Locking of one or more antenna modes or beams

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to locking of one or more antenna modes or beams. A method includes receiving, by a first device from a second device, lock indication information indicating at least one of: at least one antenna pattern forming a first number of at least one transmit beam to be locked, at least one antenna pattern forming a second number of at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock a universal set of antenna patterns or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information; and performing locking on a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the locking indication information.

Description

Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of United Kingdom Application No. 2410483.8, filed July 18, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and in particular to apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable storage media for locking one or more antenna patterns or beams. BACKGROUND

[0003] To support Fifth Generation System (5GS) conformance testing, User Equipment (UE) special conformance test functions are required. These functions form part of the core requirements and therefore have a direct impact on the design of the UE. The UE special conformance test functions vary depending on the conformance test functions that the function is designed to support. These conformance test functions are broadly divided into two groups. One group includes test loop functions, which require a loop to be established between the UE and a network device, such as a System Simulator (SS), to allow, for example, downlink (DL) data packets transmitted by the SS to be looped back in the uplink (UL) by the UE. The other group includes general test functions, which require commands to be transmitted by the SS, for example, to trigger a certain UE behavior. Such UE behaviors include behaviors determined by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) core specification requirements, or behaviors that are required to facilitate conformance testing but are not part of any 3GPP core specification requirements, or behaviors used to provide the UE with information required for conformance testing.

[0004] The utilization of any UE special conformance test function can be seen as putting the UE into a test mode. UE special conformance test functions, including the related procedures and Test Mode Control (TMC) message contents for information exchange, are defined in 3GPP standardization, such as TS 38.509. The UE Beam Locking Test Function (UBF) is a UE special conformance test function designed to cause the UE to lock the antenna array once the UE has formed a beam in the direction towards the base station (or SS) after the cell identification procedure, in preparation for subsequent test procedures. Activating the UBF can lock the antenna array for all active in-band component carriers and all Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) layers affected by the test function. The UBF is currently applicable to UEs operating in Frequency Range 2 (FR2), but in principle can be applied to any frequency range.

[0005] Until 3GPP New Radio (NR) Release 17 (Rel-17), FR2 UE requirements assume that only one active antenna array has data to be transmitted to or received from a base station at a time, and the conformance testing of such UEs requires locking the transmit (Tx), receive (Rx), or Tx and Rx (or Tx-Rx) beam in the direction towards the base station. To test the Release 18 (Rel-18) multiple Rx feature, the radio frequency (RF) requirements are based on rotating the device over the entire sphere. During this rotation, for example, 266 rotations are considered, and the beam needs to be locked to make measurements at each of the 266 points on the sphere. Furthermore, for demodulation testing, it is assumed that two beams for the UE are fixed. Therefore, for the conformance testing of UEs supporting Rel-18 multiple Rx features, a UBF that can lock multiple UE beams simultaneously is needed. SUMMARY

[0006] In a first aspect of the disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to receive, from a second apparatus, locking indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna patterns or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information is to be locked; and perform locking on a number of at least one antenna pattern forming the at least one transmit beam and / or the at least one receive beam based on the locking indication information.

[0007] In a second aspect of the disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to transmit, to a first apparatus, locking indication information from the second apparatus indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of at least one antenna pattern or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information is to be locked.

[0008] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna patterns or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked; and performing, based on the lock indication information, a lock on a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming the at least one transmit beam and / or the at least one receive beam.

[0009] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, lock indication information from a second apparatus indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of at least one antenna pattern or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked.

[0010] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from a second apparatus, lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna patterns or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked; and means for performing, based on the lock indication information, a lock on a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming the at least one transmit beam and / or the at least one receive beam.

[0011] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus comprises: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, lock indication information from a second apparatus indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of at least one antenna pattern or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked.

[0012] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0013] In an eighth aspect of the disclosure, a computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0014] It is to be understood that the Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other aspects of the disclosure will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art by review of the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0016] Figure 1 An example communication environment in which example embodiments of the disclosure can be implemented is illustrated;

[0017] Figure 2A An example beam-lock test mode activation procedure is illustrated;

[0018] Figure 2B An example beam-lock test mode deactivation procedure is illustrated;

[0019] Figure 3A A signalling flow for antenna mode locking according to some example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated;

[0020] Figure 3B A signalling flow for antenna mode locking according to some example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated;

[0021] Figure 4A A flow diagram of an example method at a first apparatus according to some example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated;

[0022] Figure 4B A flow diagram of an example method at a second apparatus according to some example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated;

[0023] Figure 5A A flow diagram of an example method at a first apparatus according to some other example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated;

[0024] Figure 5B A signalling diagram of an example method at a second apparatus according to some other example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated;

[0025] Figure 6 A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated; and

[0026] Figure 7 A block diagram of an example computer readable medium according to some example embodiments of the disclosure is illustrated.

[0027] Throughout the drawings, identical or similar reference numerals can designate identical or similar elements throughout the several views. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and help the skilled person understand and implement the present disclosure, without implying any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0029] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0030] Reference within this disclosure to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “example embodiment” or the like means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described is included in at least one embodiment, but not necessarily every embodiment, of the disclosure. Moreover, these phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0031] It should be understood that although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. can be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0032] As used herein, “at least one of ” and “one or more of ” and similar phrases, where a list of two or more elements is preceded by “at least one of” or “one or more of”, means at least one element, or at least one of any two or more elements, or at least a plurality of the elements.

[0033] As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately following the occurrence of “A”, but can include one or more intervening steps.

[0034] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and / or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements and / or components etc. but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0035] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" can refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) combinations of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware (ii) combinations of hardware state machines with software, including digital signal processors; software, and memory that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions and (c) hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software can not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0036] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation that includes hardware-only circuit implementations or a processor (or multiple processors) and accompanying software or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example, if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0037] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network that follows any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Further, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols that are currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development in communications, it is of course also possible that future types of communication technologies and systems can be embodied that are not covered by the above described examples. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-mentioned examples.

[0038] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which terminal devices access the network and receive services therefrom. The network device can refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), such as a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node (such as a femto, pico), a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network device (such as a satellite network device, low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite), an aerial network device, etc., depending on the terminology used and the technology applied. In some example embodiments, a radio access network (RAN) split architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node includes a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) part, which behaves like a UE to a parent node, while the DU part of the IAB node behaves like a base station to a next-hop IAB node.

[0039] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and without limitation, a terminal device can also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). A terminal device can include, but is not limited to, a mobile telephone, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device, such as a digital camera, a gaming terminal device, a music storage and playback appliance, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain environments), consumer electronics, devices operating on a business and / or industrial wireless network, etc. A terminal device can also correspond to a mobile terminal (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" can be used interchangeably.

[0040] Figure 1 An example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown.

[0041] In the communication environment 100, multiple communication devices including a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120 can communicate with each other. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 can operate as a terminal device, such as a UE; and the second apparatus 120 can operate as a network device, such as a base station or a system simulator (SS).

[0042] Hereinafter, some example embodiments are described in which the first apparatus 110 operates as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operates as a network device, for illustrative purposes. However, in some example embodiments, operations described with respect to a terminal device can be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described with respect to a network device can be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0043] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 is a network device, the link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as DL, and the link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as UL. In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a Tx device (or transmitter), and the first apparatus 110 is an Rx device (or receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a Tx device (or transmitter), and the second apparatus 120 is an Rx device (or receiver). If both the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 are terminal devices, the link between the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 is referred to as a sidelink (SL). In SL, one of the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 is a Tx device (or transmitter), and the other of the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 is an Rx device (or receiver).

[0044] Communications in the communication environment 100 can be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols of first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), etc., wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocol that is currently known or later developed. Moreover, communications can utilize any suitable wireless communication techniques, including but not limited to code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other techniques that are currently known or later developed.

[0045] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to suggest any limitations on the present disclosure. The communication environment 100 can include any suitable number of devices configured to implement example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0046] In the communication environment 100, either or both of the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 can be provided with one or more antenna arrays / panels, each having a set of antenna elements that control antenna patterns to form beams. One antenna array or antenna panel can generate one or more antenna patterns (sometimes referred to as radiation patterns). The antenna patterns can form a plurality of beams, where one or more beams can be selected and used for reception or transmission. A beam can be considered an average spatial filter associated with transmission and / or reception.

[0047] It will be appreciated that any number of physical antenna arrays can be arranged at the first apparatus 110 and / or the second apparatus 120, depending on the implementation.

[0048] To support conformance testing, UE special conformance test functions are required. They form part of the core requirements and thus have a direct impact on the design of the UE. UE special conformance test functions vary depending on the conformance test functions they are designed to support and are broadly categorized into two groups. The first group of functions is test loop functions, which require a loop to be established between the UE and a system simulator (SS) to allow, for example, DL data packets transmitted by the SS to be looped back UL by the UE. The second group of functions is general test functions, which require commands to be transmitted by the SS to, for example, trigger certain UE behavior, which can be behavior determined by core network requirements or behavior required to facilitate conformance testing that is not part of any core network requirements, or to provide the UE with information required for conformance testing.

[0049] The utilization of any UE special conformance test function shall be considered as placing the UE in a test mode. UE special conformance test functions have been defined, including any related procedures and test mode control (TMC) message contents for information exchange. One of such functions is the UE beam lock test function (UBF). According to the UBF, the second apparatus 120, which can operate as a SS or a base station, can instruct the first apparatus 110, which can operate as a UE, to perform a UE beam lock function (UBF). The UE beam lock test function is configured to cause the UE to lock a UE Tx and / or Rx beam.

[0050] The second apparatus 120 can use a beam lock test mode activation procedure to instruct the first apparatus 110 to lock a beam on an antenna array and a beam lock test mode deactivation procedure to instruct the first apparatus 110 to re-track a beam in a direction towards the second apparatus 120.

[0051] Figure 2A and Figure 2B An example beam lock test mode activation procedure 200 and an example beam lock test mode deactivation procedure 205 are shown, respectively.

[0052] As Figure 2A and Figure 2BAs shown, the second device 120 sends (210, 215) an "Activate Beam Locking" / "Deactivate Beam Locking" test message (or "Activate Beam Locking" / "Deactivate Beam Locking" message or command) to the first device 110 to instruct the first device 110 to lock / unlock a beam on the antenna array. The first device 110 sends (220, 225) an "Activate Beam Locking Complete" / "Deactivate Beam Locking Complete" (or "Activate Beam Locking Complete" / "Deactivate Beam Locking Complete") message (or command) to the second device 120 to confirm that it has locked / unlocked the beam. The "Activate Beam Locking" and "Deactivate Beam Locking" messages sent in the direction from the second device 120 to the first device 110 can be embedded in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) "DLInformationTransfer" message. The "Activate Beam Locking Complete" and "Deactivate Beam Locking Complete" messages sent in the direction from the first device 110 to the second device 120 can be embedded in a RRC "ULInformationTransfer" message.

[0053] The current specification for UBF is as follows table, where the signaling diagrams are similar to those shown in Figure 2A to Figure 2B

[0054] The TMC messages for UBF can be defined as follows.

[0055] An "Activate Beam Locking" message can be sent to indicate which beam to lock. Table 1-1 shows an example structure of the "Activate Beam Locking" message from SS to UE. Table 1-1 Information element Presence Format Length Protocol discriminator M V 1 / 2 Skip indicator M V 1 / 2 Message type M V 1 UE beam lock test function M V 1 Where the message type can be as follows: Table 1-2 Where the UE beam locking test function can be as follows: Table 1-3 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Bit number X1 X2 Octet 1 Where X1, X2 = 01 for activating beam locking for Tx only beams, 10 for activating beam locking for Rx only beams, and 11 for activating beam locking for both Tx and Rx beams. Note: X1, X2 = 00 is not used.

[0056] In an example, the example content of the "Activate Beam Locking Complete" message can be as follows. Table 1-4 Information element Presence Format Length Protocol discriminator M V 1 / 2 Skip indicator M V v Message type M V 1 ​Where the message type can be: Table 1-5 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Bit number 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 Octet 1

[0057] In an example, example content of the "Deactivate Beam Lock" message can be as follows. Table 1-6 Information element Presence Format Length Protocol discriminator M V 1 / 2 Skip indicator M V v Message type M V 1 Where the message type is: Table 1-7 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Bit number 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Octet 1

[0058] In an example, example content of the "Deactivate Beam Lock Complete" message can be as follows. Table 1-8 Information element Presence Format Length Protocol discriminator M V 1 / 2 Skip indicator M V 1 / 2 Message type M V 1 Where the message type is: Table 1-9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Bit number 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 Octet 1

[0059] A default TMC message for UBF can be defined as follows.

[0060] In an example, the "Activate Beam Lock" message can be embedded in an RRC DLInformationTransfer message, with example content as follows. Table 2-1 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100000 UE beam lock test function 00000001 Tx only UE beam lock test function 00000010 Rx only UE beam lock test function 00000011 Tx and Rx

[0061] Here, "Tx only", "Rx only", and "Tx and Rx" represent the activated UE beam lock function for Tx only, the activated UE beam lock function for Rx only, and the activated UE beam lock function for both Tx and Rx, respectively.

[0062] In an example, the "Activate Beam Lock Complete" message can be embedded in an RRC ULInformationTransfer message, with example content as follows. Table 2-2 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100001

[0063] In an example, the "Deactivate Beam Lock" message can be embedded in an RRC DLInformationTransfer message, with example content as follows. Table 2-3 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100010

[0064] In an example, the "Deactivate Beam Lock Complete" message can be embedded in an RRC ULInformationTransfer message, with example content as follows. Table 2-4 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100011

[0065] In an example, the test procedure to activate / deactivate UBF can be defined as follows.

[0066] In an example, the test procedure sequence to activate UE beam lock test function (UBF) can be as follows: Table 3-1

[0067] In an example, the example content of the "Activate Beam Lock" message can be as follows. Table 3-2 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100000 UE beam lock test function 00000001 xxxxxx01 ​ 00000010 ​ ​ 00000011 ​

[0068] Here, "Tx only", "Rx only" and "Tx and Rx" represent the activated UE beam lock function for Tx only, the activated UE beam lock function for Rx only, and the activated UE beam lock function for both Tx and Rx, respectively.

[0069] In an example, the example content of the "Activate Beam Lock Complete" message can be as follows. Table 3-3 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1111 ​ 0000 ​ 10100001

[0070] In an example, the test procedure sequence to deactivate UE beam lock test function (UBF) can be as follows. Table 3-4

[0071] In an example, the example content of the "Deactivate Beam Lock" message can be as follows. Table 3-5 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1111 ​ 0000 ​ 10100010

[0072] In an example, the example content of the "Deactivate Beam Lock Complete" message can be as follows. Table 3-6

[0073] The current specification for UBF indicates that once a beam has been formed, the current UBF only supports locking one antenna mode, e.g., using bits 1 and 2 in the octet of the “UE Beam Locking Test Function” IE as defined in Table 1-3 to set whether the “Tx” or “Rx” or “both Tx and Rx” antenna mode forming the beam needs to be locked by the UE. However, in various usage scenarios, it can be requested to lock different numbers of antenna modes or beams simultaneously. For example, for a simultaneous transmission with multiple panels (STxMP) measurement, it can be needed to ensure that the UE beam locking test function can lock two Tx beams from two panels simultaneously. In another example, the UE needs to lock two Rx beams from two panels simultaneously for OTA (over-the-air) testing of multi-Rx chain DL reception.

[0074] Several enhancements are introduced in the communication system to enable efficient and robust DL multi-TRP / panel operation. For example, DL transmission schemes with simultaneous and non-simultaneous multi-beam reception from multiple TRPs / panels are introduced. Simultaneous reception can require support of simultaneous multi-panel operation with several independent Rx beams / chains at the UE side. A new FR2 UE capability for simultaneous multi-beam reception (e.g., signaling simultaneousReceptionDiffTypeD-r16) is introduced in 3GPP. However, no RF, radio resource management (RRM), or performance requirements are defined for FR2 UEs with simultaneousReceptionDiffTypeD-r16 capability.

[0075] An enhanced NR FR2 UE with multi-beam simultaneous reception and multiple Rx chains can provide meaningful performance improvements in FR2, improving demodulation performance (4-layer DL MIMO), RRM performance, and improving RF spherical coverage. This aims to introduce requirements for UEs capable of multi-beam / chain simultaneous DL reception on a single component carrier to enable improved RF, RRM, and UE demodulation performance.

[0076] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for antenna mode locking. A terminal device (e.g., UE) is instructed with a specific number of antenna modes forming one or more transmit and / or one or more receive beams to be locked. The terminal device can perform locking on the instructed number of antenna modes forming one or more transmit beams and / or one or more receive beams. In this way, antenna mode locking can be controlled, e.g., by flexibly changing the number of antenna modes forming Tx beams, Rx beams, and / or both Tx and Rx beams to be locked.

[0077] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for beam locking. The terminal device, e.g., UE, is indicated with a specific number of one or more transmit beams and / or one or more receive beams to be locked. The terminal device can perform beam locking on the indicated number of one or more transmit beams and / or one or more receive beams. In this way, it is feasible to control the antenna pattern locking, e.g., by flexibly changing the number of Tx beams, Rx beams and / or both Tx and Rx beams to be locked.

[0078] It should be noted that although the problem originates from the test scenario, the solution proposed herein can be generally applied to different scenarios that require beam locking or antenna pattern locking. For example, in a positioning scenario, a UE can use a fixed Tx beam for UL transmission towards a serving base station and neighboring base stations. In this scenario, beam locking or antenna pattern locking needs to be performed by the UE. In the following, some example embodiments will be described in the test scenario as an example, while the example embodiments herein can be generally applied to other scenarios.

[0079] Some example implementations will be described below with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

[0080] ​ A signaling flow 300 for antenna pattern locking according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The signaling flow 300 can involve a first device 110 and a second device 120 in ​ The first device 110 can be or can be included in a terminal device, e.g., a UE. In examples, the second device 120 can be or can be included in an SS, which can be configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device. In other examples, the second device 120 can be any other device, e.g., a network device which can configure the antenna pattern locking of the terminal device.

[0081] In the signaling flow 300, the second device 120 sends (305) locking indication information to the first device 110.

[0082] The locking indication information can indicate a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one Tx beam to be locked. The first number can be equal to or greater than one. Additionally or alternatively, the locking indication information can indicate a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one Rx beam to be locked. The second number can be equal to or greater than one. Thus, the second device 120 can independently set the number of antenna patterns forming Tx beams and the number of Rx antenna patterns forming Rx beams to be locked by the first device 110.

[0083] Additionally or alternatively, the lock indication information can comprise a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna modes is to be locked or a specific number of at least one antenna mode is to be locked as indicated by the lock indication information. In an example, the full set of antenna modes to be locked can comprise all active antenna modes forming Tx beams to be locked for the first apparatus 110, or all active antenna modes forming Rx beams to be locked for the first apparatus 110, or all active antenna modes forming both Tx beams and Rx beams to be locked for the first apparatus 110.

[0084] The first apparatus 110 can be designated or configured to apply a total number of Tx beams formed by corresponding active antenna modes and a total number of Rx beams formed by corresponding active antenna modes. For example, up to 3 Tx beams and 8 Rx beams have been designated for the UE. In another example, different numbers of Tx and Rx beams can be used in the UE depending on the features being tested (e.g., multi-Tx and / or multi-Rx), which need to be locked by the UE for OTA testing. Thus, the first apparatus 110 can be instructed by a specific number of antenna modes or a flag forming Tx beams and / or Rx beams to determine how many Tx and / or Rx antenna modes are to be locked.

[0085] By receiving 310 the lock indication information from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 performs 315 antenna mode locking based on the lock indication information to lock a certain number of at least one antenna mode forming at least one Tx beam and / or at least one Rx beam.

[0086] In some example embodiments, the locked antenna modes can comprise antenna modes forming Tx beams or Rx beams. Antenna modes forming Tx beams can sometimes be referred to as Tx antenna modes and antenna modes forming Rx beams can sometimes be referred to as Rx antenna modes.

[0087] In some example embodiments, if the lock indication information indicates to lock a first number of antenna modes to be locked, the first apparatus 110 can perform the lock on a first number of at least one antenna mode forming a first number of at least one best Tx beam. If the lock indication information alternatively or additionally indicates a second number of antenna modes to be locked, the first apparatus 110 can perform the lock on a second number of at least one antenna mode forming a second number of at least one best Rx beam. That is, the number of Tx beams to be locked is the same as the first number of indicated antenna modes and the number of Rx beams to be locked is the same as the second number of indicated antenna modes.

[0088] As used herein, the term "best beam" refers to a beam that provides the best coverage and / or the best signal quality. Beams can be ranked based on one or more measurement metrics associated with a particular beam. The metrics can include one or more of: signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference symbol received power (RSRP), downlink (and / or uplink) path loss, reference symbol received quality (RSRQ), a ratio of a serving cell RSRP to a detected cell RSRP, channel rank and / or channel quality indicator (CQI), throughput, and / or transmit power. One or more best beams can then be determined based on the determined metrics. For example, the best beam can be the beam with the highest SINR, the highest RSRP, etc.

[0089] For example, if the lock indication information indicates that the first number is 2, the first apparatus 110 can lock two antenna patterns that form two best Tx beams. If the lock indication information alternatively or additionally indicates that the second number is 4, the first apparatus 110 can lock four antenna patterns that form four best Rx beams.

[0090] In some example embodiments, if the lock indication information indicates to lock a first number of antenna patterns to be locked, the first apparatus 110 can perform locking on the first number of best antenna patterns that form Tx beams. If the lock indication information alternatively or additionally indicates a second number of antenna patterns to be locked, the first apparatus 110 can perform locking on the second number of best antenna patterns that form Rx beams. As used herein, the term "best antenna pattern" can be an antenna pattern that forms a best beam, or can be determined based on coverage and / or signal quality of a beam formed by the antenna pattern.

[0091] In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the lock indication information and indicates to lock a full set of antenna patterns that form Tx beams, the first apparatus 110 can perform locking on all antenna patterns that form Tx beams. In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the lock indication information and indicates to lock a full set of antenna patterns that form Rx beams, the first apparatus 110 can perform locking on all antenna patterns that form Rx beams. In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the lock indication information and indicates to lock a full set of antenna patterns that form Tx beams and Rx beams, the first apparatus 110 can perform locking on all antenna patterns that form both Tx beams and Rx beams.

[0092] In some example embodiments, if the flag is included in the lock indication information but indicates that the lock is by at least one antenna pattern of a specific number indicated by the lock indication information, the first apparatus 110 can perform the lock based on the other number indicated in the lock indication information, i.e., perform the lock on the first number of at least one antenna pattern forming the first number of at least one best Tx beam, and / or perform the lock on the second number of at least one antenna pattern forming the second number of at least one best Rx beam.

[0093] In some example embodiments, once a plurality of Tx or Rx beams towards the direction of the second apparatus 120 have been formed, the first apparatus 110 can lock a number of antenna patterns or all active antenna patterns indicated. In an example, for a UE beam lock test function (UBF), the UE beam lock test function aims to make the first apparatus 110 (e.g., a UE) lock UE antenna patterns (depending on the number of antenna patterns to be locked indicated) once beams towards the direction of a base station (SS) have been formed after a cell identification procedure, in preparation for a subsequent test procedure. Activating the UBF can lock antenna patterns of all active in-band component carriers and all MIMO layers affected by the test function.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information can include one or more first bits corresponding to the beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern. Thus, the first number can be a binary number. For example, if two bits are used to indicate the first number, the value "00" can indicate one Tx antenna pattern to be locked (e.g., one Tx antenna pattern forming a best Tx beam); the value "01" can indicate two Tx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., two antenna patterns forming two best Tx beams); the value "10" can indicate three Tx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., three antenna patterns forming three best Tx beams); and the value "11" can indicate four Tx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., four antenna patterns forming four best Tx beams).

[0095] Alternatively or additionally, in some example embodiments, the lock indication information can comprise one or more second bits corresponding to the beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern. Thus, the second number can be a binary number. For example, if three bits are used to indicate the second number, the value "000" can indicate one Rx antenna pattern to be locked (e.g., one Rx antenna pattern forming the best Rx beam); the value "001" can indicate two Rx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., two antenna patterns forming two best Rx beams); the value "010" can indicate three Rx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., three antenna patterns forming three best Rx beams); and the value "011" can indicate four Rx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., four antenna patterns forming four best Rx beams), and so on. The value "111" can indicate eight Rx antenna patterns to be locked (e.g., eight antenna patterns forming eight best Rx beams).

[0096] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information can also indicate one bit to indicate whether to lock the full set of antenna patterns or to lock the specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information. For example, the value "1" in the bit can indicate to lock the full set of antenna patterns forming the Tx beam or the Rx beam or both Tx and Rx beams; and the value "0" in the bit can indicate to lock the specific number of Tx / Rx antenna patterns indicated by the one or more first and / or second bits in the lock indication information.

[0097] It should be appreciated that the correspondence between the bit values and their indications is provided for illustration purpose only, and there can be various other ways to define their correspondence.

[0098] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information can be carried in an information element (IE) with octets, and some bits of the octets can be occupied for other purposes. In this case, the remaining reserved bits of the IE can be used to indicate the first number, the second number and / or the flag.

[0099] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information can be included in the activation beam lock message. For example, the lock indication can be carried in the "UE beam lock test function" IE in the activation beam lock message during the test procedure. As shown in Table 1-3 above, the first and second bits (X1, X2) = "01" are used to activate the beam lock of Tx beams only, "10" are used to activate the beam lock of Rx beams only, and "11" are used to activate the beam lock of both Tx and Rx beams. Since the bit 1 and bit 2 in the octet of the 'UE beam lock test function' IE continue to be used to set whether the "Tx" or "Rx" or both "Tx and Rx" antenna patterns forming the beam need to be locked by the UE, it can ensure no backward compatibility issue for legacy UEs.

[0100] In this case, one or more first bits indicating the number of Tx antenna patterns and / or one or more second bits indicating the number of Rx antenna patterns can be selected from the third bit to the eighth bit in the octet.

[0101] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the "UE beam lock test function" IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 (32 different possibilities / combinations) to set the number of antenna patterns forming the Tx / Rx beam to be locked, assuming the same number of up to 32 beams are used for both Tx and Rx antenna patterns. In some example embodiments, the eighth bit (e.g., bit 8 in the octet of the "UE beam lock test function" IE) can be applied to set all active Tx antenna patterns, or Rx antenna patterns, or both Tx and Rx antenna patterns forming the beam to be locked by the first device 110.

[0102] In some example embodiments, if there are a total number of Tx antenna patterns less than or equal to four, two bits (e.g., the third bit and the fourth bit) in the octet of the "UE beam lock test function" IE represent a binary number from 0 to 3 (4 possible combinations) to set the number of Tx antenna patterns forming the Tx beam to be locked. In some example embodiments, if there are a total number of Rx antenna patterns less than or equal to eight, three bits (e.g., the fifth bit and the seventh bit in the octet of the "UE beam lock test function" IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 7 (8 possible combinations) to set the number of Rx antenna patterns forming the Rx beam to be locked. In some example embodiments, one bit (e.g., the eighth bit in the octet of the "UE beam lock test function" IE) can be applied to represent whether all active Tx and / or Rx antenna patterns forming the Tx and / or Rx beam are to be locked.

[0103] In some example embodiments, a flag in the lock indication information can be omitted that indicates whether a full set of antenna modes is to be locked or a specific number of at least one antenna mode is to be locked as indicated by the lock indication information. In this case, the fourth bit (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 64 (64 different possibilities / combinations) to set the number of antenna modes forming the Tx / Rx beam to be locked.

[0104] In some example embodiments, three bits (e.g., bits 3 to 5) in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE represent a binary number from 0 to 7 (8 possible combinations) to set the number of Tx antenna modes forming the Tx beam to be locked. In some example embodiments, three bits (e.g., bits 6 to 8) in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE represent a binary number from 0 to 8 (8 possible combinations) to set the number of Rx antenna modes forming the Rx beam to be locked.

[0105] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) or six bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 to set the number of Tx antenna modes forming the Tx beam to be locked.

[0106] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) or six bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 or 0 to 63 to set the number of Rx antenna modes forming the Rx beam to be locked.

[0107] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) or six bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 or 0 to 63 to set the number of Tx and Rx antenna modes forming the Tx and Rx beam to be locked.

[0108] It should be appreciated that the above only provides some examples of applying the remaining bits in the octet of the IE for illustration purposes. Various combinations of bits can exist to indicate the number of Tx antenna modes to be locked, and / or the number of Rx antenna modes to be locked, and / or the number of both Tx and Rx antenna modes to be locked.

[0109] In some example embodiments, after receiving the lock indication information or after performing the lock, the first device 110 may send (320) a completion indication, and the second device 120 may receive (325) a completion indication. The first device 110 sends the completion indication to confirm receipt of the lock indication information or to confirm that the lock is complete.

[0110] As mentioned in some of the example embodiments above, the second device 120 may send an active beamlock message including locking indication information to the first device 110. Then, the first device 110 may send an active beamlock completion message to the second device 120 after performing locking as a completion indication.

[0111] In some example embodiments, the antenna mode locking proposed herein can be implemented as a new default TMC message and test procedure.

[0112] In the example, the "Activate Beam Lock" message sent in the direction from SS to UE can be embedded in the RRCDLInformationTransfer message and includes the following message content: Table 4-1

[0113] The "x" mark in the "UE Beamlock Test Function" IE indicates that the value in the corresponding bit can be 1 or 0. Further explanation of the conditions in Table 4-1 is as follows: Table 4-2 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

[0114] In the example, the "Activation Beamlock Complete" message sent in the direction from UE to SS can be embedded in the RRCULInformationTransfer message and includes the following message content: Table 4-3 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1111 ​ 0000 ​ 10100001

[0115] In the example, the "deactivate beamlock" message sent in the direction from SS to UE can be embedded in the RRCDLInformationTransfer message and includes the following message content: Table 4-4 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1111 ​ 0000 ​ 10100010

[0116] In the example, the "Activation Beamlock Complete" message sent in the direction from UE to SS can be embedded in the RRCULInformationTransfer message and includes the following message content: Table 4-5 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1111 ​ 0000 ​ 10100011

[0117] In an example, the test procedure for activating / deactivating UBF can be defined as follows.

[0118] In an example, the test procedure sequence for activating UE beam lock test function (UBF) can be as follows: Table 5-1

[0119] In an example, the example content of the “Activate Beam Lock” message can be as follows. Table 5-2 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1111 ​ 0000 ​ 10100000 ​ ​ Tx only UE beam lock test function xxxxxx10 Rx only UE beam lock test function xxxxxx11 Tx and Rx UE beam lock test function xxxx00xx Best with Tx UE beam lock test function xxxx01xx Best 2 with Tx UE beam lock test function xxxx10xx Best 3 with Tx UE beam lock test function xxxx11xx Best 4 with Tx UE beam lock test function x000xxxx Best with Rx UE beam lock test function x001xxxx Best 2 with Rx UE beam lock test function x010xxxx Best 3 with Rx UE beam lock test function x011xxxx Best 4 with Rx UE beam lock test function x100xxxx Best 5 with Rx UE beam lock test function x101xxxx Best 6 with Rx UE beam lock test function x110xxxx Best 7 with Rx UE beam lock test function x111xxxx Best 8 with Rx UE beam lock test function 0xxxxxxx Selected lock UE beam lock test function 1xxxxxxx All

[0120] The flag “x” in the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE indicates that the value in the corresponding bit can be 1 or 0. Some further explanation regarding the conditions in Table 5-2 are as follows: Table 5-3

[0121] In an example, the test procedure sequence for deactivating UE beam lock test function (UBF) can be as follows. Table 5-4

[0122] In an example, the example content of the “Deactivate Beam Lock” message can be as follows. Table 5-5 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100010

[0123] In an example, the example content of the “Deactivate Beam Lock Complete” message can be as follows. Table 5-6 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100011

[0124] In some examples, by applying the antenna pattern lock as proposed herein, the test procedure and TMC messages for UBF can be described in Table 6 below. The signaling diagrams for the UE beam lock test mode activation procedure and the UE beam lock test mode deactivation procedure can be similar to the signaling diagrams shown in Figures 2A-2B . Table 6

[0125] In some examples, the beam lock message can be defined in Table 7 as follows. Table 7

[0126] It should be appreciated that only some examples of definitions and specifications of beam lock related procedures are provided above by incorporating the antenna pattern locking presented herein. Variations can be applied without departing from the scope of the example embodiments.

[0127] Figure 3B A signaling flow 302 for antenna pattern locking according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The signaling flow 300 can involve a first device 110 and a second device 120 in Figure 1 The first device 110 can be or can be included in a terminal device (e.g., a UE). In one example, the second device 120 can be or can be included in an SS, which can be configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device. In other examples, the second device 120 can be any other device, e.g., a network device which can configure antenna pattern locking of the terminal device.

[0128] In the signaling flow 302, the second device 120 sends (350) beam lock indication information to the first device 110.

[0129] The beam lock indication information can indicate a first number of at least one Tx beam to be locked. The first number can be equal to or greater than one. Additionally or alternatively, the beam lock indication information can indicate a second number of at least one Rx beam to be locked. The second number can be equal to or greater than one. Thus, the second device 120 can independently set the number of Tx beams and / or Rx beams to be locked by the first device 110. In some examples, the second device 120 can independently set the number of Tx beams formed by Tx antenna patterns and the number of Rx beams formed by Rx antenna patterns to be locked by the first device 110.

[0130] Additionally or alternatively, the beam lock indication information can include a flag indicating whether to lock a full set of Tx and / or Rx beams or to lock a specific number of at least one Tx beam and / or at least one Rx beam indicated by the beam lock indication information.

[0131] In an example, the beam-locking indication information can include a full set of Tx beams, or a full set of Rx beams, or a full set of both Tx beams and Rx beams. In an example, the full set of Tx beams to be locked can include a full set of Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna patterns to be locked for the first device 110, or a full set of Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna patterns to be locked for the first device 110, or a full set of both Tx beams and Rx beams formed by the Tx and Rx antenna patterns to be locked for the first device 110.

[0132] The first device 110 can be designated or configured to apply a total number of Tx beams formed by the corresponding active antenna patterns and a total number of Rx beams formed by the corresponding active antenna patterns. For example, up to 3 Tx beams and 8 Rx beams have been designated for the UE. In another example, different numbers of Tx and Rx beams can be used in the UE depending on the features being tested (e.g., multi-Tx and / or multi-Rx), which need to be locked by the UE for OTA testing. Thus, the first device 110 can be instructed by a specific number of Tx beams and / or Rx beams or a flag to determine how many Tx beams and / or Rx beams to lock.

[0133] By receiving 355 the beam-locking indication information from the second device 120, the first device 110 performs 360 beam locking based on the beam-locking indication information to lock a number of at least one Tx beam and / or a number of at least one Rx beam.

[0134] In some example embodiments, locking Tx beams can include locking beams formed by Tx antenna patterns, and locking Rx beams can include locking beams formed by Rx antenna patterns. The first device 110 can lock at least one antenna pattern that forms a number of at least one Tx beam and / or a number of at least one Rx beam indicated by the beam-locking indication information.

[0135] In some example embodiments, if the beam-locking indication information indicates a first number of Tx beams, the first device 110 can perform locking on a first number of Tx beams formed by at least one antenna pattern. In an example, the first device 110 can perform locking on a first number of best Tx beams for the first device 110. If the beam-locking indication information indicates a second number of Rx beams, the first device 110 can perform locking on a second number of Rx beams formed by at least one antenna pattern. In an example, the first device 110 can perform locking on a first number of best Rx beams for the first device 110. The definition and examples of best beams have been described above and are not repeated for brevity.

[0136] For example, if the beam lock indication information indicates a first number of 2, the first device 110 can lock the two best Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern. If the beam lock indication information alternatively or additionally indicates a second number of 4, the first device 110 can lock the four best Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern.

[0137] In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the beam lock indication information and indicates locking of a full set of at least one Tx beam, the first device 110 can perform locking on all Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern. In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the beam lock indication information and indicates locking of a full set of at least one Rx beam, the first device 110 can perform locking on all Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern. In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the beam lock indication information and indicates locking of a full set of at least one Tx beam and at least one Rx beam, the first device 110 can perform locking on all Tx beams and Rx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern and the Rx antenna pattern.

[0138] In some example embodiments, if a flag is included in the beam lock indication information but indicates at least one Tx beam and / or at least one Rx beam of a specific number indicated by the beam lock indication information, the first device 110 can perform beam locking based on other numbers indicated in the beam lock indication information, i.e., locking of a first number of best Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern and / or locking of a second number of best Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern.

[0139] In some example embodiments, once an indicated number of Tx or Rx beams towards a direction of the second device 120 have been formed, the first device 110 can lock the antenna pattern or all active antenna patterns. In an example, for a UE beam lock test function (UBF), the UE beam lock test function aims to make the first device 110 (e.g., a UE) lock the UE antenna pattern once beams towards a base station (SS) direction have been formed after a cell identification procedure (depending on the indicated number of beams to be locked) in order to prepare for a subsequent test procedure. Activating the UBF can lock the antenna pattern for all active in-band component carriers and all MIMO layers affected by the test function.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the beam-locking indication information can comprise one or more first bits corresponding to the beam transmission to indicate a first number of Tx beams to be locked. Thus, the first number can be a binary number. For example, if two bits are used to indicate the first number, the value "00" can indicate one Tx beam (e.g., the best Tx beam formed by the Tx antenna pattern) to be locked; the value "01" can indicate two Tx beams (e.g., the two best Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern) to be locked; the value "10" can indicate three Tx beams (e.g., the three best Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern) to be locked; and the value "11" can indicate four Tx beams (e.g., the four best Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna pattern) to be locked.

[0141] Alternatively or additionally, in some example embodiments, the beam-locking indication information can comprise one or more second bits corresponding to the beam reception to indicate a second number of at least one Rx beam. Thus, the second number can be a binary number. For example, if three bits are used to indicate the second number, the value "000" can indicate one Rx beam (e.g., the best Rx beam formed by the Rx antenna pattern) to be locked; the value "001" can indicate two Rx beams (e.g., the two best Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern) to be locked; the value "010" can indicate three Rx beams (e.g., the three best Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern) to be locked; and the value "011" can indicate four Rx beams (e.g., the four best Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern), and so on. The value "111" can indicate eight Rx beams (e.g., the eight best Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna pattern) to be locked.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the beam-locking indication information can further indicate one bit to indicate whether to lock the full set of Tx / Rx beams or to lock the specific number of at least one beam indicated by the beam-locking indication information. For example, the value "1" in the bit can indicate to lock the full set of Tx beams, or the full set of Rx beams, or the full set of both Tx and Rx beams; and the value "0" in the bit can indicate to lock the specific number of at least one beam indicated by the beam-locking indication information.

[0143] It should be appreciated that the correspondence between the bit value and its indication is provided for illustration purpose only, and there can be various other ways to define the correspondence.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the beam-locking indication information can be carried in an IE with octets, and some bits of the octets can be occupied for other purposes. In this case, the remaining reserved bits of the IE can be used to indicate the first number, the second number, and / or the flag.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the beam-locking indication information can be included in the activation beam-locking message. For example, the locking indication can be carried in the “UE Beam Locking Test Function” IE in the activation beam-locking message in the test procedure. As shown in Table 1-3 above, the first bit and the second bit (X1, X2) = “01” is used to activate the beam locking of only Tx beams, “10” is used to activate the beam locking of only Rx beams, and “11” is used to activate the beam locking of both Tx and Rx beams. Since bit 1 and bit 2 in the octet of the “UE Beam Locking Test Function” IE continue to be used to set whether the “Tx” or “Rx” or both “Tx and Rx” antenna patterns forming the beams need to be locked by the UE, it can be ensured that there is no backward compatibility problem for the legacy UEs.

[0146] In this case, one or more first bits indicating the number of Tx beams and / or one or more second bits indicating the number of Rx beams can be selected from the third bit to the eighth bit in the octet.

[0147] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE Beam Locking Test Function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 (32 different possibilities / combinations) to set the number of Tx / Rx beams to be locked, assuming that the same number of up to 32 beams is used for the Tx and Rx antenna patterns. In some example embodiments, the eighth bit (e.g., bit 8 in the octet of the “UE Beam Locking Test Function” IE) can be applied to set all the Tx beams and / or Rx beams formed by the antenna patterns to be locked by the first device 110.

[0148] In some example embodiments, if there are a total number of Tx beams less than or equal to four, two bits (e.g., the third and fourth bits) in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE represent a binary number from 0 to 3 (4 possible combinations) to set the number of Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna patterns to be locked. In some example embodiments, if there are a total number of Rx beams less than or equal to eight, three bits (e.g., the fifth and seventh bits in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 7 (8 possible combinations) to set the number of Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna patterns to be locked. In some example embodiments, one bit (e.g., the eighth bit in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent all active Tx and / or Rx beams formed by the Tx and / or Rx antenna patterns to be locked or to be unlocked.

[0149] In some example embodiments, a flag in the beam lock indication information can be omitted, which indicates whether it is to lock the full set of Tx beams and / or Rx beams, or to lock a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information. In this case, four bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 64 (64 different possibilities / combinations) to set the number of beams to be locked.

[0150] In some example embodiments, three bits (e.g., bits 3 to 5) in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE represent a binary number from 0 to 7 (8 possible combinations) to set the number of Tx beams formed by the Tx antenna patterns to be locked. In some example embodiments, three bits (e.g., bits 6 to 8) in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE represent a binary number from 0 to 8 (8 possible combinations) to set the number of Rx beams formed by the Rx antenna patterns to be locked.

[0151] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) or six bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE beam lock test function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 to set the number of Tx beams to be locked.

[0152] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE) or six bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 or 0 to 63 to set the number of Tx beams to be locked.

[0153] In some example embodiments, five bits (e.g., bits 3 to 7 in the octet of the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE) or six bits (e.g., bits 3 to 8 in the octet of the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE) can be applied to represent a binary number from 0 to 31 or 0 to 63 to set the number of Tx beams to be locked.

[0154] It should be appreciated that the above only provides some examples of applying the remaining bits in the octet of the IE for illustration purposes. There can be various combinations of bits to indicate the number of Tx antenna patterns to be locked, and / or the number of Rx antenna patterns to be locked, and / or the number of both Tx and Rx antenna patterns to be locked.

[0155] In some example embodiments, after receiving the beam lock indication information or after performing the lock, the first apparatus 110 can send (365) a completion indication and the second apparatus 120 can receive (370) the completion indication. The first apparatus 110 sends the completion indication to confirm the reception of the beam lock indication information or to confirm the completion of the lock.

[0156] As mentioned in some of the above example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 can send an active beam lock message including the beam lock indication information to the first apparatus 110. Then, the first apparatus 110 can send an active beam lock message complete message to the second apparatus 120 after performing the lock as the completion indication.

[0157] In some example embodiments, the beam lock proposed herein can be implemented as a new default TMC message and test procedure.

[0158] In one example, the “Activate Beam Lock” sent in the SS to UE direction can be embedded in the RRC DL Information Transfer message and include the following message content: Table 8-1

[0159] The notation “x” in the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE indicates that the value in the corresponding bit can be 1 or 0. Some further explanation regarding the conditions in Table 8-1 are as follows: Table 8-2 Condition Explanation Tx only Activated UE beam lock function for Tx only Rx only Activated UE beam lock function for Rx only Tx and Rx Activated UE beam lock function for both Tx and Rx Best with Tx Lock the best beam formed by UE antenna patterns with Tx Best 2 with Tx Lock the best two beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Tx Best 3 with Tx Lock the best three beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Tx Best 4 with Tx Lock the best four beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Tx Best with Rx Lock the best beam formed by UE antenna patterns with Tx Best 2 with Rx Lock the best two beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Best 3 with Rx Lock the best three beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Best 4 with Rx Lock the best four beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Best 5 with Rx Lock the best five beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Best 6 with Rx Lock the best six beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Best 7 with Rx Lock the best seven beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Best 8 with Rx Lock the best eight beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Rx Selected lock Lock the beams formed by UE antenna patterns according to bits 7 to 3 All Lock all active beams formed by UE antenna patterns with Tx or Rx or TxRx

[0160] In an example, examples for the “Activate Beam Lock Complete” message, the “Deactivate Beam Lock” message, and the “Deactivate Beam Lock Complete” message are similar to those provided in Tables 4-3 through 4-5 above.

[0161] In an example, the test procedures to activate / deactivate UBF can be defined as follows. In an example, the test procedure sequence to activate the UE Beam Lock Test Function (UBF) is similar to the test procedure sequence provided in Table 5-1 above.

[0162] In an example, an example content of the “Activate Beam Lock” message can be as follows. Table 9-1 Information element Value / flag Comment Condition Protocol discriminator 1111 Skip indicator 0000 Message type 10100000 UE beam lock test function xxxxxx01 Tx only UE beam lock test function xxxxxx10 Rx only UE beam lock test function xxxxxx11 Tx and Rx UE beam lock test function xxxx00xx Best with Tx UE beam lock test function xxxx01xx Best 2 with Tx UE beam lock test function xxxx10xx Best 3 with Tx UE beam lock test function xxxx11xx Best 4 with Tx UE beam lock test function x000xxxx Best with Rx UE beam lock test function x001xxxx Best 2 with Rx UE beam lock test function x010xxxx Best 3 with Rx UE beam lock test function x011xxxx Best 4 with Rx UE beam lock test function x100xxxx Best 5 with Rx UE beam lock test function x101xxxx Best 6 with Rx UE beam lock test function x110xxxx Best 7 with Rx UE beam lock test function x111xxxx Best 8 with Rx UE beam lock test function 0xxxxxxx Selected lock UE beam lock test function 1xxxxxxx All

[0163] The flag “x” in the “UE Beam Lock Test Function” IE indicates that the value in the corresponding bit can be 1 or 0. Some further explanation regarding the conditions in Table 9-1 are as follows: Table 9-2

[0164] In an example, examples for the “Activate Beam Lock Complete” message and the test procedures to deactivate the UE Beam Lock Test Function (UBF) are similar to those provided in Tables 5-4 through 5-6 above.

[0165] In some examples, the test procedures and TMC messages for UBF by applying antenna pattern locking as presented herein can be described in Table 10 below. The signaling diagrams for the UE Beam Lock Test Mode Activation procedure and the UE Beam Lock Test Mode Deactivation procedure can be similar to the signaling diagrams shown in Figures 2A-2B “Antenna Pattern Locking for UBF” section. Table 10

[0166] In some examples, the beam lock messages can be defined as follows in Table 11 below.

[0167] It should be appreciated that only some examples of definitions and specifications of beam-lock related procedures are provided above by incorporating the antenna pattern locking presented herein. Variations can be applied without departing from the scope of the example embodiments.

[0168] Figure 4A A flowchart illustrating an example method 400 implemented at a first device, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, is shown. The method 400 can be implemented by a first device 110 in Figure 1 For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 The method 400 will be described from the perspective of the first device 110.

[0169] At block 410, the first device 110 receives lock indication information from a second device. The lock indication information indicates at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern that forms at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern that forms at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna patterns is to be locked or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked.

[0170] At block 420, the first device 110 performs locking of a certain number of at least one antenna pattern that forms at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the lock indication information.

[0171] In some example embodiments, performing the locking comprises: in accordance with a determination that the lock indication information indicates the first number of at least one antenna pattern, performing the locking of the first number of at least one antenna pattern that forms the first number of at least one best transmit beam; and in accordance with a determination that the lock indication information indicates the second number of at least one antenna pattern, performing the locking of the second number of at least one antenna pattern that forms the second number of at least one best receive beam.

[0172] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern, and / or wherein the lock indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0173] In some example embodiments, performing the locking comprises: in accordance with a determination that the flag indicates that the specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked, performing the locking of the certain number of at least one antenna pattern that forms at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission and / or the one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception.

[0174] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information is carried in an information element having an octet, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from among third to eighth bits in the octet.

[0175] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates whether to lock a full set of antenna patterns forming a transmit beam, or to lock a full set of antenna patterns forming a receive beam, or to lock a full set of antenna patterns forming both a transmit beam and a receive beam.

[0176] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information further comprises a bit in the information element having the octet to indicate whether to lock a full set of antenna patterns or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0177] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises, after performing the lock, sending an active beam lock message complete message to the second device.

[0178] In some example embodiments, the first device is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second device is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0179] Figure 4B A flowchart of an example method 402 implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For purposes of discussion, the method 402 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120 in Figure 1 The method 402 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120 in

[0180] At block 412, the second device 120 sends lock indication information from the second device to the first device. The lock indication information indicates at least one of a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock a full set of at least one antenna pattern or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0181] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern, and / or wherein the lock indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information is carried in an information element having an octet, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from among third to eighth bits in the octet.

[0183] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates whether to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam, or to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam, or to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and receive beam.

[0184] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information further comprises one bit to indicate whether to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0185] In some example embodiments, the method 402 further comprises receiving, from the first apparatus, an active beam lock message complete message.

[0186] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second apparatus is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0187] Figure 5A A flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a first apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in the system 100 of Figure 1 The method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in the system 100 of

[0188] At block 510, the first apparatus 110 receives, from a second apparatus, beam lock indication information. The beam lock indication information indicates at least one of: a first number of at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock the full set of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam or to lock a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information.

[0189] At block 520, the first apparatus 110 performs, based on the beam lock indication information, a lock on a number of at least one transmit beam and / or a number of at least one receive beam.

[0190] In some example embodiments, performing the lock comprises locking, based on the beam lock indication information, at least one antenna pattern forming the number of at least one transmit beam and / or the number of at least one receive beam.

[0191] In some example embodiments, performing the locking comprises: performing the locking on the first number of at least one transmit beam formed by the at least one antenna pattern according to a determination that the beam locking indication information indicates the first number of at least one transmit beam; and performing the locking on the second number of at least one receive beam formed by the at least one antenna pattern according to a determination that the beam locking indication information indicates the second number of at least one receive beam.

[0192] In some example embodiments, the beam locking indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one transmit beam, and / or wherein the beam locking indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one receive beam.

[0193] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: according to a determination that the flag indicates locking of a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam locking indication information, performing the locking on the first number of at least one transmit beam based on the one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission, and / or performing the locking on the second number of at least one receive beam based on the one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception.

[0194] In some example embodiments, the beam locking indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0195] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates locking of a full set of at least one transmit beam, or locking of a full set of at least one receive beam, or locking of a full set of at least one transmit beam and at least one receive beam.

[0196] In some example embodiments, the beam locking indication information further comprises bits in the information element having octets to indicate locking of a full set of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam, or locking of a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam indicated by the beam locking indication information.

[0197] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: after performing the locking, sending an active beam locking message complete message to the second device.

[0198] In some example embodiments, the first device is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second device is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0199] Figure 5BA flowchart illustrating an example method 502 implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, the method 502 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120 in Figure 1 some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0200] At block 512, the second device 120 sends beam lock indication information from the second device to the first device. The beam lock indication information indicates at least one of: a first number of at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam is to be locked or a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information is to be locked.

[0201] In some example embodiments, the beam lock indication information includes one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one transmit beam, and / or wherein the beam lock indication information includes one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one receive beam.

[0202] In some example embodiments, the beam lock indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0203] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates whether a full set of at least one transmit beam is to be locked, or a full set of at least one receive beam is to be locked, or a full set of at least one transmit beam and at least one receive beam is to be locked.

[0204] In some example embodiments, the beam lock indication information further includes a bit in the information element having octets to indicate whether a full set of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam is to be locked or a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information is to be locked.

[0205] In some example embodiments, the method 502 further includes receiving an active beam lock message complete message from the first device.

[0206] In some example embodiments, the first device is or is included in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second device is or is included in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0207] In some example embodiments, the first device capable of performing any of the method 400 is or is included in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second device capable of performing any of the method 502 is or is included in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device. Figure 1The first apparatus 110 in the method 400 can comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 400. The means can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, they can be embodied in circuitry or software modules. The first apparatus can be implemented as or comprise a radio network node Figure 1 The first apparatus 110 in the method 400.

[0208] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from the second apparatus, lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock a full set of antenna patterns or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information; and means for performing locking of a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the lock indication information.

[0209] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing locking of a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming a first number of at least one best transmit beam, in accordance with a determination that the lock indication information indicates the first number of at least one antenna pattern; and means for performing locking of a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming a second number of at least one best receive beam, in accordance with a determination that the lock indication information indicates the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0210] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern, and / or wherein the lock indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0211] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing locking of a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission and / or the one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception, in accordance with a determination that the flag indicates to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0212] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0213] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates whether to lock the full set of antenna patterns forming a transmit beam, or to lock the full set of antenna patterns forming a receive beam, or to lock the full set of antenna patterns forming both a transmit beam and a receive beam.

[0214] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information further comprises a bit in an information element with octets to indicate whether to lock the full set of antenna patterns or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0215] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for, after performing the locking, sending an active beam lock message complete message to the second apparatus.

[0216] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second apparatus is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0217] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus (e.g., the second apparatus 120 in Figure 1 The second apparatus 120 in some example embodiments can comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 402. The means can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means can be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The second apparatus can be implemented as or comprise the second apparatus 120 in Figure 1

[0218] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for sending, to the first apparatus, lock indication information from the second apparatus, the lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0219] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to a beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern, and / or wherein the lock indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to a beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0220] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information is carried in an information element with octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0221] ​In some example embodiments, the flag indicates whether to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam, or to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam, or to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and receive beam.

[0222] In some example embodiments, the lock indication information further comprises one bit to indicate whether to lock the full set of at least one antenna pattern or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0223] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from the first apparatus, an active beam lock message complete message.

[0224] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second apparatus is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0225] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus (e.g., the first apparatus 110 in Figure 1 ) capable of performing any of the methods 500 can comprise means for performing the respective operations of the methods 500. The means can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means can be embodied in a circuit or software module. The first apparatus can be implemented as or comprise the first apparatus 110 in Figure 1 .

[0226] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, beam lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock the full set of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam or to lock a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information; and means for performing, based on the beam lock indication information, a lock on the number of at least one transmit beam and / or the number of at least one receive beam.

[0227] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for locking, based on the beam lock indication information, at least one antenna pattern forming the number of at least one transmit beam and / or the number of at least one receive beam.

[0228] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for performing locking on the first number of at least one transmit beam formed by the at least one antenna pattern according to a determination that the beam locking indication information indicates the first number of at least one transmit beam; and means for performing locking on the second number of at least one receive beam formed by the at least one antenna pattern according to a determination that the beam locking indication information indicates the second number of at least one receive beam.

[0229] In some example embodiments, the beam locking indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one transmit beam, and / or wherein the beam locking indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one receive beam.

[0230] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for performing locking on the first number of at least one transmit beam based on the one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission according to a determination that the flag indicates locking on a particular number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam locking indication information, and / or performing locking on the second number of at least one receive beam based on the one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception.

[0231] In some example embodiments, the beam locking indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0232] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates locking on a full set of at least one transmit beam, or locking on a full set of at least one receive beam, or locking on a full set of at least one transmit beam and at least one receive beam.

[0233] In some example embodiments, the beam locking indication information further comprises bits in the information element having octets to indicate locking on a full set of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam, or locking on a particular number of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam indicated by the beam locking indication information.

[0234] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for sending an active beam locking message complete message to the second apparatus after performing the locking.

[0235] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second apparatus is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0236] In some example embodiments, a second device (e.g., the second device 120 in Figure 1 the method 502 can include means for performing the respective operations of the method 502. The means can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means can be embodied in circuitry or a software module. The second device can be implemented as or included in the second device 120 in Figure 1 the method 502.

[0237] In some example embodiments, the second device comprises means for sending, to the first device, beam lock indication information from the second device, the beam lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam is to be locked or a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information is to be locked.

[0238] In some example embodiments, the beam lock indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one transmit beam, and / or wherein the beam lock indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one receive beam.

[0239] In some example embodiments, the beam lock indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0240] In some example embodiments, the flag indicates whether a full set of at least one transmit beam is to be locked, or a full set of at least one receive beam is to be locked, or a full set of at least one transmit beam and at least one receive beam is to be locked.

[0241] In some example embodiments, the beam lock indication information further comprises a bit in the information element having octets to indicate whether a full set of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam is to be locked or a specific number of at least one transmit beam and / or receive beam indicated by the beam lock indication information is to be locked.

[0242] In some example embodiments, the second device further comprises means for receiving, from the first device, an active beam lock message complete message.

[0243] In some example embodiments, the first device is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second device is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0244] Figure 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 can be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 3. Figure 1 The device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processors 610, and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to the processors 610, as shown. The processors 610 can be any type of processors suitable to the local technical network, and can include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multi-core processor architectures, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 can have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time-slaved to a clock of a synchronous host processor.

[0245] The communication module 640 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 640 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces can represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 640 can include at least one antenna.

[0246] The processors 610 can be any type of processors suitable to the local technical network, and can include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multi-core processor architectures, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 can have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time-slaved to a clock of a synchronous host processor.

[0247] The memory 620 can include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read only memories (ROMs) 624, electrically programmable read only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), optical disks, laser disks, and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memories (RAMs) 622 and other volatile memories that do not maintain data at power off.

[0248] The computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions executed by the associated processor 610. The instructions of the program 630 can include instructions for performing the operations / actions of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 630 can be stored in a memory, such as the ROM 624. The processor 610 can perform any suitable actions and processes by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

[0249] Example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by means of the program 630, such that the device 600 can perform any of the processes of the present disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGs. 3 to Figure 5B Example embodiments of the present disclosure can also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0250] In general, the various embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in hardware or special-purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects can be implemented in hardware, and other aspects can be implemented in firmware or software which can be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controler or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0251] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, executed by devices, such as on a target physical or virtual processor, to perform any of the methods described above. In general, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules can be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine executable instructions for program modules can be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules can be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0252] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code can be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, implements the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program code can be executed entirely on a machine, partly on a machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on a machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0253] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data can be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, and the like.

[0254] The computer-readable medium can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. It can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0255] In the foregoing, embodiments of the present disclosure are described with respect to transmitting a beam lock message for locking and / or activating a beam lock in response to performing which lock and / or activating a beam lock. It should be appreciated that thereby equivalent embodiments are disclosed with respect to transmitting a beam lock message for unlocking and / or deactivating a beam lock in response to performing which unlock and / or deactivating a beam lock. For example, with respect to FIG. 3, consider disclosed embodiments in which the first apparatus 110 receives a beam lock message from the second apparatus 120. The beam lock message indicates that one or more Tx beams are to be unlocked on the first antenna array list and / or one or more Rx beams are to be unlocked on the second antenna array list. Based on the beam lock message, the first apparatus 110 subsequently performs unlocking of the one or more Tx beams and / or the one or more Rx beams.

[0256] Moreover, while operations can be depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such order nor that all illustrated operations be performed to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Likewise, while a number of specific implementation details have been included for the purpose of providing a thorough description of embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific implementation details are not required in every implementation. Accordingly, the various features of the above described embodiments can be combined with each other in any suitable manner without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Unless expressly identified as an embodiment of the present disclosure, no feature is hereby admitted as being new, important or essential to the present disclosure.

[0257] While the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific features and / or methods, it should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to those specific features or methods. Rather, specific features and methods are disclosed herein as examples in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0258] Furthermore, various implementations of the disclosure can be described with reference to the following clauses, which can be combined in any reasonable manner:

[0259] Clause 1. A first apparatus for antenna pattern locking, comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: receive, from a second apparatus, locking indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna patterns or a particular number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information is to be locked; and perform locking on a number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the locking indication information.

[0260] Clause 2. The first apparatus of Clause 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: perform locking on the first number of at least one antenna pattern forming the first number of at least one best transmit beam according to a determination that the locking indication information indicates the first number of at least one antenna pattern; and perform locking on the second number of at least one antenna pattern forming the second number of at least one best receive beam according to a determination that the locking indication information indicates the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0261] Clause 3. The first apparatus of Clause 1 or 2, wherein the locking indication information includes one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern, and / or wherein the locking indication information includes one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern.

[0262] Clause 4. The first apparatus of Clause 3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: perform locking on a number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission and / or one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception according to a determination that the flag indicates locking a particular number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information.

[0263] Clause 5. The first apparatus of Clause 3 or 4, wherein the locking indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets.

[0264] Clause 6. The first apparatus according to any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the flag indicates whether to lock a full set of antenna patterns forming a transmit beam, or to lock a full set of antenna patterns forming a receive beam, or to lock a full set of antenna patterns forming a transmit beam and a receive beam.

[0265] Clause 7. The first apparatus according to any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the lock indication information further comprises a bit in an information element with an octet to indicate whether to lock a full set of antenna patterns or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0266] Clause 8. The first apparatus according to any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: receive, from the second apparatus, an active beam lock message comprising the lock indication information, and wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: send, to the second apparatus, an active beam lock message complete message after performing the lock.

[0267] Clause 9. The first apparatus according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the first apparatus is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second apparatus is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

[0268] Clause 10. A second apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: send, to a first apparatus, lock indication information from a second apparatus, the lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock a full set of at least one antenna pattern or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information.

[0269] Clause 11. A method comprising: receiving, by a first apparatus from a second apparatus, lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether to lock a full set of antenna patterns or to lock a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the lock indication information; and performing, based on the lock indication information, a lock on a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam.

Claims

1. A first apparatus for antenna pattern locking, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: receive, from a second apparatus, locking indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of antenna patterns is to be locked or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information is to be locked; and based on the locking indication information, perform locking on a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam. 2.The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: perform, according to a determination that the locking indication information indicates the first number of at least one antenna pattern, locking on the first number of at least one antenna pattern forming the first number of at least one best transmit beam; and perform, according to a determination that the locking indication information indicates the second number of at least one antenna pattern, locking on the second number of at least one antenna pattern forming the second number of at least one best receive beam. 3.The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the locking indication information comprises one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission to indicate the first number of at least one antenna pattern, and / or wherein the locking indication information comprises one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception to indicate the second number of at least one antenna pattern. 4.The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: perform, according to a determination that the flag indicates that a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information is to be locked, locking on a certain number of at least one antenna pattern forming at least one transmit beam and / or at least one receive beam based on the one or more first bits corresponding to beam transmission and / or one or more second bits corresponding to beam reception. 5.The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein the locking indication information is carried in an information element having octets, and wherein the one or more first bits and the one or more second bits are each selected from third to eighth bits in the octets. 6.The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flag indicates whether a full set of antenna patterns forming transmit beams is to be locked, or a full set of antenna patterns forming receive beams is to be locked, or a full set of antenna patterns forming transmit beams and receive beams is to be locked. 7.The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the locking indication information further comprises a bit in an information element having octets to indicate whether a full set of antenna patterns is to be locked or a specific number of at least one antenna pattern indicated by the locking indication information is to be locked.

8. The first apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: receive, from the second apparatus, an active beam lock message comprising the lock indication information, and wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: after performing the lock, send an active beam lock message complete message to the second apparatus.

9. The first apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first apparatus is or is comprised in a terminal device, and / or wherein the second apparatus is or is comprised in a system simulator configured to perform a test procedure with the terminal device.

10. A second apparatus for antenna mode locking, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory having stored therein instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: send, to a first apparatus, lock indication information from a second apparatus, the lock indication information indicating at least one of: a first number of at least one antenna mode forming at least one transmit beam to be locked, a second number of at least one antenna mode forming at least one receive beam to be locked, or a flag indicating whether a full set of at least one antenna mode is to be locked or a specific number of at least one antenna mode indicated by the lock indication information is to be locked.

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