Flexible receiver configuration

Abstract

Measures are provided for flexible receiver configuration. Such measures exemplarily include receiving an indicator indicating whether a sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for a device and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a number threshold of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers; and based on the indicator, controlling a first demodulator instance and a second demodulator instance of the device for antenna output demodulation, or based on the indicator, selecting the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance or a third demodulator instance of the device for antenna output demodulation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments relate to flexible receiver configurations. More specifically, various example embodiments exemplarily relate to measures (including methods, apparatus, and computer program products) for implementing flexible receiver configurations. Background Technology

[0002] This specification generally relates to the implementation and effective utilization of terminal-side receivers for multiple-input multiple-output transmissions.

[0003] Therefore, the problem is that when a terminal implements multiple terminal-side receivers for multiple-input multiple-output transmission, the suitability of its configuration and control depends on whether the actual radio conditions are taken into account.

[0004] Therefore, flexible receiver configuration is required. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Various example embodiments are intended to address at least some of the problems and / or difficulties and disadvantages described above.

[0006] Various aspects of the exemplary embodiments are set forth in the appended claims.

[0007] According to an exemplary aspect, an apparatus is provided having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, and a second demodulator instance. The first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information. The apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least execute: a reception indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers; and, based on the indicator, controlling the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance to perform antenna output demodulation.

[0008] According to an exemplary aspect, a network device is provided, the network device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: send an indicator to the device, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0009] According to an exemplary aspect, an apparatus is provided having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, and a second demodulator instance. The first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information. The apparatus includes: a receiving circuit configured to receive an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers (MPIs) scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of MPIs; and a control circuit configured to control the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0010] According to an exemplary aspect, a network apparatus is provided, the network apparatus comprising: a transmitting circuit configured to transmit an indicator to the apparatus, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0011] According to an exemplary aspect, an apparatus is provided having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, and a second demodulator instance. The first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The first and second demodulator instances are capable of exchanging demodulation information. The apparatus includes: a component for receiving an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers (MPIs) scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of MPIs; and a component for controlling the first and second demodulator instances to perform antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0012] According to an exemplary aspect, a network apparatus is provided, the network apparatus including: a component for sending an indicator to the apparatus, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0013] According to an exemplary aspect, a method is provided for a device having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, and a second demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information, the method comprising: a reception indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layer number threshold; and controlling the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0014] According to an exemplary aspect, a method for a network device is provided, the method comprising: sending an indicator to the device, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0015] According to an exemplary aspect, an apparatus is provided having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance. The first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs from the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs from the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The third demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least execute: a reception indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers; and, based on the indicator, selecting either the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance or the third demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0016] According to an exemplary aspect, a network device is provided, the network device comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: send an indicator to the device, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0017] According to an exemplary aspect, an apparatus is provided having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance. The first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs from the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs from the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The third demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The apparatus includes: a receiving circuit configured to receive an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layer number threshold; and a selection circuit configured to select either the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance or the third demodulator instance based on the indicator for antenna output demodulation.

[0018] According to an exemplary aspect, a network device is provided, the network device including a transmitting circuit configured to transmit an indicator to the device, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0019] According to an exemplary aspect, an apparatus is provided having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance, wherein the first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs among N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs among N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the third demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas. The apparatus includes: a component for receiving an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layer number threshold; and a component for selecting the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance, or selecting the third demodulator instance, for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0020] According to an exemplary aspect, a network apparatus is provided, the network apparatus including: a component for sending an indicator to the apparatus, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0021] According to an exemplary aspect, a method is provided for a device having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs of the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the third demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the method comprising: a reception indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layer number threshold; and, based on the indicator, selecting either the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance or the third demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0022] According to an exemplary aspect, a method for a network device is provided, the method comprising: sending an indicator to the device indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0023] According to an exemplary aspect, a computer program product is provided, including computer-executable computer program code, which, when the program is run on a computer (e.g., a computer with an apparatus related to any of the foregoing apparatus-related exemplary aspects of this disclosure), is configured to cause the computer to perform a method according to any of the foregoing method-related exemplary aspects of this disclosure.

[0024] Such computer program products may include (or be implemented as) a (tangible) computer-readable (storage) medium on which computer-executable computer program code is stored, and / or the program may be directly loaded into the internal memory of a computer or its processor.

[0025] Any of the above aspects enables effective and informed decision-making and configuration of appropriate terminal-side receiver implementations, thereby addressing at least some of the problems and disadvantages identified in the prior art.

[0026] As an example embodiment, a flexible receiver configuration is provided. More specifically, through example embodiments, measures and mechanisms for implementing a flexible receiver configuration are provided.

[0027] Therefore, improvements are achieved by enabling / implementing methods, apparatus, and computer program products that allow for flexible receiver configuration. Attached Figure Description

[0028] In the following, this disclosure will be described in more detail by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which... Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. Figure 7 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. Figure 13 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of a terminal-side receiver. Figure 14 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of a terminal-side receiver. Figure 15 A schematic diagram of a signaling sequence according to an example embodiment is shown. Figure 16 A schematic diagram of a signaling sequence according to an example embodiment is shown, and Figure 17 A block diagram of an apparatus according to an example embodiment is shown alternatively. Detailed Implementation

[0029] This disclosure is described herein with reference to specific, non-limiting examples and embodiments that are currently considered conceivable. Those skilled in the art will understand that this disclosure is by no means limited to these examples and can be applied more broadly.

[0030] It should be noted that the following description of this disclosure and its embodiments refers primarily to specifications used as non-limiting examples for specific exemplary network configurations and deployments. That is, this disclosure and its embodiments are described mainly with respect to 3GPP specifications used as non-limiting examples for specific exemplary network configurations and deployments. Therefore, the description of the exemplary embodiments given herein specifically refers to terms directly related to them. Such terms are used only in the context of the presented non-limiting examples and are naturally not intended to limit this disclosure in any way. Conversely, any other communication or communication-related system deployments, etc., may be utilized, provided they conform to the characteristics described herein.

[0031] In the following description, various embodiments and implementations of this disclosure and one or more aspects thereof are used with reference to several variations and / or alternatives. It should generally be noted that, depending on certain needs and constraints, all described variations and / or alternatives may be provided individually or in any conceivable combination (including combinations of individual features of the various variations and / or alternatives).

[0032] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and at least one of the ” and similar wording (where the list of two or more elements is connected by “and” or “or”) means at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0033] According to the example embodiments, measures and mechanisms are generally provided for (enabling / implementing) flexible receiver configuration.

[0034] The example embodiment is described with a focus on a user equipment (UE) with 8Rx capability as the terminal. Here, 8Rx means the availability of 8 receiver antennas or 8 pre-equalizer receiver branches for receiving multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmissions, particularly multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) transmissions.

[0035] This type of UE with 8Rx capability may face intra-cell inter-user interference (due to MU-MIMO), and it can support minimum mean square error receiver (MMSE-IRC) with interference suppression.

[0036] While the example embodiment has been described with emphasis on a UE with 8Rx capability, it is not limited thereto and can also be applied to, for example, UEs with 4Rx capability and UEs with 16Rx capability. For example, the example embodiment can also be applied to a 16Rx UE, i.e., using a combination of two (communication) 8Rx receivers and one 16Rx combined receiver. The example embodiment can also be applied to other numbers of branch-enabled receivers, and particularly to receivers in which the “simple receiver” components do not have the same number of antenna inputs (e.g., a combination of two (communication) receivers, one 4Rx receiver, and one 2Rx receiver).

[0037] Consider receivers of the MMSE-IRC type.

[0038] Figure 13 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of a terminal-side receiver.

[0039] For UEs with 8Rx capability, there are at least two implementation methods for the receiver, namely - Baseline Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) 8Rx Receiver (“Complete Receiver”): An 8Rx receiver is used for MIMO transmission, supporting up to 8 layers with joint 8Rx MIMO detectors; an example of such a “complete receiver” is... Figure 13 The middle (rank 4) and lower (rank 8) are shown, and - Simplified MIMO 8Rx Receiver (“Simple Receiver”): The 8Rx receiver is used for MIMO transmission and only supports up to 4 layers with two joint 4Rx MIMO detectors; and an example of this “Simple Receiver” is shown in... Figure 13 The top side is shown.

[0040] For a “simple receiver”, an 8Rx UE cannot accommodate more than rank 4, while a “full receiver” can accommodate up to rank 8.

[0041] Aside from cases where the UE reports rank 8 capability, the network is unaware of which receiver the UE has implemented.

[0042] In a setup with two 4Rx joint receivers (two joint 4Rx MIMO detectors), the implementation can be enhanced so that the two receivers behave similarly to a full 8Rx joint receiver in terms of eliminating unwanted layers, which are supplements to the dedicated 4 layers when configured for rank 4.

[0043] Figure 14 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of a terminal-side receiver, and in particular, an exemplary enhancement of the "simple receiver" is shown, resulting in an "extended simple receiver".

[0044] That is, such as Figure 14 As shown, information exchange between the two demodulators is realized, thus mimicking the "complete receiver" implementation as described above.

[0045] The following describes an exemplary implementation that can be considered for a UE to switch between 4Rx combined reception and 8Rx-like combined reception by reusing an instance of a 4Rx combined receiver.

[0046] Using "Simple Receiver" in the setup will allow the use of all 8Rx antennas, but each demodulator will not know the results of the other demodulator, while "Full Receiver" will have all the information from all 8Rx antennas.

[0047] In practice, this means that the performance of an 8Rx UE with a “full receiver” setting will be significantly better than that of a UE with a “simple receiver” setting.

[0048] Additionally, 8Rx UEs with a "simple receiver" setting will only be able to support up to rank 4.

[0049] In the case of intra-cell inter-user interference (MU-MIMO), 8Rx UEs with a “simple receiver” configuration of rank 4 will see a significant performance degradation when the additional layer is co-scheduled because there is no information exchange between the two demodulators.

[0050] On the other hand, an 8Rx UE with a “full receiver” setting will be able to take all eight antennas into account for interference suppression, thus improving interference suppression compared to a “simple receiver” setting.

[0051] As mentioned above Figure 14 The UE mentioned above, which supports a "simple receiver", can be implemented with improved performance because it enables information exchange between two demodulators, thereby mimicking the implementation of a "complete receiver".

[0052] Both the "simple receiver" and the "extended simple receiver" can be implemented in a pipelined manner, requiring only one instance of the demodulator. The consequence of this implementation is higher latency, as the demodulator will have to run multiple times sequentially.

[0053] Given the above, it is clear that activating this "extended simple receiver" or "full receiver" functionality improves interference handling (compared to the interference handling of a "simple receiver"), but at the cost of latency and complexity. Therefore, it should only be activated when interference to be handled is present (or when the trade-off is deemed worthwhile). Without any assistance, the UE must rely on blind detection of interference to determine which type of receiver to activate. However, blind detection introduces additional complexity and latency.

[0054] During normal operation, the network is unaware of which receiver type (e.g., "simple receiver", "full receiver", or simple receiver that communicates between receiver blocks ("extended simple receiver")) an 8Rx UE will utilize under a given condition. This imposes a constraint on the network scheduler when scheduling MU-MIMO operations, as it can only assume the simple receiver capability of such a UE.

[0055] It is very likely that the UE will utilize the appropriate receiver type with the lowest resource requirements.

[0056] Each receiver type introduces a performance / complexity trade-off, for example: Latency: - "Simple Receiver": 2 or 3 steps, depending on the possible hardware (HW) reuse of the "Demodulator Combined 4Rx". - "Extended Simple Receiver": 3 to 5 steps, because the calculated channel information will need to be exchanged, and - "Complete receiver": can be done in 2 steps, but the complexity of joint processing of 8Rx is much higher than that of joint processing of 4Rx (even if it is done twice).

[0057] Power consumption - More complex receivers will typically use more power: - "Simple receiver": low complexity, low power consumption. - "Extended Simple Receiver": Medium complexity, medium power consumption, and - "Complete receiver": High complexity and high power consumption.

[0058] For an 8Rx UE that is co-scheduled with another UE and has a total number of layers greater than 4, all receiver types will be able to receive with the co-scheduled layers that interfere with the UE; however, only “Extended Simple Receiver” and “Full Receiver” can be expected to achieve full throughput.

[0059] As mentioned above, although the 8Rx receiver is highlighted, these issues also apply to receivers other than the 8Rx receiver, such as the 16Rx receiver.

[0060] In summary, when an 8Rx UE is implemented with two or more of “simple receiver”, “extended simple receiver” and “full receiver” and can seamlessly switch between supported receiver types, it is unlikely that the UE will enable the “full receiver” setting or the “extended simple receiver” setting when configured with rank 4, because the UE will not know the co-scheduled layer, which will be more expensive from a power and latency perspective.

[0061] However, if the UE is informed of the co-scheduled layer, the UE will be more inclined to use "extended simple receiver" or "full receiver" to improve interference suppression.

[0062] Therefore, in short, since the UE is generally unaware of the possible co-scheduled layers (i.e., the DMRS from other UEs is unknown), according to the example embodiment, signaling to the UE is introduced that informs the UE of the existence of co-scheduled layers, thereby giving the UE confidence in the benefits of enabling more sophisticated demodulation solutions to improve performance.

[0063] Specifically, according to the example embodiment, network assistance is introduced to notify the 8Rx UE (which may be activating a “simple receiver”) of the existence of co-scheduled layers and that the total number of MU-MIMO layers exceeds the capacity of the “simple receiver”. This will guide such a UE to see the benefits of enabling more complex receivers (“extended simple receiver”, “full receiver”), thereby achieving significant performance improvements.

[0064] In addition, according to the example embodiment, optional UE capability signaling is provided to the UE to notify, for example, whether the "extended simple receiver" implementation is supported.

[0065] The receiver to be activated depends on the implementation in the UE. Regarding the implementation in the UE, it should be noted that providing a "simple receiver" so that the UE can only use the "simple receiver" has no impact and only benefits from its basic functionality. Providing an "extended simple receiver" enables switching between simple, LLR combined, and full receiver simulations via communication enablement based on the interference scenario. Providing a "full receiver" enables turning interference cancellation on / off based on the interference scenario.

[0066] The example implementation is described in more detail below.

[0067] Figure 1This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. The apparatus may be terminal 10, for example, a user equipment including receiving circuitry 11 and control circuitry 12 (having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, and a second demodulator instance, wherein the first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information). Receiving circuitry 11 receives an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external apparatus other than the apparatus exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layer number threshold. Control circuitry 12 controls the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. According to Figure 1 The device can perform Figure 5 The method, but not limited to this method. Figure 5 The method can be derived from Figure 1 The device performs the action, but is not limited to the device performing the action.

[0068] like Figure 5 As shown, according to an example embodiment (a device having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, and a second demodulator instance / for the device, the first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information), the process includes: receiving (S51) an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers; and controlling (S52) the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0069] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Specifically, Figure 2 It shows Figure 1 A variation of the device shown. Therefore, according to Figure 2The device may also include a transmitting circuit 21 and / or a determining circuit 22.

[0070] In an embodiment, Figure 1 (or Figure 2 At least some functions of the apparatus shown can be shared between two physically separate devices forming an operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus can be seen to depict an operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for performing at least some of the processes described.

[0071] according to Figure 5 The variations of the process shown provide exemplary details of the control operation (S52), which are independent of each other. Such an exemplary control operation (S52) according to the exemplary embodiment may include the following operation: determining, based on the indicator, whether to activate or deactivate the exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0072] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0073] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0074] according to Figure 5 Variations of the illustrated process provide exemplary additional operations that are independent of each other. According to such a variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the operation of determining to activate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0075] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0076] according to Figure 5 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an exemplary embodiment may include the operation of determining to activate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0077] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0078] according to Figure 5 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the operation of determining the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0079] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0080] according to Figure 5 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the following operations: if the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MMI) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user MMI layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of MMI layers, then determining to activate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation; and the following operations: if the sum of the multi-user MMI layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user MMI layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the number threshold of MMI layers, then determining to deactivate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0081] according to Figure 5 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include sending an indication that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0082] According to another example embodiment, the first demodulator and the second demodulator instance are multi-step utilizations of the same demodulator.

[0083] According to another example embodiment, the device is a user equipment.

[0084] According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a radio resource control message. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a media access control element. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in downlink control information.

[0085] According to another example embodiment, N is 8, or N is 16, or N is any other conceivable number.

[0086] According to another example embodiment, N equals N1 + N2.

[0087] According to another example embodiment, N1 is equal to N2, or N1 is not equal to N2.

[0088] According to another example embodiment, N1 is any one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or any other conceivable number. According to another example embodiment, N2 is any one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or any other conceivable number.

[0089] according to Figure 5 The variations of the process shown provide exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include sending multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) layer capability information, which indicates the number of sets of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) layer capabilities.

[0090] According to another example embodiment, the number threshold is determined based on at least one of the following: the number of the capability set of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer, or the number of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0091] According to another example embodiment, the receiver antenna includes a pre-equalizer baseband branch.

[0092] Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating a network device according to an example embodiment. Network device 30 may be an access node, such as a base station including a transmitting circuit 31. The transmitting circuit 31 transmits an indicator to the device indicating whether the sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers. Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. According to Figure 3 The device can perform Figure 6The method, but not limited to this method. Figure 6 The method can be derived from Figure 3 The device performs the action, but is not limited to the device performing the action.

[0093] like Figure 6 As shown, the process according to the example embodiment includes the following operation: sending an indicator (S61) to the device, the indicator indicating whether the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0094] Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Specifically, Figure 4 It shows Figure 3 A variation of the device shown. Therefore, according to Figure 4 The device may also include a receiving circuit 41 and / or a determining circuit 42.

[0095] In an embodiment, Figure 3 (or Figure 4 At least some functions of the apparatus shown can be shared between two physically separate devices forming an operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus can be seen to depict an operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for performing at least some of the processes described.

[0096] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0097] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0098] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0099] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0100] according to Figure 6 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the operation of receiving from the device an indication that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0101] according to Figure 6 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the following operation: determining to send an indicator to the device, based on an indication of processing capacity indicating whether the sum of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0102] According to another example embodiment, the network device is a base station or a network access node.

[0103] According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a radio resource control message. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a media access control element. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in downlink control information.

[0104] according to Figure 6 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the operation of receiving from a device the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer capability information indicating the number of capability sets of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers.

[0105] According to another example embodiment, the number threshold is determined based on at least one of the following: the number of the capability set of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer, or the number of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0106] Figure 7This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. The apparatus may be a terminal 70, such as a user equipment including a receiving circuit 71 and a selection circuit 72 (having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 of the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 of the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the third demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas). The receiving circuit 71 receives an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external apparatus other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers. The selection circuit 72 selects either the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance, or the third demodulator instance, based on the indicator for antenna output demodulation. Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. According to Figure 7 The device can perform Figure 11 The method, but not limited to this method. Figure 11 The method can be derived from Figure 7 The device performs the action, but is not limited to the device performing the action.

[0107] like Figure 11 As shown, the process according to the example embodiment (of an apparatus having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance, wherein the first demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the second demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the third demodulator instance is configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas) includes: receiving (S111) an indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external apparatus other than the apparatus exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers; and selecting (S112) the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance or selecting the third demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0108] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Specifically, Figure 8 It shows Figure 7 A variation of the device shown. Therefore, according to Figure 8 The device may also include a transmitting circuit 81.

[0109] In an embodiment, Figure 7 (or Figure 8 At least some functions of the apparatus shown can be shared between two physically separate devices forming an operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus can be seen to depict an operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for performing at least some of the processes described.

[0110] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0111] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0112] according to Figure 11 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the operation of selecting the third demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0113] 4. According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers.

[0114] according to Figure 11 The variations of the illustrated process provide exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method based on an example embodiment may include the operation of selecting the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0115] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0116] according to Figure 11The variation of the process illustrates exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the following operations: selecting the third demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation if the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers; and selecting the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation if the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0117] according to Figure 11 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include sending an indication that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0118] According to another example embodiment, the indication is included in the user equipment capability information.

[0119] According to another example embodiment, the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are multi-step utilizations of the same demodulator.

[0120] According to another example embodiment, the device is a user equipment.

[0121] According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a radio resource control message. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a media access control element. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in downlink control information.

[0122] According to another example embodiment, N is 8, or N is 16, or N is any other conceivable number.

[0123] According to another example embodiment, N equals N1 + N2.

[0124] According to another example embodiment, N1 is equal to N2, or N1 is not equal to N2.

[0125] According to another example embodiment, N1 is any one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or any other conceivable number. According to another example embodiment, N2 is any one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or any other conceivable number.

[0126] according to Figure 11 The variations of the process shown provide exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include sending multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) layer capability information, which indicates the number of sets of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) layer capabilities.

[0127] According to another example embodiment, the number threshold is determined based on at least one of the following: The number of capability sets in the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer; and The number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the aforementioned device.

[0128] According to another example embodiment, the receiver antenna includes a pre-equalizer baseband branch.

[0129] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating a network device according to an example embodiment. Network device 90 may be an access node, such as a base station including a transmitting circuit 91. The transmitting circuit 91 transmits an indicator to the device indicating whether the sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers. Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of a process according to an example embodiment. According to Figure 9 The device can perform Figure 12 The method, but not limited to this method. Figure 12 The method can be derived from Figure 9 The device performs the action, but is not limited to the device performing the action.

[0130] like Figure 12 As shown, the process according to the example embodiment includes sending an indicator (S121) to the device indicating whether the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0131] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an example embodiment. Specifically, Figure 10 It shows Figure 9 A variation of the device shown. Therefore, according to Figure 10 The device may also include a receiving circuit 101 and / or a determining circuit 102.

[0132] In an embodiment, Figure 9 (or Figure 10 At least some functions of the apparatus shown can be shared between two physically separate devices forming an operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus can be seen to depict an operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for performing at least some of the processes described.

[0133] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0134] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0135] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

[0136] According to another example embodiment, the indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0137] according to Figure 12 The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the operation of receiving from the device an indication that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0138] According to another example embodiment, the indication is included in the user equipment capability information.

[0139] according to Figure 12The variation of the process shown provides exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include the following operation: determining, based on an indication of processing capacity indicating whether the sum of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers, to send to the device an indicator indicating whether the sum of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the device and for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0140] According to another example embodiment, the network device is a base station or a network access node.

[0141] According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a radio resource control message. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in a media access control element. According to another example embodiment, the indicator is included in downlink control information.

[0142] according to Figure 12 The variations of the process shown provide exemplary additional operations, which are independent of each other. According to this variation, an exemplary method according to an example embodiment may include receiving multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (Multi-User Multiple-Output) layer capability information from a device, the Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (Multi-User Multiple-Output) layer capability information indicating the number of sets of Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (Multi-User Multiple-Output) layer capabilities.

[0143] According to another example embodiment, the number threshold is determined based on at least one of the following: The number of capability sets in the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer; and The number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the aforementioned device.

[0144] The example embodiments outlined and specified above are explained below using more specific terminology.

[0145] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of a signaling sequence according to an example embodiment is shown, and in particular, a case is shown where the UE utilizes an “extended simple receiver”, where cross-flow communication can be disabled if not needed, i.e., resulting in a “simple receiver”.

[0146] Figure 16 A schematic diagram of a signaling sequence according to an example embodiment is shown, and in particular, the case where the UE utilizes both a “simple receiver” and a “complete receiver” is shown.

[0147] Assuming the UE supports either a scenario where it utilizes an "extended simple receiver" (where cross-flow communication can be disabled if not needed) or a scenario where it utilizes both a "simple receiver" and a "full receiver," it may be advantageous for the UE to know whether the total number of assigned layers (layers scheduled for the UE) plus co-scheduled layers (layers scheduled for other UEs) exceeds the capacity of the "simple receiver."

[0148] In other words, achieving higher settings will result in the disadvantages / trade-offs mentioned above, which the UE can accept only if the expected benefits are realized.

[0149] In current implementations of MMSE-IRC receivers, the UE cannot know the co-scheduled layers unless it uses blind detection. By introducing signals / messages to the UE according to an example embodiment to inform it of the total number of MU-MIMO layers exceeding the capacity of a simple receiver capable of parallel transmission, the UE can decide whether to improve throughput performance based on its implementation.

[0150] The performance improvement comes at the cost of a more complex receiver, which highlights the need for signaling, so the UE knows there are good cost / benefit ratios to achieve a more complex solution.

[0151] When the UE utilizes an "extended simple receiver," the disadvantage of enabling it is that it can be disabled across information flows if not needed. - This will require two separate instances of the demodulator (to utilize more processing power), or - Multi-step implementation (pipeline) reuses the same instance of the demodulator multiple times (using more processing power and higher latency).

[0152] When the UE utilizes both "simple receiver" and "full receiver" implementations, the disadvantages of enabling this feature are: - Enable more sophisticated demodulators (using more processing power and potentially higher latency).

[0153] In view of this, according to the example embodiment, the network assistance information indicates to the UE whether it is advantageous to enable the "extended simple receiver" if the UE is using the "extended simple receiver", wherein cross-flow can be disabled if not needed; or whether it is advantageous to enable the "full receiver" if the UE is using both the "simple receiver" and the "full receiver".

[0154] Regarding network auxiliary information, according to an example embodiment, the network (NW) signals a binary indicator regarding whether the number of scheduled layers (both the target UE layer and the co-scheduled interference layers) exceeds the layer processing capacity of the standard MIMO receiver (e.g., for a 4Rx MIMO receiver, this would be 4 layers).

[0155] This signaling can also be interpreted as an "enable" signal for higher-level processing, for example, using an "extended simple receiver" or a "full receiver," depending on the UE implementation.

[0156] Regarding network assistance information, according to the example embodiment, the NW signals the exact number of scheduled layers (target UE layer and co-scheduled interference layers), which allows the UE to further refine its receiver configuration.

[0157] Regarding network-assisted information, according to an example embodiment, NW-to-UE signaling can be implemented at different levels throughout the 5G New Radio (NR) system.

[0158] That is, according to the example embodiment, transmitting network auxiliary information via Radio Resource Control (RRC) requires the network to know in advance whether the UE will have a co-scheduled interference layer and whether the total number of interference layers exceeds the layer processing capacity of the UE MIMO receiver.

[0159] Furthermore, according to the example embodiment, network auxiliary information is transmitted via a Media Access Control (MAC-CE) element with a faster update rate, thus making it more likely to provide sufficiently accurate information.

[0160] Furthermore, according to the example embodiment, network assistance information is transmitted via downlink control information (DCI), which will always be current, but introduces more overhead in the expensive downlink control physical channel.

[0161] According to an example embodiment, the NW can determine whether and when to apply advanced receiver enable signaling (network auxiliary information) based on the UE's knowledge of the UE's capabilities (and more generally, measurements) at the NW.

[0162] For example, if an 8Rx UE has indicated that it has rank 8 capability, the NW can infer from this that the UE has implemented a "full receiver".

[0163] However, the NW cannot infer from this whether the UE will also use the full receiver for rank 4 scheduled transmissions (where receiver simplification would be possible). The NW can still use advanced receiver enable signaling (network auxiliary information) to give the UE enough information to make an informed decision.

[0164] Optional UE capabilities can also be used to enable the NW to better predict UE behavior (and expected performance) and reduce unnecessary activation signaling. Therefore, according to an example embodiment, the UE can instruct its capabilities to apply advanced receiver settings and receive network assistance information, and consider the network assistance information when deciding whether to apply advanced receiver settings.

[0165] When the UE capability only reports rank 4, the NW cannot determine whether the UE can support a scenario where the UE utilizes an "extended simple receiver," a scenario where cross-flow communication can be disabled if not needed, or a scenario where the UE utilizes both a "simple receiver" and a "full receiver." However, assuming the UE can implement a more advanced receiver configuration according to the example embodiment to maintain performance, it is beneficial for the NW and the UE to notify the UE that the total number of MU-MIMO layers is greater than 4.

[0166] As mentioned above, Figure 15 The case in which the UE utilizes an "extended simple receiver" is specifically shown, where cross-flow communication can be disabled if not needed, i.e., resulting in a "simple receiver".

[0167] In particular, Figure 15 The example embodiment illustrates providing network assistance information by using signaling via MAC-CE, indicating that the total MU-MIMO layer exceeds the capabilities of a simple receiver.

[0168] When an 8Rx UE that can set "Extended Simple Receiver" as an MMSE-IRC receiver with 8Rx branches receives this network assistance information, the UE always enables "Extended Simple Receiver" until it receives another MAC-CE indicating that the total MU-MIMO layer can now be handled by a simple MMSE-IRC receiver with 4 Rx branches ("Simple Receiver").

[0169] exist Figure 15 In step 1, the UE can indicate its capabilities, including rank (rank 4), and may also include an optional number of antennas (8Rx).

[0170] exist Figure 15 In step 2, according to the example embodiment, the UE may indicate further capabilities, including support for IRC cancellation of the additional co-scheduling layer.

[0171] exist Figure 15 In step 3, according to the example embodiment, the NW marks the UE as capable of “extended simple receiver” settings, but requires network-assisted (NWA) signaling to enable it.

[0172] exist Figure 15 In step 4, NW sends an RRC reconfiguration, and Figure 15 In step 5, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message in response.

[0173] exist Figure 15 In step 6, the NW scheduler selects UEs for MU-MIMO scheduling with a total of more than 4 layers (including joint scheduling with other UEs).

[0174] exist Figure 15 In step 7, according to the example embodiment, the NW sends the aforementioned network assistance information indicating that the total number of MU-MIMO layers exceeds the capacity of the “simple receiver” (e.g., using MAC-CE).

[0175] exist Figure 15 In step 8, the UE responds using DCI 1_1: Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) scheduling.

[0176] exist Figure 15 In step 9, according to the example embodiment, as a result of receiving the above-mentioned network assistance information ( Figure 15 (Step 7) The UE sets up the MMSE-IRC using an "extended simple receiver" with 2*4Rx branches.

[0177] exist Figure 15 In step 10, according to the example embodiment, the NW sends the aforementioned network assistance information (e.g., using MAC-CE) indicating that the total number of MU-MIMO layers does not exceed the “simple receiver” capability.

[0178] exist Figure 15 In step 11, the UE responds using DCI 1_1:PDSCH scheduling.

[0179] exist Figure 15 In step 12, according to the example embodiment, as a result of receiving the above-mentioned network assistance information ( Figure 15 (Step 10) The UE sets up the MMSE-IRC using a “simple receiver” with 4Rx branches.

[0180] As mentioned above, Figure 16 The example shown specifically illustrates the case where the UE utilizes both a "simple receiver" and a "complete receiver".

[0181] In particular, Figure 16 The example embodiment illustrates providing network assistance information by using signaling via MAC-CE, indicating that the total MU-MIMO layer exceeds the capabilities of a simple receiver.

[0182] When the UE receives the network assistance information as an 8Rx UE with 8Rx branches and is able to set the “Full Receiver” to receive the network assistance information, the UE will keep the “Full Receiver” enabled until it receives another MAC-CE indicating that the total MU-MIMO layer can now be handled by a simple MMSE-IRC receiver with 4 Rx branches (“Simple Receiver”).

[0183] exist Figure 16 In step 1, the UE may indicate its capabilities, including rank (rank 8), and may also include an optional number of antennas (8Rx).

[0184] Similar to Figure 15 Step 2, the UE's indication of further capabilities, can also be... Figure 16 Implemented in the scenario.

[0185] exist Figure 16 In step 2, according to the example embodiment, the NW marks the UE as capable of “full receiver” settings, but requires NWA signaling to enable it.

[0186] exist Figure 16 In step 3, NW sends an RRC reconfiguration, and Figure 16 In step 4, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message in response.

[0187] exist Figure 16 In step 5, the NW scheduler selects UEs for MU-MIMO scheduling with a total of more than 4 layers (including joint scheduling with other UEs).

[0188] exist Figure 16 In step 6, according to the example embodiment, the NW sends the aforementioned network assistance information indicating that the total number of MU-MIMO layers exceeds the capacity of the “simple receiver” (e.g., using MAC-CE).

[0189] exist Figure 16 In step 7, the UE responds using DCI 1_1:PDSCH scheduling.

[0190] exist Figure 16 In step 8, according to the example embodiment, as a result of receiving the above-mentioned network assistance information ( Figure 16 (Step 6) The UE uses the “Full Receiver” with 8Rx branches to set up the MMSE-IRC.

[0191] exist Figure 16 In step 9, according to the example embodiment, NW sends the aforementioned network assistance information (e.g., using MAC-CE) indicating that the total number of MU-MIMO layers does not exceed the “simple receiver” capability.

[0192] exist Figure 16 In step 10, the UE responds using DCI 1_1:PDSCH scheduling.

[0193] exist Figure 16 In step 11, according to the example embodiment, as a result of receiving the above-mentioned network assistance information ( Figure 16 (Step 9) The UE sets up the MMSE-IRC using a “simple receiver” with 4Rx branches.

[0194] According to the example embodiment, advantageously, when an 8Rx UE is selected to report rank 8 as the maximum supported rank, the network scheduler can freely schedule MU-MIMO operations with up to 8 layers. Without network auxiliary information signaling according to the example embodiment, MU-MIMO operations will be limited to 4 layers only if the UE reports rank 4 as the maximum supported rank, as this is achievable with a simple receiver.

[0195] Furthermore, advantageously, if a UE with 8Rx capability has receiver capabilities such as “extended simple receiver” and / or “full receiver”, it can rely on network-assisted information signaling according to the example embodiment to enable these receiver types, rather than performing blind detection that would increase complexity and latency.

[0196] The above processes and functions can be implemented by corresponding functional components, processors, etc., as described below.

[0197] In the foregoing exemplary description of network entities, only functional blocks have been used to describe units relevant to understanding the principles of this disclosure. A network entity may include other units required for its corresponding operation. However, descriptions of these units are omitted in this specification. The arrangement of functional blocks in the device is not to be construed as limiting this disclosure, and functions may be performed by a single block or further divided into sub-blocks.

[0198] When a device (i.e., a network entity (or some other component)) is described in the preceding description as being configured to perform certain functions, this will be interpreted as equivalent to a description stating that a processor or corresponding circuit (possibly cooperating with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective device) is configured to cause the device to perform at least the functions mentioned so far. Furthermore, such functions should be interpreted as being equivalent to those implemented by circuitry or components specifically configured to perform the corresponding functions (i.e., the expression "a unit configured as..." is interpreted as equivalent to expressions such as "a component for...").

[0199] exist Figure 17 The illustration depicts alternative diagrams of a device according to an example embodiment. For example... Figure 17As shown, according to an example embodiment, device (UE) 10' (corresponding to device 10) includes a processor 171, a memory 172, and an interface 173 connected via a bus 174, etc. Furthermore, according to an example embodiment, network device (base station) 30' (corresponding to network device (base station) 30) includes a processor 175, a memory 176, and an interface 177 connected via a bus 178, etc., and the devices can be connected via links 179, respectively.

[0200] like Figure 17 As shown, according to an example embodiment, device (UE) 70' (corresponding to device 70) includes a processor 171, a memory 172, and an interface 173 connected via a bus 174, etc. Furthermore, according to an example embodiment, network device (base station) 90' (corresponding to network device (base station) 90) includes a processor 175, a memory 176, and an interface 177 connected via a bus 178, etc., and the devices can be connected via links 179 respectively.

[0201] Processors 171 / 175 and / or interfaces 173 / 177 may also include modems, etc., to facilitate communication over (hardwired or wireless) links, respectively. Interfaces 173 / 177 may include suitable transceivers coupled to one or more antennas or communication components for (hardwired or wireless) communication with linked or connected devices, respectively. Interfaces 173 / 177 are typically configured to communicate with at least one other device (i.e., its interface).

[0202] The memory 172 / 176 may store a corresponding program assumed to include program instructions or computer program code, which, when executed by the corresponding processor, enables the corresponding electronic device or apparatus to operate according to the example embodiment.

[0203] Generally speaking, a corresponding device / apparatus (and / or part thereof) may refer to a component for performing a corresponding operation and / or demonstrating a corresponding function, and / or a corresponding device (and / or part thereof) may have a function for performing a corresponding operation and / or demonstrating a corresponding function.

[0204] When a processor (or some other component) is described in the following description as being configured to perform some function, this will be interpreted as equivalent to a description stating that at least one processor, which may cooperate with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective device, is configured to cause the device to perform at least the function mentioned above. Furthermore, such function will be interpreted as being equivalent to a component specifically configured to perform the corresponding function (i.e., the statement "a processor configured to [cause the device] to perform xxx" is interpreted as equivalent to a statement such as "a component for xxx").

[0205] According to an example embodiment, the device representing apparatus 10 (having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance and a second demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information) includes: at least one processor 171, at least one memory 172 including computer program code, and at least one interface 173 configured to communicate with at least another device. The processor (i.e., at least one processor 171, together with at least one memory 172 and computer program code) is configured to perform: receiving an indicator indicating whether the sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold for the number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers (therefore, the device includes corresponding components for receiving); and performing: based on the indicator, controlling the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation (therefore, the device includes corresponding components for control).

[0206] According to an example embodiment, the apparatus representing device 30 includes at least one processor 175, at least one memory 176 including computer program code, and at least one interface 177 configured to communicate with at least one other device. The processor (i.e., at least one processor 175, together with at least one memory 176 and computer program code) is configured to perform: sending an indicator to the device indicating whether the sum of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for said device and multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than said device exceeds a multi-user multi-input multi-output layer number threshold (therefore, the device includes corresponding components for sending).

[0207] According to an example embodiment, the device representing device 70 (having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, and a third demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs among the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs among the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the third demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate the N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas) includes: at least one processor 172, at least one memory 172 including computer program code, and at least one interface 173 configured to communicate with at least another device. The processor (i.e., at least one processor 171, together with at least one memory 172 and computer program code) is configured to perform: receiving an indicator indicating whether the sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers (therefore, the device includes a corresponding component for receiving); and performing: based on the indicator, selecting either the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance or selecting the third demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation (therefore, the device includes a corresponding component for selection).

[0208] According to an example embodiment, the device representing apparatus 90 includes at least one processor 175, at least one memory 176 including computer program code, and at least one interface 177 configured to communicate with at least one other device. The processor (i.e., at least one processor 175, together with at least one memory 176 and computer program code) is configured to perform: sending an indicator to the device indicating whether the sum of multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold for the number of multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers (therefore, the device includes corresponding components for sending this information).

[0209] For further details regarding the operability / functionality of individual devices, please refer to the following: Figures 1 to 16 Any of the above descriptions can be referenced.

[0210] For the purposes of this disclosure as described above, it should be noted that - Method steps that may be implemented as part of software code and run on a processor at a network server or network entity (as an example of a device, apparatus and / or its modules, or as an example of an entity including an apparatus and / or modules) are independent of the software code and can be specified using any known or future-developed programming language, provided that the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved; - Generally, any method steps are suitable for implementation as software or by hardware without changing the idea of ​​the embodiment and its modifications in terms of the functionality implemented; - The method steps and / or devices, units, or components, which may be implemented as hardware components or any modules thereof in the above-described apparatus (e.g., devices performing the functions of the apparatus according to the embodiments described above), are hardware-independent and can be implemented using any known or future-developed hardware technology or any combination thereof, such as MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter-Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic), etc., for example using ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) components, FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components, or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components; - Devices, units, or components (e.g., network entities or network registers as defined above, or any of their respective units / components) may be implemented as individual devices, units, or components, but this does not preclude them from being implemented in a distributed manner throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the devices, units, or components is preserved; - Devices similar to user equipment and network entities / network registers can be represented by semiconductor chips, chipsets or (hardware) modules including such chips or chipsets; however, this does not preclude the possibility that the functionality of the device or module is implemented as software (rather than hardware implementation) in a (software) module, such as a computer program or computer program product including executable software code portions for execution / running on a processor. - For example, a device can be viewed as an apparatus or a component of more than one apparatus, whether they are functionally complementary or functionally independent but housed within the same device housing.

[0211] Generally, it should be noted that if it is only suitable for performing the functions described in the corresponding section, then the corresponding functional blocks or elements according to the above aspects can be implemented in hardware and / or software by any known components. The above method steps can be implemented in individual functional blocks or by individual devices, or one or more method steps can be implemented in a single functional block or by a single device.

[0212] Generally, without altering the spirit of this disclosure, any method steps are suitable for implementation as software or by hardware. Devices and components may be implemented as individual devices, but this does not preclude their implementation in a distributed manner throughout the system, provided that the functionality of the devices is preserved. These and similar principles are considered to be known to those skilled in the art.

[0213] In the sense of this specification, software includes software code, which includes code components or portions for performing corresponding functions, or computer programs or computer program products, as well as software (or computer programs or computer program products) embodied on a tangible medium (such as a computer-readable (storage) medium) having corresponding data structures or code components / portions stored thereon, or potentially embodied in signals or chips during its processing. This disclosure also covers a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform the methods described herein. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not signaling), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM).

[0214] This disclosure also covers any conceivable combination of the above-described method steps and operations, as well as any conceivable combination of the above-described nodes, devices, modules or elements, provided that the concepts of the above-described method and structural arrangement are applicable.

[0215] In view of the above, measures for flexible receiver configuration are provided. Such measures exemplarily include: a reception indicator indicating whether the sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MMI) layers scheduled for the device and multi-user MMI layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold for the number of MMI layers; and controlling a first demodulator instance and a second demodulator instance of the device for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator, or selecting a first demodulator instance, a second demodulator instance, or a third demodulator instance of the device for antenna output demodulation based on the indicator.

[0216] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Rather, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosure can be modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the inventive concept disclosed herein.

[0217] Furthermore, the various implementations of this disclosure can be described with reference to the following terms, and their features can be combined in any reasonable manner.

[0218] Clause 1. An apparatus having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance and a second demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least execute: a receive indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layer number threshold; and, based on the indicator, controlling the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0219] Clause 2. The apparatus according to Clause 1, wherein, with respect to the control, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine, based on the indicator, whether to activate or deactivate the exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0220] Clause 3. The apparatus according to Clause 1 or 2, wherein the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers, or the indicator indicates by how much the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0221] Clause 4. The apparatus according to Clause 3, which is subordinate to Clause 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: determining to activate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0222] Clause 5. The apparatus according to Clause 1 or 2, wherein the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the at least one external apparatus other than the apparatus does not exceed the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0223] Clause 6. The apparatus according to Clause 5, which is subordinate to Clause 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

[0224] Clause 7. The apparatus according to Clause 1, wherein the indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external apparatus other than the apparatus.

[0225] Clause 8. An apparatus according to Clause 7, which is subordinate to Clause 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine to activate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation if the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers; and determine to deactivate the exchange of demodulation information of the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation if the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the apparatus does not exceed the number threshold of multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0226] Clause 9. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: sending an indication that the sum of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the apparatus and the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the apparatus exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multi-input multi-output layers.

[0227] Clause 10. An apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment, and / or the indicator is included in a radio resource control message, or the indicator is included in a media access control element, or the indicator is included in downlink control information.

[0228] Clause 11. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein at least one of the following is true: N is 8, or N is 16, or N is equal to N1+N2, or N1 is equal to N2, or N1 is not equal to N2, or N1 is any one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or N2 is any one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8.

[0229] Clause 12. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: send multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer capability information, the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer capability information indicating the number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer capability sets.

[0230] Clause 13. The apparatus according to Clause 12, wherein the number threshold is determined based on at least one of the following: the number of the capability set of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer, and the number of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the apparatus.

[0231] Clause 14. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the receiver antenna includes a pre-equalizer baseband branch.

[0232] Clause 15. A network device comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: send an indicator to the device indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0233] Clause 16. The network device according to Clause 15, wherein the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multiple input multiple output layers, or the indicator indicates by an amount that the sum of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of multi-user multiple input multiple output layers, or the indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the number threshold of multi-user multiple input multiple output layers, or the indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0234] Clause 17. A network device according to Clause 15 or 16, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least: receiving from the device an indication that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers.

[0235] Clause 18. The network device according to Clause 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: determine to send to the device an indicator indicating whether the sum of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers, based on an indication of processing capability that the sum of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0236] Clause 19. A network apparatus according to any one of Clauses 15 to 18, wherein the network apparatus is a base station or a network access node, and / or the indicator is included in a radio resource control message, or the indicator is included in a media access control element, or the indicator is included in downlink control information.

[0237] Clause 20. A network device according to any one of Clauses 15 to 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least: receiving multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer capability information from the device, indicating the number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer capability sets.

[0238] Clause 21. A network device according to Clause 20, wherein the number threshold is determined based on at least one of the following: the number of the capability set of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layer, or the number of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

[0239] Clause 22. A method for an apparatus having N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance and a second demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information, the method comprising: a reception indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the apparatus and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external apparatus other than the apparatus exceeds a multiple user multiple input multiple output layers number threshold; and, based on the indicator, controlling the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance to perform antenna output demodulation.

[0240] Clause 23. A method for a network device, the method comprising: sending an indicator to the device, the indicator indicating whether the sum of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for the device and multiple user multiple input multiple output layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold number of multiple user multiple input multiple output layers.

[0241] Clause 24. A computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code, wherein when the program is run on a computer, the computer-executable computer program code is configured to cause the computer to perform the method described in accordance with Clause 22 or 23, wherein optionally the computer program product includes a computer-readable medium on which the computer-executable computer program code is stored, and / or wherein the program is directly loadable into the computer’s internal memory or its processor.

[0242] List of acronyms and abbreviations 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project 5G 5th generation DCI downlink control information HW Hardware MAC-CE Media Access Control Element MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) MMSE-IRC is a receiver with minimum mean square error and interference suppression. MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) NR New Radio NW network / base station NWA Network Assistance PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel RRC Radio Resource Control SU-MIMO Single-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output UE User Equipment

Claims

1. An apparatus for flexible receiver configuration, comprising N receiver antennas, a first demodulator instance and a second demodulator instance, the first demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N1 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, and the second demodulator instance being configured to jointly demodulate N2 receiver antenna outputs out of N receiver antenna outputs corresponding to the N receiver antennas, wherein the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are capable of exchanging demodulation information, the apparatus comprising: At least one processor, and At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: A receive indicator indicates whether the sum of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds a threshold for the number of MIMO layers. Based on the indicator, the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance are controlled to demodulate the antenna output.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein Regarding the control, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: Based on the indicator, it is determined whether to activate or deactivate the exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein... The indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of MIMO layers, or The indicator indicates the amount by which the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of MIMO layers.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, which is dependent on claim 2, wherein... The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: The decision is made to activate the exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The indicator indicates that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, which is dependent on claim 2, wherein... The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: The exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance is determined to be deactivated for antenna output demodulation.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The indicator indicates the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output layers scheduled for the at least one external device other than the device.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: If the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MMI) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MMI) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the threshold number of MMI layers, then it is determined to activate the exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation. If the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device does not exceed the threshold number of MIMO layers, then it is determined to deactivate the exchange of demodulation information between the first demodulator instance and the second demodulator instance for antenna output demodulation.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: Send an indication that the sum of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for the device and the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers scheduled for at least one external device other than the device exceeds the number threshold of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The device is a user equipment, and / or The indicator is included in the radio resource control message, or The indicator is included in the media access control element, or The indicator is included in the downlink control information.

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