System and method for TCI state activation and codepoint to TCI state mapping

The method addresses the inflexibility in TCI state activation and mapping in 5G NR by using MAC CEs to dynamically select TCI states for DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, enhancing scheduling flexibility and network performance for diverse traffic types.

JP2025102758AActive Publication Date: 2025-07-08TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2025028126
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2020-04-09
Filing Date
2025-02-25
Publication Date
2025-07-08
Estimated Expiration
2041-04-09

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The existing 5G New Radio (NR) systems face challenges in efficiently activating and mapping Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states due to fixed code points in DCI format 1_1, limiting flexibility in selecting TCI states for different downlink control information formats, particularly when both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 are used for diverse traffic types like URLLC and eMBB.

Method used

A method and system for activating TCI states and mapping them to code points using a single or separate Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Elements (CEs) for multiple DCI formats, allowing flexible selection of TCI states for each DCI format, such as using DCI format 1_2 for URLLC and DCI format 1_1 for eMBB, with defined default TCI states and dynamic mapping based on MAC CEs.

Benefits of technology

Enhances flexibility in selecting TCI states for downlink scheduling, avoiding the need for separate MAC CEs for each DCI format, and ensuring efficient activation and mapping of TCI states for diverse traffic types, improving network performance.

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Abstract

To provide systems and methods for TCI (transmission configuration indicator) state mapping with which TCI states for downlink scheduling can be more flexibly chosen for each DCI (downlink control information) format by using separate MAC CEs.SOLUTION: A method includes at least one of: being configured to monitor a plurality of DCI (downlink control information) formats with TCI field for PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel) reception; receiving a single MAC CE to activate TCI states and map the activated TCI states to the TCI field codepoints of the DCI formats; and receiving separate MAC CEs to activate TCI states and map the activated TCI states to the TCI field codepoints of each of the plurality of DCI formats.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 18
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63 / 007,746, filed Apr. 9, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] A system and method are provided for activating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state and mapping from code points to the TCI state.

Background Art

[0003] A new generation of mobile wireless communication systems (5G) or New Radio (NR) supports a set of diverse use cases and a set of diverse deployment scenarios.

[0004] NR uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the downlink (i.e., from a network node, gNB, eNB, or base station to a user equipment or UE), and uses both CP-OFDM and Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink (i.e., from a user equipment (UE) to a New Radio base station (gNB)). In the time domain, NR downlink and uplink physical resources are each organized into subframes of equal size of 1 ms. The subframe is further divided into a plurality of slots of equal duration.

[0005] The slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. When the subcarrier spacing is Δf = 15 kHz, there is only 1 slot per subframe, and each slot is always composed of 14 OFDM symbols regardless of the subcarrier spacing.

[0006] Figure 1 shows an NR time domain configuration with a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing according to some embodiments. Typical data scheduling in NR is slot-based. In Figure 1, the first two symbols contain the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the remaining twelve symbols contain a Physical Data Channel (PDCH) which can be either a Physical Downlink Data Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Data Channel (PUSCH).

[0007] In NR, multiple different subcarrier spacing values are supported. The supported subcarrier spacing values (also referred to as different numerologies) are given by Δf = (15 × 2 α ) kHz, where α is a non-negative integer. Δf = 15 kHz is the basic subcarrier spacing also used in LTE. The slot durations at different subcarrier spacings are shown in the following table: TIFF2025102758000002.tif67154

[0008] In the definition of frequency domain physical resources, the system bandwidth is divided into a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), each corresponding to twelve consecutive subcarriers. The Common RB (CRB) is numbered starting from 0 at one end of the system bandwidth. One or up to four Bandwidth Parts (BWPs) are configured for the UE, and a BWP can be a subset of the RBs supported on a carrier. Therefore, a BWP can start with a CRB greater than zero. All configured BWPs have a common reference of CRB 0. For this reason, not only can a narrow BWP (e.g., 10 MHz) and a wide BWP (e.g., 100 MHz) be configured for the UE, but only one BWP can be active for the UE at a given time. Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) are numbered from 0 to N - 1 within a BWP (however, for this reason, the 0th PRB can be the Kth CRB where K > 0).

[0009] FIG. 2 shows a basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid, with only one resource (RB) within 14 symbol slots shown. One OFDM subcarrier during the period of one OFDM symbol interval forms one resource element (RE).

[0010] Downlink transmission may be dynamically scheduled, i.e., in each slot, the gNB transmits downlink control information (DCI) via PDCCH regarding which UE data should be transmitted and on which RB the data should be transmitted in the current downlink slot. PDCCH is typically transmitted in the first one or two OFDM symbols within each slot in NR. UE data is carried on PDSCH. The UE first detects and decodes the PDCCH, and after successful decoding, decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the decoded control information in the PDCCH.

[0011] Uplink data transmission may be dynamically scheduled using PDCCH. Similar to the downlink, the UE first decodes the uplink grant in the PDCCH, and then transmits data on the PUSCH based on the decoded control information in the uplink grant, such as modulation order, coding rate, uplink resource allocation, etc.

[0012] Currently, there is a problem. In the case of DCI format 1_1, when the TCI field is activated, the TCI field in DCI format 1_1 is always 3 bits (i.e., 8 code points). Therefore, the number of TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 does not change when the TCI field is activated in multiple different CORESETs.

[0013] Therefore, improvement in TCI state activation and improvement in the mapping from code points to TCI states are required. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Systems and methods are provided for activating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) and mapping from code points to TCI states. In some embodiments, the method performed by a wireless device to activate a TCI state is configured to monitor a plurality of Downlink Control Information (DCI) formats having a TCI field for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception, and receive a single Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats, and receive a separate MAC CE for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats, including one or more of the foregoing. In some embodiments, one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2. Advantages can include that the TCI state for downlink scheduling can be more flexibly selected for each DCI format by using separate MAC CEs. For example, DCI format 1_2 can be used to schedule URLLC data in the downlink using one set of TCI states (e.g., one set of beams). And DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) data in the downlink using another set of TCI states (e.g., a second set of beams).

[0015] In some embodiments, the method performed by the base station to activate the TCI state includes one or more of: configuring the radio device to monitor a plurality of DCI formats having TCI fields for PDSCH reception; activating the TCI state and transmitting a single MAC CE to the radio device for mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats; and activating the TCI state and transmitting a separate MAC CE to the radio device for mapping the activated TCI state to the respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats.

[0016] In some embodiments, when the number S of code points in the TCI field of the DCI is less than the maximum number of code points in the MAC CE activation command, the S code points are mapped to the first S code points in the MAC CE activation command.

[0017] In some embodiments, when a single activation command is used for TCI state activation / deactivation for both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, the default TCI state is the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the MAC CE activation command, which includes two different TCI states.

[0018] A method for determining the mapping between code points and one or more TCI states for DCI format 1_2 is proposed and includes one or more of the following: · Share the same MAC CE activation command with DCI format 1_1, activate the TCI state, and use the mapping for the first S code points in the activation command to map to the code points for DCI format 1_2, where S is the number of code points set for DCI format 1_2 in the CORESET; and / or · Share the same MAC CE activation command with DCI format 1_1 and use the mapping for S consecutive code points in the activation command starting from the set offset value; · Use a separate MAC CE activation command for DCI format 1_2.

[0019] Furthermore, it is also proposed to determine the default TCI state for both the single shared and separate MAC CE activation cases.

[0020] In this specification, various embodiments are proposed to address one or more of the above problems. In some embodiments, one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2. In some embodiments, using a single MAC CE to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of a plurality of DCI formats includes using the mapping of a subset of the TCI field code points within one DCI format to the TCI field code points of another DCI format. In some embodiments, the activated TCI state mapped to the first S TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2, where S is, for example, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2. In some embodiments, the activated TCI state mapped to the TCI field code points S0 + 1 to S0 + S in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2, where S is, for example, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2, and S0 is, for example, any one of a predefined, fixed, or configurable value.

[0021] In some embodiments, S is determined from S = 2 in the upper layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 K and K can take one of the values 1, 2, or 3 set by tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2.

[0022] In some embodiments, using a single MAC CE to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of multiple DCI formats includes receiving a TCI state mapping to a number of code points greater than the number of code points in any of the multiple DCI formats within the single MAC CE, using a mapping of a first subset of the TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of a first DCI format, and using a mapping of a second subset of the TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of a second DCI format, including one or more of them.

[0023] In some embodiments, using a single MAC CE to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of multiple DCI formats includes using a field in the MAC CE to indicate which of the multiple DCI formats the TCI code point mapping is applied to.

[0024] In some embodiments, different MAC CEs are used to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of multiple DCI formats.

[0025] In some embodiments, the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in a MAC CE that includes two different TCI states.

[0026] In some embodiments, the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in one of different MAC CEs that includes two different TCI states.

[0027] Some embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. Thus, advantages of some embodiments may include that a single MAC CE may be used to provide activation of TCI states and mapping from TCI states to TCI field code points for multiple downlink DCI formats. This avoids the need to introduce a separate MAC CE for each downlink DCI format.

[0028] There are also advantages associated with some other embodiments that use different MAC CEs to provide activation of TCI states and mapping from TCI states to TCI field code points for multiple downlink DCI formats. The advantages may include that the TCI state for downlink scheduling may be more flexibly selected for each DCI format by using separate MAC CEs. For example, DCI format 1_2 may be used to schedule URLLC data in the downlink using one set of TCI states (e.g., one set of beams). And DCI format 1_1 may be used to schedule eMBB data in the downlink using another set of TCI states (e.g., a second set of beams).

[0029] Another advantage of the proposed solution may be to provide a definition of a default TCI state when the activation of TCI states and the mapping from TCI states to TCI field code points for multiple downlink DCI formats are provided by either a single MAC CE or different MAC CEs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of this specification, illustrate some aspects of the present disclosure and, together with the description, help explain the principles of the present disclosure.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0063] The embodiments described below enable those skilled in the art to implement the embodiments and represent information for showing the best mode for implementing the embodiments. Reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the present disclosure and recognize the application of these concepts not specifically addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and their applications are within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0064] Wireless Node: As used herein, a "wireless node" is either a wireless access node or a wireless communication device.

[0065] Wireless access node: As used herein, a "wireless access node" or "wireless network node" or "wireless access network node" is any node within a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communication network that is operative to transmit and / or receive signals wirelessly. Some examples of wireless access nodes include base stations (e.g., a new radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP (registered trademark)) 5th Generation (5G) NR network, an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), high-power or macro base stations, low-power base stations (e.g., micro base stations, pico base stations, home eNBs, etc.), relay nodes, network nodes implementing a part of the functions of a base station (e.g., a network node implementing a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU), or a network node implementing a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU)), or network nodes implementing a part of the functions of some other type of wireless access node, but are not limited thereto.

[0066] Core network node: As used in this specification, a "core network node" is any type of node within a core network or any node that implements a core network function. Some examples of core network nodes include, for example, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), etc. Other examples of core network nodes include nodes that implement an Access and Mobility Function (AMF), a User Plane Function (UPF), a Session Management Function (SMF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Network Function (NF) Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), etc.

[0067] Communication device: As used herein, a "communication device" is any type of device having access to an access network. Some examples of communication devices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, household appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of home electronics such as, for example, televisions, radios, lighting devices, tablet computers, laptops, or personal computers (PCs). A communication device can be a portable, handheld, computer - embedded, or in - vehicle mobile device capable of exchanging voice data and / or data via a wireless or wired connection.

[0068] Wireless communication device: One type of communication device is a wireless communication device, which can be any type of wireless device having access to a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network), i.e., receiving services from a wireless network. Some examples of wireless devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment devices (UE) within a 3GPP network, machine - type communication (MTC) devices, and Internet - of - Things (IoT) devices. Some examples of such wireless communication devices can be, or can be embedded in, mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, household appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of home electronics such as, for example, televisions, radios, lighting devices, tablet computers, laptops, or PCs. A wireless communication device can be a portable, handheld, computer - embedded, or in - vehicle mobile device capable of exchanging voice data and / or data via a wireless connection.

[0069] Network node: As used herein, a "network node" is any node that is part of a RAN or part of the core network of a cellular communication network / system.

[0070] The description provided in this specification focuses on 3GPP cellular communication systems, and thus it should be noted that terms of 3GPP or terms similar to 3GPP terms are often used. However, the concepts disclosed in this specification are not limited to 3GPP systems.

[0071] In the description of this specification, the term "cell" may be referred to. In particular, regarding the concept of 5G NR, since beams may be used instead of cells, it is important to note that the concepts described in this specification are equally applicable to both cells and beams.

[0072] FIG. 3 shows an example of a cellular communication system 300 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the embodiments described herein, the cellular communication system 300 is a 5G system (5GS) including an NR RAN or an LTE RAN (i.e., an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) RAN), or an evolved packet system (EPS) including an LTE RAN. In this example, the RAN includes base stations 302-1 and 302-2, which are referred to as gNBs (e.g., LTE RAN nodes connected to a 5G core (5GC) and referred to as gn-eNBs) in 5G NR, and these control corresponding (macro) cells 304-1 and 304-2. Base stations 302-1 and 302-2 are collectively referred to herein as base stations 302 in general and as base station 302 individually. (Macro) cells 304-1 and 304-2 are collectively referred to herein as (macro) cells 304 in general and as macro cell 304 individually. The RAN may also include several low-power nodes 306-1 to 306-4 that control corresponding small cells 308-1 to 308-4. The low-power nodes 306-1 to 306-4 may be small base stations (such as pico or femto base stations) or remote radio heads (RRHs), etc. In particular, although not shown, one or more of the small cells 308-1 to 308-4 may be alternatively provided by the base station 302. The low-power nodes 306-1 to 306-4 are generally referred to herein as low-power nodes 306 collectively and as low-power node 306 individually. Similarly, the small cells 308-1 to 308-4 are generally referred to herein as small cells 308 collectively and as small cell 308 individually. The cellular communication system 300 further includes a core network 310, which is referred to as a 5G core (5GC) in 5GS. The base stations 302 (and optionally the low-power nodes 306) are connected to the core network 310.

[0073] The base station 302 and the low power node 306 provide services to the wireless communication devices 312-1 to 312-5 within the corresponding cells 304 and 308. The wireless communication devices 312-1 to 312-5 are collectively generally referred to as wireless communication devices 312 herein and individually as wireless communication device 312. In the following description, the wireless communication device 312 is often a UE, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0074] QCL and TCL States

[0075] Multiple signals can be transmitted from different antenna ports from the same base station antenna. When these signals are measured at the receiver, they can have the same large-scale characteristics, for example, with respect to Doppler shift / spread, average delay spread, or average delay. These antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located (QCL).

[0076] The network can further signal to the terminal that two antenna ports are QCL. If the UE knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a specific parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the UE can estimate that parameter based on a reference signal transmitted from one of the antenna ports and use that estimated value when receiving other reference signals or physical channels at the other antenna port. Typically, the first antenna port is represented by a measurement reference signal such as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (known as the source RS), and the second antenna port is a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (known as the target RS) for PDSCH or PDCCH reception.

[0077] For example, if antenna ports A and B are QCL with respect to the average delay, the UE can estimate the average delay from the signal received from antenna port A (known as the source reference signal (RS)), and can assume that the signal received from antenna port B (target RS) has the same average delay. This is useful for demodulation as the UE can know the characteristics of the channel in advance when trying to measure the channel using DMRS, which is useful for the UE to select, for example, an appropriate channel estimation filter.

[0078] Information on what assumptions can be made regarding QCL is signaled from the network to the UE. In NR, the following four types of QCL relationships between the transmitted source RS and the transmitted target RS are defined: · Type A: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread} · Type B: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} · Type C: {Average delay, Doppler shift} · Type D: {Spatial Rx parameters}

[0079] QCL type D is introduced to facilitate beam management by analog beamforming and is known as spatial QCL. Currently, there is no strict definition of spatial QCL, but if two transmitted antenna ports are spatially QCL, the UE can use the same Rx beam to receive them. This is useful for UEs that use analog beamforming to receive signals because the UE needs to adjust its RX beam in a certain direction before receiving a signal. If the UE knows that a signal is spatially QCL with some other signal it has received previously, the UE can safely use the same RX beam to receive this signal as well. Regarding beam management, most discussions center around QCL type D, but it should be noted that it is also necessary to convey the type A QCL relationship for RS to the UE so that all relevant large-scale parameters can be estimated.

[0080] Typically, this is achieved by configuring the UE with CSI-RS for tracking or a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) for time / frequency offset estimation. To enable the use of any QCL reference, the UE needs to receive it with a sufficiently good SINR. In many cases, this means that the TRS must be transmitted with an appropriate beam for a given UE.

[0081] To introduce dynamics into beam and Transmit Receive Point (TRP) selection, M Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states can be configured for the UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, where M can be up to 128 in frequency range 2 (FR2) and up to 8 in FR1 for PDSCH reception, depending on the UE's capabilities.

[0082] Each TCI state includes QCL information, i.e., one or two source DL RSs, and each source RS is associated with a QCL type. For example, a TCI state can include a pair of reference signals, each associated with a QCL type. For example, two different CSI-RSs {CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2} are configured in a TCI state as {qcl-Type1, qcl-Type2} = {Type A, Type D}. This means that the UE can derive the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread from CSI-RS1 and the spatial Rx parameters (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2.

[0083] Each of the M states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of M possible beams transmitted from the network or as a list of M possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE. The M TCI states can further be interpreted as a combination of one or more beams transmitted from one or more TRPs.

[0084] The first list of available TCI states is configured for the PDSCH, and the second list of TCI states is configured for the PDCCH. Each TCI state includes a pointer known as the TCI state ID, which points to the TCI state. Also, the network activates (i.e., provides TCI for) one TCI state for the PDCCH via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), and activates up to M active TCI states for the PDSCH. The number of active TCI states supported by the UE is a UE capability, with a maximum value of 8.

[0085] Each configured TCI state includes parameters for a quasi-collocation association between a source reference signal (CSI-RS or SS / PBCH) and a target reference signal (e.g., PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS ports). The TCI state is also used to carry QCL information for the reception of CSI-RS.

[0086] Assume that 8 active TCI states (from a list of a total of 64 configured TCI states) are configured for the UE. Thus, 56 TCI states are inactive for this particular UE (although some may be active for other UEs), and the UE does not need to be prepared to have large-scale parameters estimated for them. However, the UE continuously tracks and updates the large-scale parameters for the 8 active TCI states by measuring and analyzing the source RS indicated by each TCI state. When scheduling the PDSCH for the UE, the DCI includes a pointer to one active TCI. As a result, the UE knows the large-scale parameter estimate value to use when performing PDSCH DMRS channel estimation and thereby PDSCH demodulation.

[0087] DMRS

[0088] The demodulation reference signal is used for coherent demodulation of the physical layer data channels, PDSCH (DL) and PUSCH (UL), and the physical layer downlink control channel (PDCCH). The DM-RS is limited to the resource blocks carrying the associated physical layer channel and is mapped to the allocated resource elements of the OFDM time-frequency grid so that the receiver can efficiently process a time / frequency selective fading radio channel.

[0089] The mapping of the DM-RS to resource elements is configurable with respect to both the density in the frequency domain and the time domain. Two mapping types in the frequency domain (configuration type 1 or type 2) and two mapping types in the time domain (mapping type A or type B) define the position of the first DM-RS symbol within the transmission interval. The DM-RS mapping in the time domain can further be single-symbol based or double-symbol based. The latter means that the DM-RS is mapped to a pair of two adjacent symbols. Further, 1, 2, 3, or 4 single-symbol DM-RS and 1 or 2 double-symbol DM-RS can be configured for the UE. In scenarios with low Doppler, it may be sufficient to configure only front-loaded DM-RS (i.e., 1 single-symbol DM-RS or 1 double-symbol DM-RS), while in scenarios with high Doppler, additional DM-RS is required.

[0090] Figure 4 shows the mapping of front-loaded DM-RS for configuration types 1 and 2 with single-symbol DM-RS and double-symbol DM-RS, and for mapping type A with the first DM-RS in the third symbol of a 14-symbol transmission interval. Types 1 and 2 differ with respect to both the mapping configuration and the number of supported DM-RS CDM groups, where type 1 supports two CDM groups and type 2 supports three CDM groups. The CDM groups are indicated by shading.

[0091] PDSCH transmission via multiple transmission points or panels (TRPs)

[0092] In one scenario, downlink data is transmitted via multiple TRPs where different MIMO layers are transmitted via different TRPs. This is referred to as Non-coherent Joint Transmission (NC-JT). In another scenario, different time / frequency resources can be allocated to different TRPs and one or more PDSCHs are transmitted via different TRPs. In NR Release 16, two methods of scheduling multi-TRP transmission are defined, namely, multi-PDCCH-based multi-TRP transmission and single-PDCCH-based multi-TRP transmission. Multi-PDCCH-based multi-TRP transmission and single-PDCCH-based multi-TRP transmission can be used to serve downlink enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) traffic and downlink URLLC traffic to the UE.

[0093] Multi-PDCCH-based DL data transmission via multiple transmission points (TRPs)

[0094] Figure 5 shows an example of multi-TRP transmission based on multi-PDCCH using a single scheduler according to some embodiments. An example is shown in Figure 5, where data is transmitted to the UE via two TRPs, and each TRP carries one TB mapped to one codeword. While the UE has four receive antennas, if each of the TRPs has only two transmit antennas, the UE can support up to four MIMO layers, but each TRP can transmit up to two MIMO layers. In this case, by transmitting data to the UE via two TRPs, up to four aggregated layers from the two TRPs can be used, so the peak data rate to the UE can be increased. This is beneficial when the traffic load and thus the resource utilization are low at each TRP. In this example, a single scheduler is used to schedule data on two TRPs. One PDCCH is transmitted from each of the two TRPs within a slot, and each schedules one PDSCH. This is referred to as the multi-PDCCH or multi-DCI scheme, where the UE receives two PDCCHs and the associated two PDSCHs from two TRPs within a slot.

[0095] Figure 6 shows an example of multi-TRP transmission based on multi-PDCCH using independent schedulers according to some embodiments. In another scenario shown in Figure 6, independent schedulers are used at each TRP. In this case, due to non-ideal backhaul, i.e., a backhaul with a large delay and / or delay variation comparable to the cyclic prefix length, or in some cases even longer, up to a few milliseconds of backhaul, only loose coordination between the two schedulers can be performed.

[0096] In the NR specification 3GPP TS 38.211, there are the following limitations:

[0097] The UE may assume that the PDSCH DM-RS within the same CDM group is quasi co-located with respect to Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, and spatial Rx.

[0098] If the UE is not scheduled on all DMRS ports within a CDM group, the remaining ports of that CDM group can be used for another UE to be scheduled simultaneously. Also, the UE may estimate the channels of other UEs (and thus the interference signals) in order to perform coherent interference suppression. Therefore, this is useful in MU-MIMO scheduling and UE interference suppression.

[0099] In the case of a multi-TRP scenario where the UE receives PDSCH via multiple PDCCHs transmitted from different TRPs, since the TRPs can be spatially separated, the signals transmitted from different TRPs are most likely not quasi co-located. In this case, the PDSCHs transmitted from different TRPs will have different TCI states associated with them. Furthermore, according to the above limitations from 3GPP TS 38.211, the two PDSCH DM-RSs associated with two TRPs need to belong to different DM-RS CDM groups (since the two PDSCH DM-RSs are not QCL, they cannot belong to the same DM-RS CDM group). Figure 7 shows an example of the relationship between the TCI state and the DM-RS CDM group in a scenario where the UE receives PDSCH via multiple PDCCHs transmitted from different TRPs according to some embodiments. Figure 7 shows an exemplary relationship between the TCI state and the DM-RS CDM group for a multi-PDCCH multi-TRP scenario. In this example, PDSCH1 is associated with TCI state p and PDSCH2 is associated with TCI state q. The PDSCH DM-RSs from different TRPs further belong to different DM-RS CDM groups since they are not quasi co-located. In this example, the DMRS for PDSCH1 belongs to CDM group u and the DMRS for PDSCH2 belongs to CDM group v.

[0100] In the case of multi-PDCCH-based multi-TRP operation, two CORESET pools, each associated with a TRP, need to be configured for the UE. Each CORESET pool is a collection of CORESETs belonging to the same pool. A value of 0 or 1 can be set in the CORESET pool index for each CORESET. An example is shown in FIG. 8, where PDSCH1 is scheduled by PDCCH1 from TRP1 and PDSCH2 is scheduled by PDCCH2 from TRP2. The two PDSCHs may not overlap completely, partially, or at all in time and frequency. For the two DCIs in the example of FIG. 8, they are transmitted on two CORESETs belonging to separate CORESET pools (i.e., DCI1 and DCI2 are transmitted on separate CORESETs belonging to CORESETPoolIndex 0 and 1, respectively).

[0101] In the case of multi-DCI-based PDSCH scheduling, TCI state activation and mapping to the code points of the TCI fields in the DCI are performed for each CORESET pool, and only a single TCI state can be mapped to the code points of the TCI fields in the DCI. This means that the DCI transmitted on a CORESET pool can schedule only the PDSCH from the associated TRP. FIG. 9 shows the corresponding TCI state activation / inactivation PDSCH MAC CE, where the TCI state with TCI-StateId i is activated when the T i field is set to 1 and is mapped to the code point of the DCI transmission configuration indication field, and is inactivated when the T i field is set to 0. The code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by its ordinal position among all the TCI states for which the T i field is set to 1, i.e., the T iThe first TCI state with the field set to 1 must be mapped to the code point value 0, T i The second TCI state with the field set to 1 must be mapped to the code point value 1, and so on. The maximum number of activated TCI states is 8 for each CORESET pool. Figure 9 shows the TCI state activation / deactivation PDSCH MAC CE (reproduced from Section 6.1.3.14 of TS 38.321) for multi-DCI-based PDSCH multi-TRP transmission.

[0102] When the field "CORESET Pool ID" is set to 1, this MAC CE indicates that it must be applied to the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with CORESET pool ID = 1. Otherwise, this MAC CE must be applied to the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET where the CORESET pool ID does not exist or the CORESET with CORESET pool ID = 0. According to Table 6.2.1-1 of 3GPP TS 38.321, the logical channel ID (LCID: Logical Channel ID) corresponding to this MAC CE is 53.

[0103] Single PDCCH-based DL data transmission via multiple transmission points (TRPs)

[0104] The PDSCH can be transmitted to the UE from multiple TRPs. Since different TRPs can be located at different physical positions and / or have different beams, the propagation channels can be different. To facilitate receiving PDSCH data from different TRPs or beams, the UE can be informed of two TCI states, each associated with a TRP or beam, by a single code point of the TCI field in the DCI.

[0105] Figure 10 shows an example of NC-JT supported in NR Release 16, where a single CW is transmitted via two TRPs. Figure 10 shows an example of PDSCH transmission via two TRPs using a single DCI, where different layers of a PDSCH having a single codeword (e.g., CW0) are transmitted via two TRPs each associated with a different TCI state. In this case, two DMRS ports, one for each layer in two CDM groups, are also signaled to the UE. The first TCI state is associated with the DMRS port within the first CDM group, and the second TCI state is associated with the DMRS port within the second CDM group. This approach is often referred to as NC-JT (Non-coherent joint transmission or Type 1a in the 3GPP discussions of NR Release 16).

[0106] Transmitting the PDSCH via multiple TRPs can also be used to improve the reliability of PDSCH transmission for URLLC applications. In NR Release 16, several approaches have been introduced, including "FDM Scheme A", "FDM Scheme B", "TDM Scheme A", and the slot-based TDM scheme. Note that the terminology with Type 4 is used in discussions including the slot-based TDM scheme in the 3GPP discussions of NR Release 16.

[0107] FIG. 11 shows an example of multi-TRP PDSCH transmission using the FDM scheme A, where the PDSCH is transmitted via TRP1 with a PRG (precoding RB group) {0, 2, 4} and via TRP2 with a PRG {1, 3, 5}. The transmission from TRP1 is associated with TCI state 1, while the transmission from TRP2 is associated with TCI state 2. In the case of the FDM scheme A, since the transmissions from TRP1 and TRP2 do not overlap, the DMRS ports can be the same (i.e., DMRS port 0 is used for both transmissions). The PDSCH is scheduled by a PDCCH transmitted via TRP1.

[0108] FIG. 12 shows an example of data transmission using the FDM scheme B, where PDSCH#1 having the same TB is transmitted with a PRG {0, 2, 4} from TRP1 and PDSCH#2 having the same TB is transmitted with a PRG {1, 3, 5} from TRP2. The transmission from TRP1 is associated with TCI state 1, while the transmission from TRP2 is associated with TCI state 2. In the case of the FDM scheme B, since the transmissions from TRP1 and TRP2 do not overlap, the DMRS ports can be the same (i.e., DMRS port 0 is used for both transmissions). The two PDSCHs carry the same encoded data payload but have the same or different redundancy versions, so the UE can perform soft combining of the two PDSCHs to achieve more reliable reception.

[0109] FIG. 13 shows an example of data transmission using the TDM scheme A in which PDSCH repetitions occur in a mini-slot of four OFDM symbols within a slot. Each PDSCH can be associated with the same or different RVs. The transmission of PDSCH#1 from TRP1 is associated with the first TCI state, and the transmission of PDSCH#2 from TRP2 is associated with the second TCI state.

[0110] FIG. 14 shows an example of PDSCH transmission using multi-DCI with a plurality of TRPs according to some embodiments. For example, multi-TRP data transmission using a slot-based TDM method is shown in FIG. 14, where four PDSCHs for the same TB are transmitted in four consecutive slots via two TRPs. Each PDSCH is associated with a different RV. Transmission of odd-numbered PDSCHs from TRP1 is associated with a first TCI state, and transmission of even-numbered PDSCHs from TRP2 is associated with a second TCI state.

[0111] For all single PDCCH-based DL multi-TRP PDSCH schemes, a single DCI transmitted from one TRP is used to schedule multiple PDSCH transmissions via two TRPs. The network sets multiple TCI states for the UE via RRC, and a new MAC CE was introduced in NR Release 16. FIG. 15 shows an extended PDSCH MAC CE, which indicates an extended TCI state activation / deactivation PDSCH MAC CE (reproduced from Section 6.1.3.24 of TS 38.321) for single DCI-based PDSCH multi-TRP transmission. This MAC CE can be used to map code points within the TCI field to one or two TCI states.

[0112] In this extended PDSCH MAC CE, the TCI state ID i,j indicates the j-th TCI state shown for the i-th code point in the TCI field of the DCI. Further, the C i field in the MAC CE indicates whether an additional TCI state is associated with the i-th code point in the TCI field of the DCI. Thus, the TCI state ID i,j and the C i field in the MAC CE are used to provide the mapping of the activated TCI states to the code points of the TCI field in the DCI. The TCI state ID i,jIt further provides an activated TCI state for the PDSCH. For example, when i the field is set to 0, only one TCI state (i.e., TCI state ID i,1 ) mapped to the code point i of the TCI field of the DCI exists, and the additional TCI state TCI state ID i,2 does not exist in the MAC CE. When the Ci field is set to 1, two TCI states (i.e., TCI state ID i,1 and TCI state ID i,2 ) mapped to the code point i of the TCI field of the DCI exist, and the additional TCI state TCI state ID i,2 exists in the MAC CE. According to Table 6.2.1-1 of 3GPP TS 38.321, the logical channel ID (LCID) corresponding to this MAC CE is 46.

[0113] Definition of the default TCI state in NR Release 15

[0114] In NR Release 15, the threshold timeDurationForQCL is reported by the UE based on the UE's capabilities. In the scheduling DCI, the UE may receive an indication of the TCI state and an indication of the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH.

[0115] When the TCI state is indicated in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH, the UE uses the indicated TCI state to determine the quasi - co - location of the PDSCH DMRS antenna ports where the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL.

[0116] If the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE may assume that the (one or more) PDSCH DMRS antenna ports are quasi - co - located with the (one or more) RSs with respect to the (one or more) QCL parameters used for the PDCCH quasi - co - location indication of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space having the lowest CORESET - ID in the latest slot. This assumption of quasi - co - location with the (one or more) RSs of the CORESET having the lowest CORESET - ID is referred to as the "default TCI state" in this disclosure.

[0117] If none of the configured TCI states for the serving cell of the scheduled PDSCH includes "QCL - TypeD", the UE shall obtain other QCL assumptions from the TCI state indicated by the DCI for that scheduled PDSCH regardless of the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH.

[0118] Definition of the (one or more) default TCI states in NR Release 16

[0119] In NR Release 16, the default TCI state is defined for multi - DCI, and single - DCI - based multi - TRP PDSCH transmission is defined.

[0120] For the single - DCI - based multi - TRP PDSCH transmission mode, two default TCI states are defined. The two default TCI states correspond to different TRPs respectively. In 3GPP TS 38.214 (V16.1.0), the two default TCI states for the single - DCI - based multi - TRP PDSCH transmission mode are defined as follows:

[0121] "If the offset between the reception of DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, and at least one configured TCI state for the serving cell of the PDSCH includes "QCL-TypeD", and at least one TCI code point indicates two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-collocated with the (one or more) RSs with respect to the (one or more) QCL parameters associated with the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points including two different TCI states."

[0122] Figure 16 shows an example of the default TCI state for the mapping from a given code point of the TCI field to a TCI state. In this example, the lowest code point including two different TCI states is code point 1. Therefore, the default TCI state for the single DCI-based multi-TRP PDSCH scheme in this example is given by the TCI states with IDs 2 and 3.

[0123] For the multi-DCI-based multi-TRP PDSCH transmission scheme, two default TCI states are also defined. The two default TCI states correspond to different TRPs respectively. In 3GPP TS 38.214 (V16.1.0), the two default TCI states for the multi-DCI-based multi-TRP PDSCH transmission scheme are defined as follows:

[0124] "For both cases where TCI-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" and TCI-PresentInDCI is not set in RRC connected mode, when the UE is configured by the higher layer parameter PDCCH-Config that contains two different values for CORESETPoolIndex within a ControlResourceSet, if the offset between the reception of DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH associated with the value of the CORESETPoolIndex of the serving cell are quasi-co-located with (one or more) QCL parameters used for PDCCH quasi-co-location indication of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space that has the lowest CORESET-ID among the multiple CORESETs with the same value set as the PDCCH that schedules the PDSCH in the (one or more) RS in the latest slot monitored by the UE among the one or more CORESETs associated with the same value as the PDCCH that schedules the PDSCH within the active BWP of the serving cell."

[0125] Figure 17 shows an example illustrating the default TCI states for multi-DCI based PDSCH multi-TRP transmission. In this example, PDSCH1 is scheduled by PDCCH 1 from TRP1 via the CORESET of CORESET pool 0, and PDSCH2 is scheduled by PDCCH2 from TRP2 via the CORESET of CORESET pool 1. The figure gives the simplified definition of the default TCI states of the two PDSCHs from TRP1 and TRP2."

[0126] DCI formats for downlink PDSCH scheduling

[0127] In NR Release 15, two DCI formats (i.e., DCI format 1_0 and DCI format 1_1) were defined for scheduling PDSCH in NR. DCI format 1_0 has a smaller size than DCI format 1_1 and can be used when the UE is not fully connected to the network, while DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) transmission with two transport blocks (TBs). The TCI field exists in DCI format 1_1 when the upper layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" in the CORESET. As defined in 3GPP TS 38.212, the TCI field, when valid, contains 3 bits. The TCI field of DCI format 1_1 indicates the (one or more) TCI states that provide the source reference signal for the PDSCH DMRS ports. However, in DCI format 1-0, the TCI field does not exist.

[0128] In NR Release 16, a new DCI format 1_2 for DL scheduling is introduced. One of the main motivations for having the new DCI format is that a very small DCI size can be set, which can provide an improvement in PDCCH reliability to some extent without losing much flexibility. Therefore, the main design goal of the new DCI format is to have a DCI with a minimum DCI size targeting a reduction of 10 - 16 bits compared to the DCI formats 0_0 / 1_0 of Release 15, including potential new fields, and with a size that can be set for some fields.

[0129] The TCI field in DCI format 1_2 can have a size of 0, 1, 2, or 3 bits. The presence of the TCI field in DCI format 1_2 is set for each CORESET via the upper layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2. The value of tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 set for each CORESET can be any of 1, 2, or 3, indicating the number of bits in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2 for that CORESET. Therefore, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2 can be different between different CORESETS.

[0130] Currently, there is a problem. In the case of DCI format 1_1, when the TCI field is enabled, the TCI field in DCI format 1_1 is always 3 bits (i.e., 8 code points). Therefore, the number of TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 does not change when the TCI field is enabled in a plurality of different CORESETS.

[0131] However, the TCI field in DCI format 1_2 is variable between 0, 1, 2, or 3 bits (i.e., 0, 2, 4, or 8 code points). Furthermore, in DCI format 1_2, when tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 is set to different values in different CORESETS, it is possible that different TCI field sizes can be used for different CORESETS.

[0132] In NR, the UE can be configured to monitor both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 for PDSCH scheduling. For example, when the UE is serving URLLC traffic with strict latency and reliability requirements, the UE can be scheduled in the DL using DCI format 1_2. DCI format 1_1 can be used when scheduling the UE for eMBB traffic.

[0133] The current MAC CE design in FIGS. 9 and 15 functions well for DCI format 1_1 where the number of code points in the TCI field is 8 whenever the TCI field is enabled via the TCI-PresentInDCI parameter. However, the current MAC CE design in FIGS. 9 and 15 does not address the TCI state activation for DCI format 1_2 and the mapping from the TCI field code points to the TCI state, and the number of TCI field code points for DCI format 1_2 can be different in different CORESETs.

[0134] Therefore, for DCI format 1_2 (especially when the UE is configured to monitor both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2), activating the TCI state and performing the mapping from the TCI field code points to the TCI state is an open issue. Another related issue is how to define the default TCI state when the UE is configured to monitor both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 for PDSCH scheduling.

[0135] Systems and methods are provided for activating TCI states and mapping from code points to TCI states. In some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device for activating a TCI state is configured to monitor a plurality of DCI formats having TCI fields for PDSCH reception, and receive a single media access control MAC CE for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats, or receive separate MAC CEs for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats, including one or more of the foregoing. In some embodiments, one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2. An advantage may include that TCI states for downlink scheduling can be more flexibly selected for each DCI format by using separate MAC CEs. For example, DCI format 1_2 may be used to schedule URLLC data in the downlink using one set of TCI states (e.g., one set of beams). And DCI format 1_1 may be used to schedule eMBB data in the downlink using another set of TCI states (e.g., a second set of beams).

[0136] FIG. 18 shows a method performed by a wireless device to activate a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state. In some embodiments, the method is configured to monitor a plurality of Downlink Control Information (DCI) formats having a TCI field for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception (step 1800), receive a single Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (step 1802), and receive a separate MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (step 1804), including one or more of the foregoing.

[0137] FIG. 19 shows a method performed by a base station to activate a TCI state. In some embodiments, the method includes configuring a wireless device to monitor a plurality of DCI formats having a TCI field for PDSCH reception (step 1900), transmitting a single MAC CE to the wireless device to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (step 1902), and transmitting a separate MAC CE to the wireless device to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (step 1904), including one or more of the foregoing.

[0138] Thus, an advantage of some embodiments may include that a single MAC CE can be used to provide activation of the TCI state and mapping from the TCI state to TCI field code points for a plurality of downlink DCI formats. This avoids the need to introduce separate MAC CEs for each downlink DCI format.

[0139] There are also advantages associated with some other embodiments that use different MAC CEs to provide activation of TCI states and mapping from TCI states to TCI field code points for multiple downlink DCI formats. The advantages may include that the TCI state for downlink scheduling can be more flexibly selected for each DCI format by using separate MAC CEs. For example, DCI format 1_2 can be used to schedule URLLC data in the downlink using one set of TCI states (e.g., one set of beams). And DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule eMBB data in the downlink using another set of TCI states (e.g., a second set of beams).

[0140] Another advantage of the proposed solution is that it can provide a definition of a default TCI state when the activation of TCI states and the mapping from TCI states to TCI field code points for multiple downlink DCI formats are provided by either a single MAC CE or different MAC CEs.

[0141] Embodiment 1 - Use of a single MAC CE to map an activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2.

[0142] In one embodiment, a single MAC CE is used to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2. In this embodiment, the TCI state that is activated and mapped to the code point of the TCI field in DCI format 1_2 is a subset of the TCI state that is activated and mapped to the code point of the TCI field in DCI format 1_1.

[0143] This embodiment is applicable to both current MAC CEs (i.e., those in FIGS. 9 and 15 in the present disclosure).

[0144] In particular, when K (K = 1, 2, 3) bits are set for DCI format 1_2, S = 2 K code points of DCI format 1_2 are mapped to the first S = 2 K code points of the MAC CE. FIG. 20 shows an example according to some embodiments, in which a subset of the activated TCI states mapped to the TCI field in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the code points of the TCI field in DCI format 1_2. FIG. 20 shows an example when the TCI field of DCI format 1_2 has four code points (i.e., K = 2 and S = 4). In this example, the activated TCI states mapped to the first four TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 are mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2.

[0145] In an alternative embodiment, when the TCI field of DCI format 1_2 has S < 8 code points, the offset S0 can be set such that the activated TCI states corresponding to code points S0+1 to S0+S of DCI format 1_1 are mapped to the S code points in DCI format 1_2. Here, S0 is a code point offset value that satisfies (S0+S)≦8, which may be a fixed value defined in the specification or may be an upper layer parameter that can be set and changed. When S0 is a parameter that can be set and changed, this settable parameter can be set in the CORESET where tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 is set. FIG. 21 shows a second example according to some embodiments, in which a subset of the activated TCI states mapped to the TCI field in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the code points of the TCI field in DCI format 1_2. FIG. 21 shows an example where S0 = 2.

[0146] To incorporate this embodiment into the MAC CE of FIG. 9, the field description for T in the MAC CE of FIG. 9 can be changed as follows (the changed parts are shown in bold): i For T

[0147] T i : If there is a TCI state with TCI-StateId i defined in TS 38.331[5], this field indicates the activation / inactivation state of the TCI state with TCI-StateId i; otherwise, the MAC entity must ignore the T i field. The T i field is set to 1 to indicate that the TCI state with TCI-StateId i is activated and mapped to the code point of the DCI transmission setting indication field, as defined in TS 38.214[7]. The T iThe field is set to 0 to indicate that the TCI state with TCI-StateId i is deactivated and is not mapped to the code point of the DCI transmission configuration indication field. The code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by its ordinal position among all the TCI states for which the T i field is set to 1, i.e., the first TCI state for which the T i field is set to 1 must be mapped to the code point value 0, and the second TCI state for which the T i field is set to 1 must be mapped to the code point value 1, and so on. TIFF2025102758000003.tif31167

[0148] Similarly, this embodiment can be incorporated into the MAC CE in Figure 15 of 3GPP TS 38.321 by changing the field description for the TCI state ID i,j field in the MAC CE in Figure 15 of 3GPP TS 38.321 as follows:

[0149] TCI state ID i,j : This field indicates the TCI state identified by the TCI-StateId as defined in TS 38.331 [5], where i is the index of the code point of the DCI transmission configuration indication field as defined in TS 38.212 [9], and the TCI state ID i,j indicates the j-th TCI state indicated for the i-th code point in the DCI transmission configuration indication field. The TCI code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by its ordinal position among all the TCI code points having the set of TCI state ID i,j fields, i.e., the first TCI code point having TCI state ID 0,1 and TCI state ID 0,2 must be mapped to the code point value 0, and the TCI code point having TCI state ID 1,1 and TCI state ID 1,2The second TCI code point having [it] shall be mapped to the code point value 1, etc. TCI state ID i,2 is optional based on the indication of the C i field. When the number S of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2 is less than the maximum number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_1, the activated TCI states mapped to the first S TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 are mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2. The maximum number of activated TCI code points is 8, and the maximum number of TCI states mapped to the TCI code points is 2.

[0150] The main advantage of this embodiment is that existing MAC CEs can be reused by incorporating the solution of this embodiment into these existing MAC CEs. Accordingly, the need to introduce new MAC CEs is avoided.

[0151] In a variant of this embodiment, the above mapping is defined in TS 38.214 or TS 38.212, and no change is introduced in TS 38.321. That is, the following text is added to TS 38.214:

[0152] "When the number S of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2 is less than the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_1, the activated TCI states mapped to the first S TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 are mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2."

[0153] Alternatively, the following text may be added to 38.214:

[0154] When the number S of code points in the TCI field of the DCI is less than the maximum number of code points in the MAC CE activation command, the S code points are mapped to the first S code points in the MAC CE activation command.

[0155] In some embodiments, when two CORESETs having different CORESET pool indexes are configured for the UE and DCI format 1_2 is activated in one of the two CORESETs, the MAC CE shown in FIG. 9 can be used to indicate the mapping from the activated TCI state for DCI format 1_2 to the TCI field code points only when the MAC CE indicates the "CORESET Pool ID" corresponding to the CORESET pool index of the CORESET in which DCI format 1_2 is activated. Consider the following example: CORESET 1 where the CORESET pool index 0 is configured and DCI format 1_2 is activated, and / or CORESET 2 where the CORESET pool index 1 is configured and DCI format 1_2 is deactivated.

[0156] In this case, when the MAC CE in FIG. 9 with "CORESET Pool ID = 0" indicates the mapping from the activated TCI state to the TCI field code point, this mapping from the activated TCI state to the TCI field code point is applied to DCI format 1_2. When DCI having format 1_2 is transmitted via CORESET1, the mapping from the activated TCI state to the TCI field code point is applied to the DCI having format 1_2. However, when the MAC CE in FIG. 9 with "CORESET Pool ID = 1" indicates the mapping from the activated TCI state to the TCI field code point, since DCI format 1_2 is not activated in CORESET2, this mapping from the activated TCI state to the TCI field code point is not applied to DCI format 1_2. This UE operation may further depend on the UE having the ability to support two different CORESET pools to be configured (i.e., the UE notifies this ability to the gNB). If the UE does not have the ability to support two different CORESET pools, the rules enabling the mapping from the activated TCI state to the TCI field code point for DCI format 1_2 are not applied according to the "CORESET Pool ID" shown in the MAC CE of FIG. 9.

[0157] In another embodiment, only a certain MAC CE is used to provide the mapping from the TCI state for DCI format 1_2 to the TCI field code point. For example, in one embodiment, only the MAC CE of FIG. 9 can provide the mapping from the TCI state for DCI format 1_2 to the TCI field code point. In this embodiment, different MAC CEs can be used to enable different mappings from the TCI state to the TCI field code point for DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2. For example, the MAC CE of FIG. 9 can be used to provide the mapping from the TCI state for DCI format 1_2 to the TCI field code point, while the MAC CE of FIG. 15 can be used to provide the mapping from the TCI state for DCI format 1_1 to the TCI field code point.

[0158] Embodiment 2 - Use of separate MAC CEs to map the activated TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2.

[0159] In some scenarios, it may be beneficial to activate multiple different TCI states and map multiple different sets of the activated TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2. The reason is that DCI format 1_2 can be used to schedule URLLC data in the downlink using one set of TCI states (e.g., one set of beams), and DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule eMBB data in the downlink using another set of TCI states (e.g., a second set of beams).

[0160] In this embodiment, different sets of TCI states are activated (i.e., different from those activated for DCI format 1_1), and a separate new MAC CE having a similar configuration to the MAC CE of FIG. 9 is introduced in NR to map these TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI format 1_2. The new MAC CE is used only to activate the TCI states and map these TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI format 1_2. The new MAC CE is assigned a new LCID from the existing LCID space defined in Table 6.2.1-1 in 3GPP TS 38.321 or from the eLCID space newly introduced in Table 6.2.1-1a in TS 38.821. The existing MAC CE of FIG. 9 (having the corresponding LCID 53) is used only to activate the TCI states and map these TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI format 1_1. This is beneficial for activating different sets of TCI states for two DCI formats in a scenario where there is a multi-DCI-based PDSCH multi-TRP scheme.

[0161] Similarly, different sets of TCI states can be activated (i.e., different from those activated for DCI format 1_1), and a new MAC CE with a similar configuration to the MAC CE in FIG. 15 can be introduced in NR to map these TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI format 1_2. The new MAC CE is used only to activate TCI states and map these TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI format 1_2. The new MAC CE is assigned a new LCID from the existing LCID space defined in Table 6.2.1-1 in 3GPP TS 38.821 or from the newly introduced eLCID space in Table 6.2.1-1a in 3GPP TS 38.821-g00. The existing MAC CE in FIG. 15 (having the corresponding LCID 46) is used only to activate TCI states and map these TCI states to the TCI field code points of DCI format 1_1. This is beneficial for activating different sets of TCI states for two DCI formats in a scenario where there is a single DCI-based PDSCH multi-TRP scheme.

[0162] Embodiment 3

[0163] It is possible to extend the Release 16 MAC CE in FIG. 15 of the present disclosure to have the flexibility to assign different TCI states to DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 without increasing the number of MAC CEs (i.e., without introducing a new MAC CE).

[0164] In one embodiment, the reserved bit R of the MAC CE in FIG. 15 is used to indicate to which DCI format the MAC CE is applied. According to this embodiment, the R field is changed to the E field. When the E field is set to "0", the MAC CE is applied to DCI format 1_1, and when the E field is set to "1", the MAC CE is applied to DCI format 1_2. The necessary changes to Section 6.1.3.24 of 3GPP TS 38.321 according to this embodiment are shown below, and the added text is shown in bold:

[0165] 6.1.3.24 Extended TCI state activation / deactivation for UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE

[0166] The extended TCI state activation / deactivation for UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE is identified by a MAC PDU subheader having an LCID as specified in Table 6.2.1-1. It has a variable size consisting of one or more of the following fields: - Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the serving cell to which the MAC CE is applied. The length of the field is 5 bits; - BWP ID: This field indicates the DL BWP to which the MAC CE is applied as the code point of the bandwidth part indicator field as defined in TS 38.212 [9]. The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits; - C i : Indicates whether there is an octet containing the TCI state ID i,2 . If this field is set to "1", there is an octet containing the TCI state ID i,2 . If this field is set to "0", there is no octet containing the TCI state ID i,2 ; - TCI state ID i,j: This field indicates the TCI state identified by the TCI-StateId as defined in TS 38.331 [5], where i is the index of the code point of the DCI transmission setting indication field as defined in TS 38.212 [9], and the TCI state ID i,j indicates the j-th TCI state indicated for the i-th code point in the DCI transmission setting indication field. The TCI code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by its ordinal position among all the TCI code points having the set of TCI state ID i,j fields, i.e., the TCI state ID 0,1 and the TCI state ID 0,2 of the first TCI code point must be mapped to the code point value 0, and the TCI state ID 1,1 and the TCI state ID 1,2 of the second TCI code point must be mapped to the code point value 1, and so on. The TCI state ID i,2 is optional based on the indication of the C i field. The maximum number of activated TCI code points is 8, and the maximum number of TCI states mapped to a TCI code point is 2. TIFF2025102758000004.tif21167

[0167] In another embodiment, the maximum number of activated TCI code points is increased from 8 to 8 + S, where S is the number of code points set for DCI format 1_2. The first 8 code points correspond to DCI format 1_1, and the last S code points correspond to DCI format 1_2. In this embodiment, S can take on the values 0, 2, 4, or 8. This mapping can be detailed in 3GPP TS 38.214. The necessary changes to TS 38.821 assuming the exact mapping is within TS 38.214 are shown below according to this embodiment, with the added text shown in bold:

[0168] 6.1.3.24 Activation / Deactivation of Extended TCI States for UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE

[0169] Activation / Deactivation of Extended TCI States for UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE is identified by a MAC PDU sub-header having an LCID as specified in Table 6.2.1-1. It has a variable size consisting of the following fields: - Serving cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the serving cell to which the MAC CE applies. The length of the field is 5 bits; - BWP ID: This field indicates the DL BWP to which the MAC CE applies as the code point of the DCI bandwidth part indicator field as specified in TS 38.212 [9]. The length of the BWP ID field is 2 bits; - C i : Indicates whether an octet containing the TCI state ID i,2 exists. If this field is set to '1', an octet containing the TCI state ID i,2 exists. If this field is set to '0', no octet containing the TCI state ID i,2 exists; - TCI state ID i,j : This field indicates the TCI state identified by a TCI-StateId as specified in TS 38.331 [5], where i is the index of the code point of the DCI transmission setting indication field as specified in TS 38.212 [9], and the TCI state ID i,j indicates the jth TCI state indicated for the ith code point in the DCI transmission setting indication field. The TCI code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by the ordinal position among all TCI code points having a set of TCI state ID i,j fields. TIFF2025102758000005.tif77167-R: Reservation bit, set to "0".

[0170] Embodiment 4: Definition of Default TCI State

[0171] In this section, corresponding to the extensions proposed in Embodiments 1 to 3, a definition of the default TCI state is provided. Note that the activation command in the remaining part of this section refers to transmitting a MAC CE (i.e., any one of the MAC CEs proposed in Embodiments 1 to 3 above) to activate the TCI state.

[0172] A single MAC CE is used for the activation of the TCI state corresponding to DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2

[0173] When a single activation command is used for TCI state activation / deactivation for both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, the default TCI state is the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the MAC CE activation command, which includes two different TCI states.

[0174] More specifically, when the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, and at least one configured TCI state for the serving cell of the scheduled PDSCH includes "QCL-TypeD", and at least one TCI code point included in the activation command indicates two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-collocated with the (one or more) RSs with respect to the (one or more) QCL parameters associated with the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points including the two different TCI states included in the activation command.

[0175] Separate MAC CE for TCI activation for DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2

[0176] If separate activation commands are used for TCI state activation / deactivation for DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, the default TCI state can be the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in one of the two activation commands that include two different TCI states.

[0177] More specifically, if the offset between the reception of DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, and at least one configured TCI state for the serving cell of the scheduled PDSCH includes "QCL-TypeD", and at least one TCI code point included in at least one of the activation commands indicates two TCI states, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH of the serving cell are quasi-collocated with the (one or more) RSs with respect to the (one or more) QCL parameters associated with the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points that include two different TCI states included in one of the activation commands.

[0178] If both activation commands include code points mapped to two TCI states, in one embodiment, one of the two activation commands can be determined by the specification. For example, the activation command for DCI format 1_1 is always selected in this case. Alternatively, one of the two activation commands can be set by a higher layer.

[0179] FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 2200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Optional features are represented by dashed boxes. The radio access node 2200 can be, for example, a base station 302 or 306, or a network node that implements all or part of the functions of the base station 302 or gNB described herein. As shown, the radio access node 2200 includes a control system 2202 that includes one or more processors 2204 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and / or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.), a memory 2206, and a network interface 2208. The one or more processors 2204 are also referred to herein as a processing circuit. Further, the radio access node 2200 can include one or more radio units 2210, each including one or more transmitters 2212 and one or more receivers 2214 coupled to one or more antennas 2216. The radio unit 2210 can be referred to as or be part of a radio interface circuit. In some embodiments, the (one or more) radio units 2210 are external to the control system 2202 and are connected to the control system 2202 via, for example, a wired connection (e.g., an optical cable). However, in some other embodiments, the (one or more) radio units 2210 and potentially the (one or more) antennas 2216 are integrated with the control system 2202. The one or more processors 2204 operate to provide one or more functions of the radio access node 2200 described herein. In some embodiments, the (one or more) functions are implemented by software stored, for example, in the memory 2206 and executed by the one or more processors 2204.

[0180] FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualized embodiment of a radio access node 2200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. This description is equally applicable to other types of network nodes. Further, other types of network nodes can also have a similar virtualization architecture. As before, optional features are represented by dashed boxes.

[0181] As used herein, a "virtualized" radio access node is an implementation of a radio access node 2200 in which at least some of the functions of the radio access node 2200 are implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more virtual machines running on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks). As shown, in this example, the radio access node 2200 can include a control system 2202 and / or one or more radio units 2210 as described above. The control system 2202 can be connected to the one or more radio units 2210 via, for example, an optical cable or the like. The radio access node 2200 is coupled to one or more processing nodes 2300 that are coupled to a network 2302 or included as part of a network 1202. When present, the control system 2202 or the one or more radio units are connected to the one or more processing nodes 2300 via the network 2302. Each processing node 2300 includes one or more processors 2304 (e.g., a CPU, an ASIC, and / or an FPGA, etc.), a memory 2306, and a network interface 2308.

[0182] In this example, the functionality 2310 of the wireless access node 2200 described herein is implemented in one or more processing nodes 2300, or distributed in any desired manner across one or more processing nodes 2300 and the control system 2202 and / or the radio unit 2210. In some particular embodiments, some or all of the functionality 2310 of the wireless access node 2200 described herein is implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a (one or more) virtual environment hosted by the (one or more) processing nodes 2300. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, additional signaling or communication between the (one or more) processing nodes 2300 and the control system 2202 is used to execute at least some of the desired functionality 2310. In particular, in some embodiments, the control system 2202 may not be included, in which case the (one or more) radio units 2210 communicate directly with the (one or more) processing nodes 2300 via an appropriate (one or more) network interface.

[0183] In some embodiments, when executed by at least one processor, the at least one processor is provided with a computer program including instructions to cause the functionality of one or more functions 2310 of the wireless access node 2200 in a virtual environment according to any of the embodiments described herein to be executed by the functionality of the wireless access node 2200 or a node (e.g., the processing node 2300). In some embodiments, a carrier including the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is any of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a wireless signal, or a computer-readable storage medium (a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0184] FIG. 24 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless access node 2200 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless access node 2200 includes one or more modules 2400, each of which is implemented in software. The (one or more) modules 2400 provide the functions of the wireless access node 2200 described herein. This description is equally applicable to the processing node 2300 of FIG. 23, where the module 2400 is implemented in one of the processing nodes 2300 or distributed among a plurality of processing nodes 2300, and / or distributed among the (one or more) processing nodes 2300 and the control system 2202.

[0185] FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the wireless communication device 2500 includes one or more processors 2502 (e.g., CPU, ASIC, and / or FPGA, etc.), a memory 2504, and one or more transceivers 2506 each including one or more transmitters 2508 and one or more receivers 2510 coupled to one or more antennas 2512. As understood by those skilled in the art, the (one or more) transceivers 2506 include a radio front-end circuit connected to the (one or more) antennas 2512 and configured to condition signals exchanged between the (one or more) antennas 2512 and the (one or more) processors 2502. The processor 2502 is also referred to herein as a processing circuit. The transceiver 2506 is also referred to herein as a radio circuit. In some embodiments, the functions of the wireless communication device 2500 described above may be implemented fully or partially by software stored, for example, in the memory 2504 and executed by the (one or more) processors 2502. Note that the wireless communication device 2500 may include additional components not shown in FIG. 25, such as, for example, one or more user interface components (e.g., a display, buttons, a touch screen, a microphone, the (one or more) speakers, and / or the like, and / or any other component for enabling input of information to and / or output of information from the wireless communication device 2500, i.e., an input / output interface), a power source (e.g., a battery and associated power circuits), etc.

[0186] In some embodiments, when executed by at least one processor, there is provided a computer program including instructions that cause the at least one processor to perform the functions of the wireless communication device 2500 according to any of the embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, there is provided a carrier including the aforementioned computer program product. The carrier is any of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a wireless signal, or a computer-readable storage medium (a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0187] FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2500 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 2500 includes one or more modules 2600, and each module is implemented in software. The (one or more) modules 2600 provide the functions of the wireless communication device 2500 described herein.

[0188] Referring to FIG. 27, according to an embodiment, a communication system includes a communication network 2700 such as a 3GPP type cellular network, and the communication network includes an access network 2702 such as a radio access network and a core network 2704. The access network 2702 includes a plurality of base stations 2706A, 2706B, 2706C such as NB, eNB, gNB, or other types of radio access points (APs) that respectively define corresponding coverage areas 2708A, 2708B, 2708C. Each base station 2706A, 2706B, 2706C can be connected to the core network 2704 via a wired or wireless connection 2710. A first UE 2712 located in the coverage area 2708C is configured to be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 2706C or paged by the base station. A second UE 2714 within the coverage area 2708A can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 2706A. In this example, a plurality of UEs 2712, 2714 are shown, but the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a single UE is within a coverage area or a situation where a single UE is connected to the corresponding base station 2706.

[0189] The communication network 2700 itself is connected to a host computer 2716, which can be implemented in the hardware and / or software of a stand-alone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as processing resources within a server farm. The host computer 2716 may be owned or under the control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 2718 and 2720 between the communication network 2700 and the host computer 2716 may extend directly from the core network 2704 to the host computer 2716, or may extend via an optional intermediate network 2722. The intermediate network 2722 may be one or more combinations of a public network, a private network, or a host network, and the intermediate network 2722 may, if any, be a backbone network or the Internet. In particular, the intermediate network 2722 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0190] The communication system of FIG. 27 as a whole provides connectivity between one of the connected UEs 2712, 2714 and the host computer 2716. Such connectivity can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2724. The host computer 2716 and the connected UEs 2712, 2714 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 2724 using the access network 2702, the core network 2704, any intermediate network 2722, and possibly further infrastructure (not shown) as a medium. The OTT connection 2724 can be transparent in the sense that participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 2724 passes are unaware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 2706 may not be notified about the past routing of incoming downlink communications having data transmitted from the host computer 2716 (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 2712, or may not need to be notified. Similarly, the base station 2706 does not need to know the future routing of outgoing uplink communications from the UE 2712 to the host computer 2716.

[0191] Referring to FIG. 28, an implementation example according to the embodiments of the UE, base station, and host computer described in the previous paragraph will be described below. In communication system 2800, host computer 2802 includes hardware 2804 including a communication interface 2806 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with interfaces of different communication devices of communication system 2800. Host computer 2802 further includes a processing circuit 2808 that may have storage capabilities and / or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuit 2808 may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 2802 further includes software 2810 stored within host computer 2802 or accessible to host computer 2802 and executable by processing circuit 2808. Software 2810 includes a host application 2812. Host application 2812 may be operable to provide services to remote users such as UE 2814 connected via an OTT connection 2816 that terminates at UE 2814 and host computer 2802. When providing services to remote users, host application 2812 may provide user data transmitted using OTT connection 2816.

[0192] The communication system 2800 further includes a base station 2818 provided within the communication system and including hardware 2820 that enables communication with the host computer 2802 and the UE 2814. The hardware 2820 includes a communication interface 2822 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of different communication devices of the communication system 2800, and a wireless interface 2824 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 2826 with the UE 2814 located within a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 28) served by the base station 2818. The communication interface 2822 may be configured to facilitate a connection 2828 to the host computer 2802. The connection 2828 may be direct or may pass through a core network of the communication system (not shown in FIG. 28) and / or one or more intermediate networks external to the communication system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 2820 of the base station 2818 further includes a processing circuit 2830 that may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 2818 further has software 2832 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0193] The communication system 2800 further includes the UE 2814 already mentioned. The hardware 2834 of the UE 2814 may include a radio interface 2836 configured to set up and maintain a radio connection 2826 with a base station that serves the coverage area where the UE 2814 is currently located. The hardware 2834 of the UE 2814 further includes a processing circuit 2838 that may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 2814 further comprises software 2840 stored within the UE 2814 or accessible to the UE 2814 and executable by the processing circuit 2838. The software 2840 includes a client application 2842. The client application 2842 may be operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via the UE 2814 with the support of the host computer 2802. In the host computer 2802, the running host application 2812 may communicate with the running client application 2842 via the OTT connection 2816 that terminates at the UE 2814 and the host computer 2802. When providing services to the user, the client application 2842 may receive request data from the host application 2812 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 2816 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 2842 may interact with the user to generate the user data to be provided.

[0194] Note that the host computer 2802, the base station 2818, and the UE 2814 shown in FIG. 28 may be similar or identical to the host computer 2716, one of the base stations 2706A, 2706B, 2706C in FIG. 27, and one of the UEs 2712, 2714, respectively. That is, the internal operations of these entities may be as shown in FIG. 28, and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 27.

[0195] In FIG. 28, the OTT connection 2816 is abstractly depicted to show communication between the host computer 2802 and the UE 2814 via the base station 2818 without explicitly referring to any intermediate devices and the exact routing of messages through those devices. The network infrastructure can determine a routing that is configured to hide from the UE 2814, from the service provider operating the host computer 2802, or from both. While the OTT connection 2816 is active, the network infrastructure can further make a decision to dynamically change the routing (e.g., based on load considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0196] The wireless connection 2826 between the UE 2814 and the base station 2818 complies with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments can improve the performance of the OTT services provided to the UE 2814 using the OTT connection 2816 in which the wireless connection 2826 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve, for example, data rate, latency, power consumption, etc., thereby providing advantages such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed file size limitations, better responsiveness, extended battery life, etc.

[0197] In some embodiments, measurement procedures may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, latency, and other factors that one or more embodiments improve. Further, there may be optional network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2816 between the host computer 2802 and the UE 2814 in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedures and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2816 may be implemented in the software 2810 and hardware 2804 of the host computer 2802, or the software 2840 and hardware 2834 of the UE 2814, or both. In some embodiments, a sensor (not shown) may be disposed on or associated with a communication device through which the OTT connection 2816 passes. The sensor may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by supplying values of other physical quantities from which the software 2810, 2840 may calculate or estimate the monitored quantity. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 2816 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 2818 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2818. Such procedures and functions are known in the art and may be implemented. In certain embodiments, the measurement may involve unique UE signaling that facilitates measurement of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. of the host computer 2802. The measurement may be performed in such a way that the software 2810 and 2840 cause messages (particularly empty or "dummy" messages) to be transmitted using the OTT connection 2816 while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0198] FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a method executed in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE that can be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only references to the drawings for FIG. 29 are included in this section. At step 2900, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 2902 (which may be optional) of step 2900, the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. At step 2904, the host computer starts a transmission that conveys the user data to the UE. At step 2906 (which may be optional), the base station transmits the user data conveyed in the transmission started by the host computer to the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. At step 2908 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0199] FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a method executed in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE that can be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only references to the drawings for FIG. 30 are included in this section. In step 3000 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. At step 3002, the host computer starts a transmission that conveys the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass through the base station according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. At step 3004 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data conveyed in the transmission.

[0200] FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing a method executed in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE that can be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only references to the drawings for FIG. 31 are included in this section. In (optional) step 3100, the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 3102, the UE provides user data. In an (optional) sub-step 3104 of step 3100, the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In an (optional) sub-step 3106 of step 3102, the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the particular method by which the user data is provided, the UE starts, in an (optional) sub-step 3108, the transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 3110 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure.

[0201] FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a method executed in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE that can be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only references to the drawings for FIG. 32 are included in this section. In (optional) step 3200, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In (optional) step 3202, the base station starts the transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In an (optional) step 3204, the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission started by the base station.

[0202] Any suitable step, method, feature, function, or advantage disclosed in this specification may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may comprise several of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented using processing circuitry that may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, and other digital hardware that may include a digital signal processor (DSP), application specific digital logic, etc. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program code stored in the memory may include program instructions for executing one or more remote communication and / or data communication protocols, and instructions for executing one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause each functional unit to perform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0203] The processes in the drawings may illustrate a particular order of operations performed by particular embodiments of the present disclosure, but it should be understood that such order is exemplary (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform operations in a different order, combine particular operations, overlap particular operations, etc.).

[0204] Embodiments

[0205] Embodiments of Group A

[0206] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a wireless device to activate a Transmit Configuration Indicator (TCI) state, the method comprising being configured to monitor a plurality of Downlink Control Information (DCI) formats having a TCI field for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception (1800); receiving a single Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1802); receiving a separate MAC CE for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1804); the method including one or more of the above.

[0207] Embodiment 2: The method of Embodiment 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2.

[0208] Embodiment 3: The method of Embodiment 1 or 2, wherein using a single MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats includes using the mapping of a subset of TCI field code points within one DCI format to TCI field code points of another DCI format.

[0209] Embodiment 4: The method of Embodiment 3, wherein the activated TCI state mapped to the first S TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2, where S is, for example, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2.

[0210] Embodiment 5: The method of Embodiment 3, wherein the activated TCI state mapped to the TCI field code points S0 + 1 to S0 + S in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2, and S is, for example, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2, and S0 is, for example, any one of a predefined, fixed, or settable value.

[0211] Embodiment 6: The method of Embodiment 4 or 5, wherein S is determined from the upper layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 as S = 2 K and K can take one of the values 1, 2, or 3 set by tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2.

[0212] Embodiment 7: The method of Embodiment 1 or 2, wherein using a single MAC CE to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of multiple DCI formats includes receiving a TCI state mapping to a number of code points greater than the number of code points in any of the multiple DCI formats within a single MAC CE, using the mapping of the first subset of TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the first DCI format, and using the mapping of the second subset of TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the second DCI format, including one or more of the above.

[0213] Embodiment 8: A method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 7, wherein activating a TCI state using a single MAC CE and mapping the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of a plurality of DCI formats includes indicating, using a field in the MAC CE, to which DCI format among the plurality of DCI formats the TCI code point mapping is applied.

[0214] Embodiment 9: A method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 8, wherein different MAC CEs are used to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of a plurality of DCI formats.

[0215] Embodiment 10: A method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the MAC CE, which includes two different TCI states.

[0216] Embodiment 11: A method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in one of different MAC CEs, which includes two different TCI states.

[0217] Embodiment 12: A method according to any one of the above embodiments, further including providing user data and transferring the user data to a host computer via transmission to a base station.

[0218] Embodiments of Group B

[0219] Embodiment 13: A method performed by a base station to activate a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state, the method comprising: configuring a radio device to monitor a plurality of Downlink Control Information (DCI) formats having a TCI field for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception (1900); transmitting to the radio device a single Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1902); and transmitting to the radio device a separate MAC CE for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1904), the method including one or more of the foregoing.

[0220] Embodiment 14: The method of Embodiment 13, wherein one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2.

[0221] Embodiment 15: The method of Embodiment 13 or 14, wherein using a single MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats includes using the mapping of a subset of the TCI field code points within one DCI format for the TCI field code points of another DCI format.

[0222] Embodiment 16: The method of Embodiment 15, wherein the activated TCI state mapped to the first S TCI field code points in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2, where S is, for example, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2.

[0223] Embodiment 17: The method of Embodiment 15, wherein the activated TCI state mapped to the TCI field code points S0 + 1 to S0 + S in DCI format 1_1 is mapped to the TCI field code points in DCI format 1_2, and S is, for example, the number of code points in the TCI field of DCI format 1_2, and S0 is, for example, any one of a predefined, fixed, or configurable value.

[0224] Embodiment 18: The method of Embodiment 16 or 17, wherein S is determined from the upper layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 as S = 2 K and K can take one of the values 1, 2, or 3 set by tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2.

[0225] Embodiment 19: The method of Embodiment 13 or 14, wherein using a single MAC CE to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of multiple DCI formats includes receiving a TCI state mapping to a number of code points greater than the number of code points in any of the multiple DCI formats within a single MAC CE, using the mapping of the first subset of the TCI field code points within the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the first DCI format, and using the mapping of the second subset of the TCI field code points within the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the second DCI format, including one or more of the above.

[0226] Embodiment 20: A method according to any one of Embodiments 13 to 19, wherein using a single MAC CE to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of a plurality of DCI formats includes indicating, using a field in the MAC CE, to which DCI format among the plurality of DCI formats the TCI code point mapping is applied.

[0227] Embodiment 21: A method according to any one of Embodiments 13 to 20, wherein different MAC CEs are used to activate a TCI state and map the activated TCI state to TCI field code points of a plurality of DCI formats.

[0228] Embodiment 22: A method according to any one of Embodiments 13 to 21, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the MAC CE, which includes two different TCI states.

[0229] Embodiment 23: A method according to any one of Embodiments 13 to 22, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in one of the different MAC CEs, which includes two different TCI states.

[0230] Embodiment 24: A method according to any one of the above embodiments, further including acquiring user data and transferring the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.

[0231] Embodiments of Group C

[0232] Embodiment 25: A wireless device for activating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state, the wireless device comprising a processing circuit configured to execute steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0233] Embodiment 26: A base station for activating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state, the base station comprising a processing circuit configured to execute steps included in any of the embodiments of Group B, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the base station.

[0234] Embodiment 27: A User Equipment (UE) for activating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state, the UE comprising an antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and to the processing circuit and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit, a processing circuit configured to execute steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A, an input interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to enable input of information to the UE to be processed by the processing circuit, an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information from the UE processed by the processing circuit, and a battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0235] Embodiment 28: A communication system including a host computer, the host computer comprising a processing circuit configured to provide user data, and a communication interface configured to transfer the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a User Equipment (UE), the cellular network comprising a base station having a wireless interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the base station being configured to execute steps included in any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0236] Embodiment 29: A communication system which is the communication system of the above embodiment and further includes a base station.

[0237] Embodiment 30: A communication system which is the communication system of the above two embodiments and further includes a UE, where the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0238] Embodiment 31: A communication system which is the communication system of the above three embodiments, where the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application and thereby provide user data, and the UE includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0239] Embodiment 32: A method executed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method including: providing user data in the host computer; and starting a transmission to convey the user data from the host computer to the UE via a cellular network including the base station, where the base station executes steps included in any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0240] Embodiment 33: The method of the above embodiment, further including transmitting user data in the base station.

[0241] Embodiment 34: The method of the above two embodiments, where the user data is provided in the host computer by executing a host application, and the method further includes executing a client application associated with the host application in the UE.

[0242] Embodiment 35: A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE including a wireless interface and a processing circuit configured to execute the method of the above three embodiments.

[0243] Embodiment 36: A communication system including a host computer, the host computer comprising a processing circuit configured to provide user data and a communication interface configured to transfer the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a UE (user equipment), the UE comprising a base station having a wireless interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the UE being configured to execute steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0244] Embodiment 37: The communication system of the above embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0245] Embodiment 38: The communication system of the above two embodiments, wherein the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing user data, and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0246] Embodiment 39: A method executed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method including providing user data in the host computer and initiating a transmission to carry the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the base station in the host computer, the UE executing steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0247] Embodiment 40: The method of the above embodiment, further including receiving user data from the base station in the UE.

[0248] Embodiment 41: A communication system including a host computer having a communication interface configured to receive user data resulting from transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, where the UE includes a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0249] Embodiment 42: The communication system of the above embodiment, further including the UE.

[0250] Embodiment 43: The communication system of the above two embodiments, further including a base station, where the base station includes a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to transfer user data carried by transmission from the UE to the base station to the host computer.

[0251] Embodiment 44: The communication system of the above three embodiments, where the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application and thereby provide requested data, and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application and thereby provide user data in response to the requested data.

[0252] Embodiment 45: The communication system of the above four embodiments, where the processing circuit of the host computer executes a host application and thereby provides requested data, and the processing circuit of the UE executes a client application associated with the host application and thereby provides user data in response to the requested data.

[0253] Embodiment 46: A method executed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a UE (user equipment), the method including, at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted from the UE to the base station, where the UE executes steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0254] Embodiment 47: The method of the above embodiment, further including, at the UE, providing user data to the base station.

[0255] Embodiment 48: The method of the above two embodiments, further including, at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing user data to be transmitted, and, at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

[0256] Embodiment 49: The method of the above three embodiments, including, at the UE, executing a client application, and, at the UE, receiving input data for the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, where the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application according to the input data.

[0257] Embodiment 50: A communication system including a host computer having a communication interface configured to receive user data resulting from transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, where the base station includes a wireless interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the base station is configured to execute any of the steps included in any of the embodiments of Group B.

[0258] Embodiment 51: The communication system of the above embodiment, further including a base station.

[0259] Embodiment 52: A communication system according to the above two embodiments, further including a UE, the UE being configured to communicate with a base station.

[0260] Embodiment 53: A communication system according to the above three embodiments, wherein the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, and the UE is configured to provide user data received by the host computer by executing a client application associated with the host computer.

[0261] Embodiment 54: A method executed in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a UE (user equipment), the method including, at the host computer, receiving user data resulting from a transmission received by the base station from the UE, the UE executing steps included in any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0262] Embodiment 54: The method according to the above embodiment, further including, at the base station, receiving user data from.

[0263] Embodiment 55: The method according to the above two embodiments, further including, at the base station, starting to transmit the received user data to the host computer.

[0264] In the present disclosure, at least some of the following abbreviations may be used. If there are inconsistencies between abbreviations, how they are used above should be prioritized. If listed multiple times below, the first list should be prioritized over any subsequent lists. · 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project · 5G Fifth Generation · 5GC Fifth Generation Core ·5GS Fifth Generation System(Fifth Generation System) ·AF Application Function(Application Function) ·AMF Access and Mobility Function(Access and Mobility Function) ·AN Access Network(Access Network) ·AP Access Point(Access Point) ·ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit(Application Specific Integrated Circuit) ·AUSF Authentication Server Function(Authentication Server Function) ·CPU Central Processing Unit(Central Processing Unit) ·DN Data Network(Data Network) ·DSP Digital Signal Processor(Digital Signal Processor) ·eNB Enhanced or Evolved Node B(Enhanced or Evolved Node B) ·EPS Evolved Packet System(Evolved Packet System) ·E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access(Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) ·FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array(Field Programmable Gate Array) ·gNB New Radio Base Station(New Radio Base Station) ·gNB-DU New Radio Base Station Distributed Unit(New Radio Base Station Distributed Unit) ·HSS Home Subscriber Server(Home Subscriber Server) ·IoT Internet of Things(Internet of Things) · IP Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol) · LTE Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution) · MME Mobility Management Entity (Mobility Management Entity) · MTC Machine-Type Communication (Machine-Type Communication) · NEF Network Exposure Function (Network Exposure Function) · NF Network Function (Network Function) · NR New Radio (New Radio) · NRF Network Function Repository Function (Network Function Repository Function) · NSSF Network Slice Selection Function (Network Slice Selection Function) · OTT Over-the-Top (Over-the-Top) · PC Personal Computer (Personal Computer) · PCF Policy Control Function (Policy Control Function) · P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway (Packet Data Network Gateway) · QoS Quality of Service (Quality of Service) · RAM Random Access Memory (Random Access Memory) · RAN Radio Access Network (Radio Access Network) · ROM Read Only Memory (Read Only Memory) · RRH Remote Radio Head (Remote Radio Head) · RTT Round Trip Time (Round Trip Time) ·SCEF Service Capability Exposure Function (Service Capability Exposure Function) ·SMF Session Management Function (Session Management Function) ·UDM Unified Data Management (Unified Data Management) ·UE User Equipment (User Equipment) ·UPF User Plane Function (User Plane Function)

[0265] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

Claim 1 A method performed by a wireless device to activate a TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) state, the method comprising: Configuring to monitor a plurality of DCI (Downlink Control Information) formats each having a TCI field for PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) reception (1800), wherein the TCI fields of the plurality of DCI formats can be configured with different sizes; Receiving a single TCI state activation command for activating a plurality of TCI states and mapping the activated TCI states to a set of code points of the TCI fields for the plurality of DCI formats (1802), wherein at least one code point in the set of code points is mapped to two activated TCI states; Receiving a separate TCI state activation command for activating the plurality of TCI states and mapping the activated TCI states to the set of code points of the TCI fields for each of the plurality of DCI formats (1804), wherein at least one of the code points in the set of code points is mapped to the two activated TCI states; The method comprising one or more of the above. Claim 2 The method according to claim 1, wherein the single TCI state activation command is a MAC (Medium Access Control) CE (Control Element). Claim 3 The method according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2. Claim 4 The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein receiving the single TCI state activation command for activating the plurality of TCI states and mapping the activated TCI states to the set of code points of the TCI field for the plurality of DCI formats includes using a subset of the mapping for a DCI format having a TCI field with a number of code points less than the set of code points provided by the single TCI state activation command.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the number S of code points of the TCI field of the DCI is less than the maximum number of code points provided in the single TCI state activation command, the S code points are mapped to the first S code points in the single TCI state activation command.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein when the single TCI state activation command is used for TCI state activation / deactivation for both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, the default TCI state is the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the single TCI state activation command, which includes two different TCI states.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein S is determined from the upper layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 as S = 2 K and K can take one of the values 1, 2, or 3, which is set by tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2.

8. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein using a single MAC CE to activate the plurality of TCI states and map the activated TCI states to the set of code points of the TCI field for the plurality of DCI formats includes: receiving, in the MAC CE, a TCI state mapping to a number of code points greater than the number of code points of the TCI field in any of the plurality of DCI formats; using the mapping of the first subset of the TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the first DCI format; using mapping of a second subset of the TCI field code points within the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the second DCI format; A method comprising one or more of the following. **Claim 9** The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein using the MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats includes using a field within the MAC CE to indicate to which of the plurality of DCI formats the mapping of the TCI code points applies. **Claim 10** The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein receiving the separate TCI state activation command for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points for the plurality of DCI formats includes receiving, for each of the plurality of DCI formats, one MAC CE activation command for activating the plurality of TCI states and mapping the activated TCI states to the set of code points of the TCI field of that DCI format. **Claim 11** The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the MAC CE containing two different TCI states. **Claim 12** The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in one of the separate MAC CEs containing two different TCI states. **Claim 13** A method performed by a base station for activating a TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) state, the method comprising: Configuring a wireless device to monitor a plurality of DCI (downlink control information) formats each having a TCI field for PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel) reception (1900), wherein the TCI fields of the plurality of DCI formats can be configured with different sizes, and Transmitting to the wireless device a single TCI state activation command for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to TCI field code points for the plurality of DCI formats (1902); Transmitting to the wireless device a separate TCI state activation command for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points for each of the plurality of DCI formats (1904); A method comprising one or more of the above.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the single TCI state activation command is a MAC (media access control) CE (control element).

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein one or more of the plurality of DCI formats are DCI format 1_1 and / or 1_2.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein using the MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats includes using the mapping for a subset of the TCI field code points in the activation command for a DCI format having a TCI field with a number of code points less than the set of code points provided by the single TCI activation command.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein when the number S of code points in the TCI field of the DCI is less than the maximum number of code points in the single TCI state activation command, the S code points are mapped to the first S code points in the single TCI state activation command.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein when the single TCI state activation command is used for TCI state activation / deactivation for both DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, the default TCI state is the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the single TCI state activation command, which includes two different TCI states.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein S is determined from the upper layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2 such that S = 2 K and K can take one of the values 1, 2 or 3, which is set by tci-PresentInDCI-ForDCI-Format1-2

20. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein using the MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the code points of the TCI field for the plurality of DCI formats includes: transmitting, by the MAC CE, a TCI state mapping to a number of code points greater than the number of code points in the TCI field of any of the plurality of DCI formats; using a mapping of a first subset of the TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the first DCI format; using a mapping of a second subset of the TCI field code points in the MAC CE to the TCI field code points of the second DCI format; including one or more of the above.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, wherein using the MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats includes using a field in the MAC CE to indicate to which DCI format among the plurality of DCI formats the TCI code point mapping is applied.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 21, wherein using a separate MAC CE to activate the TCI state and map the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points for the plurality of DCI formats includes receiving, for each of the plurality of DCI formats, one MAC CE activation command for activating the plurality of TCI states and mapping the activated TCI states to a set of code points of the TCI field of the DCI format.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 22, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in the MAC CE that includes two different TCI states.

24. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 22, wherein the default TCI state is defined as the TCI state corresponding to the lowest code point among the TCI code points included in one of the separate MAC CEs that includes two different TCI states.

25. A wireless device (2500) for activating a TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) state, configured to monitor a plurality of DCI (Downlink Control Information) formats having a TCI field for PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) reception (1800), wherein the TCI fields of the plurality of DCI formats may be configured with different sizes, Receiving a single MAC (Media Access Control) CE (Control Element) for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1802); Receiving a separate MAC CE for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1804); A wireless device configured to perform one or more of the above. **Claim 26** The wireless device (2500) according to claim 25, wherein the wireless device (2500) is further configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 to 12. **Claim 27** A wireless device (2500) for activating a TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) state, One or more transmitters (2508); One or more receivers (2510); A processing circuit (2502) associated with the one or more transmitters (2508) and the one or more receivers (2510), wherein the processing circuit (2502) causes the wireless device (2500) to Monitor a plurality of DCI (Downlink Control Information) formats having a TCI field for PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) reception (1800); Receive a single MAC (Media Access Control) CE (Control Element) for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1802); Receive a separate MAC CE for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to the respective TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1804); A wireless device configured to execute the above. **Claim 28** The wireless device (2500) according to claim 27, wherein the processing circuit (2502) is further configured to cause the wireless device (2500) to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 to 12. **Claim 29** A base station (2200) for activating a TCI (transmission configuration indicator) state, configuring a wireless device to monitor a plurality of DCI (downlink control information) formats having a TCI field for PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel) reception (1900); transmitting a single MAC (media access control) CE (control element) to the wireless device for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to a TCI field code point of the plurality of DCI formats (1902); transmitting a separate MAC CE to the wireless device for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to a respective TCI field code point of the plurality of DCI formats (1904); A base station configured to perform one or more of the above.

30. The base station (2200) according to claim 29, wherein the base station (2200) is further configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24.

31. A base station (2200) for activating a TCI (transmission configuration indicator) state, one or more transmitters (2212); one or more receivers (2214); a processing circuit (2204) associated with the one or more transmitters (2212) and the one or more receivers (2214), the processing circuit (2204) causing the base station (2200) to configure a wireless device to monitor a plurality of DCI (downlink control information) formats having a TCI field for PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel) reception (1900); transmit a single MAC (media access control) CE (control element) to the wireless device for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to a TCI field code point of the plurality of DCI formats (1902); Transmitting a separate MAC CE to the wireless device for activating the TCI state and mapping the activated TCI state to each of the TCI field code points of the plurality of DCI formats (1904); A base station configured to cause one or more of the above to be executed. Claim 32 The base station (2200) according to claim 31, wherein the processing circuit (2204) is further configured to cause the base station (2200) to execute the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24.