Mapping of data block to antenna port group

Abstract

A target antenna port group is determined 205, 210 by a first apparatus 110, e.g. a terminal device or UE, or a second apparatus 120, e.g. a network device or gNB, from a plurality of antenna port groups based on an association between a plurality of data blocks and the plurality of antenna port groups. The target antenna port group is associated with a target data block from the plurality of data blocks. The target data block is communicated 215, 220 between the first 110 and second 120 apparatuses based on the determining of the target antenna port group. A data block from the plurality of data blocks may correspond to a codeword. The association between the plurality of data blocks and the plurality of antenna port groups is predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110.

Description

FIELD

[0001] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to apparatuses, methods and computer readable storage medium for mapping of a data block to an antenna port group. BACKGROUND

[0002] One of the objectives in New Radio (NR) Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Phase 5, for release (Rei) 19 NR, is to extend Type-I channel state information (CSI) reporting for a larger number of CSI-RS ports, for example, up to 128. This allows deployments of larger antenna arrays at a NR base station (for example, gNB). Type-I codebook is introduced in Rei 15 NR and is widely used in commercial deployments. It is the only codebook-based CSI reporting that allows reporting of extended ranks, for example, up to 8. The support for ranks 5 to 8 is initially targeted to fixed wireless access (FWA) user equipment (UEs) and customer premises equipment (CPE) in single-user (SU)-MIMO downlink (DL) transmission. SUMMARY

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: determine, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and communicate the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: determine, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and communicate the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and communicating the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and communicating the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

[0007] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and means for communicating the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0008] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and means for communicating the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

[0009] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect or fourth aspect.

[0010] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0012] FIGS. 1A-1B illustrates example communication environments in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram 200 for association between a data block and an antenna port group according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate example processes of association between a data block and an antenna port group in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0018] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0021] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0022] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0023] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0024] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0025] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0026] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but 5 do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0027] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0028] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, 10 including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor 15 integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0029] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0030] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0031] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0032] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0033] As mentioned above, the support for ranks 5 to 8 is initially targeted to FWA UE and CPE in SU-MIMO DL transmission. However, in more recent times, it has become increasingly possible for non-FEW / CPE UEs, e.g. foldable devices, to accommodate 6 or 8 receive antennas (also referred to as receiving antennas), and benefit from enhance support of more than 4 DL MIMO layers in SU-MIMO transmission. This kind of terminal devices may benefit from complexity reduction if processing of MIMO layers is split between, for example, two receive antenna groups (or receiving antenna groups). Currently, all MIMO layers are targeting reception across all receive or receiving (RX) antennas. Enhancement may allow to configure reception of a MIMO layer by a receive port group. Such enhancement may target time division duplexing (TDD) operations, with sounding reference signal (SRS)-based channel acquisition, CSI-based DL precoding in both TDD and frequency division duplexing (FDD) systems. Enhancements may also be applied in operations which may not include SRS transmission. In this case, the gNB may make mapping decisions based on, for example, CSI-reference signal (RS) based UL feedback.

[0034] In DL MIMO transmission, a MIMO layer may be transmitted or received from different groups of transmit antenna ports (also referred to as transmitting antenna ports) and receive antenna ports, for example from a single transmission and reception point (TRP), or across multiple TRPs. However, the case of reception of MIMO layers by different subsets of antennas located in a terminal device has not been considered of practical interest until now.

[0035] When MIMO layers are precoded for a specific receive antenna group at a UE, the UE needs to know which antenna group the MIMO layers are targeting to allow correct detection. Similarly in DL MU-MIMO, when some MIMO layers are transmitted to a first UE and some other layers are transmitted to a second UE, using the same time and frequency resources, each co-scheduled UE needs to be informed of which physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ports carry useful signal and which are intended for another user and treated as interference.

[0036] Example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for mapping of a data block (for example, a transport block or a TB) to an antenna port group. In this solution, a target antenna port group (for example, an SRS port group) is determined from the at least one antenna port group based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group by a first apparatus. The target antenna port group is associated with a target data block from the at least one data block. The target data block is communicated with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group by the first apparatus.

[0037] With the proposed solution, at least one SRS port group (as an example of the antenna port group) at a UE may be introduced for PDSCH reception based on a configuration or indication of an association between a transport block (as an example of the data block) and a corresponding SRS port group.

[0038] In this way, data blocks maya be received by different subsets of antennas located in a terminal device, thereby improving data transmission speed, enhancing data transmission reliability and better utilizing spatial resources.

[0039] FIGS. 1A and IB illustrate example communication environments in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In a communication environment 100A in FIG. 1A and a communication environment 100B in FIG. IB, a first apparatus 110 may operate as a terminal device such as a UE. The first apparatus 110 may communicate with a second apparatus 120 which may operate as a network device such as a gNB.

[0040] In some example embodiments, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 may be referred to as a downlink, and a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink. In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0041] It is to be understood that the number and types of apparatuses are shown in FIG. 1A-1B for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. For example, the communication environment 100A and 100B may comprise any number and type of apparatuses.

[0042] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described with respect to a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other devices, and operations described with respect to a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other devices.

[0043] Communications in the communication environment 100A or 100B may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 I and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0044] In various example embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of data blocks may be mapped to a plurality of antenna port groups. In some example embodiments, a data block may be a TB which may be corresponding to a codeword. The number of data blocks may or may not equal to the number of antenna port groups.

[0045] In the environment 100A as shown in FIG. 1A, the mapping of 2 codewords (which may be corresponding to 2 data blocks) to 2 SRS port groups is used in a downlink transmission. In this case, an antenna port group may be a receiving antenna port group which may be corresponding to and thus indicated by an SRS port group or by a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with the SRS port group.

[0046] In the environment 100B as shown in FIG. IB, the mapping of the codewords to SRS port groups is used in an uplink transmission. In this case, the ports in a same group may transmit coherently whereas non-coherent transmission is possible across ports of different SRS port groups. An antenna port group may be a transmitting antenna port group which may be indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator (TMPI) associated with an SRS port group that is corresponding to the antenna port group.

[0047] Based on the mapping, a target antenna port group may be determined for a target data block. Then, the target data block may be communicated between the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. Some example implementations will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7.

[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram 200 for mapping of a data block to an antenna port group according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The signaling diagram 200 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 in FIGS. 1A and IB.

[0049] In operation, the first apparatus 110 determines (205), based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group. The target antenna port group is associated with a target data block from the at least one data block.

[0050] The data block may be implemented in a form of a TB or in any other forms. In some example embodiments, a data block from the at least one data block may be corresponding to a codeword.

[0051] In some example embodiments, the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group is predefined. In an example, such an association may be specified or hardcoded in the standards. For example, in an option, referred to as mapping option #1, in the example embodiments, where a data block is indicated by a codeword and an antenna port group is indicated by an SRS port group, the mapping of codewords to SRS port groups, also referred to as the codeword to SRS-port group mapping, may be defined (e.g., fixed mapping) in the 3GPP standards.

[0052] In some example embodiments, the at least one association may be indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110. There may be several ways for the second apparatus 120 to configure or indicate such association to the first apparatus 110. For example, in an option, referred to as mapping option #2, in the example embodiments, where a data block is indicated by a codeword and an antenna port group is indicated by an SRS port group, the codeword to SRS-port group mapping may be dynamically indicated in a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE) and / or downlink control information (DCI), for example, by an explicit indication of association of at least one codeword to at least one SRS-port group. Alternatively, or in addition, the mapping may be dynamically indicated in a MAC CE or a DCI by indicating the SRS-port groups with different transmission configuration indication (TCI) states and indicating a PDSCH with at least one TCI state corresponding to one of the SRS-port groups.

[0053] In another option, referred to as mapping option #3, a default mapping may be specified or configured in radio resource control (RRC) signaling with or without a chance to be overwritten in a MAC CE and / or a DCI. For example, with a chance of overwriting the mapping if a flag is set in a MAC CE, new mapping information may be transmitted in a DCI. All these options as described above may be supported in the 3GPP standards, and the UE (as an example of the first apparatus 110) may be configured with one of these options (or choices) for example in RRC signaling.

[0054] In NR, for a high-rank MIMO transmission with more than 4 layers, for example 5 to 8 layers, layers may be mapped to two transport blocks or codewords and the layer-to-codeword mapping may be specified for a given transmission rank. Therefore, if a UE is configured or indicated with an association between a codeword and an SRS port group (as an example of the association between a data block and an antenna port group), the UE may determine, from the applicable layer-to-codeword mapping, which MIMO layers is to be detected by a certain receiving antenna group.

[0055] In some example embodiments, a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined. These associations may be maintained in a set of tables, which may be specified or (pre)defmed in the 3GPP standards. For example, each table may correspond to a case with a certain number of layers transmitted, e.g., a certain number of codewords and includes all the possible association (or mapping) options between the codewords and the port groups. The transmitted mapping information may be made with reference to the set of tables in the 3GPP standards. For example, each codepoint in a table may have an index indicating an association or mapping.

[0056] In some example embodiments, an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default. For example, in the embodiments where the associations are maintained in a set of tables, each table may have a default codepoint (which is corresponding to a default association or default mapping). In this case, there may be no need to explicitly indicate default mapping in RRC signaling.

[0057] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus 110, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group. Correspondingly, the first apparatus 110 may receive the indication. Based on this indication, the first apparatus 110 may know that this association may be applied.

[0058] If default mapping is fixed or configured in RRC signaling, the indication of activation of the association between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may not be needed. In this case, new updated mapping may be indicated via a MAC CE and / or a DCI. When the gNB sends new mapping information, it may transmit an index of the corresponding codepoint in the table.

[0059] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the second apparatus 120, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus 110 for a communication with the second apparatus 120. Correspondingly, the second apparatus 120 may receive the capability indication. In this way, antenna port groups (e.g., the SRS port groups) for mapping to the data blocks may be indicated by the first apparatus 110, for example, by this capability indication, to the second apparatus 120. In some other example embodiments, the antenna port groups may be defined in the 3GPP standards, for example, by a fixed relationship between an SRS port index and a corresponding SRS port group index.

[0060] In some example embodiments, a number of the at least one data block may be unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group. For example, the number of data blocks (sometimes also referred to as TBs or codewords) doesn’t need to match the number of antenna port groups. For example, in a case with a smaller number of codewords is transmitted, the mapping between unmatched numbers of data blocks and antenna port groups may indicate that some of the antenna port groups may not be active, thus reducing the energy consumption at the side of the first apparatus 110. The second apparatus 120 may choose one antenna port group over the other antenna port groups based on for example channel conditions.

[0061] Alternatively, or in addition, the mapping between unmatched numbers of data blocks and antenna port groups may indicate that more than one antenna port group may process the same data block for the first apparatus 110 to later apply a combining step, which may aim at an enhancement in performance.

[0062] Alternatively, or in addition, if a larger number of data blocks are supported in future releases of the 3GPP standards, one antenna port group may be used to process more than one data block. In this way, the association between data blocks and antenna port groups may be more flexible.

[0063] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group may include at least one transmitting antenna port group. The at least one antenna port group may be indicated by a TPMI associated with at least one SRS port group and the at least one SRS port group may be corresponding to the at least one antenna port group. For example, in codebook-based UL transmission, a non-coherent codebook may be used to indicate, through at least one TPMI indicated from the gNB to the UE, which SRS port group (as an example of the transmitting antenna port group) may transmit a first codeword of two codewords enabled by the UE. A coherent codebook may also be used to indicate one or two TPMIs each associated with a respective SRS port group.

[0064] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group may include at least one receiving antenna port group. The at least one antenna port group may be indicated by at least one SRS port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group. The association between transport blocks and SRS ports groups may be configured or indicated via a DCI or a DL MAC CE.

[0065] In addition to a SRS port group, or as an alternative, the at least one antenna port group may be indicated by at least one TCI state associated with the at least one SRS port group. The association may be achieved by using the unified TCI framework for the first apparatus 110 indicated with two TCI states. For example, the PDSCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) ports may be quasi co-located (QCLed) with a DL RS, such as a CSI-RS or synchronization signaling block (SSB), associated with a first TCI state and a second TCI state. The first TCI state may be used for a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group of two SRS port groups. Accordingly, the second TCI state may be used for the second SRS port group or the first SRS port group of the two SRS port groups.

[0066] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus 110, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one TCI state and the at least one SRS port group. Correspondingly, the first apparatus 110 may receive at least one of the configuration or the indication. For example, in the embodiments where two TCI states and two codewords are applied, a first TCI state indicated for the PDSCH may be associated with a first codeword, such that the association between the first codeword and one of the SRS port group may be established by a single indicated TCI state and the second codeword is associated with the other SRS port group.

[0067] After determining the target antenna port group, the first apparatus 110 communicates (215) the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group. This communication (215) may involve transmission of the target data block from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 and / or reception of the target data block by the first apparatus 110 from the second apparatus 120.

[0068] Likewise, the second apparatus 120 determines (210) a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus. The target antenna port group is associated with a target data block from the at least one data block. The determination (210) at the second apparatus 120 are similar to the determination (205) at the first apparatus 110, and the details thereof will be omitted.

[0069] Based on the determining (210), the second apparatus 120 communicates (220) the target data block with the first apparatus 110. The communication (220) may involve transmission of the target data block from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 and / or reception of the target data block by the second apparatus 120 from the first apparatus 110. For example, in the scenario of transmission of the target data block from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120 may perform precoding of the target data block for the target antenna port group at the first apparatus 110 to improve transmission performance and efficiency.

[0070] Example processes of association between a data block and an antenna port group will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C. In these examples, a UE 310 operates as an example implementation of the first apparatus 110 and a gNB 320 operates as an example implementation of the second apparatus 120. Two codewords (corresponding to two TBs as an example of data blocks) may be mapped to antenna port groups.

[0071] FIG. 3A illustrates an example process 300A of association between a data block and an antenna port group in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3A, in this example, the association between at least the first transport block or codeword and one SRS port group (corresponding to one antenna port group) is done via mapping option #2 e.g., where dynamic mapping is indicated by a DCI or a MAC CE. An explicit association indication between codeword(s) and SRS-port group(s) is shown. The process 300A in FIG. 3 A involves a PDSCH transmission with two codewords. In this case, a single-bit indication may be sufficient to indicate one of two SRS port groups associated with the first codeword. The second codeword is then associated with the other (or remaining) SRS port group.

[0072] In the process 300A as shown in FIG. 3A, at 322, the UE 310 sends a UE capability indication of receive port groups for PDSCH reception. In some example embodiments, the capability indication indicates that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the UE 310 for a communication with the gNB 320.

[0073] At 324, the gNB 320 sends a trigger or activation of SRS transmission from a first and a second SRS port group (as an example of the antenna port group). At 326, after receiving the trigger or activation, the UE 310 sends an SRS transmission to the gNB 320.

[0074] At 328, the gNB 320 performs DL channel acquisition and PDSCH precoder calculation. At 330, the gNB 320 sends DCI or MAC CE with indication of SRS port group associated with at least the first transport block / codeword to the UE 310.

[0075] At 332, the gNB 320 sends a PDSCH transmission to the UE 310. At 334, the UE 310 receives the first codeword (corresponding to the target data block) from the receive antenna ports corresponding to the indicated SRS port group (as an example of the target antenna port group).

[0076] FIG. 3B illustrates another example process 300B of association between a data block and an antenna port group in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0077] In this example, the association between at least the first transport block / codeword and one SRS port group is done via mapping option #3 e.g., where default mapping is fixed or configured in RRC signaling. The association indication between codewords and SRS port groups is not needed but new updated mapping may be indicated via MAC-CE and / or DCI.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 3B, in the process 300B, at 342, the UE 310 sends a UE capability indication of receive port groups for PDSCH reception. In some example embodiments, the capability indication indicates that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the UE 310 for a communication with the gNB 320.

[0079] At 344, the UE 310 sends a RRC configuration (default mapping of codewords to SRS port groups is fixed or RRC configured).

[0080] At 346, the gNB 320 sends a trigger or activation of SRS transmission from a first and a second SRS port group (as an example of the antenna port group). At 348, after receiving the trigger or activation, the UE 310 sends an SRS transmission to the gNB 320.

[0081] At 350, the gNB 320 performs DL channel acquisition and PDSCH precoder calculation. At 352, the gNB 320 may send DCI or MAC CE with indication of SRS port group associated with at least the first transport block / codeword to the UE 310.

[0082] At 354, the gNB 320 sends a PDSCH transmission to the UE 310. At 356, the UE 310 receives the first codeword (corresponding to the target data block) from the receive antenna ports corresponding to the indicated SRS port group (as an example of the target antenna port group).

[0083] FIG. 3C illustrates yet another example process 300C of association between a data block and an antenna port group in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0084] In this example, the association between at least the first transport block / codeword and one SRS port group is done via mapping option #2 e.g., where dynamic mapping is indicated by a DCI or a MAC CE. The association between codewords and SRS port groups is achieved by utilizing the unified TCI framework, instead of explicit association indication. Each SRS port group is configured / indicated with a respective TCI state. The PDSCH transmission is then indicated with at least one TCI state corresponding to at least one of the two SRS port groups.

[0085] In this example, it may be specified that the first TCI state indicated for the PDSCH transmission is associated with the first codeword, such that the association between the first codeword and one of the SRS port group may be established by a single indicated TCI state and the second codeword is associated with the other SRS port group.

[0086] As shown in FIG. 3C, in the process 300C, at 362, the UE 310 sends a UE capability indication of receive port groups for PDSCH reception. In some example embodiments, the capability indication indicates that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the UE 310 for a communication with the gNB 320.

[0087] At 364, the gNB 320 configures or indicate two SRS port groups with a respective first and second TCI state to the UE 310. At 366, the gNB 320 sends a trigger or activation of SRS transmission from a first and a second SRS port group (as an example of the antenna port group).

[0088] At 368, after receiving the trigger or activation, the UE 310 sends an SRS transmission to the gNB 320. At 370, the gNB 320 performs DL channel acquisition and PDSCH precoder calculation.

[0089] At 372, the gNB 320 sends DCI or MAC CE with indication of SRS port group associated with at least the first transport block / codeword to the UE 310. At 374, the gNB 320 sends a PDSCH transmission to the UE 310.

[0090] At 376, the UE 310 receives the first codeword (corresponding to the target data block) from the receive antenna ports corresponding to the indicated SRS port group (as an example of the target antenna port group).

[0091] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIGS. 1A and IB.

[0092] At block 410, the first apparatus 110 determines, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group. The target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block.

[0093] At block 420, the first apparatus 110 communicates the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0094] In some example embodiments, a data block from the at least one data block may be corresponding to a codeword.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

[0096] In some example embodiments, a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined.

[0097] In some example embodiments, an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default.

[0098] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive, from the second apparatus, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group.

[0099] In some example embodiments, a number of the at least one data block may be unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group.

[0100] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group may comprise at least one receiving antenna port group. The at least one antenna port group may be indicated by at least one of: at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group; or at least one transmission configuration indicator state associated with the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive, from the second apparatus, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one transmission configuration indicator state and the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0102] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group may comprise at least one transmitting antenna port group. The at least one antenna port group may be indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator associated with at least one sounding reference signal port group, the at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group.

[0103] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the second apparatus, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus for a communication with the second apparatus.

[0104] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIGS. 1A and IB.

[0105] At block 510, the second apparatus 120 determines, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group. The target antenna port group is associated with a target data block from the at least one data block.

[0106] At block 520, the second apparatus 120 communicates the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

[0107] In some example embodiments, a data block from the at least one data block may be corresponding to a codeword.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

[0109] In some example embodiments, a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined.

[0110] In some example embodiments, an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group may be predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default.

[0111] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group.

[0112] In some example embodiments, a number of the at least one data block may be unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group may comprise at least one receiving antenna port group. The at least one antenna port group may be indicated by at least one of at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group; or at least one transmission configuration indicator state associated with the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one transmission configuration indicator state and the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group may comprise at least one transmitting antenna port group. The at least one antenna port group may be indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator associated with at least one sounding reference signal port group, the at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may receive, from the first apparatus, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus for a communication with the second apparatus.

[0117] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing the method 400 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIGS. 1A and IB) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIGS. 1A and IB.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and means for communicating the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0119] In some example embodiments, a data block from the at least one data block is corresponding to a codeword.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group is predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

[0121] In some example embodiments, a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group are predefined.

[0122] In some example embodiments, an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group is predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from the second apparatus, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group.

[0124] In some example embodiments, a number of the at least one data block is unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group.

[0125] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one receiving antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by at least one of: at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group; or at least one transmission configuration indicator state associated with the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one transmission configuration indicator state and the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one transmitting antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator associated with at least one sounding reference signal port group, the at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 further comprises means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus for a communication with the second apparatus.

[0129] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing the method 500 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIGS. 1A and IB) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIGS. 1A and IB.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and means for communicating the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

[0131] In some example embodiments, a data block from the at least one data block is corresponding to a codeword.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group is predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

[0133] In some example embodiments, a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group are predefined.

[0134] In some example embodiments, an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group is predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group.

[0136] In some example embodiments, a number of the at least one data block is unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one receiving antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by at least one of: at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group; or at least one transmission configuration indicator state associated with the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one transmission configuration indicator state and the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one transmitting antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator associated with at least one sounding reference signal port group, the at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus for a communication with the second apparatus.

[0141] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIGS. 1A and IB. As shown, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to the processor 610.

[0142] The communication module 640 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 640 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 640 may include at least one antenna.

[0143] The processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0144] The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 624, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0145] A computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The instructions of the program 630 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 630 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

[0146] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG.5. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0148] FIG. 7 shows an example of the computer readable medium 700 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 700 has the program 630 stored thereon.

[0149] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0150] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0151] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0152] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0153] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0154] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0155] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims or any of the below embodiments.

[0156] Embodiment 1: A first apparatus comprising: means for determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and means for communicating the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0157] Embodiment 2: A second apparatus comprising: means for determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and means for communicating the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

[0158] Embodiment 3: A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform: determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and communicating the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

[0159] Embodiment 4: A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform: determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; and communicating the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

Claims

1. A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:determine, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; andcommunicate the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein a data block from the at least one data block is corresponding to a codeword.

3. The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group is predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

4. The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group are predefined.

5. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group is predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default.

6. The first apparatus of claim 4 or 5, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:receive, from the second apparatus, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group.

7. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein a number of the at least one data block is unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one receiving antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by at least one of:at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group; orat least one transmission configuration indicator state associated with the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

9. The first apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:receive, from the second apparatus, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one transmission configuration indicator state and the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

10. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one transmitting antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator associated with at least one sounding reference signal port group, the at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group.

11. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:transmit, to the second apparatus, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus for a communication with the second apparatus.

12. A second apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:determine, based on at least one association between at least one data block and atleast one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; andcommunicate the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.

13. The second apparatus of claim 12, wherein a data block from the at least one data block is corresponding to a codeword.

14. The second apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein the at least one association between the at least one data block and the at least one antenna port group is predefined and / or indicated and / or configured by the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

15. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein a plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group are predefined.

16. The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group is predefined or configured by the second apparatus to be default.

17. The second apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the second apparatus to:transmit, to the first apparatus, an indication of activation of an association of the plurality of associations between the at least one codeword and the at least one antenna port group.

18. The second apparatus of any of claims 12 to 17, wherein a number of the at least one data block is unequal to a number of the at least one antenna port group.

19. The second apparatus of any of claims 12 to 18, wherein the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one receiving antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by at least one of:at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group; orat least one transmission configuration indicator state associated with the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

20. The second apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the second apparatus to:transmit, to the first apparatus, at least one of a configuration or an indication of at least one association of the at least one transmission configuration indicator state and the at least one sounding reference signal port group.

21. The second apparatus of any of claims 12 to 18, wherein the at least one antenna port group comprises at least one transmitting antenna port group, and the at least one antenna port group is indicated by a transmit precoder matrix indicator associated with at least one sounding reference signal port group, the at least one sounding reference signal port group corresponding to the at least one antenna port group.

22. The second apparatus of any of claims 12 to 21, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the second apparatus to:receive, from the first apparatus, a capability indication that one or more antenna port groups are enabled by the first apparatus for a communication with the second apparatus.

23. A method comprising:determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group, a target antenna port group from the at least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; andcommunicating the target data block with a second apparatus using the target antenna port group.

24. A method comprising:determining, based on at least one association between at least one data block and at least one antenna port group of a first apparatus, a target antenna port group from theat least one antenna port group, the target antenna port group associated with a target data block from the at least one data block; andcommunicating the target data block with the first apparatus based on the determining.34

Images