The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of the UE.

[0061] like Figure 3 As shown, UE 116 includes antenna 305, transceiver 310, and microphone 320. UE 116 also includes speaker 330, processor 340, input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 345, input 350, display 355, and memory 360. Memory 360 includes operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362.

[0062] The transceiver 310 receives incoming RF signals from the antenna 305 transmitted by the gNB of the wireless network 100. The transceiver 310 downconverts the incoming RF signals to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is processed by RX processing circuitry in the transceiver 310 and / or the processor 340, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry transmits the processed baseband signal to the speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or is processed by the processor 340 (such as for web browsing data).

[0063] The TX processing circuitry in the transceiver 310 and / or processor 340 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 320, or receives other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, email, or interactive video game data) from the processor 340. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The transceiver 310 up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna 305.

[0064] The processor 340 may include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 340 may control the transceiver 310 to receive DL channel signals and transmit UL channel signals according to well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0065] The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 360. For example, the processor 340 may execute processes for prediction-based beam management in a cellular system as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 340 may move data into or out of the memory 360 as needed to execute the processes. In some embodiments, the processor 340 is configured to execute applications 362 based on the OS 361 or in response to signals received from the gNB or operator. The processor 340 is also coupled to an I / O interface 345, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices such as laptops and handheld computers. The I / O interface 345 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 340.

[0066] Processor 340 is also coupled to input 350 including, for example, a touch screen, a keyboard, etc., and display 355. An operator of UE 116 may use input 350 to enter data into UE 116. Display 355 may be a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or other display capable of presenting text and / or at least limited graphics, such as from a website.

[0067] Memory 360 is coupled to processor 340. A portion of memory 360 may include random access memory (RAM), and another portion of memory 360 may include flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0068] although Figure 3 An example of UE 116 is shown, but the Figure 3 Make various changes. For example, Figure 3 The various components in may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components may be added as required. As a specific example, processor 340 may be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). In another example, transceiver 310 may include any number of transceivers and signal processing chains, and may be connected to any number of antennas. In addition, although Figure 3 The UE 116 is shown configured as a mobile phone or smart phone, but the UE may be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0069] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Examples of wireless transmit and receive paths 400 and 450, respectively, are shown in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, transmit path 400 may be described as being implemented in a gNB (such as gNB 102) and receive path 450 may be described as being implemented in a UE (such as UE 116). However, it should be understood that receive path 450 may be implemented in a gNB and transmit path 400 may be implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, receive path 450 is configured to support prediction-based beam management in a cellular system as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0070] like Figure 4A As shown, the transmit path 400 includes a channel coding and modulation block 405, a serial to parallel (S to P) block 410, an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block of size N 415, a parallel to serial (P to S) block 420, an add cyclic prefix block 425, and an upconverter (UC) 430. The receive path 450 includes a downconverter (DC) 455, a remove cyclic prefix block 460, an S to P block 465, a fast Fourier transform (FFT) block of size N 470, a parallel to serial (P to S) block 475, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 480.

[0071] In the transmit path 400, the channel coding and modulation block 405 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as low-density parity check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as with quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)) to generate a sequence of frequency-domain modulation symbols. The serial-to-parallel block 410 converts (such as demultiplexes) the serial modulation symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is the IFFT / FFT size used in the gNB 102 and UE 116. The size-N IFFT block 415 performs an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time-domain output signal. The parallel-to-serial block 420 converts (such as multiplexes) the parallel time-domain output symbols from the size-N IFFT block 415 to generate a serial time-domain signal. The add cyclic prefix block 425 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time-domain signal. An upconverter 430 modulates (such as upconverts) the output of the add cyclic prefix block 425 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal may also be filtered at baseband prior to conversion to RF frequency.

[0072] like Figure 4BAs shown, the down converter 455 down-converts the received signal to the baseband frequency, and the remove cyclic prefix block 460 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time domain baseband signal. The serial to parallel block 465 converts the time domain baseband signal to a parallel time domain signal. The size N FFT block 470 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency domain signals. The (P to S) block 475 converts the parallel frequency domain signals into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 480 demodulates and decodes the modulation symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0073] Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmit path 400 similar to that for transmitting in the downlink to UEs 111-116 and may implement a receive path 450 similar to that for receiving in the uplink from UEs 111-116. Similarly, each of UEs 111-116 may implement a transmit path 400 for transmitting in the uplink to gNBs 101-103 and may implement a receive path 450 for receiving in the downlink from gNBs 101-103.

[0074] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Each component in may be implemented using hardware only or a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, Figure 4A and Figure 4B At least some components in can be implemented in software, while other components can be implemented by configurable hardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. For example, FFT block 470 and IFFT block 415 can be implemented as configurable software algorithms, wherein the value of size N can be modified according to the implementation.

[0075] In addition, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms may be used, such as discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) functions. It will be appreciated that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.) that is a power of 2.

[0076] although Figure 4A and Figure 4B Examples of wireless transmission path 400 and reception path 450 are shown separately, but the Figure 4A and Figure 4B For example, they can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted Figure 4A and Figure 4B There are various components in it, and additional components can be added according to specific needs. In addition, Figure 4A and Figure 4B It is intended to illustrate examples of the types of transmit and receive paths that may be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture may be used to support wireless communications in a wireless network.

[0077] Figure 5 An example of a transmitter structure 500 for beamforming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In certain embodiments, one or more of the gNB 102 or the UE 116 includes the transmitter structure 500. For example, one or more of the antenna 205 and its associated system or the antenna 305 and its associated system may be included in the transmitter structure 500. This example is for illustration only, and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0078] Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure recognize that Rel-14 LTE and Rel-15 NR support up to 32 channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports, which enables an eNB or gNB to be equipped with a large number of antenna elements (such as 64 or 128). Multiple antenna elements can then be mapped onto one CSI-RS port. For mmWave bands, although the number of antenna elements can be larger for a given form factor, the number of CSI-RS ports (which may correspond to the number of digital precoding ports) may be limited due to hardware constraints (such as the feasibility of installing a large number of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) / digital-to-analog converters (DACs) at mmWave frequencies), as shown in FIG. Figure 5 As shown. One CSI-RS port can then be mapped to a large number of antenna elements that can be controlled by a set of analog phase shifters 501. One CSI-RS port can then correspond to a subarray that produces a narrow analog beam through analog beamforming 505. The analog beam can be configured to scan a wider range of angles 520 by changing the phase shifter group across symbols or time slots / subframes. The number of subarrays (equal to the number of RF chains) is the same as the number of CSI-RS ports NCSI-PORT. The digital beamforming unit 510 performs linear combinations across NCSI-PORT analog beams to further increase the precoding gain. Although the analog beams are broadband (and therefore not frequency selective), the digital precoding can vary across frequency subbands or resource blocks. Receiver operation can be similarly envisioned.

[0079] because Figure 5The transmitter structure 500 utilizes multiple simulated beams for transmission and reception (wherein one or a small number of simulated beams are selected from a large number of simulated beams, for example, after a training duration that is performed occasionally or periodically), and the term "multi-beam operation" is used to refer to the overall system aspect. For the purpose of description, this includes indicating an assigned DL or UL TX beam (also referred to as "beam indication"), measuring at least one reference signal for calculating and performing beam reporting (also referred to as "beam measurement" and "beam reporting", respectively), and receiving DL or UL transmissions via selecting the corresponding RX beam. Figure 5 The system is also applicable to higher frequency bands, such as >52.6 GHz (also known as Frequency Range 4 or FR4). In this case, the system can use only analog beams. Due to O2 absorption losses near 60 GHz (~10 dB additional loss per 100 m distance), more and narrower analog beams (and therefore more radiators in the array) are needed to compensate for the additional path loss.

[0080] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help the reader understand the present disclosure. They are not intended to and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it is clear to those skilled in the art based on the disclosure herein that changes may be made to the illustrated embodiments and examples without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The transmitter structure 500 for beamforming is for illustration only, and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0081] In order to implement digital precoding, the effective design of CSI-RS is a crucial factor. To this end, three types of CSI reporting mechanisms corresponding to three types of CSI-RS measurement behaviors are supported in Rel.13 LTE: 1) "Class A" CSI reporting corresponding to non-precoded CSI-RS, 2) "Class B" reporting with K=1 CSI-RS resources corresponding to UE-specific beamforming CSI-RS, 3) "Class B" reporting with K>1 CSI-RS resources corresponding to cell-specific beamforming CSI-RS. For non-precoded (NP) CSI-RS, a cell-specific one-to-one mapping between CSI-RS ports and transceiver units (TXRUs) is utilized. Here, different CSI-RS ports have the same wide beam width and direction, and therefore generally have cell-wide coverage. For beamformed CSI-RS, beamforming operations (cell-specific or UE-specific) are applied on non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resources (including multiple ports). Here, (at least at a given time / frequency) the CSI-RS ports have narrow beamwidths and thus do not have cell-wide coverage, and (at least from the eNB's perspective) at least some CSI-RS port-resource combinations have different beam directions. The basic principles remain the same in NR.

[0082] In scenarios where DL long-term channel statistics can be measured via UL signals at the serving gNB, UE-specific beamformed CSI-RS can be easily used. This is usually feasible when the UL-DL duplex distance is small enough. However, when this condition does not hold, some UE feedback is beneficial for the gNB 102 to obtain an estimate of the DL long-term channel statistics (or any representation thereof). To facilitate such a process, a first beamformed CSI-RS is sent with a period T1 (ms) and a second NZP CSI-RS is sent with a period T2 (ms), where T1 ≤ T2. This approach is called hybrid CSI-RS. The implementation of hybrid CSI-RS depends largely on the definition of the CSI process and the NZP CSI-RS resources.

[0083] One of the important components of a MIMO transmission scheme is accurate CSI acquisition at the gNB 102 (or TRP). In particular, for multi-user (MU)-MIMO, the availability of accurate CSI is guaranteed in order to guarantee high MU performance. For time division duplex (TDD) systems, CSI can be acquired using sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions that rely on channel reciprocity. On the other hand, for frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, CSI can be acquired using CSI-RS transmissions from the gNB. CSI acquisition and feedback can be obtained from the UE. In LTE up to Rel. 13, for FDD systems, the CSI feedback framework is "implicit" in the form of channel quality information (CQI) / precoding matrix indicator (PMI) / rank indicator (RI) (and CSI-RS indicator (CRI) in Rel. 13) derived from the codebook assuming single-user (SU) transmissions from the eNB. Due to the inherent SU assumption when deriving the CSI, this implicit CSI feedback is not sufficient for MU transmissions. On the other hand, the NR system has been designed to be more MU-centric since its first release, with a high-resolution Type-II codebook in addition to the low-resolution Type-I codebook.

[0084] In RRC_CONNECTED, the UE measures multiple beams (at least one) of the cell and the measurements (power values) are averaged to derive the cell quality. In doing so, the UE is configured to evaluate a subset of the detected beams. The filtering occurs at two different levels: at the physical layer to derive the beam quality and then at the RRC level to derive the cell quality from multiple beams. The cell quality is derived from the beam measurements in the same way for both serving and non-serving cells. If the UE is configured to do so by the gNB 102, the measurement report may contain the measurement results for the X best beams.

[0085] Figure 6 A diagram 600 is shown of an example beam measurement model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, Figure 1 Any of the UEs 111-116 may utilize diagram 600 of an example beam measurement model. This example is for illustration only, and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0086] The corresponding high-level measurement model is described in this article:

[0087] A: Measurements inside the physical layer (beam specific samples).

[0088] Layer 1 filtering: Internal layer 1 filtering of the input measured at point A. The exact filtering is implementation dependent. How the measurement is actually performed in the physical layer by the implementation (input A and layer 1 filtering) is not constrained by the standard.

[0089] A1: Measurements reported by Layer 1 to Layer 3 after Layer 1 filtering (ie, beam specific measurements).

[0090] Beam combining / selection: Beam specific measurements are combined to derive cell quality. The behavior of beam combining / selection is standardized and the configuration of this module is provided by RRC signaling. The reporting period at B is equal to one measurement period at A1.

[0091] B: Measurements derived from beam-specific measurements reported to Layer 3 after beam combining / selection (ie, cell quality).

[0092] Layer 3 filtering for cell quality: Filtering is performed on the measurements provided at point B. The behavior of the layer 3 filter is standardized and the configuration of the layer 3 filter is provided by RRC signaling. The filtering reporting period at C is equal to one measurement period at B.

[0093] C: Measurement after processing in the layer 3 filter. The reporting rate is the same as at point B. This measurement is used as input to one or more evaluations of the reporting criteria.

[0094] Evaluation of reporting criteria: Check if an actual measurement report is necessary at point D. The evaluation may be based on more than one measurement stream at reference point C, e.g. to make comparisons between different measurements. This is shown by inputs C and C1. The UE shall evaluate the reporting criteria at least every time a new measurement result is reported at points C and C1. The reporting criteria are standardized and the configuration is provided by RRC signaling (UE Measurements).

[0095] D: Measurement report information (message) sent on the radio interface.

[0096] L3 beam filtering: filtering performed on the measurements provided at point A1 (i.e., beam-specific measurements). The behavior of the beam filter is standardized and the configuration of the beam filter is provided by RRC signaling. The filtering reporting period at E is equal to one measurement period at A1.

[0097] E: Measurement after processing in the beam filter (i.e. beam specific measurement). The reporting rate is the same as at point A1. This measurement is used as input for selecting the X measurements to be reported.

[0098] Beam selection for beam reporting: Select X measurements from the measurements provided at point E. The behavior of beam selection is standardized and the configuration of this module is provided by RRC signaling.

[0099] F: Beam measurement information included in the measurement report (sent) on the radio interface.

[0100] Layer 1 filtering introduces a certain level of measurement averaging. How and when exactly the UE performs the necessary measurements is implementation specific to the point where the output at B meets the performance requirements set in TS 38.133. Layer 3 filtering for cell quality and the associated parameters used are specified in TS 38.331 and do not introduce any delay in the sample availability between B and C. The measurements at points C and C1 are the input used in the event evaluation. L3 beam filtering and the associated parameters used are specified in TS 38.331 and do not introduce any delay in the sample availability between E and F.

[0101] The measurement report is characterized by the following:

[0102] The measurement report includes a measurement identification of the associated measurement configuration that triggered the report.

[0103] The cell and beam measurement quantities to be included in the measurement report are configured by the network 130 .

[0104] The number of non-serving cells to be reported may be limited by the configuration of network 130 .

[0105] Cells belonging to the exclusion list configured by the network 130 are not used for event evaluation and reporting, whereas when the allow list is configured by the network 130, only cells belonging to the allow list are used for event evaluation and reporting.

[0106] The beam measurements to be included in the measurement report are configured by the network 130 (beam identifier only, measurement results and beam identifier, or no beam report).

[0107] Intra-frequency neighbor (cell) measurement and inter-frequency neighbor (cell) measurement are defined as follows:

[0108] Intra-frequency measurement based on Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB): If the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the center frequency of the SSB of the neighbor cell are the same, and the subcarrier spacing of both SSBs is also the same, the measurement is defined as intra-frequency measurement based on SSB.

[0109] SSB-based inter-frequency measurement: If the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the center frequency of the SSB of the neighbor cell are different, or the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs is different, the measurement is defined as SSB-based inter-frequency measurement.

[0110] CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement: A measurement is defined as a CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement if:

[0111] The subcarrier spacing of the CSI-RS resources on the neighboring cell configured for measurement is the same as the SCS of the CSI-RS resources on the serving cell indicated for measurement;

[0112] For 60 kHz subcarrier spacing, the CP type of the CSI-RS resources on the neighboring cell configured for measurement is the same as the CP type of the CSI-RS resources on the serving cell indicated for measurement; and

[0113] The center frequency of the CSI-RS resources on the neighboring cell configured for measurement is the same as the center frequency of the CSI-RS resources on the serving cell indicated for measurement.

[0114] CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement: If the measurement is not a CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement, the measurement is defined as a CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement.

[0115] Whether the measurement is non-gap assisted or gap assisted depends on the capabilities of the UE, the active bandwidth part (BWP) of the UE and the current operating frequency.

[0116] For inter-frequency measurements based on SSB, if the UE reports measurement gap requirement information, the measurement gap configuration can be provided based on this information. Otherwise, the measurement gap configuration is provided in the case of this article:

[0117] If the UE only supports per-UE measurement gaps.

[0118] If the UE supports per-FR measurement gaps and any of the serving cells is in the same frequency range of the measurement object.

[0119] For intra-frequency measurements based on SSB, if the UE reports measurement gap requirement information, the measurement gap configuration can be provided based on this information. Otherwise, the measurement gap configuration is provided in the case of this article:

[0120] Except for the initial BWP, if any of the BWPs configured by the UE does not contain the frequency domain resources of the SSB associated with the initial DL BWP.

[0121] For beam failure detection, the gNB 102 configures the UE with beam failure detection reference signals (SSB or CSI-RS), and when the number of beam failure instance indications (BFIs) from the physical layer reaches a configured threshold beamFailureInstanceMaxCount before the configured timer expires, the UE declares a beam failure. For beam failure detection in multiple TRP operation, the gNB 102 configures the UE with two sets of beam failure detection reference signals, each set of beam failure detection reference signals is associated with a TRP. When the number of beam failure instance indications associated with the corresponding set of beam failure detection reference signals from the physical layer reaches a configured threshold before the configured timer expires, the UE declares a beam failure for the TRP.

[0122] SSB-based beam failure detection is based on the SSB associated with the initial DL BWP and can only be configured for the initial DL BWP and for the DL BWP containing the SSB associated with the initial DL BWP. For other DL BWPs, beam failure detection can be performed based on CSI-RS only.

[0123] After detecting beam failure on PCell, the UE:

[0124] Beam failure recovery is triggered by initiating a random access procedure on the PCell.

[0125] Select a suitable beam to perform beam failure recovery (if the gNB 102 has provided dedicated random access resources for certain beams, the UE will give priority to these beams).

[0126] If the random access procedure involves contention-based random access, an indication of beam failure on the PCell is included in the BFR MAC CE.

[0127] Upon completion of the random access procedure, beam failure recovery for the PCell is considered complete.

[0128] After detecting beam failure on the SCell, the UE:

[0129] Beam failure recovery is triggered by initiating the transmission of a BFR MAC CE for this SCell.

[0130] A suitable beam is selected for this SCell (if available) and it is indicated in the BFR MAC CE along with information about beam failure.

[0131] Upon receiving a PDCCH indicating an uplink grant for a new transmission of a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process for transmission of a BFR MAC CE, beam failure recovery for that SCell is considered complete.

[0132] After detecting beam failure of the TRP of the serving cell, the UE:

[0133] Beam failure recovery is triggered by initiating the transmission of the BFR MAC CE for this TRP.

[0134] Selection of a suitable beam for this TRP (if available) and indication whether a suitable (new) beam was found, as well as information about beam failure in the BFR MAC CE for this TRP.

[0135] Beam failure recovery for a TRP is considered complete upon receipt of a PDCCH indicating an uplink grant for a new transmission for a HARQ process used for transmission of the BFR MAC CE for that TRP.

[0136] After detecting beam failure in two TRPs for PCell, the UE:

[0137] Beam failure recovery is triggered by initiating a random access procedure on the PCell.

[0138] A suitable beam is selected for each failed TRP (if available) and indicates whether a suitable (new) beam was found and information about the beam failure in the BFR MAC CE for each failed TRP.

[0139] Upon completion of the random access procedure, beam failure recovery for both TRPs of the PCell is considered complete.

[0140] In current networks, the application and standardization impact of AI / ML-based methods are mainly limited to the network layer. Standardization efforts related to AI / ML functions have been carried out in the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Alliance and the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In particular, the O-RAN Alliance is developing a virtualized RAN with open interfaces and network intelligence, which has entities such as non-real-time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and near-RT RIC. Non-RT RIC is a logical function that implements non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, which manages the overall AI / ML workflow of the O-RAN network, including model training, reasoning, and updates. Near-RT RIC is a logical function that implements near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions on the RAN interface. On the other hand, 3GPP has defined the Network Data Analysis Function (NWDAF) for network slice management in Rel-15, and has been further enhanced in Rel-16 and Rel-17. 3GPP also defines a functional framework for RAN intelligence implemented through data collection.

[0141] It is expected that AI / ML methods will be applied to various cellular system air interface designs, including CSI compression / recovery, future CSI prediction, learning-based channel estimation, channel coding and modulation, to name a few. Common physical layer algorithms are derived based on simplifying assumptions such as linear system models, additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels, etc. By leveraging AI / ML methods, optimized algorithms can be developed for more realistic system assumptions such as nonlinear and fading channels.

[0142] It is also expected that, depending on the use case, the improvement can be not only system performance such as throughput, spectral efficiency and latency, but also complexity, reliability and overhead, etc. In addition, for a given transmitter / receiver processing function, the optimization can be performed not only in a segmented manner, but also in an end-to-end manner including the entire transmitter / receiver processing chain. Therefore, it is expected that the application scope of AI / ML in cell systems will continue to expand.

[0143] Figure 7 FIG700 illustrates an example beam prediction based on wide beam measurements according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, FIG700 illustrates beams of a gNB (such as gNB 102) for use by a UE (such as Figure 1 Any one of the UEs 111-116) is measured and predicted by the UE and / or the gNB. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0144] refer to Figure 7 , discusses spatial and / or time domain prediction of the best N transmission beams from cells / TRPs (including serving cells / TRPs and neighboring cells / TRPs) based on measurements of wide beams, which can be done in conjunction with prediction of the best paired receiver beams at the UE. The UE measures a set of wide beams at time t1 and predicts one or more strongest downlink transmission beams from a set of narrow beams at time t2. The downlink transmit beam prediction can be performed jointly with the downlink receive beam prediction at the UE (i.e., prediction of transmit and receive beam pairs). Alternatively, the UE measures a set of wide beams at time t1 and sends a measurement report to the serving cell so that the serving cell can perform beam prediction. The prediction can be performed in the spatial domain, the temporal domain, or both the spatial domain and the temporal domain. The prediction can be performed for the same instance or for one or more future instances when the measurement is performed, i.e., t1≤t2.

[0145] Figure 8 FIG800 illustrates an example beam prediction based on measurements of sparse beams according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, FIG800 illustrates beams of a gNB (such as gNB 102) for use by a UE (such as Figure 1 Any one of the UEs 111-116) is measured and predicted by the UE and / or the gNB. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0146] refer to Figure 8, discusses spatial and / or time domain prediction of the best N transmission beams from a cell / TRP (including a serving cell / TRP and a neighboring cell / TRP) based on measurements of sparse beams, which can be done in conjunction with prediction of the best paired receiver beam at the UE. The UE measures a set of sparse beams at time t1 and predicts one or more strongest beams from a set of dense beams at time t2. Alternatively, the UE measures a set of sparse beams at time t1 and sends a measurement report to the serving cell so that the serving cell can perform beam prediction. The prediction can be performed in the spatial domain, the temporal domain, or both the spatial domain and the temporal domain. The prediction can be performed for the same instance when the measurement is performed or for one or more future instances, i.e., t1≤t2.

[0147] With smart beam prediction, beam scanning overhead can be reduced in both spatial and temporal domains, i.e., via wide / sparse beams for measurements with less frequent measurement occasions.

[0148] Beam prediction can be done using AI / ML based methods or non-AI / ML based methods, such as using advanced signal processing techniques based on filtering, for example, particle filters or extended Kalman filters, etc. Beam prediction can be performed on the transmit beam used by the cell / TRP, on the receive beam used by the UE, or on both transmit and receive beam pairs.

[0149] The selection of an appropriate beam prediction model may depend on the channel environment and / or geographic location of the UE. Therefore, a set of signaling about the channel environment and / or geographic location of the UE needs to be defined between the network and the UE to assist the beam prediction model selection at the UE or at the network.

[0150] Embodiments of the present disclosure recognize that when beam prediction is performed at a UE, a set of procedures and signaling needs to be defined for the UE to perform beam prediction and send measurement reports.

[0151] Embodiments of the present disclosure further recognize that when beam prediction is performed at the network, a set of procedures and signaling needs to be defined for the UE to send auxiliary information to the serving cell so that beam prediction can be performed at the network.

[0152] Embodiments of the present disclosure further recognize that when beam prediction is performed at the UE or at the network, the beam measurement report may include reports on more than one beam and / or more than one instance. Therefore, there is a need to enhance beam measurement reporting to reduce feedback overhead.

[0153] The performance of the currently used beam prediction model may degrade over time as the channel environment and / or geographic location of the UE changes. Therefore, a set of signaling needs to be defined between the network and the UE to exchange information about the validity of the currently used beam prediction model to perform model switching, updating or fallback, if necessary.

[0154] Using prediction-based beam management, the occurrence of future beam failure events can be detected early. Therefore, it is necessary to define a process to perform beam failure recovery (BFR) in a proactive manner.

[0155] The present disclosure relates to a communication system.

[0156] The present disclosure is directed to defining functions and procedures to support prediction-based beam management in a cellular system.

[0157] The present disclosure also relates to indicating a channel environment and / or geographic location of a UE to assist beam prediction model selection at the UE or at the network.

[0158] The present disclosure also relates to a set of processes and signaling defining a UE performing beam prediction and sending a report including one or more predicted best beam indices with or without associated predictions or actual measurement quantities when prediction is performed at the UE, and a set of processes and signaling defining a UE performing beam prediction and sending a report including one or more predicted best beam indices with or without associated predictions or actual measurement quantities when prediction is performed at the network, and sending auxiliary information such as measurement quantities to a serving cell by the UE when prediction is performed at the network.

[0159] The present disclosure also relates to enhancing beam measurement reporting when the report includes reporting on more than one beam and / or more than one instance.

[0160] The present disclosure also relates to defining a set of signaling between the network and the UE to exchange information about the validity of the currently used beam prediction model for model switching, updating or fallback, if necessary.

[0161] The present disclosure is also directed to defining a process for performing early detection of future beam failure events and BFRs in a proactive manner.

[0162] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help the reader understand the present disclosure. They are not intended to and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it is clear to those skilled in the art based on the present disclosure that the illustrated embodiments and examples may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0163] The flowcharts herein illustrate example methods that can be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various changes may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts herein. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, the various steps in each figure may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in different orders, or occur multiple times. In another example, a step may be omitted or replaced by another step.

[0164] Embodiments of the present disclosure for prediction-based beam management in cellular systems are further described herein.

[0165] Methods and apparatus for indicating a channel environment and / or geographic location of a UE to assist in beam prediction model selection at the UE 116 or network 130.

[0166] Methods and apparatus for processes and signaling for a UE to perform beam prediction and send a report including one or more predicted best beam indices with or without associated predictions or actual measurement quantities when prediction is performed at UE 116, and for UE 116 to send auxiliary information such as measurement quantities to a serving cell when prediction is performed at network 130.

[0167] Methods and apparatus for reporting beam measurements when the report includes reporting on more than one beam and / or more than one instance.

[0168] Methods and apparatus for signaling between the network 130 and the UE 116 to exchange information regarding the validity of the currently used beam prediction model.

[0169] Methods and apparatus for performing a process for early detection of future beam failure events and BFRs in a proactive manner.

[0170] A detailed description of systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure is provided herein. Although several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to any one embodiment, but includes many alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, although many specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments disclosed herein, some embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these details. In addition, for the sake of clarity, certain technical materials known in the relevant art are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure.

[0171] Beam prediction may be performed at the UE, at the network, or at both. When prediction is performed at the UE, the UE 116 sends a beam prediction report containing one or more strongest predicted beams for one or more instances with or without associated predicted or actual measurements. The network may adjust the downlink transmission beam from the cell / TRP to the UE based on the beam prediction report from the UE. When prediction is performed at the network 130, the UE 116 sends a beam measurement report on the one or more strongest measured beams and assistance information for the network to perform the prediction.

[0172] When beam prediction is performed at the UE, the UE 116 may have multiple AI / ML-based or non-AI / ML-based beam prediction models designed / trained for specific scenarios and / or environments. In this case, the serving cell provides auxiliary information to the UE 116 to help the UE 116 select or switch to an appropriate beam prediction model. Optionally, the models supported by the UE 116 are reported to the serving cell, which may be in terms of a model ID with associated information and / or model capabilities. The network 130 indicates to the UE 116 the appropriate model to be used by the UE 116 based on the auxiliary information provided by the UE 116. Further optionally, the UE 116 selects or switches to an appropriate beam prediction model by itself based on local information available at the UE.

[0173] When beam prediction is performed at the network, the network 130 may have multiple AI / ML-based or non-AI / ML-based beam prediction models designed / trained for specific scenarios and / or environments. In this case, the UE provides auxiliary information to the serving cell to assist the serving cell in selecting or switching to an appropriate beam prediction model.

[0174] This article is an example of auxiliary information for appropriate beam prediction model selection or switching, which can be provided by UE 116 to network 130 if beam prediction is performed at network 130, or provided by network 130 to UE 116 if beam prediction is performed at UE 116.

[0175] In one example, the UE 116 provides a channel environment perceived by the UE 116 to the serving cell and / or the network 130 provides a channel environment of the UE 116 perceived by the serving cell (e.g., based on UL reference signal measurement) to the UE 116, such as urban micro cell (UMa) / urban micro cell (UMi) / indoor hotspot (InH) / rural, clutter / blocking presence / density / severity, LOS / NLOS indication, indoor / outdoor indication, in-vehicle indication, in-building indication, mobility in terms of speed or speed classification, for example, pedestrian / vehicle / high-speed train, etc.

[0176] In another example, UE 116 provides to the serving cell, or the serving cell provides to UE 116, Doppler distribution measured on a channel between UE 116 and the serving cell, which may include Doppler spread, Doppler shift, relative Doppler shift.

[0177] In another example, UE 116 provides or the serving cell provides to UE 116 a multipath profile measured on a channel between UE 116 and the serving cell, which may include delay spread, per-path weight, delay and / or Doppler value per each signal propagation path. If UE 116 provides the multipath profile to the serving cell, the serving cell may provide a threshold value of signal strength to UE 116 so that the weight, delay and / or Doppler value is reported to the serving cell for paths with strength greater than the threshold. Strength may be represented by the amplitude or power of the signal. Strength may be measured by averaging the values ​​on the subcarriers and / or symbols carrying the reference signal, or taking the maximum value on the subcarriers and / or symbols carrying the reference signal.

[0178] In yet another example, the UE 116 provides the geographic location and / or scenario of the UE 116 to the serving cell, or the serving cell provides the geographic location and / or scenario of the UE 116 to the UE 116, which may be in terms of a zone ID or scenario ID from a predefined set of scenarios. The definition of a zone and the corresponding zone ID may be provided to the UE 116 by the serving cell. A zone may include one or more cells. If a zone includes a single cell, the zone ID may be consistent with the cell ID. If a zone includes one or more cells, the zone ID may be consistent with the tracking area ID.

[0179] In yet another example, the serving cell area is divided into multiple zones and assigned with a unique ID within the cell. A set of scenarios may be defined and signaled to the UE 116. It may be, for example, UMa / UMi / InH / rural scenarios, high / low clutter / blocking scenarios, LOS / NLOS scenarios, indoor / outdoor scenarios, in-car scenarios, in-building scenarios, pedestrian / vehicle / high-speed train scenarios, etc.

[0180] Fig. 9 900 is a flowchart of an example UE process for space / time domain beam prediction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the flowchart of the example UE process for space / time domain beam prediction 900 may be composed of Figure 1 Any one of the UEs 111-116 is executed, and the corresponding process can be performed by Figure 1 This example is for illustration only, and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0181] The process begins at 910, where a serving cell provides information to a UE related to mapping a first set of beams to a second set of beams in terms of boresight beam direction, angle offset, 3-dB beam width, beam pattern, amplitude / power of the beam, etc. In one example, Figure 7 As shown, the first set of beams may have a wider beam width than the second set of beams. One wide beam in the first set may be mapped to multiple narrow beams in the second set. The serving cell informs the UE 116 how many narrow beams in the second set are associated with the beams in the first set and their mapping relationship relative to the beams in the first set, for example, in terms of angle offset, 3-dB beam width, beam pattern, amplitude / power of the beam, etc. In another example, as Figure 8 As shown, the first beam set may be sparser than the second beam set, for example, the first beam set is a subset of the second beam set. One beam in the first set may be mapped to multiple adjacent beams in the second set having the same characteristics (for example, in terms of 3-dB beamwidth, etc.). The serving cell informs the UE 116 how many beams in the second set are associated with the beams in the first set and their mapping relationship relative to the beams in the first set (for example, in terms of angle offset, etc.). In yet another example, the first beam set and the second beam set may be the same. In this case, the second beam set is not explicitly signaled to the UE, and the UE implicitly assumes that the second beam set is the same as the first beam set.

[0182] In 910, one or more instances are also provided from the serving cell to the UE 116 to perform beam prediction and reporting. The one or more instances may include an instance of configuring beam measurement resources for the first beam set. The one or more instances may also include a future instance later than when the beam measurement is performed. In one example, the serving cell may indicate a beam prediction window to the UE, for which the UE 116 predicts future reference signal received power (RSRP) / reference signal received quality (RSRQ) / signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the beam, and thus predicts the best N beams from the second beam set. The beam prediction window may be indicated to the UE 116, the beam prediction window having a duration and an offset for measuring reference resources for the first beam set, for example, {nref+o, ..., nref+o+Wp}, where Wp is the prediction window duration and o is an offset from the prediction of the reference resources at nref. Both Wp and o may take zero or positive integer values, for example, in multiple time slots, subframes, symbols, or ms. Similarly, a prediction window with a duration and offset relative to a beam measurement report instance may be indicated to the UE 116, e.g., {nrep+0, ..., nrep+0+Wp}, where nrep is a beam measurement report instance. In this case, the offset may take any integer value including a negative value, and the window may take a zero or positive integer value, e.g., in multiple slots, subframes, symbols, or ms. In another example, the UE 116 may be indicated by the serving cell a prediction start offset o, a prediction interval I, and a number of instances K for prediction, such that the UE 116 will predict a beam from a second beam set for a set of instances {nref+o, nref+o+I, nref+o+2•I, ..., nref+o+ (K1)•I}, where o, I, and K are indicated to the UE in multiple slots, subframes, symbols, or ms. Similarly, the starting offset may be indicated relative to the beam measurement report instance nrep. Alternatively, the network 130 may indicate to the UE 116 a set of offset values ​​indicating future instances for beam prediction. For example, the network 130 may indicate to the UE 116 a set of offset values, e.g., {o1, o2, o3}, and the UE 116 will predict beams of {nref+o1, nref+o2, nref+o3}, where o1, o2, and o3 are indicated to the UE in multiple slots, subframes, symbols, or ms. Similarly, the starting offset may be indicated relative to the beam measurement report instance nrep.

[0183] At 920, the UE 116 then performs beam measurements on the first set of beams according to the reference signal configuration. At 930, based on the measurements on the first set of beams, the UE 116 then predicts one or more strongest beams from the second set of beams for the indicated one or more instances. The UE 116 may perform beam prediction using an AI / ML based or non-AI / ML based model, which may be indicated by the serving cell using a model ID or may depend on the UE implementation.

[0184] In 940, UE 116 then sends a measurement report to the serving cell along with the assistance information. The measurement report includes one or more strongest beam indices from the second beam set, possibly including their RSRP / RSRQ / SINR values ​​for one or more instances indicated by the serving cell. Examples of possible assistance information are herein:

[0185] The probability that the nth strongest predicted beam is within the N actual strongest beams at the predicted future instance.

[0186] An early beam failure indication is, for example, a predicted probability of beam failure at a future instance.

[0187] An indication of the requirement for more / less resources for beam measurements (ie, more / less spatial beam scanning) to perform the prediction.

[0188] Indication of requirement for larger / smaller number of transmit beam repetitions for UE receiver beam prediction.

[0189] The beam measurement reference signal configures a favorable or preferred angular range of the beam direction or directivity.

[0190] The favorable or preferred time frequency of the beam measurement reference signal.

[0191] UE channel environment, e.g., UMa / UMi / InH / rural, clutter / blocking presence / density / severity, line-of-sight (LOS) / non-line-of-sight (NLOS) indication, indoor / outdoor indication, in-vehicle indication, in-building indication, mobility in terms of speed or speed classification, e.g., pedestrian / vehicle / high-speed train, etc.

[0192] Based on the above auxiliary information, the network determines its downlink transmit beam, uplink receive beam, RS configuration for beam measurement, or a model for beam prediction at the network or at the UE.

[0193] When UE 116 sends a beam measurement report (including a report on more than one beam or equivalently beam measurement resources) to the serving cell, the RSRP / RSRQ / SINR value of the strongest beam is reported, and the difference from the RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the strongest beam, i.e., differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR, is reported for the remaining beams. Alternatively, the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR can be calculated from the next stronger beam, i.e., the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the n+1th strongest beam and the nth strongest beam.

[0194] When UE 116 sends a beam measurement report to the serving cell, the beam measurement report includes a report on more than one instance or equivalently a beam measurement resource, reporting the RSRP / RSRQ / SINR value of the beam in the first instance, and reporting the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR from the first instance or the previous instance for the remaining instances, i.e., the kth instance for reporting the k+1th instance. In this case, the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR can take a positive or negative value. For example, the sign of the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR can be indicated via a Boolean indication. Optionally, multiple reporting instances are sorted according to RSRP / RSRQ / SINR values, and the RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the strongest instance is reported together with an index indicating the reporting instance (i.e., a timestamp), and the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR from the strongest instance or the next stronger instance (i.e., the differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the n+1th strongest instance from the nth strongest instance) is reported for the remaining instances together with an index indicating the reporting instance. When each reporting instance includes more than one beam, for non-strongest beams, differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR can be reported from the strongest RSRP / RSRQ / SINR within the instance or the strongest RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the first reporting instance, where the first reporting instance can be the earliest instance in time or the instance containing the strongest RSRP / RSRQ / SINR value.

[0195] Fig.10 1000 is a flowchart of an example UE process for sending auxiliary information to a serving cell to perform beam prediction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the flowchart of the example UE process for sending auxiliary information to a serving cell to perform beam prediction 1000 may be composed of Figure 3 UE 116 performs, and the corresponding process can be performed by Figure 2 BS 102 performs. This example is for illustration only, and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0196] The process begins at 1010, where information related to resources used for beam measurement in one or more instances and a list of requested assistance information fed back to the serving cell are provided from the serving cell to the UE. Examples of possible assistance information that may be requested by the serving cell to the UE 116 are herein:

[0197] UE channel environment, including environmental scenarios, Doppler profiles, multipath profiles, geographic location related information, etc., as described herein. The serving cell may also signal a threshold value regarding the change in the environment of the UE 116, such as speed, Doppler shift, delay spread, etc., to the UE 116, so that if the condition is met, i.e., greater than or less than the threshold value, the UE 116 sends assistance information on the UE 116 channel environment. If the location of the UE 116 deviates from the current location of the UE 116 by more than a certain distance (e.g., in meters), the serving cell may instruct the UE 116 to send assistance information on the UE 116 channel environment. If the distance between the UE 116 and a reference point (e.g., serving cell / TRP location) becomes greater than a specific distance or greater than a specific distance from the current distance, the distance between the UE 116 and another reference point (e.g., neighboring cell / TRP location) becomes less than a specific distance or less than a specific distance from the current distance.

[0198] The probability that the current nth strongest beam remains the N strongest beam after T time slots, where n, N, and T are indicated by the serving cell to the UE 116. The serving cell may also signal a threshold to the UE 116, so that if the estimated probability meets the condition (i.e., is greater than or less than the threshold), the UE 116 sends the corresponding information.

[0199] Early beam failure indication, e.g., the probability of beam failure if the UE 116 stays on the current gNB Tx beam after T time slots, where T is indicated by the serving cell to the UE 116. The serving cell may also signal a threshold to the UE 116, such that if the estimated probability satisfies the condition (i.e., is greater than or less than the threshold), the UE 116 sends the corresponding information.

[0200] The serving cell may signal the UE 116 about the current value of BFI_COUNTER or a threshold of any statistic, so that if the condition is met, ie, greater than or less than the threshold, the UE 116 sends the corresponding information.

[0201] In 1020, the UE 116 then performs beam measurements on the indicated resources. In 1030, the UE 116 then derives a beam measurement report and the requested assistance information. As described, information related to resources used for beam measurements in one or more different time instances may be provided to the UE 116 from the serving cell. If the UE 116 is signaled on beam measurement resources in more than one instance, the UE 116 may also be signaled to send beam measurement reports at the signaled instance or only at the latest instance. If the UE 116 sends beam measurement reports at multiple instances, the measurement reports may be enhanced via differential RSRP / RSRQ / SINR feedback as described herein. If the beam measurement report only includes a report on the latest instance, the UE 116 may use the beam measurement resources in multiple instances to derive assistance information as described herein to assist the serving cell in performing prediction. If the UE 116 is not configured with beam measurement resources in multiple instances for the current report, the UE 116 may utilize previous beam measurements to derive assistance information.

[0202] UE 116 then sends the beam measurement report along with the requested assistance information feedback to the serving cell in 1040. Based on the beam measurement report and the assistance information provided by UE 116, the serving cell performs beam prediction in the spatial domain, the temporal domain, or both the spatial and temporal domains.

[0203] In UE-side prediction, such as Fig. 9 As described in , UE 116 is instructed by serving cell metrics to monitor the performance of the currently used beam prediction model (AI / ML based or non-AI / ML based). Using the performance monitoring report provided by UE 116, the serving cell can instruct UE 116 to perform a model switch (e.g., by indicating a model ID) to update or fine-tune the model using the indication on the data set or fall back to a default non-prediction based approach. In network-side prediction, such as Fig.10 As shown, the serving cell instructs UE 116 to send feedback related to performance monitoring of the beam prediction model currently used at network 130. Network 130 can decide to switch, update, or roll back its beam prediction model based on the feedback from UE 116 on beam prediction performance monitoring. Network 130 can also request UE 116 to provide a data set for network 130 to retrain or fine-tune its beam prediction model.

[0204] Examples of possible metrics that may be indicated by the serving cell to the UE 116 for performance monitoring and feedback for UE-side or network-side prediction are as follows:

[0205] The current value of BFI_COUNTER or statistics as described herein. The serving cell may signal the threshold to the UE 116 so that the UE 116 sends the corresponding information if the condition is met.

[0206] Early beam failure indication as described herein.

[0207] Virtual BFR, if UE 116 remains on a certain beam, e.g., previous, current, or any beam indicated by the serving cell. UE 116 operates BFI_COUNTER as if UE 116 is served by the indicated beam, and sends a virtual BFR if BFI_COUNTER exceeds a certain threshold indicated by the serving cell, which may be the same or different from beamFailureInstanceMaxCount signaled for the actual BFR. It may be an early indication of the occurrence of virtual beam failure in future instances. UE 116 may also provide information to the serving cell about future instances where virtual beam failure is expected to occur.

[0208] RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the currently associated beam, the previously associated beam, the previously predicted beam, or any specific beam indicated by the serving cell.

[0209] The RSRP / RSRQ / SINR difference between the best predicted beam and the best actual beam; the average RSRP / RSRQ / SINR difference between the N best predicted beams and the N actual best beams, which can also be a weighted average; and / or the RSRP / RSRQ / SINR difference between the best predicted beam and the actual RSRP / RSRQ / SINR of the best predicted beam.

[0210] PDCCH / Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) decoding error rate.

[0211] Statistics about the accuracy and / or confidence of previously predicted beams: the probability or average of the number of beams among the N previously predicted beams being the actual N strongest beams; the probability that the previously predicted best beam is the actual best beam; the probability that the previously predicted best beam is one of the N actual strongest beams; and / or the probability that the N strongest predicted beams include the actual best beam.

[0212] Based on the above performance monitoring report from the UE, the network determines its downlink transmit beam, uplink receive beam, RS configuration for beam measurement, or performs model selection, switching or fallback.

[0213] The UE may predict the probability of future beam failure and notify the serving cell. The serving cell may provide a threshold value such that if the predicted probability is greater than the indicated threshold value, the UE 116 sends an early BFR indication. If the predicted probability of future beam failure is greater than another threshold value that may be indicated by the serving cell, the UE 116 may initiate an active beam change procedure toward a new candidate beam. If contention-free random access (CFRA) resources are configured for the new candidate beam, the UE 116 may start a random access procedure by sending a random access channel (RACH) preamble on the configured resources. If CFRA resources are not configured for the new candidate beam, the UE 116 may indicate to the serving cell a request to configure CFRA resources for the new candidate beam along with an early BFR indication. The UE 116 may also start contention-based random access. The active beam change procedure may be initiated by the serving cell by providing a PRACH preamble resource to the UE, which may be signaled, for example, via a PDCCH providing DCI format 1_0. The "Frequency Domain Resource Allocation" field may indicate all "1's", which indicates that DCI is being used to initiate a PDCCH order.

[0214] For early BFR, in one example, the serving cell may provide the UE 116 with an RSRP threshold and beamFailureInstanceMaxCount for the purpose of early BFR, which may be the same or different than the value indicated for the actual BFR. If the RSRP of the serving beam is below the configured RSRP threshold for early BFR, a BFI from L1 to L2 is triggered. When the BFI_COUNTER for early BFR reaches the beamFailureInstanceMaxCount indicated for early BFR, the UE 116 sends an early BFR indication. If a new candidate beam is not currently configured, the early BFR indication may include a request for CFRA resource configuration for a new candidate beam. In another example, the serving cell may indicate the RSRP and likelihood (or probability) threshold for early BFR to the UE 116. If the likelihood that the RSRP of the current serving beam is below the indicated RSRP threshold is greater than the indicated likelihood threshold, early BFR is declared and the UE 116 sends an indication to the serving cell. The early BFR indication may include a timestamp of when the BFR is expected to occur in the future.

[0215] When early BFR is declared, the UE 116 sends a report to the serving cell that includes an indication of the occurrence of early BFR and other information such as current / future BFI_COUNTER statistics, current RSRP and predicted future RSRP of the serving beam, the best N candidate beams via beam ID or measurement resource ID, current and predicted future RSRP of the candidate beams, etc. Upon receiving the early BFR indication, the network 130 may send a confirmation to the UE 116 to start the beam change procedure, and if CFRA resources are not currently configured for the corresponding beam, the network 130 may configure CFRA resources via beam ID or measurement resource ID and an indication of the corresponding beam index. The serving cell may provide the UE with PRACH preamble resources, which may be signaled, for example, via a PDCCH providing DCI format 1_0. The "Frequency Domain Resource Allocation" field may indicate all "1's", which indicates that the DCI is being used to initiate a PDCCH order.

[0216] In the case of network-side beam prediction, the serving cell may indicate to the UE 116 upon detection of a future beam failure event to perform a beam change procedure along with a target candidate beam index and CFRA resource configuration (if not currently configured). The serving cell may provide the UE with PRACH preamble resources, which may be signaled, for example, via a PDCCH providing DCI format 1_0. The "Frequency Domain Resource Allocation" field may indicate all "1's", which indicates that the DCI is being used to initiate a PDCCH command.

[0217] Fig.11 1100 is a flowchart of an example UE process for space / time domain beam prediction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the flowchart of the example UE process for space / time domain beam prediction 1100 may be composed of Figure 1 Any one of the UEs 111-116 is executed, and the corresponding process can be performed by Figure 1 This example is for illustration only, and other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0218] In 1110, UE 116 receives a radio resource control (RRC) message including information related to beam measurement from a base station. The RRC message may include first information related to reception of a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, and fourth information related to sending one or more report quantities.

[0219] At 1120, the UE 116 receives a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement from the base station. The UE 116 may receive the RS based on an RRC message (eg, the first information).

[0220] In 1130, UE 116 measures the RS.

[0221] In 1140, the UE 116 determines one or more reporting quantities based on the RRC message and the measurement of the RS. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 116 may determine one or more reporting quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS.

[0222] In 1150, the UE 116 sends a channel with one or more reporting amounts. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 116 may send a channel with one or more reporting amounts based on the fourth information.

[0223] Fig.12 A block diagram showing the structure of a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0224] refer to Fig.12 , the user equipment 1200 may include a processor 1210, a transceiver 1220, and a memory 1230. However, all the components shown are not required. The user equipment 1200 may be composed of Fig.12 In addition, according to another embodiment, the processor 1210, the transceiver 1220, and the memory 1230 may be implemented as a single chip. The processor 1210 may correspond to Figure 3 The transceiver 1220 may correspond to Figure 3 The transceiver 310 and the memory 1230 may correspond to Figure 3 360 of memory.

[0225] The aforementioned components will now be described in detail.

[0226] The processor 1210 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed functions, processes and / or methods. The operation of the user equipment 1200 may be implemented by the processor 1210. The processor 1210 may be coupled to the transceiver 1220 and configured to control the transceiver 1220 to send and receive signals or messages. The processor 1210 may measure the RS and determine one or more report quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS.

[0227] The transceiver 1220 may include an RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and an RF receiver for down-converting the frequency of a received signal. However, according to another embodiment, the transceiver 1220 may be implemented by more or less components than those shown in the components.

[0228] The transceiver 1220 may be connected to the processor 1210 and transmit and / or receive a signal. The signal may include control information and data. In addition, the transceiver 1220 may receive a signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor 1210. The transceiver 1220 may transmit a signal output from the processor 1210 through a wireless channel.

[0229] The memory 1230 may store control information or data included in the signal obtained by the user equipment 1200. The memory 1230 may be connected to the processor 1210 and store at least one instruction or protocol or parameter for the proposed function, process and / or method. The memory 1230 may include a read-only memory (ROM) and / or a random access memory (RAM) and / or a hard disk and / or a CD-ROM and / or a DVD and / or other storage devices.

[0230] Fig.13 A block diagram showing the structure of a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0231] refer to Fig.13 , the device for base station 1300 may include a processor 1310, a transceiver 1320, and a memory 1330. However, all the components shown are not required. Fig.13 In addition, according to another embodiment, the processor 1310, the transceiver 1320, and the memory 1330 may be implemented as a single chip. The processor 1310 may correspond to Figure 2 The transceiver 1320 may correspond to the controller / processor 225. Figure 2 The memory 1330 may correspond to the transceiver 210n. Figure 2 Memory 230.

[0232] The aforementioned components will now be described in detail.

[0233] The processor 1310 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed functions, processes and / or methods. The operation of the base station 1300 may be implemented by the processor 1310. The processor 1310 may be coupled to the transceiver 1320 and configured to control the transceiver 1320 to send and receive signals.

[0234] The transceiver 1320 may include an RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and an RF receiver for down-converting the frequency of a received signal. However, according to another embodiment, the transceiver 1320 may be implemented by more or less components than those shown in the components.

[0235] The transceiver 1320 may be connected to the processor 1310 and transmit and / or receive signals or messages. The signals or messages may include control information and data. In addition, the transceiver 1320 may receive signals through a wireless channel and output the signals to the processor 1310. The transceiver 1320 may transmit signals output from the processor 1310 through a wireless channel.

[0236] The memory 1330 may store control information or data included in the signal obtained by the base station 1300. The memory 1330 may be connected to the processor 1310 and store at least one instruction or protocol or parameter for the proposed function, process and / or method. The memory 1330 may include a read-only memory (ROM) and / or a random access memory (RAM) and / or a hard disk and / or a CD-ROM and / or a DVD and / or other storage devices.

[0237] In one embodiment, a method for a user equipment (UE) to report information related to beam prediction is provided. The method includes receiving first information related to the reception of a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, fourth information related to sending one or more report quantities, and receiving RS for beam measurement based on the first information. The method also includes measuring the RS, determining one or more report quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS, and sending a channel with one or more report quantities based on the fourth information. In another embodiment, a UE is provided. The UE includes a transceiver configured to receive first information related to the reception of the RS for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, fourth information related to sending one or more report quantities, and receiving RS for beam measurement based on the first information. The UE also includes a processor operably coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to measure the RS, and determine one or more report quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS. The transceiver is further configured to transmit a channel having one or more reporting quantities based on the fourth information.

[0238] In yet another embodiment, a base station (BS) is provided. The BS includes a transceiver configured to transmit first information related to reception of an RS for beam measurement, second information indicating one or more report quantities related to beam prediction, third information related to determining one or more report quantities, fourth information related to transmitting one or more report quantities, and transmitting the RS for beam measurement based on the first information. The transceiver is further configured to receive a channel having one or more report quantities based on the third information and the RS based on the fourth information.

[0239] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or more report quantities indicated by the second information are related to the prediction of (i) one or more downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more downlink transmit and receive beam pairs. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or more report quantities include one or more of: (i) an index of the predicted one or more downlink transmit beams or (ii) the predicted one or more downlink transmit and receive beam pairs, a predicted physical layer measurement quantity, an actual physical layer measurement quantity, or a parameter related to the confidence of (i) the predicted one or more downlink transmit beams or (ii) the predicted one or more downlink transmit and receive beam pairs.

[0240] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the third information includes: a first parameter indicating the first beam set, a second parameter indicating the second beam set, and a third parameter indicating a relationship between the first beam set and the second beam set.

[0241] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the third information comprises a parameter indicating one or more time instances for which the one or more reporting quantities are determined. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transceiver is further configured to receive a channel having one or more reporting quantities determined for the one or more time instances.

[0242] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more report quantities indicated by the second information are related to performance monitoring of beam prediction. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or more report quantities include at least one of the following: a quantity related to the accuracy of beam prediction, a quantity related to beam failure, a predicted physical layer measurement quantity of one or more predicted beams, an actual physical layer measurement quantity of one or more predicted beams, and a quantity based on the predicted physical layer measurement quantity and the actual physical layer measurement quantity of one or more predicted beams.

[0243] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transceiver is further configured to receive a channel having information related to updating the RS for beam measurement. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the information indicates at least one of: a preferred direction or directionality of RS transmission, a preferred number of repetitions of RS transmission, and a preferred time frequency of RS transmission.

[0244] Any of the various embodiments may be used independently or in combination with at least one other variant embodiment. The flowcharts herein illustrate example methods that can be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various changes may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts herein. For example, although shown as a series of steps, the various steps in each figure may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in different orders, or occur multiple times. In another example, a step may be omitted or replaced by another step.

[0245] Although the present disclosure has been described with exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to those skilled in the art. The present disclosure is intended to cover these changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims. The description in this application should not be interpreted as implying that any particular element, step or function is an essential element that must be included in the scope of the claims. The scope of the patent subject matter is defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE) to report information related to beam prediction, the method include: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received from a base station (BS), the RRC message comprising: first information related to reception of a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement, second information indicative of one or more reported quantities related to beam prediction, third information relevant to determining the one or more reported quantities, and fourth information related to sending the one or more reported quantities; receiving, from the BS, an RS for beam measurement based on the first information; Measure RS; determining the one or more reporting quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS; and The channel having the one or more reported quantities is transmitted based on the fourth information.

2. The method according to claim 1, in: The one or more reported quantities indicated by the second information are related to predicting (i) one or more downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more downlink transmit and receive beam pairs, and The one or more reporting quantities include one or more of: (i) an index of one or more predicted downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more predicted downlink transmit and receive beam pairs, Predict physical layer measurements, The actual physical layer measurement, or Parameters related to confidence in (i) one or more predicted downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more predicted downlink transmit and receive beam pairs.

3. The method according to claim 1, in, The third information includes: The first parameter indicates the first beam set, a second parameter indicating a second beam set, and The third parameter indicates the relationship between the first beam set and the second beam set.

4. The method according to claim 1, in: The third information comprises parameters indicating one or more time instances for which the one or more reporting quantities are determined, and Transmitting the channel with the one or more reporting amounts further includes transmitting the channel with the one or more reporting amounts determined for the one or more time instances.

5. The method according to claim 1, in: The one or more reported quantities indicated by the second information are related to performance monitoring of beam prediction, and The one or more reported quantities include at least one of: A quantity related to the accuracy of beam prediction, Quantities related to beam failure, predicted physical layer measurements for one or more predicted beams, actual physical layer measurements of the one or more predicted beams, and A quantity based on predicted physical layer measurements and actual physical layer measurements of the one or more predicted beams.

6. The method according to claim 1, in: The transmitting channel also includes transmitting a channel having information related to updating the RS for beam measurement, and The information indicates at least one of the following: The preferred direction or directionality of RS transmission, The preferred number of repetitions for RS transmission, and The preferred time frequency for RS transmission.

7. The method according to claim 1, in, The transmission channel also includes transmitting a channel having information related to the UE location or channel environment.

8. A user equipment (UE), include: The transceiver is configured as: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received from a base station (BS), the RRC message comprising: first information related to reception of a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement, second information indicative of one or more reported quantities related to beam prediction, third information relevant to determining the one or more reported quantities, and fourth information related to sending the one or more report quantities; and receiving an RS for beam measurement from a BS based on the first information; and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor being configured to: Measure RS; and determining the one or more report quantities indicated by the second information based on the third information and the measurement of the RS, The transceiver is further configured to send the channel with the one or more report quantities based on fourth information.

9. The UE according to claim 8, in: The one or more reported quantities indicated by the second information are related to predicting (i) one or more downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more downlink transmit and receive beam pairs, and The one or more reporting quantities include one or more of: (i) an index of one or more predicted downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more predicted downlink transmit and receive beam pairs, Predict physical layer measurements, The actual physical layer measurement, or Parameters related to confidence in (i) one or more predicted downlink transmit beams or (ii) one or more predicted downlink transmit and receive beam pairs.

10. The UE according to claim 8, in, The third information includes: The first parameter indicates the first beam set, a second parameter indicating a second beam set, and The third parameter indicates the relationship between the first beam set and the second beam set.

11. The UE according to claim 8, in: The third information comprises parameters indicating one or more time instances for which the one or more reporting quantities are determined, and The transceiver is further configured to transmit the channel with the one or more reporting quantities determined for the one or more time instances.

12. The UE according to claim 8, in: The one or more reported quantities indicated by the second information are related to performance monitoring of beam prediction, and The one or more reported quantities include at least one of: A quantity related to the accuracy of beam prediction, Quantities related to beam failure, predicted physical layer measurements for one or more predicted beams, actual physical layer measurements of the one or more predicted beams, and A quantity based on predicted physical layer measurements and actual physical layer measurements of the one or more predicted beams.

13. The UE according to claim 8, in: The transceiver is further configured to transmit a channel having information related to updating the RS for beam measurement, and The information indicates at least one of the following: The preferred direction or directionality of RS transmission, The preferred number of repetitions for RS transmission, and The preferred time frequency for RS transmission.

14. The UE according to claim 8, in, The transceiver is also configured to transmit a channel having information related to the UE location or channel environment.

15. A base station (BS), include: The transceiver is configured as: Sending a radio resource control (RRC) message to a user equipment (UE), the RRC message comprising: first information related to reception of a reference signal (RS) for beam measurement, second information indicative of one or more reported quantities related to beam prediction, third information relevant to determining the one or more reported quantities, and fourth information related to sending the one or more reported quantities; Based on the first information, transmitting an RS for beam measurement from the UE; and Based on the fourth information, a channel having the one or more reported quantities based on the third information and the RS is received.

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