SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TCI INFORMATION FOR MULTIPLE TRP TRANSMISSIONS - Patent application

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a user equipment, a base station apparatus, and respective methods for the user equipment and the base station. More specifically, the user equipment includes: a transceiver that, in operation, receives notification of one or more designated transmission configuration indication (TCI) states; and a circuit that, in operation, obtains one or more TCI state groups for the one or more designated TCI states, the TCI state groups among the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions, and configures one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] 1.Technical Field FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to transmitting and receiving signals in a communication system. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for such transmission and reception. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of Related Technology 3GPP® is working on technical specifications for next-generation cellular technology, also known as fifth generation (5G), including New Radio (NR) access technology (RAT) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. NR is the successor to technologies represented by Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A). In systems such as LTE and NR, further improvements and options may facilitate efficient operation of the communication system and certain devices associated with the communication system. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] By way of example and non-limiting embodiment, transmission opportunities can be efficiently set when new TCI states are received. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In one embodiment, the technology disclosed herein features an apparatus (e.g., User Equipment (UE)) including a transceiver and circuitry. The transceiver, in operation, receives notification of one or more specified transmission configuration indication (TCI) states. The circuitry, in operation, obtains one or more TCI state groups for the one or more specified TCI states, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions, and configures one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities.

[0005] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, the integrated circuit may control the processing of a UE or a network node.

[0006] Further advantages and benefits of an embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or benefits may be provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, but not all of them necessarily need to be provided to obtain one or more identical features.

[0007] The following exemplary embodiments are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system. [Figure 2] Schematic diagram showing functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC [Figure 3] Sequence diagram of RRC connection setup / reconfiguration procedure [Figure 4]Schematic showing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) usage scenarios [Figure 5] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario [Figure 6] A block diagram illustrating the functional structure of an example base station and user equipment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example functional structure of a TCI state setting circuit process that may be included in the example user equipment of FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example functional structure of a TCI state setting circuit that may be included in the example base station device of FIG. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by user equipment. [Figure 10] Flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by a network node [Figure 11] Schematic diagram showing TCI state updates according to groups [Figure 12] Schematic diagram showing updating the TCI state by replacing the current TCI state [Figure 13] An example of the association between a TCI status group and a list of TCI statuses. [Figure 14] Diagram showing exemplary TCI codepoints ordered according to TCI state groups [Figure 15] 2 is a second exemplary flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by user equipment. [Figure 16] 2 is a second exemplary flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by a network node. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack> 3GPP is working on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (known simply as "5G"), which includes the development of a new radio access technology (NR) that will operate in frequencies up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, allowing for the testing and commercial deployment of smartphones compliant with the 5G NR standard.

[0010] In particular, the overall system architecture assumes a Next Generation - Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) with gNBs, which terminate the NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) protocols and control plane (Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocols) towards UEs. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to the Next Generation Core (NGC) by a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (e.g., a specific core entity running the AMF) by an NG-C interface, and to the User Plane Function (UPF) (e.g., a specific core entity running the UPF) by an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 1 (see, e.g., Section 4 of 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0011] The user plane protocol stack in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.1 of 3GPP TS 38.300) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) sublayer, the RLC (Radio Link Control) sublayer, and the MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer, which are terminated at the gNB on the network side. In addition, a new access stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of 3GPP TS 38.300). A control plane protocol stack is also defined in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of TS 38.300). An overview of Layer 2 functionality is given in TS 38.300, clause 6. The functionality of the PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers is given in TS 38.300, clauses 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2, respectively. The functionality of the RRC layer is given in TS 38.300, clause 7.

[0012] For example, the Medium-Access-Control (MAC) layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including multiplexing logical channels and handling various numerologies.

[0013] The physical layer (PHY) is responsible for, for example, coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The physical layer also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmitting a specific transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels are the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for the uplink, and the PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for the downlink.

[0014] NR use cases / deployment scenarios include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), and / or massive machine-type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements for data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps downlink and 10 Gbps uplink) and user-perceived data rates on the order of three times those offered by IMT-Advanced. In contrast, URLLC has more stringent requirements, including extremely low latency (user plane latency of 0.5 ms for UL and DL, respectively) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps within 1 ms). -5) and mMTC requires high connection density (1 km in urban environments). 2 1,000,000 devices per second), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) to lower device costs may preferably be required.

[0015] Therefore, an OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not work well for another use case. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol length (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with small delay spreads. To maintain a similar CP overhead, the subcarrier spacing should be optimized depending on the delay spread. In NR, more than one value of subcarrier spacing may be supported. Therefore, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are currently being considered. The symbol length T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is given by the formula (Δf=1 / T u ) As in LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to denote the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0016] In the new radio system 5G-NR, for each numerology and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for both the uplink and the downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see, for example, Section 4 of 3GPP TS 38.211, such as v17.1.0). For example, downlink transmission and uplink transmission are configured in frames with a time duration of 10 ms. Each frame consists of 10 subframes each with a time duration of 1 ms. In the implementation of 5G NR, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the configured subcarrier spacing. For example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, a subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (assuming a normal cyclic prefix, similar to an LTE-compliant implementation). On the other hand, for a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, a subframe has two slots, and each slot contains 14 OFDM symbols.

[0017] NR supports multiple different types of subcarrier spacings labeled by the parameter μ compared to the new numerology (subcarrier spacing and symbol length) of LTE (in LTE, only a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, which corresponds to μ = 0 in NR). The types of NR new numerology are summarized in 3GPP TS 38.211, v 15.7.0.

[0018] <Functional Split of 5G NR between NG-RAN and 5GC> Figure 2 shows the functional split between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB. The logical nodes of 5GC are AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0019] In particular, gNB and ng-eNB handle the following major functions. Radio Resource Management functions, such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, and dynamic resource allocation (scheduling) to UEs in both uplink and downlink directions. - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data - AMF selection at UE attach time when routing to the AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE - Routing of user plane data to the UPF - Routing of control plane information to AMF - Establishing and releasing connections - scheduling and sending of paging messages - System broadcast information (sent from AMF or OAM) (scheduling and transmission) - Configuring measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling - Transport-level packet marking in the uplink - Session Management - Network slicing support - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state - Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message delivery function - Radio Access Network Sharing - Dual Connectivity - Close interworking between NR and E-UTRA

[0020] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) handles the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling - NAS signaling security - Access Stratum (AS) security control - Core Network (CN) inter-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks - Reachability for idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions) - Registration Area Management - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility - Access Authentication - Access authentication, including roaming rights checks - Mobility management controls (subscriptions and policies) - Network slicing support - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF)

[0021] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) handles the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable) - External PDU session points for interconnection with data networks - Packet routing and forwarding - User plane portion of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement - Traffic Usage Report - Uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network - Branching points to support multi-homed PDU sessions - User plane QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping from SDF to QoS flow) - Buffering of downlink packets and triggering of downlink data notifications

[0022] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) processes the following main functions. - Session management - Allocation and management of UE IP addresses - Selection and control of the UP function - Setting of traffic steering in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to the correct destination - Policy enforcement and QoS control part - Downlink data notification

[0023] <Procedures for establishment and reconfiguration of RRC connection> Figure 3 shows the interaction between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see, for example, TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0024] RRC is a higher layer signaling protocol used to configure the UE and the gNB. In particular, in this transition, the AMF creates UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, and UE security capabilities) and sends it to the gNB via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security with the UE by sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responds with a SecurityModeComplete message to the gNB. The gNB then performs reconfiguration to establish signaling radio bearer 2 (SRB2) and data radio bearers (DRBs) by sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete message from the UE in response. In the case of a signaling-only connection, these steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped because SRB2 and DRBs are not established. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF that the establishment procedure is complete via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0025] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a fifth generation core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) having, in operation, a control circuit that establishes a next generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB such that a signaling radio bearer is established between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE), and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB over the NG connection. In particular, the gNodeB transmits radio resource control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element to the UE over the signaling radio bearer. The UE then performs uplink transmission or downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0026] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020> Figure 4 illustrates some of the use cases for 5G NR. The 3GPP NR (3rd Generation Partnership Project New Radio) is considering three use cases envisioned for IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. Phase 1 specifications for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) have been finalized. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to further extending eMBB support. Figure 4 illustrates some example IMT usage scenarios envisioned for 2020 and beyond (see, for example, Figure 2 in ITU-R M.2083).

[0027] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements for capabilities such as throughput, latency, and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers for future vertical applications, such as wireless control of industrial manufacturing or production processes, remote medical surgery, power distribution automation in smart grids, and transportation safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies to meet the requirements set by TR 38.913. For NR URLLC in Release 15, key requirements include a user plane target latency of 0.5 ms for the uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms for the downlink (DL). A typical URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size with a 1-ms user plane latency.

[0028] From a physical layer perspective, there are several possible ways to improve reliability. Current scope for improving reliability includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, a more compact DCI format, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, as NR becomes more stable and developed (a key requirement for NR URLLC), the scope for achieving ultra-high reliability may expand. Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0029] Furthermore, technology enhancements targeted at NR URLLC target latency improvement and reliability enhancement. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition of data channels, and downlink preemption. Preemption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is aborted and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission requested later with smaller latency / higher priority requirements. Thus, an already granted transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption applies regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (e.g., eMBB). Technology enhancements for reliability improvement include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0030] The mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communication) use case is characterized by a very large number of connected devices transmitting relatively small amounts of data that are generally latency sensitive. The devices need to be low cost and have extremely long battery life. From an NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth portions is one possible solution to achieve power savings from the UE perspective, enabling long battery life.

[0031] As mentioned above, it is expected that the range of reliability in NR will expand. One key requirement for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can be considered to improve reliability from a radio perspective and a network perspective. In general, there are several key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity related to the frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability, regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0032] Additional use cases with more stringent requirements are envisioned for NR URLLC, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. The more stringent requirements include higher reliability (up to 10 times faster), depending on the use case. -6 level), higher availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization on the order of a few microseconds (values ​​range from 1 to a few microseconds depending on the frequency range), and short latency on the order of 0.5 to 1 ms (target latency for the user plane in particular is 0.5 ms).

[0033] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements are possible from the perspective of the physical layer. In particular, enhancements related to PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) include compact DCI, repetition of PDCCH, and increased PDCCH monitoring. Also, enhancements related to UCI (Uplink Control Information) include enhancements to HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. Additionally, enhancements to PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping and retransmission / repetition have also been recognized. The term "mini-slot" means a transmission time interval (TTI: Transmission Time Interval) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot contains, for example, 14 symbols).

[0034] <QoS Control> The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity for QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) that is transmitted within a capsule header through the NG-U interface.

[0035] The 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions for each UE. The NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for each UE along with the PDU session, and can then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session (as determined by the NG-RAN, e.g., as described above with reference to Figure 3). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, and AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0036] Figure 5 illustrates the 5G NR non-roaming reference architecture (see Section 4.23 of TS 23.501 v16.1.0). Application Functions (AFs) (e.g., external application servers handling the 5G services exemplarily illustrated in Figure 4) interact with the 3GPP Core Network to provide services. For example, they may support application influence on traffic routing, access Network Exposure Functions (NEFs), or interact with a policy framework (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) for policy control (e.g., QoS control). Based on the operator's deployment, Application Functions (AFs) deemed trusted by the operator may be allowed to interact directly with the relevant Network Functions. Application Functions (AFs) not permitted by the operator to directly access Network Functions interact with the relevant Network Functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0037] Figure 5 shows further functional units of the 5G architecture: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN) (e.g., operator services, internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be located and run in a cloud computing environment.

[0038] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) having: a transmitter unit that, when operated, sends a request including QoS requirements for at least one of a URLLC service, an eMMB service, and an mMTC service to at least one of 5GC functions (e.g., an NEF, an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE in accordance with the QoS requirements; and a control circuit that, when operated, performs a service using the established PDU session.

[0039] <Control signal> In the present disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PDCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC Control Element (CE) of a higher layer or an RRC. The downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0040] The uplink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PUCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC CE of a higher layer or RRC. The uplink control signal may also be a predefined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be uplink control information (UCI), first-stage sidelink control information (SCI), or second-stage SCI.

[0041] <Device> A terminal, user terminal, user device, mobile station, or mobile node is referred to as user equipment (UE) in LTE and NR. User equipment may be a mobile device or communication device, such as a wireless telephone, smartphone, tablet computer, or universal serial bus (USB) stick with user equipment functionality. However, the term mobile device is not limited thereto; in general, a relay may also have such mobile device functionality or function as a relay. For example, a terminal is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. Furthermore, a communication device may be any machine-type communication device, such as an IoT device. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that realizes and / or provides a predetermined set of functions to the same node or other nodes or other functional entities of the network. A node may have one or more interfaces that attach the node to a communication facility or medium over which the node can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that attach the functional entity to a communication facility or medium over which the functional entity may communicate with other functional entities or corresponding nodes.

[0042] <Base station> In the present disclosure, a base station may be, for example, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a cluster head, an access point, a Remote Radio Head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a Base Station (BS), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a base unit, or a gateway. Also, in sidelink communication, a terminal may be used instead of a base station. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit. The base station may be, for example, a scheduling node or a network node that forms part of a network for providing services to terminals. In particular, the base station may provide wireless access to terminals. Communication between a terminal and a base station is generally standardized and can be defined by different layers, such as PHY, MAC, and RRC. In LTE and NR, the air interface protocol stack includes a physical layer, a medium access layer (MAC), and upper layers. The control plane is provided with a radio resource control protocol, which is an upper layer protocol. Through RRC, the base station can control the configuration of terminals, and terminals can communicate with the base station to perform control tasks such as establishing and modifying connections and bearers, measurements, and other functions. The term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), and the term currently used in 5G NR is gNB. The term "base station" or "radio base station" refers herein to a physical entity in a communication network. Similar to a mobile station, a base station may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and / or provides a predetermined set of functions to the same node or other nodes or other functional entities of the network. A physical entity performs several control tasks for the communication device, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. It should be noted that base station functions and communication device functions may also be integrated within a single device.For example, a mobile terminal may also implement the functionality of a base station for other terminals: the term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), and the term currently used in 5G NR is gNB.

[0043] <Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink> The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink. For example, the present disclosure may be applied to uplink channels such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, downlink channels such as PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and sidelinks such as PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0044] The PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. The PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. The PBCH and PSBCH are examples of a broadcast channel, and the PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0045] <Data channel / control channel> The present disclosure may be applied to both data channels and control channels. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0046] <Reference signal> In this disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known to both a base station and a mobile station, and each reference signal may be referred to as a reference signal (RS) or a pilot signal. A reference signal may be any of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a channel state information - reference signal (CSI-RS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), and a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0047] <time interval> In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of a slot and a symbol, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a subslot of a time slot, a minislot, or a symbol, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or other time resource unit. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be other numbers of symbols.

[0048] <Frequency band> The present disclosure may be applied to both licensed and unlicensed bands.

[0049] <Communication> The present disclosure may be applied to communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (sidelink communication), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may be rephrased as PSCCH, PSSCH, physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0050] The present disclosure can be applied to both terrestrial networks and non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) using satellites or high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPSs). The present disclosure can also be applied to networks with large cell sizes and terrestrial networks with large delays compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as ultra-wideband transmission networks.

[0051] <Antenna port> An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed from one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to a single physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna consisting of multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas constituting an antenna port is not defined. Instead, an antenna port is defined as the smallest unit through which a terminal is permitted to transmit a reference signal. An antenna port can also be defined as the smallest unit for multiplication of precoding vector weights.

[0052] <Downlink control channel monitoring, PDCCH, DCI> Many of the functions performed by the UE and / or relay include, for example, monitoring a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) (see section 5.2.3 of 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0) to receive specific control information or data intended for the UE.

[0053] Below is a non-exhaustive list of such features: - Paging message monitoring function, - System information acquisition function, - Signaling monitoring operation in discontinuous reception (DRX) function, - Inactivity monitoring operation in the discontinuous reception (DRX) function, - receiving a random access response in a random access function; - Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer reordering function

[0054] As described above, the PDCCH is monitored by the UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (e.g., DCI on the PDCCH, user data on the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0055] Control information in the downlink (which may be referred to as downlink control information, DCI) has the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e., it is a set of special control information for scheduling, for example, a downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH).

[0056] For 5G NR, many different DCI formats have already been defined (see TS 38.212 v15.6.0, section 7.3.1).

[0057] These DCI formats represent the predetermined formats that the respective information is formed and transmitted in. In particular, DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1 are used for scheduling the PUSCH and PDSCH in one cell, respectively.

[0058] PDCCH monitoring in each of these functions serves a specific purpose and is therefore initiated for that purpose. PDCCH monitoring is typically controlled at least based on a timer operated by the UE. The timer has the purpose of controlling PDCCH monitoring, for example, to limit the maximum length of time that the UE monitors the PDCCH. For example, the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH indefinitely and can suspend monitoring after a certain time to conserve power.

[0059] As mentioned above, one of the purposes of the DCI in the PDCCH is to dynamically schedule resources in the downlink, uplink, or sidelink. In particular, several formats of the DCI are provided to convey notification of resources allocated to a data channel for a particular user (resource allocation, RA). The resource allocation may include specifying resources in the frequency domain and / or the time domain.

[0060] <Physical resource block> The term "physical resource block" (PRB) typically refers to the smallest allocable resource unit available for transmission of (user) data. In LTE and NR, a PRB has a predetermined number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 12) and a predetermined number of symbols in the time domain (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols in LTE).

[0061] <Multiple sending and receiving points> The NR physical layer may provide multi-antenna operation, such as multiple input, multiple output (MIMO), which may include the use of multiple transmission and reception points (multi-TRPs). For example, a user equipment may receive data from multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs), which may be controlled by the same or different network nodes. The terms "multipoint transmission" or "coordinated multi-point transmission (CoMP)" may be used for multi-TRP communication, including multi-TRP transmission.

[0062] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specified basic support for multiple transmit / receive points (multi-TRP) in New Radio (NR) Rel. 15. Multi-TRP in NR Rel. 16 can be further enhanced according to a new work item on NR MIMO (see RP-182067, "Revised Work Item Description (WID): Enhancements on MIMO for NR," Samsung, 3GPP Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network (TSG RAN) Meeting #81, Gold Coast, Australia, September 10-13, 2018).

[0063] For example, multi-TRP operation may be performed by a gNB having different antenna panels or radio heads corresponding to the TRPs and different radio frequency units operating with each antenna.

[0064] In addition, in a multi-TRP system, several options are possible for the location of the TRPs, and the distance between two TRPs may vary. For example, the TRPs may be located close to each other, so that a UE can receive signals from these TRPs at similar angles. However, the TRPs may be located at a considerable distance from each other, for example, in remote locations of a network cell. A UE served by two TRPs can receive signaling from and transmit signaling to each TRP in uncorrelated channels. This allows optimal utilization of channel diversity gains.

[0065] <Quasi Co-location (QCL)> According to the definition of QCL in Section 5.1.5 of TS38.214, a UE can configure a list of up to M TCI-State configurations in the higher layer parameter PDSCH-Config to decode the PDSCH according to the detected PDCCH and the DCI intended for the UE and a given serving cell. Here, M depends on the UE capability maxNumberConfiguredTCIstatesPerCC. Each TCI-State includes parameters for configuring a quasi-coordinate relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DM-RS port of the PDSCH, the DM-RS port of the PDCCH, or the CSI-RS port of the CSI-RS resources. The quasi-coordinate relationship is configured by the higher layer parameter qcl-Type1 for the first DL RS and, if configured, qcl-Type2 for the second DL RS. For two DL RSs, the QCL types must not be identical, regardless of whether the references are the same DL RS or different DL RSs. The quasi-coordinate type corresponding to each DL RS is given by the upper layer parameter qcl-Type in QCL-Info, and can take one of the following values: - "QCL-Type A": {Doppler shift, Doppler broadening, mean delay, delay spread} - "QCL-TypeB": {Doppler shift, Doppler broadening} - "QCL-TypeC": {Doppler shift, average delay} - "QCL-Type D": {Spatial Rx parameters}

[0066] <Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state> The gNB uses the DL channel to indicate to the UE a list of new (indicated) TCI states. Such indication may be represented by a bit string, e.g., a TCI codepoint. The TCI state in such a codepoint may indicate the spatial (transmission) direction: UL, DL, or UL / DL (beam-compatible).

[0067] The list (subset) of TCI states to enable / disable is configured by a bitmap. If a bit at a particular position is set to "1", it means that the TCI state mapped to that bit position is enabled. If a bit is set to "0", it means that the TCI state mapped to that bit position is disabled.

[0068] The list of bit positions to be set to "1" is assigned to a small table called a codepoint, and the maximum size of a codepoint is 8. This means that in this MAC CE, only a maximum of 8 bit fields can be set to "1". The "1" bit positions may be assigned to codepoints in increasing order.

[0069] For example, the following fields are set to "1" and all other bits are set to "0": T4=1 T10=1 T11=1 T19=1 T25=1 T40=1 T45=1 T50=1

[0070] And the code points are set as follows: Code point 0=4 Code Point 1=10 Code Point 2=11 Code Point 3=19 Code point 4=25 Code point 5=40 Code point 6=45 Code point 7=50

[0071] The TCI in DCI1_1 indicates this code point index. RRC signaling (signaling from the base station to the UE) is used to configure up to 128 TCI states for the PDSCH and up to 64 TCI states for the PDCCH. All TCI states are disabled by default after configuration and after handover.

[0072] DCI format 1-1 (Section 7.3.1.2.2 of 3GPP TS 38.212 V15.2.0) used for PDSCH scheduling includes a field called Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI), which, when configured, uses three bits to indicate one of eight TCI states. A UE can be configured with a list of up to M TCI states out of the available TCI states (i.e., the 128 or 64 configured TCIs described above) configured by PDSCH-Config, a parameter configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, which is an example of NR higher layer signaling. Here, higher refers to a layer higher than the physical layer. In the example of DCI format 1-1 described above, M=8, corresponding to the maximum number of three bits in the TCI field. Each TCI state includes parameters for configuring a quasi-coordinate relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DM-RS port of the PDSCH. For example, the TCI state has the following format: [Table 1]

[0073] For example, for a TCI state, there may be two reference signals indicated (eg, RS A and RS B), which may be used to derive some channel propagation parameters.

[0074] The TCI state can then be associated with a channel or signal using tci-StateId. Such a signal / channel will be quasi-co-located with RS A and RS B, meaning that the same channel propagation parameters can be used for this RS / channel as those derived for RS A and RS B.

[0075] For the downlink, the reference signal in the TCI state can be CSI-RS or SSB, as the above structure shows.

[0076] Details of various QCL types and other related information are described in Section 5.1.5 of 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.16.0. Thus, a single PDCCH (single DCI) carries up to three bits for TCI signaling, signals the QCL assumption for a TRP, and indicates one of eight configured states that assume the same QCL assumption for other TRPs scheduled by a given PDCCH. Due to this QCL assumption, the TCI state information signaled via the DCI is particularly applicable to single-TRP transmissions, because the same QCL association may not be valid for different TRPs that are far apart from each other. Some modifications may facilitate supporting independent TCI state signaling for multiple TRPs using a single PDCCH. For example, TRPs in geographically distant locations should have different QCL assumptions, and therefore, independent TCI state signaling for each TRP is required.

[0077] In particular, clause 5.1.5 of 3GPP TS 38.214 specifies that the UE receives an activation command that is used to map up to eight TCI states to codepoints of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication", as described in clause 6.1.3.14 of [TS 38.321-10]. When the UE transmits a PUCCH containing HARQ-ACK information in slot n corresponding to a PDSCH carrying an activation command, the indicated mapping between TCI states and codepoints of the DCI field "Transmission Configuration Indication" is the same as that in slot n+3N where the SCS setting of the PUCCH is μ. subframe,μ slot If tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" for the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH and the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than timeDurationForQCL (if applicable), then after the UE receives the initial higher layer configuration of the TCI state and before the reception of the activation command, the UE may assume that the DM-RS port of the PDSCH of the serving cell is quasi-co-located with the SS / PBCH block determined in the initial access procedure for "QCL-TypeA" and, if applicable, also for "QCL-TypeD".

[0078] If the UE has configured the higher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI as "enabled" for the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH, the UE shall assume that the TCI field is present in DCI format 1_1 of the PDCCH transmitted on the CORESET. If tci-PresentInDCI is not configured for the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH or the PDSCH is scheduled with DCI format 1_0 and the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL (if applicable) for determining quasi-coincident positions of the PDSCH antenna ports, and if this threshold is based on the reported UE capabilities (see 13 of [TS 38.306]), the UE shall assume that the TCI state or QCL assumption in the PDSCH is identical to the TCI state or QCL assumption applied for the CORESET used for PDCCH transmission.

[0079] If tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled," the TCI field of the DCI on the scheduling component carrier refers to the enabled TCI state on the scheduled component carrier or DL ​​BWP, and if a PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_1, the UE uses TCI-State to determine the quasi-co-location of the PDSCH antenna port according to the value of the "Transmission Configuration Indicator" field of the DCI on the detected PDCCH. If the time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is equal to or greater than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE may assume that the DM-RS port of the PDSCH of the serving cell is quasi-co-located with the RS in the TCI state with respect to the QCL type parameter given by the specified TCI state. Here, the threshold is based on the reported UE capability (see §13 of [TS 38.306]). If a single-slot PDSCH is configured for the UE, the specified TCI state should be based on the enabled TCI state in the slot with the scheduled PDSCH. If the UE is configured with a multi-slot PDSCH, the specified TCI state shall be based on the enabled TCI state in the first slot with a scheduled PDSCH, and the UE shall assume that the enabled TCI state is the same for all slots with a scheduled PDSCH. If the UE is configured with a CORESET associated with a search space set for cross-carrier scheduling, the UE shall assume that tci-PresentInDci is set as "enabled" for the CORESET, and if one or more of the configured TCI states for the serving cells scheduled by the search space set include "QCL-TypeD", the UE shall assume that the time offset between the reception of a PDCCH detected in the search space and the corresponding PDSCH is greater than or equal to a threshold timeDurationForQCL.

[0080] For both cases where tci-PresentInDCI is set to "enabled" and where tci-PresentInDCI is not configured in RRC connected mode, if the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is smaller than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE may consider the DM-RS port of the PDSCH of the serving cell to be quasi-co-located with the RS with respect to the QCL parameter used for PDCCH quasi-co-location notification of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest controlResourceSetId in the most recent slot in which one or more CORESETs in the serving cell's active BWP are monitored by the UE. In this case, if the "QCL-TypeD" of the PDSCH DM-RS differs from the "QCL-TypeD" of the PDCCH DM-RS that overlaps it in at least one symbol, the UE is assumed to prioritize the reception of the PDCCH associated with that CORESET. This also applies in the case of intra-band CA (when the PDSCH and CORESET are on different component carriers). If none of the configured TCI states of the serving cell of the scheduled PDSCH contains "QCL-TypeD", the UE shall derive other QCL assumptions from the TCI states specified for the scheduled PDSCH, regardless of the time offset between reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH.

[0081] In NR Release 15, the TCI status (transmission configuration indication) for DL ​​and spatial relationship for UL are signaled in DCI for each channel / RS. Such signaling can cause signaling overhead, mainly because the gNB often configures the optimal beam for all UL / DL channels / RSs. Beam notification in Release 16 aimed to reduce signaling overhead and latency by using the TCI status of the PDCCH as a "common beam" that is used as the default beam applied to PDSCH / PUCCH / SRS / PUSCH.

[0082] Release 17 of NR introduced a new beam notification scheme known as the unified TCI (Transmission Configuration Indication) framework for single TRP transmission.

[0083] For single TRP transmission, the UE is provided with one common TCI state (spatial domain filter that can be used for uplink and downlink) or a pair of separate DL and UL TCI states through a three-step procedure.

[0084] 1. Initially, the UE is RRC configured (by the base station) with one list of common TCI states or DL ​​TCI states (common / DL pool) and one list of UL TCI states (UL pool). These TCI states are called configured TCI states. The first list of common TCI states or DL ​​TCI states may include 128 TCI states, and the second list may include 64 UL TCI states as described above.

[0085] 2. In step 2, the MAC Control Element (CE) from the base station activates a group of TCI states from the two pools. The group of TCI states is activated in the form of a list of eight TCI codepoints as described above. A codepoint contains one or more configured TCI states. An example of a list of TCI codepoints activated by the MAC-CE for a single TRP transmission when RRC unifiedtci-StateType=joint is as follows: [Table 2]

[0086] An example of a list of TCI codepoints enabled by the MAC-CE for a single TRP transmission when RRC unifiedtci-StateType=separate (i.e., when separate TCI states are configured for DL ​​and UL) is as follows: [Table 3]

[0087] 3. In step 3, a DCI of format 1_1 or 1_2 (with or without DL data allocation) uses the 3-bit TCI field to select one of the enabled TCI codepoints and thus indicate which TCI state to use for downlink and uplink transmissions. These TCI states are called "signaled" TCI states.

[0088] The DCIs of formats 1_1 and 1_2 used to indicate the TCI status can either be accompanied by a DL data allocation or not. Therefore, a distinction can be made between a scheduling DCI and a beam notification DCI.

[0089] For scheduling DCI, the ACK / NAK of the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI carrying beam notification can also be used as an ACK for the DCI. ACK / NACK is also reported for the beam notification DCI. The ACK is reported on the PUCCH a certain number of slots after the end of PDCCH reception. In the unified TCI framework of Rel. 17, the notified TCI is applied BeamAppTime_r17={1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98, 112, 224, 336} symbols after the ACK transmission of the beam notification DCI.

[0090] The spatial filter signaled by the DCI applies to all DL and UL signals and channels (unless configured by RRC to not apply in the specified TCI state). - all or a subset of the PDCCHs in a cell; - PDSCH scheduled by PDCCH, - Dynamic PUSCH or PUSCH with configured grant, - UE dedicated PUCCH resources, - Aperiodic CSI-RS or SRS (limited to specific applications), applies to.

[0091] The unified TCI framework in Release 17 only supports single TRP operation. Furthermore, configuring both Rel. 15 / 16 beam notification and Rel. 17 TCI state in the same band is not permitted. Therefore, Release 18 aims to extend the unified TCI framework in Rel. 17 to multi-TRP scenarios and avoid the UE managing both legacy and unified TCI beam notification schemes simultaneously.

[0092] <Multi-TRP transmission scheme> Several multi-TRP transmission schemes exist in Releases 16 and 17. For example, in a single-DCI-based multi-TRP PDSCH repetition scheme, a single DCI transmitted from one of the TRPs is used to schedule two PDSCH transmissions from two TRPs. The scheduling DCI indicates two TCI states, each corresponding to one TRP. Such a scheme can be a space division multiplexed (SDM) scheme, a frequency division multiplexed (FDM) scheme, or a time division multiplexed (TDM) scheme.

[0093] For example, for spatial division multiplexing, a first TRP may transmit a subset of layers of a transport block, and a second TRP may transmit the remaining layers in the same time and frequency resources. Antenna ports from different CDM groups are used to transmit layers from each TRP, where a first TCI state corresponds to the first CDM group and a second TCI state corresponds to the second CDM group. Dynamic switching between the PDSCH SDM multi-TRP scheme and single-TRP PDSCH transmission is indicated by using two TCI states in the DCI and antenna ports from two different CDM groups.

[0094] In an example FDM and TDM repetition scheme, two TRPs can repeat the same PDSCH transmission in either the frequency domain or the time domain. For the time domain, both intra-slot and inter-slot repetition may be used. The FDM scheme provides low latency, while the TDM scheme requires the UE to receive only one beam at a time that becomes relevant in Frequency Range 2 (FR2) using analog beamforming. Antenna ports from the same CDM group are used for PDSCH transmissions from the two TRPs.

[0095] The repetition scheme switching is performed via RRC configuration. Furthermore, dynamic switching between the single TRP scheme, the SDM multi-TRP scheme and the repetition scheme is performed depending on whether there is a single TCI state or two TCI states and whether the DMRS in a single CDM group or two CDM groups is signaled in the DCI format scheduling the PDSCH.

[0096] Release 17 defines a single DCI-based multi-TRP PDCCH repetition scheme. In a PDCCH repetition, two PDCCH candidates are linked to each other via searchSpaceLinking, an upper layer parameter in the search space set configuration. Furthermore, these two PDCCH candidates are configured in different search space sets associated with the corresponding CORESET. If the corresponding CORESETs have different TCI states, two linked PDCCH repetitions carrying the same DCI are transmitted on two different beams.

[0097] Note that when the UE receives the PDCCH configuration, it can identify linked PDCCH candidates for repetition. Furthermore, depending on the configuration for a given UE, only some of the SS sets may be linked for repetition, while other SS sets may contain individual PDCCH candidates without repetition. The network then dynamically selects linked or individual PDCCH candidates for DCI transmission, and can thus dynamically switch between single-TRP and multi-TRP transmission depending on reliability and latency requirements. Note that this scheme does not support PDCCH candidates originating from CORESETs associated with different CORESET pool index values.

[0098] In the multi-TRP PUCCH repetition scheme of Release 17, UL control information (UCI) included in a PUCCH resource can be repeated in a time-division multiplexed manner using two spatial relationship data per PUCCH resource. If the higher layer parameter PUCCH-nrofSlots is configured, the UE repeats the transmission of UCI using a given PUCCH resource for the specified number of slots. PUCCH resources are indicated with multiple spatial relationships (FR2) and multiple power control parameters (FR1) via MAC-CE messages. Release 17 may support inter-slot and intra-slot repetition. Switching between single-TRP and multi-TRP can be done dynamically.

[0099] Release 17 enables time-division multiplexed PUSCH repetition for two TRPs. Both grant-based PUSCH repetitions Type A and Type B for primarily single DCIs, as well as configured grant (CG)-based PUSCH repetitions Type 1 and Type 2, are supported in two UL beams. For single DCI-based multi-TRP PUSCH repetitions, both codebook (CB)-based and non-codebook (NCB)-based PUSCH repetitions are supported by indicating two sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) and two transmit precoding matrix indicators (TPMIs) (for CB-based PUSCH) in DCI format 0_1 / 0_2. Each SRS resource set applies to each SRI, and up to two power control parameter sets can also be used.

[0100] Dynamic switching between single TRP PUSCH repetition and non-CB / CB based multi-TRP PUSCH repetition is enabled by introducing the following new 2-bit DCI field: [Table 4]

[0101] Spatial and frequency domain multiplexing of PUSCHs towards multiple TRPs and simultaneous transmission of multiple PUSCHs are not supported.

[0102] Release 17 for High Speed ​​Train (HST)-SFN introduced the multi-TRP PDCCH and multi-TRP PDSCH SFN schemes based on a single DCI. Here, identical copies of the PDCCH or PDSCH are transmitted from two TRPs in the same time-frequency resource. To facilitate more accurate frequency offset compensation, it is assumed that TRP-specific SSB / TRS / CSI-RS transmissions are transmitted in a non-SFN manner. SFN-based multi-TRP PDCCH is achieved through a combination of RRC configuration and MAC-CE enabling a CORESET with two TCI states. Enhanced SFN-based multi-TRP PDSCH is achieved through both RRC configuration and signaling of two TCI states in the DCI scheduling the PDSCH. Dynamic switching between SFN-based multi-TRP PDSCH and single-TRP PDSCH is supported.

[0103] In Release 16, to support scenarios with non-ideal backhaul between TRPs, a multi-DCI multi-TRP PDSCH NC-JT was introduced, where each TRP schedules a PDSCH using its own DCI. Therefore, in a multi-DCI-based NC-JT, two PDSCHs can be scheduled simultaneously on two PDCCHs, and the two PDSCHs can be fully overlapping, partially overlapping, or non-overlapping. To handle HARQ feedback, the concept of CORESET pools was introduced. In the RRC configuration, two TRPs are implicitly represented by two different control resource set (CORESET) groups identified by the value of the RRC parameter CORESETPoolIndex. Feedback for any received PDSCHs associated with the same CORESET pool feeds back their HARQ A / Ns in the same PUCCH. It was then decided to also enable TCI states in the PDSCH per CORESET pool, so that only one TCI state can be indicated for the DCI scheduling the PDSCH.

[0104] <Terminology> The following describes UEs, base stations, and procedures for new radio access technologies envisioned in 5G mobile communication systems (although these may also be used in LTE mobile communication systems). Various implementations and variations are also described. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the above discussion and findings.

[0105] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions have been made herein to explain the principles underlying the present disclosure in a clear and understandable manner, but it should be understood that these assumptions are merely examples made herein for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0106] Furthermore, although specific terminology used in the context of new radio access technologies for upcoming 3GPP 5G communication systems has not yet been fully determined or may ultimately change, some of the terms used below, such as procedures, entities, and layers, are closely related to the terms used in LTE / LTE-A systems or in current 3GPP 5G standardization. Therefore, the terms may change in the future without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments and their scope of protection are not limited to the specific terms illustratively used herein due to the absence of newer or ultimately agreed-upon terminology, but should be understood more broadly in terms of the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0107] <Embodiment> As already mentioned above, it may be desirable to generally extend the Rel17 Togo TCI framework to multi-TRP scenarios.

[0108] The present disclosure provides network nodes and user equipment, along with corresponding methods and programs. For example, the integrated circuit may control processing in a UE or a base station. As shown in FIG. 6, the user equipment 610 and the network node 660 may communicate over a radio channel 1750 in a wireless communication system. For example, the user equipment may be an NR user equipment, and the network node may be a base station or scheduling node such as an eNB, or an NR gNB, particularly a gNB in ​​a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) NR system. An example of such a communication system is shown in FIG. 6. The communication system 600 may be a wireless communication system conforming to 5G technical specifications, particularly an NR communication system. However, the present disclosure is not limited to 3GPP NR and may also be applied to other wireless systems such as NTN or cellular systems.

[0109] FIG. 6 shows a general, schematic, and exemplary block diagram of a user equipment 610 (also referred to as a terminal, a communication device, or a communications apparatus) and a network node 660. However, typically, the scheduling device may be the terminal in the case of a sidelink connection between two terminals. Furthermore, particularly with regard to URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC use cases, the user equipment 610 may be a sensor device, a wearable device, or a connected vehicle or a controller of an automated machine in an industrial factory. The user equipment 610 may also function as an intermediary between the network node 660 and other communications devices (e.g., but not limited to, communications “terminals” or user “terminals”).

[0110] The UE and the eNB / gNB communicate via a (radio) physical channel 650 using their respective transceiver units 620 (UE side) and 670 (network node side). The network node 660 and the terminal 610 constitute a communication system 600. The communication system 600 may further include other entities in addition to those shown in FIG.

[0111] 6 (left side), there is provided a user equipment (UE) 610 according to the first embodiment. The UE 610 includes a transceiver 620 and a circuit 630.

[0112] During operation, the transceiver 620 receives notification of one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states. A TCI state indicated by such a DCI format is hereinafter referred to as a designated TCI state or a new TCI state. Such notification may be a TCI code point, etc. The notification may be received from a base station. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the TCI may be indicated in device-to-device communications, etc.

[0113] In operation, the circuit 630 obtains one or more TCI state groups for one or more new TCI states, the TCI state groups among the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions, and sets one or more transmission opportunities for an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities.

[0114] The TCI state group may be obtained based on an association of preconfigured groups with (available) TCI states, which may correspond to TCI states configured, for example, by RRC signaling, as described in the section "Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states".

[0115] For example, the UE may receive a configuration notification that includes an association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states. Such a notification may be, for example, an RRC message or other suitable configuration message. Such association may be configured by higher layers.

[0116] For each group associated with the TCI state after the state update, a corresponding transmission opportunity is configured based on the spatial orientation of the group. Such configuration may include other higher layer parameters related to multi-TRP transmission that may also play a role in determining the mapping of groups to transmission opportunities.

[0117] The UE may receive a notification that enables it to group new TCI states into TCI state groups, where a TCI state group corresponds to or corresponds to a TRP, a spatial direction, a cluster of TRPs, a set of spatial directions grouped according to certain criteria such as AoA (Angle of Arrival), etc.

[0118] The UE may configure one or more transmission opportunities in uplink or downlink channels from one or more TRPs based on a preconfigured association between TCI state groups and transmission opportunities. For example, the UE may configure two repetitions for a PDSCH channel, each counting as a transmission opportunity.

[0119] For example, if a UE can receive two PDCCHs in two CORESETs (see section "Multi TRP transmission schemes"), the UE can be configured to receive the first PDCCH in the CORESET using a TCI state belonging to a first group and the second PDCCH in the CORESET using a TCI state belonging to a second group.

[0120] For example, if the UE may transmit PUCCH repetitions in a TDM manner (see section "Multi TRP transmission schemes"), the first transmitted repetition follows the TCI state from the first group, and the second repetition uses the TCI state from the second group. Furthermore, if the UE is indicated with TCI states from two TCI groups and the UE is operating with single TRP transmission, the UE may be configured to use, for example, the TCI state that belongs to the first TCI group and not the second TCI group.

[0121] In general, circuitry 630 may control transceiver 620 to receive and / or transmit data. This is indicated by arrow 625, which schematically illustrates a control interface between circuitry 630 and transceiver 620. For example, circuitry 630 may control transceiver 620 to receive notification of one or more new TCI states.

[0122] 7 illustrates an example functional structure of the circuit 630, particularly the TCI state setting circuit 635. As illustrated, the TCI state setting circuit 635 may include a TCI state group acquisition circuit 736 and a transmission opportunity setting circuit 737. More specifically, the circuit 736 may acquire an association between a TCI state group indicated in a TCI code point and a new TCI state. The transmission opportunity setting circuit 737 may determine when and / or how to (re)set a transmission opportunity.

[0123] Corresponding to the above UE, a method for setting a transmission opportunity by a user equipment is provided. As shown in Figure 9, the method includes: - receiving (S910) a notification indicating one or more new Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states; - obtaining (S920) one or more TCI state groups for one or more new TCI states, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions; - setting one or more transmission opportunities to an uplink transmission channel or a downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between a TCI status group and a transmission opportunity (S930).

[0124] Also shown in FIG. 6 (right side) is a base station 660. The base station 660 includes a transceiver 670 and circuitry 680. In operation, the circuitry 680 generates a notification of one or more designated Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states based on one or more TCI state groups for one or more designated TCI states, and instructs user equipment (UE) to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state group and the transmission opportunity, where the TCI state group of the one or more TCI state groups corresponds to one or more spatial directions. In operation, the transceiver 670 transmits the notification of the one or more designated TCI states.

[0125] In general, circuitry 680 may control transceiver 670 to receive and / or transmit data, as indicated by arrow 675, which generally represents a control interface between circuitry 680 and transceiver 670. For example, circuitry 680 may instruct transceiver 670 to transmit the notification.

[0126] 8 illustrates an example functional structure of the TCI state setting circuit 685. In particular, the TCI state setting circuit 685 includes a TCI code point transmission circuit 836 and a TCI state group association circuit 837. The circuit 836 may be responsible for transmitting the TCI code point. Additionally, the circuit 837 may be responsible for transmitting the TCI state group association.

[0127] Furthermore, there is provided a communication method associated with the above base station and performed by the base station. As shown in Figure 10, the method includes: - generating (S1010) a notification of one or more designated transmission configuration indication (TCI) states based on one or more TCI state groups for one or more designated TCI states to instruct a user equipment (UE) to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state group and the transmission opportunity, where the TCI state group of the one or more TCI state groups corresponds to one or more spatial directions; - sending (S1020) a notification of one or more specified TCI states.

[0128] The UE 610 may include a transceiver 620 and a (processing) circuit 630, and the network node 660 may include a transceiver 670 and a (processing) circuit 680. The transceiver 670 may include and / or function as a receiver and / or a transmitter. In other words, in this disclosure, the term “transceiver” is used for hardware and software components that enable the communication device 610 or the base station 660 to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, respectively, over the wireless channel 650. Thus, a transceiver corresponds to a receiver, a transmitter, or a combination of a receiver and a transmitter. Typically, it is assumed that base stations and communication devices can both transmit and receive wireless signals. However, for some applications (e.g., smart homes, smart cities, industrial automation), particularly in eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC, devices such as sensors may only transmit signals. Furthermore, the term “circuit” includes processing circuits formed by one or more processors or processing units. The circuits 630 and 680 (or processing circuits) may be hardware such as one or more processors, or hardware such as any LSI, etc. There is an input / output point (or node) between the transceiver and the processing circuit, and the processing circuit, in operation, controls the transceiver through this input / output point (or node), i.e., controls the receiver and / or transmitter, and can exchange receive data / transmit data.

[0129] The transceiver unit may include a radio frequency (RF) front end including one or more antennas, amplifiers, RF modulators / demodulators, etc. as a transmitter and a receiver. The processing circuit may perform control tasks such as controlling the transceiver unit to transmit user data and control data provided by the processing circuit and / or receive user data and control data that are further processed by the processing circuit. The processing circuit may also be responsible for performing other processes such as judging, deciding, calculating, measuring, etc. The transmitter unit may be responsible for performing the transmission process and other processes related thereto. The receiver unit may be responsible for performing the reception process and other processes related thereto, such as channel monitoring, etc.

[0130] Additionally, any of the steps / operations / methods described below may be performed or controlled by circuitry 630 (UE side) and / or circuitry 680 (network node side).

[0131] In the following description, unless otherwise stated explicitly or by context, the details and embodiments of each of the user equipment, network nodes, and methods apply to each other. Note that any of the steps described below may be included as code instructions in a program or may be executed by one or more processors (e.g., circuit 630 and / or circuit 680).

[0132] FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by a UE. For example, the UE receives higher layer configuration (e.g., RRC configuration) from a gNB indicating a set of TCI states (S1510). The set may include, for each TCI state, an association with a corresponding TCI state group. The UE receives a TCI codepoint on the DL channel that further selects a subset of TCI states from the higher layer-configured states (i.e., available TCI states) for UL and DL transmissions (S1520). The UE obtains (identifies) a TCI state group for the TCI state in the TCI codepoint (S1530). The UE updates the UL and DL spatial directions using the TCI states indicated in the received TCI codepoint (S1540). The UE uses the TCI state group information, in conjunction with other higher layer configurations, to map the UL or DL ​​transmission to a transmission of a single TRP or multiple TRPs with the updated spatial directions (S1550). If a new TCI codepoint is received by the UE (S1520), steps S1530 to S1550 may be repeated.

[0133] 16 is a flowchart showing exemplary steps performed by a base station (gNB). For example, the base station transmits an upper layer configuration (e.g., an RRC configuration) indicating a set of TCI states to the UE (S1610). The base station transmits a new TCI codepoint on a DL channel that further selects a subset of TCI states from the upper layer configuration for UL and DL transmissions (S1620). The base station establishes one or more TRP connections with the UE using the TCI codepoint information transmitted on the DL for UL or DL ​​transmissions in the updated spatial direction (S1630).

[0134] <Grouping> A TCI state may be associated with a TCI state group. Among these one or more TCI state groups, a TCI state group corresponds to one or more spatial directions. In particular, a TCI state group may include a set of spatial field filters belonging to one spatial direction or a cluster of grouped spatial directions that share some similar channel propagation conditions. For example, a TCI state group may correspond to a TRP. However, the TCI state group is not limited to this. In other words, such a TRP includes one spatial direction or a cluster of grouped spatial directions.

[0135] An association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states is pre-configured.

[0136] Such pre-configuration may be performed by a standard, by a configuration notification received by the UE, etc. For example, the UE receives a configuration notification that includes an association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states. Such a notification may be, for example, an RRC message or any other suitable configuration message. Such association may be configured by higher layers.

[0137] The set of available TCI states may correspond to TCI states defined by RRC signaling, for example, as described in the "Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) States" section. In other words, such a set of available TCI states corresponds to a set of pre-configured TCI states. The UE may use a subset of the above TCI states for link establishment. Such a subset may be indicated by a TCI codepoint.

[0138] Using the DL channel, the gNB can indicate to the UE a list of enabled TCI codepoints, as described above. Here, a TCI codepoint refers to a set of TCI states indicating DL and UL spatial transmission directions. The TCI state in a codepoint can correspond to UL, DL, or UL / DL spatial directions (beams coincident). Depending on the number of spatial directions in the TCI codepoint, the UE establishes transmission links (control / data channels) with a single TRP or multiple TRPs using the TCI codepoint.

[0139] In the first exemplary embodiment, there are two TCI state groups. The TCI state group to which a TCI state belongs may be indicated by a binary parameter. As an example, a binary parameter TCI_group_index may indicate that a TCI state belongs to either group 0 or group 1. In other words, if the binary parameter has a first value, the TCI state belongs to the first group (e.g., group 0). If the binary parameter has a second value, the TCI state belongs to the second group (e.g., group 1). In other words, a TCI state may be set by a binary parameter indicating a group.

[0140] The TCI codepoint in the first exemplary embodiment may include a TCI state belonging to either TCI group 0 or TCI group 1, or both TCI groups 0 and 1. This allows the UE to establish a single transmission link with either a TRP in group 0 or a TRP in group 1, or to establish multiple transmission links with both a TRP in group 0 and a TRP in group 1.

[0141] In other words, a TCI codepoint represents one or more TCI states. For example, the TCI state at the codepoint may belong to group 0. In this case, the UE may establish a single transmission link with the TRP corresponding to group 0. For example, the TCI state at the codepoint may belong to group 1. In this case, the UE may establish a single transmission link with the TRP corresponding to group 1. For example, a subset of the TCI states at the codepoint may belong to group 0, and another subset of the TCI states at the codepoint may belong to group 1. In this case, the UE may establish multiple transmission links with the TRP corresponding to group 0 as well as the TRP corresponding to group 1.

[0142] Any multi-TRP scheme may be used for multiple transmission links, such as SDM, FDM, TDM, etc. Exemplary multi-TRP schemes defined in Release 16 and / or 17 are shown in the "Multi-TRP Transmission Schemes" section. However, the invention is not limited to such schemes, and other multi-TRP schemes may also be applied.

[0143] For example, the TCI state in the RRC configuration may be indicated by a binary parameter indicating group 0 or 1. [Table 5]

[0144] tci-StateId is an identifier used to set a TCI state for a channel / RS, and the channel / RS can be quasi-co-located with the reference signal indicated by the TCI state with this ID. The TCI group signaling in the first exemplary embodiment is compact and has low overhead. It also allows a UE to perform multi-TRP transmission with TRPs corresponding to two TCI state groups.

[0145] In a second exemplary embodiment, the TCI state group to which a TCI state can belong can be indicated by a group index parameter. The group index parameter can be an m-bit parameter. For example, the parameter TCI_group_index indicates whether a TCI state belongs to groups 0, ..., 2. m -1 In other words, the TCI state may be set with a parameter TCI_group_index indicating the group.

[0146] TCI codepoints are in the TCI group {0, ..., 2 m -1), or up to a preset maximum number of TCI state group combinations. Such a maximum number of TCI state groups may be fixed by a standard or may be set by a received configuration notification, etc.

[0147] For example, the parameter Kmax indicates the maximum number of such pre-configured TCI state groups. As an example, Kmax may be pre-configured as 2 when there are more than two groups (m>1). In such an example, more than two TCI state groups correspond to more than two special directions or TRPs. However, the UE may establish a transmission link with two TRPs among the more than two TRPs. The present invention is not limited to such an example. Any value of Kmax can be defined by a standard or set by a configuration notification.

[0148] For example, such a parameter Kmax can be set in the range {0, ..., 2 m}.

[0149] Similar to the first exemplary embodiment, this allows the UE to establish a single transmission link or multiple transmission links (space division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, etc.) with the TRP corresponding to the indicated group.

[0150] The TCI group signaling in the second exemplary embodiment is compact, has low overhead, and allows a UE to perform multi-TRP transmissions with TRPs from more than two TCI state groups when m>1, e.g., in dense deployment environments with high spatial diversity.

[0151] In a third exemplary embodiment, the upper layer configuration may include one or more lists of TCI states, where the one or more lists include TCI states from a set of available TCI states, and each list of the one or more lists may be associated with a respective one of the one or more TCI state groups.

[0152] 13, where a first list 1310 includes at least a first TCI state of the first list 1311 and a second TCI state of the first list 1312. A second list 1320 includes at least a first TCI state of the second list 1321 and a second TCI state of the second list 1322. The first list 1310 may be labeled by TCI group index 0, and the second list 1320 may be labeled by TCI group index 1.

[0153] Such a list may be pre-configured by a standard or by a received configuration (eg, an RRC message, etc.).

[0154] For example, a UE may be configured by a higher layer with N separate TCI state lists, each identified by a TCI_group_index, which may take on values ​​in the range {0, ..., N-1}, indicating that the TCI states in a list belong to one of TCI state groups 0 to N-1.

[0155] As in the second exemplary embodiment, in this third exemplary embodiment, a TCI codepoint may contain TCI states belonging to only one of the TCI groups {0, ..., N-1} or to a combination of up to a pre-configured maximum number of TCI state groups. Such a maximum number of TCI state groups may be fixed by a standard or may be configured by a received configuration notification, etc. Such a maximum value may be indicated by the parameter Kmax mentioned above.

[0156] In a third exemplary embodiment, such a parameter Kmax can take on values ​​in the range {0...N}, for example.

[0157] In such an exemplary embodiment, TCI groups are defined at the level of the TCI list and not at the level of the TCI state, which may result in less overhead in higher layer reconfiguration if the gNB updates only one TCI list for one TCI state group.

[0158] In a fourth exemplary embodiment, the association of TCI states in a notification with TCI state groups is determined by an ordering of the TCI states in the notification of one or more new TCI states, which ordering corresponds to a predefined ordering of the TCI state groups, such as may be defined by a standard, a configuration, etc.

[0159] 14, in which a first TCI state 1410 at a TCI codepoint 1400 is determined to be associated with Group 0. The exemplary first TCI state 1410 at codepoint 1400 is both an UL and DL TCI state. The exemplary second TCI state 1420 at TCI codepoint 1400 is a DL state, and the exemplary third TCI state 1421 is a UL state. Thus, the exemplary second TCI state 1420 and the exemplary third TCI state 1421 are determined to be associated with Group 1.

[0160] In the fourth exemplary embodiment, the TCI code points can be an ordered set of TCI states. The TCI states of TCI group 0 come first, followed by the TCI states from group 1 to group P - 1 in ascending order, and the maximum number of group P can be fixed by the standard or set by notification or the like.

[0161] In the fourth exemplary embodiment, for example, when one group is skipped, or when either the DL information or the UL information of a certain group is not transmitted, there may be rules regarding the allowed TCI code point format. The TCI code point may include a notification indicating skipping one or more groups in the association determination. Furthermore, the TCI code point may include a notification indicating that one or more TCI states can be associated with the current group. Such a notification does not necessarily have to be included in the TCI code point. Such a notification may be received independently of the TCI code point, or may be (pre)set for the UE according to the standard, settings, etc.

[0162] In the fourth exemplary embodiment, in order to reduce overhead, explicit signaling for the TCI state group is not required.

[0163] The grouping of TCI described above can be combined with the update of the current TCI state based on the new TCI state included in the code point, including the update of the TCI state described below, especially as described for the first exemplary embodiment, the second exemplary embodiment, the third exemplary embodiment, and the fourth exemplary embodiment.

[0164] <Update of TCI State> Based on the notification of one or more new TCI states, one or more current TCI states may be updated. Such updating may be performed for each group or independently of the groups. Such groups may be obtained by any suitable grouping implementation as described in the first, second, third and fourth exemplary embodiments above.

[0165] In a fifth exemplary embodiment, for each group associated with one or more new TCI states included in the notification (i.e., codepoint), the current TCI state associated with that group is updated according to the notification, such update updating the spatial directions used by the UE for uplink and downlink transmission and reception.

[0166] This is exemplarily shown in Figure 11. A UE 1103 is configured to use TCI state 2 for TRP1 1101 for UL configuration 1111 and TCI state 1 for TRP1 1101 for DL ​​1110. Furthermore, the UE is configured to use TCI 3 as a joint UL / DL configuration 1120 for TRP2 1102. TCI states 1 and 2 are associated with group 0 (and therefore associated with TRP1 1101), and TCI state 3 belongs to group 1 (and therefore associated with TRP2 1102). For example, the gNB may signal a new codepoint ([TCI5 (group 0), TCI8 (group 0)]). Thus, the UE obtains a group associated with one or more new TCI states. In the example of Figure 11, this is group 0. The UE may update the current TCI state of group 0 with the new TCI state of group 0. In other words, the UE replaces the states TCI1 (group 0) and TCI2 (group 0) with the states TCI5 (group 0) 1130 and TCI8 (group 0) 1131.

[0167] The TCI state of group 0 used by the UE is updated based on the TCI state of group 0 at the codepoint. Similar updates can be performed for each group 1, ..., P-1, where P is the number of TCI state groups present at the signaled TCI codepoint.

[0168] If one or more current TCI states are associated with groups other than the groups associated with the new TCI state(s), the one or more current TCI states remain available at the updated transmission opportunity, i.e., the TCI states associated with groups not included in the TCI codepoint are not updated.

[0169] For example, in FIG. 11, the TCI state associated with group 1 included in the current TCI state (ie, TCI3) is also included in the updated TCI state.

[0170] In a fourth exemplary embodiment, the spatial direction information for other TRPs that are not updated is maintained.

[0171] The fourth exemplary embodiment may be used to switch from a single TRP to multiple TRPs. If the current TCI state is used to establish multiple transmission links, the fourth exemplary embodiment enables updating of the spatial direction of one or more selected TRPs.

[0172] In a sixth exemplary embodiment, the current TCI state is replaced with one or more new TCI states included in the notification (i.e., codepoint). Such an update overrides the spatial directions that the UE uses for uplink and downlink transmission and reception.

[0173] If one or more current TCI states are associated with a group other than the group associated with the one or more new TCI states, the one or more current TCI states are unavailable for the updated transmission opportunity. In other words, in the update according to the sixth exemplary embodiment, the UE overwrites all current TCI states with the new TCI states included in the codepoint.

[0174] This is exemplarily shown in Figure 12. The UE 1203 is configured to use TCI state 2 for TRP1 1201 for UL configuration 1211 and TCI state 1 for TRP1 1201 for DL ​​1210. Furthermore, the UE is configured to use TCI3 as a joint UL / DL configuration 1220 for TRP2 1202. TCI states 1 and 2 are associated with group 0 (and therefore associated with TRP1 1201), and TCI state 3 belongs to group 1 (and therefore associated with TRP2 1202). For example, the gNB may signal a new codepoint ([TCI5(group 0), TCI8(group 0)]). Thus, the UE replaces states TCI1(group 0), TCI2(group 0), TCI3(group 1) with new states TCI5(group 0) 12300, TCI8(group 0) 1231. In the example of FIG. 12, multi-TRP transmission is updated to single-TRP transmission.

[0175] The UE may use the TCI state indicated in the codepoint to establish a single transmission link or multiple transmission links (spatial division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, etc.) with the TRP corresponding to the indicated group.

[0176] The update according to the sixth exemplary embodiment allows dynamic switching between single-TRP and multi-TRP transmissions.

[0177] For example, the update method according to the fifth exemplary embodiment or the sixth exemplary embodiment may be selected by the UE by default, selected via higher layer configuration, selected via DCI signaling, etc.

[0178] Hardware and Software Implementations of the Disclosure The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit. Each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have data inputs and outputs. Depending on the level of integration, the LSI may be referred to as an IC, system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. The integration method is not limited to LSIs; it may also be realized by dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), which can be programmed after LSI fabrication, or reconfigurable processors, which allow the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI to be reconfigured, may also be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital or analog processing. Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI emerges due to advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, it is natural that such technology can be used to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology is also a possibility.

[0179] The present disclosure may be implemented in any type of apparatus, device, or system having a communication function (collectively referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0180] A communications device may include a wireless transceiver (transmitter / receiver) and processing / control circuitry. The wireless transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both. The wireless transceiver (transmitter / receiver) may include an RF (Radio Frequency) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or the like.

[0181] Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (e.g., digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, communication-enabled vehicles or mobile transportation (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and combinations of the above devices.

[0182] Communications equipment is not limited to portable or mobile equipment, but also includes non-portable or fixed equipment, devices, and systems of any kind, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or metering devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0183] Communications include data communications via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communications satellite systems, etc., as well as data communications via combinations of these.

[0184] A communications apparatus also includes devices such as controllers and sensors connected or coupled to a communications device that performs the communications functions described in this disclosure, such as controllers and sensors that generate control and data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications apparatus.

[0185] The communication apparatus also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicates with or controls the various apparatuses listed above, but are not limited to these.

[0186] Furthermore, various embodiments may be implemented by software modules, which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. A combination of software modules and hardware implementation is also possible. The software modules may be stored on any type of computer-readable storage medium. In particular, according to another implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided. The storage medium stores a program that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of a method according to the present disclosure.

[0187] By way of non-limiting example, such computer-readable storage media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is referred to as a computer-readable medium, as appropriate. For example, if instructions are transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of medium. However, it should be understood that computer-readable storage media and data storage media do not include connections, carrier waves, signals, or other transitory media, but instead cover non-transitory tangible storage media. As used herein, a disc includes a compact disc (CD), a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, and a Blu-ray disc, where a "disk" typically reproduces data magnetically, while a "disc" reproduces data optically with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0188] Furthermore, it should be noted that individual features of different embodiments may be the subject of other embodiments, individually or in any combination. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure, as set forth in the specific embodiments, may be subject to various changes and / or modifications without departing from the concept or scope of the invention as broadly described. The embodiments described herein are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0189] Further Aspects According to a first aspect, a user equipment (UE) is provided, the UE comprising: a transceiver configured, in operation, to receive notification of one or more designated transmission configuration indication (TCI) states; and a circuit configured, in operation, to obtain one or more TCI state groups for the one or more designated TCI states, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions, and to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities.

[0190] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, an association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states is pre-configured, and a TCI state from the set of available TCI states is associated with a group from one or more TCI state groups.

[0191] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the one or more TCI state groups are two TCI state groups, and in the association of the one or more TCI state groups with the set of available TCI states, each of the two TCI state groups to which a TCI state from the set of available TCI states belongs is indicated by a respective value of a binary parameter.

[0192] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to the second aspect, in an association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states, each group of one or more TCI state groups to which a TCI state of the set of available TCI states belongs is indicated by a respective value of a group index parameter.

[0193] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to the second aspect, the upper layer configuration includes one or more lists, the one or more lists including TCI states from a set of available TCI states, and in the association between the one or more TCI state groups and the set of available TCI states, each list of the one or more lists corresponds to a respective group from the one or more TCI state groups.

[0194] According to a sixth aspect provided in addition to the fourth or fifth aspect, the notification of the one or more specified TCI states includes TCI states associated with up to a maximum number of pre-configured TCI state groups.

[0195] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the circuit, in operation, further determines an association of the TCI states in the notification with the TCI state groups by an ordering of the TCI states in the notification of one or more specified TCI states that corresponds to a predefined ordering of the TCI state groups.

[0196] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to seventh aspects, the circuit, in operation, further updates one or more current TCI states based on notification of one or more specified TCI states.

[0197] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to the eighth aspect, in updating the current TCI state, for each group associated with one or more new specified TCI states included in the notification, the current TCI state associated with the group is updated in accordance with the notification, and if the one or more current TCI states are associated with a group other than the group associated with the one or more new specified TCI states, the one or more current TCI states remain available at the transmission opportunity after the update.

[0198] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to the eighth aspect, in updating the current TCI state, the current TCI state is replaced with one or more specified TCI states in accordance with the notification, and if the one or more current TCI states are associated with a group other than a group associated with the one or more specified TCI states, the one or more current TCI states are unavailable at the transmission opportunity after the update.

[0199] According to an eleventh aspect, which is provided in addition to one of the first to tenth aspects, in setting one or more transmission opportunities, for each group associated with the TCI state after the TCI state is updated, a corresponding transmission opportunity is set based on the spatial direction of the group.

[0200] According to a twelfth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to tenth aspects, the circuit, in operation, further receives a configuration notification including an association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states.

[0201] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a method for configuring a transmission opportunity by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: - receiving notification of one or more specified Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) conditions; - obtaining one or more TCI state groups for one or more specified TCI states, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions; - configuring one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between a TCI status group and a transmission opportunity.

[0202] According to a fourteenth aspect, a base station is provided. The base station comprises: circuitry that, during operation, generates a notification of one or more designated transmission configuration indication (TCI) states based on one or more TCI state groups for one or more designated TCI states to instruct a user equipment (UE) to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions. The base station comprises a transceiver unit that, during operation, transmits the notification of the one or more designated TCI states.

[0203] According to a 15th aspect provided in addition to the 14th aspect, the circuit, when operated, further generates a configuration notification including an association between one or more TCI state groups and a set of available TCI states, for example, the transceiver unit, when operated, transmits the configuration notification.

[0204] According to a 16th aspect provided in addition to the 14th or 15th aspect, the circuit, in operation, further configures one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel with the UE based on a pre-configured association between a TCI state group and a transmission opportunity.

[0205] According to a seventeenth aspect, there is provided a method for transmitting a configuration notification by a base station, the method comprising: - generating a notification of one or more specified transmission configuration indication (TCI) states based on one or more TCI state groups for one or more specified TCI states to instruct a user equipment (UE) to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities, where the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups correspond to one or more spatial directions; - transmitting a notification of one or more specified Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states.

[0206] According to an eighteenth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls processing of a user equipment, the processing comprising the following steps performed by the user equipment: - receiving notification of one or more specified Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) conditions; - obtaining one or more TCI state groups for one or more specified TCI states, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions; - setting one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between a TCI state group and a transmission opportunity.

[0207] According to a nineteenth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit which, in operation, controls processing of a base station, the processing comprising the following steps executed by a network node: - generating a notification of one or more specified transmission configuration indication (TCI) states based on one or more TCI state groups for one or more specified TCI states to instruct a user equipment (UE) to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities, where the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups correspond to one or more spatial directions; - transmitting a notification of one or more specified transmission configuration indication (TCI) states.

[0208] According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided a program stored on a storage medium and comprising code instructions, which when executed in one or more processors of a user equipment, cause the one or more processors to perform the following steps: - receiving notification of one or more specified Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) conditions; - obtaining one or more TCI state groups for one or more specified TCI states, the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions; - setting one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between a TCI status group and a transmission opportunity.

[0209] According to a twenty-first aspect, there is provided a program stored on a storage medium and comprising code instructions, which when executed in one or more processors of a base station, cause the one or more processors to perform the following steps: - generating a notification of one or more specified transmission configuration indication (TCI) states based on one or more TCI state groups for one or more specified TCI states to instruct a user equipment (UE) to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities, where the TCI state groups of the one or more TCI state groups correspond to one or more spatial directions; - transmitting a notification of one or more specified transmission configuration indication (TCI) conditions.

[0210] In summary, the present disclosure relates to a user equipment, a base station apparatus, and respective methods for the user equipment and the base station. More specifically, the user equipment includes: a transceiver unit that, in operation, receives notification of one or more designated transmission configuration indication (TCI) states; and a circuit that, in operation, obtains one or more TCI state groups for the one or more designated TCI states, the TCI state groups among the one or more TCI state groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions, and configures one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel based on a pre-configured association between the TCI state groups and the transmission opportunities.

Claims

1. a transceiver that, in operation, receives notification of a set of one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states; When in operation, a circuit for configuring one or more transmission opportunities associated with the set of TCI states in an uplink or downlink transmission channel; A communication device comprising:

2. an association is established between one or more TCI condition groups and the set of TCI conditions; a TCI state of the set of TCI states is associated with a group of the one or more TCI state groups; The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. the circuitry obtains one or more TCI state groups for one or more TCI states; a TCI condition group of the one or more TCI condition groups corresponding to one or more spatial directions; The communication device according to claim 1 .

4. the one or more TCI status groups are two TCI status groups; The communication device according to claim 2 .

5. the upper layer configuration includes one or more lists, the one or more lists including TCI states from the set of TCI states; In the association between the one or more TCI condition groups and the set of TCI conditions, each list of the one or more lists is associated with a respective group of the one or more TCI condition groups. The communication device according to claim 2 .

6. the notification of the one or more TCI conditions includes TCI conditions associated with a maximum number of configured TCI condition groups; The communication device according to claim 5 .

7. and wherein the circuitry, in operation, determines an association between the TCI states in the notification and a TCI state group by an ordering of the TCI states in the notification. The communication device according to claim 1 .

8. the circuit, in operation, updates the set of one or more TCI states based on the notification, and retains the previously specified set of one or more TCI states that are not updated. The communication device according to claim 1 .

9. receiving notification of a set of one or more Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states; configuring one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel associated with the set of TCI states; A method for setting a transmission opportunity by a communication device.

10. When in operation, generating a notification of a set of one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states to instruct a communication device to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel, the one or more transmission opportunities being associated with the set of TCI states; The circuit and a transceiver unit that, in operation, transmits said indication of said one or more TCI conditions; A base station comprising:

11. the circuitry, in operation, updates the set of one or more TCI states based on the notification, and any previously specified set of one or more TCI states not included in the instruction are retained. The base station of claim 10.

12. generating a notification of a set of one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states to instruct a communication device to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel, the one or more transmission opportunities being associated with the set of TCI states; transmitting said notification of said set of one or more TCI states. How the base station sends configuration notifications.

13. 1. An integrated circuit which, in operation, controls the processing of a communications device, said processing comprising the following steps performed by said communications device: receiving notification of a set of one or more Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states; and configuring one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel. Integrated circuit.

14. An integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a base station, said processing comprising the following steps executed by a network node: generating a notification of a set of one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states to instruct a communication device to configure one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel; transmitting said notification of one or more TCI conditions. Integrated circuit.

15. A program stored on a storage medium and comprising code instructions which, when executed in one or more processors of a communication device, cause said one or more processors to perform the following steps: receiving notification of one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) conditions; configuring one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel associated with the set of TCI states; A program that executes.

16. A program stored on a storage medium and comprising code instructions, which when executed in one or more processors of a base station, cause said one or more processors to perform the following steps: generating a notification of one or more TCI conditions to instruct a communication device to set one or more transmission opportunities in an uplink or downlink transmission channel, the one or more transmission opportunities being associated with the set of TCI conditions; transmitting said notification of said one or more TCI conditions; A program that executes.

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