Unified TCI state switching enhancement for mTRP

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for unified TCI state switching enhancements for mTRP operations in, for example, 5G NR systems and higher versions. For downlink unified TCI state switching during mTRP operation, the UE may determine that a TCI code point having at least two TCI states is switching a TCI state, and a first TCI state is switching to a known target TCI state, and a second TCI state is switching to an unknown target TCI state. The UE may determine a handover delay for the at least two TCI states. The switching delay may be based at least in part on a delay of an unknown target TCI state. The handover delay may be based on an unknown handover delay as defined by version 17 of the 3GPP standard. The handover delay may be reduced compared to an unknown handover delay as defined by version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to wireless communication, and more particularly to apparatus, systems, and methods for enhancing unified transmission control information (TCI) state switching for multiple transmit-receive point (mTRP) operations in, for example, 5G NR systems and later versions.

[0002] Related technical descriptions

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have become increasingly complex and sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now offer access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating complex applications that utilize these functionalities.

[0004] Long Term Evolution (LTE) is currently the technology of choice for most wireless network operators worldwide, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed internet access to their subscriber base. LTE was first proposed in 2004 and first standardized in 2008. Since then, with the exponential growth in the use of wireless communication systems, the demand from wireless network operators to support higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users has also increased. Therefore, research into new radio access technologies began in 2015, and in 2017, the first version of 5G New Radio (5G NR) was standardized.

[0005] 5G-NR (also known as NR for short) offers higher capacity for higher density mobile broadband users compared to LTE, while also supporting ultra-reliable and massive machine-type communication between devices, as well as lower latency and / or lower battery consumption. Furthermore, NR allows for more flexible UE scheduling compared to current LTE. Therefore, ongoing development of 5G-NR is underway to leverage the potentially higher throughput at higher frequencies. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The implementation scheme relates to wireless communication, and more specifically to apparatus, systems, and methods for enhancing the state switching of unified transmission control information (TCI) for multi-transmitter-receiver point (mTRP) operations, such as in 5G NR systems and later versions.

[0007] For example, in some implementations, for downlink unified TCI state handover during mTRP operation, the UE can be configured to determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states, and to determine that a first TCI state of at least two TCI states is switching to a known target TCI state, and a second TCI state of at least two TCI states is switching to an unknown target TCI state. Furthermore, the UE can be configured to determine the handover delay for at least two TCI states. The handover delay may be based at least in part on the delay of the unknown target TCI state. Additionally, the handover delay may be based on the unknown handover delay defined as in Release 17 of the 3GPP standard. Furthermore, the handover delay can be reduced compared to the unknown handover delay defined as in Release 17 of the 3GPP standard, for example, by enabling a first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state to assist a second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in performing Layer 1 (L1) measurements of the unknown target TCI state.

[0008] As another example, in some implementations, for uplink unified TCI state handover during mTRP operation, the UE may be configured to determine that a TCI codepoint with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states, and to determine that at least one path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) associated with at least two TCI states is not maintained. Furthermore, the UE may be configured to determine the handover delay for at least two TCI states. The handover delay may be based at least in part on the delay of the unmaintained PL-RS. In some cases, the handover delay may be based on the unmaintained PL-RS handover delay as defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

[0009] As another example, in some implementations, for a combined (e.g., combined uplink and downlink) unified TCI state handover during mTRP operation, the UE may be configured to determine that a TCI codepoint with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states, and to determine that at least one PL-RS associated with the at least two TCI states is not maintained. Furthermore, the UE may be configured to determine the handover delay for the at least two TCI states. The handover delay may be based at least in part on the delay of the non-maintained PL-RS. In some cases, the handover delay may be based on the non-maintained PL-RS handover delay as defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

[0010] The technologies described herein can be implemented in and / or used with a variety of different types of devices, including but not limited to any of the following computing devices: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial vehicle controllers (UACs), UTM servers, base stations, access points, cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and various other computing devices.

[0011] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subjects described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are merely illustrative and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or substance of the subjects described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjects described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0012] A better understanding of the subject matter can be obtained by considering the following detailed description of various embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0013] Figure 1 Example wireless communication systems according to some implementation schemes are illustrated.

[0014] Figure 2 Example block diagrams of base stations according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0015] Figure 3 Example block diagrams of servers according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0016] Figure 4A Example block diagrams of a UE according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0017] Figure 4B Example block diagrams of modems or baseband processors according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0018] Figure 5 Examples of 5G network architectures according to some implementation schemes are illustrated, which combine dual 3GPP (e.g., LTE and 5G NR) access to 5G CN and non-3GPP access.

[0019] Figure 6 and Figure 7 Examples of possible specific implementations of the UE antenna panel according to some implementation schemes are illustrated.

[0020] Figure 8 A block diagram illustrating an example of a method for switching downlink unified transmission control information (TCI) state during multiple transmit-receive point (mTRP) operation, according to some implementation schemes.

[0021] Figure 9 A block diagram illustrating an example of a method for switching uplink and / or Joint Unified Transmission Control Information (TCI) state during multiple transmit-receive-point (mTRP) operation, according to some implementation schemes.

[0022] While the features described herein may be readily modified and substituted in various ways, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit one to the specific forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Implementation

[0023] acronym

[0024] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. Definitions of the most frequently used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are provided below:

[0025] • 3GPP: Third Generation Partnership Project

[0026] •UE: User Equipment

[0027] •RF: Radio Frequency

[0028] •BS: Base Station

[0029] •DL: Downlink

[0030] •UL: Uplink

[0031] •LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0032] •NR: New Radio

[0033] •5GS: 5G system

[0034] • 5GMM: 5GS Mobility Management

[0035] •5GC / 5GCN: 5G Core Network

[0036] •SIM: Subscriber Identity Module

[0037] • eSIM: Embedded Subscriber Identity Module

[0038] •IE: Information Elements

[0039] •CE: Control Element

[0040] •MAC: Media Access Control

[0041] •SSB: Synchronization Signal Block

[0042] •PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0043] •PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0044] •RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0045] the term

[0046] The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

[0047] memory media —Any of various types of nontransitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include mounting media, such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory, such as flash memory; magnetic media, such as hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. Memory media may also include other types of nontransitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, memory media may reside in a first computer system executing a program, or may reside in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network (such as the Internet). In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media, which may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected via, for example, a network. Memory media may store program instructions (e.g., embodied in a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0048] carrier medium —Memory media as described above, and physical transmission media, such as buses, networks and / or other physical transmission media for transmitting signals (such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals or digital signals).

[0049] Programmable hardware components —This includes a variety of hardware devices, which comprise multiple programmable functional blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (Field-Programmable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). Programmable functional blocks can range from fine-grained (combinational logic or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements can also be referred to as “configurable logic units.”

[0050] Computer system (or computer)- Any of various types of computing or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet-connected appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations thereof. Generally, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0051] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") —Any type of computer system device that is mobile or portable and performs wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone). ™ Based on Android ™ Telephones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS) ™ PlayStation Portable ™ Gameboy Advance ™ iPhone ™ ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily transportable by the user and capable of wireless communication.

[0052] base station The term “base station” has the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0053] Processing element (or processor) – refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing the functions in a device (such as user equipment or cellular network equipment). Processing elements may include, for example: processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), programmable hardware elements such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and any combination thereof.

[0054] Channel– A medium used to transmit information from a transmitter (sender) to a receiver. It should be noted that because the characteristics of the term "channel" can vary depending on the wireless protocol, the term "channel" as used herein can be considered to be used in a standard manner consistent with the type of device to which the term is referenced. In some standards, channel width can be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE can support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels can be 22 MHz wide, while Bluetooth channels can be 1 MHz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, for example, different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0055] frequency band – The term “band” has the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a segment of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which a channel is used or reserved for the same purpose.

[0056] Wi-Fi The term "Wi-Fi" (or WiFi) has the full range of its usual meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks or RATs, which are provided by and through wireless LAN (WLAN) access points to provide connectivity to the Internet. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

[0057] 3GPP Access —Refers to access technologies specified by 3GPP standards (e.g., radio access technologies). These access technologies include, but are not limited to, GSM / GPRS, LTE, LTE-A, and / or 5G NR. Generally speaking, 3GPP access refers to various types of cellular access technologies.

[0058] Non-3GPP access Non-3GPP access refers to any access not specified by 3GPP standards (e.g., radio access technologies). These accesses include, but are not limited to, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, WLAN, and / or fixed networks. Non-3GPP access can be categorized into two types: "trusted" and "untrusted." Trusted non-3GPP access can interact directly with the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and / or 5G Core (5GC), while untrusted non-3GPP access interoperates with the EPC / 5GC via network entities such as Evolved Packet Data Gateways and / or 5G NR Gateways. Generally speaking, non-3GPP access refers to various types of non-cellular access technologies.

[0059] automatic— This refers to the action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuits, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without requiring direct user input to specify or perform the action or operation. Therefore, the term "automatic" contrasts with an action performed or specified manually by the user (where the user provides input to directly perform the action). An automatic process can be initiated by user-provided input, but the subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user; that is, they are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out a form by selecting each field and providing input to specify information (e.g., by typing information, selecting a checkbox, radio selection, etc.) is considered manually filling out a form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user's actions. A form can be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying answers for the fields. As indicated above, a user can invoke automatic filling of a form but does not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers to the fields, but they are completed automatically). This manual provides various examples of operations that can be performed automatically in response to actions taken by the user.

[0060] About – refers to a value that is nearly correct or precise. For example, “approximately” could mean a value within 1% to 10% of the precise (or expected) value. However, it should be noted that the actual threshold (or tolerance) can be application-dependent. For example, in some implementations, “approximately” could mean within 0.1% of some specified or expected value, while in various other implementations, the threshold could be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, etc., depending on the expectations or requirements of a particular application.

[0061] concurrent – refers to parallel execution or implementation, in which tasks, processes, or programs are executed in a manner that is at least partially overlapping. For example, concurrency can be achieved using “strong” or strict parallelism, in which tasks are executed in parallel (at least partially) on corresponding computing elements; or using “weak parallelism”, in which tasks are executed in an interleaved manner (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

[0062] Various components can be described as being "configured" to perform one or more tasks. In this context, "configured" is a broad expression generally meaning "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently performing one (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect one module to another, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured" can be a broad expression generally meaning a structure that "has a circuit" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently powered on. Generally, the circuit forming the structure corresponding to "configured" can include hardware circuitry.

[0063] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". Statements describing a component as configured to perform one or more tasks are explicitly intended not to invoke the interpretation of 35 USC § 112(f) for that component.

[0064] Figure 1 Communication system

[0065] Figure 1 A simplified example wireless communication system according to some implementation schemes is illustrated. Note that... Figure 1 The system described herein is merely one example of a possible system, and the features of this disclosure can be implemented in any of the various systems as needed.

[0066] As shown in the figure, the example wireless communication system includes a base station 102A, which communicates with one or more user equipments 106A, 106B, etc., to user equipment 106N via a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE). Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0067] Base station (BS) 102A may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or a cell site (“cellular base station”), and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with UE 106A to UE 106N.

[0068] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Base station 102A and UE 106 can be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with air interfaces such as WCDMA or TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, its alternative location may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". It should also be noted that if base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, its alternative location may be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB".

[0069] As shown in the figure, base station 102A can also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., in various possibilities, the core network of a cellular service provider, telecommunications networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet). Therefore, base station 102A facilitates communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. Specifically, cellular base station 102A can provide UE 106 with various telecommunications capabilities, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services.

[0070] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B, ..., 102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards can therefore be provided as a network of cells that can provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping services to UEs 106A to 106N and similar devices over a geographical area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0071] Therefore, although base station 102A can act as such Figure 1 The illustrated "serving cells" are UEs 106A to 106N, but each UE 106 may also be able to receive signals (and possibly within its communication range) from one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B to 102N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells." Such cells may also facilitate communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. These cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pecimen" cells, and / or any other cells of various other granularities providing service area size. For example, Figure 1 The illustrated base stations 102A to 102B may be macro cells, while base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0072] In some implementations, base station 102A may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station or a “gNB”. In some implementations, the gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0073] In addition, UE 106 may communicate with access point 112, for example, using wireless networks (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peering, etc.). Access point 112 can provide connectivity to network 100.

[0074] It should be noted that UE 106 may be able to communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) other than at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD, etc.)). If desired, UE 106 may also be configured, or alternatively, to communicate using one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H) and / or any other wireless communication protocol. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0075] Figure 2 Block diagram of a base station

[0076] Figure 2 Example block diagrams of base station 102 according to some implementation schemes are shown. It should be noted that... Figure 3 The base station shown is merely one example of a possible base station. As illustrated, base station 102 may include processor 204, which executes program instructions specific to base station 102. Processor 204 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 240, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 204 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 260 and read-only memory (ROM) 250) or into other circuitry or devices.

[0077] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 270. Network port 270 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to multiple devices, such as UE device 106, as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 Access to the telephone network described in the text.

[0078] Network port 270 (or an additional network port) may also be configured, or alternatively configured, to couple to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, network port 270 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

[0079] In some implementations, base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or a “gNB”. In such implementations, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, UEs capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0080] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 234, and may include multiple antennas. At least one antenna 234 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may also be configured to communicate with UE device 106 via radio component 230. Antenna 234 communicates with radio component 230 via communication link 232. Communication link 232 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 230 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0081] Base station 102 can be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio component for performing communication according to LTE and a 5G NR radio component for performing communication according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multimode radio component capable of performing communication according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0082] As further described herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting specific implementations of the features described herein. The processor 204 of base station 102 may be configured, for example, to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 204 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or otherwise), in combination with one or more of other components 230, 232, 234, 240, 250, 260, 270, the processor 204 of BS 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the features described herein.

[0083] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 204 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 204. Therefore, processor 204 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 204. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 204.

[0084] Furthermore, as described herein, radio component 230 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio component 230. Therefore, radio component 230 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio component 230. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio component 230.

[0085] Figure 3 Server block diagram

[0086] Figure 3 Example block diagrams of server 104 according to some implementation schemes are shown. Note that... Figure 3 The server shown is merely one example of a possible server. As illustrated, server 104 may include processor 344 capable of executing program instructions for server 104. Processor 344 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 374, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 344 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 364 and read-only memory (ROM) 354) or into other circuitry or devices.

[0087] Server 104 can be configured to provide access to network functions to multiple devices, such as base station 102, UE device 106 and / or UTM 108, for example, as further described herein.

[0088] In some implementations, server 104 may be part of a radio access network, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) access network. In some implementations, server 104 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network.

[0089] As further described herein, server 104 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of the features described herein. Processor 344 of server 104 may be configured, for example, to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively, processor 344 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of other components 354, 364, and / or 374, processor 344 of server 104 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the features described herein.

[0090] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 344 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 344. Therefore, processor 344 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 344. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 344.

[0091] Figure 4A : UE block diagram

[0092] Figure 4A A simplified block diagram of a communication device 106 according to some implementation schemes is shown. Note that... Figure 4A The block diagram of the communication device is merely one example of possible communication devices. According to implementations, communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, notebook computer, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a UAV controller (UAC), and / or a combination of devices, as well as other devices. As shown, communication device 106 may include a set of components 400 configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system-on-a-chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components 400 may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for various purposes. The set of components 400 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to various other circuitry of communication device 106.

[0093] For example, communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 410), input / output interfaces such as connector I / F 420 (e.g., for connection to a computer system; docking station; charging station; input devices such as microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices such as speaker; etc.), a display 460 that may be integrated with or external to communication device 106, and cellular communication circuitry 430 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short- to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 (e.g., Bluetooth). ™ The communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card for Ethernet, for example. (Including WLAN circuitry) and wake-up radio component circuitry 431. In some embodiments, the communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card for Ethernet, for example.

[0094] Cellular communication circuitry 430 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 435 and 436 as shown. Short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 may also be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 437 and 438 as shown. Alternatively, short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to antennas 435 and 436, in addition to supplementing or replacing antennas 437 and 438. Wake-up radio component circuitry 431 may also be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 439a and 439b as shown. Alternatively, the wake-up radio component circuit 431 may be coupled to antennas 435 and 436, in addition to (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) coupled to antennas 439a and 439b, or instead of being coupled to these antennas. The short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuit 429 and / or the cellular communication circuit 430 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration. The wake-up radio component circuit 431 may include a wake-up receiver; for example, the wake-up radio component circuit 431 may be a wake-up receiver. In some cases, the wake-up radio component circuit 431 may be a low-power and / or ultra-low-power wake-up receiver. In some cases, the wake-up radio component circuit may only be powered on / activated when the cellular communication circuit 430 and / or the short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuit 429 are in a sleep / no-power / inactive state. In some cases, the wake-up radio component circuit 431 may (e.g., periodically) monitor a specific frequency / channel for a wake-up signal. The receipt of a wake-up signal can trigger the wake-up radio component circuit 431 (e.g., directly and / or indirectly) to notify the cellular communication circuit 430 to enter a power-on / active state.

[0095] In some embodiments, as further described below, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include a single transmit chain that can be switched between radio components dedicated to a particular RAT. For example, a first radio component may be dedicated to a first RAT, such as LTE, and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with additional radio components, such as a second radio component that may be dedicated to a second RAT (e.g., 5G NR) and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a shared transmit chain.

[0096] The communication device 106 may also include one or more user interface elements and / or be configured to be used with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of a variety of elements, such as a display 460 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or a speaker, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to the user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0097] The communication device 106 may also include one or more smart cards 445 with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) cards 445. It should be noted that the term "SIM" or "SIM entity" is intended to include any of various types of SIM implementations or SIM functionality, such as one or more UICC cards 445, one or more eUICCs, one or more eSIMs, removable or embedded, etc. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include at least two SIMs. Each SIM may execute one or more SIM applications and / or otherwise implement SIM functionality. Thus, each SIM may be a single smart card that can be embedded, for example, soldered to a circuit board in the UE 106, or each SIM 410 may be implemented as a removable smart card. Therefore, a SIM may be one or more removable smart cards (such as UICC cards, sometimes referred to as "SIM cards"), and / or SIM 410 may be one or more embedded cards (such as embedded UICCs (eUICCs), sometimes referred to as "eSIMs" or "eSIM cards").

[0098] As shown, the SOC 400 may include a processor 402 and a display circuit 404. The processor executes program instructions for the communication device 106, and the display circuit performs graphics processing and provides display signals to the display 460. The processor 402 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 402 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 406, read-only memory (ROM) 450, NAND flash memory 410), and / or coupled to other circuitry or devices (such as the display circuit 404, short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuitry 429, cellular communication circuitry 430, connector I / F 420, and / or display 460). The MMU 440 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 440 may be included as part of the processor 402.

[0099] As noted above, communication device 106 can be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuitry. Communication device 106 can be configured to perform methods for side-link control and synchronization reference signaling for SL PRS transmission, for example, in 5G NR systems and later, as further described herein. For example, communication device 106 can be configured to perform methods for CORESET#0 configuration, SSB / CORESET#0 multiplexing mode 1 for hybrid SCS, time-domain RO determination for 480kHz SCS / 960kHz SCS, and RA-RNTI determination for 480kHz SCS / 960kHz SCS.

[0100] As described herein, communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the features described above to communicate a scheduling profile for power saving to the network. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium), processor 402 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein. Alternatively (or otherwise), processor 402 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or otherwise), in combination with one or more of other components 400, 404, 406, 410, 420, 429, 430, 440, 445, 450, 460, processor 402 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0101] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 402 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 402 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 402. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 402.

[0102] Furthermore, as described herein, the cellular communication circuit 430 and the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the cellular communication circuit 430, and similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429. Therefore, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 430. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 430. Similarly, the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429.

[0103] Figure 4B —Block diagram of a modem or baseband processor

[0104] Figure 4B An example block diagram of a baseband processor 500 is illustrated, which may also be referred to as a modem 500. The baseband processor 500 may provide signal processing functionality for one or more wireless communication technologies such as WiFi and / or cellular (e.g., 3GPP) communication technologies and / or other wireless communication technologies. Therefore, as an option, the baseband processor 500 may represent a WiFi modem or a WiFi controller; for example, Figure 4B The illustrated baseband processor 500 can represent Figure 4A This is one possible example of the illustrated short-range / medium-range communication circuit 429. Alternatively, the baseband processor 500 could represent a cellular modem (or cellular controller) or a cellular baseband processor; for example, Figure 4B The illustrated baseband processor 500 can represent Figure 4A This is one possible example of the illustrated cellular communication circuitry 430. In some cases, the baseband processor 500 may implement functionality to support communication according to various wireless communication technologies. In at least some cases, the baseband processor 500 may run a real-time operating system, for example, to facilitate the performance of timing-dependent wireless communication functionality.

[0105] In some cases, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to support unified TCI state handover enhancements for mTRP operations, including systems, methods, and mechanisms for enabling the UE to perform unified downlink TCI state handover, unified uplink TCI state handover, and unified joint TCI state handover. For example, for downlink unified TCI state handover during mTRP operations, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states, and to determine that a first TCI state of at least two TCI states is switching to a known target TCI state, and a second TCI state of at least two TCI states is switching to an unknown target TCI state. Furthermore, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to determine the handover delay of the at least two TCI states. The handover delay may be at least partially based on the delay of the unknown target TCI state. As another example, for uplink unified TCI state switching during mTRP operation, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states, and to determine that at least one path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) associated with the at least two TCI states is not maintained. Furthermore, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to determine the switching delay of the at least two TCI states. The switching delay may be based at least in part on the delay of the unmaintained PL-RS. As another example, for joint (e.g., combined uplink and downlink) unified TCI state switching during mTRP operation, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states, and to determine that at least one PL-RS associated with the at least two TCI states is not maintained. Furthermore, the baseband processor 500 can be configured to determine the switching delay of the at least two TCI states. The switching delay may be based at least in part on the delay of the unmaintained PL-RS.

[0106] The baseband processor 500 may include processing circuitry 502, which may include one or more processor cores, ASICs, programmable hardware elements, digital signal processors, and / or other processing elements. The processing circuitry may be able to prepare baseband signals for up-conversion and transmission by the radio component circuitry of a wireless device, and / or process baseband signals received and down-converted by the radio component circuitry of the wireless device. Such processing may include signal modulation, encoding, decoding, etc., among various possible functions. The processing circuitry may also be able to, or alternatively, perform functionality of one or more baseband and / or other layers / sublayers of the protocol stack for a wireless communication technology implemented by the baseband processor 500, such as physical layer (PHY) functionality, media access control (MAC) functionality, logical link control (LLC) functionality, radio resource control (RRC) functionality, radio link control (RLC) functionality, etc. In some cases, the baseband processor 500 itself may include at least some radio component circuitry (e.g., for performing conversion of input baseband signals to radio frequency signals and / or conversion of input radio frequency signals to baseband signals). Alternatively or additionally, some or all of these functions may be performed by separate radio components / transceiver assemblies of the wireless device.

[0107] The baseband processor 500 may also include a memory 504, which may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The memory 504 may include program instructions for performing signal processing and / or any of the various possible general-purpose processing functions. The processing circuitry 502 may be able to execute the program instructions stored in the memory 504. The memory 504 may also store data generated and / or used during processing performed by the processing circuitry 502.

[0108] As shown in the figure, the baseband processor 500 may also include, for example, for use with wireless devices (such as...) Figures 1 to 4A Interface circuitry for communicating with other components of the illustrated UE 106 and / or base station 102 (such as the application processor, radio components / transceiver circuitry, and / or any of the various other components). Such interfaces can be implemented in any of a variety of ways; for example, as one possibility, the baseband processor 500 may have a direct interface with the transceiver circuitry of the wireless device and may have additional indirect interfaces with the application processor and / or other components of the wireless device via the system bus. Other configurations are also possible.

[0109] In at least some cases, the hardware and software components of the baseband processor 500 may be configured to implement or support the features described herein, such as support for CA configuration for segmented carriers (e.g., non-continuous CC), and various other possible features. For example, the processing circuitry 502 of the baseband processor 500 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) 504 and / or using dedicated hardware components.

[0110] Figure 5 5G Core Network Architecture - Interoperability with Wi-Fi

[0111] In some implementations, access to the 5G core network (CN) can be made via (or through) cellular connections / interfaces (e.g., via 3GPP communication architecture / protocols) and non-cellular connections / interfaces (e.g., non-3GPP access architecture / protocols such as Wi-Fi connections). Figure 5An example of a 5G network architecture according to some implementation schemes is illustrated, which combines dual 3GPP access to the 5G CN (e.g., cellular access via LTE and 5G-NR) and non-3GPP access (e.g., non-cellular). As shown, a user equipment device (e.g., such as UE 106) can access the 5G CN through both a radio access network (RAN, such as gNB 604 or eNB 602, each of which can be base station 102) and an access point (e.g., AP 612). AP 612 may include a connection to the Internet 600 and a connection to a non-3GPP interoperability function (N3IWF) 603 network entity. N3IWF may include a connection to the core access and mobility management function (AMF) 605 of the 5G CN. AMF 605 may include an instance of 5G mobility management (5G MM) function associated with UE 106. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB 604) may also have a connection to AMF 605. Therefore, the 5G CN can support unified authentication on both connections and allow simultaneous registration for UE106 accessing via both gNB 604 and AP 612. As shown, AMF 605 can communicate with Location Management Function (LMF) 609 via a network interface such as the NL interface. LMF 609 can receive measurement and assistance information from the RAN (e.g., gNB 604) and UE (e.g., UE 106) via AMF 605. LMF 609 can be a server (e.g., server 104) and / or a functional entity performing on a server. In addition, based on the measurement and / or assistance information received from the RAN and UE, LMF can determine the location of the UE. Furthermore, AMF 605 may include functional entities associated with the 5G CN (e.g., such as Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Short Message Service Function 622, Application Function (AF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Policy Control Function (PCF), and / or Authentication Server Function). It should be noted that these functional entities can also be supported through the Session Management Function (SMF) 606a and SMF 606b of the 5G CN. AMF605 can connect to (or communicate with) SMF 606a. Furthermore, gNB 604 can communicate with (or connect to) User Plane Function (UPF) 608a, which in turn can communicate with SMF 606a. Similarly, N3IWF 603 can communicate with UPF 608b, which in turn can communicate with SMF 606b. Both UPFs can communicate with data networks (e.g., DN 610a and 610b) and / or the Internet 600 and the Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem / IP Multimedia Core Subsystem (IMS) Core Network 610.

[0112] It should be noted that, in various implementations, one or more of the entities described above may be configured to perform methods for unified TCI state switching enhancements for mTRP operations, such as in 5G NR systems and later versions, as further described herein.

[0113] mTRP's Unified TCI State Switching Enhancement

[0114] 3GPP Release 17 defines the requirements for the Unified Transmit Control Information (TCI) state framework, and 3GPP Release 18 has extended the Unified TCI framework to Multiple Transmit-Receive Point (mTRP) operations. However, the requirements defined by 3GPP Release 17 do not cover simultaneous reception in the downlink within Frequency Range 2 with multiple receivers (e.g., simultaneous downlink (DL) receivers from different directions). For example, Frequency Range 2 (FR2) covers frequencies from 24250 MHz to 71000 MHz and is divided into two ranges: FR2-1 covers 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz and FR2-2 covers 52600 MHz to 71000 MHz. Furthermore, 3GPP Release 18 is discussing requirements for dual TCI state switching for multiple receivers in the downlink within FR2. Additionally, with mTRP operations, there are Unified TCI extensions for Single Downlink Control Information (sDCI) and Multiple DCI (mDCI) schemes. For example, in the sDCI scheme, a single-scheduled DCI from a single transmit-receive point (TRP) is used for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception from multiple TRPs. As another example, in the mDCI scheme, a scheduled DCI is transmitted from each TRP. Furthermore, existing requirements for uniform TCI state switching currently only apply to single TCI state switching, for example, when only one TCI state is associated with the physical channel and / or when only a single TCI is changing during the switch and the TCI code point is activated by two TCI states. Therefore, new requirements are expected when multiple TCI states change with TCI state switching.

[0115] The implementation schemes described herein provide systems, methods, and mechanisms for enhancing unified TCI state handover for mTRP operations, including systems, methods, and mechanisms for enabling UEs to perform unified downlink TCI state handover, unified uplink TCI state handover, and unified joint TCI state handover.

[0116] For example, in some cases of unified downlink TCI state switching, for a TCI code point with two TCI states, both TCI states can be known (e.g., {known, known}), both TCI states can be unknown (e.g., {unknown, unknown}), or one TCI state can be known and the other can be unknown (e.g., {known, unknown} and / or {unknown, known}). In some cases, for situations where only one TCI state is known (e.g., {known, unknown} and / or {unknown, known}), the TCI state switching delay can be defined as the delay taking into account the unknown TCI state. Therefore, the switching delay for the two TCI states can be a common TCI state switching delay. In some cases, for situations where only one TCI state is known, the TCI state switching delay can be defined as a delay less than the old-style unknown state switching delay. Therefore, the switching delay for the two TCI states can be less than the old-style (e.g., as defined in 3GPP Release 17) unknown state switching delay. In other words, the switching latency is further reduced from the current (e.g., legacy) unknown TCI state switching latency. In some cases, for scenarios where only one TCI state is known, the TCI state switching latency can be defined independently for each TCI state. Note that the TCI state switching latency can be defined independently for the mDCI case where both DCI and PDSCH are switched simultaneously.

[0117] In some cases, such as situations / scenarios where only one TCI state is known (e.g., {known, unknown} and / or {unknown, known}), since Layer 1 (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement is not required for a known TCI state, multiple antenna panels of the UE can be used for L1 measurements for an unknown TCI state. Therefore, the scan factor can be reduced from the current value (e.g., N=8), and thus, the L1-RSRP measurement delay (e.g., T) can be reduced. L1-RSRP In some cases, the scan factor (e.g., N') can be a range of values. Furthermore, the scan factor (e.g., N') can be hard-decoded in the 3GPP specification. In some cases, the scan factor can be a UE capability. In other words, the scan factor can be based on the specific UE implementation. For example, Figure 6 and Figure 7 Examples of possible specific implementations of the UE antenna panel according to some implementation schemes are illustrated. For example... Figure 6As shown, one possible implementation of a UE antenna panel may include a UE having a first receive chain (e.g., a first antenna panel) and a second receive chain (e.g., a second antenna panel), where each receive chain supports four L1 beams. In such a case, the UE can use two antenna panels to perform L1 measurements for unknown TCI states, and the scan factor value can be set to four. Figure 7 As shown, another possible UE antenna panel implementation may include a UE with a first receive chain (e.g., a first antenna panel) and a second receive chain (e.g., a second antenna panel), wherein the first receive chain supports two L1 beams and the second receive chain supports six L1 beams. In such a case, the UE can use two antenna panels to perform L1 measurements for unknown TCI states, and the scan factor value can be set to six.

[0118] In some cases, to allow the UE to conserve power, the UE may override the scan factor via a message to the network. This message may be a physical layer message (e.g., an L1 message), a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), and / or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, such as UE assistance information. In some cases, the UE may include a timer associated with the scan factor. In such cases, when the timer expires, the UE may fall back to the default scan factor (e.g., eight). In some cases, the network may instruct (e.g., control) whether the UE can override the scan factor. For example, in a single DCI scenario, the network may instruct the UE to override the scan factor, for example, because the UE needs to complete a dual-TCI handover before receiving from multiple TRPs. As another example, in a multi-DCI scenario, the network may instruct the UE not to override the scan factor, for example, because a dual-TCI handover does not need to be completed simultaneously with sending the scheduled DCI from the corresponding TRP. In some cases, network indications (e.g., signaling) can be cell-specific (e.g., contained in a System Information Block (SIB)) or UE-specific (e.g., via RRC signaling, MAC CE, and / or DCI).

[0119] As another example, in some cases of unified uplink TCI state switching and / or unified joint TCI state switching (e.g., combined uplink and downlink), there are several cases that may require further definition, as shown in Table 1 below.

[0120] Table 1: Unified Uplink / Joint TCI State Switching Status

[0121] Therefore, as shown in Table 1, a TCI code point with two TCI states can include instances where the first TCI state (e.g., TCI state 1) and the second TCI state (e.g., TCI state 2) are both known, both are unknown, or one TCI state may be known and the other may be unknown. Furthermore, for each TCI state (e.g., TCI state 1 and / or TCI state 2), the corresponding path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) may or may not be maintained. Thus, as shown in Table 1, cases 1a and 1b, where both TCI states are known and the corresponding PL-RS are either maintained or not maintained, have been defined by 3GPP Release 17. However, requirements for cases 1c, 1d, 2a, and 2b have not yet been defined.

[0122] For example, when both TCI states are known, but only one PL-RS is maintained (e.g., the other PL-RS is not maintained), such as in cases 1c and 1d of Table 1, in some cases, the TCI state switching delay can be the delay considering the unmaintained TCI state; for example, the common TCI state switching delay can be used for both TCI states. In other cases, the TCI state switching delay can be applied independently to each TCI state. Note that this switching delay may not be in the case where a single DCI is scheduling PUSCHs from two TRPs. In still some other cases, the TCI state switching delay may be common for both TCI states; however, the TCI state switching delay can be less than the legacy unmaintained PL-RS switching delay. Therefore, the switching delay for both TCI states can be less than the legacy (e.g., as defined in 3GPP Release 17) unknown state switching delay. In other words, the switching delay is further reduced from the current (e.g., legacy) unknown TCI state switching delay; for example, the switching delay can be further reduced from the current unmaintained PL-RS switching delay. It should be noted that additional beam scan time may be required, for example, when the PL-RS is an SSB. In such cases, beam scan time can be shared between the two receive chains to reduce the time required for beam scan. In other cases, to reduce the time required for beam scan, the UE capability can be introduced to perform higher-layer filtering for all L1-RSRP RS (e.g., not activated as PL-RS). It should be noted that in such cases, PL-RS can be maintained for beam alignment when the TCI state is known. Furthermore, in some cases, to reduce the time required for beam scan, network signaling can be introduced to instruct the UE to enable higher-layer filtering and / or indicate the number of samples used for higher-layer measurements (e.g., fewer than five samples are available for PL-RS measurements). Additionally, in some cases, to reduce the time required for beam scan, network signaling can be introduced to instruct the UE to disable higher-layer filtering (e.g., L1-RSRP measurements can be used for PL measurements without further filtering).

[0123] As another example, when only one TCI state is known and one or more PL-RSs are not maintained, such as in cases 2a and 2b of Table 1, in some cases, the TCI state switching delay can be the delay taking into account the unknown TCI state; therefore, the common TCI state switching delay can be used for both TCI states. In other cases, the TCI state switching delay may be common for both TCI states; however, the TCI state switching delay may be less than the legacy non-maintained PL-RS switching delay. Therefore, the switching delay for both TCI states can be less than the legacy (e.g., as defined in 3GPP Release 17) unknown state switching delay. In other words, the switching delay is further reduced from the current (e.g., legacy) unknown TCI state switching delay. In other cases, the TCI state switching delay may apply independently to each TCI state. It should be noted that this switching delay may not be in the case where a single DCI is scheduling PUSCHs from two TRPs.

[0124] Figure 8 A block diagram illustrating an example of a method for switching downlink unified transmission control information (TCI) state during multiple transmit-receive point (mTRP) operation, according to some implementation schemes.

[0125] Figure 8 Various aspects of the method can be implemented by wireless devices, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations (such as UE 106 and BS 102 illustrated in the various figures herein and described with respect to these figures), or more generally, in conjunction as needed with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the aforementioned figures. For example, the processor of such devices (such as...) Figure 4B The illustrated and described baseband processor 500 and / or other hardware may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated methods and / or other methods.

[0126] It should be noted that, although described in a manner involving the use of communication technologies and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents Figure 8 The method incorporates at least some elements, but such description is not intended to limit this disclosure and can be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. Figure 8 The method encompasses various aspects. In various implementations, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously, in a different order than shown, replaced by one or more other elements, and / or omitted. Additional elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 8 The method can be operated as follows.

[0127] At 802, the UE (e.g., the UE's baseband processor, such as baseband processor 500) such as UE 106 can determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states.

[0128] At 804, the UE can determine that the first TCI state of at least two TCI states is switching to a known target TCI state, and the second TCI state of at least two TCI states is switching to an unknown target TCI state.

[0129] At 806, the UE can determine the handover delay for at least two TCI states. The handover delay may be based at least in part on the delay of an unknown target TCI state. In some cases, the handover delay may be based on an unknown handover delay as defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard. In some cases, the handover delay may be a first handover delay applicable to a second TCI state, and a second handover delay applicable to a first TCI state.

[0130] In some cases, the handover delay can be reduced compared to the unknown handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard. In such cases, in order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, a first antenna panel associated with a first TCI state can be used to assist a second antenna panel associated with a second TCI state in performing Layer 1 (L1) measurements of the unknown target TCI state.

[0131] In some cases, the scan factor associated with L1 measurements of the TCI state of an unknown target can be less than eight and is specified by the 3GPP standard. In other words, the reduced scan factor associated with L1 measurements of the TCI state of an unknown target can be less than eight and is specified by the 3GPP standard.

[0132] In some cases, the UE may receive an indication from the network (e.g., from a network entity such as base station 102) regarding whether a scan factor (e.g., a reduced scan factor) is enabled. The scan factor may be enabled for a single downlink control information (DCI) scenario and disabled for a multiple DCI scenario. In some cases, the indication may be cell-specific. Cell-specific indications may be received via System Information Broadcast (SIB) messages. In some cases, the indication may be UE-specific. UE-specific indications may be received via at least one of Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages, Medium Access Control (MAC) control elements (CE), or DCIs.

[0133] In some cases, the UE can report the scan factor associated with L1 measurements of an unknown target TCI state via a UE capability indication. In such cases, the scan factor may be less than eight.

[0134] In some cases, the UE may send an indication to the network of a scan factor to overwrite the default scan factor. In such cases, the default scan factor may be eight and the scan factor may be less than eight. The indication may be sent via at least one of L1 signaling (e.g., physical layer messages), MAC CE, or RRC signaling (e.g., UE assistance information). In some cases, the UE may additionally include an indication of a timer associated with the scan factor along with the indication of the scan factor. In such cases, the UE may revert to the default scan factor upon the expiration of the timer.

[0135] Figure 9 A block diagram illustrating an example of a method for switching uplink and / or joint (e.g., uplink and downlink) unified transmission control information (TCI) state during multiple transmit-receive-point (mTRP) operation, according to some implementations.

[0136] Figure 9 Various aspects of the method can be implemented by wireless devices, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations (such as UE 106 and BS 102 illustrated in the various figures herein and described with respect to these figures), or more generally, in conjunction as needed with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the aforementioned figures. For example, the processor of such devices (such as...) Figure 4B The illustrated and described baseband processor 500 and / or other hardware may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated methods and / or other methods.

[0137] It should be noted that, although described in a manner involving the use of communication technologies and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents Figure 9 The method incorporates at least some elements, but such description is not intended to limit this disclosure and can be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. Figure 9 The method encompasses various aspects. In various implementations, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously, in a different order than shown, replaced by one or more other elements, and / or omitted. Additional elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 9 The method can be operated as follows.

[0138] At 902, the UE (e.g., the UE's baseband processor, such as baseband processor 500) such as UE 106 can determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states.

[0139] At 904, the UE can determine that the first of at least two TCI states is switching to a known target TCI state.

[0140] At 906, the UE can determine that at least one path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) associated with at least two TCI states is not maintained.

[0141] At 908, the UE can determine the handover delay for at least two TCI states. The handover delay may be based at least in part on the delay of a non-maintained PL-RS. In some cases, the handover delay may be based on the non-maintained PL-RS handover delay as defined in version 17 of this 3GPP standard. In some cases, the handover delay may be a first handover delay applicable to a first TCI state, and a second handover delay applicable to a second TCI state out of at least two TCI states.

[0142] In some cases, the second TCI state in at least two TCI states can be switched to another known target TCI state. In such examples, the handover delay can be reduced compared to the non-maintained PL-RS handover delay as defined in Release 17 of the 3GPP standard. In some cases, to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined in Release 17 of the 3GPP standard, the first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state can assist the second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in beam scanning. In some cases, to reduce the handover delay, the UE can perform higher-layer filtering for all Layer 1 (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) Reference Signal (RS) measurements. In some cases, the UE can receive from the network (e.g., from a network entity such as base station 102) an indication of enabling higher-layer filtering of L1 RSRP and indicating the number of samples for higher-layer L1-RSRP measurement filtering used for PL-RS measurements. The number of samples may be less than five. In some cases, the UE can receive from the network an indication of disabling higher-layer filtering of L1-RSRP used for PL-RS measurements.

[0143] In some cases, the second TCI state of at least two TCI states can be switched to an unknown target TCI state. In such cases, the handover delay can be reduced compared to the unknown handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard. In such cases, in order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, the first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state can be used to assist the second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in performing Layer 1 (L1) measurements of the unknown target TCI state.

[0144] In some cases, the scan factor associated with L1 measurements of the TCI state of an unknown target can be less than eight and is specified by the 3GPP standard. In other words, the reduced scan factor associated with L1 measurements of the TCI state of an unknown target can be less than eight and is specified by the 3GPP standard.

[0145] In some cases, the UE may receive an indication from the network (e.g., from a network entity such as base station 102) regarding whether a scan factor (e.g., a reduced scan factor) is enabled. The scan factor may be enabled for a single downlink control information (DCI) scenario and disabled for a multiple DCI scenario. In some cases, the indication may be cell-specific. Cell-specific indications may be received via System Information Broadcast (SIB) messages. In some cases, the indication may be UE-specific. UE-specific indications may be received via at least one of Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages, Medium Access Control (MAC) control elements (CE), or DCIs.

[0146] In some cases, the UE can report the scan factor associated with L1 measurements of an unknown target TCI state via a UE capability indication. In such cases, the scan factor may be less than eight.

[0147] In some cases, the UE may send an indication to the network of a scan factor to overwrite the default scan factor. In such cases, the default scan factor may be eight and the scan factor may be less than eight. The indication may be sent via at least one of L1 signaling (e.g., physical layer messages), MAC CE, or RRC signaling (e.g., UE assistance information). In some cases, the UE may additionally include an indication of a timer associated with the scan factor along with the indication of the scan factor. In such cases, the UE may revert to the default scan factor upon the expiration of the timer.

[0148] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0149] Embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments can be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments can be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments can be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0150] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein, if executed by a computer system, the program instructions cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any method embodiment of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of method embodiments described herein, or any subset or combination of any such subset of any method embodiments described herein.

[0151] In some implementations, the device (e.g., UE 106) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, and the processor is configured to read from and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of method implementations described herein, or any subset of any of the method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of the various forms.

[0152] By interpreting each message / signal X received by the user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X sent by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y sent by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods described herein for operating the UE can serve as the basis for a corresponding method for operating the base station.

[0153] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully understood. It is intended that the following claims be construed as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method for switching downlink unified transmission control information (TCI) state during multiple transmit-receive-point (mTRP) operation, the method comprising: Determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states; It is determined that the first TCI state of the at least two TCI states is transitioning to a known target TCI state, and the second TCI state of the at least two TCI states is transitioning to an unknown target TCI state; as well as Determine the switching delay of the at least two TCI states, wherein the switching delay is at least partially based on the delay of the unknown target TCI state.

2. The method according to claim 1, The handover delay mentioned therein is based on an unknown handover delay as defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

3. The method according to claim 1, The switching delay is a first switching delay applicable to the second TCI state, and the second switching delay is applicable to the first TCI state.

4. The method according to claim 1, The handover delay is reduced compared to the unknown handover delay defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

5. The method according to claim 4, in, In order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, a first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state assists a second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in performing a layer 1 (L1) measurement of the unknown target TCI state.

6. The method according to claim 5, The scan factor associated with the L1 measurement of the TCI state of the unknown target is less than eight and is specified by the 3GPP standard.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: Receive from the network an indication of whether a reduced scan factor is enabled, wherein the scan factor includes the reduced scan factor.

8. The method according to claim 7, The reduced scan factor is enabled specifically for cases with only downlink control information (DCI); and The reduced scan factor is disabled for multi-DCI scenarios.

9. The method according to claim 7, The aforementioned indication is cell-specific.

10. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: The scan factor associated with the L1 measurement of the TCI state of the unknown target is reported via User Equipment (UE) capability indication.

11. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: Send an instruction to the network to overwrite the default scan factor.

12. The method according to claim 11, Sending the indication of the scan factor to the network also includes sending an indication of a timer associated with the scan factor to the network, together with the indication of the scan factor.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: When the timer expires, the system reverts to the default scan factor.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. A baseband processor, the baseband processor comprising: Memory; and A processing circuit that communicates with the memory and is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

16. A method for uplink unified transmission control information (TCI) state switching during multiple transmit-receive-point (mTRP) operation, the method comprising: Determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states; It is determined that the first of the at least two TCI states is transitioning to a known target TCI state; Determine that at least one path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) associated with the at least two TCI states is not maintained; as well as Determine the switching delay of the at least two TCI states, wherein the switching delay is at least partially based on the delay of the non-maintained PL-RS.

17. The method according to claim 16, The switching delay mentioned therein is based on the non-maintained PL-RS switching delay as defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

18. The method according to claim 16, The switching delay is a first switching delay applicable to the first TCI state, and the second switching delay is applicable to the second TCI state among the at least two TCI states.

19. The method according to claim 16, The second TCI state of the at least two TCI states is switching to another known target TCI state; and The handover delay is reduced compared to the non-maintained PL-RS handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

20. The method according to claim 19, in, In order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, a first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state assists a second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in beam scanning.

21. The method according to claim 20, in, To reduce the switching delay, the method further includes: Perform high-layer filtering for all Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal (RS) measurements.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: The network receives an indication of the higher-layer filtering of the enabled Layer 1 (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and the number of samples for the higher-layer L1-RSRP measurement filtering used for PL-RS measurements.

23. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: The network receives an indication to disable higher-layer filtering for Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) used for PL-RS measurements.

24. The method according to claim 16, The second TCI state of the at least two TCI states is transitioning to an unknown target TCI state; and The handover delay is reduced compared to the unknown handover delay defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

25. The method according to claim 24, in, In order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, a first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state assists a second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in performing a layer 1 (L1) measurement of the unknown target TCI state.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: Receive from the network an indication of whether a reduced scan factor is enabled, wherein the scan factor includes the reduced scan factor.

27. The method according to claim 26, The reduced scan factor is enabled specifically for cases with only downlink control information (DCI); and The reduced scan factor is disabled for multi-DCI scenarios.

28. The method according to claim 26, The aforementioned indication is cell-specific.

29. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: The scan factor associated with the L1 measurement of the TCI state of the unknown target is reported via User Equipment (UE) capability indication.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising: Send an instruction to the network to overwrite the default scan factor.

31. The method according to claim 30, Sending the indication of the scan factor to the network also includes sending an indication of a timer associated with the scan factor to the network, together with the indication of the scan factor.

32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising: When the timer expires, the system reverts to the default scan factor.

33. A baseband processor, the baseband processor comprising: Memory; and A processing circuit that communicates with the memory and is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 16 to 31.

34. A computer program product comprising a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 16 to 31.

35. A method for switching the state of a Joint Unified Transmission Control Information (TCI) during multiple transmit-receive-point (mTRP) operation, the method comprising: Determine that a TCI code point with at least two TCI states is switching TCI states; It is determined that the first of the at least two TCI states is transitioning to a known target TCI state; Determine that at least one path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) associated with the at least two TCI states is not maintained; as well as Determine the switching delay of the at least two TCI states, wherein the switching delay is at least partially based on the delay of the non-maintained PL-RS.

36. The method according to claim 35, The switching delay mentioned therein is based on the non-maintained PL-RS switching delay as defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

37. The method according to claim 35, The switching delay is a first switching delay applicable to the first TCI state, and the second switching delay is applicable to the second TCI state among the at least two TCI states.

38. The method according to claim 35, The second TCI state of the at least two TCI states is switching to another known target TCI state; and The handover delay is reduced compared to the non-maintained PL-RS handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

39. The method according to claim 38, in, In order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, a first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state assists a second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in beam scanning.

40. The method according to claim 39, in, To reduce the switching delay, the method further includes: Perform high-layer filtering for all Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal (RS) measurements.

41. The method according to claim 39, further comprising: The network receives an indication of the higher-layer filtering of the enabled Layer 1 (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and the number of samples for the higher-layer L1-RSRP measurement filtering used for PL-RS measurements.

42. The method according to claim 39, further comprising: The network receives an indication to disable higher-layer filtering for Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) used for PL-RS measurements.

43. The method according to claim 35, The second TCI state of the at least two TCI states is transitioning to an unknown target TCI state; and The handover delay is reduced compared to the unknown handover delay defined in version 17 of the 3GPP standard.

44. The method according to claim 43, in, In order to reduce the handover delay compared to the handover delay defined as in version 17 of the 3GPP standard, a first antenna panel associated with the first TCI state assists a second antenna panel associated with the second TCI state in performing a layer 1 (L1) measurement of the unknown target TCI state.

45. The method according to claim 44, further comprising: Receive from the network an indication of whether a reduced scan factor is enabled, wherein the scan factor includes the reduced scan factor.

46. ​​The method according to claim 45, The reduced scan factor is enabled specifically for cases with only downlink control information (DCI); and The reduced scan factor is disabled for multi-DCI scenarios.

47. The method according to claim 45, The aforementioned indication is cell-specific.

48. The method according to claim 44, further comprising: The scan factor associated with the L1 measurement of the TCI state of the unknown target is reported via User Equipment (UE) capability indication.

49. The method according to claim 44, further comprising: Send an instruction to the network to overwrite the default scan factor.

50. The method according to claim 49, Sending the indication of the scan factor to the network also includes sending an indication of a timer associated with the scan factor to the network, together with the indication of the scan factor.

51. The method according to claim 50, further comprising: When the timer expires, the system reverts to the default scan factor.

52. A baseband processor, the baseband processor comprising: Memory; and A processing circuit that communicates with the memory and is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 35 to 51.

53. A computer program product comprising a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 35 to 51.

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