Beam focusing

Abstract

Systems, methods, and tools associated with beam focusing under near-field conditions are described herein. Channel state information (CSI) reporting under these conditions may be performed based on partial CSI associated with respective portions of the antenna array. A CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) for the CSI reporting may be bundled and an indication may be provided to a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) to indicate whether the WTRU is in the near field condition.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 437,478, filed on January 6, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to beam focusing. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to methods, architectures, devices, and systems for near-field beam focusing and CSI acquisition methods for beam focusing operating in the near field. Background Art

[0004] If the antenna array or metasurface size increases and / or the link distance decreases, it can be considered that near-field conditions have occurred. In this case, traditional beamforming for the far field may not ensure array gain for near-field conditions, and beam focusing (or beam focusing) can be used to enhance the performance of the communication device. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Systems, methods, and tools associated with beam focusing in near-field conditions are described herein. Channel state information (CSI) reporting in these conditions may be performed based on partial CSI associated with respective portions of an antenna array. CSI reference signals (CSI-RS) used for CSI reporting may be bundled, and an indication may be provided to a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) indicating whether the WTRU is in near-field conditions.

[0006] The WTRU may include a processor configured to receive configuration information regarding a CSI report group from a base station, wherein the CSI report group may include multiple CSI reports. A first CSI report of the CSI report group may be associated with a first portion of an antenna array, and a second CSI report of the CSI report group may be associated with a second portion of the antenna array. The processor may be further configured to receive a first CSI-RS associated with the first portion of the antenna array and a second CSI-RS associated with the second portion of the antenna array. The first CSI-RS and the second CSI-RS may be bundled together, and the processor may determine first channel state information associated with the first portion of the antenna array based on the first CSI-RS, and further determine second channel state information associated with the second portion of the antenna array based on the second CSI-RS. The processor may then generate a CSI report for the antenna array based on at least the first channel state information and the second channel state information.

[0007] In an example, the processor may be further configured to compress at least one of the first channel state information or the second channel state information. The processor may be further configured to receive a request from a base station to transmit an SRS, for example, to assist in CSI reporting operations. The processor may be further configured to receive an indication from the base station regarding whether the WTRU is in the near field or the far field.

[0008] In an embodiment, a method implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may include the following steps: receiving, by the WTRU, configuration information from a network node, wherein the configuration information includes a plurality of beamforming indicators indicating far-field beamforming or near-field beam focusing, wherein the plurality of beamforming indicators are associated with receiver parameters, and wherein the beamforming indicator indicates distance parameter information. The method may include the following steps: determining a beamforming between far-field beamforming and near-field beam focusing based on one of the plurality of beamforming indicators. The method may further include the following steps: determining a receiver parameter of the WTRU based on the determined beamforming; and receiving a communication from a transmit / receive point (TRP) using the determined receiver parameter of the WTRU. The method may include the following steps: sending the communication to the TRP using the determined receiver parameter of the WTRU.

[0009] The determined receiver parameters may include an angular spread of beamforming. The method may include the following steps: determining far-field beamforming under the condition that a distance parameter exceeds a distance threshold. Determining near-field beam focusing may be performed under the condition that the distance parameter does not exceed the distance threshold. A beamforming indicator may include information about the Rayleigh distance, and the method may include the following steps: determining a distance threshold based on the Rayleigh distance; and determining near-field beam focusing under the condition that the distance parameter does not exceed the distance threshold. The distance threshold may be received from a TRP. The method may include the following steps: receiving downlink control information including an indication of a beamforming indicator or receiving an indication of a beamforming indicator in a medium access control (MAC) control element or receiving one of a plurality of beamforming indicators from a TRP.

[0010] In an embodiment, a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) including a processor, a transceiver unit, and a memory unit may be configured to receive configuration information from a network node, wherein the configuration information includes a plurality of beamforming indicators indicating far-field beamforming or near-field beam focusing, wherein the plurality of beamforming indicators are associated with receiver parameters, and wherein the beamforming indicator indicates distance parameter information. The WTRU may be configured to determine beamforming between far-field beamforming and near-field beam focusing based on one of the plurality of beamforming indicators. The WTRU may be configured to determine the WTRU's receiver parameters based on the determined beamforming; and may be further configured to receive communications from a transmit / receive point (TRP) using the WTRU's determined receiver parameters. The WTRU may be configured to send communications to the TRP using the WTRU's determined receiver parameters. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0012] Figure 1B is a diagram illustrating that according to an embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) for use within the illustrated communication system.

[0013] Figure 1C is a diagram illustrating that according to an embodiment, Figure 1A System diagram of an example Radio Access Network (RAN) and an example Core Network (CN) for use within the illustrated communication system.

[0014] Figure 1D is a diagram illustrating that according to an embodiment, Figure 1A System diagram of a further example RAN and a further example CN for use within the illustrated communication system.

[0015] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of large array / surface size transmission in a line of sight (LoS) scenario.

[0016] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating near-field and far-field assumptions with respect to the distance between a WTRU and the center of an antenna array or surface.

[0017] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of large array / surface size transmission in a non-LoS scenario.

[0018] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of sub-array / sub-surface based CSI reporting in a CSI reporting group.

[0019] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of dividing a large array into a plurality of sub-arrays.

[0020] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a CSI report group with multiple CSI reports and CSI-RS ports.

[0021] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a CSI acquisition process for a large array / surface without WTRU assistance.

[0022] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a CSI acquisition process for a large array / surface with WTRU assistance.

[0023] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a spot beam that focuses beam energy at a specific location.

[0024] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of bundling two CSI-RSs.

[0025] Figure 12 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit WTRU for supporting near field operations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Figure 1A 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content (such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc.) to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content by sharing system resources (including wireless bandwidth). For example, the communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero tail unique word DFT spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), etc.

[0027] like Figure 1AAs shown, the communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, although it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d (any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or “STA”) may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include user equipment (WTRUs), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspot or Mi-Fi devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated process chain environments), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as WTRUs.

[0028] The communication system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to connect to at least one wireless interface of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. For example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B (eNB), a master Node B, a master eNode B, a gNode B (gNB), an NRNodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0029] Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. Base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as cells (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service in a specific geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, base station 114a may employ multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may use multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0030] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, millimeter wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0031] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 using Wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0032] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0033] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0034] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement both LTE radio access and NR radio access, e.g., using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0035] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), etc.

[0036] For example, Figure 1AThe base station 114b in the may be a wireless router, a master Node B, a master eNode B, or an access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area, such as a business place, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a road, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a microcell or a femtocell. Figure 1A As shown, base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Therefore, base station 114b may not need to access the Internet 110 through CN 106 / 115.

[0037] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have different quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, latency requirements, fault tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, etc. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform advanced security functions, such as user authentication. Although Figure 1A Not shown, but it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with another RAN, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) that may employ GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0038] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or Internet Protocol (IP) from the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0039] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks via different wireless links). Figure 1A The WTRU 102c is shown configured to communicate with both the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0040] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. Figure 1B As shown, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any subcombination of the above elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0041] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although Figure 1B The processor 118 and the transceiver 120 are depicted as separate components, but it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0042] The transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, for example, the transmit / receive element 122 can be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals. In another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals and light signals. It will be understood that the transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0043] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is Figure 1B Although depicted as a single element in FIG. 1 , the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0044] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As described above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, for example, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate over multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0045] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user input data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, or the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0046] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-chromium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0047] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information using any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with the embodiments.

[0048] The processor 118 may be further coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, module, a frequency modulation (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, etc. The peripheral device 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of the following: a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor, a geo-location sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0049] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio, the transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and / or substantially eliminate self-interference through hardware (e.g., a choke) or through signal processing performed by a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or by the processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio, the transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous.

[0050] Figure 1C 1 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As described above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0051] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, although it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, for example, the eNode-B 160a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a.

[0052] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, etc. Figure 1C As shown, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with each other via an X2 interface.

[0053] Figure 1C The illustrated CN 106 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements is depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

[0054] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, performing bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may also provide a control plane function for facilitating switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0055] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to and from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may also perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when downlink data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0056] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0057] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may be in communication with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0058] Although the WTRU Figures 1A to 1D Although described as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments such a terminal may employ (eg, temporarily or permanently) a wired communication interface with a communication network.

[0059] In a representative embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0060] A WLAN in infrastructure-type basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic into and / or outside the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS to a STA may reach through the AP and may be delivered to the STA. Traffic from the STA to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to the respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between the source destination STA and the destination STA (e.g., directly between them) using a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunnel DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs (eg, all STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad-hoc" communication mode.

[0061] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure operating mode or a similar operating mode, the AP can send beacons on a fixed channel (such as a primary channel). The primary channel can be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width through signaling. The primary channel can be the operating channel of the BSS and can be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) can be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. For CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., each STA) including the AP can sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA can exit. One STA (e.g., only one station) can transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0062] High throughput (HT) STAs may communicate using a 40 MHz wide channel, for example, by combining a primary 20 MHz channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channels to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0063] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs can support 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz and / or 160MHz wide channels. 40MHz and / or 80MHz channels can be formed by combining consecutive 20MHz channels. A 160MHz channel can be formed by combining 8 consecutive 20MHz channels or by combining two non-contiguous 80MHz channels (which can be referred to as an 80+80 configuration). For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data can be passed through a segment parser that can separate the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing and time domain processing can be performed separately on each stream. The stream can be mapped onto two 80MHz channels, and the data can be sent by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above operations for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be sent to the medium access control (MAC).

[0064] The operating modes below 1 GHz are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. The channel operating bandwidth and carrier in 802.11af and 802.11ah are reduced relative to the channel operating bandwidth and carrier used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz bandwidth, 10 MHz bandwidth, and 20 MHz bandwidth in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MNz bandwidth, 2 MHz bandwidth, 4 MHz bandwidth, 8 MHz bandwidth, and 16 MHz bandwidth using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah can support instrument type control / machine type communication, such as MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices can have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities, including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. MTC devices can include batteries with battery life above a threshold (e.g., for maintaining very long battery life).

[0065] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths (such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah) include a channel that can be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel can have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be set and / or limited by the STA that supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode among all STAs operating in the BSS. In the example of 802.11ah, for a STA that supports (e.g., only supports) a 1 MHz mode (e.g., an MTC-type device), the primary channel can be 1 MHz wide, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings can depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which only supports the 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band can be considered busy, even if most of the frequency band is still idle and available.

[0066] In the United States, 802.11ah can be used in the available frequency band from 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is from 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is from 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. Depending on the country code, the total bandwidth available for 802.11ah ranges from 6MHz to 26MHz.

[0067] Figure 1D1 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As described above, the RAN 113 may employ NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0068] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, although it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, for example, the gNB 180a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement carrier aggregation techniques. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement coordinated multi-point (CoMP) techniques. For example, the WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from the gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0069] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., containing different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or lasting for different absolute times).

[0070] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without accessing another RAN (e.g., such as the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchors. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate / connect to the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating / connecting to another RAN, such as the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput to serve the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0071] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to a user plane function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information to an access and mobility management function (AMF) 182a, 182b, etc. Figure 1D As shown, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can communicate with each other via the Xn interface.

[0072] Figure 1DThe illustrated CN 115 may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possible Data Networks (DNs) 185a, 185b. While each of the aforementioned elements is depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

[0073] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via the N2 interface and may act as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different PDU sessions according to different requirements), selecting a specific SMF 183a, 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, mobility management, etc. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b to customize CN support for the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service utilized by the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine-type communication (MTC) access, etc. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro and / or non-3GPP access technologies, such as WiFi.

[0074] The SMF 183a, 183b can connect to the AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via the N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b can also connect to the UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via the N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b can select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 182b. The SMF 183a, 183b can perform other functions such as managing and allocating WTRU IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notification, etc. The PDU session type can be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0075] The UPFs 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPFs 184a, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-master PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0076] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. Additionally, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local data network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via an N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0077] Given that Figures 1A to 1D as well as Figures 1A to 1D

[0015] As described herein, one or more or all of the functions described herein with respect to one or more of the following may be performed by one or more emulated devices (not shown): the WTRUs 102a-102d, base stations 114a-114b, eNode-Bs 160a-160c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-180c, AMFs 182a-182b, UPFs 184a-184b, SMFs 183a-183b, DNs 185a-185b, and / or any other device(s) described herein. The emulated devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, the emulated devices may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0078] Emulated devices can be designed to perform one or more tests on other devices in a laboratory environment and / or in a carrier network environment. For example, one or more emulated devices can perform one or more or all functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. One or more emulated devices can perform one or more or all functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. Emulated devices can be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or can perform tests using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0079] One or more emulated devices can perform one or more (including all) functions without being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulated device can be used in a test scenario in a test lab and / or in a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulated devices can be test devices. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (e.g., which can include one or more antennas) can be used by the emulated device to send and / or receive data.

[0080] If the antenna or antenna surface size becomes comparable to the link distance, the WTRU's operating condition may be within the Fresnel region where near-field propagation may occur. In the examples provided herein, the terms "array," "metasurface," or "surface" may be used interchangeably. If the array aperture D (e.g., D may be the smallest diameter of a circle encompassing the array aperture) is much larger than the wavelength λ, then the electromagnetic propagation modes may be pushed from the Fraunhofer far-field region to the Fresnel region. The Rayleigh distance (e.g., R = 2D 2 / λ) can be used as a reference point for distinguishing the far-field region from the near-field region. For a uniform planar array (UPA), the array aperture D can be derived based on geometric information such as the width and height of the UPA. For example, if the UPA has N1 antennas in the horizontal direction and N2 antennas in the vertical direction and the antenna separation is equal to half a wavelength (e.g., ), then the array width can be equal to And the array height can be equal to In this case, the minimum diameter D of the circle surrounding the UPA aperture can be equal to And the Rayleigh distance can be used as It can be derived that if the antenna separation is equal to one quarter wavelength (e.g. ), then the Rayleigh distance can be used as The UPA (or uniform linear array (ULA)) and / or the Rayleigh distance R can be uniquely determined by the number of antennas in the horizontal direction, the number of antennas in the vertical direction, and the antenna separation.

[0081] Table 1 below shows the Rayleigh distance R and carrier frequency (f c For a square array aperture, the array aperture D may be equal to the diagonal of the square array, e.g., Where L can be one side of a square array. Based on Table 1, the Fresnel zone criterion can occur in (e.g., any) frequency range, and the Rayleigh distance can reach as much as several kilometers (kms). If, for example, the area of the array is fixed, the Rayleigh distance can be proportional to the inverse of the wavelength. The Fresnel near-field effect can be more significant in the high-frequency region (e.g., the Rayleigh distance can be larger in the high-frequency range than in the low-frequency range).

[0082] Table 1 - Rayleigh distance for different square planar apertures

[0083]

[0084] The number of elements (e.g., antenna elements) in an array may be proportional to the area of the array, for example, as shown in Table 2 below. Assuming the array illustrated in Table 2 is square, if the transmit array aperture D (e.g., the transmit array aperture may be associated with the WTRU, gNB, or both) is determined and the operating frequency is fixed, then the Rayleigh distance may be known. This may mean that the near-field criterion may depend on the array aperture D at a particular operating frequency. The number of elements in a square UPA may be as illustrated in Table 2, which shows that in the higher frequency range, the number of elements in a square UPA may be large (e.g., extremely large).

[0085] Table 1 - Antenna separation Δ = λ / 2, The number of elements per array aperture is

[0086]

[0087] A Fresnel near-field channel model may be established and / or used. For simplicity and without loss of generality, a near-field channel model within line of sight (LOS) may be as follows.

[0088] Let d0 be the distance from the WTRU to the center of the array or surface, d m,nrepresents the distance from the WTRU to the (m,n)th antenna / element, and θ and φ represent the zenith angle / elevation and azimuth angles (or angle of departure (AoD)), respectively. The WTRU position / coordinates may be determined as follows: (x, y, z) = (d0 sinθ cosφ, d0 sinθ sinφ, d0 cosθ) and the (m,n)th antenna coordinates may be (mΔ, nΔ, 0), for example, as Figure 2 Here, Δ may represent the inter-element distance (or antenna separation) for the horizontal and / or vertical directions. The distance between the WTRU and the (m,n)th antenna element may be expressed as follows (1).

[0089]

[0090]

[0091] Wherein, α1=sinθcosφ, α2=sinθsinφ. The values α1=sinθcosφ and α2=sinθsinφ can be obtained based on near-field conditions, which may have |α1|≤1 and |α2|≤1.

[0092] According to the first-order Taylor series Formula (1) can be simplified to

[0093]

[0094] And the phase shift between the (m,n)th antenna element and the WTRU can be expressed as

[0095] ψ m,n =k0r m,n ,

[0096] in, Can represent wave number.

[0097] The phase of the spherical wave can be derived from the geometric position of the UPA (e.g., in the near-field region), which can be a nonlinear function of the antenna index. Near-field beamforming can focus the beam energy at a specific location, for example, by exploiting the additional range information of the spherical wavefront. Beamforming in the near field can also be referred to as beam focusing.

[0098] If the nonlinear phase term Then the distance r between the WTRU (e.g., user) and the (m,n)th antenna element in equation (2) is m,n Can be simplified to

[0099] or

[0100] r m,n≈d0-(mα1+nα2)Δ. (Equation 3)

[0101] According to Equation 3, the distance between the (m,n)th antenna element and the WTRU can become a linear relationship. By using Equation (3), the phase shift between the (m,n)th antenna element and the WTRU can be expressed as

[0102]

[0103] According to equation (4), the phase shift between the WTRU and the (m,n)th antenna element can be simplified to a linear phase, which can depend on (e.g., only on) the AOD information (e.g., elevation angle, zenith angle / elevation angle, etc.). Based on this, if the nonlinear term in equation (2) disappears, then the far-field condition can appear.

[0104] The near field region may be further divided into two regions, e.g., near field region I and near field region II. The division may be determined based on the distance between the WTRU and the center of the array or metasurface. For example, if the distance between the WTRU and the center of the array or metasurface is greater than ηD (e.g., η=8), then the near field region I criterion may be met. In near field region I, the near field channel coefficient (or gain) may depend on d0 of one or more (e.g., all) antenna elements (e.g., as if under the far field assumption), but the phase shift between the (m,n)th antenna element and the WTRU may depend on the distance between the WTRU and (e.g., each) (m,n)th antenna element position, e.g., r m,n .

[0105] It should be noted that the array aperture D may not be infinite, because, for example, if the array aperture D is larger than a threshold (e.g., 10 meters), the channel gain may not increase proportionally with the array aperture D. It may be assumed that the near-field region II may be limited to a small range (e.g., in terms of distance). If the near-field region II condition is met (e.g., the distance between the WTRU and the center of the array or metasurface d0 ≤ ηD), the channel coefficient and / or channel gain may depend on And the phase shift between the (m,n)th antenna element and the WTRU may be in near-field region I.

[0106] Figure 3 The near-field and far-field regions of an M×N array or metasurface are shown.

[0107] Equation (1) shown in this document can be applied to the non-LOS (NLOS) path case. If there is an NLOS path between the WTRU and the array or surface, then Equation (1) may hold and / or the phase shift between the WTRU and the (m,n)th antenna element may be equal to the distance between the scatterer and the center of the (m,n)th antenna element, such as Figure 4 As shown. This may be because the phase shift between the WTRU and the NLOS path to the (m,n)th antenna element may depend on (e.g., only on) the distance between the scatterer and the center of the (m,n)th antenna element. If there is no LOS path between the WTRU and the gNB (e.g., there is only an NLOS path between the WTRU and the gNB), the distance between the WTRU and the gNB may be defined as the distance from the WTRU to the scatterer, and the angles (e.g., θ and θ) may be based on the direction from the scatterer to the gNB. This may be because the distance of the gNB-to-scatterer path may be common to multiple (e.g., all) antenna elements, and therefore the phase shift from the WTRU to the scatterer may be calculated.

[0108] The effective Rayleigh distance can be determined and / or used to improve the demarcation of the far field and / or near field. Such an effective Rayleigh distance can be smaller than a conventional Rayleigh distance. The effective Rayleigh distance can be related to the AOD direction (e.g., θ). The effective Rayleigh distance can be defined from the perspective of array gain, which can affect the transmission rate, and therefore, the effective Rayleigh distance can be an accurate measure for determining the near field range of actual communication. The effective Rayleigh distance can be defined as follows:

[0109]

[0110] Where ε = 0.367.

[0111] Based on the effective Rayleigh distance defined by equation (5), the conventional Rayleigh distance (RD) may be overestimated. The effective Rayleigh distance can be used to determine the demarcation boundaries of the far field and / or the near field. The effective Rayleigh distance can have the same (e.g., substantially similar) properties as the conventional Rayleigh distance. For example, the effective Rayleigh distance can be proportional to the inverse of the wavelength and / or the square of the array aperture.

[0112] According to the near-field standard, an accurate spherical wave model may be employed for the channel model described herein. The vector w(d0, θ, φ) for near-field beamforming (e.g., which may be used for beam focusing) may depend on parameters such as distance (e.g., d0) and / or angle (e.g., (θ, φ)). The generated near-field beam may focus the signal energy around or on a desired location (e.g., a WTRU location having a spatial direction (θ, φ)). A beam-focused beam may focus the beam energy on (e.g., only on) a specific location in a spatial direction. Such a beam-focused beam may be referred to herein as a spot beam.

[0113] Beam focusing may be considered for the near field. Near-field conditions may arise, for example, if the array or metasurface size increases and / or the link distance decreases. When such conditions arise, conventional beamforming techniques for the far field may not ensure array gain in the near field because, for example, conventional beamforming may consider elevation and / or azimuth angles without considering near-field conditions, which may be associated with three parameters such as distance (e.g., the distance between the WTRU and the center of the array or surface), elevation angle, and / or azimuth angle information.

[0114] Beam focusing can be used to enhance communication performance in the near field. Beam focusing can be achieved, for example, by adjusting beamforming weights applied at the transmitter side, taking into account the distance, elevation, and azimuth angles between the WTRU and (e.g., each) antenna element. Spherical wavefronts can be used to achieve beam focusing (e.g., which can also be referred to as near-field beamforming) so that the signal can be focused at a specific location.

[0115] Beam focusing operations may be performed based on the distance between the WTRU and a base station (e.g., a gNB). A beam focused beam may direct the beam energy in a spatial direction to a specific location. The specific location may depend on the distance between the WTRU and the center of the array. The WTRU may determine whether it is in a near-field condition for receiving a beam focused beam (e.g., a spot beam).

[0116] CSI acquisition and / or reporting associated with beam-focusing operations under near-field standards can be performed. Array gain can be a factor in determining link budget and throughput in a wireless communication system. If the transmit array aperture D (note that the transmit array aperture can be for a UE, gNB, or both) is determined and / or the operating frequency is fixed, the Rayleigh distance or effective Rayleigh distance can be known. The near-field standard can depend on the array aperture D at the operating frequency. For a given Rayleigh distance or effective Rayleigh distance, the (e.g., minimum) number of antennas in a UPA with aperture D can be determined. For example, the number of antennas in an array can be large, as shown in Table 2. Therefore, transmitting using antennas within the UPA aperture may involve a large amount of CSI information, which may be difficult to obtain. For example, the maximum number of CSI-RS ports used for CSI acquisition may be limited (e.g., to 32 ports). Therefore, to support CSI acquisition for more than the maximum number of CSI-RS ports (e.g., more than 32 ports), the existing CSI acquisition framework can be extended. Increasing the number of CSI-RS ports used for CSI acquisition may also increase CSI-RS resource overhead in the downlink (DL) and / or feedback overhead in the uplink (UL).

[0117] Based on equation (4) provided herein, if the WTRU is in a far-field condition (e.g., where the distance between the WTRU and one or more (e.g., all) antenna elements is greater than the Rayleigh distance or the effective Rayleigh distance), CSI acquisition between the WTRU and the gNB / TRP may be simplified to estimate the far-field AOD / AOA under far-field conditions. Under these far-field conditions, CSI acquisition may be easier because, for example, it may not be necessary to estimate the phase shift between the WTRU and (e.g., each) antenna element in the array or surface and / or the distance between the WTRU and the array or surface. Under far-field conditions, the phase shift between the WTRU and the array or surface (e.g., the center of the array or surface) may be estimated.

[0118] A network entity, such as a base station (e.g., a gNB or another network device), may have knowledge of the approximate distance between the WTRU and the network entity. For example, such knowledge may be obtained based on an estimate of PRACH propagation delay, distance estimates obtained via WTRU positioning techniques using gNB / TRP-based sensing, and / or based on the WTRU's Global Positioning System (GPS) information (if available). If the network entity has distance information and / or the ability to determine whether the WTRU is in near-field, the network entity may use the information to decide whether to proceed with near-field CSI acquisition (e.g., if the WTRU is determined to be in near-field conditions). The distance and / or position estimate may be used as a factor in determining whether the WTRU is in near-field conditions before performing CSI acquisition. The network entity performs distance estimation before performing near-field CSI acquisition.

[0119] Methods for reducing near-field effects may include reducing the effective transmit array aperture and / or the Rayleigh distance or the effective Rayleigh distance. Using a small transmit array aperture for beamforming may mean using a wider beam to send reference signals (e.g., beamformed CSI-RS). Using a wider beam may mean that the beam width is wider and / or the angle of beamforming is wider. In these cases, the WTRU may not be able to extract angular information directly from the wider beam width. The small transmission area may also make it difficult to achieve high array gain. Near-field beam training (e.g., beam focusing) may be derived from far-field beam training. The array may be divided into multiple sub-arrays, and it may be assumed that the WTRU is within the near-field range of the array and within the far-field range of (e.g., each) sub-array.

[0120] A network entity (such as a gNB or another network device) may select an appropriate transmit array aperture to balance near-field effects, beamforming resolution, and array gain. Using a small transmit array aperture may reduce the size of the near-field region. A network entity may choose to use a larger transmit aperture for the WTRU to achieve better array gain and / or beamforming resolution (e.g., so that data throughput may be increased). If the effective transmit aperture becomes larger, the near-field effects may also become larger, and a larger number of transmit antenna elements may be used for transmission. In these cases, full CSI acquisition may become challenging. Therefore, a full CSI acquisition (e.g., for the near-field) may be decomposed into multiple partial CSI acquisitions, which may be associated with respective sub-arrays. In this way, full CSI acquisition for the near-field may be accomplished using partial CSI acquisitions.

[0121] Obtaining complete CSI from partial CSI can be advantageous. For example, the CSI resources associated with the complete CSI can be reduced and the feedback overhead can also be reduced. For example, to obtain complete CSI from an array with M = 100 antenna elements, 100 CSI-RS ports can be used (e.g., assuming no beamforming is applied to the antenna ports), and this can result in greater CSI-RS resource usage and / or feedback overhead. If the complete CSI is obtained based on partial CSI, CSI-RS resources (such as antenna ports) can be saved and / or feedback information can be reduced.

[0122] Partial CSI can be obtained using different techniques. Figure 5 An example of a design is shown in FIG. 5 , where some smaller transmission areas (eg, subarray S i , i=1......N S , each of which can be combined with M i A network entity, such as a base station (e.g., gNB) or another network device may select some antenna elements (e.g., M antenna elements) from a large array of M antenna elements for partial CSI acquisition. i In this case, you can use M i<M antenna ports for partial CSI acquisition. The selection or partitioning of the sub-arrays can be dynamically adjusted based on channel conditions and can be WTRU-specific. In this way, it can be assumed that the WTRU is within the near-field range of the large array and within the far-field range of (e.g., each) sub-array. The large array (or a portion of the large array) can be divided into multiple sub-arrays, where the multiple sub-arrays can share a common phase shift (e.g., using the same phase adjustment). A network entity can utilize the CSI reports associated with the sub-arrays to extract angular information (e.g., regarding far-field channel conditions) and can obtain a partial CSI report based on this operation. Then, the network entity can construct a complete CSI report based on one or more such partial CSI reports. For example, if a UPA is equipped with 100 antennas and it is assumed that all antennas are used for CSI acquisition, then N1N2 = 100 CSI-RS ports can be used for CSI reporting (e.g., if single polarization is assumed). If N S (e.g., N S = 2) sub-arrays Si (e.g., i = 1, 2) are selected for partial CSI reporting, and each sub-array Si is associated with M i (such as M i = 25 = 5×5) antenna elements, where i = 1, 2, then 25 CSI-RS ports can be used for CSI reporting (e.g., partial CSI reporting), saving 50% of the CSI-RS resources (e.g., 50 CSI-RS ports versus 100 CSI-RS ports).

[0123] A network entity (such as a base station or another network device) can group the antenna elements contained within a sub-array (e.g., a square sub-array) into subgroups to share substantially the same phase shift. This may be because for a change in angle (e.g., elevation and / or azimuth), the distance between the WTRU and (e.g., each) element within the same subgroup can be small. In this way, the number of phase shift estimations can be reduced, e.g., to the number of divided sub-arrays.

[0124] Figure 6 Illustrates an example of dividing a large array into three sub-arrays for a WTRU to perform CSI acquisition. In this example, three CSI reports can be configured for the WTRU to perform CSI acquisition. Each CSI acquisition can be considered for far-field conditions (e.g., similar to conventional CSI estimation). Within the same sub-array, the phase shift can be considered the same. In this way, the phase shift between the WTRU and (e.g., each) element in the large array can be reduced. Spatial parameters (such as elevation and azimuth) can be estimated separately from (e.g., each) sub-array. For example, as Figure 6As shown, these spatial direction parameters can be estimated, for example, (θ1,φ1), (θ2,φ2),…, (θ Q＝3 ,φ Q＝3 ).

[0125] In an example, if there is a LOS path between (eg, each) subarray and the WTRU, then for spatial directions (eg, (θ1, φ1), (θ2, φ2), ..., (θ Q ,φ Q )) estimates may be applied (e.g., directly applied) to the angle of arrival (AOA) and angle of departure (AOD) estimates between the WTRU and (e.g., each) subarray. If a LOS path exists between the WTRU and (e.g., each) subarray in the array, then full CSI may be obtained. If a NLOS path exists between the WTRU and the subarray, then spatial direction estimation may become more challenging (e.g., compared to the LOS case). This may be because the NLOS path may be associated with weaker signal strength. A network entity (such as a base station or another network device) may schedule the WTRU to transmit an SRS to obtain initial CSI (e.g., by leveraging channel reciprocity in a TDD system to assist in full DL CSI acquisition).

[0126] Partial CSI acquisition may be performed as follows. The WTRU may be configured with multiple CSI reports (e.g., in a CSI report group), and (e.g., each) CSI report in the configured multiple CSI reports (or CSI report group) may correspond to a separate CSI resource of a subarray. In this way, the complete CSI may be divided into multiple partial CSIs, and (e.g., each) partial CSI may be associated with a subarray or subsurface (e.g., the WTRU may be configured with multiple CSI reports in a CSI report group, and each CSI report may be associated with a partial CSI of a subarray / subsurface).

[0127] As described herein, multiple CSI reports, such as CSI reports #1, ... #Q (e.g., Q may be equal to 1 to support a single CSI report in a CSI report group), may be grouped into a CSI report group (e.g., because these CSI reports may be associated with a subarray of the same array). (e.g., each) CSI report in a CSI report group may be configured by the network (e.g., via a CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE)), for example, with a reporting amount (or type) set to "CSI compression." This reporting amount may distinguish partial CSI reports (e.g., in a CSI report group) from existing CSI reporting amounts (such as rank indication (RI), channel quality indication (CQI), precoding matrix indication (PMI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), etc.). The WTRU may compress the partial CSI reports #1, ... #Q.

[0128] For partial CSI reporting as described herein (e.g., with reporting quantity set to "CSI compression"), one or more CSI-RS ports in the CSI-RS resource configuration may be used for channel estimation (e.g., similar to the CSI-RS ports used for PMI reporting). The CSI-RS ports may correspond to respective transmit (logical) antennas. The CSI-RS resource used for partial CSI reporting may have multiple CSI-RS ports. For example, Figure 7 As shown, a CSI report group can be configured with multiple CSI ports (e.g., CSI ports 1, 2, 3, and 4), each CSI report can have its own CSI-RS resource configuration and / or the configured CSI-RS resource can be associated with multiple CSI-RS ports (e.g., Q-4 CSI-RS ports can be configured for a CSI-RS resource). The transmit antennas in the subarray can be mapped to the CSI-RS ports associated with the CSI-RS resources so that CSI can be determined based on the CSI-RS ports.

[0129] The WTRU may use one or more CSI-RS ports associated with a CSI-RS resource. The non-precoded reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS) received via DL at the p-th port and at the Rx antenna using the k-th subcarrier / resource element (RE) may be represented as

[0130] y k,p =h k,p +n k,p Formula (5)

[0131] If the received reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS) is precoded, then (·) H It can be expressed as conjugate transpose, h kIt can represent the CSI at the kth subcarrier, h k,p ∈N b ×1 can represent the CSI vector of port p at the kth subcarrier, w∈N b ×1 can represent the corresponding precoding vector, and n k The DL CSI matrix q for the qth CSI report (q=1...Q) can be formed as follows:

[0132] H q =[h1...h P ], formula (6)

[0133] If RS is for port p, then It can represent the channel vector, (·) T The bandwidth of the CSI report q may be based on wideband or narrowband. For example, the bandwidth of the CSI report q may be configured via RRC or MAC configuration.

[0134] The WTRU may perform CSI compression so that the H of the CSI report q may be reported at the WTRU. q Encoding is performed (e.g., to reduce feedback overhead). q Assumptions based on far-field conditions can be made since small arrays can be used for CSI H q Let f en (H q ) indicates the CSI H q The WTRU may report the quantized compressed CSI f in the CSI report. en (H q ). Quantized compression CSIf en (H q ) can represent f qu (f en (H q )), where f qu (·) can represent a quantization function. Compression algorithm f en (·) Can be based on AI / ML or feature vector algorithms.

[0135] The WTRU may quantize the bits f qu (f en (H q )) is fed back to the base station (e.g., gNB / NB). Once the base station receives the quantized compressed CSIf from the WTRU qu (f en (H q )), q = 1, ..., Q, (eg, each) CSIHq (q=1,...,Q) can be recovered by the base station. The recovered DL CSI matrix for CSI report q can be expressed as follows:

[0136]

[0137] Multiple CSI reports or CSI report groups (e.g., CSI reports q=1, ..., Q) can be fed back to the base station (or another network device) separately, for example, via multiple feedback channels (e.g., long PUCCH or PUSCH), or the CSI reports can be fed back to the base station jointly via a feedback channel (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., Q) CSI reports in a CSI report group can be jointly compressed. This may be because channels H1, H2, ..., H Q Can have high correlation, so joint compression can achieve better compression gain than individual compression. The encoder can take Q channels as input to jointly compress Q channels, and the joint CSI compression function can be expressed as f en (H1,H2,...H Q ). Quantized compressed CSI bits f qu (f en (H1,H2,...H Q )) can be used for joint feedback of Q CSI reports. The joint compression indication can be included in the CSI report configuration.

[0138] An example method for CSI acquisition associated with near-field beam focusing may include the following steps.

[0139] In 0, the WTRU may be scheduled for SRS transmission. For TDD systems, the base station (e.g., gNB) may obtain CSI information by exploiting the DL / UL reciprocity of angle and delay. In these cases, the base station may send beamformed CSI-RS to the WTRU.

[0140] In 1, a WTRU may be triggered with a CSI report group. A CSI report group may include multiple CSI reports. The type of one or more CSI reports (eg, each CSI report) may have a report type set to a specific value, such as "CSI compression".

[0141] In step 2, the WTRU may perform CSI acquisition based on the CSI reporting configuration. The CSI reporting configuration may correspond to the CSI resource configuration. The WTRU may perform CSI compression (e.g., individually) on the CSI reports associated with the CSI reporting configuration. The WTRU may perform joint CSI compression (e.g., joint CSI compression of multiple CSI reports) for joint CSI feedback.

[0142] In 3, the WTRU may feed back the quantized bits of (e.g., each) CSI report to the base station. Distance estimation (e.g., for the distance between the WTRU and the base station) may be performed based on the CSI report at the base station. For example, the base station may use the CSI feedback received from the WTRU to extract angle information (e.g., AoD, AoA, etc.) and / or path delay information to perform distance estimation. The base station may request the WTRU to report the time of arrival (ToA) or difference in ToA (DToA) of the CSI-RS configured for (e.g., each) CSI report in the CSI reporting group. The ToA may be associated with the CSI feedback report. Thus, the range difference between the subarrays may be obtained, and the base station may perform distance estimation based on positioning or position estimation (e.g., based on TDoA-AOD positioning techniques).

[0143] In step 4, the WTRU may be scheduled to perform SRS transmission, for example, to assist in DL full CSI acquisition. This operation may also be performed before the operation in step 1.

[0144] In step 5, the base station may obtain partial CSI from the received feedback CSI report. The base station may extract spatial parameters (e.g., zenith angle / elevation angle and / or azimuth angle) from the partial CSI. The base station may construct the complete CSI and / or estimate the distance between the WTRU and the center of the antenna array based on the partial CSI (e.g., partial CSI #1, ... #Q).

[0145] In step 6, the base station may construct a near-field beamforming vector (e.g., for beam focusing) based on the estimated distance and / or angle information that may be obtained from the estimated CSI. This near-field beamforming vector may be associated with the beam-focused CSI-RS sent to the WTRU. The WTRU may measure the beam-focused CSI-RS and / or may report / feed back a selected CSI-RSId or index (e.g., CRI) associated with the L1-RSRP or L1-SINR to the base station. The base station may determine or adjust the beam-focused beam (e.g., based on the report / feedback from the WTRU) for PDSCH transmission.

[0146] Figure 8The figure illustrates an example of near-field CSI acquisition without WTRU assistance (e.g., omitting the operations described in 4 above that may be associated with a WTRU that is scheduled for SRS transmission and CSI reporting). The example illustrates a process that may be performed to process a set of CSI reports to determine the beam focusing associated with a DL transmission. As shown, a base station (e.g., a gNB) may configure the WTRU with subarray-based CSI reporting, for example, to obtain the spatial direction of one or more beams. The WTRU may assume that the far-field criterion is valid and may report the ToA as assistance information for the base station to calculate the range difference between the subarrays. The base station may send one or more beam-focused CSI-RS to the WTRU to select a preferred spot beam. The WTRU may report the selected beam (e.g., via CRI) and / or the corresponding L1-RSRP or L1-SINR. The base station may use the full array to generate a single spot beam (e.g., a beam-focused beam) or multiple spot beams for data (e.g., PDSCH) transmission.

[0147] The WTRU may be triggered to generate and / or send multiple CSI reports (e.g., up to 16 CSI reports) during an aperiodic CSI reporting period, and each CSI report may be associated with a CSI resource set. For CSI reporting based on aperiodic (AP) CSI-RS reporting, the QCL assumption or TCI state for the CSI reporting may be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling). In an example, the multiple CSI reports may be independent of each other (e.g., because the CSI reports may be from different TRPs, and these TRPs may be located in different geographical locations). In an example, for example, when a base station triggers multiple CSI reports for different subarrays in the same large array (e.g., such as Figure 6 When near-field CSI acquisition is performed using a CSI report group (as shown in FIG. 1 ), the triggered CSI reports may be highly correlated (e.g., they may have similar spatial orientations and / or path delays). A CSI report group may be configured and / or used to indicate to the WTRU that the CSI reports included in the CSI report group may be highly correlated with each other. Such a CSI report group may have one or more of the following properties.

[0148] Multiple CSI reports may be configured to belong to a CSI group. The WTRU may assume that the CSI reports may be mapped to different sub-arrays, e.g. Figure 7 An AP CSI report may be triggered, which may include multiple CSI reports, and some of the CSI reports may be configured to belong to the same group in this triggering.

[0149] The group indication may be provided as follows: The group indication may be indicated in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerState information element (IE). The aperiodic trigger state may be configured for up to Q CSI reports, and each CSI report may be associated with a bit field to indicate whether the CSI reports belong to the same CSI group. For example, if an AP CSI report is triggered by DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_1 / 0_2) and K (e.g., K=8) CSI reports (e.g., for respective subarrays) are associated with the AP CSI report, then a K-bit field (such as a bitmap of '11110000') may be used to signal that the four CSI reports are in the same CSI report group (e.g., bit = '1' may indicate that the corresponding CSI report belongs to the group).

[0150] The grouping indication may be indicated in the CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo IE. In this case, 'groupId' may be included in the CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo IE to indicate the group ID in the corresponding reporting configuration. For example, if an AP CSI report is triggered by DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_1 / 0_2) and K (e.g., K=8) CSI reports (e.g., for respective subarrays) are associated with the AP CSI report, then K CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfos may be configured for each AP CSI report, and the groupId in the K CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfos may indicate to the WTRU which CSI report(s) belong to the group with the groupId.

[0151] The grouping indication may be provided using CSI-RS bundling. In this case, (e.g., each) CSI-RS report may be configured with a CSI-RS resource set, and the CSI-RS resources configured in the CSI-RS resource set may be bundled with other CSI-RS resources in different CSI-RS reports. The WTRU may determine, based on the bundled CSI-RS, that the bundled CSI-RS is associated with a subarray in a larger array associated with a TRP.

[0152] The grouping indication may be provided via RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI, and the grouping indication may indicate joint feedback for CSI reports in the same group. For example, if an AP CSI report is triggered by DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_1 / 0_2) and K (e.g., K=8) CSI reports (e.g., for respective subarrays) are associated with the AP CSI report, if 4 of the K CSI reports are configured to be in the same group, and / or if joint feedback is enabled, the DCI may be used to schedule a PUSCH, which may carry 5 CSI feedback reports (e.g., 1 feedback report for the 4 CSI reports that belong to the group plus the other 4 feedback reports for the CSI reports that do not belong to the group).

[0153] The WTRU may provide assistance for CSI acquisition. A base station (such as a gNB) may partition a large array into multiple subarrays and may configure CSI reporting for the subarrays for far-field CSI. The base station may synthesize the complete CSI based on the CSI associated with the subarrays and may use the complete CSI to perform beam focusing. Synthesizing the complete CSI based on the subarray CSI may use assistance parameters such as an estimated distance (e.g., the distance between the WTRU and the center of the array). The base station (or another network device) may request the WTRU to send an SRS before or after the subarray CSI, for example, to enhance the complete CSI acquisition performance. For example, the CSI-RS corresponding to the middle subarray may be used as a spatial reference, where the middle subarray may be the subarray that includes the center of the array (e.g., such as Figure 7 Subarray #2 is shown. The base station may schedule multiple SRS transmissions, and each SRS transmission may be associated with a different QCL hypothesis. In this manner, the base station may utilize angle and / or path delay information (e.g., for TDD systems), and the base station may send beamformed CSI-RS to the WTRU for CSI reporting.

[0154] Figure 9 The figure illustrates an example of near-field CSI acquisition with WTRU assistance (e.g., for performing beam focusing associated with DL transmissions). As shown, a base station (such as a gNB) may request or schedule the WTRU to send one or more SRSs to obtain initial channel state information. The base station may use different subarrays for SRS reception and may record ToA information for each scheduled SRS. The base station may configure one or more subarray-based CSI reports for CSI acquisition. The CSI may be beamformed and the WTRU may assume that the far-field criterion is valid. In some examples, the WTRU may report ToA as assistance information to the base station to calculate the range difference between the subarrays.

[0155] The base station may send one or more beam-focused CSI-RS to the WTRU to select a preferred spot beam, and the WTRU may report the selected beam (e.g., via CRI) and the corresponding L1-RSRP and / or L1-SINR to the base station. The base station may use the full array to generate a single spot beam or multiple spot beams for data (e.g., PDSCH) transmission.

[0156] Near-field beam training can be derived from far-field beam training. For far-field beam training, spatial angle information can be estimated. Vectors for near-field beamforming for the WTRU can be obtained based on partial CSI of multiple subarrays. The spatial direction (e.g., each) in the far-field subarray can determine the spatial angle, and the correlation distance can be assumed to be very large so that near-field properties can be ignored. Therefore, the vectors for near-field beamforming that can be associated with beam focusing can be synthesized using the estimated spatial angle in the far field.

[0157] Estimating the vector for beamforming in the near field for beam focusing may be based on distance information. Therefore, beam focusing is more challenging than beamforming (e.g., in the far field). A beam-focused beam may focus the beam energy to a specific location in a spatial direction. Therefore, a beam-focused beam may also be referred to as a spot beam (e.g., to indicate that the beam energy is focused on a specific point in a spatial direction). For example, Figure 10 As shown, three spot beams may be applied to WTRU1, WTRU2, and WTRU3, where WTRU1 and WTRU2 may share the same spatial direction. If WTRU1 and WTRU2 are in a far-field condition, a single beam (e.g., only a single beam) may be applied to WTRU1 and WTRU2 because they are in the same spatial direction. Thus, the WTRU may be informed whether it is in a near-field condition or a far-field condition.

[0158] A near field indicator may be provided. The QCL framework may assist the WTRU in setting or adjusting its receive spatial filters, such as DL Rx beams, which may be considered as Rx parameters. The WTRU may find a suitable spatial filter based on the QCL source RS and apply the spatial filter to the QCL target RS. The WTRU may operate under the assumption that it is in the far field (e.g., receiving a plane wave as it would in the far field), for example, when the WTRU estimates Rx parameters (such as AoA) from the source Rx. The WTRU may apply the estimated Rx parameters (such as AoA) to the reception of the target RS. If the WTRU is in the near field of the transmit array (e.g., for estimating Rx parameters from the source RS and / or applying them to the target RS), the far field assumption may be inaccurate, which may result in inaccurate Rx parameter estimates and / or inaccurate spatial filters. The appropriate estimation method for Rx parameters may be different in the near field compared to in the far field. Suitable parameter estimation in the near field may assume that spherical waves are received at the WTRU antenna array (eg, rather than plane waves, as in the far field).

[0159] When setting or adjusting the spatial filter for the target RS based on the parameter estimation from the source RS, the WTRU may consider additional Rx parameters (e.g., instead of the Rx parameter(s) used in the far field, such as AoA). An example additional Rx parameter may be an angular spread, which may be estimated from the source RS and applied to the receive spatial filter for the target RS. In the far field, the WTRU may form a narrow Rx beam in the direction of the estimated AoA, while in the near field, the WTRU may form a wider beam (e.g., with a wider angular spread) in the direction of the estimated AoA, for example, to receive more signal energy from the entire transmit array. TCI state enhancement may be implemented for beam focusing, for example, to indicate whether the WTRU is in the near field or in the far field.

[0160] The network may provide an indication to the WTRU as to whether the WTRU is in the far field or in the near field. The indication may be set with a single bit or multiple bits, and the WTRU may use the indication to adjust its Rx parameters, such as DL receive beam, to receive a spot beam or multiple spot beams.

[0161] In some examples, the WTRU may use the spatial filters used for DL reception as the spatial transmit filters for UL transmission, for example, if the WTRU supports beam mapping or if the DL RS is configured as the spatial reference for UL transmission. If the WTRU sets or adjusts its spatial receive filters based on the near-field indicator, and the WTRU uses the spatial receive filters as spatial transmit filters, the near-field indicator may affect (e.g., indirectly) the spatial transmit filters used for UL transmission.

[0162] The near field / far field indicator may be indicated in a MAC CE (such as a MAC CE that may activate a TCI state). For example, a near field indicator for each activated TCI state may be included in the MAC CE, or a near field indicator applicable to multiple (e.g., all) activated TCI states may be included in the MAC CE. The near field indicator may be included in a DCI that may select a TCI state. The near field indicator may be provided to the WTRU as an RRC configuration parameter.

[0163] There is an example scenario where a near field indication for each TCI state may be applicable when the TCI state is for a sub-array of a full array (e.g., without a TCI state indicating near field) and / or when the TCI state is for a full array (e.g., with a TCI state indicating near field).

[0164] The WTRU may be in an area of multiple (e.g., two) TRPs with multiple large arrays, and the WTRU may be in the near field of the first TRP and in the far field of the second TRP. For signals and channels transmitted from the first TRP, the WTRU may apply the near field assumption, while for signals and channels transmitted from the second TRP, the WTRU may apply the far field assumption. This may be achieved by indicating the near field for the TCI state associated with the first TRP instead of indicating the near field for the TCI state associated with the second TRP. If the WTRU is scheduled to receive signals / channels (e.g., PDSCH) from the complete array of the first TRP, the WTRU may use(s) Rx parameters, such as a sufficiently wide Rx beam, based on the near field assumption. If the WTRU is scheduled to receive signals / channels (e.g., PDSCH) from the complete array of the second TRP, the WTRU may use(s) Rx parameters, such as a narrow Rx beam, based on the far field assumption.

[0165] In some examples, the assumption of whether the WTRU is in the near field or in the far field may apply to some reference signals, such as PDSCH DM-RS and / or PDCCH DM-RS. For some reference signals, such as TRS, the WTRU may assume far field regardless of the near field indicator.

[0166] The TCI state may be associated with a distance parameter (e.g., if the WTRU uses that TCI state). In this case, the WTRU may assume the distance associated with the TCI state. The near field indicator may include a distance parameter. The distance may be related to the Rayleigh distance (R) or the effective Rayleigh distance described herein. The Rayleigh distance may indicate a near field condition or a far field condition in a manner that may not require the WTRU to know the size of the TRP array (or subarray). In an example using a binary near field indicator (e.g., a distance parameter), the first indicator value may correspond to a distance greater than (or equal to) the Rayleigh distance R, and the second indicator value may correspond to a distance less than (or equal to) the Rayleigh distance R. In an example using a 2-bit near field indicator (e.g., a distance parameter), the first value may correspond to a distance greater than the Rayleigh distance R, the second value may correspond to a distance between ε1R and R, the third value may correspond to a distance between ε2R and ε1R, and the fourth value may correspond to a distance between ε3R and ε2R, where 0≤ε3<ε2<ε1<1 (e.g., ε3=0, ε3=1, ε2=2, ε1=1). ). ε i The value of can be based on a predefined value or based on RRC configuration information. i The value of may be updated, for example, by a MAC CE. In some examples, the distance parameter may be the actual distance between the WTRU and the array (eg, the center of the array), for example, in meters.

[0167] The bundled CSI-RS may be used to indicate to the WTRU that (e.g., each) CSI-RS in the bundle may be associated with a sub-array in a large array (e.g., a large array of TRPs), for example, as Figure 11 As shown. In this way, the WTRU may determine that certain configured CSI-RS may be from the same array (e.g., an array of a TRP). Based on this determination, the WTRU may utilize relevant information such as AoA, AoD, and / or path delay of sub-arrays from the same array. In an example, a large array may be formed based on multiple panels associated with a TRP, and some CSI-RS may be bundled to indicate that these CSI-RS may be associated with a panel or sub-panel from the same TRP.

[0168] The WTRU may estimate a bundle of multiple Rx parameters (e.g., multiple AoAs) from a bundle of multiple RSs and may use the bundle of Rx parameters to determine the spatial receive filter of the target RS (e.g., PDSCH DMRS). For example, the WTRU may estimate Q (e.g., two) AoAs from a bundle of Q (e.g., two) CSI-RSs. The Q (e.g., two) CSI-RSs may be transmitted from the Q subarrays at the top right and bottom left corners of the array, as shown in FIG. Figure 11As shown (e.g., the bundle of Q estimated AoAs may span the angular spread of the signal received from the full array). The WTRU may use the bundle of AoAs to determine the spatial receive filter of the target RS. For example, the WTRU Rx beam corresponding to the spatial receive filter may be wide enough to receive signals between a bundle of angles with sufficient gain. For example, if the Q (e.g., two) AoAs are (horizontal +10 degrees, vertical +20 degrees) and (horizontal -10 degrees, vertical -20 degrees), the corresponding WTRU Rx beam (e.g., beamwidth) may be such that it can provide gain between -10 degrees and +10 degrees horizontal angles and gain between -20 degrees and +20 degrees vertical angles.

[0169] The network (e.g., a base station) may indicate to the WTRU that it may use a bundle of RSs to determine the spatial Rx parameters of the target RS. For example, when determining the spatial receive filter (e.g., if the network activates or indicates multiple RSs as QCL source RSs for the target RS (e.g., QCL source RSs of QCL type D), such as PDSCH DMRS), the WTRU may use the near-field assumption. In some examples, if multiple RSs are activated (or suitable) as QCL sources (e.g., type D) for the target RS, the WTRU may be configured to use the near-field assumption. If not configured to use the near-field assumption, the WTRU may use the legacy behavior when multiple RSs are activated as QCL sources (e.g., applying different QCL assumptions to different target RS antenna ports, etc.). In some examples, a MAC CE (e.g., a MAC CE for activating a TCI state, which may include QCL source RSs) may be used to indicate to the WTRU that it may use the near-field assumption if multiple RSs are activated or indicated for the target RS.

[0170] The WTRU may be configured with CSI-RS bundling. For example, the WTRU may consider a set of CSI-RSs in a set of TCI states (e.g., source RSs) applicable for PDCCH / PDSCH reception as a CSI-RS bundle. The TCI state may be applicable for PDCCH / PDSCH reception, for example, if the TCI state has been activated via a MAC CE and / or if it has been indicated in the DCI state (e.g., the TCI state is associated with the indicated TCI code point). Bundling may be implemented using a MAC CE, for example, by mapping the TCI states including the CSI-RSs to the same TCI code point.

[0171] The TCI state configuration may include CSI-RS bundling (e.g., a set of CSI-RS). For example, an enhanced TCI state configuration may include multiple CSI-RS resource IDs applicable to spatial Rx parameters. If this TCI state is applicable for PDSCH reception, the WTRU may use this set of CSI-RS in the TCI state as the CSI-RS bundle.

[0172] The WTRU may be configured or informed that CSI-RS bundling may be used to derive Rx parameters for DL transmissions (e.g., PDSCH). This may be achieved by CSI-RS bundling in (or associated with) activated TCI state(s) for PDSCH, association between PDSCH and CSI reporting groups, etc. For example, the WTRU may receive CSI-RS bundling with a narrow beam / far field assumption and may estimate a bundle of Rx parameters (e.g., two AoAs) to determine the Rx parameters for reception. In this way, the WTRU may receive a PDSCH transmission with a wide WTRU Rx beam that may be based on a bundle of Rx parameters (e.g., two AoAs).

[0173] A CSI report group may be associated with a bundled CSI-RS. (e.g., each) CSI-RS report in a CSI report group may be configured with a CSI-RS resource set, and the CSI-RS resources configured in the CSI-RS resource set may be bundled with other CSI-RS resources associated with different CSI-RS reports. The WTRU may determine based on the bundled CSI-RS that these bundled CSI-RS may be associated with a sub-array in a large array of TRPs. The WTRU may determine a CSI report group from the bundled CSI-RS, which may be associated with multiple CSI reports. For example, the WTRU may be triggered with 4 CSI reports, and there may be 4 bundled CSI-RSs (e.g., in the same CSI-RS resource set or different CSI-RS resource sets). If each bundled CSI-RS is associated with a CSI-RS report, the WTRU may determine that the triggered CSI reports may belong to the same CSI report group. For example, a WTRU may be triggered with 4 CSI reports, and 4 bundled CSI-RS {CSI-RS#1, CSI-RS#2, CSI-RS#3, CSI-RS#4} (e.g., the bundled CSI-RSs may be in the same CSI-RS resource set or in different CSI-RS resource sets) may be allocated to the CSI reports (e.g., CSI-RS#1 may be configured for CSI report#1, CSI-RS#2 may be configured for CSI report#2...CSI-RS#4 may be configured for CSI report#4). Because each bundled CSI-RS in the bundle is associated with a corresponding configured CSI-RS report, the WTRU may determine that the triggered CSI reports are in the same CSI report group.

[0174] A set of spot beams can cover a specific range of spatial areas, e.g. Figure 10 This may be because the vector for near-field beamforming (e.g., the vector for beam focusing) can use distance information and / or far-field angle information (e.g., as shown in equation (4)), and the spot beam can focus the beam energy to a specific location. Therefore, the probability of interference between WTRUs can be very low.

[0175] The WTRU may select the best L1-RSRP or L1-SINR spot beam and may report this selection to the base station. The base station may use the selected spot beam(s) for accurate range estimation (e.g., because the beamforming vectors may be based on range information).

[0176] Multiple spot beams may be sent (e.g., simultaneously) to a WTRU, for example, to avoid losing beam focus on a spot beam due to rotation or slow movement of the WTRU. For example, a base station may send multiple scheduled PDSCH transmissions (e.g., with the same payload and / or the same time and frequency resources) to the WTRU simultaneously, and each PDSCH may be associated with a spot beam. The WTRU may combine multiple receptions of the PDSCH (e.g., to enhance the SINR) or select a PDSCH (e.g., the PDSCH with the best SINR) for reception. The control channel for a multi-TRP (M-TRP) transmission may use different CORESET pools for the M-TRP transmission (e.g., CORESET pool ID=1 for the first TRP and CORESET pool ID=2 for the second TRP). A control channel (e.g., PDCCH) may indicate more than M (e.g., M=4) TCI states for a PDSCH scheduled within the same CORESET pool ID, and each TCI state may be associated with the scheduling PDSCH. This may be because multiple spot beams may be from the same array, so it may not be necessary to distinguish between the CORESET pool IDs. For example, multiple TCI states may be assigned to the PDSCH (eg, the TCI state may be indicated by the DCI), and the WTRU may select one of the scheduled PDSCH transmissions for reception or may combine multiple PDSCH transmissions.

[0177] In an example for near-field beam focusing, a CSI reporting group may be configured for the WTRU, and the CSI reporting group may include multiple CSI reports. Near-field CSI acquisition may be performed based on multiple partial CSIs, where each partial CSI may be associated with a sub-array or sub-surface. The WTRU may perform CSI compression on (e.g., each) partial CSI report (e.g., reports #1...#Q) in the CSI reporting group. The WTRU may do this, for example, if the reporting amount is set to "CSI compression" in the CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE) (or a different IE).

[0178] The WTRU may feedback (e.g., report) the quantized bits of the compressed CSI for each partial CSI report #1...#Q to the base station, or the WTRU may feedback the quantized bits of the jointly compressed CSI to the base station, e.g., based on a joint compression indication. The WTRU may feedback ToA and / or TDoA information based on the (e.g., each) CSI-RS configured for assistance information in (e.g., each) CS report. The base station (or another network device) may request the WTRU to transmit an SRS to assist in DL CSI acquisition. The base station may schedule SRS transmission or multiple SRS transmissions.

[0179] In an example, a near field indicator may signal the WTRU whether the WTRU is in the near field to perform spot beam reception. The near field indicator may be indicated in a MAC CE, DCI, or RRC configuration parameter.

[0180] The bundled CSI-RS may be used to derive Rx parameter(s) for near-field DL reception. The bundled CSI-RS may be applied to a CSI reporting group to indicate that the CSI-RS in the bundle are from a sub-array of a larger array. Multiple PDSCH transmissions may be scheduled simultaneously for the WTRU, and each scheduled PDSCH may be associated with a spot beam from the same array. Multiple DCIs for scheduled PDSCH transmissions may be in the same COREST pool.

[0181] Reference Figure 12 A method 1200 implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) for supporting near-field operations may include the following steps: receiving, by the WTRU, configuration information from a network node 1210, wherein the configuration information includes a plurality of beamforming indicators indicating far-field beamforming or near-field beam focusing, wherein the plurality of beamforming indicators are associated with receiver parameters, and wherein the beamforming indicator indicates distance parameter information. The method 1200 may further include the following steps: determining, based on one of the plurality of beamforming indicators, a beamforming of the far-field beamforming and the near-field beam focusing 1220. The method 1200 may further include the following steps: determining, based on the determined beamforming, receiver parameters of the WTRU 1230; and receiving, using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU 1240, communications from a transmit / receive point (TRP).

[0182] Method 1200 may include the steps of sending a communication to a TRP using determined receiver parameters of the WTRU. The determined receiver parameters may include an angular spread of beamforming. Method 1200 may determine far-field beamforming if a distance parameter exceeds a distance threshold. Method 1200 may determine near-field beam focusing if the distance parameter does not exceed the distance threshold. A beamforming indicator may include information regarding a Rayleigh distance, such that the method may include the steps of determining a distance threshold based on the Rayleigh distance; and determining near-field beam focusing if the distance parameter does not exceed the distance threshold. The distance threshold may be received from the TRP. Information indicating a beamforming indicator may be included in a received DCI. Information indicating a beamforming indicator may be received in a MAC CE. Information indicating one of a plurality of beamforming indicators may be received from the TRP.

[0183] In an embodiment, a WTRU comprising a processor, a transceiver unit, and a memory unit may be configured to receive configuration information from a network node, wherein the configuration information includes a plurality of beamforming indicators indicating far-field beamforming or near-field beam focusing, wherein the plurality of beamforming indicators are associated with receiver parameters, and wherein the beamforming indicator indicates distance parameter information. The WTRU may be configured to determine beamforming between far-field beamforming and near-field beam focusing based on one of the plurality of beamforming indicators. The WTRU may be configured to determine receiver parameters of the WTRU based on the determined beamforming; and may be configured to receive communications from a transmit / receive point (TRP) using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU. The WTRU may be configured to send communications to the TRP using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU.

[0184] The determined receiver parameters may include an angular spread of beamforming. The WTRU may be configured to determine far-field beamforming conditioned on a distance parameter exceeding a distance threshold. The WTRU may be configured to determine near-field beam focusing conditioned on a distance parameter not exceeding a distance threshold. The WTRU (wherein a beamforming indicator includes information about a Rayleigh distance) may be configured to determine a distance threshold based on the Rayleigh distance; and configured to determine near-field beam focusing conditioned on a distance parameter not exceeding the distance threshold. The WTRU may be configured to receive a distance threshold from a TRP. The WTRU may be configured to receive downlink control information including an indication of a beamforming indicator. The WTRU may be configured to receive an indication of a beamforming indicator in a medium access control (MAC) control element. The WTRU may be configured to receive a beamforming indicator from a plurality of beamforming indicators from the TRP.

[0185] Although the above features and elements are described in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiment, or in various combinations with or without the other features and elements.

[0186] Although the embodiments described herein may consider 3GPP-specific protocols, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein are not limited to such scenarios and may be applicable to other wireless systems. For example, although the solutions described herein consider LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR), or 5G-specific protocols, it should be understood that the solutions described herein are not limited to such scenarios and may be applicable to other wireless systems.

[0187] The above process may be implemented in a computer program, software, and / or firmware incorporated into a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer and / or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic signals (sent via wired and / or wireless connections) and / or computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media (such as, but not limited to, internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and / or optical media (such as compact discs (CD-ROMs) and / or digital versatile discs (DVDs)). A processor associated with the software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for a WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, and / or any host computer.

[0188] Although features and elements are provided above in specific combinations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each feature or element can be used alone or in combination with other features and elements. The present disclosure is not limited in terms of the specific embodiments described in this application, which are intended to be illustrative of various aspects. Many modifications and variations can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any element, action or instruction used in the specification of this application should not be interpreted as being essential or essential to the present invention unless otherwise expressly provided. Except as listed herein, functionally equivalent methods and devices within the scope of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description above. These modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is limited to the terms of the appended claims and the full range of equivalents to which the claims are entitled. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to a particular method or system.

[0189] For simplicity, the above embodiments are discussed with respect to the terminology and structure of wireless communication-enabled devices (e.g., radio wave transmitters and receivers). However, the embodiments discussed are not limited to these systems, but may be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves or non-electromagnetic waves (such as sound waves).

[0190] It should also be understood that the terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term "video" or the term "imagery" may refer to any of a snapshot, a single image, and / or a plurality of images displayed on a time basis. As another example, when referred to herein, the term "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE", the term "remote" and / or the term "head mounted display" or its abbreviation "HMD" may refer to or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU), (ii) any of many embodiments of a WTRU, (iii) a wirelessly enabled and / or wired enabled (e.g., tethered) device configured with, among other things, some or all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, (iii) a wirelessly enabled and / or wired enabled device configured with less than all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, or (iv), etc. This document is about Figures 1A to 1D Details are provided for an example WTRU that can represent any WTRU described herein. As another example, various disclosed embodiments are described above and below herein as utilizing a head-mounted display. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that devices other than head-mounted displays can be utilized and that some or all of the present disclosure and various disclosed embodiments can be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other devices may include drones or other devices configured to stream information to provide a suitable reality experience.

[0191] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated into a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (sent via a wired or wireless connection) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media (such as internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and optical media (such as CD-ROMs and digital versatile disks (DVDs)). A processor associated with the software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, and / or any host computer.

[0192] Variations of the methods, devices, and systems provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. In view of the various embodiments that may be applied, it should be understood that the embodiments shown are merely examples and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the claims below. For example, the embodiments provided herein include handheld devices that can include or be used with any suitable voltage source (such as a battery, etc.) to provide any suitable voltage.

[0193] In addition, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers and other devices are mentioned. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("CPU") and memory. According to the practice of those skilled in the art of computer programming, reference to the symbolic representation of actions and operations or instructions can be performed by various CPUs and memories. Such actions and operations or instructions can be referred to as "being executed," "being executed by a computer," or "being executed by a CPU."

[0194] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that actions and symbolically represented operations or instructions comprise manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. The electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resulting conversion or reduction of the electrical signal and retain the data bits at memory locations in the memory system, thereby reconfiguring or otherwise altering the operation of the CPU and other processing of the signal. The memory location that retains the data bits is a physical location having specific electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties that correspond to or represent the data bits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the aforementioned platforms or CPUs, and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0195] The data bits may also be maintained on computer-readable media, including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., read-only memory (ROM)) mass storage systems that can be read by a CPU. The computer-readable media may include cooperating or interconnected computer-readable media that reside solely on a processing system or distributed across multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that embodiments are not limited to the aforementioned memories, and other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0196] In an illustrative embodiment, any operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0197] There is little distinction between hardware and software implementations of aspects of the system. The use of hardware or software is typically (but not always, as in some cases the choice between hardware and software may become important) a design choice that represents a trade-off between cost and efficiency. There may be various carriers by which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies described herein may be implemented (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware), and the preferred carrier may vary depending on the circumstances in which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies are deployed. For example, if the implementer determines that speed and accuracy are most important, the implementer may select a primarily hardware and / or firmware carrier. If flexibility is most important, the implementer may select a primarily software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may select some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0198] The above detailed description describes various embodiments of the device and / or process by using block diagrams, flow charts and / or examples. Since such block diagrams, flow charts and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, those skilled in the art will understand that each function and / or operation in such block diagrams, flow charts and / or examples can be implemented individually and / or collectively by a variety of hardware, software, firmware or almost any combination thereof. In an embodiment, several parts of the subject matter described herein can be implemented by application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs) and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will understand that certain aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in whole or in part in an integrated circuit as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), firmware or almost any combination thereof, and according to the present disclosure, designing circuits and / or writing code for software and / or firmware will be well within the technical scope of those skilled in the art. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as a variety of forms of program products, and that the illustrative embodiments of the subject matter described herein apply regardless of the particular type of signal-bearing medium used to actually perform the distribution. Examples of signal-bearing media include, but are not limited to, recordable media (such as floppy disks, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, digital tapes, computer memory, etc.) and transmission media (such as digital and / or analog communication media (e.g., fiber optic cables, waveguides, wired communication links, wireless communication links, etc.)).

[0199] Those skilled in the art will understand that it is common in the art to describe devices and / or processes in the manner described herein and then use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and / or processes into a data processing system. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein can be integrated into a data processing system through a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those skilled in the art will understand that a typical data processing system can typically include one or more of the following: a system unit housing, a video display device, memory (such as, volatile and non-volatile memory), a processor (such as, a microprocessor and a digital signal processor), a computing entity (such as, an operating system, a driver, a graphical user interface and an application), one or more interactive devices (such as, a touchpad or screen) and / or a control system including a feedback loop and a control motor (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or speed, a control motor for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system can be implemented using any suitable commercially available components, such as components typically found in data computing / communication and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0200] The subject matter described herein sometimes illustrates different components included in or connected to different other components. It should be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and in fact, many other architectures that implement the same functionality can be implemented. Conceptually, any arrangement of components that implement the same functionality is effectively "associated" so that the desired functionality can be achieved. Therefore, any two components that are combined herein to achieve a particular functionality can be considered to be "associated" with each other so as to achieve the desired functionality, regardless of the architecture or intermediate components. Similarly, any two components that are so associated can also be considered to be "operably connected" or "operably coupled" to each other so as to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components that can be so associated can also be considered to be "operably coupled" to each other so as to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operable coupling include, but are not limited to, components that can be physically paired and / or physically interacted and / or components that can wirelessly interact and / or wirelessly interact and / or components that can logically interact and / or logically interact.

[0201] With respect to any substantive use of plural and / or singular terms herein, those skilled in the art may convert the plural to the singular and / or the singular to the plural as appropriate to the context and / or application. For clarity, various singular / plural permutations may be explicitly described herein.

[0202] Those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, terms used herein, and particularly in the appended claims (e.g., the bodies of the appended claims), are often interpreted as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). Those skilled in the art will further understand that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and if no such recitation is present, such intent is not present. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, the following appended claims and / or the description herein may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed as implying that introducing a claim recitation by the indefinite article "a" or "an" limits any particular claim that includes such introduced claim recitation to embodiments that include only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article, such as, "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be construed to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same applies to the use of definite articles to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if specific numbers of an introduced claim recitation are explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will understand that such recitation should generally be construed to refer to at least the recited numbers (e.g., the unmodified recitation of "two recitations" without other modifiers means at least two recitations or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention similar to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, generally speaking, such a construction is intended in the sense that one skilled in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” includes but is not limited to a system having only A, a system having only B, a system having only C, a system having A and B together, a system having A and C together, a system having B and C together, and / or a system having A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention similar to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, generally speaking, such a construction is intended in the sense that one skilled in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” includes but is not limited to a system having only A, a system having only B, a system having only C, a system having A and B together, a system having A and C together, a system having B and C together, and / or a system having A, B, and C together, etc.).Those skilled in the art will further understand that almost any transitional word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the specification, claims or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibility of including one of the terms, any one of the terms, or both of the terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibility of "A" or "B" or "A and B". Further, as used herein, the term "any one" followed by a list of multiple items and / or multiple categories of items is intended to include "any one", "any number" and / or "any combination of multiples" of the items and / or multiple categories, either alone or in combination with other items and / or other categories of items. In addition, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "quantity" is intended to include any number, including zero. Moreover, as used herein, the term "multiple" is intended to be synonymous with "plurality".

[0203] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0204] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also include any and all possible subranges and combinations thereof. Any listed range can be easily identified as fully describing and enabling the same range to be divided into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be easily divided into a lower third, a middle third, and an upper third, etc. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, all language, such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," etc., includes the enumerated numbers and refers to ranges that can subsequently be divided into the aforementioned subranges. Finally, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1 to 3 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1 to 5 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells.

[0205] Furthermore, the claims should not be read as limited to the order or elements provided unless otherwise stated. Furthermore, the use of the term "means for..." in any claim is intended to invoke 35 USC §112, or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the term “means for…” is not intended to be so.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receiving, by the WTRU, configuration information from a network node, wherein the configuration information includes a plurality of beamforming indicators indicating far-field beamforming or near-field beam focusing, wherein the plurality of beamforming indicators are associated with receiver parameters, and wherein the beamforming indicators indicate range parameter information; determining, based on a beamforming indicator among the plurality of beamforming indicators, a beamforming among the far-field beamforming and the near-field beam focusing; determining receiver parameters of the WTRU based on the determined beamforming; as well as Communications from a transmit / receive point TRP are received using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined receiver parameters include an angular spread of the beamforming.

3. A method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising sending communications to the TRP using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein far-field beamforming is determined on the condition that the distance parameter exceeds a distance threshold. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the near-field beam focusing is determined on the condition that the distance parameter does not exceed a distance threshold.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one beamforming indicator comprises information about a Rayleigh distance, and the method comprises: determining the distance threshold based on the Rayleigh distance; as well as Near-field beam focusing is determined under the condition that the distance parameter does not exceed the distance threshold.

7. A method according to any one of claims 4 and 5, comprising receiving the distance threshold from the TRP.

8. A method according to any preceding claim, comprising receiving downlink control information, said information comprising an indication of said one beamforming indicator.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising receiving an indication of the one beamforming indicator in a medium access control (MAC) control element.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the method comprising receiving the one beamforming indicator of the plurality of beamforming indicators from the TRP.

11. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the WTRU comprising a processor, a transceiver unit, and a memory unit, and configured to: receiving configuration information from a network node, wherein the configuration information includes a plurality of beamforming indicators indicating far-field beamforming or near-field beam focusing, wherein the plurality of beamforming indicators are associated with receiver parameters, and wherein the beamforming indicators indicate range parameter information; determining, based on a beamforming indicator among the plurality of beamforming indicators, a beamforming among the far-field beamforming and the near-field beam focusing; determining receiver parameters of the WTRU based on the determined beamforming; as well as Communications from a transmit / receive point TRP are received using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU.

12. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the determined receiver parameters include an angular spread of the beamforming.

13. A WTRU according to any one of claims 11 and 12, wherein the WTRU is configured to send communications to the TRP using the determined receiver parameters of the WTRU.

14. The WTRU of any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the WTRU is configured to determine far-field beamforming on the condition that the range parameter exceeds a range threshold.

15. The WTRU of any one of claims 11 to 13, configured to determine near-field beam focusing on the condition that the distance parameter does not exceed a distance threshold.

16. The WTRU of claim 15 , wherein the one beamforming indicator includes information about a Rayleigh distance, and the WTRU is configured to: determining the distance threshold based on the Rayleigh distance; and Near-field beam focusing is determined under the condition that the distance parameter does not exceed the distance threshold.

17. The WTRU of any one of claims 14 and 15, wherein the WTRU is configured to receive the distance threshold from the TRP.

18. The WTRU of any one of claims 11 to 17, configured to receive downlink control information including an indication of the one beamforming indicator.

19. The WTRU of any one of claims 11 to 17, configured to receive an indication of the one beamforming indicator in a medium access control (MAC) control element.

20. The WTRU of any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein the WTRU is configured to receive the one beamforming indicator among the plurality of beamforming indicators from the TRP.

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