Method for activating unified TCI state via MAC CE for multi-TRP scheme

Abstract

Various embodiments provide a method performed by a user equipment and a radio access network node for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a multiple transmission receiving point (TRP). The method comprises receiving or providing radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure a single downlink control information (DCI) multi-TRP scheme for a serving cell, where the RRC signaling comprises a media access control (MAC) control unit (CE) message, the MAC CE message comprising configuration information of downlink and / or uplink TCI states and its mapping with TCI code points. The method may then include activating one or more of the TCI states based on the MAC CE message.

Description

Related applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63 / 438,369, filed January 11, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for activating a unified Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) message for a multiple Transmission Reception Point (TRP) scheme in a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0003] New Radio (NR)

[0004] The next generation of mobile wireless communication systems (5G) or New Radio (NR) supports a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios.

[0005] NR uses cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in the downlink (DL) (i.e., from the network node, gNB, eNB, or base station to the user equipment (UE)) and uses both CP-OFDM and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink (UL) (i.e., from the UE to the gNB). In the time domain, NR downlink and uplink physical resources are organized into equal-sized subframes, each 1ms. Subframes are further divided into multiple slots of equal duration.

[0006] The slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. There is only one time slot in each subframe and each time slot always consists of 14 OFDM symbols, regardless of the subcarrier spacing.

[0007] Typical data scheduling in NR is based on time slots, Figure 1 An example is shown in , where the first two symbols 104 and 106 of a slot 102 comprise a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the remaining 12 symbols comprise a physical data channel (PDCH), which is either a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Data Channel) or a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Data Channel).

[0008] NR supports different subcarrier spacing values. The supported subcarrier spacing values (also known as different parameter sets) are determined by Given, where is a non-negative integer. This is the basic subcarrier spacing also used in LTE. The time slot durations for different subcarrier spacings are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Slot lengths under different parameter sets.

[0009]

[0010] In the frequency-domain physical resource definition, the system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs), each corresponding to 12 contiguous subcarriers. Common resource blocks (CRBs) are numbered starting at 0 at one end of the system bandwidth. A UE is configured with one or up to four bandwidth parts (BWPs), which can be a subset of the RBs supported on a carrier. Therefore, a BWP can start with a CRB greater than zero. All configured BWPs have a common reference, CRB 0. Therefore, a UE can be configured with both narrow BWPs (e.g., 10 MHz) and wide BWPs (e.g., 100 MHz), but only one BWP can be active for a UE at a given time. Physical resource blocks (PRBs) are numbered from 0 to N-1 within a BWP (although the 0th PRB may therefore be the Kth CRB, where K > 0).

[0011] Figure 2 A basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid 202 is shown, wherein only one resource block (RB) 206 within a 14-symbol slot is shown. One OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval forms one resource element (RE) 204.

[0012] Downlink transmissions can be dynamically scheduled. That is, in each slot, the gNB sends downlink control information (DCI) via the PDCCH, which specifies which UE data is to be transmitted and on which RBs in the current downlink slot. In NR, the PDCCH is typically transmitted in the first one or two OFDM symbols of each slot. UE data is carried on the PDSCH. The UE first detects and decodes the PDCCH. If decoding is successful, the UE then decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the decoded control information in the PDCCH.

[0013] Uplink data transmission can also be dynamically scheduled using the PDCCH. Similar to the downlink, the UE first decodes the uplink grant in the PDCCH and then sends data via the PUSCH based on the decoded control information in the uplink grant (e.g., modulation order, coding rate, uplink resource allocation, etc.). QCL and TCI status

[0014] The Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state includes information about the quasi-co-location (QCL) between two antenna ports. If specific channel parameters associated with one antenna port can be inferred from the other, the two antenna ports are said to be in QCL. Antenna ports are defined by reference signals (RSs). Therefore, in NR, the TCI state is used to indicate the QCL relationship between the source and target RSs. The source RS can be one of the NZP CSI-RS (Non-Zero Power Channel State Information Reference Signal), the Tracking RS (TRS), and the SSB (Synchronization Signal Block), while the target RS can be the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) or CSI-RS of the PDCCH or PDSCH.

[0015] The QCL information types supported in NR include: - "QCL Type A": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread} - "QCL Type B": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} - "QCL Type C": {Doppler shift, average delay} - "QCL type D": {spatial Rx parameters}

[0016] A TCI state list can be configured by RRC in the higher-layer parameter PDSCH-Config Information Element (IE) (for details, see section 6.3.2 of 3GPP TS 38.331). Up to eight TCI states in this list can be activated using the Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE). In NR Release 15, the MAC CE activates one TCI state for each TCI code point in the TCI field in the DCI, where up to eight TCI code points can be supported (for details, see section 6.1.3.14 of 3GPP TS 38.321). In NR Release 16, the MAC CE can activate up to two TCI states for each TCI code point (see section 6.1.3.24 of 3GPP TS 38.321). For dynamically scheduled PDSCHs, one of the TCI code points is indicated in the TCI field of the DCI (DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2) that schedules the PDSCH for PDSCH reception. For example, if the SSB or CSI-RS is configured as a QCL type D source RS in the activated TCI state indicated to the PDSCH, the UE will use the same receive beam (or spatial filter) used to receive the SSB or CSI-RS to receive the PDSCH.

[0017] For each CORESET, a TCI state list can be RRC configured, one of which is activated by a MAC CE. For example, if the SSB is configured as a QCL type D source RS in the activated TCI state of the CORESET, the UE can use the same receive beam used to receive the SSB to receive the PDCCH sent in the CORESET. Beam management with a unified TCI framework

[0018] In NR, downlink beam management is performed by communicating the spatial QCL (“Type D”) assumption to the UE via the TCI state.

[0019] This framework allows the network to instruct the UE to receive signals from different spatial directions in the DL with great flexibility, but at the cost of large signaling overhead and slow beam switching. These limitations are particularly significant and costly when considering UE mobility. One example is that beam updates using DCI can only be performed for PDSCH, and MAC-CE and / or RRC are required to update beams for other reference signals / channels, resulting in additional overhead and latency.

[0020] Furthermore, in most cases, the network sends and receives both data and control to and from the UE in the same direction. Therefore, using separate frameworks (with their own spatial relationships for TCI states) for different channels / signals complicates implementation.

[0021] In Release 17, a unified TCI state-based beam indication framework was introduced to simplify beam management in FR2. A common beam indicated by a TCI state can be activated / indicated to the UE, and this common beam applies to multiple channels / signals such as PDCCH and PDSCH. The common beam framework is also referred to as the unified TCI state framework. The TCI state configured under the newly introduced Release 17 framework will be referred to as the unified TCI state.

[0022] A unified TCI state for operation in a single TCI state or a joint TCI state includes identifiers of two QCL source reference signals as shown below, where the first RS is a QCL source RS of one of the {Type A, Type B, Type C} QCL types, and the second RS is a QCL source RS of QCL type D. The second RS is used to indicate the spatial beam or filter associated with the unified TCI state. An example ASN.1 code for the unified TCI state is shown below: DLorJoint-TCIState-r17 ::= SEQUENCE { tci-StateUnifiedId-r17 DLorJoint-TCIState-Id-r17, tci-StateType-r17 ENUMERATED {DLOnly, JointULDL}, qcl-Type1-r17 QCL-Info, qcl-Type2-r17 QCL-Info OPTIONAL -- Need R } QCL-Info ::= SEQUENCE { cell ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R bwp-Id BWP-Id OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated referenceSignal CHOICE { csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, ssb SSB-Index }, qcl-Type ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},

[0023] The unified TCI state can be updated in a similar way to how the TCI state of PDSCH is updated in Release 15 / 16, i.e., by one of the following two alternative ways: - Two-stage: Use RRC signaling to configure multiple unified TCI states in the higher-layer parameter PDSCH-config, and use MAC-CE to activate one of the unified TCI states - Three stages: configure multiple unified TCI states in PDSCH-config using RRC signaling, activate up to 8 unified TCI states using MAC-CE, and indicate one of the activated unified TCI states using a 3-bit TCI state bit field in DCI

[0024] An activated or indicated unified TCI state will be used in subsequent PDCCH, PDSCH and NZP CSI-RS transmissions until a new unified TCI state is activated or indicated.

[0025] Both existing DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 can be reused for beam indication (i.e., TCI status indication / update) in both cases with and without DL assignments. For DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 with DL assignments, the PDSCH ACK / NACK can be used as an indication of successful reception of the beam indication. For DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 without DL assignments, a new ACK / NACK mechanism is used, similar to the mechanism for SPS PDSCH release with Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook and Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook, where the UE reports an ACK upon successful reception of the beam indication DCI.

[0026] For DCI-based beam indication, the first time slot to which the indicated TCI applies is at least Y symbols following the last symbol of the joint or individual DL / UL beam indication acknowledgment. The Y symbols are configured by the gNB based on the UE capabilities, which are reported in symbols.

[0027] In Release 17, the IE ServingCellConfig in 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.2.0 configures the parameter unifiedTCI-StateType with a value of single or joint. Its fields are described as follows: unifiedTCI-StateType

[0028] Indicates the unified TCI state type configured by the UE for this serving cell. A value of separate indicates that the serving cell is configured with a dl-OrJointTCI-StateList for the DL TCI state and a ul-TCI-ToAddModList for the UL TCI state. A value of joint indicates that the serving cell is configured with a dl-OrJointTCI-StateList for the joint TCI state for both UL and DL operation. The network does not configure this field in a serving cell that is configured with more than one value for coresetPoolIndex. Unified TCI state activation / deactivation of MAC CE

[0029] In 3GPP TS 38.321 v17.2.0, Figure 3 The MAC CE 302 shown is designated for activating / deactivating the unified TCI state. The MAC CE 302 specifies the following fields: - Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the serving cell to which the MAC CE 302 applies. The length of this field is 5 bits; - DL BWP ID: This field indicates the DL BWP that the MAC CE 302 uses as the code point for the DCI Bandwidth Part Indicator field as specified in 3GPP TS 38.212. The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits; - UL BWP ID: This field indicates the UL BWP that the MAC CE 302 uses as the code point for the DCI bandwidth part indicator field as specified in 3GPP TS 38.212 [9]. The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits; -P i : This field indicates whether each TCI code point has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. i If the field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes DL TCI state and UL TCI state. i If the field is set to 0, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes only DL / Joint TCI state or UL TCI state. The code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by its ordinal position in all TCI state ID fields; - D / U: This field indicates whether the TCI State ID in the same octet is for the joint / downlink TCI state or the uplink TCI state. If this field is set to 1, the TCI State ID in the same octet is for the joint / downlink. If this field is set to 0, the TCI State ID in the same octet is for the uplink; - TCI State ID: This field indicates the TCI state identified by TCI-StateId as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331. If D / U is set to 1, a 7-bit length TCI State ID is used, i.e., TCI-StateId as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331. If D / U is set to 0, the most significant bit of the TCI State ID is considered a reserved bit, and the remaining 6 bits indicate the UL-TCIState-Id as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331. The maximum number of activated TCI states is 16; - R: Reserved bit, set to 0. Multi-TRP solution

[0030] In NR Release 17, PDCCH repetition was introduced to enable more robust PDCCH reception, where the PDCCH is sent through two transmission and reception points (TRPs) on different time or frequency resources.

[0031] Figure 4An example is shown in which the PDCCH is repeated at different times on two TRPs 402 and 404. The first PDCCH repetition is sent to the UE 406 in a PDCCH candidate in CORESET #c1 associated with SS set #s1, and the second PDCCH repetition is sent in another PDCCH candidate in CORESET #c2 associated with SS set #s2, where SS set #s1 and SS set #s2 are linked.

[0032] The two linked SS sets need to be configured with the same set of parameters, such as period, slot offset, and number of monitoring opportunities within a slot. For a given CCE aggregation level and two linked SS sets, the position of a PDCCH candidate in one SS set can be obtained from the PDCCH candidate in the other SS set. When performing PDCCH detection, UE 406 can detect the PDCCH individually in each PDCCH candidate or jointly detect the PDCCH by soft combining the two PDCCH candidates. SFN PDCCH solution

[0033] In NR Release 17, single frequency network (SFN)-based PDCCH is also introduced to achieve more robust PDCCH reception, where PDCCH is transmitted from two TRPs simultaneously in the same time and frequency resources. Figure 5 An example is shown in , where a single CORESET and associated SS set are associated with both TRPs 402 and 404. Multi-TRP (mTRP) PDSCH solution

[0034] In NR Release 16, PDSCH transmission through two TRPs was introduced, including a non-coherent joint transmission (NC-JT) scheme, two frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) schemes, and two time domain multiplexing (TDM) schemes. In these multi-TRP PDSCH schemes, each TRP is represented by an indicated TCI state. In NC-JT, PDSCH is transmitted through two TRPs in the same time and frequency resources, where different MIMO layers of PDSCH are transmitted from different TRPs. For example, for a total of 3 layers, 2 layers can be transmitted from the first TRP and 1 layer can be transmitted from the second TRP. For PDSCH scheduling based on NC-JT, two TCI states are indicated in the TCI code point of the DCI that schedules the PDSCH. The DMRS ports in the first CDM group and the second CDM group are associated with the first TCI state and the second TCI state, respectively.

[0035] In the FDM scheme, different frequency domain resources of the PDSCH are allocated to different TRPs. In FDM scheme A, a single PDSCH is transmitted, and a portion of the PDSCH is transmitted from one TRP and the rest is transmitted from another TRP. In FDM scheme B, the PDSCH is repeated on two TRPs. For FDM-based multi-TRP PDSCH scheduling, two TCI states are indicated in the TCI code point of the DCI that schedules the PDSCH. The DMRS ports in the first group of scheduled RBs and the second group of scheduled RBs are associated with the first TCI state and the second TCI state, respectively.

[0036] In the TDM scheme, the PDSCH is repeated multiple times, each time on one of the two Transmission Relays (TRPs). In TDM scheme A, the PDSCH is repeated twice within a slot, once from each TRP. In TDM scheme B (or slot-based TDM scheme), the PDSCH is repeated in consecutive slots, either in a cyclic manner from two TRPs (where the PDSCH is transmitted from the first TRP in one slot and from the second TRP in the next slot), or in a sequential manner (where the PDSCH is transmitted from the first TRP and the second TRP every two consecutive slots). For TDM-based multi-TRPPDSCH scheduling, two TCI states are indicated in a TCI codepoint of the DCI scheduling the PDSCH. The DMRS ports in the first and second sets of PDSCH transmission opportunities are associated with the first and second TCI states, respectively. The first and second sets of PDSCH transmission opportunities are determined by the mapping type (i.e., cyclic mapping or sequential mapping).

[0037] Figure 6 An example of TDM scheme B is shown, where four PDSCH repetitions are scheduled from two TRPs 402 and 406. In the case of cyclic mapping 602, the first and third PDSCH opportunities are associated with the first TCI state indicated in the DCI, and the second and fourth PDSCH opportunities are associated with the second TCI state indicated in the DCI. In the case of sequential mapping 604, the first and second PDSCH opportunities are associated with the first TCI state indicated in the DCI, and the third and fourth PDSCH opportunities are associated with the second TCI state indicated in the DCI. UL transmission to multiple transmission points (TRPs)

[0038] 3GPP NR Release 16 has introduced PDSCH transmission with multiple transmission points, where a transport block can be sent through multiple TRPs to improve transmission reliability.

[0039] In NR Release 17, it has been agreed to introduce UL enhancements with multiple TRPs, where the UE 406 sends PUCCH or PUSCH to different TRPs 402 and 404 at different times (in different slots or in different sets of symbols within a slot (sometimes also called subslots or minislots)), as shown in Figure 1. Figure 7 shown.

[0040] In one scenario, multiple PUCCH / PUSCH transmissions, each to a different TRP, can be scheduled by a single DCI. For example, multiple spatial relationships (i.e., spatial beams) can be activated for the PUCCH resources, and the PUCCH resources can be signaled in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH. The HARQ A / N associated with the PDSCH is then carried by the PUCCH, which is then repeated multiple times within a slot or across multiple slots, with each repetition targeting a different TRP. Figure 8 An example is shown in , where PDSCH is scheduled by DCI and the corresponding HARQ A / N is sent in PUCCH, which is repeated twice in time, once for TRP #1 and once for TRP #2. Each TRP is associated with a PUCCH spatial relation.

[0041] Figure 9 An example of PUSCH repetition is shown in Figure 1, where two PUSCH repetitions for the same TB are scheduled by a single DCI, with each PUSCH opportunity sent to a different TRP. Each TRP is associated with an SRI signaled in the DCI. Note that the spatial transmit filter used to send PUSCH repetitions to a given TRP is provided by the corresponding SRI.

[0042] There are certain challenges. Although unified TCI states were specified in Release 17, in NR Release 17, unified TCI states only apply to single-TRP scenarios. The unified TCI framework does not apply to multi-TRP scenarios in NR Release 17. In NR Release 18, 3GPP is discussing applying unified TCI states to multi-TRP scenarios.

[0043] However, NR version 17 specifies Figure 3 The MAC CE in is not suitable for the multi-TRP solution because the MAC CE only allows mapping a single DL / joint TCI state or a single UL TCI state to one TCI code point.

[0044] A MAC CE has been proposed for extending the unified TCI state to a multi-TRP solution. However, it is assumed that the MAC CE activates at least one DL / joint TCI state and at least one UL TCI state. The proposed MAC CE is not suitable for joint TCI state operation, in which the DL / joint TCI state applies to both DL and UL. In this case, the UL TCI state is not configured separately for the UE. For a MAC CE suitable for both joint TCI state operation and separate TCI state operation, how to signal the activated unified TCI state is an issue that needs to be addressed. Summary of the Invention

[0045] In an embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) is provided for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for multiple transmission reception points (TRPs). The method includes receiving signaling from a radio access network (RAN) node for a single downlink control information (DCI) multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell, wherein the signaling includes a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) message, the MAC CE message including: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of downlink (DL) / joint TCI states; and a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state. The method also includes activating a DL / joint TCI state subset based on the MAC CE message, and mapping one or more states in the DL / joint TCI state subset to one or more code points of a TCI field in the DCI.

[0046] In an embodiment, the presence of the second field is conditional on the first field indicating that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0047] In an embodiment, the existence condition of the identifier field corresponding to the second of the multiple DL / joint TCI states mapped to the i-th TCI code point is one or both of the following items: the first field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of the multiple DL / joint TCI states; and the second field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to two of the multiple DL / joint TCI states.

[0048] In an embodiment, the MAC CE message further includes a third field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the third field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one UL TCI state of a plurality of UL TCI states or is not mapped to any of the plurality of UL TCI states.

[0049] In an embodiment, the MAC CE message further includes a fourth field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point, which indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to only one UL TCI state among the multiple UL TCI states or mapped to two UL TCI states among the multiple UL TCI states.

[0050] In an embodiment, the presence condition of the fourth field is that the third field indicates that the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message is mapped to at least one UL TCI state among a plurality of UL TCI states.

[0051] In an embodiment, for every i-th codepoint, the presence of one or more of the following TCI states is indicated: a first DL or joint DL / UL TCI state; a second DL or joint DL / UL TCI state; a first UL TCI state; and a second UL TCI state.

[0052] In an embodiment, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration instructs the MAC CE message to omit fields associated with the ULTCI state based on RRC parameters.

[0053] In an embodiment, a UE is provided for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for a single TRP or multiple TRPs. The UE includes a processing circuit configured to receive signaling for a single DCI multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell from a RAN node, wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states; and a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state. The processing circuit also activates a DL / joint TCI state subset based on the MAC CE message, and maps one or more states in the DL / joint TCI state subset to one or more code points of the TCI field in the DCI.

[0054] In an embodiment, a method performed by a RAN node is provided for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for a single TRP or multiple TRPs. The method includes providing signaling for a single DCI multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell to a UE, wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of downlink (DL) / joint TCI states; and a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state.

[0055] In an embodiment, a RAN node is provided for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for a single TRP or multiple TRPs. The RAN node includes a processing circuit configured to provide signaling of a single DCI multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell to a UE, wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states; and a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state.

[0056] In an embodiment, a method performed by a UE is provided for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for multiple TRPs. The method includes receiving signaling for a single DCI multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell from a RAN node (1810), wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including information indicating a first field and / or a second field indicating whether an i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink (DL) / joint TCI states, and a third field and / or a fourth field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more uplink (UL) TCI states. The method also includes activating a DL / joint TCI state and a UL TCI state subset based on the MAC CE message, and mapping one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state and the UL TCI state subset to one or more code points of a TCI field in a DCI.

[0057] In an embodiment, in the MAC CE message, for each i-th codepoint, it is indicated that there are one or more of the following TCI states: a first DL or joint DL / UL TCI state; a second DL or joint DL / UL TCI state; a first UL TCI state; and a second UL TCI state.

[0058] In an embodiment, the RRC configuration instructs the MAC CE message to omit fields associated with the UL TCI status based on RRC parameters.

[0059] In an embodiment, a UE is provided for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for multiple TRPs, and the UE includes processing circuitry configured to receive signaling for a single-DCI multiple-TRP scheme for a serving cell from a RAN node, wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including information indicating a first field and / or a second field indicating whether an i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink (DL) / joint TCI states, and a third field and / or a fourth field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more uplink (UL) TCI states. The processing circuitry further activates a DL / joint TCI state and a UL TCI state subset based on the MAC CE message, and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state and the UL TCI state subset to one or more code points of a TCI field in a DCI.

[0060] In an embodiment, a method performed by a RAN node for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for multiple TRPs includes providing signaling of a single-DCI multiple-TRP scheme for a serving cell to a UE, wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including information indicating a first field and / or a second field and a third field and / or a fourth field, the first field and / or the second field indicating whether an i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink (DL) / joint TCI states, and the third field and / or the fourth field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more UL TCI states.

[0061] In another embodiment, a RAN node is provided for facilitating the use of a unified TCI state for multiple TRPs, and the RAN node includes a processing circuit that provides signaling of a single DCI multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell to a UE, wherein the signaling includes a MAC CE message, the MAC CE message including information indicating a first field and / or a second field and a third field and / or a fourth field, the first field and / or the second field indicating whether an i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink (DL) / joint TCI states, and the third field and / or the fourth field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more UL TCI states. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0063] Figure 1 An example of data scheduling in New Radio (NR) according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0064] Figure 2 An example of an NR physical time-frequency resource grid according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0065] Figure 3 A medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0066] Figure 4 illustrates physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetition according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure;

[0067] Figure 5 A PDCCH based on a single frequency network (SFN) according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0068] Figure 6 illustrates time domain multiplexing (TDM) according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure;

[0069] Figure 7 A multiple transmission reception point (TRP) scheme according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0070] Figure 8 A multi-TRP scheme based on single downlink control information (DCI) according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0071] Figure 9 Another multi-TRP solution based on a single DCI according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0072] Figure 10 Another MAC CE according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0073] Figure 11 Another MAC CE according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0074] Figure 12 A new MAC CE according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0075] Figure 13 Another new MAC CE according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0076] Figure 14 A flowchart illustrating a method for illustrating which MAC CE format to use depending on the number of configured TCI state lists according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0077] Figure 15 A flowchart illustrating another method for illustrating which MAC CE format to use depending on the number of configured TCI state lists according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0078] Figure 16 A flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE for facilitating a unified TCI state for a single TRP or multiple TRP scheme according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0079] Figure 17 A flow chart illustrating a method performed by a RAN node for facilitating a unified TCI state for a single TRP or multi-TRP scenario;

[0080] Figure 18 shows an example of a communication system 1800 according to some embodiments;

[0081] Figure 19 shows a UE 1900 according to some embodiments;

[0082] Figure 20 shows a network node 2000 according to some embodiments;

[0083] Figure 21 is a block diagram of a host according to some embodiments; and

[0084] Figure 22 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] The embodiments set forth below provide information that will enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode for practicing the embodiments. After reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the present disclosure and will recognize the applications of these concepts not specifically provided herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0086] Various embodiments provide a method performed by a user equipment and a radio access network node for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for multiple transmission reception points (TRPs). The method includes receiving or providing radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure a single downlink control information (DCI) multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell, wherein the RRC signaling includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) message that includes configuration information for downlink (DL) and / or uplink (UL) TCI states and their mapping to TCI code points. Subsequently, the method may include activating one or more of the TCI states based on the MAC CE message.

[0087] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to these or other challenges. The present disclosure proposes MAC CE signaling suitable for activating / deactivating a unified TCI state for a multi-TRP scheme for both joint TCI state operation and individual TCI state operation. In some embodiments, the MAC CE format to be used may depend on whether the serving cell is configured with only a DL / joint TCI state list or with both a DL / joint TCI state list and a UL TCI state list.

[0088] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. The proposed solution provides an efficient MAC CE signaling mechanism that supports activation / deactivation of a unified TCI state for a multi-TRP solution for both joint TCI state operation and individual TCI state operation. With the proposed solution, the unified TCI framework can be efficiently extended to a multi-TRP solution.

[0089] In a first embodiment (Embodiment 1), when a single list of DL / joint TCI states is configured in a serving cell, the fields in the legacy MAC CE may be reinterpreted. In one embodiment, when a DL / joint TCI state list is configured (i.e., configured per DL bandwidth part (BWP) or per physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) within a serving cell), and at least one single-DCI-based multi-TRP scheme (for downlink or uplink) is configured or enabled in the serving cell, the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE of clause 6.1.3.47 of 3GPP TS 38.321 v17.2.0 (e.g., Figure 10 As shown), certain fields are reinterpreted to activate a subset of DL / joint TCI states in the DL / joint TCI state list. In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) may be configured with higher-layer parameters (e.g., RRC parameters) that are used to indicate to the UE that certain fields in the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE of clause 6.1.3.47 of 3GPP TS 38.321 v17.2.0 are reinterpreted as suggested by this embodiment. In one example, setting the parameter unifiedTCI-StateType-17 to "joint" in combination with other higher-layer parameters may be used to indicate to the UE that certain fields in the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE of clause 6.1.3.47 of TS 38.321 need to be reinterpreted. In another example, a new RRC parameter may be introduced to indicate this to the UE.

[0090] When using the unified TCI framework to configure / enable a multi-TRP solution based on a single DCI, the MAC CE shall map each codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI (e.g., DCI format 1-1 or 1-2) to one or both of the activated DL / Joint TCI states. Figure 10 P in MAC CE i The fields should be reinterpreted as follows: - If P i If the field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to both of the activated DL / Joint TCI states. - If P i If the i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is set to 0, it indicates that the i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states.

[0091] Since all TCI states indicated in the reinterpreted MAC CE are DL / Joint TCI states, the "D / U" field is treated as a reserved bit in the reinterpreted MAC CE. In an alternative, the "D / U" field remains unchanged since it does not affect the operation. In yet another alternative embodiment, it is specified that in the reinterpreted MAC CE, the "D / U" field is always set to 0. In another alternative embodiment, in the P i When the field is set to 0 and therefore only one DL / Joint TCI state is mapped to the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field, the "D / U" bit indicates whether the TCI state corresponds to the first indicated TCI state or the second indicated TCI state, which corresponds to the first or second TRP, respectively.

[0092] Note that in the legacy MAC CE of clause 6.1.3.47 of 3GPP TS 38.321, P i The interpretation of the field is different from that proposed in the above embodiment. i The field indicates whether each codepoint is mapped to 1 TCI state or 2 TCI states, which includes the following possibilities: - If P i The field is set to 1, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to an activated DL TCI state and an activated UL TCI state. - If P i If the field is set to 0, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to only one TCI state, which can be an activated DL TCI state or an activated UL TCI state.

[0093] Furthermore, in the legacy MAC CE of clause 6.1.3.47 of 3GPP TS 38.321, the D / U field in the same octet carrying the TCI state ID is required to distinguish between DL TCI states and UL TCI states. In contrast, in this embodiment, since all TCI states indicated in the reinterpreted MAC CE are DL / Joint TCI states, the "D / U" field in the reinterpreted MAC CE proposed in this embodiment is considered a reserved bit. In another embodiment, the "D / U" field can be used to indicate which TRP a single TCI state is associated with.

[0094] In one embodiment, the interpretation of the MAC CE is based on one or more RRC parameters. For example, if the parameter unifiedTCI-StateType-17 is set to "joint" and the UE is not configured with Release 18 parameters to enable UL or DL unified TCI state mTRP operation (or mode), the UE follows the Release 17 interpretation of the MAC CE. If the UE is configured with unifiedTCI-StateType-17 set to "joint" and the UE is configured with Release 18 parameters to enable UL or DL unified TCI state mTRP operation (or mode), the UE follows the interpretation of the MAC CE as described in Example 1.

[0095] Although it is proposed in this embodiment that two activated DL / joint TCI states are mapped to a single TCI field code point in the MAC CE, this is not a limitation and can be extended to an integer T of activated DL / joint TCI states being mapped to a single TCI field code point. For example, in this case, The units digit is in P iThe field is used to indicate how many active DL / Joint TCI states are mapped to a single TCI field codepoint.

[0096] In a second embodiment (Embodiment 2), the legacy MAC CE field may be reinterpreted to enable joint or separate unified TCI state operations for single TRP or multi-TRP scenarios.

[0097] In another embodiment, the unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE of clause 6.1.3.47 of 3GPP TS 38.321 v17.2.0 (e.g. Figure 10 The MAC address of the DL / Joint TCI state in the 3GPP specification is reused, where some fields are reinterpreted to activate a subset of DL / Joint TCI states in this single list. In an alternative, this is defined in the 3GPP specification as a new MAC CE with a new Logical Channel ID (LCID) or Extended LCID (eLCID).

[0098] In this embodiment, one of the existing R fields is used to indicate whether the MAC CE is for single TRP operation or mTRP operation. For example, the R field in the first octet is renamed the E field. If the E field has a value of "1", the P field has an mTRP interpretation, and if the E field has a value of "0", the P field has a traditional interpretation.

[0099] In this embodiment, the field description of the P field in the reinterpreted MAC CE will be modified as follows, and the field description of the E field needs to be added to the standard in the following manner (the underlined part below is a proposed revision to clause 6.1.3.47 of 3GPP TS 38.321v17.2.0). - Pi: This field indicates whether each TCI code point has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. E field Set to 0 And P i If the field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes DL TCI state and UL TCI state. E The field is set to 0 And P i If the E field is set to 1 and P i If the field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes two activated DL TCI states or two activated UL TCI states. If the E field is set to 1 and P i The field is set to 0 to indicate i TCI code points include two DL TCI states and two UL TCI states; - E: This field indicates whether the MAC CE is for single TRP operation (joint or separate TCI state) or for single DCI mTRP operation (combined or separate TCI status).

[0100] In this embodiment, the UE is configured with an RRC parameter that describes whether the serving cell is configured for joint TCI state operation or separate TCI state operation. In an alternative embodiment, the E field is replaced with an additional RRC parameter that describes whether the UE is configured for single TRP operation or an explanation of whether unifiedTCI-StateType-17 is present. If present, the UE is configured for single TRP operation. If the Release 18 parameter is present instead, the UE is configured for either joint mTRP or separate unified TCI state operation based on a single DCI.

[0101] In embodiment 3, when the DL / joint TCI state list and the UL TCI state list are configured in the serving cell, a new MAC CE may be present. In another embodiment, when the DL / joint TCI state list and the UL TCI state list are configured and at least one multi-TRP scheme based on a single DCI (for downlink or uplink) is configured or enabled in the serving cell, a new MAC CE format is introduced to indicate one of the following mapping possibilities for the i-th TCI field code point in the TCI field of the DCI: - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two TCI codes in the activated DL / Joint TCI state. - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two TCI codes in the activated UL TCI state. - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and one of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and both of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and one of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two of the activated DL / joint TCI states and two of the activated UL TCI states.

[0102] In some embodiments, a higher-layer parameter (e.g., an RRC parameter) may be configured for the UE to indicate the need to use a new MAC CE format to indicate one of the aforementioned mapping possibilities. In one example, setting the parameter unifiedTCI-StateType-17 to "alone" in conjunction with other higher-layer parameters may indicate to the UE the need to use a new MAC CE format to indicate one of the aforementioned mapping possibilities. In another example, a new RRC parameter may be introduced to indicate this to the UE.

[0103] Figure 11 A new MAC CE format that allows the above TCI state mapping possibilities is proposed in .

[0104] Figure 11 P in MAC CE i The fields can be interpreted as follows: - If P i If the field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to the ID "DL / Joint TCI Status ID i,1 "First activated DL / joint TCI state. - If P i The Pi field is set to 0, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is not mapped to any activated DL / Joint TCI state. In other words, if the Pi field is set to 0, the ID is "DL / Joint TCI State ID". i,1 ” and “DL / Joint TCI Status ID i,2 " indicates that the octet is not present in the MAC CE.

[0105] and Figure 11 DL / Joint TCI Status ID in MAC CE i,1 "The same octet exists in X i The field may indicate that the ID is "DL / Joint TCI Status ID i,2 "Whether the second activated DL / joint TCI state is mapped to the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI. - If X i The field is set to 1, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to a state with "DL / Joint TCI State ID i,1 In addition to the first activated DL / Joint TCI state, it is also mapped to the ID "DL / Joint TCI state ID i,2 ” Second activated DL / joint TCI state. - If X iThe field is set to 0, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is not mapped to the second activated DL / Joint TCI state, but only mapped to the state with "DL / Joint TCI State ID i,1 "An activated DL / combined TCI state.

[0106] Figure 11 Q in MAC CE i The fields are interpreted as follows: - If Q i If the field is set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to the ID "ULTCIStateID i,1 "The first activated UL TCI state. - If Q i The field is set to 0, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is not mapped to any activated UL TCI state. In other words, if Q i field is set to 0, the ID is "UL TCI Status ID i,1 ” and “UL TCI Status ID i,2 " indicates that the octet is not present in the MAC CE.

[0107] and Figure 11 UL TCI Status ID in the MAC CE i,1 "Y in the same octet i The field indicates that the ID is "ULTCI status ID i,2 "Whether the second activated UL TCI state is mapped to the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI. - If Y i The field is set to 1, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to a state with "UL TCI State ID i,1 "In addition to the first activated UL TCI state, it is also mapped to the ID "UL TCI state ID i,2 "The second activated UL TCI state. - If Y i The field is set to 0, indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is not mapped to the second activated UL TCI state, but only mapped to the state with "UL TCI state ID i,1 "An activated UL TCI state.

[0108] In an alternative embodiment, field P i and Q iMay be combined into a single field, where the following states may be indicated by different code points of the single combined field: - Indicates that the i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state and not mapped to any UL TCI state. - Indicates that the i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to at least one UL TCI state and not mapped to any DL / joint TCI state. - Indicates that the i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state and at least one UL TCI state.

[0109] As an alternative to embodiment 1, in embodiment 4, when a single list of DL / joint TCI states is configured and at least one single DCI-based multi-TRP scheme (for downlink or uplink) is configured or enabled in the serving cell, the reuse Figure 11 MAC CE, but Q does not exist in MAC CE i In this case, since the UL TCI state list is not configured, Q i The fields are unnecessary and the UE assumes they are not present in the MAC CE. Similarly, when a single list of DL / Joint TCI states is configured and at least one single-DCI based multi-TRP scheme (for downlink or uplink) is configured or enabled in the serving cell, Figure 11 The octet carrying the UL TCI status ID in is also assumed to be absent.

[0110] In a variation of this alternative embodiment, Figure 11 Reuse of MAC CE in Q i fields) based on one or more RRC parameters. For example, setting the parameter unifiedTCI-StateType-17 to "unified" and configuring Release 18 parameters for the UE to enable UL or DL unified TCI state mTRP operation (or mode) indicates to the UE that it should use Figure 11 MAC CE (Q i fields) to activate the DL / Joint TCI state subset.

[0111] In embodiment 5, when the DL / joint TCI state list and the UL TCI state list are configured and at least one single-DCI-based multi-TRP scheme (for downlink or uplink) is configured or enabled in the serving cell, a new MAC CE format is introduced to indicate one of the following mapping possibilities for the i-th TCI field code point in the TCI field of the DCI: - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two TCI codes in the activated DL / Joint TCI state. - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two TCI codes in the activated UL TCI state. - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and one of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and both of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI codepoint in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and one of the activated UL TCI states - The i-th TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to two of the activated DL / joint TCI states and two of the activated UL TCI states.

[0112] Figure 12 A new MAC CE format that allows the above TCI state mapping possibilities is proposed in . Figure 12 The fields in the MAC CE depicted in are interpreted as follows:

[0113] Figure 12 P in MAC CE i,j The fields are interpreted as follows: -P i,j (where j = 1, 2) indicates whether the DL / joint TCI state is mapped to the i-th TCI codepoint -P i,j (where j = 3, 4) indicates whether the UL TCI state is mapped to the i-th TCI code point

[0114] For example, if -P 1,1 =1 -P 1,2 =0 -P 1,3 =0 -P 1,4 =1

[0115] This means that the first TCI code point in the TCI field of the DCI is mapped to one of the activated DL / Joint TCI states and one of the activated UL TCI states. Figure 12 TCI state ID0 in will point to DL / Joint TCI state, while Figure 12 The TCI state ID1 in will point to the UL TCI state.

[0116] In the previous embodiment, it is assumed that up to 8 TCI code points are supported. When more than 8 TCI code points are supported, in embodiment 6, different MAC CE formats can be used to activate a unified TCI state for multiple TRPs. Under the new MAC CE format, for each TCI code point, the presence of one or more of the following TCI states associated with the TCI code point is explicitly or implicitly indicated in the MAC CE: - First DL or combined DL / UL TCI state - Second DL or joint DL / UL TCI state - First UL TCI status - Second UL TCI status

[0117] The first DL and UL TCI states are associated with a first TRP, and the second DL and UL TCI states are associated with a second TRP.

[0118] Figure 13 The following example is shown in FIG. 1 , in which, for TCI code point i, the first DL TCI state and the second DL TCI state (ie, DL / joint TCI state ID i,1 and DL / Joint TCI Status ID i,2 ) are respectively determined by the position Explicitly indicated, and the first UL TCI state and the second UL TCI state (ie, UL TCI state ID i,1 and UL TCI status ID i,2 ) are respectively determined by the position Explicitly indicates. If the corresponding bit is set to 1, the TCI state exists; if the corresponding bit is set to 0, the TCI state does not exist. For each TCI code point, at least one TCI state should exist. Note that the indication bit 、 The exact location can be compared with Figure 13 For example, the indicator bits of two TCI code points may be allocated together in the same octet, and the bits of all TCI code points may be located together in consecutive octets.

[0119] When a joint DL / UL TCI state is configured, the first UL TCI state and the second UL TCI state do not exist, so for all TCI code points, = 0. Alternatively, for the case where a joint DL / UL TCI state is configured, a separate MAC CE may be defined, where Does not exist in MAC CE. Figure 13 The number of code points in the TCI field of the DCI in the MAC CE is given by N.

[0120] Figure 14 1404. Figure 10 MAC CE format, where P i The field is reinterpreted as described in Example 1. If the answer is yes, then at 1406 the UE will use Figure 11 MAC CE format, where P i , Q i 、X i and Y i The fields are as described in Example 3.

[0121] Figure 15 1504. Figure 11 MAC CE format, where Q i and Y i and the associated UL TCI status field is removed, as described in Example 4. If the answer is yes, then at 1506 the UE will use Figure 11 MAC CE format, where Pi, Q i 、X i and Y i The fields are as described in Example 3.

[0122] Figure 16Flowchart of a method performed by a UE to facilitate unified TCI states for a single TRP or multiple TRP solution. The method optionally includes one or more of steps 1602 to 1608. The method begins at step 1602, which includes receiving RRC signaling from a RAN node to configure a serving cell with one of the following: a first list including multiple DL / joint TCI states, or both a first list including multiple DL / joint TCI states and a second list including multiple uplink (UL) TCI states.

[0123] At step 1604 , the method includes receiving, based on RRC signaling, a first MAC CE message in a first format or a second MAC CE message in a second format.

[0124] At step 1606, the method optionally includes: in response to RRC signaling configuring only the first list, a first MAC CE message of a first format activates a DL / joint TCI state subset, and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state subset to one or more code points of the TCI field in the DCI.

[0125] At step 1608, the method optionally includes: in response to RRC signaling configuring the first list and the second list, a second MAC CE message activates (1608) the DL / joint TCI state subset and the UL TCI state subset, and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state subset and the activated UL TCI state subset to one or more code points of the TCI field in the DCI.

[0126] Figure 17 1702 is a flowchart of a method performed by a RAN node to facilitate unified TCI states for a single TRP or multiple TRP solution. The method optionally includes one or more of steps 1702 to 1704. At 1702, the method includes providing RRC signaling to a user equipment to configure a serving cell with one of the following: a first list including multiple DL joint TCI states, or a first list including multiple DL / joint TCI states and a second list including multiple uplink (UL) TCI states.

[0127] At 1704 , the method includes providing, based on RRC signaling, a first MAC CE message in a first format or a second MAC CE message in a second format.

[0128] Figure 18 An example of a communication system 1800 is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0129] In an example, a communication system 1800 includes a telecommunications network 1802 including an access network 1804 (such as a radio access network (RAN)); and a core network 1806 including one or more core network nodes 1808. The access network 1804 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1810A and 1810B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as RAN nodes 1810), or any other similar third generation partnership project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). The network nodes 1810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as connecting UEs 1812A, 1812B, 1812C, and 1812D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UE 1812) to the core network 1806 via one or more wireless connections. The RAN nodes 1810 may perform Figure 17 and UE 1812 may perform the method described in Figure 16 and the methods described in the embodiments described in this disclosure.

[0130] Example wireless communications over wireless connections include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information without the use of wiring, cables, or other material conductors. Additionally, in various embodiments, the communication system 1800 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via a wired or wireless connection). The communication system 1800 may include any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system, and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0131] UE 1812 may be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are arranged, configured, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network node 1810 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 1810 is arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 1812 and / or with other network nodes or devices in telecommunications network 1802 to enable and / or provide network access (e.g., wireless network access) and / or to perform other functions (e.g., management) in telecommunications network 1802.

[0132] In the depicted example, core network 1806 connects network node 1810 to one or more hosts, such as host 1816. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node may be directly coupled to the host. Core network 1806 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1808) comprised of hardware and software components. The features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UE, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions are generally applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 1808. Example core network nodes include functionality of one or more of the following: a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a subscription identifier unhiding function (SIDF), a unified data management (UDM), a security edge protection proxy (SEPP), a network exposure function (NEF), and / or a user plane function (UPF).

[0133] The host 1816 may be owned or controlled by a service provider other than the operator or provider of the access network 1804 and / or the telecommunications network 1802 and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host 1816 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (e.g., retrieving and compiling data about various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analytics functionality, social media, functionality for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functionality for an alarm and monitoring center, or any other such functionality performed by a server.

[0134] As a whole, Figure 18The communication system 1800 enables connectivity between UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system 1800 can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or other suitable second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), or fifth generation (5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standards (e.g., sixth generation (6G)); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low power wide area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0135] In some examples, telecommunication network 1802 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Thus, telecommunication network 1802 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to telecommunication network 1802. For example, telecommunication network 1802 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or provide massive machine type communication (mMTC) / massive Internet of Things (IoT) services to yet other UEs.

[0136] In some examples, UE 1812 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE can be designed to send information to the access network 1804 according to a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from the access network 1804. In addition, the UE can be configured to operate in a single radio access technology (RAT) mode or a multi-RAT mode or a multi-standard mode. For example, the UE can operate using any one or a combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e., be configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0137] In an example, a hub 1814 communicates with access network 1804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 1812C and / or 1812D) and a network node (e.g., network node 1810B). In some examples, hub 1814 may be a controller, a router, a content source and analyzer, or any other communication device described herein with respect to a UE. For example, hub 1814 may be a broadband router that enables a UE to access core network 1806. As another example, hub 1814 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators of a UE. The commands or instructions may be received from a UE, network node 1810, or via executable code, scripts, processes, or other instructions in hub 1814. As another example, hub 1814 may be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing on the data. As another example, hub 1814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a virtual reality (VR) headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, the centralized device 1814 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, and then the centralized device 1814 provides it directly to the UE after performing local processing and / or adding additional local content. In yet another example, the centralized device 1814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, especially if one or more of the UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0138] Centralized device 1814 may have a continuous / persistent or intermittent connection to network node 1810B. Centralized device 1814 may also allow for different communication schemes and / or schedules between centralized device 1814 and UEs (e.g., UE 1812c and / or 1812D), as well as between centralized device 1814 and core network 1806. In other examples, centralized device 1814 connects to core network 1806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Furthermore, centralized device 1814 may be configured to connect to a machine-to-machine (M2M) service provider via access network 1804 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, a UE may establish a wireless connection with network node 1810 while still connected through centralized device 1814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, centralized device 1814 may be a dedicated centralized device—i.e., a centralized device whose primary function is to route communications from network node 1810B to UEs / from UEs to network node 110B. In other embodiments, the centralized device 1814 may be a non-dedicated centralized device—ie, a device operable to route communications between UEs and network node 1810B but additionally operable as a communications origin and / or endpoint for certain data channels.

[0139] Figure 19 UE 1900 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptop computers, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted or vehicle-embedded / integrated wireless devices, and the like. Other examples include any UE identified by 3GPP, including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communication (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0140] A UE may, for example, support device-to-device (D2D) communication by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to or operated by a human user but may not, or may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0141] UE 1900 includes a processing circuit 1902 operatively coupled to an input / output interface 1906, a power supply 1908, a memory 1910, a communication interface 1912, and / or any other components or any combination thereof via a bus 1904. Some UEs may utilize Figure 19 All or a subset of the components shown. The level of integration between components may vary depending on the UE. In addition, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0142] Processing circuitry 1902 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions stored as a machine-readable computer program in memory 1910. Processing circuitry 1902 may be implemented as: one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., implemented in discrete logic, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.); programmable logic along with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors (such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) along with appropriate software; or any combination of the foregoing. For example, processing circuitry 1902 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0143] In an example, the input / output interface 1906 may be configured to provide one or more interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 1900. Examples of input devices include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. A presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from the user. The sensor may, for example, be an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide both input and output devices.

[0144] In some embodiments, power supply 1908 is configured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may be used, such as an external power source (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. Power supply 1908 may also include power circuitry for delivering power from power supply 1908 itself and / or an external power source to various components of UE 1900 via an input circuit or an interface such as a power cable. The delivered power may be used, for example, to charge power supply 1908. The power circuitry may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modifications to the power from power supply 1908 to make it suitable for the respective components being powered in UE 1900.

[0145] The memory 1910 may be or be configured to include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable tape, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory 1910 includes one or more application programs 1914, such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other applications, and corresponding data 1916. The memory 1910 may store any one of various operating systems or a combination of operating systems used by the UE 1900.

[0146] The memory 1910 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro-DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (e.g., a tamper-resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) such as a universal SIM (USIM) and / or an Internet Protocol Multimedia Services identity module (ISIM), other memories, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a "SIM card." The memory 1910 may allow the UE to 1900 accesses instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to download data or upload data. An article of manufacture (such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system) may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 1910, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0147] The processing circuit 1902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using a communication interface 1912. The communication interface 1912 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1922. The communication interface 1912 may include one or more transceivers for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1918 and / or a receiver 1920 suitable for providing network communication (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 1918 and the receiver 1920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1922) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0148] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functionality of the communication interface 1912 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, NFC, location-based communication (e.g., using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location), another type of communication functionality, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards such as IEEE 802.11, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, new radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical network (SONET), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), fast user datagram protocol internet connection (QUIC), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0149] Regardless of the type of sensor, the UE can provide an output of the data captured by its sensor through its communication interface 1912 or via a wireless connection to a network node. The data captured by the UE's sensor can be transmitted via another UE via a wireless connection to a network node. The output can be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the load of reports from several sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., sending an alarm when humidity is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0150] As another example, a UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change. For example, the UE can include a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight based on the received input, or adjusts a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0151] When the UE is in the form of an IoT device, the UE may be a device used in one or more application areas including, but not limited to, urban wearable technology, expanded industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are or are embedded in: an internet-connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, internet-connected lighting, an electric meter, a robotic vacuum cleaner, a voice-controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door and window sensor, a flood / humidity sensor, an electronic door lock, an internet-connected doorbell, an air conditioning system (such as a heat pump), an autonomous vehicle, a monitoring system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for augmented reality (AR) or VR, a wearable device for tactile or sensory enhancement, a sprinkler, an animal tracking or item tracking device, a sensor for monitoring plants or animals, an industrial robot, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device (such as a heart rate monitor or a teleoperated surgical robot). In addition to the above, Figure 19 In addition to the other components depicted for the illustrated UE 1900 , a UE in the form of an IoT device may also include circuitry and / or software depending on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0152] As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE may be an M2M device, which in the 3GPP context may be referred to as an MTC device. As a specific example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle (such as a car, bus, truck, ship, or airplane) or other device capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0153] In practice, any number of UEs can be used together for a single use case. For example, the first UE could be a drone or integrated into a drone, and provide the drone's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE, which is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE can adjust the drone's throttle (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first and / or second UEs can also include more than one of the aforementioned functionalities. For example, a UE could include both a sensor and an actuator, and handle data communications for both the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0154] Figure 20A network node 2000 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NR Node Bs (gNBs)).

[0155] BSs can be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, in other words, based on their transmit power level). Thus, depending on the amount of coverage provided, a BS can be referred to as a femto BS, pico BS, micro BS, or macro BS. A BS can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio BS, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). These RRUs may or may not be integrated with antennas, forming antenna-integrated radios. Parts of a distributed radio BS can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0156] Other examples of network nodes include a multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access node, a multi-standard radio (MSR) device (such as an MSR BS), a network controller (such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a BS controller (BSC)), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), an operation and maintenance (O&M) node, an operation support system (OSS) node, a self-organizing network (SON) node, a positioning node (e.g., an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC)) and / or a minimization of drive tests (MDT).

[0157] Network node 2000 includes processing circuitry 2002, memory 2004, a communication interface 2006, and a power supply 2008. Network node 2000 may be comprised of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a Node B component and an RNC component, a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In some scenarios where network node 2000 includes multiple separate components (e.g., a BTS component and a BSC component), one or more separate components may be shared across multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple Node Bs. In such a scenario, each unique "Node B and RNC pair" may, in some cases, be considered a separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 2000 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such an embodiment, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate memory 2004 may exist for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., antenna 2010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 2000 may also include multiple sets of the various components shown for different wireless technologies (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technology) integrated into the network node 2000. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within the network node 2000.

[0158] The processing circuitry 2002 may include a combination of one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide network node 2000 functionality, alone or in combination with other network node 2000 components (e.g., memory 2004).

[0159] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 2002 comprises a system-on-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 2002 comprises one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 2012 and baseband processing circuitry 2014. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 2012 and baseband processing circuitry 2014 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (e.g., a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 2012 and baseband processing circuitry 2014 may be on the same chip, chipset, board, or unit.

[0160] Memory 2004 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including, but not limited to, permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (e.g., a hard drive), removable storage media (e.g., a flash drive, compact disc (CD), or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile memory or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 2002. Memory 2004 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 2002 and used by network node 2000. Memory 2004 may be used to store any computations performed by processing circuit 2002 and / or any data received via communication interface 2006. In some embodiments, processing circuit 2002 and memory 2004 are integrated.

[0161] Communication interface 2006 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks, and / or UEs. As shown, communication interface 2006 includes port / terminal 2016 for sending and receiving data to and from the network, for example, via a wired connection. Communication interface 2006 also includes radio front-end circuitry 2018, which can be coupled to antenna 2010, or in some embodiments, to a portion of antenna 2010. Radio front-end circuitry 2018 includes filter 2020 and amplifier 2022. Radio front-end circuitry 2018 can be connected to antenna 2010 and processing circuitry 2002. Radio front-end circuitry 2018 can be configured to condition signals transmitted between antenna 2010 and processing circuitry 2002. Radio front-end circuitry 2018 can receive digital data to be transmitted to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry 2018 can use a combination of filter 2020 and / or amplifier 2022 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 2010. Similarly, when data is received, antenna 2010 may collect the radio signal, which may then be converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 2018. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 2002. In other embodiments, communication interface 2006 may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0162] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 2000 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 2018; instead, processing circuitry 2002 includes the radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 2010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 2012 is part of communications interface 2006. In yet another embodiment, communications interface 2006 includes one or more ports or terminals 2016, radio front-end circuitry 2018, and RF transceiver circuitry 2012 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communications interface 2006 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 2014, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0163] Antenna 2010 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 2010 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 2018 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 2010 is separate from network node 2000 and may be connected to network node 2000 via an interface or port.

[0164] The antenna 2010, the communication interface 2006, and / or the processing circuit 2002 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein performed by the network node 2000. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, the antenna 2010, the communication interface 2006, and / or the processing circuit 2002 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein performed by the network node 2000. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0165] Power supply 2008 provides power to the various components of network node 2000 in a form suitable for the various components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each corresponding component). Power supply 2008 may also include or be coupled to power management circuitry to supply power to the components of network node 2000 for performing the functions described herein. For example, network node 2000 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., an electrical grid or an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (such as a cable), whereby the external power source supplies power to the power circuitry of power supply 2008. As another example, power supply 2008 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated into the power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power if the external power source fails.

[0166] Embodiments of the network node 2000 may include more than Figure 20Additional components to those shown are used to provide certain aspects of the functionality of the network node (including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality required to support the subject matter described herein). For example, network node 2000 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into network node 2000 and to allow information to be output from network node 2000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on network node 2000.

[0167] Figure 21 is a block diagram of a host 2100 according to various aspects described herein, which may be Figure 18 As used herein, host 2100 may be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including standalone servers, blade servers, cloud-enabled servers, distributed servers, virtual machines, containers, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 2100 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0168] Host 2100 includes processing circuitry 2102 operatively coupled to input / output interface 2106, network interface 2108, power supply 2110, and memory 2112 via bus 2104. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to previous figures (such as Figure 19 and Figure 20 ) describes features of the device so that its description is generally applicable to corresponding components of the host 2100.

[0169] Memory 2112 may include one or more computer programs, including data 2116, which may include user data, such as data generated by a UE for host 2100, or data generated by host 2100 for a UE, and one or more host applications 2114. Embodiments of host 2100 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. Host applications 2114 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for a variety of different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., mobile phones, desktop computers, wearable display systems, and head-up display systems). Host applications 2114 may also provide user authentication and permission checks and may periodically report health, routing, and content availability to a central node (e.g., a device in the core network or at the edge of the core network). Thus, the host 2100 can select and / or instruct the UE on different hosts for over-the-top (OTT) services. The host application 2114 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0170] Figure 22 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment 2200 in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device that may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may apply to any device or component thereof described herein and relates to embodiments in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 2200 hosted by one or more hardware nodes (such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts). Furthermore, in embodiments in which the virtual nodes do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes or hosts), the nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0171] Applications 2202 (which may alternatively be referred to as software instances, virtual applications, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) run in the virtualized environment 2200 to implement some features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0172] The hardware 2204 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions that can be executed by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices described herein (such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc.). The software can be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 2206 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 2208a and 2208b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 2208), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 2206 can present a virtual operating platform to the VMs 2208 that appears to be network hardware.

[0173] VM 2208 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networks or interfaces, and virtual storage, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 2206. Different embodiments of instances of virtual devices 2202 can be implemented on one or more VMs 2208, and these implementations can be made in different ways. In some contexts, virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to unify many types of network equipment into industry-standard high-capacity server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0174] In the context of NFV, VMs 2208 can be software implementations of physical machines whose operating programs behave as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM 2208 and the hardware portion of 2204 on which it executes (whether dedicated to that VM and / or shared with other VMs 2208) form a separate virtual network element. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions operating in one or more VMs 2208 on the hardware 2204 and corresponding to an application 2202.

[0175] Hardware 2204 can be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specialized components. Hardware 2204 may implement some functionality via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 2204 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed by management and orchestration 2210, which oversees, among other things, the lifecycle management of applications 2202. In some embodiments, hardware 2204 is coupled to one or more radio units, each of which includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units can communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and can be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide radio capabilities to virtual nodes (e.g., RAN or BS). In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided through the use of a control system 2212, which can alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0176] While the computing devices (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) described herein may include combinations of the hardware components shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software necessary to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determinations, calculations, acquisitions, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired or converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information, and making determinations based on the results of the processing. Furthermore, while components are depicted as a single block within a larger block or nested within multiple blocks, in reality, a computing device may include multiple different physical components that make up the single illustrated component, and functionality may be divided between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or functionality of a component may be divided between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functionality of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while computationally intensive functionality may be implemented in hardware.

[0177] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by a processing circuit that executes instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuit, for example in a hardwired manner, without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuit may be configured to perform the described functionality regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to separate processing circuits or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or generally by end users and wireless networks.

[0178] Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are as follows:

[0179] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a user equipment (1812) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising one or more of the following operations:

[0180] Radio resource control (RRC) signaling is received (1602) from a radio access network (RAN) node (1810) to configure one of the following for a serving cell:

[0181] i. A first list comprising multiple downlink (DL) joint TCI states; or

[0182] ii. both a first list comprising a plurality of DL / joint TCI states and a second list comprising a plurality of uplink (UL) TCI states;

[0183] Based on RRC signaling, receiving (1604) a first medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message in a first format or a second MAC CE message in a second format, wherein:

[0184] Optionally, in response to RRC signaling configuring only the first list, a first MAC CE message of the first format activates (1606) a DL / joint TCI state subset and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state subset to one or more code points of a TCI field in downlink control information (DCI); and / or

[0185] Optionally, in response to RRC signaling configuring the first list and the second list, the second MAC CE message activates (1608) the DL / joint TCI state subset and the UL TCI state subset, and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state subset and the activated UL TCI state subset to one or more code points of the TCI field in the DCI.

[0186] Embodiment 2: The method according to embodiment 1, wherein the RRC signaling includes an explicit indication of using a first MAC CE message having a first format or using a second MAC CE message having a second format.

[0187] Embodiment 3: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 2, wherein, in response to using a multi-TRP configuration based on a single DCI in a serving cell:

[0188] The first field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the first MAC CE message indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one DL / joint TCI state among multiple DL / joint TCI states or to two DL / joint TCI states among the multiple DL / joint TCI states.

[0189] Embodiment 4: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 2, wherein, in response to using a multi-TRP configuration based on a single DCI in a serving cell:

[0190] The first field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states or is not mapped to any of the plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0191] Embodiment 5: A method according to embodiment 4, wherein, in response to the first field indicating that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states, the second MAC CE message further includes a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to only one DL / joint TCI state among the plurality of DL / joint TCI states or to two DL / joint TCI states among the plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0192] Embodiment 6: The method according to any one of embodiments 4 to 5, wherein the presence condition of the identifier field corresponding to the second of the plurality of DL / joint TCI states mapped to the i-th TCI codepoint is one or both of the following:

[0193] The first field indicates that the i-th TCI codepoint is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states; and

[0194] The second field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to two of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0195] Embodiment 7: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 2, wherein, in response to using a single DCI-based multi-TRP configuration in a serving cell:

[0196] The third field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one UL TCI state of a plurality of UL TCI states or is not mapped to any of the plurality of UL TCI states.

[0197] Embodiment 8: A method according to embodiment 7, wherein, in response to the third field indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message is mapped to at least one UL TCI state among multiple UL TCI states, the second MAC CE message also includes a fourth field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point, and the fourth field indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to only one UL TCI state among the multiple UL TCI states or mapped to two UL TCI states among the multiple UL TCI states.

[0198] Embodiment 9: The method according to any one of embodiments 7 to 8, wherein the presence condition of the identifier field corresponding to the second UL TCI state among the plurality of UL TCI states mapped to the i-th TCI code point is one or both of the following:

[0199] The third field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one UL TCI state among a plurality of UL TCI states; and

[0200] The fourth field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to two UL TCI states among a plurality of UL TCI states.

[0201] Embodiment 10: The method according to embodiment 1, wherein the first MAC CE message and the second MAC CE message include a field indicating whether the first MAC CE message or the second MAC CE message is to be used for single TRP operation or multi-TRP operation.

[0202] Embodiment 11: The method according to embodiment 1, wherein, in response to RRC signaling configuring only a first list including multiple DL joint TCI states, the first MAC CE message omits a field associated with the UL TCI state.

[0203] Embodiment 12: The method according to embodiment 11, wherein the RRC signaling indicates that the first MAC CE message omits a field associated with the UL TCI state based on an RRC parameter.

[0204] Embodiment 13: The method according to embodiment 1, wherein, for the first MAC CE message and the second MAC CE message of each i-th code point, one or more of the following TCI states are indicated:

[0205] First DL or combined DL / UL TCI state;

[0206] a second DL or combined DL / UL TCI state;

[0207] a first UL TCI state; and

[0208] Second UL TCI state.

[0209] Embodiment 14: A user equipment (UE) (1812) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE comprising:

[0210] Processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of the following operations:

[0211] Radio resource control (RRC) signaling is received (1602) from a radio access network (RAN) node (1810) to configure one of the following for a serving cell:

[0212] i. A first list comprising multiple downlink (DL) joint TCI states; or

[0213] ii. both a first list comprising a plurality of DL / joint TCI states and a second list comprising a plurality of uplink (UL) TCI states;

[0214] Based on RRC signaling, receiving (1604) a first medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message in a first format or a second MAC CE message in a second format, wherein:

[0215] Optionally, in response to RRC signaling configuring only the first list, a first MAC CE message of the first format activates (1606) a DL / joint TCI state subset and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state subset to one or more code points of a TCI field in downlink control information (DCI); and

[0216] Optionally, in response to RRC signaling configuring the first list and the second list, the second MAC CE message activates (1608) the DL / joint TCI state subset and the UL TCI state subset, and maps one or more states in the activated DL / joint TCI state subset and the activated UL TCI state subset to one or more code points of the TCI field in the DCI.

[0217] Embodiment 15: The user equipment (UE) (1812) according to embodiment 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps according to embodiments 2 to 13.

[0218] Embodiment 16: A method performed by a radio access network (RAN) node (1810) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising one or more of the following operations:

[0219] Radio resource control (RRC) signaling is provided (1702) to a user equipment (1812) to configure one of the following for a serving cell:

[0220] i. A first list comprising multiple downlink (DL) joint TCI states; or

[0221] ii. both a first list comprising a plurality of DL / joint TCI states and a second list comprising a plurality of uplink (UL) TCI states;

[0222] Based on the RRC signaling, a first medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message in a first format or a second MAC CE message in a second format is provided ( 1704 ).

[0223] Embodiment 17: The method according to embodiment 16, wherein the RRC signaling includes an explicit indication of using a first MAC CE message having a first format or using a second MAC CE message having a second format.

[0224] Embodiment 18: The method according to any one of embodiments 16 to 17, wherein in response to using a multiple TRP configuration based on a single downlink control information (DCI) in the serving cell:

[0225] The first field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the first MAC CE message indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one DL / joint TCI state among multiple DL / joint TCI states or to two DL / joint TCI states among the multiple DL / joint TCI states.

[0226] Embodiment 19: The method according to any one of embodiments 16 to 17, wherein, in response to using a single DCI-based multi-TRP configuration in a serving cell:

[0227] The first field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states or is not mapped to any of the plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0228] Embodiment 20: A method according to embodiment 19, wherein, in response to the first field indicating that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states, the second MAC CE message further includes a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to only one DL / joint TCI state among the plurality of DL / joint TCI states or to two DL / joint TCI states among the plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0229] Embodiment 21: The method of any one of embodiments 19 to 20, wherein the presence condition of the identifier field corresponding to the second of the plurality of DL / joint TCI states mapped to the i-th TCI codepoint is one or both of the following:

[0230] The first field indicates that the i-th TCI codepoint is mapped to at least one of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states; and

[0231] The second field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to two of a plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

[0232] Embodiment 22: The method according to any one of embodiments 16 to 17, wherein, in response to using a single DCI-based multi-TRP configuration in a serving cell:

[0233] The third field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one UL TCI state of a plurality of UL TCI states or is not mapped to any of the plurality of UL TCI states.

[0234] Embodiment 23: A method according to embodiment 22, wherein, in response to the third field indicating that the i-th TCI code point in the second MAC CE message is mapped to at least one UL TCI state among multiple UL TCI states, the second MAC CE message also includes a fourth field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point, and the fourth field indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to only one UL TCI state among the multiple UL TCI states or mapped to two UL TCI states among the multiple UL TCI states.

[0235] Embodiment 24: The method of any one of embodiments 22 to 23, wherein a condition for the presence of an identifier field corresponding to a second UL TCI state among a plurality of UL TCI states mapped to the i-th TCI code point is one or both of the following:

[0236] The third field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one UL TCI state among a plurality of UL TCI states; and

[0237] The fourth field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to two UL TCI states among a plurality of UL TCI states.

[0238] Embodiment 25: The method according to embodiment 16, wherein the first MAC CE message and the second MAC CE message include a field indicating whether the first MAC CE message or the second MAC CE message is to be used for single TRP operation or for multi-TRP operation.

[0239] Embodiment 26: The method according to embodiment 16, wherein, in response to RRC signaling configuring only a first list including multiple DL joint TCI states, the first MAC CE message omits a field associated with the UL TCI state.

[0240] Embodiment 27: The method according to embodiment 26, wherein the RRC signaling indicates that the first MAC CE message omits a field associated with the UL TCI state based on an RRC parameter.

[0241] Embodiment 28: The method according to embodiment 16, wherein, for the first MAC CE message and the second MAC CE message of each i-th code point, one or more of the following TCI states are indicated:

[0242] First DL or combined DL / UL TCI state;

[0243] a second DL or combined DL / UL TCI state;

[0244] a first UL TCI state; and

[0245] Second UL TCI state.

[0246] Embodiment 29: A radio access network (RAN) node (1810) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE comprising:

[0247] Processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of the following operations:

[0248] Radio resource control (RRC) signaling is provided (1702) to a user equipment (1812) to configure one of the following for a serving cell:

[0249] i. A first list comprising multiple downlink (DL) joint TCI states; or

[0250] ii. both a first list comprising a plurality of DL / joint TCI states and a second list comprising a plurality of uplink (UL) TCI states;

[0251] Based on the RRC signaling, a first medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message in a first format or a second MAC CE message in a second format is provided ( 1704 ).

[0252] Embodiment 30: The RAN node (1810) according to embodiment 29, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps according to embodiments 17 to 28.

[0253] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and all such improvements and modifications are considered to fall within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (1812) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising: Receiving (1602) signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell from a radio access network (RAN) node (1810), wherein the signaling comprises a medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message, the MAC CE message comprising: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state of a plurality of downlink DL / joint TCI states; and a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state; A DL / joint TCI state subset is activated (1608) based on the MAC CE message, and one or more DL / joint TCI states in the DL / joint TCI state subset are mapped to one or more code points of a TCI field in the DCI.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The existence condition of the second field is: The first field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state among the plurality of DL / joint TCI states.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein The existence condition of the identifier field corresponding to the second DL / joint TCI state among the multiple DL / joint TCI states mapped to the i-th TCI code point is one or both of the following: The first field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state among the plurality of DL / joint TCI states; and The second field indicates that the i-th TCI code point is mapped to two DL / joint TCI states among the multiple DL / joint TCI states.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The MAC CE message also includes: A third field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the third field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one UL TCI state of a plurality of UL TCI states or is not mapped to any UL TCI state of the plurality of UL TCI states.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The MAC CE message also includes: A fourth field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point, the fourth field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to only one UL TCI state among the multiple UL TCI states or mapped to two UL TCI states among the multiple UL TCI states.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The existence condition of the fourth field is that the third field indicates that the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message is mapped to at least one UL TCI state among the multiple UL TCI states.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein In the MAC CE message, for every i-th codepoint, the presence of one or more of the following TCI states is indicated: First DL or combined DL / UL TCI state; a second DL or combined DL / UL TCI state; a first UL TCI state; and Second UL TCI state.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein The radio resource control RRC configuration instructs the MAC CE message to omit a field associated with the UL TCI state based on an RRC parameter.

9. A user equipment (UE) (1812) for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE comprising: Processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of the following operations: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multi-TRP scheme for a serving cell is received (1602) from a radio access network (RAN) node (1810), wherein: The signaling includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) message, and the MAC CE message includes: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state of a plurality of downlink DL / joint TCI states; and a second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state; A DL / joint TCI state subset is activated (1608) based on the MAC CE message, and one or more DL / joint TCI states in the DL / joint TCI state subset are mapped to one or more code points of a TCI field in the DCI.

10. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 9, wherein: The processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps according to claims 2 to 8.

11. A method performed by a user equipment (1812) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell is received (1602) from a radio access network (RAN) node (1810), wherein the signaling comprises a medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message, the MAC CE message comprising information indicating: a first field and / or a second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink DL / joint TCI states; and a third field and / or a fourth field, wherein the third field and / or the fourth field indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more uplink UL TCI states; Activating (1608) a DL / joint TCI state and a UL TCI state subset based on the MAC CE message, and mapping one or more states of the activated DL / joint TCI state and UL TCI state subset to one or more codepoints of a TCI field in the DCI.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein In the MAC CE message, for every i-th codepoint, the presence of one or more of the following TCI states is indicated: First DL or combined DL / UL TCI state; a second DL or combined DL / UL TCI state; a first UL TCI state; and Second UL TCI state.

13. The method according to any one of claims 11 or 12, wherein The radio resource control RRC configuration instructs the MAC CE message to omit a field associated with the UL TCI state based on an RRC parameter.

14. A user equipment (UE) (1812) for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE comprising: Processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of the following operations: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multi-TRP scheme for a serving cell is received (1602) from a radio access network (RAN) node (1810), wherein: The signaling includes a medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message, and the MAC CE message includes information indicating the following items: a first field and / or a second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink DL / joint TCI states; as well as a third field and / or a fourth field, wherein the third field and / or the fourth field indicates whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more uplink UL TCI states; Activating (1608) a DL / joint TCI state and a UL TCI state subset based on the MAC CE message, and mapping one or more states of the activated DL / joint TCI state and UL TCI state subset to one or more codepoints of a TCI field in the DCI.

15. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 14, wherein: The processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps according to claims 12 to 13.

16. A method performed by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (1810) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising one or more of the following operations: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multi-TRP scheme for a serving cell is provided (1602) to a user equipment (UE) (1812), wherein: The signaling includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) message, and the MAC CE message includes: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state of a plurality of downlink DL / joint TCI states; and A second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state.

17. A radio access network (RAN) node (1810) for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multi-TRP scheme for a serving cell is provided (1602) to a user equipment (UE) (1812), wherein: The signaling includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) message, and the MAC CE message includes: a first field corresponding to an i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the first field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to at least one DL / joint TCI state of a plurality of downlink DL / joint TCI states; as well as A second field corresponding to the i-th TCI code point in the MAC CE message, the second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to a second DL / joint TCI state.

18. A method performed by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (1810) for facilitating use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising one or more of the following operations: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multi-TRP scheme for a serving cell is provided (1602) to a user equipment (UE) (1812), wherein: The signaling includes a medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message, and the MAC CE message includes information indicating the following items: a first field and / or a second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink DL / joint TCI states; as well as The third field and / or the fourth field indicate whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more uplink UL TCI states.

19. A radio access network (RAN) node (1810) for facilitating the use of a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by a single or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: Signaling of a single downlink control information (DCI) multiple TRP scheme for a serving cell is provided (1602) to a user equipment (UE) (1812), wherein the signaling comprises a medium access control (MAC) element (CE) message, the MAC CE message comprising information indicating: a first field and / or a second field indicating whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more downlink DL / joint TCI states; and The third field and / or the fourth field indicate whether the i-th TCI code point is mapped to one or more uplink UL TCI states.

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