Device, method, and apparatus for spatial adaptation

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a device, method, and apparatus for spatial adaptation. A terminal device obtains a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device. The spatial pattern configuration indicates whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels. The terminal device then transmits a measurement report to the network device. The measurement report includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and in particular to devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for spatial adaptation. [Background technology]

[0002] Energy conservation in networks is crucial for environmental sustainability, reducing environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions), and saving operational costs. As New Radio (NR), also known as the fifth generation technology standard (5G) for wideband cellular networks, becomes widespread across various industries and regions to handle more advanced services and applications that require very fast data speeds, networks are becoming denser and using more antennas, larger bandwidths, and more frequency bands, which means increased energy consumption.

[0003] Therefore, the environmental impact and operational costs of 5G need to be kept under control, and improved solutions for energy savings in 5G need to be further investigated and refined. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Generally, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for a channel state information (CSI) measurement and reporting framework for spatial adaptation.

[0005] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device may include one or more transceivers and one or more processors coupled to the one or more transceivers, the one or more transceivers configured, by the one or more processors, to cause the terminal device to obtain a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device indicating whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, and to transmit to the network device a measurement report including the one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0006] In a second aspect, a network device is provided, the network device may include one or more transceivers and one or more processors coupled to the one or more transceivers, the one or more transceivers configured, by the one or more processors, to cause the network device to transmit, to a terminal device, a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and to receive, from the terminal device, a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method in a terminal device is provided that can include obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device that indicates whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and transmitting a measurement report to the network device that includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method in a network device is provided that can include transmitting, to a terminal device, a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device that indicates whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and receiving, from the terminal device, a measurement report that includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus for a terminal device is provided, the apparatus may include: means for obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; and means for transmitting a measurement report to the network device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus of a network device is provided, the apparatus may comprise: means for transmitting, to a terminal device, a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; and means for receiving, from the terminal device, a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code configured by the at least one processor to cause the terminal device to obtain a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and to transmit a measurement report to the network device including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a network device is provided, the network device may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code configured, by the at least one processor, to cause the network device to transmit, to a terminal device, a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and to receive, from the terminal device, a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions to cause an apparatus to perform at least the method of the third or fourth aspect.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, a computer program is provided that includes instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least obtain a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device that indicates whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, and transmit a measurement report to the network device that includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0015] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program is provided that includes instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to transmit to a terminal device at least a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device that indicates whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, and receive from the terminal device a measurement report that includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device may include: an acquisition circuit configured to acquire a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; and a transmission circuit configured to transmit a measurement report to the network device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0017] In a thirteenth aspect, a network device is provided, the network device may include: a transmitting circuit configured to transmit, to a terminal device, a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; and a receiving circuit configured to receive, from the terminal device, a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0018] It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

[0019] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2A] FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary spatial patterns with the same number of active / unmuted antennas / spatial elements. [Figure 2B] 1A-1C illustrate exemplary spatial patterns with different numbers of active / unmuted antennas / spatial elements. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method implemented in a terminal device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary search approach for spatial patterns according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method implemented in a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6]FIG. 1 illustrates an example signaling process for reporting measurements on a reference signal according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is an exemplary simplified block diagram of a device suitable for practicing embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

[0022] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, but are not intended to imply any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various forms other than those described below.

[0023] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0024] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," and the like indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one embodiment, it is submitted that this is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly stated.

[0025] Although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements, it should be understood that these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element could be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0026] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. As used herein, "at least one of a <list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of a <list of two or more elements>" and similar expressions, when a list of two or more elements is connected by "and" or "or," mean at least any one of those elements, or at least any two or more of those elements, or at least all of those elements.

[0027] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" means (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., implementations in analog and / or digital circuitry only); and (b) Any combination of hardware circuitry and software (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry(s) and software / firmware; and (ii) any portion of a hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s) that work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions); and (c) hardware circuitry(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or any portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but the software may be absent when not required for operation; It can refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0028] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this application, including the claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuit also encompasses a simple hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor, as well as its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware embodiments. The term circuit also encompasses, for example, baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices, if applicable to certain claim elements.

[0029] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as long term evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), or narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network may be implemented according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including, but not limited to, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Of course, given the rapid development of communications, there are also future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be implemented. The embodiments of the present disclosure should not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned systems.

[0030] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device can refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), New Radio (NR) NB (also referred to as gNB), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), radio header (RH), remote radio head (RRH), relay, and low-power nodes such as femto, pico, etc.

[0031] The term "terminal device" refers to an end device capable of enabling wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). An end device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet, a wearable end device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a desktop computer, an image capture end device such as a digital camera, a gaming end device, a music storage and playback device, an in-vehicle wireless end device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display ... The wireless devices and equipment may include head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and equipment (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and equipment (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated process chains), consumer electronics devices, devices operating in commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like.In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0032] The term "transceiver" may refer to any device that can be coupled to one or more antennas or antenna ports to wirelessly transmit and / or receive communication signals. The antennas or antenna ports may be of the same or different types. The antennas or antenna ports may be located at different locations on the device. The transceiver(s) enable the device to communicate with other devices, which may be wired and / or wireless. The transceiver(s) may include a processor, controller, radio, socket, plug, buffer, or similar circuitry to form one or more communication channels to one or more radio frequency units. The transceiver(s) may be integrated into a device or system, such as a cellular communication device or system, a WLAN system, or a short-range system, such as a Bluetooth system.

[0033] As used herein, the term "beam" may refer to a communication resource. Different beams may be considered to be different resources. A beam may also be represented as a spatial filter. A technology for forming a beam may be a beamforming technology or another technology. Specifically, the beamforming technology may be a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, or a hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology. A communication device (including a terminal device and a network device) may communicate with another communication device via one or more beams. A beam may include one or more antenna ports and may be configured for a data channel, a control channel, etc. One or more antenna ports forming a beam may also be considered an antenna port set. A beam may be configured by a set of resources or a set of measurement resources, and a beam may be represented, for example, by a reference signal and / or associated resources for the reference signal. A beam may also be represented by a reference cell identifier or a resource identifier.

[0034] As used herein, the term "beamforming" may refer to spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception. Beamforming is a signal processing technique that can be used in a transmitting device and / or a receiving device to form or steer an antenna beam along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may rely on antenna elements of an antenna array to direct signals propagating in specific directions.

[0035] In the current channel state information (CSI) framework, CSI reference signals (CSI-RS) are UE-specific and configured by radio resource control (RRC). However, CSI-RS reference signals can be shared among many terminal devices, i.e., two or more terminal devices can be configured to receive the same resource element (RE). If all terminal devices in a cell share the same CSI-RS resources, their reference signals can be referred to as cell-specific CSI-RS. If only a group of terminal devices in a cell share the same CSI-RS resources, such a configuration can be referred to as group-specific CSI-RS. Furthermore, if each terminal device has its own CSI-RS resources, this can be referred to as UE-specific CSI-RS. Note that this configuration is known only to the gNB, and terminal devices are unaware of whether CSI-RS resources are shared with another terminal device or not.

[0036] Generally, to save downlink (DL) resources, a gNB should try to use cell-specific or group-specific CSI-RS resources. The worst-case scenario for DL ​​overhead is when, for UE-specific CSI-RS, the DL overhead grows linearly with the number of UEs in the cell.

[0037] CSI-RS has many functions in NR, and example functions may include: CSI-RS for DL ​​CSI acquisition CSI-RS for beam management (BM) (based on L1-RSRP) CSI-RS for tracking (TRS) UL CSI acquisition in reciprocity-based UL precoding

[0038] In some applications (e.g., CSI-RS for BM), the CSI-RS can be spatially beamformed in different directions. Generally, a terminal device can be configured with up to 48 reporting configurations per component carrier (CC) and four reporting configurations per bandwidth part (BWP). One CSI resource configuration in one reporting configuration can be configured with up to 16 resource sets (aperiodic CSI) and one resource set (other). Each CSI resource set has up to 64 non-zero-power (NZP) CSI-RS resources, and each NZP-CSI-RS resource has up to 32 antenna ports.

[0039] For CSI acquisition, the terminal device can also be configured with a codebook type. Considering the channel measured over the CSI-RS resources, the terminal device can select a preferred codeword, i.e., a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), from a specified codebook, along with a channel quality indicator (CQI) and a rank indicator (RI). The terminal device can also be configured to measure several CSI-RS resources (up to eight) in a resource set and report a preferred resource, a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), along with the PMI, CQI, and rank indication (RI) corresponding to the selected resource.

[0040] As New Radio (NR), also known as 5G, becomes widespread across various industries and regions to handle more advanced services and applications that require extremely fast data speeds, networks are becoming denser and using more antennas, greater bandwidth, and more frequency bands, which means increased energy consumption.

[0041] Currently, energy consumption has become a major part of operators' operating expenses (OPEX). Most of the energy consumption comes from the wireless access network, especially the Active Antenna Unit (AAU), with data centers and fiber transmission also accounting for a smaller share of energy consumption. The power consumption of wireless access can be divided into two parts: the dynamic part and the static part. The dynamic part is the energy part for power consumed only when data transmission / reception is in progress. The static part is the energy part that is always consumed to maintain the necessary operation of the wireless access device even when no data transmission / reception is in progress.

[0042] It should be noted that the approved third generation partnership project (3GPP) release 18 (Rel-18) work item description (WID) specifies that spatial adaptation is specified in Rel-18 New Radio (NR). A partial copy of the approved Rel-18 WID is provided below:

[0043] [Table 1]

[0044] This disclosure focuses on enhancements to CSI measurement and reporting to enable efficient spatial adaptation, particularly dynamic spatial adaptation.

[0045] Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution related to CSI configuration, measurement, and / or reporting is provided to enable an efficient spatial adaptation procedure. With this solution, a terminal device obtains a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from a network device. The spatial pattern configuration indicates whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels. The terminal device transmits a measurement report to the network device, where the measurement report includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0046] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the spatial pattern configuration enables CSI-RS measurements and reporting to be performed in an optimized spatial pattern with improved energy efficiency, thereby providing a CSI reporting framework to enable an efficient spatial adaptation procedure.

[0047] The principles and embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Referring first to Figure 1, Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary environment 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0048] The environment 100 may be part of a communications network and includes terminal devices 110 and network devices 120 that communicate with each other or with other devices through each other. The communications environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices and cells. In the communications environment 100, the terminal devices 110 and the network devices 120 may communicate data and control information with each other. The link from the network devices 120 to the terminal devices 110 is referred to as the downlink (DL), and the link from the terminal devices 110 to the network devices 120 is referred to as the uplink (UL).

[0049] It should be understood that two devices are shown in environment 100 for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. In some exemplary embodiments, environment 100 may include additional devices for communicating with terminal device 110 and network device 120.

[0050] Communications in environment 100 may be in accordance with any suitable communications standard or protocol already in existence or developed in the future, such as universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), long-term evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) standards, including, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth, ZigBee, and machine type communication (MTC), enhanced mobile communications (EMC), and the like. Any suitable communication technology may be used, including eMBB, massive machine type communication (mMTC), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), and new radio unlicensed (NR-U) technologies.

[0051] The network device 120 transmits a spatial pattern configuration of the reference signal transmission from the network device to the terminal device 110. The spatial pattern configuration indicates whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels. The terminal device 110 obtains the spatial pattern configuration of the reference signal transmission, for example, from the network device 120. The terminal device 110 can then transmit a measurement report to the network device 120, where the measurement report includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device 110 based on the obtained spatial pattern configuration. The network device 120 can receive the measurement report from the terminal device 110 and further use the report for CSI-RS for DL ​​CSI acquisition, beam management, TRS, or UL CSI acquisition in reciprocity-based UL precoding.

[0052] As used herein, the term "spatial pattern" may refer to multiple patterns of spatial elements or antenna elements for reference signal transmission. Different patterns may or may not have different numbers of antenna elements or different transmitting antenna elements. In embodiments of the present disclosure, a spatial pattern may correspond to one or more of a reference signal resource, a set of reference signal resources, a reference signal resource identifier, a number or set of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, or a configuration of a set of antenna elements or spatial elements, a number or set of antenna ports, an energy / power consumption level, an energy saving level, a reference signal priority for measurements, a codebook configuration, or a spatial configuration, or a reporting configuration.

[0053] In some embodiments, a "spatial pattern" can be a reference signal resource, an identifier of a reference signal resource, can indicate a number or set of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, can indicate a number or set of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements, or can be an antenna port. A spatial pattern can have the same energy consumption or savings level as other spatial patterns, or can have a different energy consumption or savings level than other spatial patterns, and thus a spatial pattern can correspond to or indicate an energy consumption or savings level.

[0054] For illustrative purposes, reference is made to FIGS. 2A and 2B to describe exemplary spatial patterns in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0055] FIG. 2A illustrates example spatial patterns with the same number of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements. In FIG. 2A, spatial patterns 1 through 6 are candidate patterns in network device 120 and have the same number of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements. As shown, elements in gray boxes are muted or inactive. Each of patterns 1 through 6, by way of example, has the same number of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements and the same number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements. Considering that each spatial element consumes a similar amount of power or energy, there is no substantial difference in power / energy savings or consumption levels between spatial patterns 1 through 6. For illustrative purposes, this case can be referred to as Case 1.

[0056] The power / energy saving or consumption levels in this disclosure may indicate relative power / energy saving or consumption differences between different patterns. The power / energy saving or consumption levels may indicate priority or precedence between different patterns.

[0057] FIG. 2B illustrates examples of spatial patterns with different numbers of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements. In FIG. 2B, spatial patterns 1 through 6 are six candidate patterns for network device 120. As shown, elements in gray boxes are muted or inactive. Spatial patterns 1 through 6 have different numbers of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements. For example, patterns 1 and 4 have the same number of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements and the same number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements, while patterns 2, 3, 5, and 6 have, for example, more active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements and fewer inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements than patterns 1 and 4. Therefore, patterns 2, 3, 5, and 6 consume higher energy levels than patterns 1 and 4.

[0058] 2B, different patterns may have different power / energy saving or consumption levels, and for illustrative purposes only, this case may be referred to as Case 2. When network device 120 transmits a reference signal (or data) using pattern 1 or 4, network device 120 consumes less energy than any of the other patterns 2, 3, 5, and 6 of FIG. 2B. This therefore means that reference signal transmissions with some spatial patterns may consume less energy than others. Thus, in some scenarios, it may be desirable for terminal device 110 to be able to provide a measurement report with spatial patterns that have fewer active / unmuted antennas, and the reported spatial pattern may also need to meet one or more criteria related to performance constraints.

[0059] 3 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 300 implemented in a terminal device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, the method 200 will be described from the perspective of the terminal device 110 with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B.

[0060] 3, in block 310, terminal device 110 obtains a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from network device 120. The spatial pattern configuration indicates whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0061] As described above, in embodiments of the present disclosure, spatial patterns may correspond to, imply, indicate, or be indicated by different parameters or configurations. In some exemplary embodiments, each spatial pattern may correspond to a reference signal resource or a set of reference signal resources. Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may correspond to an identifier of a reference signal resource. Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may correspond to a number or set of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements. Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may correspond to a configuration of antenna elements or a set of spatial elements. Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may correspond to a number or set of antenna ports, a codebook configuration, a spatial configuration, or a reporting configuration. Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may correspond to an energy / power consumption level or an energy saving level. Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may correspond to a reference signal priority for measurements.

[0062] Additionally or alternatively, each spatial pattern may be a reference signal resource or resource set, an identifier of a reference signal resource or resource set, or an antenna port or set of antenna ports that indicates or is associated with a particular power / energy saving or consumption level.

[0063] The spatial patterns may be configured or indicated via system information (SI), radio resource control (RRC), media access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI). The configuration of the spatial patterns may indicate or include information indicating whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0064] For example, if one or more spatial patterns are represented by a CSI-RS resource or a CSI-RS resource set, one or more of such information may be configured at the CSI-RS resource level or CSI-RS resource set level.

[0065] In some embodiments, differences in energy levels may mean, indicate, include, or may indicate different information or combinations of information. In some exemplary embodiments, different energy levels for multiple spatial patterns may include different numbers of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements. Additionally, or alternatively, different energy levels for multiple spatial patterns may include different numbers of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements. Additionally, or alternatively, different energy levels for multiple spatial patterns may indicate or include different energy consumption or energy conservation levels. Additionally, or alternatively, different energy levels for multiple spatial patterns may indicate or include different priorities of reference signal(s) for measurements.

[0066] This information allows the terminal device to at least determine, for example, whether the configured spatial patterns have the same or different energy levels (e.g., the same or different number of unmuted / active (or muted / inactive) antennas / spatial elements, energy consumption levels, energy saving levels, priority of reference signals for measurements, etc.).

[0067] In some embodiments, for two or more of the plurality of spatial patterns: Corresponding to the same CSI-RS resource or set of CSI-RS resources; Correspond to the same CSI reporting configuration or settings; the same number of ports but corresponding to different CSI-RS resources or different CSI-RS sets; Corresponding to the same N1 and N2 parameters representing the number of active / unmuted antenna elements along the horizontal and vertical directions respectively. Corresponding to the same codebook or spatial or reporting configuration; Support the same codebook subset restriction (CBSR), be directly or indirectly associated with a variable indicating that the antenna or space elements have the same number of active / unmuted (or inactive / muted) antenna elements or space elements; Indicators in the spatial pattern configuration indicate that multiple spatial patterns have the same energy level. It can be determined that they have the same energy level, or that there is no difference in energy level, based on one or more of:

[0068] In other words, the above configurations or parameters may suggest that no energy level differences exist.

[0069] In some embodiments, one CSI-RS resource may be used for different patterns and thus associated with multiple subsets of antenna ports. In such cases, one or more indications representing or indicating one or more of the number or set of active / unmuted / "on" (or muted / "off") antenna elements, multiple transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, and / or multiple slot offsets would be required. Additionally, sub-selection of the subset of antenna ports, TCI states, and / or multiple slot offsets may be performed via the MAC CE or DCI.

[0070] In some embodiments, different CSI-RS resources may be used for different patterns, and thus different CSI-RS resources are associated with different spatial patterns. In this case, each CSI-RS resource may be associated with an indication of a corresponding number or set of active / unmuted / "on" (or muted / "off") antenna elements and / or multiple slot offsets.

[0071] In some exemplary embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may include an indicator that indicates whether the spatial patterns have different energy levels, in which case the indicator may explicitly communicate differential information regarding the energy levels to the terminal device.

[0072] In some demonstrative embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may include a set of reference signal configurations, where the set of reference signal configurations indicates energy difference information. In other words, if a network device configures a terminal device with a set of different reference signal resources, the set may include or be associated with an energy difference indicator for indicating whether there is an energy difference.

[0073] In some demonstrative embodiments, the set of reference signal configurations may include at least one subset of reference signal configurations. The subset of reference signal configurations may include a list of reference signal configurations, and the subset of reference signal configurations may indicate energy difference information. In other words, the subset of reference signal configurations includes reference signal configurations corresponding to different energy levels, and therefore, when a terminal device is configured with such a subset of reference signal configurations, this suggests that an energy level difference exists for multiple spatial patterns.

[0074] An example information element in a spatial pattern configuration is shown below: However, it should be understood that this is shown for illustrative purposes, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in fact the CSI-RS configuration, and in particular the compatible pattern, may also be provided separately from the spatial pattern configuration.

[0075] [Table 2]

[0076] The first and second sets shown above indicate two candidate sets, but only one of these sets can be provided in the spatial pattern configuration. In the exemplary information element, each CSI-RS ID can be configured similarly to the current standard. If the energy difference indicator "EnergyIndicator" indicates that there is no difference in the transmission energy of the CSI-RS (e.g., Case 1 in FIG. 2A), the CSI-RS lists all IDs of the reference signals, and the terminal device 110 detects the best reference signal(s). Alternatively, the terminal device can also determine that there is no difference in energy level when the first set is configured without using the energy difference indicator.

[0077] In the case of the second set, the compatibility of CSI-RS is provided to the UE, which means that CSI-RS in the same subset may be a subset of another CSI-RS in that subset, or a superset of another CSI-RS. In addition, detailed energy difference information, for example, which is the best energy saving, can be determined based on the list / priority indicated in the subset. In the case of different subsets, they may not be compatible. If a subset is not configured, the format should be the first set, and the terminal device performs measurements on reference signals based on the list / priority of IDs.

[0078] It should be noted that the second set may include an "EnergyIndicator" to indicate that an energy level difference exists in the transmission energy of the CSI-RS, but the terminal device may also learn that an energy level difference exists when the second set having one or more subsets is configured without using the energy difference indicator. When a subset or a CSI-RS belonging to a subset is configured or indicated for measurement, the terminal device cannot measure the CSI-RS of another subset because the CSI-RS in different subsets are incompatible. It should be noted that CSI-RS is used as an example in this disclosure, and other reference signals are also possible.

[0079] In some embodiments, the energy difference information is A list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the energy consumption level; A list of spatial patterns with decreasing priorities according to the energy consumption level, A list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of active antennas or spatial elements; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of inactive antennas or spatial elements; - The power or energy saving level corresponding to each spatial pattern; - the power or energy consumption levels corresponding to each spatial pattern; · Spatial pattern priority, Respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements in the spatial pattern; Respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements in the spatial pattern, or Priority for measuring spatial patterns may mean, indicate, or be indicated by one or more of:

[0080] 2, the terminal device 110 transmits a measurement report to the network device at block 320. The measurement report includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0081] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may, for example, measure a reference signal and transmit a measurement report to the network device periodically or triggered by some predetermined condition.

[0082] In some embodiments, after obtaining the spatial pattern configuration, the terminal device 110 may also receive a report request from the network device 120. The report request may indicate a set of spatial patterns to be measured by the terminal device among the plurality of spatial patterns. The set of spatial patterns may include some or all of the plurality of spatial patterns in the spatial pattern configuration. In such a case, the terminal device 110 may determine, based on the spatial pattern configuration, to measure and report a portion of the set of spatial patterns indicated in the report request. Upon receiving the report request, the terminal device may measure a reference signal, such as CSI-RS, and transmit a measurement report.

[0083] In some embodiments, each antenna / spatial pattern (or specifically, transceiver unit pattern) may correspond to, for example, a set or subset of antenna elements being turned on or off. For a CSI reporting configuration corresponding to or associated with a set of antenna patterns, the terminal device 110 may transmit a measurement report based on whether the spatial patterns have some energy level difference, for example, whether they have the same number of active / unmuted (or inactive / muted) antennas or spatial elements. In other words, the terminal device 110 may transmit a measurement report based on whether the spatial pattern belongs to Case 1 shown in FIG. 2A or Case 2 shown in FIG. 2B. Specifically, one or more of the following operations may be adopted as the behavior of the terminal device 110:

[0084] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration can indicate that a set of spatial patterns have the same energy level, e.g., the same number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, in other words, case 1 of FIG. 2A . In such a case, the terminal device 110 can report at least one best pattern among the set of patterns. Additionally or alternatively, the terminal device 110 can report at least one preferred pattern among the set of patterns. Additionally or alternatively, the terminal device 110 can report at least one preferred pattern that meets one or more performance criteria. In particular, the terminal device 110 can select the best / preferred / suitable pattern based on, for example, the terminal implementation, etc.

[0085] An example terminal embodiment can be based on reporting a pattern, e.g., a better reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of a CSI-RS port, and / or a better CQI / Rank derived from the corresponding spatial pattern.

[0086] Besides the solution based on the terminal embodiment, the network device 120 can configure additional criteria, such as those related to rank, RSRP, or CQI, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the network device 120 can configure the terminal device 110 to report two or more patterns, e.g., two out of four patterns, one of which is selected by the network device 120, e.g., according to measurement reports from multiple terminal devices.

[0087] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration indicates that multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, e.g., different numbers of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, i.e., Case 2 shown in FIG. 2B. The measurement report may include one or more spatial patterns with the lowest energy levels. The one or more spatial patterns may meet one or more performance criteria. Thus, the terminal device 110 may report the pattern(s) with the best power / energy savings while meeting one or more criteria related to the performance constraints.

[0088] Similarly, the terminal device 110 may report one or more patterns based on one or more particular criteria, such as those related to rank (e.g., minimum rank), CQI (e.g., minimum CQI), precoding matrix index (PMI), RSRP, signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc. Additionally, the terminal device 110 may also be configured / requested to report related measures (e.g., rank, CQI, PMI) for one or more patterns in a measurement report.

[0089] For example, the terminal device 110 may be configured with one or more criteria related to rank, CQI, PMI, RSPR, SINR for selection of the "best" pattern. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may indicate the one or more criteria, for example, via DCI or MAC CE.

[0090] To select a pattern for measuring a corresponding reference signal, the terminal device 110 may obtain matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns from among the plurality of spatial patterns. Furthermore, CSI-RS measurements and reports may be determined based on the matching information. The at least one matching set may include spatial patterns that have at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements but have different energy levels. One or more spatial patterns to be reported in a measurement report may be determined based on the at least one set of matching spatial patterns.

[0091] In some embodiments, matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns may be obtained from network device 120. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may obtain the matching information based on a spatial pattern configuration, for example, from the RRC signaling described above with reference to matching patterns in example information elements in the spatial pattern configuration, e.g., from the subset of CSI-RS described above. Additionally or alternatively, such information may be obtained from other signaling from network device 120, e.g., from a report request or another separate signal indicating a matching set of spatial patterns.

[0092] In some embodiments, the terminal device may be configured to obtain at least one matching set of spatial patterns or determine the spatial patterns to be reported by a search technique, which may include first selecting at least one spatial pattern from a plurality of spatial patterns, and then obtaining a matching spatial pattern from other spatial patterns for the selected at least one spatial pattern for the at least one matching set of spatial patterns, the matching spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted (or inactive / muted) antenna elements or spatial elements with the selected at least one spatial pattern.

[0093] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may select at least one spatial pattern having the highest energy saving level, the lowest energy consumption level, the highest reporting priority, or the fewest active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements. Alternatively, terminal device 110 may select at least one spatial pattern having the lowest energy saving level, the highest energy consumption level, the lowest reporting priority, or the most active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements.

[0094] For example, for any of the above cases, the terminal device 110 may be configured / specified / indicated to select a spatial pattern according to a search technique. The terminal device 110 may be specified, configured, or indicated to apply the search technique (e.g., as part of a CSI reporting configuration, a trigger condition, and / or explicitly via a DCI or MAC CE).

[0095] In some embodiments, the selected at least one spatial pattern may satisfy one or more performance criteria, such as those related to CQI, PMI, RSPR, SINR, and the like.

[0096] In some embodiments, the above operations may be repeated for other patterns within the acquired matching spatial pattern. For example, the terminal device may select at least one additional spatial pattern from the matching spatial patterns and acquire a further matching pattern associated with the selected at least one additional spatial pattern that is matched to the at least one additional spatial pattern.

[0097] In other words, the further matching spatial pattern may have at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements with respect to the selected at least one further spatial pattern or within the same subset of the reference signal configuration.

[0098] For illustrative purposes, different examples of search techniques will be described.

[0099] According to an exemplary searching technique, the terminal device 110: (1a) Starting with the pattern(s) having the largest number of active / unmuted antennas / spatial elements, or equivalently the smallest number of muted or turned-off antennas / spatial elements, that meet one or more of the performance criteria described above, at least one of these patterns may be selected; (2a) From the evaluation / measurement / reporting, patterns that are not a partial or complete subset of at least one selected pattern may be discarded (i.e., the active / unmuted antennas / spatial elements of these patterns are not a partial or complete subset of at least one selected pattern).

[0100] As used herein, a partial or complete subset can mean that two or more spatial patterns have at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements. This search technique can be repeated for the results of (2a), i.e., for the other remaining spatial patterns.

[0101] According to another exemplary searching technique, the terminal device 110: (1b) starting with the patterns with the largest number of active / unmuted antennas / spatial elements, and selecting at least one of these patterns; (2b) From the evaluation / measurement / reporting, patterns that are not a partial or complete subset of the at least one selected pattern can be discarded. This procedure can be repeated for the results of (2b). In this case, it is not considered whether the starting pattern of (1b) meets one or more of the performance criteria described above. This search procedure can also be repeated for the results of (2b).

[0102] In a further exemplary searching technique, the terminal device 110: (1c) starting from the pattern with the fewest antennas / spatial elements, or equivalently with the most antennas / spatial elements muted or turned off, at least one of these patterns can be selected; (2c) From the evaluation / measurement / reporting, patterns that are not a partial or complete superset of at least one selected pattern can be discarded. This search technique can be repeated for the results of (2c).

[0103] In a further exemplary searching technique, the terminal device 110 may alternatively: (1d) starting from the patterns with the fewest active / unmuted antennas / spatial elements that meet one or more of the performance criteria set forth above, at least one of these patterns may be selected; (2d) From the evaluation / measurement / reporting, patterns that are not a partial or complete superset of at least one selected pattern can be discarded. In this case, further consideration is given to whether the starting pattern in (1d) meets one or more of the performance criteria described above. This search method can also be repeated for the results of (2d).

[0104] In this way, the terminal device can obtain a set of matching spatial patterns.

[0105] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may use the above search techniques to select a set of patterns that have the same number of active / unmuted or inactive / muted antennas / spatial elements based on one or more of the criteria described above. The terminal device 110 may then select one or more patterns to report from this set.

[0106] Thus, the terminal device 110 may then determine one or more patterns to report, for example based on one or more configured criteria (related to performance and / or energy / power savings), according to the above procedure.

[0107] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit a measurement report, e.g., a result of the search technique (1), for at least one selected spatial pattern to network device 120 before evaluating other patterns. This allows network device 120 to reduce the number of CSI-RS resources for CSI-RS transmission. This may require configuring / indicating additional Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources for aperiodic or semi-persistent reporting (or even periodic reporting), which are used to report the result of (1).

[0108] Thus, network device 120 may determine a spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements for at least one selected spatial pattern or within the same subset of reference signal configurations, and transmit a reference signal on a reference signal resource or resource set corresponding to the determined spatial pattern.

[0109] In response, the terminal device 110 can receive reference signals on the reference signal resource or resource set corresponding to that spatial pattern. In this case, the network device 120 does not need to transmit CSI-RS resources corresponding to the incompatible pattern. This clearly reduces overhead in the communication system.

[0110] In some embodiments, for aperiodic CSI reporting, the trigger state may indicate the type of CSI-RS resource set that corresponds to the "ringing" spatial pattern.

[0111] 4 illustrates an exemplary search technique for a spatial pattern according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary search technique is applicable to spatial pattern configurations where the spatial pattern has different numbers of active antennas or spatial elements.

[0112] In this example, Pattern 1 and Pattern 2 are the patterns with the largest number of active antennas / spatial elements or the highest energy level. The terminal device 110 may select Pattern 1, for example, based on implementation. Then, the terminal device 110 discards Patterns 5 and 6 from the search because they are not a subset of the selected Pattern 1 (if the active antennas / spatial elements of Pattern 5 and Pattern 6 are not a subset of the active elements of Pattern 1). In other words, Patterns 5 and 6 do not match Pattern 1. Therefore, the terminal device 110 selects / reports Pattern 3 or Pattern 4, for example, depending on whether at least one of these patterns satisfies some implementation constraint(s); if not, the terminal device 110 reports Pattern 1.

[0113] It is worth noting that terminal device 110 may be configured to report having a first selected pattern 1 before transmitting CSI-RS resources to "evaluate" the remaining patterns. In this case, network device 120 does not need to transmit CSI-RS resources corresponding to patterns 5 and 6. This reduces overhead in the communication system. Additionally, terminal device 110 may be configured or indicated to report a best / preferred / favorable pattern for different sets of patterns having different numbers of active / unmuted antennas or spatial elements.

[0114] Embodiments of the present disclosure enable a terminal device to determine, at least for example, whether the configured spatial patterns have the same or different numbers of unmuted / active (or muted / inactive) antennas / spatial elements, or whether they have the same or different energy levels (e.g., energy consumption levels, energy saving levels, different priorities of reference signals for measurement, etc.). In some embodiments of the present disclosure, knowledge of configured matching spatial patterns enables the terminal to avoid having to measure or report every spatial pattern, thereby reducing the burden on the terminal and enabling reduced overhead in the communication system (with respect to "ringing" spatial muting patterns).

[0115] 5 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 500 implemented in a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the network device 120 with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B.

[0116] 5, network device 120 may transmit a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device to the terminal device at block 510. The spatial pattern configuration may indicate whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0117] At block 520, network device 120 may receive a measurement report from the terminal device. The measurement report may include one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0118] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the spatial patterns may correspond to a reference signal resource or a set of reference signal resources. Additionally or alternatively, each of the spatial patterns may correspond to an identifier of a reference signal resource. Additionally or alternatively, each of the spatial patterns may correspond to a number or set of antenna elements or spatial elements, a configuration of a set of antenna elements or spatial elements, an energy / power consumption level, an energy saving level, a priority of a reference signal for measurements, a number or set of antenna ports, a codebook configuration, a spatial configuration, or a reporting configuration.

[0119] In some demonstrative embodiments, the different energy levels for the multiple spatial patterns may include at least one of different numbers of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, different numbers of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements, different energy consumption levels, different energy savings levels, or different priorities of reference signals for measurements.

[0120] In some exemplary embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may include an indicator that indicates whether the spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0121] In some exemplary embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may include a set of reference signal configurations, which may indicate energy difference information.

[0122] In some demonstrative embodiments, the set of reference signal configurations can include at least one subset of reference signal configurations. The at least one subset of reference signal configurations can include a list of reference signal configurations. The subset of reference signal configurations can indicate energy difference information.

[0123] In some exemplary embodiments, the energy difference information is A list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the energy consumption level; A list of spatial patterns with decreasing priorities according to the energy consumption level, A list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of active antennas or spatial elements; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of inactive antennas or spatial elements; - The power or energy saving level corresponding to each spatial pattern; - the power or energy consumption levels corresponding to each spatial pattern; · Spatial pattern priority, Respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements in the spatial pattern; Respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements in the spatial pattern, or Priority for measuring spatial patterns It is possible to indicate one or more of:

[0124] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 120 may transmit a report request to a terminal device. The report request may indicate a set of spatial patterns, among multiple spatial patterns, that are measured by the terminal device.

[0125] In some demonstrative embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may indicate that multiple spatial patterns have the same energy level. Network device 120 may receive a measurement report that includes one or more of at least one best pattern among the multiple patterns, at least one preferred pattern among the multiple patterns, or at least one pattern that meets one or more performance criteria.

[0126] In some exemplary embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration can indicate that multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, and the measurement report can include one or more spatial patterns having the lowest energy levels.

[0127] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 120 may transmit matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns among a plurality of spatial patterns. The at least one matching set may indicate or include spatial patterns having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, but having different energy levels. The one or more spatial patterns reported in a measurement report may be determined based on the at least one set of matching spatial patterns.

[0128] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 120 may receive another measurement report from the terminal device for at least one spatial pattern. The network device may transmit a reference signal for a reference signal resource or resource set corresponding to a spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements for the at least one spatial pattern or within the same subset of the reference signal configuration.

[0129] 6 illustrates an example signaling process for reporting measurements related to a reference signal according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, process 600 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-5. Process 600 may involve terminal device 110 and network device 120 shown in FIG. 1. While process 600 is described in communication environment 100 of FIG. 1, it will be understood that this process may also be applied to other communication scenarios having similar problems.

[0130] In process 600, at 601, the network device 120 transmits a spatial pattern configuration 602 of a reference signal transmission to the terminal device 110. At 603, the terminal device 110 obtains the spatial pattern configuration 602 from the network device 120. The spatial pattern configuration can indicate whether multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0131] At 604, the network device 120 may transmit a report request 605 to the terminal device 110. At 606, the terminal device 110 may receive the report request 605 from the network device 120. The report request 605 may indicate a set of spatial patterns measured by the terminal device among the plurality of spatial patterns. The report request 605 may, for example, indicate a plurality of spatial patterns with no energy level difference, which corresponds to case 1 shown in FIG. 2A.

[0132] In such a case, at 607, the terminal device 110 may determine that the measured spatial patterns have the same energy level, e.g., the same number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements. The terminal device 110 may further select a spatial pattern based on the terminal embodiment. The terminal device 110 may then perform CSI-RS measurements on the selected spatial pattern.

[0133] At 608, the terminal device 110 transmits a measurement report 609 to the network device 120. At 610, the network device 120 receives the measurement report 609. The measurement report 609 may include one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration. For example, the measurement report 609 may include one or more of at least one best pattern among the multiple patterns, at least one preferred pattern among the multiple patterns, or at least one pattern that meets one or more performance criteria.

[0134] At 611, network device 120 may transmit a report request 612 to terminal device 110. At 613, terminal device 110 may receive a report request 613 from network device 120. Report request 613 may indicate a set of spatial patterns measured by terminal device 110 among multiple spatial patterns. Report request 612 may indicate, for example, multiple spatial patterns having different energy levels, which corresponds to case 2 shown in FIG. 2B .

[0135] In such a case, at 614, the terminal device 110 may determine that the spatial patterns to be measured have different energy levels. The terminal device 110 may further select one or more that have the best power / energy savings while satisfying one or more criteria related to performance constraints, such as minimum rank. The terminal device 110 then performs CSI-RS measurements on the selected spatial patterns. At 614, the terminal device 110 may apply the above-described search technique to select the spatial patterns to measure.

[0136] At 615, the terminal device 110 transmits a measurement report 616 to the network device 120. At 617, the network device 120 receives the measurement report 616. The measurement report 616 may include one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device 110 based on the spatial pattern configuration. For example, the measurement report 616 may include one or more spatial patterns having the lowest energy levels.

[0137] In some embodiments, an apparatus of a terminal device is provided that is capable of performing the method 300. The apparatus may comprise means for performing each step of the method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented as a circuit or a software module.

[0138] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the terminal device may comprise means for obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device that indicates whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and means for transmitting a measurement report to the network device that includes one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0139] In some embodiments, each of the spatial patterns may correspond to one or more of a reference signal resource, a set of reference signal resources, a reference signal resource identifier, a number or set of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, a configuration of a set of antenna elements or spatial elements, an energy / power consumption level, an energy savings level, a reference signal priority for measurements, a number or set of antenna ports, a codebook configuration, a spatial configuration, or a reporting configuration.

[0140] In some embodiments, the different energy levels may include at least one of a different number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, a different number of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements, a different energy consumption level, a different energy saving level, or a different priority of a reference signal for the measurement.

[0141] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may include an indicator that indicates whether the spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0142] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration can include a set of reference signal configurations, the set of reference signal configurations indicating energy difference information.

[0143] In some embodiments, the set of reference signal configurations may include at least one subset of reference signal configurations, and the at least one subset of reference signal configurations may include a list of reference signal configurations, and the subset of reference signal configurations indicates energy difference information.

[0144] In some embodiments, the energy difference information may indicate one of: a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to energy consumption level; a list of spatial patterns with decreasing priority according to energy consumption level; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of active antennas or spatial elements; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of inactive antennas or spatial elements; a power or energy saving level corresponding to each spatial pattern; a power or energy consumption level corresponding to each spatial pattern; a priority of the spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements in the spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements in the spatial pattern; or a priority for measurement of the spatial pattern.

[0145] In some embodiments, multiple spatial patterns may be determined to have the same energy level based on one or more of the following determinations: the multiple spatial patterns correspond to the same channel state information - reference signal (CSI-RS) resource or set of CSI-RS resources; the multiple spatial patterns correspond to the same reporting configuration; the multiple spatial patterns correspond to different CSI-RS resources or different CSI-RS sets but have the same number of ports; the multiple spatial patterns correspond to the same N1 and N2 parameters representing the number of active / unmuted antenna elements along the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively; the multiple spatial patterns correspond to the same codebook or spatial or reporting configuration; the multiple spatial patterns correspond to the same codebook subset restriction (CBSR); the multiple spatial patterns are directly or indirectly associated with a variable indicating having the same number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; or an indicator in the spatial pattern configuration indicates that the multiple spatial patterns have the same energy level.

[0146] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for receiving a report request from a network device, the report request indicating a set of spatial patterns measured by the terminal device among a plurality of spatial patterns.

[0147] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may indicate that multiple spatial patterns have the same energy level, and the measurement report may include one or more of at least one best pattern among the multiple patterns, at least one preferred pattern among the multiple patterns, or at least one pattern that meets one or more performance criteria.

[0148] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration can indicate that multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, and the measurement report includes one or more spatial patterns having the lowest energy levels.

[0149] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for obtaining matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns from among a plurality of spatial patterns, the at least one matching set including spatial patterns having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements but having different energy levels, and the one or more spatial patterns reported in the measurement report are determined based on the at least one set of matching spatial patterns.

[0150] In some embodiments, the matching information regarding the at least one matching set of spatial patterns may be obtained from a network device.

[0151] In some embodiments, the matching information regarding the at least one matching set of spatial patterns may be obtained by the terminal device based on a spatial pattern configuration.

[0152] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for obtaining at least one matching set of spatial patterns. The means for obtaining at least one matching set of spatial patterns may comprise means for selecting at least one spatial pattern from the plurality of spatial patterns having one of the highest energy saving level, the lowest energy consumption level, the highest reporting priority, the fewest active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, the lowest energy saving level, the highest energy consumption level, the lowest reporting priority, or the most active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements. The apparatus may comprise means for obtaining a matching spatial pattern from other spatial patterns for the selected at least one spatial pattern for the at least one matching set of spatial patterns, the matching spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements with the selected at least one spatial pattern.

[0153] In some embodiments, the at least one selected spatial pattern may meet one or more performance criteria.

[0154] In some embodiments, the means for obtaining at least one matching set of spatial patterns may comprise means for selecting at least one further spatial pattern from the matching spatial patterns and means for obtaining a further matching pattern associated with the selected at least one further spatial pattern, the further matching spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements with respect to the selected at least one further spatial pattern or within the same subset of the reference signal configuration.

[0155] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for transmitting another measurement report for the selected at least one spatial pattern and means for receiving a reference signal for a reference signal resource or set of resources corresponding to a spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements for the selected at least one spatial pattern or within the same subset of the reference signal configuration.

[0156] In some embodiments, an apparatus of a network device capable of performing method 500 may comprise means for performing each step of method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0157] In some embodiments, an apparatus of a network device is further provided, which may comprise: means for transmitting, to a terminal device, a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; and means for receiving, from the terminal device, a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

[0158] In some embodiments, each of the spatial patterns may correspond to one or more of a reference signal resource, a set of reference signal resources, a reference signal resource identifier, a number or set of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, a configuration of a set of antenna elements or spatial elements, an energy / power consumption level, an energy savings level, a reference signal priority for measurements, a number or set of antenna ports, a codebook configuration, a spatial configuration, or a reporting configuration.

[0159] In some embodiments, the different energy levels may include at least one of a different number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements, a different number of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements, a different energy consumption level, a different energy saving level, or a different priority of a reference signal for the measurement.

[0160] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may include an indicator that indicates whether the spatial patterns have different energy levels.

[0161] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration can include a set of reference signal configurations, the set of reference signal configurations indicating energy difference information.

[0162] In some embodiments, the set of reference signal configurations may include at least one subset of reference signal configurations, and the at least one subset of reference signal configurations may include a list of reference signal configurations, and the subset of reference signal configurations indicates energy difference information.

[0163] In some embodiments, the energy difference information may indicate one of: a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to energy consumption level; a list of spatial patterns with decreasing priority according to energy consumption level; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of active antennas or spatial elements; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of inactive antennas or spatial elements; a power or energy saving level corresponding to each spatial pattern; a power or energy consumption level corresponding to each spatial pattern; a priority of the spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements in the spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements in the spatial pattern; or a priority for measurement of the spatial pattern.

[0164] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for transmitting a report request to a terminal device, the report request indicating a set of spatial patterns measured by the terminal device among the plurality of spatial patterns.

[0165] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration may indicate that multiple spatial patterns have the same energy level, and the measurement report may include one or more of at least one best pattern among the multiple patterns, at least one preferred pattern among the multiple patterns, or at least one pattern that meets one or more performance criteria.

[0166] In some embodiments, the spatial pattern configuration can indicate that multiple spatial patterns have different energy levels, and the measurement report includes one or more spatial patterns having the lowest energy levels.

[0167] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for transmitting matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns among a plurality of spatial patterns, the at least one matching set including spatial patterns having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements but having different energy levels, and the one or more spatial patterns reported in the measurement report are determined based on the at least one set of matching spatial patterns.

[0168] In some embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for receiving from the terminal device another measurement report for at least one spatial pattern, and means for transmitting, for the at least one spatial pattern, or within the same subset of the reference signal configuration, a reference signal for a reference signal resource or set of resources corresponding to a spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements.

[0169] The proposed solution may achieve various advantages over related art in that it defines aspects of a CSI reporting framework to enable efficient spatial adaptation procedures, which in some embodiments may reduce the burden on the terminal side and allow for reduced overhead in terms of "sounding" spatial muting patterns in the system.

[0170] 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, to which one or more memories 740 may be coupled, and to which one or more transmitters and / or receivers (TX / RX) 740 may be coupled.

[0171] The TX / RX 740 is for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. The communication interface may be a hardware or software-based interface. For example, the communication interface may be one or more transceivers. The one or more transceivers may be coupled to one or more antennas or antenna ports for wirelessly transmitting and / or receiving communication signals. The antennas or antenna ports may be of the same or different types. The antennas or antenna ports may be located at different locations on the device. The one or more transceivers enable the device to communicate with other devices, which may be wired and / or wireless. The transceivers may support one or more wireless technologies. For example, the one or more transceivers may include a cellular subsystem, a WLAN subsystem, and / or a Bluetooth™ subsystem. The one or more transceivers may include a processor, controller, radio, socket, plug, buffer, or similar circuitry to form one or more communication channels to one or more radio frequency units.

[0172] The processor 710 can be of any type suitable for a local technology network and can include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 700 can have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips, ganged together with a clock that is synchronous with a main processor.

[0173] The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memory that does not persist during periods of power loss.

[0174] A computer program 730 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by an associated processor 710. The program 730 may be stored in ROM 724. The processor 710 may load the program 730 into RAM 722 to perform any suitable actions and processes.

[0175] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program such that the device 700 can perform any of the processes of the present disclosure discussed with reference to Figures 3 to 5. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0176] In some embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly included on a computer-readable medium, which may be included on the device 700 (such as in memory 720) or other storage device accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 722 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 8 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 800 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer-readable medium stores the program 730.

[0177] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow diagrams, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0178] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute within a target real or virtual processor of a device to implement the method 300, 400, or process 500 described above with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired. The computer-executable instructions for program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0179] Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that, when executed by the processor or controller, they cause the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be performed. The program code can run entirely on the computer, partially on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server.

[0180] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0181] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the above. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is not a limitation of the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM), but rather a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible rather than a signal).

[0182] Furthermore, although operations are shown in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order or sequential order shown, or that all of the operations shown be performed, to achieve desirable results. Multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous in certain situations. Similarly, while details of several specific embodiments are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0183] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device, one or more transceivers; one or more processors coupled to the one or more transceivers; wherein the one or more transceivers transmit to the terminal device by the one or more processors: obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; The terminal device is configured to cause the network device to transmit a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

2. Each of the spatial patterns is reference signal resources, a set of reference signal resources; a reference signal resource identifier; the number or set of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; Composition of a set of antenna elements or spatial elements, the number or set of antenna ports, energy / power consumption levels, Energy saving level, Priority of the reference signal for the measurement, Codebook configuration, spatial configuration, or Reporting Configuration 10. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device corresponds to one or more of:

3. The different energy levels are Different numbers of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; different numbers of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements; Different energy consumption levels, Different energy saving levels, or Different priorities of the reference signals for measurement 3. The terminal device according to claim 1, comprising at least one of:

4. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spatial pattern configuration includes an indicator for indicating whether the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels.

5. The terminal device of claim 4 , wherein the spatial pattern configurations include a set of reference signal configurations, the set of reference signal configurations indicating energy difference information.

6. 6. The terminal device of claim 5, wherein the set of reference signal configurations includes at least one subset of reference signal configurations, the at least one subset of reference signal configurations includes a list of reference signal configurations, and the subset of reference signal configurations indicates energy difference information.

7. The energy difference information is a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to energy consumption level; a list of spatial patterns with decreasing priorities according to energy consumption levels; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of active antennas or spatial elements; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of inactive antennas or spatial elements; the power or energy savings level associated with each spatial pattern; The power or energy consumption level corresponding to each spatial pattern, the priority of said spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements in said spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of inactive / muted antennas or spatial elements in said spatial pattern; or Priority for the measurement of said spatial patterns 7. The terminal device of claim 6, wherein the terminal device indicates one of:

8. The plurality of spatial patterns are: the plurality of spatial patterns correspond to the same channel state information - reference signal (CSI-RS) resource or set of CSI-RS resources; the plurality of spatial patterns correspond to the same reporting configuration; the plurality of spatial patterns correspond to different CSI-RS resources or different CSI-RS sets but have the same number of ports; the plurality of spatial patterns correspond to the same N1 and N2 parameters representing the number of active / unmuted antenna elements along the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively; the plurality of spatial patterns correspond to the same codebook or spatial or reporting configuration; the plurality of spatial patterns correspond to the same codebook subset restriction (CBSR); the plurality of spatial patterns being directly or indirectly associated with a variable indicating that they have the same number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; or an indicator in the spatial pattern configuration indicating that the plurality of spatial patterns have the same energy level; The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the terminal devices are determined to have the same energy level based on one or more determinations of:

9. The terminal device further comprises: The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a report request is received from the network device, the report request indicating a set of spatial patterns measured by the terminal device among the plurality of spatial patterns.

10. The spatial pattern configuration indicates that the plurality of spatial patterns have the same energy level, and the measurement report: at least one best pattern among said plurality of patterns; at least one preferred pattern among said plurality of patterns; or At least one pattern that meets one or more performance criteria A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising one or more of:

11. 11. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the spatial pattern configuration indicates that the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and the measurement report includes the one or more spatial patterns having the lowest energy level.

12. The terminal device further comprises: obtaining matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns among the plurality of spatial patterns, the at least one matching set including spatial patterns having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements but having different energy levels; The terminal device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more spatial patterns reported in the measurement report are determined based on at least one set of matching spatial patterns.

13. The terminal device of claim 12 , wherein the matching information regarding the at least one matching set of spatial patterns is obtained from the network device.

14. The terminal device of claim 12 , wherein matching information regarding the at least one matching set of spatial patterns is obtained by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

15. The terminal device is caused to obtain at least one matching set of the spatial patterns, the at least one matching set of the spatial patterns comprising: The highest energy saving level, The lowest energy consumption level, Highest reporting priority, The fewest active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; The lowest energy saving level, The highest energy consumption level, The lowest reporting priority, or The most active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements selecting at least one spatial pattern from the plurality of spatial patterns having one of:

15. The terminal device of claim 14, wherein for the selected at least one spatial pattern for the at least one matching set of spatial patterns, a matching spatial pattern is obtained by obtaining from other spatial patterns, the matching spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements with the selected at least one spatial pattern.

16. The terminal device of claim 15 , wherein the selected at least one spatial pattern satisfies one or more performance criteria.

17. The terminal device is caused to obtain at least one matching set of the spatial patterns, the at least one matching set of the spatial patterns comprising: selecting at least one further spatial pattern from the matching spatial patterns; 17. A terminal device according to claim 12, wherein the further matching pattern is obtained by obtaining a further matching pattern associated with the selected at least one further spatial pattern, the further matching pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements with respect to the selected at least one further spatial pattern or within the same subset of reference signal configurations.

18. The terminal device further comprises: transmitting another measurement report relating to the selected at least one spatial pattern; A terminal device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, adapted to receive a reference signal on a reference signal resource or resource set corresponding to a spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements for the selected at least one spatial pattern or within the same subset of reference signal configurations.

19. 1. A network device, comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more processors coupled to the one or more transceivers; wherein the one or more transceivers, by the one or more processors, transmit to the network device: transmitting a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device to a terminal device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; A network device configured to cause a measurement report to be received from the terminal device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

20. Each of the spatial patterns is reference signal resources, a set of reference signal resources; a reference signal resource identifier; the number or set of antenna elements or spatial elements; Composition of a set of antenna elements or spatial elements, energy / power consumption levels, Energy saving level, Priority of the reference signal for the measurement, the number or set of antenna ports, Codebook configuration, spatial configuration, or Reporting Configuration 20. The network device of claim 19, wherein the network device corresponds to one or more of:

21. The different energy levels are Different numbers of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; different numbers of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements; Different energy consumption levels, Different energy saving levels, or Different priorities of the reference signals for measurement 21. The network device of claim 19 or 20, comprising at least one of:

22. The network device of any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the spatial pattern configuration includes an indicator that indicates whether the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels.

23. 23. The network device of claim 22, wherein the spatial pattern configurations include a set of reference signal configurations, the set of reference signal configurations indicating energy difference information.

24. 24. The network device of claim 23, wherein the set of reference signal configurations includes at least a subset of reference signal configurations, the at least one subset of reference signal configurations includes a list of reference signal configurations, and the subset of reference signal configurations indicates energy difference information.

25. The energy difference information is a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to energy consumption level; a list of spatial patterns with decreasing priorities according to energy consumption levels; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements; a list of spatial patterns with increasing priority according to the number of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements; the power or energy savings level associated with each spatial pattern; The power or energy consumption level corresponding to each spatial pattern, the priority of said spatial pattern; respective numbers or information indicating the respective number of active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements in said spatial pattern; a respective number or information indicating the respective number of inactive / muted antenna elements or spatial elements in said spatial pattern; or Priority for the measurement of said spatial patterns 25. The network device of claim 24, wherein the network device indicates one of:

26. The network device of any one of claims 19 to 25, wherein the network device is further configured to transmit a report request to the terminal device, the report request indicating a set of spatial patterns measured by the terminal device among the plurality of spatial patterns.

27. the spatial pattern configuration indicates that the plurality of spatial patterns have the same energy level, and the network device: at least one best pattern among said plurality of patterns; at least one preferred pattern among said plurality of patterns; or At least one pattern that meets one or more performance criteria 27. A network device according to any one of claims 19 to 26, adapted to receive the measurement report comprising one or more of:

28. 28. The network device of claim 19, wherein the spatial pattern configuration indicates that the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels, and wherein the measurement report includes the one or more spatial patterns having the lowest energy level.

29. The network device further comprises: transmitting matching information regarding at least one matching set of spatial patterns among the plurality of spatial patterns, the at least one matching set including spatial patterns having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements but having different energy levels; 30. The network device of claim 28, wherein the one or more spatial patterns reported in the measurement report are determined based on at least one set of the matching spatial patterns.

30. The network device further comprises: receiving another measurement report from the terminal device relating to at least one spatial pattern; 30. The network device of claim 19, wherein the network device is adapted to transmit a reference signal on a reference signal resource or resource set corresponding to a spatial pattern having at least some overlapping active / unmuted antenna elements or spatial elements for the at least one spatial pattern or within the same subset of reference signal configurations.

31. 1. A method in a terminal device, comprising: obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; transmitting a measurement report to the network device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration; A method comprising:

32. 1. A method in a network device, comprising: transmitting a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device to a terminal device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; receiving a measurement report from the terminal device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration; A method comprising:

33. An apparatus for a terminal device, comprising: means for obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; means for transmitting a measurement report to the network device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration; An apparatus comprising:

34. A network device apparatus, means for transmitting a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device to a terminal device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; means for receiving from the terminal device a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration; An apparatus comprising:

35. A terminal device, at least one processor; at least one memory containing computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are transmitted by the at least one processor to the terminal device: obtaining a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether the plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; The terminal device is configured to cause the network device to transmit a measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

36. 1. A network device, comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory containing computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are transmitted by the at least one processor to the network device: transmitting a spatial pattern configuration of a reference signal transmission from the network device to a terminal device, the spatial pattern configuration indicating whether a plurality of spatial patterns have different energy levels; A network device configured to cause a measurement report to be received from the terminal device, the measurement report including one or more spatial patterns measured by the terminal device based on the spatial pattern configuration.

37. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that cause an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 31 or 32.

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