Wireless device initiated beam management process

Abstract

A method in a wireless device (WD) configured to perform a WD initiated beam management process and to communicate with a network node is described. The method includes determining, based on one or more parameters, one or more of: (A) a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay associated with a WD initiated beam report; (B) a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process; and (C) a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. The method also includes performing one or more actions based on one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication.

Description

[0001] WIRELESS DEVICE INITIATED BEAM MANAGEMENT PROCESS

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to a beam management process initiated by a wireless device.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed and is developing standards for Fourth Generation (4G) (also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) wireless communication systems. Such systems provide, among other features, broadband communication between network nodes (NNs), such as base stations, and mobile wireless devices (WD)(e.g., user equipment (UE)), as well as communication between network nodes (NNs) and between WDs. The 3GPP is also developing standards for Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication networks.

[0006] QCL and TCI states

[0007] In NR, several signals can be transmitted from different antenna ports of the same base station. These signals can have the same large-scale properties such as Doppler shift / spread, average delay spread, or average delay. These antenna ports are then said to be quasi co-located (QCL).

[0008] If the WD knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter (e.g. Doppler spread), the WD can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and apply that estimate for receiving signal on the other antenna port. For example, there may be a QCL relation between a channel sate information reference signal (CSI-RS) for tracking reference signal RS (TRS) and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS). When WD receives the PDSCH DMRS it can use the measurements already made on the TRS to assist the DMRS reception. Information about what assumptions can be made regarding QCL is signaled to the WD from the network. In NR, four types of QCL relations between a transmitted source RS and transmitted target reference signal (RS) were defined:

[0009] Type A: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}

[0010] Type B: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}

[0011] Type C: {average delay, Doppler shift}

[0012] Type D: {Spatial Rx parameter} QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management with analog beamforming and is known as spatial QCL. There is currently no strict definition of spatial QCL, but the understanding is that if two transmitted antenna ports are spatially QCL, the WD can use the same receive (RX) beam to receive them. This is helpful for a WD that uses analog beamforming to receive signals, since the WD needs to adjust its RX beam in some direction prior to receiving a certain signal. If the WD knows that the signal is spatially QCL with some other signal it has received earlier, then it can safely use the same RX beam to receive also this signal. For beam management, the discussion mostly revolves around QCL Type D, but it is also necessary to convey a Type A QCL relation for the RSs to the WD, so that it can estimate all the relevant large-scale parameters.

[0013] Typically, this is achieved by configuring the WD with a CSLRS for tracking (TRS) for time / frequency offset estimation. To be able to use any QCL reference, the WD would have to receive it with a sufficiently good signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). In many cases, this means that the TRS must be transmitted in a suitable beam to a certain WD.

[0014] To introduce dynamics in beam and transmission point (TRP) selection, the WD can be configured through radio resource control (RRC) signaling with up to 128 Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states. The TCI state information element (e.g., from 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.7.0) is as follows:

[0015] TCI- State ::= SEQUENCE ) tci-Stateld TCLStateld, qcl-Typel QCL-Info, qcl-Type2 QCL-Info

[0016] QCL-Info ::= SEQUENCE { cell ServCelllndex bwp-Id BWP-Id referencesignal CHOICE { csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-Resourceld, ssb S SB -Index qcl-Type ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},

[0017] }

[0018] Each TCI state contains QCL information related to one or two RSs. For example, a TCI state may contain CSI-RS1 associated with QCL Type A and CSLRS2 associated with QCL TypeD. If a third RS, e.g. the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS), has this TCI state as QCL source, it means that the WD can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSLRS1 and Spatial RX parameter (i.e. the RX beam to use) from CSLRS2 when performing the channel estimation for the PDCCH DMRS.

[0019] A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list of TCI states is configured for PDCCH. Each TCI state contains a pointer, known as TCI State ID, which points to the TCI state. The network then activates via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) one TCI state for PDCCH (i.e. provides a TCI for PDCCH) and up to eight TCI states for PDSCH. The number of active TCI states the WD support is a WD capability, but the maximum is 8.

[0020] A WD may have 4 activated TCI states (from a list of totally 64 configured TCI states). Hence, 60 TCI states are inactive for this particular WD, and the WD needs not be prepared to have large scale parameters estimated for those inactive TCI states. However, the WD continuously tracks and updates the large scale parameters for the RSs in the 4 active TCI states. When scheduling a PDSCH to a WD, the download control information (DCI) contains a pointer to one activated TCI state. The WD then knows which large scale parameter estimate to use when performing PDSCH DMRS channel estimation and thus PDSCH demodulation.

[0021] As long as the WD can use any of the currently activated TCI states, it is sufficient to use DCI signaling. However, at some point in time, none of the source RSs in the currently activated TCI states can be received by the WD, i.e., when the WD moves out of the beams in which the source reference signals (RSs) in the activated TCI states are transmitted. When this happens (or actually before this happens), the network node (e.g., gNB) would have to activate new TCI states. Typically, since the number of activated TCI states is fixed, the network node would also have to deactivate one or more of the currently activated TCI states.

[0022] The two-step procedure related to TCI state update is depicted in FIG. 1, where the TCI state is selected from the activated set of TCI states using DCI, and the set of activated TCI states is updated using MAC CE.

[0023] TCI states Activation / Deactivation for WD-specific PDSCH via MAC CE

[0024] The details of the MAC CE signaling that is used to activate / deactivate TCI states for WD specific PDSCH is provided. The structure of the MAC CE for activating / deactivating TCI states for WD specific PDSCH is shown in FIG. 2 (e.g., as in Figure 6.1.3.14-1 of 3GPP Tehcnical Sepcification (TS) 38.321 16.12.0).

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2, the MAC CE includes the following fields:

[0026] • Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies. The length of the field is 5 bits;

[0027] • BWP ID: This field contains the ID corresponding to a downlink bandwidth part for which the MAC CE applies. The BWP ID is given by the higher layer parameter / / E7J-Id as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.7.0. The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits since a WD can be configured with up to 4 BWPs for DL;

[0028] • A variable number of fields Tr. If the WD is configured with a TCI state with TCI State ID z, then the field 7} indicates the activation / deactivation status of the TCI state with TCI State ID i. If the WD is not configured with a TCI state with TCI State ID z, the MAC entity shall ignore the E field. The E field is set to "1" to indicate that the TCI state with TCI State ID z shall be activated and mapped to a codepoint of the DCI Eransmission Configuration Indication field, as specified in 3GPP TS 38.214 V16.14.0 / 38.321 V16.12.0. The 7} field is set to "0" to indicate that the TCI state with TCI State ID z shall be deactivated and is not mapped to any codepoint of the DCI Eransmission Configuration Indication field. It should be noted that the codepoint to which the TCI State is mapped is determined by the ordinal position among all the TCI States with 7} field set to "1". That is the first TCI State with 7} field set to " 1 " shall be mapped to the codepoint value 0 of DCI Eransmission Configuration Indication field, the second TCI State with 7} field set to "1" shall be mapped to the codepoint value 1 of DCI Eransmission Configuration Indication field, and so on. In NR 3 GPP release 15 (Rel-15), the maximum number of activated TCI states is 8;

[0029] • A Reserved bit R: this bit is set to ‘0’ in NR 3GPP Rel-15.

[0030] The TCI States Activation / Deactivation for WD-specific PDSCH MAC CE may be identified by a MAC PDU subheader with logical channel ID (LCID) as specified in Table 6.2.1-1 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.12.0 (this table is reproduced below in Table 1). The MAC CE for Activation / Deactivation of TCI States for WD-specific PDSCH has variable size.

[0031] TCI state indication for WD-specific PDSCH via PCI

[0032] The gNB can use DCI format 1 1 or 1 2 to indicate to the WD that it shall use one of the activated TCI states for the subsequent PDSCH reception. The field being used in the DCI is called Transmission configuration indication or TCI field , which is 3 bits if tci- PresentlnDCI is “enabled” or tci-PresentForDCI-Formatl-2-rl6 is present respectively for DCI format 1 1 and DCI 1 2 by higher layer. One example of such a DCI indication of a TCI state is depicted in FIG. 3. The TCI field provides a pointer into the ordered list of activated TCI states.

[0033] Code point 0 of the TCI field indicates the first TCI state index in the list of TCI states, code point 1 of the TCI field indicates the second TCI state index in the list, etc.

[0034] Overview of NR 3 GPP Rel-15 / Rel-16 TCI state framework

[0035] The NR 3GPP Release (Rel-15 / 16) framework for beam management is based on the framework of spatial QCL assumptions and spatial relations in order to support, e.g., analog beamforming implementations at the WD and / or the network. The framework allows great flexibility for the network node (e.g.,., the gNB) to instruct the WD to receive signals from several directions and to transmit signals in several directions. In this framework, the uplink and downlink configurations are decoupled, e.g., there is no direct relation between the configured spatial QCL assumptions and the spatial relations.

[0036] In the 3GPP Rel-15 / Rel-16 framework, downlink beam management is performed by conveying spatial QCL (‘Type D’) assumptions to the WD, which are conveyed in TCI states. One TCI state contains one or two RSs, and each RS is associated with a QCL type.

[0037] • PDCCH beam management: The network configures the WD with a set of PDCCH TCI states by RRC, and then activates one TCI state per control resource set (CORESET) using medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0038] • PDSCH beam management: The network configures the WD with a set of PDSCH TCI states by RRC, and then activates up to 8 TCI states by MAC CE. After activation, the network dynamically indicates one of these activated TCI states using a TCI field in DCI when scheduling PDSCH. o Alternatively, the network may simplify the beam management by not setting the RRC parameter tci-PresentlnDCI (which is configured per CORESET) to enabled. In this case, the WD uses the same TCI state for PDSCH as for PDCCH.

[0039] In the 3GPP Rel-15 / Rel-16 framework, uplink beam management is performed using configuration of spatial relations. A spatial relation is defined at the WD side between a source RS and a target RS. The source RS can be a received DL RS (synchronization signal block (SSB) or CSI-RS) or a sounding reference signal (SRS)). The target RS can be a transmitted PUCCH DMRS or an SRS. Note that there is no direct configuration of the spatial relation for a PUSCH: the PUSCH follows the spatial relation of a PUCCH or an SRS.

[0040] • PUCCH beam management: For PUCCH, the network configures the WD with a set of 8 spatial relations using RRC, and subsequently activates one of these spatial relations using MAC CE. The spatial relation is defined per PUCCH resource. In 3GPP Rel-16, enhancements were made such that spatial relation could be updated for a group of PUCCH resources using a single MAC-CE. In addition, default spatial relation for PUCCH was introduced in Rel-16, such that when no spatial relation is configured / activated for a PUCCH resource, the WD uses the TCI state / QCL assumption of the CORESET with lowest ID, both to derive spatial relation and to derive path loss reference signal.

[0041] • PUSCH beam management: A PUSCH scheduled by DCI Format 0 1 is transmitted over the ports where a configured SRS resource may also be transmitted. Either two (codebook-based) or four (non-codebook-based) SRS resources can be defined in the SRS resource set. The network selects which SRS resource in the set should correspond to the PUSCH transmission (i.e., PUSCH is transmitted on the same ports as the selected SRS and using the spatial relation of the selected SRS) using the SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in DCI. The spatial relation for the SRS resources in the set is provided either by radio resource control (RRC) (for periodic or aperiodic SRS) or MAC-CE (for aperiodic or semi-persistent SRS). For PUSCH scheduled by DCI Format 0 0, there is no SRI, and the spatial relation instead follows that of a PUCCH resource. In Rel-16, default spatial relation for SRS was introduced, such that when no spatial relation is configured / activated for an SRS resource, the WD uses the TCI state / QCL assumption of the CORESET with lowest ID, both to derive spatial relation and to derive path loss reference signal.

[0042] • SRS beam management: Spatial relations for SRS are configured by RRC (for periodic and aperiodic) or by MAC CE (aperiodic or semi-persistent).

[0043] Issues with the 3 GPP Rel-15 / Rel-16 TCI state framework

[0044] The 3 GPP Rel-15 / Rel-16 framework provides the network with great flexibility in some areas, at the cost of considerable signaling. In some other areas, the specification is overly restrictive and prohibits efficient (low signaling overhead) and rapid beam management. These limitations are particularly noticeable and costly when WD movement is considered. One example is that beam update using DCI can only be performed for PDSCH, and MAC-CE and / or RRC is required to update the beam for other reference signal s / channels, with cause extra overhead and latency.

[0045] Furthermore, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the specified beam management flexibility is not really needed since the network will transmit to and receive from the WD using the same beam for both data and control. Hence, using TCI state for downlink (DL) signal s / channels and spatial relations for uplink (UL) signal s / channels complicates the implementations.

[0046] Another issue is related to the path loss reference signal used for UL power control. In NR, only up to four path loss reference signals can be configured for a WD, which typically is significantly less than the number of beams a TRP at FR2 uses to cover the cell. Hence, when a WD moves around in the cell, the path loss reference signal needs to be updated using MAC-CE and / or RRC, which introduces extra latency and overhead.

[0047] 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state framework

[0048] In 3 GPP Rel-17, a new unified TCI state framework is specified, which aims to streamline the indication of transmit / receive spatial filter (and other QCL properties) to the WD by letting a single TCI state indicate QCL properties for multiple different DL and / or UL signals / channels.

[0049] The unified TCI state framework of 3 GPP Rel-17 can be RRC configured in one out of two modes of operation “Joint DL / UL TCI” or “Separate DL / UL TCI”. For “Joint DL / UL TCI” operation, one common Joint TCI state is used for both DL and UL signals / channels. For “Separate DL / UL TCI” operation, one common DL-only TCI state is used for DL channel s / signals, and one common UL-only TCI state is used for UL signals / channels.

[0050] It is expected that “Joint DL / UL TCI” operation will be the most common use case, but “Separate DL / UL TCI” operation can be useful in specific scenarios where the optimal DL beam differs from optimal UL beam, for example in case a WD panel associated with the best DL beam is affected by P-MPR (power management - maximum power reduction), and hence need to reduce the maximum allowed output power.

[0051] Beam indication using Rel- 17 TCI state framework

[0052] The common TCI state ID can be updated in a similar way as the TCI state ID is update for PDSCH in 3GPP Rel-15 / 16, i.e. with one of two alternative:

[0053] • Two-stage: RRC signaling is used to configure a number of TCI states in PDSCH-config, and MAC-CE is used to activate a single TCI state (that TCI state will then be applied)

[0054] • Three-stage: RRC signaling is used to configure a number TCI state in PDSCH-config, MAC-CE is used to activate up to 8 TCI states, and a 3 -bit TCI state bitfield (consisting of up to 8 codepoints) in DCI is used to indicate one of the activate TCI states (that TCI state will then be applied)

[0055] For “Joint DL / UL TCI” operation, a maximum of one Joint TCI state can be activated per TCI field codepoint. One schematic example of how this may look is illustrated in FIG. 4, which shows an example of activated TCI states and their mapping to TCI field codepoints for “Joint DL / UL TCI.” In case the indicated TCI field codepoint is “1”, the WD should apply “Joint TCI state 7” as common QCL source for both DL and UL signals / channels.

[0056] For “Separate DL / UL TCI” operation, up to two TCI states can be activated per TCI field codepoint, one for DL signals / channels (DL-only TCI state) and one for UL signals / channels (UL-only TCI state). One schematic example of how this may look is illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is an example of activated TCI states and their mapping to TCI field codepoints for “Joint DL / UL TCI”. In case the TCI field codepoint is “0”, the WD should apply “DL-only TCI state 3” as common QCL source for DL signals / channels, and not update the QCL source for UL signals channel. In case the TCI field codepoint is “7”, the WD should apply “UL-only TCI state 57” as QCL source for UL signals / channels, and not update the QCL source for DL signal s / channel. In case the TCI field codepoint is “2”, the WD should apply “DL-only TCI state 9” as QCL source for DL signals / channels and apply “UL-only TCI state 1” as QCL source for UL signals / channels.

[0057] The existing DCI formats 1 1 and 1 2 in NR are reused (as in 3GPP Rel-15 / 16 beam management framework) for beam indication, both with and without DL assignment. For DCI formats 1 1 and 1 2 with DL assignment, ACK / NACK of the PDSCH can be used as indication of successful reception of beam indication. For DCI formats 1 1 and 1 2 without DL assignment, a new ACK / NACK mechanism analogous to that for SPS PDSCH release with both type-1 and type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook is used, where upon a successful reception of the beam indication DCI, the WD reports an ACK.

[0058] For DCI-based beam indication, the first slot to apply the indicated TCI state is at least Y symbols after the last symbol of the acknowledgment of the joint or separate DL / UL beam indication. The Y symbols are configured by the network node based on WD capability, which is also reported in units of symbols.

[0059] QCL and UL spatial relation rules

[0060] For both “Joint DL / UL TCI” operation and “Separate DL / UL TCI” operation, the large scale QCL properties are inferred from one source RS (qcl-Typel only) or two source RSs (qcl-Typel and qcl-Type2) analogous to Rel-15 / 16 beam management framework. For “Joint DL / UL TCI” operation, the UL spatial which may be derived from that corresponding to the source RS of DL QCL Type D, analogous to default beam operation for 3 GPP Rel-15 / 16 beam management framework.

[0061] In DL, the Joint / DL-only TCI state can provide common QCL information at least for:

[0062] • WD-dedicated PDCCH

[0063] • PDSCH;

[0064] • Aperiodic CSI-RS for CSI;

[0065] • Aperiodic CSI-RS for beam management; o CSI-RS for other time domain behaviors has not been agreed.

[0066] RRC configuration is used to indicate if a non-WD dedicated PDCCH / PDSCH, AP CSI-RS for CSI and beam management (BM) should follow the common beam or not. Common beam here means that the same beam is used for receiving DL signal s / channels that are indicated to follow the common beam. For DL signal / channels that do not follow the common beam, a 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state can be indicated as QCL source in a similar way as for 3GPP Rel-15 / 16 beam management framework. As an example, for a periodic CSI-RS that does not follow the common beam, a 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state can be configured in the parameter “qcl-InfoPeriodicCSI-RS” in “NZP-CSI-RS-Resource information element” as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.7.0. The possible target, source RS and corresponding QCL properties for that are supported for Joint / DL-only TCI state indication are shown in FIG. 6.

[0067] In UL, the Joint / UL-only TCI state can provide common QCL information as least for

[0068] All or a subset of all PUCCH resources

[0069] Dynamic-grant / configured-grant PUSCH • SRS for all usages (except for usage ‘positioning’)

[0070] RRC configuration is used to indicate if a SRS and PUCCH resource should follow the common beam or not. Common beam here means that the same beam is used for receiving UL signals / channels that are indicated to follow the common beam. For UL signal / channels that do not follow the common beam, a 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state can be used to indicate spatial relation instead of a DL / UL-RS which is used to indicate spatial relation for Rel-15 / 16 beam management framework. As an example, for a periodic SRS resource that does not follow the common beam, a new RRC parameter in an SRS resource can be configured with a 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state, and the WD will use that 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state to determine the spatial relation for that SRS resource. Any of the following reference signals can be used to indicate spatial relation for a UL signal / channel in 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state framework:

[0071] • SSB;

[0072] • TRS (tracking reference signal);

[0073] • CSLRS for beam management;

[0074] • SRS with usage set to beam management.

[0075] Inter-cell beam management

[0076] Inter-cell beam management has been included in the 3GPP Rel-17 TCI state framework to facilitate L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility (to be specified for higher layers in NR Rel-18) as well as inter-cell multi-TRP operation.

[0077] For inter-cell beam management, a WD can be configured to measure and report 3GPP Rel-15 Ll-RSRP for SSB(s) associated with non-serving cells. Which serving cell an SSB is associated with is indicated by RRC signaling, where each SSB is paired with a PCI. The maximum number of PCIs different from the serving cell that could be used for SSB measurement / reporting is up to WD capability and can be one of 0, 1,2,3 and 7. The beam indication for inter-cell beam management will work in the same way as for intracell 3GPP Rel-17 unified TCI state framework.

[0078] The DL QCL and UL spatial relation rules for inter-cell beam management will work in the same way as for intra-cell 3 GPP Rel-17 unified TCI state framework.

[0079] Mobility measurements in LTE and NR

[0080] The WD can be configured by the network to perform measurements of serving and neighbor cells, by sending a measurement configuration, provided in an RRCReconfiguration message (in case of NR) or an RRCConnectionReconfiguration RRC message (for LTE), or as part of broadcasted system information. In accordance with this measurement configuration provided by the network, the WD also reports measurement information, using a Measurement Report RRC message, to the network.

[0081] The network then typically uses the measurement reports to trigger handover of the WD to a neighbor cell.

[0082] The neighbor cell measurements are classified into intra-frequency, inter-frequency or inter-RAT measurements.

[0083] The WD measures what is defined as a measurement object, which is part of the measurement configuration. A measurement object is:

[0084] • for LTE: a carrier frequency

[0085] • for NR: frequency / time location and subcarrier spacing of reference signals.

[0086] The measurement object may be refined by listed cells (such as allowed cells, and / or excluded cells) as well as listed cell-specific offsets. Excluded (also called blacklisted cells) are not considered in event evaluation or measurement reporting. The allowed (also called whitelisted) cells may be the only ones considered for event evaluation and measurement reporting if so configured. If neither allowed nor excluded cells are configured, the WD considers all detect cells in event evaluation and measurement reporting.

[0087] The measurement configuration also includes reporting configuration, consisting of a reporting criterion (used to trigger the report) and reporting format (which quantities to include in the report). The reporting criterion is either “periodic” or “single event”. The reporting quantity may be reference signal received power (RSRP), for example.

[0088] The measurement configuration also includes a list of measurement identities where each measurement identity links one measurement object with one reporting configuration. By configuring multiple measurement identities, it is possible to link more than one measurement object to the same reporting configuration, as well as to link more than one reporting configuration to the same measurement object. The measurement identity is also included in the measurement report that triggered the reporting, serving as a reference to the network.

[0089] The measurement configuration also includes a quantity configuration, which defines the measurement filtering configuration used for all event evaluation and related reporting, and for periodical reporting of that measurement.

[0090] Finally, the measurement configuration includes Measurement gaps, which are periods that the WD may use to perform measurements.

[0091] In cases of single event reporting criterion, there are a number of event types defined to trigger measurement reports, see e.g., 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.7.0, Section 5.5.4. Examples of two event types are the following:

[0092] FIG. 7 is an example of the triggering Event A3. Event A3 (: For LTE it is also known as “Neighbor becomes offset better than SpCell”. In case of NR it is also known as “Neighbor becomes offset better than PCell / PSCell”. The offset is the cell specific offset part of the measurement object corresponding to the particular neighbor cell.

[0093] FIG. 8 is an example of the triggering Event A5. Event A5: For LTE it is also known as “SpCell becomes worse than threshold 1 and neighbor becomes better than threshold2”. In case of NR it is also known as “PCell / PSCell becomes worse than threshold 1 and neighbor becomes better than threshold2”. The thresholds are part of the reporting configuration.

[0094] As part of the configuration for events A3, A5 and also other types of events, a hysteresis may also be included. The hysteresis is useful in combination with configuration of “reportOnLeave”, where the WD transmits a report when a trigger quantity of a measurement object ceases to fulfil the criterion (and taking the hysteresis into account) for reporting. For example, as also illustrated in FIG. 7, when using the “reportOnLeave” applied on event A3 for a neighbor cell, the WD transmits a measurement report when the neighbor cell falls below the serving cell plus offset minus the hysteresis.

[0095] WD initiated beam management procedures

[0096] WD initiated beam management procedure is one of the popular candidate agenda items for NR release 19 MIMO, the discussion on the WD side of initiation behavior includes at least 3 variations which we will define below:

[0097] 1. WD initiated beam report

[0098] 2. WD initiated beam indication

[0099] 3. WD initiated beam switching.

[0100] WD initiated beam report

[0101] With the procedure “WD initiated beam report”, it is assumed that the WD triggers a beam report based on one or more trigger conditions. The beam report may or may not include information about a new preferred beam. The network can then use other legacy beam management operations to switch beam or perform additional beam sweep procedures. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 9. Note that in this solution, the network indicates a preferred beam using TCI state indication as shown in FIG. 9. This solution may have the benefit of reducing network latency and signaling overhead compared with the legacy solution of beam reporting, e.g., configuring periodic beam reporting. This is because the WD only reports a beam report when the one or more trigger conditions are met.

[0102] WD initiated beam indication

[0103] With the procedure “WD initiated beam indication” the WD shall include a preferred new candidate beam in the WD initiated beam indication report. In addition, the WD should store QCL related information of the indicated preferred candidate beam, such that the WD can perform a quick beam switch after the network has sent a response / acknowledgement of the WD initiated beam indication report. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 10. However, there is no TCI state indication from network to WD in this solution as shown in FIG. 10. The network only acknowledges the preferred candidate beam indicated by the WD in the beam indication report. The main benefit of this solution compared to the solution in FIG. 9 is that it reduces the beam activation time.

[0104] WD initiated beam switching

[0105] With the procedure “WD initiated beam switching” the WD shall include a preferred new candidate beam in the WD initiated beam switching report, and right after the WD has transmitted the beam switching report, the WD should apply a TCI state associated with indicated preferred candidate beam. In some cases, an additional response / acknowledgement might be required by the network to indicate to the WD that it should continue using the newly applied TCI state associated with the preferred candidate beam in the WD initiated beam switching report. Otherwise, the WD shall switch back to the previously used TCI state. One example of this procedures is illustrated in FIG. 11.

[0106] WD initiated beam management procedure is a candidate agenda item for NR Release 19 MIMO. The discussion on the WD side of initiation behavior includes at least three variations: WD initiated beam report, WD initiated beam indication, and WD initiated beam switching. A problem with WD initiated beam indication is how long the WD should save QCL related information, and how to make sure that the beam switching delay is agreed upon between the network and WD such as to mitigate the risk of beam mis-alignment between the network and WD, which could cause dropped links.

[0107] Another problem with all these UE initiated beam management procedures is how to control when and how often a UE should be allowed to transmit a UE initiated beam report, beam indication report, or beam switching report. Without proper control of when and how often a UE performs such beam reports, all three UE initiated beam management procedures as described above may result in many reports when triggering conditions are met. Hence, how to control the frequency of such UE initiated beam reports is an open problem.

[0108] SUMMARY

[0109] Some embodiments advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for a beam management process initiated by wireless device. One or more embodiments provide determining a timing indication for beam switch delay of a WD initiated beam indication. In some embodiments, timing methods are described. The methods include determining how long the WD stores QCL related information associated with indicated beam(s) in a previous WD initiated beam indication report. In some other embodiments, the beam switching time and beam application time are determined based on when the network signals back the beam report response / acknowledgement.

[0110] One of the advantages of the embodiments is the introduction of timing lines for WD initiated beam report to align the expectation at network and WD. Another advantage is avoiding an outdated signaling, for example where WD has pre-synced or updated to a new beam before network confirm the beam indication for previous reported beam (presynchronization), and to align the understanding on beam switching time.

[0111] According to one aspect, a method in a wireless device (WD) configured to perform a WD initiated beam management process and to communicate with a network node is described. The method includes determining, based on one or more parameters, one or more of: (A) a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay associated with a WD initiated beam report; (B) a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process; and (C) a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. The method also includes performing one or more actions based on one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication.

[0112] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

[0113] In some other embodiments, the method further includes one or more of: (A) transmitting a fourth indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; (B) transmitting the WD initiated beam report; (C) receiving, from the network node, a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam (e.g., a serving beam); (D) determining one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received; and (E) applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

[0114] In some embodiments, the method further includes, when the first timing indication is determined: (A) determining a storage period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and (B) storing the QCL related information for the storage period of time.

[0115] In some other embodiments, the method further includes switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

[0116] In some embodiments, performing the fallback beam switching includes switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report and switching back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0117] In some other embodiments, the method further includes receiving, from the network node, a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfaiiback) corresponding to the predetermined time.

[0118] In some embodiments, the third timing indication is determined based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of (A) the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; (B) the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node that the WD has at least one WD initiated beam report to send; (C) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and (E) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

[0119] In some other embodiments, the method further includes determining (e.g., obtaining, receiving, etc.) a second configuration configuring the WD with joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.

[0120] In some embodiments, the method further includes determining (e.g., obtaining, receiving, etc.) a third configuration configuring the WD with a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

[0121] In some other embodiments, the one or more parameters include one or more of:

[0122] (A) timing information associated with signaling between the WD and the network node;

[0123] (B) a carrier frequency; (C) a numerology; (D) a bandwidth part; (E) a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; (F) transmission direction; (G) reference signal configurations; and (H) a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0124] In some embodiments, the one or more actions includes one or more of: (A) switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node indicates the beam to the WD; (B) switching to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node; and (C) transmitting at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

[0125] In one or more embodiments, the WD may stay in or keep using the switched beam upon receiving an acknowledgement (ACK), perform switching to the beam which the network node includes in a not ACK (NACK) message, and / or perform fall back to the previous serving beam if there is only a NACK without a new beam, or there is no network node feedback.

[0126] According to another aspect, a wireless device (WD) configured to perform a WD initiated beam management process and to communicate with a network node. The WD is configured to determine, based on one or more parameters, one or more of: (A) a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay associated with a WD initiated beam report; (B) a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process; and (C) a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. The WD is also configured to perform one or more actions based on one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication.

[0127] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

[0128] In some other embodiments, the WD is further configured to one or more of: (A) transmit a fourth indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; (B) transmit the WD initiated beam report; (C) receive, from the network node, a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam; (D) determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received; and (E) apply a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

[0129] In some embodiments, the WD is further configured to, when the first timing indication is determined: (A) determine a storage period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and (B) store the QCL related information for the storage period of time.

[0130] In some other embodiments, the WD is further configured to switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

[0131] In some embodiments, performing the fallback beam switching includes switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report and switching back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0132] In some other embodiments, the WD is further configured to receive, from the network node, a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfaiiback) corresponding to the predetermined time.

[0133] In some embodiments, the third timing indication is determined based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of (A) the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; (B) the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node that the WD has at least one WD initiated beam report to send; (C) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and (E) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

[0134] In some other embodiments, the WD is further configured to determine a second configuration configuring the WD with joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.

[0135] In some embodiments, the WD is further configured to determine a third configuration configuring the WD with a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

[0136] In some other embodiments, the one or more parameters include one or more of (A) timing information associated with signaling between the WD and the network node;

[0137] (B) a carrier frequency; (C) a numerology; (D) a bandwidth part; (E) a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; (F) transmission direction; (G) reference signal configurations; and (H) a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0138] In some embodiments, the one or more actions includes one or more of: (A) switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node indicates the beam to the WD; (B) switching to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node; and (C) transmitting at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

[0139] In one or more embodiments, the WD may stay in or keep using the switched beam upon receiving an acknowledgement (ACK), perform switching to the beam which the network node includes in a not ACK (NACK) message, and / or perform fall back to the previous serving beam if there is only a NACK without a new beam, or there is no network node feedback.

[0140] According to one aspect, a method in a network node configured to perform a WD initiated beam management process and to communicate with a WD is described. The method includes receiving a WD initiated beam report from the WD, where the WD initiated beam report is associated with one or more of a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay. A second timing indication indicates when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process. A third timing indication indicates a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. The method also includes determining a beam based on the WD initiated beam report and one or both of transmitting beam indication indicating the beam to the WD and transmitting a WD switching response indicating to the WD to switch to the beam.

[0141] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

[0142] In some other embodiments, the method further includes one or more of: (A) receiving a fourth indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; (B) receiving the WD initiated beam report; (C) transmitting, to the WD, a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and the beam; and (D) causing the WD to determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received and applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

[0143] In some embodiments, the transmitted beam indication triggers the WD to one or more of: (A) determine a storage period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; (B) store the QCL related information for the storage period of time; and (C) switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

[0144] In some other embodiments, performing the fallback beam switching includes switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report and switching back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0145] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, to the WD, a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfaiiback) corresponding to the predetermined time.

[0146] In some other embodiments, the third timing indication is based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: (A) the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; (B) the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node that the WD has a WD initiated beam report to send; (C) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and (D) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

[0147] In some embodiments, the WD is configured with a second configuration including joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.

[0148] In some other embodiments, the WD is configured with a third configuration including a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

[0149] In some embodiments, one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication are based on one or more parameters including one or more of: (A) timing information associated with signaling between the WD and the network node; (B) a carrier frequency; (C) a numerology; (D) a bandwidth part; (E) a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; (F) a transmission direction; (G) reference signal configurations; and (H) a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal. In some other embodiments, the method further includes performing one or more actions including one or more of: (A) causing the WD to switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node indicates the beam to the WD; (B) causing the WD to switch to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node; and (C) receiving at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

[0150] According to another aspect, a network node configured to perform a wireless device (WD) initiated beam management process and to communicate with a WD is described. The network node is configured to receive a WD initiated beam report from the WD, where the WD initiated beam report is associated with one or more of a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay. A second timing indication indicates when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process, and a third timing indication indicates a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. The network node is also configured to determine a beam based on the WD initiated beam report and one or both of transmit beam indication indicating the beam to the WD and transmit a WD switching response indicating to the WD to switch to the beam.

[0151] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

[0152] In some other embodiments, the network node is further configured to one or more of: (A) receive a fourth indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; (B) receive the WD initiated beam report; (C) transmit, to the WD, a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and the beam; and (D) cause the WD to determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received and applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

[0153] In some embodiments, the transmitted beam indication triggers the WD to one or more of: (A) determine a storage period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; (B) store the QCL related information for the storage period of time; and (C) switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

[0154] In some other embodiments, performing the fallback beam switching includes switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report and switching back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0155] In some embodiments, the network node is further configured to transmit, to the WD, a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfauback) corresponding to the predetermined time.

[0156] In some other embodiments, the third timing indication is based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: (A) the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; (B) the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node that the WD has a WD initiated beam report to send; (C) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and (D) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

[0157] In some embodiments, the WD is configured with a second configuration including joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.

[0158] In some other embodiments, the WD is configured with a third configuration including a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

[0159] In some embodiments, one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication are based on one or more parameters including one or more of: (A) timing information associated with signaling between the WD and the network node; (B) a carrier frequency; (C) a numerology; (D) a bandwidth part; (E) a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; (F) a transmission direction; (G) reference signal configurations; and (H) a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0160] In some other embodiments, the network node is further configured to perform one or more actions including one or more of: (A) causing the WD to switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node indicates the beam to the WD; (B) causing the WD to switch to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node; and (C) receiving at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

[0161] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0162] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0163] FIG. 1 shows an example two-stage TCI state update;

[0164] FIG. 2 shows an example TCI states activation / deactivation for WD-specific PDSCH MAC CE;

[0165] FIG. 3 shows an example DCI indication of a TCI state;

[0166] FIG. 4 shows example activated TCI states and their mapping to TCI field codepoints for “loint DL / UL TCI”;

[0167] FIG. 5 shows other example activated TCI states and their mapping to TCI field codepoints for “ oint DL / UL TCI”

[0168] FIG. 6 shows a possible target, source RS and corresponding QCL properties for that are supported for loint / DL-only TCI state indication;

[0169] FIG. 7 shows an example event A3;

[0170] FIG. 8 shows an example Event A5;

[0171] FIG. 9 shows an example WD initiated beam reporting;

[0172] FIG. 10 shows an example WD initiated beam indication;

[0173] FIG. 11 shows an example WD initiated beam switch;

[0174] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an example network architecture illustrating a communication system connected via an intermediate network to a host computer according to the principles in the present disclosure;

[0175] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a network node in communication with a wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0176] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0177] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0178] FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0179] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node for time restriction for wireless device initiated beam report according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0180] FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0181] FIG. 20 shows a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0182] FIG. 21 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0183] FIG. 22 steps of an example WD-initiated beam management procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0184] FIG. 23 shows example TCI states according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0185] FIG. 24 shows other example TCI states according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0186] FIG. 25 shows an example WD-initiated beam report process, where a beam is switched in response to a network node confirmation, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0187] FIG. 26 shows steps of an example method of a WD initiated beam switching procedure;

[0188] FIG. 27 shows an acknowledge message that is received within a fallback period according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0189] FIG. 28 shows another example about the application of the fallback period according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0190] FIG. 29 shows an example WD configured with WD initiated beam reporting and example reporting of beams according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0191] FIG. 30 shows another example WD configured with WD initiated beam reporting and another example reporting of beams according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0192] FIG. 31 shows a WD configured with WD initiated beam reporting and example reporting of beams according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0193] FIG. 32 shows another WD configured with WD initiated beam reporting and another example reporting of beams according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0194] Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to a beam management process initiated by wireless device. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

[0195] As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0196] In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication.

[0197] In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and / or wireless connections.

[0198] The term “network node” used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multistandard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi -cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a wireless device (WD) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.

[0199] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The WD herein can be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another WD over radio signals, such as wireless device (WD). The WD may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) WD, machine type WD or WD capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and / or low-complexity WD, a sensor equipped with WD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, or a Narrowband loT (NB-IOT) device, etc.

[0200] Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), IAB node, relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

[0201] Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or New Radio (NR), may be used in this disclosure, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

[0202] Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and wireless device described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.

[0203] In some embodiments, the term “QCL” refers to quasi co-location. For example, QCL related information may refer to quasi -location related information. In other embodiments, QCL may refer to quasi co-located. For example, antenna ports may be quasi co-located.

[0204] In some embodiments, the term “between two WD initiated beam reports” is used and may refer to between two WD initiated beam reports where there are more than two WD initiated reports. For example, a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports may refer to the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports or the minimum time between two of more than two WD initiated beam reports. That is, the embodiments are not constrained to there being only two WD initiated beam reports.

[0205] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0206] Referring again to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 12 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, according to an embodiment, such as a 3 GPP -type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G), which comprises an access network 12, such as a radio access network, and a core network 14. The access network 12 comprises a plurality of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as network nodes 16), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas 18). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 over a wired or wireless connection 20. A first wireless device (WD) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 16a. A second WD 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16b. While a plurality of WDs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as wireless devices 22) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole WD is in the coverage area or where a sole WD is connecting to the corresponding network node 16. Note that although only two WDs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more WDs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0207] Also, it is contemplated that a WD 22 can be in simultaneous communication and / or configured to separately communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16. For example, a WD 22 can have dual connectivity with a network node 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different network node 16 that supports NR. As an example, WD 22 can be in communication with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR / NG-RAN.

[0208] The communication system 10 may itself be connected to a host computer 24, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 24 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 26, 28 between the communication system 10 and the host computer 24 may extend directly from the core network 14 to the host computer 24 or may extend via an optional intermediate network 30. The intermediate network 30 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network. The intermediate network 30, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet. In some embodiments, the intermediate network 30 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0209] A network node 16 is configured to include a NN management unit 32 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., NN functions. A wireless device 22 is configured to include a WD management unit 34 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., WD functions.

[0210] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the WD 22, network node 16 and host computer 24 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 13.

[0211] The communication system 10 includes a network node 16 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 58 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 24 and with the WD 22. The hardware 58 may include a communication interface 60 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 10, as well as a radio interface 62 (which may include one or more antennas 76) for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 64 with a WD 22 located in a coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. The radio interface 62 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers.

[0212] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 58 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may include a processor 70 and a memory 72. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 68 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 70 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) the memory 72, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0213] Thus, the network node 16 further has software 74 stored internally in, for example, memory 72, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software 74 may be executable by the processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by network node 16. Processor 70 corresponds to one or more processors 70 for performing network node 16 functions described herein. The memory 72 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 74 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 70 and / or processing circuitry 68, causes the processor 70 and / or processing circuitry 68 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16. For example, processing circuitry 68 of the network node 16 may include NN management unit 32 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., NN functions.

[0214] The communication system 10 further includes the WD 22 already referred to. The WD 22 may have hardware 80 that may include a radio interface 82 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 64 with a network node 16 serving a coverage area 18 in which the WD 22 is currently located. The radio interface 82 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers.

[0215] The hardware 80 of the WD 22 further includes processing circuitry 84. The processing circuitry 84 may include a processor 86 and memory 88. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 84 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 86 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) memory 88, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0216] Thus, the WD 22 may further comprise software 90, which is stored in, for example, memory 88 at the WD 22, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the WD 22. The software 90 may be executable by the processing circuitry 84. The software 90 may include a client application 92. The client application 92 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the WD 22.

[0217] The processing circuitry 84 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by WD 22. The processor 86 corresponds to one or more processors 86 for performing WD 22 functions described herein. The WD 22 includes memory 88 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 90 and / or the client application 92 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 86 and / or processing circuitry 84, causes the processor 86 and / or processing circuitry 84 to perform the processes described herein with respect to WD 22. For example, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 may include a WD management unit 34 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., WD functions. In some embodiments, the inner workings of the network node 16, WD 22, and may be as shown in FIG. 13 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 12.

[0218] In some embodiments, the cellular network also includes the network node 16 with a radio interface 62. In some embodiments, the network node 16 is configured to, and / or the network nodel6’s processing circuitry 68 is configured to perform the functions and / or methods described herein for preparing / initiating / maintaining / supporting / ending a transmission to the WD 22, and / or preparing / terminating / maintaining / supporting / ending in receipt of a transmission from the WD 22.

[0219] In some embodiments, the WD 22 is configured to, and / or comprises a radio interface 82 and / or processing circuitry 84 configured to perform the functions and / or methods described herein for preparing / initiating / maintaining / supporting / ending a transmission to the network node 16, and / or preparing / terminating / maintaining / supporting / ending in receipt of a transmission from the network node 16.

[0220] Although FIGS. 12 and 13 show various “units” such as NN management unit 32, and WD management unit 34 as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0221] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 84 (including the WD management unit 34), processor 86, radio interface 82 and / or communication interface 60. Wireless device 22 such as via processing circuitry 84 and / or processor 86 and / or radio interface 82 is configured to determine (Block SI 00) a period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more indicated beams in a WD initiated beam indication report and perform (Block SI 02) one or more actions based on the determined period of time.

[0222] In some embodiments, the method includes to one or more of transmitting a first indication indicating that the WD 22 is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; signaling the WD initiated beam report; receiving, from the network node 16, a second indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam; applying a spatial filter in response to the second indication; and determining a beam switching time and a beam application time based on when the network node 16 signals the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement.

[0223] In some other embodiments, the period of time the WD 22 is to store QCL related information is based on a time delay between the WD 22 signaling the WD initiated beam report and receiving the second indication.

[0224] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 16. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 68 (including the NN management unit 32), processor 70, radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60. Network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 68 and / or processor 70 and / or radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60 is configured to receive (Block SI 04) a WD initiated beam report and cause transmission (Block SI 06), to the WD 22, of a second indication indicating one or both of a WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam. The second indication is usable by the WD 22 to determine a period of time the WD 22 is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more indicated beams in the WD initiated beam indication report. The network node 16 is further configured to perform (Block SI 08) one or more actions based on the second indication and the period of time.

[0225] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving a first indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report.

[0226] In some other embodiments, the second indication is usable by the WD 22 to determine a beam switching time and a beam application time based on when the network node signals the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement.

[0227] FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 84 (including the WD management unit 34), processor 86, radio interface 82 and / or communication interface 60. Wireless device 22 such as via processing circuitry 84 and / or processor 86 and / or radio interface 82 is configured to transmit (Block SI 10), to the network node 16, of a beam switch report associated with WD initiated beam switching from a first beam to a second beam. The first beam and the second beam are usable by the WD 22 to communicate with the network node 16. The wireless device 22 is further configured to switch (Block SI 12) from the first beam to the second beam and switch back (Block SI 14) to the first beam, if the WD 22 has not received a beam switching response from the network node 16 after a predetermined time instance has elapsed.

[0228] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, from the network node 16, an indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfauback) corresponding to the predetermined time instance.

[0229] In some other embodiments, Tfaubackis associated with one or more of a carrier frequency, a numerology, a bandwidth part, a time division duplex (TDD) pattern, a transmission direction, and reference signal configurations.

[0230] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting a WD capability indication indicating one or more of: (A) support for the WD initiated beam switching including a range or parameter sets of T^auback(B) support for a separate Tfaubackconfiguration for WD initiated downlink beam switching and WD initiated uplink beam switching; and (C) support for a latency configuration of Tfanback.

[0231] In some other embodiments, the first beam is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), the second beam is associated with a second SSB, and switching back to the first beam is based on quasi co-located information of the first SSB.

[0232] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 16. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 68 (including the NN management unit 32), processor 70, radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60. Network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 68 and / or processor 70 and / or radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60 is configured to transmit (Block SI 16), to the WD 22, of information associated with a predetermined time instance corresponding to a WD initiated beam switching from a first beam to a second beam. The first beam and the second beam are usable by the network node 16 to communicate with the WD 22, and the predetermined time instance is usable by the WD 22 to switch back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time instance has elapsed. The network node is further configured to communicate (Block SI 18) with the WD 22 using one of the first beam and the second beam.

[0233] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, to the WD 22, an indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfaiiback) corresponding to the predetermined time instance.

[0234] In some other embodiments, Tfaubackis associated with one or more of a carrier frequency, a numerology, a bandwidth part, a time division duplex (TDD) pattern, a transmission direction, and reference signal configurations.

[0235] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving a WD capability indication indicating one or more of: (A) support for the WD initiated beam switching including a range or parameter sets of T^auback(B) support for a separate Tfaubackconfiguration for WD initiated downlink beam switching and WD initiated uplink beam switching; and (C) support for a latency configuration of Tfanback.

[0236] In some other embodiments, the first beam is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), the second beam is associated with a second SSB, and switching back to the first beam is based on quasi co-located information of the first SSB.

[0237] FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 16 for time restriction for wireless device (WD) initiated beam report. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 68 (including the configuration unit 32), processor 70, radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60. Network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 68 and / or processor 70 and / or radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60 is configured to configure (Block S120) the WD 22 with a WD initiated beam reporting configuration. The process includes receiving (Block S122) a first WD initiated beam report configured according to the WD initiated beam reporting configuration.

[0238] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD 22 to wait before triggering the first WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD 22 to wait before sending an indication to the method, the indication signaling a next WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, the time restriction T1 is dependent upon at least one of a numerology or subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T2 indicating a minimum time for the WD 22 to wait before triggering a second WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, the first and second WD initiated beam reports indicate a same preferred beam. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports to be reporting within a time duration T5. FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 84 (including the beam reporting unit 34), processor 86, radio interface 82 and / or communication interface 60. Wireless device 22 such as via processing circuitry 84 and / or processor 86 and / or radio interface 82 is configured to receive (Block SI 24) from the network node 16 a WD initiated beam reporting configuration. The process includes transmitting (Block S126) a first WD initiated beam report configured according to the WD initiated beam reporting configuration.

[0239] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD 22 to wait before triggering the first WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD 22 to wait before sending an indication to the method, the indication signaling a next WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, the time restriction T1 is dependent upon at least one of a numerology or subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T2 indicating a minimum time for the WD 22 to wait before triggering a second WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, the first and second WD initiated beam reports indicate a same preferred beam. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports to be reporting within a time duration T5.

[0240] FIG. 20 shows a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 84 (including the beam reporting unit 34), processor 86, radio interface 82 and / or communication interface 60. Wireless device 22 such as via processing circuitry 84 and / or processor 86 and / or radio interface 82 is configured to a determine (Block S128), based on one or more parameters, one or more of: (A) a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay associated with a WD initiated beam report; (B) a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process; and (C) a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. WD 22 is also configured to perform (Block S130) one or more actions based on one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication. In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams. In some other embodiments, the method further includes one or more of: (A) transmitting a fourth indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; (B) transmitting the WD initiated beam report; (C) receiving, from the network node 16, a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam (e.g., a serving beam); (D) determining one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received; and (E) applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

[0241] In some embodiments, the method further includes, when the first timing indication is determined: (A) determining a storage period of time the WD 22 is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and (B) storing the QCL related information for the storage period of time.

[0242] In some other embodiments, the method further includes switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

[0243] In some embodiments, performing the fallback beam switching includes switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report and switching back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0244] In some other embodiments, the method further includes receiving, from the network node, a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfaiiback) corresponding to the predetermined time.

[0245] In some embodiments, the third timing indication is determined based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: (A) the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; (B) the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node 16 that the WD 22 has at least one WD initiated beam report to send; (C) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and (E) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams. In some other embodiments, the method further includes determining (e.g., obtaining, receiving, etc.) a second configuration configuring the WD 22 with joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD 22 is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.

[0246] In some embodiments, the method further includes determining (e.g., obtaining, receiving, etc.) a third configuration configuring the WD 22 with a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

[0247] In some other embodiments, the one or more parameters include one or more of: (A) timing information associated with signaling between the WD 22 and the network node 16; (B) a carrier frequency; (C) a numerology; (D) a bandwidth part; (E) a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; (F) transmission direction; (G) reference signal configurations; and (H) a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0248] In some embodiments, the one or more actions includes one or more of: (A) switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node 16 indicates the beam to the WD 22; (B) switching to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node; and (C) transmitting at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

[0249] In one or more embodiments, the WD 22 may stay in or keep using the switched beam upon receiving an acknowledgement (ACK), perform switching to the beam which the network node 16 includes in a not ACK (NACK) message, and / or perform fall back to the previous serving beam if there is only a NACK without a new beam, or there is no network node feedback.

[0250] FIG. 21 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 16 for time restriction for wireless device (WD) initiated beam report. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 68 (including the configuration unit 32), processor 70, radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60. Network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 68 and / or processor 70 and / or radio interface 62 and / or communication interface 60 is configured to receive (Block SI 32) a WD initiated beam report from the WD 22, where the WD initiated beam report is associated with one or more of a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay. A second timing indication indicates when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process, and a third timing indication indicates a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports. The network node 16 is also configured to determine (Block SI 34) a beam based on the WD initiated beam report and one or both of transmit beam indication indicating the beam to the WD 22 and transmit a WD switching response indicating to the WD 22 to switch to the beam (Block SI 36).

[0251] In some embodiments, the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

[0252] In some other embodiments, the method further includes one or more of: (A) receiving a fourth indication indicating that the WD 22 is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; (B) receiving the WD initiated beam report; (C) transmitting, to the WD 22, a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and the beam; and (D) causing the WD (22) to determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received and applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

[0253] In some embodiments, the transmitted beam indication triggers the WD 22 to one or more of: (A) determine a storage period of time the WD 22 is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; (B) store the QCL related information for the storage period of time; and (C) switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

[0254] In some other embodiments, performing the fallback beam switching includes switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report and switching back to the first beam, if the WD 22 has not received a beam switching response from the network node 16 after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0255] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, to the WD 22, a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfauback) corresponding to the predetermined time.

[0256] In some other embodiments, the third timing indication is based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: (A) the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; (B) the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node that the WD 22 has a WD initiated beam report to send; (C) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and (D) the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

[0257] In some embodiments, the WD is configured with a second configuration including joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD 22 is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.

[0258] In some other embodiments, the WD 22 is configured with a third configuration including a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

[0259] In some embodiments, one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication are based on one or more parameters including one or more of: (A) timing information associated with signaling between the WD 22 and the network node 16; (B) a carrier frequency; (C) a numerology; (D) a bandwidth part; (E) a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; (F) a transmission direction; (G) reference signal configurations; and (H) a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0260] In some other embodiments, the method further includes performing one or more actions including one or more of: (A) causing the WD 22 to switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node 16 indicates the beam to the WD 22; (B) causing the WD 22 to switch to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node; and (C) receiving at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

[0261] Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for determining a timing indication for beam switch delay of a WD initiated beam indication.

[0262] In some embodiments, a capability, configuration, event, indication, etc. may be initiated by the WD and may refer to a capability, configuration, event, indication, etc. initiated by the UE. For example, a WD beam reporting capability may refer to a UE initiated beam reporting capability. Similarly, a WD-initiated beam reporting configuration may refer to a UE initiated beam reporting configuration, a WD initiated beam report event may refer to a UE initiated beam report event, a WD initiated beam indication may refer to a UE initiated beam indication, etc. FIG. 22 is a flowchart of example a WD-initiated beam management procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. At Step S200, WD 22 signals “WD initiated beam reporting capability” (e.g., “UE-initiated beam reporting capability”). At Step S202, NN 16 signals a WD-initiated beam reporting configuration (e.g., a “UE initiated beam reporting configuration”). At Step S204, NN 16 transmits DL-RSs. At Step S206, WD 22 performs measurements on the DL-RSs and triggers a WD-initiated beam report event (e.g., UE initiated beam report event). At Step S208, WD 22 may indicate that it will signal a WD-initiated beam report, which is signaled at Step S210. The WD initiated beam indication procedure in Step 208 (or any other step) can be skipped such as when a condition is met.

[0263] How long the beam application delay should be (i.e., the time between S212 and Step S214) may be determined, e.g., partly depending on the delay between Step S210 and Step S212. In the WD-initiated beam indication procedure, a beam indication is included in the beam report. A WD initiated beam indication (or WD initiated beam indication report) may be equivalent to a WD initiated beam report, i.e., a WD initiated beam report including a beam indication. The beam indication or report may comprise one or more candidate beams to switch to.

[0264] To facilitate fast beam switching, the WD may store the QCL related information about the one or more candidate beams so that it can be able to quickly switch to a new beam when it is indicated by the network (in Step S212). However, if Step S212 takes longer than a predetermined period of time, the QCL related information kept by the WD may become outdated, and a fast beam switching may not be possible. In order to make sure that the network node 16 and WD 22 have the same assumption on whether the QCL related information is outdated, in one embodiment, a timer (TO) is introduced in the specification that indicates for how long the QCL related information could be assumed to be applicable. The timer starts when a beam indication report is sent by the WD 22. The timer always starts with an initial value representing TO. In one embodiment, the timer (TO) is pre-configured according to the specification. In another embodiment, the WD 22 can be configured by the network node 16 with a value of time TO, e.g. using MAC-CE or RRC signaling. At Step S214, WD 22 applies the new spatial filter, at Step S216, WD 22 and NN 16 communicate using the new beam pair.

[0265] FIGS. 23 and 24 show example beam management processes. The acknowledgement from the network node 16 (Step S212 in FIG. 22) to the WD 22 is within the time TO from the WD initiated beam report, and hence the beam switching delay would be short since the QCL related information associated with the indicated beam has been saved by the WD 22 and is assumed to still be valid. In the bottom part of the figure, the Acknowledge from the network to the WD 22 is sent at a time more than TO after the corresponding WD initiated beam report, and hence the beam switching delay would be long (i.e., the delay would be comparable to the legacy beam switching delay) because the QCL related information associated with the indicated beam is assumed to be outdated. In some cases, the network may assume the WD initiated beam report is outdated if TO expires.

[0266] In one embodiment, the time domain parameter about how long a WD should stay in the pre-switched beam (i.e., the beam indicated as best beam in the beam report) is indicated to WD 22 via at least one of the following manners:

[0267] • higher layer signaling, e.g. RRC reconfiguration message;

[0268] • MACCE;

[0269] • DCI; and

[0270] • Predefined in the specs.

[0271] In some embodiments, the WD 22 stores the QCL related information of one or more of the beams included in the beam indication report until the timer TO expires.

[0272] In some other embodiments, the acknowledgement signal is the beam indication signal (in Rel-17 Unified TCI framework) carried in PDCCH which contains the same “Best beam” as WD 22 reported.

[0273] In some embodiments, the acknowledge signal is the beam activation signal (in the 3GPP Rel-15 / 16 TCI framework) carried in MACCE which contains the same “Best beam” as WD reported.

[0274] In some other embodiments, a Beam Application Time (BAT) is introduced which specifies the application time of the newly determined beam. There are different methods to determine BAT for WD initiated beam indication, depending on whether the acknowledge message (Step S212) from the network regarding the new beam is received within TO after WD 22 sent the WD initiated beam report (Step S210).

[0275] • If the acknowledgement message from the network is received within TO and the beam indication / beam activation signal contains the same “Best beam” as in the WD initiated in the beam report, BAT within TO (e.g., from the BAT configuration) is used by the WD 22 to switch to the identified “Best beam”, where the BAT may start after for example: o 1. The last symbol of PDCCH carrying the beam indication DCI (the acknowledge message in Step S212) indicating the same “Best beam” as in the WD initiated beam report o 2. The last symbol of PDSCH carrying the beam activation MAC CE (the acknowledge message in Step S212) activating the same beam as the indicated “Best beam” in the WD initiated beam report o 3. The transmission of the Acknowledge message for the reception of the beam activation MAC CE o 4. The ACK transmitted in PUCCH for confirming the message in PDCCH / PDSCH in sub-bullets 1 and 2 above.

[0276] • If the acknowledgement signal is received after TO and the beam switching indication / beam activation signal contains the same beam as the indicated “Best beam” in the WD initiated beam report: o BAT after TO (e.g., from the BAT configuration) is applied, and BAT after TO is equal or larger than BAT within TO. o If BAT is not supported / configured. The WD 22 is expected to receive the DL-RS associated with the indicated “Best beam” first before it can switch to that beam.

[0277] In another embodiment, if the candidate beams in the beam indication report are already activated, i.e., they are associated to the activated TCI states at the time of the beam report, the network can indicate a beam switch to one of the candidate beams by DCI. Then BAT is not needed or BAT=0.

[0278] If the candidate beams in the beam indication report are not activated, i.e., they are not associated to any of activated TCI states at the time of the beam report, at least one TCI state associated to the beam to be switched to in the candidate beams needs to be activated first. The activation is typically via a MAC CE carried in a PDSCH. If the MAC CE is received within the TO time period, the beam or the TCI state can be considered activated after acknowledgement for the PDSCH is sent, or a short time period (e.g., BAT within TO) after the acknowledgement is sent since QCL information associated to the beam is already available at the WD 22. If the MAC CE is received at a time at which the TO timer has expired, then the WD 22 needs to reacquire the QCL information for the beam and a longer activation time (e.g., BAT after TO) is needed.

[0279] In one embodiment, the value of TO is associated to, but not limited to, the following configurations / parameters:

[0280] • carrier frequency; • numerology (subcarrier spacing);

[0281] • bandwidth part;

[0282] • TDD pattern;

[0283] • Transmission direction (Uplink or Downlink); and

[0284] • Reference Signal configurations.

[0285] The value for B AT within TO can be determined according to at least one of the following: nA7subframe, ii , , , ,

[0286] • Nsiot(as legacy value);

[0287] • a configured value by network where the range shall be smaller than the indicated value in WD capability signaling;

[0288] • A value indicated by WD capability associated with WD initiated beam indication; and

[0289] • A predefined value in specification.

[0290] For a WD 22 configured with same numerology for active BWP for UL and DL, and TO is configured as number of slots for this WD 22, and if the WD 22 transmit a beam report at slot n with reported best beam Al, if WD 22 receives a DCI in PDCCH that indicates the WD 22 to switch to beam Al within n + TO time, the WD 22 shall switch to the new beam after BAT within TO after WD 22 received the last symbol of PDCCH carrying the DCI.

[0291] In one embodiment, the timer / counter TO is reset every time a WD initiated beam report is sent.

[0292] In one embodiment if the WD 22 is configured with multiple TRPs / Panels, e.g. simultaneous UL or DL transmission, M-TRP with different CORESETPoolIndex, the WD 22 may apply separate TO value for each TRP, i.e. there’s not timing constraint between the two WD initiated beam management signaling if they are associated with different TRPs / Panels. Note here the different TRPs or Panels can be referred to in specification as different beam or TCI group ID, different SRS resource set ID, different CSLRS resource set ID, different CORESETPoolIndex, etc.

[0293] WD capability and RRC signaling

[0294] WD 22 may indicate its supporting of following WD capabilities:

[0295] • Support of WD initiated beam indication and support at least one of the following in its WD capability indications: o range or parameter set of WD initiated signaling interval TO; and o BeamAppTime-rl9. An example of RRC signaling of beam activation time (configuration) may be as follows:

[0296] PDSCH-Config

[0297] {

[0298] BeamAppTime-UEInitWithinTO

[0299] BeamAppTime-UEInitAfterTO

[0300] }

[0301] FIG. 25 shows an example WD-initiated beam report process, where a beam is switched in response to a network node confirmation). At Step S400, WD 22 performs one or more measurements and / or evaluations which may be associated with a target beam and / or SSBO. At Step S402, pre-synchronization may be performed and may be associated with uplink and downlink signaling. At Step S404, a report associated with a better beam and / or a beam update request is made, transmitted, received, etc. At Step S406, WD 22 performs one or more measurements and / or evaluations which may be associated with a target beam and / or SSB2. At Step S408, pre-synchronization may be performed and may be associated with uplink and downlink signaling. At Step S410, a beam confirmation of SSBO is received (e.g.,. by WD 22) and may include a beam indication DCI. At StepS412, WD 22 (and / or network node 16) may switch to SSBO. WD 22 may maintain target beam SSBO and be ready for quick beam switching.

[0302] FIG. 26 shows steps of an example method of a WD 22 initiated beam switching procedure. Not all the steps may be needed as at least some steps may be optional.

[0303] In Step S500, the WD 22 indicates during WD capability signaling that it supports WD initiated beam reporting and WD initiated beam switching. In Step S502, the network node 16 configures the WD 22 with the WD initiated beam reporting and WD initiated beam switching, for example setting different parameters on how to perform the trigger of the WD initiated beam management events, how to do the WD initiated beam report (including a report on the WD preferred / recommended beam for the pre-switch), how to do the WD initiated beam switching etc. In Step S504, the network node 16 transmits downlink reference signals (DL-RS), e.g., CSI-RSs, SSBs or new DL-RSs in 6G. In Step 4, the WD 22 performs measurements on the DL-RSs and evaluates if a WD initiated beam reporting trigger event has occurred. In Step S506, if such WD initiated beam reporting trigger event has occurred, the WD 22 optionally indicates to the network node 16 in S508 that the WD 22 will transmit a WD initiated beam report to the network node 16. In Step S510, the WD 22 transmits the WD initiated beam report.

[0304] In Step S512, WD 22 switches to the newly determined best beam. In Step S514, the network node 16 and the WD 22 communicates using the new beam pair link determined during the WD initiated beam switching procedure. In Step S516, the network node 16 receives the WD initiated beam report and optionally transmits a WD initiated beam report response to the WD 22. In Step S518, WD 22 falls back to the previous beam if it does not receive a “beam switching response” from the network node 16.

[0305] That is, in Steps S512-S518, the WD 22 performs a WD initiated beam switching after a WD initiated beam report is sent.

[0306] In one embodiment, the WD initiated beam report signaling comprises but not limited to the messages sending from a WD 22 towards the network node 16 to initiate a beam management related operation, including one or more than one following messages.

[0307] • SR in PUCCH;

[0308] • UCI in PUCCH and / or PUSCH;

[0309] • MACCE in PUSCH;

[0310] • PRACH;

[0311] • SRS.

[0312] In one embodiment the time domain parameter (e.g., Tfauback) about how long a WD 22 should stay in the pre-switched beam is indicated to WD 22 via at least one of the following manners:

[0313] • higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC reconfiguration message;

[0314] • MACCE;

[0315] • DCI;

[0316] • Predefined in the specs.

[0317] In one embodiment, Tfaubackmay be associated to a timer / counter. In some scenario, the timer is always started or restarted from its initial value, which is the associated Tfaubackvalue. In this case, the timer expires when it reaches value 0. In some embodiments, the timer is always started or restarted with value 0 and expires when it reaches the value Tfauback. In some other embodiments, the timer may be stopped. In some embodiments, a timer is running once it is started, until it is stopped or until it expires. A timer can have the any of the following statuses: • Started, the timer starts to run from the current value towards the end value. The current value can be the initial value or a value different from the initial value.

[0318] • Restarted: the timer is set to the initial value and starts to run towards the end value.

[0319] • Expired: the timer reaches its end value and stops running.

[0320] • Stopped: the timer stops running without reaching its end value.

[0321] • Reset: the timer is set to the initial value but does not start to run.

[0322] In one embodiment ,when a WD 22 applies the “WD initiated beam switching”, upon receiving the fallback timing configuration Tfauback, the WD 22 stores the Tfaubackin its processing memory. In some embodiments, when WD 22 has initiated beam switching procedure in Steps S512-S518, the WD 22 stores the QCL and / or spatial information of the serving link / beam in its processing memory, applies the new beam / spatial filter. Then, the WD 22 may wait for the “WD initiated beam switching response” (Step S516) from the network node 16 in order to successfully complete the WD 22 initiated beam switching. Successfully completing may refer to the WD 22 staying in the same beam as WD 22 reported and temporally switched to. If the response is not received within the TfaUbacktime duration, the WD 22 can assume the network node 16 does not approve the new beam in the beam report for this WD initiated occasion and may switch back to the previous known serving link using the stored QCL information, as shown in FIG. 27. The TfaUbacktime may be assumed to start from a time that is supposed to be known to both network node 16 and WD 22 in Step S508 or Step S510, e.g., the slot WD 22 transmits the WD initiated the beam report to the network node 16.

[0323] More specifically, FIG. 27 shows the acknowledge message (i.e., the beam switching response in Step S516) is received within Tfauback, which was started immediately after the WD initiated beam report was transmitted. Since the temporary beam switching initiated by WD 22 is acknowledged by network node 16 in time, WD 22 can continue communicate with the network node 16 using the pre-switched beam, i.e., the one which is indicated in the WD initiated beam report.

[0324] FIG. 28 shows another example about the application of Tfanback. At step S600, Tfaiiback is configured. At step S602, measurements and / or evaluations associated with SSBs and / or physical channels may be performed. At step S604, beam switch is reported and / or temporary beam switch to SSBO is performed. Step S606 may or may not be performed. For example, a beam confirmation (beam indication DCI) associated with SSBO may not (or not need to) be performed. At step S608, no response is received within T2, and a switch back to beam associated with SSB1 is performed.

[0325] More specifically, WD 22 detects a new “Best beam” SSBO which is different from its serving beam (associated with SSB1). The WD 22 may store the serving beam information (e.g. QCL information of SSB1) in its processing memory, and transmit a WD initiated beam report to the network node 16 (carried in the PUCCH / PUSCH(MACCE) / SRS), and switch to the “Best beam” SSBO. Thereafter, the WD 22 may monitor the PDCCH and PDSCH which are QCLed with SSBO. In the nonlimiting example, the WD 22 does not receive an acknowledge response from the network node 16 before the timer Tfaubackis expired. When Tfaubackexpires, it corresponds to a failure of the WD initiated beam switching procedure, which means the WD 22 has to switch back to the previous beam associated with SSB1 based on the stored QCL information of SSB1. At the same time, the network node 16 is aware that the WD 22 switched back to SSB1 after TfaUbackis expired.

[0326] In some embodiments, the time-domain parameter TfaUbackis associated to, but not limited to, the following configurations / parameters:

[0327] • carrier frequency;

[0328] • numerology (subcarrier spacing);

[0329] • bandwidth part;

[0330] • TDD pattern;

[0331] • Transmission direction (Uplink or Downlink);

[0332] • Reference Signal configurations, e.g., the periodicity, etc.

[0333] In one example, if multiple DL-RS measurement occasions is configured within Tfaiibacki WD 22 may send a second WD initiated beam report within Tfauback, and reset, or restart the Tfaubacktimer if a better beam is identified in the said DL-RS measurement occasions. In another example, in order to prevent the WD 22 sending at least one second WD initiated beam report within Tfauback, the value of Tfaubackshould be smaller than the periodicity of the DL reference signal configured for beam management.

[0334] In one embodiment, the timer / counter associated with Tfaubackstarts at the same time as the WD 22 switches to the newly identified “best beam”, as reported to the network node 16 in the WD initiated beam report. In one detailed embodiment, the WD 22 switches to the new beam at an offset from the time instance the WD initiated beam report is sent. The latency offset can be configured by the network node 16, or following the specification etc.

[0335] In one embodiment, the timer / counter Tfanbackstarts immediately after the transmission of the WD initiated beam report, before WD 22 switches to the newly identified best beam.

[0336] In one embodiment, the timer / counter Tfanbackis reset after receiving a “beam switching response” from the network node 16. The WD 22 may fall back from the preswitched beam to the previous beam (associated to the active TCI state) if a NACK message is received. Alternatively, WD 22 may continue communicate with the network node 16 using the pre-switched beam if an ACK message is received. In a detailed embodiment, in the same beam switching response, the network node 16 may update the active TCI state to the pre-switched beam.

[0337] In one embodiment, if the WD 22 does not receive a “beam switching response” from the network node 16, the timer / counter Tfaubackis reset after it is expired. In this case, the WD 22 may immediately fall back from the pre-switched beam to the previous beam which is associated to the active TCI state.

[0338] In one embodiment, the timer / counter TfaUbackis reset if WD 22 sends a new WD initiated beam report before TfaUbackexpires. The second WD initiated beam report can carry different or same information as in the first WD initiated beam report. Alternatively, WD 22 is not allowed to send a second WD initiated beam report before TfaUbackexpires. In another example, WD 22 is not allowed to send a second WD initiated beam report which carries same information before TfaUbackexpires.

[0339] In one embodiment, a WD 22 is configured with WD initiated beam reporting + beam switching for separate DL / UL TCI states, such that the WD 22 monitors two different serving links, one serving link related to the DL signal s / channels (i.e. associated with the indicated DL TCI State) and one serving link relate to the UL signal s / channels (i.e. associated with the indicated UL TCI State). In one embodiment, the timing parameter TfaUbackcan be configured commonly or individually per serving link. For example, the WD 22 can be configured with a common TfaUback= X ms for both the DL serving link and UL serving link, or T^anback DL= X ms for the WD initiated DL beam switching and Tfanback UL= Y ms for the WD initiated UL beam switching, respectively.

[0340] In one embodiment, if the WD 22 is configured with multiple TRPs / Panels, e.g., simultaneous UL or DL transmission, M-TRP with different CORESETPoolIndex, the WD 22 may apply separate T^anbackvalue for each TRP, i.e. there’s not timing constraint between the two WD initiated beam management signaling if they are associated with different TRPs / Panels. Different TRPs or Panels may be referred to as different beams or TCI group IDs, different SRS resource set IDs, different CSI-RS resource set IDs, different CORESETPoolIndex / Indices, etc.

[0341] WD capability

[0342] WD 22 may indicate its supporting of following WD capabilities:

[0343] • Support of WD initiated beam switching including the range or parameter sets of the time restriction parameters Tfanback

[0344] • Support of separate Tfaubackconfiguration for WD initiated DL beam switching and WD initiated UL beam switching;

[0345] • Support of latency configuration of Tfauback, i.e., the start time of the timer / counter TfcMback.

[0346] In some embodiments, the WD 22 may be configured (e.g., by network node 16) to perform one or more steps of the embodiments via an RRC configuration.

[0347] In some embodiments of the present disclosure all the three type of WD initiated reports (i.e., 1. WD initiated beam report, 2. WD initiated beam indication, and 3. WD initiated beam switching) may be generally referred to as “WD initiated beam report” Referring again to FIG. 22, some embodiments related to step S206 are described. More specifically, the WD 22 determines if a WD initiated beam report event has occurred or not (which for example partly may be based on comparing measurements of candidate DL-RS a DL-RS associated with the currently applied Joint TCI state). If such an event is triggered, the WD 22 may proceed to steps S208 and S210, and transmit the WD initiated beam report. In some embodiments, due to e.g., unreliable RSRP measurements, or fast fading channels, such WD initiated beam report event may occur rather frequently, which might consume too many UL resources. Hence, in some other embodiments of this disclosure, the WD 22 may be configured with one or more timing restrictions that limits how frequently the WD 22 may trigger such WD initiated beam report.

[0348] In some embodiments, a WD 22 configured with WD initiated beam reporting may be configured with a time restriction Tl, which indicates the minimum time the WD 22 has to wait before triggering or transmitting a second beam report after the first beam report. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 29

[0349] In some embodiments, time restriction Tl may be defined as the minimum time the WD 22 has to wait before sending an indication to the network (i.e., in step5 in FIG. 22) that it may signal the next “WD initiated beam report”. In some embodiments, assuming the indication to the network regarding the next “WD initiated report” is sent on a PUCCH SR, then T1 is minimum time between a first WD initiated beam report and the PUCCH-SR carrying an indication to the network regarding an upcoming second WD initiated beam report.

[0350] In some embodiments, the time restriction may be dependent on the numerology or sub-carrier spacing of one or more of: the DL-RSs used for measurements in step S206 in FIG. 22, the numerology of PUCCH, or the numerology of PUSCH.

[0351] In some embodiments, a WD 22 configured with WD initiated beam reporting, may be configured with a time restriction T2, which indicates the minimum time the WD 22 has to wait before triggering or transmitting a second beam reports after a first beam report, where the first and the second beam reports indicate the same preferred beam. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 30, within T2 duration, the beam report #2 containing "Best beam SSB1” may be transmitted, but not the beam report containing “Best beam SSBO” as SSBO is the same best beam as is reported in Beam report#l.

[0352] In some embodiments, a WD 22 configured with WD initiated beam reporting, may be configured with a time restriction T3, which indicates the minimum time the WD 22 has to wait before triggering or transmitting a second beam report after a first beam report, where the first and the second beam report indicates different preferred beams. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 31.

[0353] In some embodiments, a WD 22 is configured with WD initiated beam reporting and with separate DL / UL TCI states, such that the WD 22 monitors two different serving links, one serving link related to the DL signal s / channels (i.e., associated with the indicated DL TCI State) and one serving link related to the UL signal s / channels (i.e., associated with the indicated UL TCI State). In some embodiments, one or more of Tl, T2 and T3 may be configured individually per serving link. For example, the WD 22 may be configured with T 1=200 ms for both the DL serving link and UL serving link, and may in this case trigger a WD initiated beam report for DL service link and one for UL service link at maximum frequency of 200ms (i.e., there are no timing related restrictions between the two serving links). In other words, the timing restriction may be applied independently for DL serving link and UL serving link.

[0354] In some embodiments, a new parameter T4, is used to also indicate the minimum time distance between a WD initiated beam report for a first service link and for WD initiated beam reports for the second serving link.

[0355] In some embodiments, a WD 22 configured with WD initiated beam reporting may be configured with a maximum number of reports for WD initiated beam reporting within a time duration T5. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 32 where the maximum number of reports is 2 within a time duration T5. In some embodiments, the T5 duration is configured by higher layer signaling, and the WD 22 determines the starting time of T5 via time parameters in RRC configuration, e.g. slot offset and system frame number (SFN). In some embodiments WD 22 determines the starting time of T5 to be associated with transmission time (slot) of each and every WD initiated Beam report.

[0356] Each of T1 to T5 may be associated to a timer. Each of the timers is started every time a beam indication report is sent, or a corresponding acknowledgement is received. The timer is always started or restarted from its initial value, which is the associated T value (e.g., a timer associated to T1 is initialized with Tl). In some scenarios, a timer may be stopped. For example, a timer may be stopped when a desired beam switch according to a previous beam indication report has occurred. A timer runs once it is started, until it is stopped or until it expires. A beam indication report may only be sent when one or more of the timers are stopped or expired (i.e., the timer value is reached to zero).

[0357] WD initiated beam report signaling comprises but is not limited to the messages sending from a WD 22 towards the network to initiate a beam management report related operation, including one or more of the following messages:

[0358] • SR in PUCCH;

[0359] • Uplink control information (UCI) in PUCCH and / or PUSCH;

[0360] • MAC CE in PUSCH;

[0361] • Physical random access channel (PRACH); and / or

[0362] • SRS.

[0363] In some embodiments one or more of the time restrictions T1,T2, T3 and T4 indicating the minimum time between two adjacent WD initiated beam reports is configured / indicated to WD 22 via at least one of the following manners:

[0364] • higher layer signaling, e.g. RRC reconfiguration message;

[0365] • MACCE; and / or

[0366] • Predefined in 3 GPP Specifications.

[0367] Upon receiving this configuration / indication of at least one of the time gap Tl, T2, T3 , T4 and T5, the WD 22 may store this parameter(s) in its memory. For each time the WD 22 may observe an event that fulfills the condition(s) to trigger a WD initiated beam management signaling, the WD 22 may first check the status of T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 / T5, for example if it is being set or reset from the latest reception of T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 / T5 value after e.g., RRC reconfiguration message. If this is the first time T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 / T5 is used, the WD 22 may initiate its first WD initiated beam report and store in its memory the time stamp of the first WD initiated beam report. WD 22 stores a time stamp each time the WD initiated report being transmitted. If the current beam report transmission is not the first, i.e., there’s earlier beam report transmissions performed after the set or reset of the T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 / T5 timer / counter, the WD 22 may compare the time difference between the latest time stamp(s) to determine when to transmit a new beam report, if the time difference is larger than (or equal to) T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 / T5 value, WD 22 may initiate a new beam report transmission. It should be noted that the WD 22 is not expected to transmit a WD initiated beam report if the time gap between the two adjacent signaling is smaller than (or equal to) T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 value.

[0368] In some embodiments, if the WD 22 is configured with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) / Panels, e.g. simultaneous UL or DL transmission, M-TRP with different CORESETPoolIndex, the WD 22 may apply separate T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 / T5 value(s) for each TRP, i.e., there’s no timing constraint between the two WD initiated beam management signaling if they are associated with different TRPs / Panels. Note here the different TRPs or Panels may be referred to in specification as different beam or TCI group ID, different SRS resource set ID, different CSI-RS resource set ID, different CORESETPoolIndex, etc.

[0369] In some embodiments, the timer / counter for T1 / T2 / T3 / T4 is reset every time a WD initiated beam report is sent.

[0370] WD capability

[0371] WD 22 may indicate its supporting of following WD capabilities:

[0372] • Support of WD initiated beam reporting including the range or parameter sets of at least one of the time restriction parameters Tl, T2, T3 , T4 and T5; and / or

[0373] • For a WD to support T5, it may also report the maximum number of WD initiated report associated with T5.

[0374] The following is a list of nonlimiting example embodiments.

[0375] Embodiment Al . A wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, the WD configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or comprising processing circuitry configured to: determine a period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more indicated beams in a WD initiated beam indication report; and perform one or more actions based on the determined period of time.

[0376] Embodiment A2. The WD of Embodiment Al, the WD is further configured to one or more of cause transmission of a first indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; signal the WD initiated beam report; receive, from the network node, a second indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam; apply a spatial filter in response to the second indication; and determine a beam switching time and a beam application time based on when the network node signals the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement.

[0377] Embodiment A3. The WD of any one of Embodiments Al and A2, wherein the period of time the WD is to store QCL related information is based on a time delay between the WD signaling the WD initiated beam report and receiving the second indication.

[0378] Embodiment Bl. A method in a wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, the method comprising: determining a period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more indicated beams in a WD initiated beam indication report; and performing one or more actions based on the determined period of time.

[0379] Embodiment B2. The method of Embodiment Bl, wherein the method further includes one or more of: transmitting a first indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; signaling the WD initiated beam report; receiving, from the network node, a second indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam; applying a spatial filter in response to the second indication; and determining a beam switching time and a beam application time based on when the network node signals the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement.

[0380] Embodiment B3. The method of any one of Embodiments Bl and B2, wherein the period of time the WD is to store QCL related information is based on a time delay between the WD signaling the WD initiated beam report and receiving the second indication.

[0381] Embodiment Cl . A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), the network node configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or processing circuitry configured to: receive a WD initiated beam report; cause transmission, to the WD, of a second indication indicating one or both of a WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam, the second indication being usable by the WD to determine a period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more indicated beams in the WD initiated beam indication report; and perform one or more actions based on the second indication and the period of time.

[0382] Embodiment C2. The network node of Embodiment Cl, wherein the network node is further configured to: receive a first indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report.

[0383] Embodiment C3. The network node of any one of Embodiments Cl and C2, wherein the second indication is usable by the WD to determine a beam switching time and a beam application time based on when the network node signals the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement.

[0384] Embodiment DI . A method in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), the method comprising: receiving a WD initiated beam report; transmitting, to the WD, a second indication indicating one or both of a WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam, the second indication being usable by the WD to determine a period of time the WD is to store quasi co-location (QCL) related information associated with one or more indicated beams in the WD initiated beam indication report; and performing one or more actions based on the second indication and the period of time.

[0385] Embodiment D2. The method of Embodiment DI, wherein the network node is further configured to: receive a first indication indicating that the WD is going to signal the WD initiated beam report.

[0386] Embodiment D3. The method of any one of Embodiments Cl and C2, wherein the second indication is usable by the WD to determine a beam switching time and a beam application time based on when the network node signals the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement.

[0387] Embodiment El . A wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, the WD configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or comprising processing circuitry configured to one or more of: cause transmission of, i.e., transmit, to the network node, a beam switch report associated with WD initiated beam switching from a first beam to a second beam, the first beam and the second beam being usable by the WD to communicate with the network node; switch from the first beam to the second beam; and switch back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time instance has elapsed.

[0388] Embodiment E2. The WD of Embodiment El, wherein in the WD is further configured to: receive, from the network node, an indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfauback) corresponding to the predetermined time instance.

[0389] Embodiment E3. The WD of Embodiment E2, wherein Tfaubackis associated with one or more of: a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; a transmission direction; and reference signal configurations.

[0390] Embodiment E4. The WD of any one of Embodiments E2 and E3, wherein the WD is further configured to: cause transmission of a WD capability indication indicating one or more of: support for the WD initiated beam switching including a range or parameter sets of Tfallback, support for a separate T^allbackconfiguration for WD initiated downlink beam switching and WD initiated uplink beam switching; and support for a latency configuration of Tfauhack.

[0391] Embodiment E5. The WD of any one of Embodiments E1-E4, wherein the first beam is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), the second beam is associated with a second SSB, and switching back to the first beam is based on quasi colocated information of the first SSB.

[0392] Embodiment Fl. A method in a wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, the WD method comprising one or more of: transmitting, to the network node, a beam switch report associated with WD initiated beam switching from a first beam to a second beam, the first beam and the second beam being usable by the WD to communicate with the network node; switching from the first beam to the second beam; and switching back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time instance has elapsed.

[0393] Embodiment F2. The method of Embodiment Fl, wherein in the method further includes: receiving, from the network node, an indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfauback) corresponding to the predetermined time instance.

[0394] Embodiment F3. The method of Embodiment F2, wherein Tfaubackis associated with one or more of: a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; a transmission direction; and reference signal configurations.

[0395] Embodiment F4. The method of any one of Embodiments F2 and F3, wherein the method further includes: transmitting a WD capability indication indicating one or more of: support for the WD initiated beam switching including a range or parameter sets of Tfallback, support for a separate Tfaubackconfiguration for WD initiated downlink beam switching and WD initiated uplink beam switching; and support for a latency configuration of Tfauback.

[0396] Embodiment F5. The method of any one of Embodiments F1-F4, wherein the first beam is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), the second beam is associated with a second SSB, and switching back to the first beam is based on quasi colocated information of the first SSB.

[0397] Embodiment G1. A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), the network node configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or comprising processing circuitry configured to one or more: cause transmission of, i.e., transmit, to the WD, information associated with a predetermined time instance corresponding to a WD initiated beam switching from a first beam to a second beam, the first beam and the second beam being usable by the network node to communicate with the WD, the predetermined time instance being usable by the WD to switch back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time instance has elapsed; and communicate with the WD using one of the first beam and the second beam.

[0398] Embodiment G2. The network node of Embodiment Gl, wherein in the network node is further configured to: cause transmission, to the WD, of an indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfauback) corresponding to the predetermined time instance.

[0399] Embodiment G3. The network node of Embodiment G2, wherein Tfaubackis associated with one or more of: a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; a transmission direction; and reference signal configurations.

[0400] Embodiment G4. The network node of any one of Embodiments G2 and G3, wherein the network node is further configured to: receive a WD capability indication indicating one or more of: support for the WD initiated beam switching including a range or parameter sets of Tfallback, support for a separate Tfaubackconfiguration for WD initiated downlink beam switching and WD initiated uplink beam switching; and support for a latency configuration of Tfauback.

[0401] Embodiment G5. The network node of any one of Embodiments G1-G4, wherein the first beam is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), the second beam is associated with a second SSB, and switching back to the first beam is based on quasi co-located information of the first SSB.

[0402] Embodiment Hl . A method network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), the method comprising one or more: transmitting, to the WD, information associated with a predetermined time instance corresponding to a WD initiated beam switching from a first beam to a second beam, the first beam and the second beam being usable by the network node to communicate with the WD, the predetermined time instance being usable by the WD to switch back to the first beam, if the WD has not received a beam switching response from the network node after a predetermined time instance has elapsed; and communicating with the WD using one of the first beam and the second beam.

[0403] Embodiment H2. The method of Embodiment Hl, wherein in the method further includes: transmitting, to the WD, an indication indicating a fallback timing configuration (Tfaiiback) corresponding to the predetermined time instance.

[0404] Embodiment H3. The method of Embodiment H2, wherein Tfaubackis associated with one or more of: a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex (TDD) pattern; a transmission direction; and reference signal configurations.

[0405] Embodiment H4. The method of any one of Embodiments H2 and H3, wherein the method further includes: receiving a WD capability indication indicating one or more of: support for the WD initiated beam switching including a range or parameter sets of Tfallback, support for a separate Tfaubackconfiguration for WD initiated downlink beam switching and WD initiated uplink beam switching; and support for a latency configuration of Tfauback. Embodiment H5. The method of any one of Embodiments H1-H4, wherein the first beam is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), the second beam is associated with a second SSB, and switching back to the first beam is based on quasi colocated information of the first SSB.

[0406] Embodiment II . A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), the network node configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or comprising processing circuitry configured to: configure the WD with a WD initiated beam reporting configuration; and receive a first WD initiated beam report configured according to the WD initiated beam reporting configuration.

[0407] Embodiment 12. The network node of Embodiment II, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering the first WD initiated beam report.

[0408] Embodiment 13. The network node of Embodiment II, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before sending an indication to the network node, the indication signaling a next WD initiated beam report.

[0409] Embodiment 14. The network node of any of Embodiments 12 and 13 wherein the time restriction T1 is dependent upon at least one of a numerology or subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0410] Embodiment 15. The network node of any of Embodiments 11-14, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T2 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering a second WD initiate beam report.

[0411] Embodiment 16. The network node of Embodiment 15, wherein the first and second WD initiated beam reports indicate a same preferred beam.

[0412] Embodiment 17. The network node of any of Embodiments 11-16, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports to be reporting within a time duration T5.

[0413] Embodiment JI . A method implemented in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD, the method comprising: configuring the WD with a WD initiated beam reporting configuration; and receiving a first WD initiated beam report configured according to the WD initiated beam reporting configuration.

[0414] Embodiment J2. The method of Embodiment JI, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering the first WD initiated beam report.

[0415] Embodiment J3. The method of Embodiment J 1 , wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before sending an indication to the network node, the indication signaling a next WD initiated beam report.

[0416] Embodiment J4. The method of any of Embodiments J2 and J3 wherein the time restriction T1 is dependent upon at least one of a numerology or subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0417] Embodiment J5. The method of any of Embodiments J1-J4, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T2 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering a second WD initiate beam report.

[0418] Embodiment J6. The method of Embodiment J5, wherein the first and second WD initiated beam reports indicate a same preferred beam.

[0419] Embodiment J7. The method of any of Embodiments J1-J6, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports to be reporting within a time duration T5.

[0420] Embodiment KI . A wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, the WD configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or processing circuitry configured to: receive from the network node a WD initiated beam reporting configuration; and transmit a first WD initiated beam report configured according to the WD initiated beam reporting configuration.

[0421] Embodiment K2. The WD of Embodiment KI, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering the first WD initiated beam report.

[0422] Embodiment K3. The WD of Embodiment KI, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before sending an indication to the WD, the indication signaling a next WD initiated beam report.

[0423] Embodiment K4. The WD of any of Embodiments K2 and K3 wherein the time restriction T1 is dependent upon at least one of a numerology or subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0424] Embodiment K5. The WD of any of Embodiments K1-K4, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T2 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering a second WD initiate beam report.

[0425] Embodiment K6. The WD of Embodiment K5, wherein the first and second WD initiated beam reports indicate a same preferred beam.

[0426] Embodiment K7. The WD of any of Embodiments K1-K6, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports to be reporting within a time duration T5.

[0427] Embodiment LI . A method implemented in a wireless device (WD), the method comprising: receiving from the network node a WD initiated beam reporting configuration; and transmitting a first WD initiated beam report configured according to the WD initiated beam reporting configuration.

[0428] Embodiment L2. The method of Embodiment LI, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering the first WD initiated beam report.

[0429] Embodiment L3. The method of Embodiment L 1 , wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T1 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before sending an indication to the network node, the indication signaling a next WD initiated beam report.

[0430] Embodiment L4. The method of any of Embodiments L2 and L3 wherein the time restriction T1 is dependent upon at least one of a numerology or subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

[0431] Embodiment L5. The method of any of Embodiments L1-L4, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a time restriction T2 indicating a minimum time for the WD to wait before triggering a second WD initiate beam report.

[0432] Embodiment L6. The method of Embodiment L5, wherein the first and second WD initiated beam reports indicate a same preferred beam.

[0433] Embodiment L7. The method of any of Embodiments L1-L6, wherein the WD initiated beam reporting configuration includes a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports to be reporting within a time duration T5.

[0434] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and / or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and / or functionality described herein may be performed by, and / or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

[0435] Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0436] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0437] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0438] It is to be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0439] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0440] Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and / or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

[0441] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A method in a wireless device, WD, (22) configured to perform a WD initiated beam management process and to communicate with a network node (16), the method comprising: determining (S128), based on one or more parameters, one or more of: a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay associated with a WD initiated beam report; a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process; and a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports; and performing (SI 30) one or more actions based on one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

3. The method of any one of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the method further includes one or more of: transmitting a fourth indication indicating that the WD (22) is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; transmitting the WD initiated beam report; receiving, from the network node (16), a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam; determining one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received; and applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

4. The method of any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the method further includes, when the first timing indication is determined: determining a storage period of time the WD (22) is to store quasi co-location, QCL, related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; andstoring the QCL related information for the storage period of time.

5. The method of Claim 4, wherein the method further includes: switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

6. The method of any one of Claims 1-5, wherein performing the fallback beam switching includes: switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and switching back to the first beam, if the WD (22) has not received a beam switching response from the network node (16) after a predetermined time has elapsed.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the method further includes: receiving, from the network node (16), a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration, Tfanback, corresponding to the predetermined time.

8. The method of any one of Claims 1-7, wherein the third timing indication is determined based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node (16) that the WD (22) has at least one WD initiated beam report to send; the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

9. The method of any one of Claims 1-8, wherein the method further includes: determining a second configuration configuring the WD (22) with joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD (22) is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states.

10. The method of any one of Claims 1-9, wherein the method further includes: determining a third configuration configuring the WD (22) with a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

11. The method of any one of Claims 1-10, wherein the one or more parameters include one or more of: timing information associated with signaling between the WD (22) and the network node (16); a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex, TDD, pattern; a transmission direction; reference signal configurations; and a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

12. The method of any one of Claims 1-11, wherein the one or more actions includes one or more of: switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node (16) indicates the beam to the WD (22); switching to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node (16); and transmitting at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

13. A wireless device, WD, (22) configured to perform a WD initiated beam management process and to communicate with a network node (16), the WD (22) being configured to: determine, based on one or more parameters, one or more of: a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay associated with a WD initiated beam report; a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beamswitching associated with the WD initiated beam management process; and a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports; and perform one or more actions based on one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication.

14. The WD (22) of Claim 13, wherein the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

15. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13 and 14, wherein the WD (22) is further configured to one or more of transmit a fourth indication indicating that the WD (22) is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; transmit the WD initiated beam report; receive, from the network node (16), a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and a beam; determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received; and apply a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

16. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-15, wherein the WD (22) is further configured to, when the first timing indication is determined: determine a storage period of time the WD (22) is to store quasi co-location, QCL, related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and store the QCL related information for the storage period of time.

17. The WD (22) of Claim 16, wherein the WD (22) is further configured to: switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

18. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-17, wherein performing the fallback beam switching includes:switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and switching back to the first beam, if the WD (22) has not received a beam switching response from the network node (16) after a predetermined time has elapsed.

19. The WD (22) of Claim 18, wherein the WD (22) is further configured to: receive, from the network node (16), a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration, Tfanback, corresponding to the predetermined time.

20. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-19, wherein the third timing indication is determined based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node (16) that the WD (22) has at least one WD initiated beam report to send; the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

21. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-20, wherein the WD (22) is further configured to: determine a second configuration configuring the WD (22) with joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD (22) is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states.

22. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-21, wherein the WD (22) is further configured to: determine a third configuration configuring the WD (22) with a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

23. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-22, wherein the one or more parameters include one or more of:timing information associated with signaling between the WD (22) and the network node (16); a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex, TDD, pattern; a transmission direction; reference signal configurations; and a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

24. The WD (22) of any one of Claims 13-23, wherein the one or more actions includes one or more of: switching, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node (16) indicates the beam to the WD (22); switching to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node (16); and transmitting at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

25. A method in a network node (16) configured to perform a wireless device, WD, initiated beam management process and to communicate with a WD (22), the method comprising: receiving (SI 32) a WD initiated beam report from the WD (22), the WD initiated beam report being associated with one or more of a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay, a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process, and a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports; determining (SI 34) a beam based on the WD initiated beam report; and one or both of transmitting (SI 36) beam indication indicating the beam to the WD (22) and transmitting a WD switching response indicating to the WD (22) to switch to the beam.

26. The method of Claim 25, wherein the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

27. The method of any one of Claims 25 and 26, wherein the method further includes one or more of: receiving a fourth indication indicating that the WD (22) is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; receiving the WD initiated beam report; transmitting, to the WD (22), a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WD initiated beam report acknowledgement and the beam; and causing the WD (22) to determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received and applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

28. The method of any one of Claims 25-27, wherein the transmitted beam indication triggers the WD (22) to one or more of: determine a storage period of time the WD (22) is to store quasi co-location, QCL, related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; store the QCL related information for the storage period of time; and switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

29. The method of any one of Claims 25-28, wherein performing the fallback beam switching includes: switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and switching back to the first beam, if the WD (22) has not received a beam switching response from the network node (16) after a predetermined time has elapsed.

30. The method of Claim 29, wherein the method further includes: transmitting, to the WD (22), a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration, Tfanback, corresponding to the predetermined time.

31. The method of any one of Claims 25-30, wherein the third timing indication is based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node (16) that the WD (22) has a WD initiated beam report to send; the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a same preferred candidate beam; and the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

32. The method of any one of Claims 25-31, wherein the WD (22) is configured with a second configuration including joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD (22) is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states.

33. The method of any one of Claims 25-32, wherein the WD (22) is configured with a third configuration including a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

34. The method of any one of Claims 25-33, wherein one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication are based on one or more parameters including one or more of: timing information associated with signaling between the WD (22) and the network node (16); a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex, TDD, pattern; a transmission direction; reference signal configurations; and a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

35. The method of any one of Claims 25-34, wherein the method further includes performing one or more actions including one or more of: causing the WD (22) to switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node (16) indicates the beam to the WD (22); causing the WD (22) to switch to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node (16); and receiving at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

36. A network node (16) configured to perform a wireless device, WD, initiated beam management process and to communicate with a WD (22), the network node (16) being configured to: receive a WD initiated beam report from the WD (22), the WD initiated beam report being associated with one or more of a first timing indication indicating a beam switch delay, a second timing indication indicating when to perform a fallback beam switching associated with the WD initiated beam management process, and a third timing indication indicating a minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports; determine a beam based on the WD initiated beam report; and one or both of transmit beam indication indicating the beam to the WD (22) and transmit a WD switching response indicating to the WD (22) to switch to the beam.

37. The network node (16) of Claim 36, wherein the WD initiated beam report indicates one or more beams.

38. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36 and 37, wherein the network node (16) is further configured to one or more of: receive a fourth indication indicating that the WD (22) is going to signal the WD initiated beam report; receive the WD initiated beam report; transmit, to the WD (22), a fifth indication indicating one or both of an WDinitiated beam report acknowledgement and the beam; and cause the WD (22) to determine one or both of the beam switch delay and a beam application time based on when the WD initiated beam report acknowledgement is received and applying a spatial filter in response to the fifth indication and the determined one or both of the beam switch delay and the beam application time.

39. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-38, wherein the transmitted beam indication triggers the WD (22) to one or more of: determine a storage period of time the WD (22) is to store quasi co-location, QCL, related information associated with one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report; store the QCL related information for the storage period of time; and switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam of the one or more beams indicated in the WD initiated beam report using the QCL related information.

40. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-39, wherein performing the fallback beam switching includes: switching from a first beam to a second beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report; and switching back to the first beam, if the WD (22) has not received a beam switching response from the network node (16) after a predetermined time has elapsed.

41. The network node (16) of Claim 40, wherein the network node (16) is further configured to: transmit, to the WD (22), a sixth indication indicating a fallback timing configuration, Tfanback, corresponding to the predetermined time.

42. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-41, wherein the third timing indication is based on a first configuration, and the third timing indication indicates one or more of: the minimum time between two sequential WD initiated beam reports; the minimum time between two sequential fourth indications each indicating to the network node (16) that the WD (22) has at least one WD initiated beam report to send; the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate a samepreferred candidate beam; and the minimum time between two WD initiated beam reports that indicate different preferred candidate beams.

43. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-42, wherein the WD (22) is configured with a second configuration including joint or separate timing restrictions associated with the third timing indication for a downlink serving link and an uplink serving link when the WD (22) is configured with separate downlink and uplink transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states.

44. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-43, wherein the WD (22) is configured with a third configuration including a maximum number of WD initiated beam reports within a time period.

45. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-44, wherein one or more of the first timing indication, the second timing indication, and the third timing indication are based on one or more parameters including one or more of: timing information associated with signaling between the WD (22) and the network node (16); a carrier frequency; a numerology; a bandwidth part; a time division duplex, TDD, pattern; a transmission direction; reference signal configurations; and a subcarrier spacing of at least one downlink reference signal.

46. The network node (16) of any one of Claims 36-45, wherein the network node (16) is further configured to perform one or more actions including one or more of: causing the WD (22) to switch, within the beam switch delay, to a beam indicated in the WD initiated beam report if the network node (16) indicates the beam to the WD (22); causing the WD (22) to switch to the beam indicated in response to transmitting the WD initiated beam report and performing the fallback switching associated with theWD initiated beam management process if a switching response is not received from the network node (16); and receiving at least one WD initiated beam report based on the third timing indication.

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