Spatial adaptation for energy saving in networks

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for spatial adaptation for energy saving in networks. The method includes receiving, in a terminal device, information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in a network device, the information comprising at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device; and transmitting at least one channel state information (CSI) report to the network device based on at least the information relating to spatial pattern adaptation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to spatial adaptation devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for network energy saving (ES).

Background Art

[0002] The energy consumption in New Radio (NR) of the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technology has been studied in the past few years, and particularly, it has been studied with respect to the Radio Access Network (RAN) which can consume a fairly large portion of the total energy consumption of the 5G network. As one of the important points of the topic of energy consumption, network ES in the time, frequency, space / antenna, and power domains has been discussed.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least receive, from a network device, information related to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, the information including at least one of: one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resources; or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of the spatial pattern in the network device, and transmit at least one Channel State Information CSI report to the network device based at least on the information related to spatial pattern adaptation.

[0004] In a second embodiment, a device is provided, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory for storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the device to transmit to a terminal device information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in a network device, the information comprising at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device, and to receive from the terminal device at least one channel state information CSI report generated based on the spatial pattern adaptation information.

[0005] In a third aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: receiving from a network device information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, wherein the information includes at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device; and transmitting at least one channel state information CSI report to the network device based on at least the spatial pattern adaptation information.

[0006] A fourth aspect provides a method, which includes transmitting information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in a network device to a terminal device, wherein the information comprises at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device; and receiving at least one channel state information CSI report generated based on at least the spatial pattern adaptation information from the terminal device.

[0007] In a fifth aspect, a device is provided comprising: means for receiving information from a network device relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, wherein the information includes at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device; and means for transmitting at least one channel state information CSI report to the network device based on at least the spatial pattern adaptation-related information.

[0008] In a sixth aspect, a device is provided comprising: means for transmitting information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in a network device to a terminal device, wherein the information includes at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device; and means for receiving at least one channel state information CSI report generated based on at least the spatial pattern adaptation information from the terminal device.

[0009] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided which stores a computer program that, when executed by at least one processor of the device, causes the device to perform the method described in the third or fourth aspect.

[0010] Other features and advantages of the embodiments of this disclosure will become apparent when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the principles of the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0011] Embodiments of the present invention are presented as examples, and their advantages will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This figure shows an exemplary environment in which exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] This is a signaling chart illustrating the process of spatial adaptation for network ES according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] This is an illustrative diagram of CSI-RS resource configurations for different patterns according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4]This is an illustrative diagram of the configuration of a slot offset for a spatially adaptive pattern according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of spatial adaptation for network ES according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of spatial adaptation for network ES according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] This is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for carrying out exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] This is an exemplary block diagram of a computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals may represent the same or similar elements.

[0014] The principles of this disclosure will be explained below with reference to several exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are intended to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing this disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in various other ways than those described below.

[0015] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein may have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0016] References in this disclosure such as “one embodiment,” “one example embodiment,” or “one exemplary embodiment” indicate that the described embodiments may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but not all embodiments are required to include such features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, if certain features, structures, or characteristics are described in relation to one embodiment, it is considered within the knowledge of those skilled in the art that such features, structures, or characteristics may be affected in relation to other embodiments, whether explicitly described or not.

[0017] In this specification, terms such as “first,” “second,” etc., may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, the first element may be called the second element, and similarly, the second element may be called the first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any combination of one or more of the listed terms.

[0018] As used herein, “at least one of the following: <list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of the <list of two or more elements>,” as well as similar wording in which lists of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or,” mean at least one of those elements, or at least two or more of those elements, or at least all of those elements.

[0019] As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, performing a step "in response to A" does not mean that the step is performed immediately after the occurrence of "A", and may include one or more intervening steps.

[0020] The terms used in this specification are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are to be construed to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes", and / or "including" as used herein are to be construed to indicate the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0021] As used in this application, the term "circuit" can refer to one or more or all of the following. (a) Circuit implementation with only hardware (for example, implementation with only analog and / or digital circuits) (b) Combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, (where applicable): (i) Combination of an analog and / or digital hardware circuit and software / firmware (ii) Any part of a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory that operate in cooperation to perform various functions in a device such as a mobile phone or a server (c) A hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor, that requires software (for example, firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present if not necessary for operation

[0022] The definition of this circuit applies to all uses of this term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, when used in this application, the term "circuit" covers implementations with only hardware circuits or processors (or multiple processors), or implementations with a part of a hardware circuit or processor and the software and / or firmware associated therewith (or therewith). The term "circuit" covers, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or a processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit within a server, a cellular network device, or other computing device or network device, if it corresponds to a particular claim element.

[0023] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network compliant with any suitable communication standard, such as, for example, New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Further, the communication between a terminal device and a network device within a communication network may be carried out according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to the 1st generation (1G), 2nd generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), 4.5G, 5th generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other arbitrary protocol known currently or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Considering the rapid development of communication, it is natural that there will also be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be implemented. This should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned systems.

[0024] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communications network from which a terminal device accesses and receives services. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may also refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node, such as a femto or pico node, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device, such as a satellite network device, a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, or an aircraft network device. In some exemplary embodiments, the radio access network (RAN) partitioning architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) in the IAB donor node. The IAB node includes a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that behaves like a UE to the parent node and a DU portion of the IAB node that behaves like a base station to the next hop's IAB node.

[0025] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. For example, rather than being limited, terminal devices may also be called communication devices, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, game terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks. Terminal devices may also correspond to the mobile termination (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device,” “communication device,” “terminal,” “user equipment,” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0026] As used herein, the terms “resource,” “transmit resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing communication, such as communication between a terminal device and a network device, for example, a time-domain resource, a frequency-domain resource, a spatial-domain resource, a code-domain resource, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereinafter, unless expressly stated otherwise, both frequency-domain and time-domain resources are used as examples of transmit resources to illustrate some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0027] Figure 1 shows an exemplary communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in Figure 1, the communication network 100 may include terminal devices 110. Hereinafter, terminal devices 110 may also be referred to as UE or terminal devices.

[0028] The communication network 100 may further include a network device 120. Hereinafter, the network device 120 may also be referred to as a gNB or a network device. The terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120.

[0029] Please understand that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in Figure 1 are illustrative and not intended to imply any limitations. The communication network 100 may include any appropriate number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0030] In some exemplary embodiments, the link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may be called a downlink (DL), and the link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 may be called an uplink (UL). In a DL, network device 120 is a transmit (TX) device (or transmitter), and terminal device 110 is a receive (RX) device (or receiver). In a UL, terminal device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter), and network device 120 is an RX device (or receiver).

[0031] Communication in communication environment 100 may be carried out in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), and sixth generation (6G), wireless local network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0032] Network energy efficiency is critical to environmental sustainability, reducing environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions), and lowering operating costs. As 5G becomes widespread across industries and regions, handling more advanced services and applications (e.g., XR) that require very high data rates, networks will become denser, using more antennas, wider bandwidth, and more frequency bands. The environmental impact of 5G must continue to be managed, and new solutions must be developed to improve network energy efficiency.

[0033] Analysis shows that RAN networks consume the most power, posing a major concern for operators. Network energy conservation is one of the aspects addressed in Release 18 by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For RAN sites with large antenna deployments, there is a good chance that transceiver chains can be turned off during low-load scenarios. Transceiver chains with power amplifiers consume a considerable amount of power, and turning off the circuit results in energy savings.

[0034] The Release 18 study item on network energy conservation agrees to specify necessary enhancements to CSI and beam management-related procedures, including signaling that enables efficient adaptation of measurement and reporting, as well as spatial elements (e.g., antenna ports, active transceiver chains). Furthermore, Release 18 specifies necessary enhancements to CSI-related procedures, including signaling that enables efficient adaptation of power offset values ​​between Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs) and CSI-RS, as well as measurement and reporting.

[0035] In some embodiments, with respect to spatial element adaptation, it may be further discussed that each CSI-RS resource / resource set / resource setting can be associated with only one spatial adaptation pattern, or that each CSI-RS resource / resource set / resource setting can be associated with one or more spatial adaptation patterns.

[0036] In some embodiments, with respect to spatial element adaptation, we can further discuss the consideration of independent / separate CSI reporting configurations, where each CSI reporting configuration corresponds to one spatial adaptation pattern, and the consideration of a single CSI reporting configuration comprising multiple CSI reporting subconfigurations, where each subconfiguration corresponds to one spatial adaptation pattern.

[0037] Many massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configurations are used in time-division duplex (TDD) bands, where channel reciprocity can be leveraged to derive beam patterns at the network device 120. In such deployments, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource is configured at the terminal device 110. The network device 120 processes UL signals from each terminal device using multiple antennas and different resolution schemes. In this process, the network device 120 can derive beam weights and estimate the direction of arrival for each terminal device 110. This type of beamforming is called non-codebook-based beamforming. The terminal device 110 may be configured to report a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), rank, and CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI) based on the transmitted CSI-RS signal. Link adaptation uses the reported CSI to determine the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and number of layers used for DL ​​transmission.

[0038] Currently, non-codebook-based beamforming configurations are possible, and terminal device 110 can be configured to report resource indicator-rank indicator-channel quality indicator (CRI-RI-CQI) in the example of non-PMI feedback. Multiple CSI-RS resources and port indices can be configured in terminal device 110 to report rank using non-PMI-PortIndication. This parameter is an array, allowing resources to be configured from one or more ResourceSets. However, there is no means for the UE to understand and identify the resources used for different spatial adaptation patterns.

[0039] In the topic of network energy saving, several options for configuring spatial adaptation patterns are being explored. These include configuring additional CSI-RS resources within a ResourceSet or another ResourceSet. There is also discussion of spatial adaptation where the number of ports that the UE adapts to can be a subset of the initially configured ports.

[0040] There is currently no solution to achieve this. Furthermore, if the UE is configured for non-precoding matrix indicator (PMI) feedback, and non-PMI feedback is configured on the UE, and "non-PMI-PortIndication" is configured on the UE, there is no way to indicate to the UE which resources correspond to a particular adaptive pattern. Also, there is currently no prospect of this non-PMI feedback becoming possible while considering dynamic spatial / antenna pattern adaptation.

[0041] According to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a spatial adaptation solution for network ES is provided. In this solution, network device 120 transmits information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device to terminal device 110. The information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device includes one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, and / or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of the spatial pattern in the network device. The terminal device 110 then transmits at least one CSI report to network device 120 based on at least the information relating to spatial pattern adaptation.

[0042] Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0043] Referring now to Figure 2, a signaling chart 200 of communications according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. As shown in Figure 2, the signaling chart 200 involves terminal devices 110 and network devices 120. For convenience of explanation, the signaling chart 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1. Although Figure 2 shows a single terminal device 110, it will be understood that there may be multiple terminal devices performing operations similar to those described below with respect to terminal device 110.

[0044] The network device 120 may be able to derive beam patterns with different spatial adaptations. If feedback from the terminal device 110 is available in advance, the network device 120 can dynamically apply the adaptation at any given time.

[0045] Network device 120 transmits information related to spatial pattern adaptation in network device 120 (202). Optionally, the information related to spatial pattern adaptation may include one or more pattern sets. Each pattern set corresponds to a spatial pattern and may be associated with a group of CSI-RS resources. Optionally, or additionally, the information related to spatial pattern adaptation may include one or more port subsets. Each subset may indicate the number of ports for the spatial pattern in the network device.

[0046] For example, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, the terminal device 110 may be informed of which CSI-RS resources are mapped to a particular spatial adaptation pattern.

[0047] After receiving information related to spatial pattern adaptation, the terminal device 110 may perform corresponding CSI measurements related to one or more spatial patterns in the network device 120 (204).

[0048] In some embodiments, one or more CSI-RS resources within one or more (CSI-RS)ResourceSets may be configured on the terminal device. A “non-PMI-PortIndication” for indicating a CSI-RS port index used to derive a rank indicator may be configured on the terminal device.

[0049] For example, there are two options for configuring CSI-RS resources associated with different spatial adaptations: Option 1 involves configuring one ResourceSet per spatial pattern, while Option 2 involves configuring groups of multiple CSI-RS resources within a ResourceSet, with each group corresponding to a spatial / antenna pattern.

[0050] Figure 3 shows an example of configuring CSI-RS resources associated with different spatial adaptations, listing two options, 301 and 302, which refer to options 1 and 2, respectively, as described above. Even without explicitly configuring CSI-RS resources, the terminal device is configured to report CSIs for multiple adaptation patterns.

[0051] As described above, the terminal device 110 may be provided with one or more pattern sets, which may also be called parameters "PatternSet", for indicating, for example, a group of resources mapped to a specific spatial / antenna (adaptive) pattern from information related to spatial pattern adaptation. That is, each pattern set within one or more pattern sets may correspond to a spatial pattern and be associated with a group of CSI-RS resources. An example message is shown below.

[0052] [Table 1]

[0053] As shown in Table 1, for each PatternSet in patternList, the terminal device 110 may perform a CSI measurement and / or report the CSI according to the linked CSI-ReportConfig.

[0054] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform CSI measurements on groups of CSI-RS resources associated with spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets, and generate CSI reports on the spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the CSI measurements and CSI reporting configuration.

[0055] If a non-PMI-PortIndication is configured on terminal device 110, terminal device 110 may need to know a set of CSI-RS resources to determine the CRI. Therefore, terminal device 110 may apply a patternList (containing one or more pattern sets) to the non-PMI-PortIndication list to derive a set (subset) of CSI-RS resources that need to be measured and determine the CRI or RI for a particular pattern. The mapping between patternList and non-PMI-port-indication is shown below.

[0056] [Table 2]

[0057] In some embodiments, if a non-PMI-port-indication is configured, the terminal device 110 may apply one or more pattern sets to a set of CSI RS resources in the non-PMI port indication to determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from the non-PMI port indication, and based on the determined subset of CSI RS resources, determine a CSI report regarding spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets.

[0058] In this scenario, terminal device 110 may report the "cri-ri-CQI" for each PatternSet in the CSI report. The bit widths of the various CSI fields (e.g., CRI and rank indicator) are derived based on the number of resources configured within the PatternSet.

[0059] In some embodiments, as described above, the terminal device 110 may be provided with one or more port subsets, also called parameters "PortSubset," from information related to spatial pattern adaptation, for example, each subset may indicate the number of ports or sets of ports in the spatial pattern. The terminal device 110 may then use this parameter and the Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) groups in the original CSI-RS resource configuration to derive the location of the CSI-RS. An example message is shown below.

[0060] [Table 3]

[0061] If the terminal device does not explicitly configure the CSI-RS resources for each pattern, the terminal device 110 is provided with a PortSubset for each pattern. This includes the number of ports, and this parameter indicates the number of CSI-RS ports to apply to the new pattern. The indication of PortSubset may also include slotOffset, which indicates when the CSI-RS for the new pattern will be sent relative to the configured CSI-RS. The slotOffset is configured so that the terminal device has enough time to measure different patterns and report the CSI within the same configured reporting interval.

[0062] In some embodiments, as shown in Table 3, at least one slot offset may be configured with one or more port subsets. Each slot offset may be associated with a port subset, and each slot offset indicates when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding port subset are measured. The slot offset may be relative to the original CSI-RS transmission.

[0063] Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of slot offsets for spatially adaptive patterns according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, terminal device 11o may derive when the CSI-RS resource 402 associated with a first spatial pattern is measured based on the original CSI-RS transmission 401 and slot offset 411, and when the CSI-RS resource 403 associated with a second spatial pattern is measured based on the original CSI-RS transmission 401 and slot offset 412.

[0064] Furthermore, in some embodiments, if a non-PMI-port-indication is configured based on Table 2 above, the terminal device 110 may apply one or more port subsets to the non-PMI port indication to determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from the non-PMI port indication, and based on the determined at least one subset of CSI RS resources, determine a CSI report regarding spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets.

[0065] Based on the CSI measurements performed by the terminal device 110 as described above, the terminal device 110 may generate at least one CSI report and transmit it to the network device 120 (206).

[0066] In some exemplary embodiments, a reporting factor, i.e., the parameter "reportingFactor", may also be provided to the terminal device 110. The reporting factor is configured per pattern and may indicate the time interval for reporting CSI reports associated with a particular spatial pattern. The reporting factor can reduce the overhead of CSI reporting per pattern.

[0067] For example, depending on the reporting factor, the terminal device may report CSI for all patterns, either per reporting instance or every other reporting instance. That is, in some exemplary embodiments, network device 120 may send a CSI report to network device 120 based on the reporting factor.

[0068] Based on the solutions in this disclosure, a mechanism can be implemented to indicate to the UE which resources correspond to specific adaptive patterns, thereby further enhancing network energy efficiency.

[0069] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 500 for spatial adaptation for network ES, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 500 can be implemented with the terminal device 110 shown in Figure 1. For convenience of explanation, Method 500 will be described with reference to Figure 1.

[0070] In 510, the terminal device 110 receives information from the network device 120 relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, and this information includes at least one of the following: one or more pattern sets, each of which corresponds to a spatial pattern and is associated with a group of CSI-RS resources; or one or more port subsets, each of which indicates the number of ports of the spatial pattern in the network device.

[0071] In 420, the terminal device 110 transmits at least one CSI report to the network device 120 based on information relating to spatial pattern adaptation.

[0072] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 110 performs a CSI measurement on a group of CSI-RS resources associated with spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets, and generates a CSI report on the spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the CSI measurement and CSI reporting configuration.

[0073] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 110 obtains a PMI port indication, applies one or more pattern sets to the set of CSI RS resources in the non-PMI port indication to determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from the non-PMI port indication, and determines a CSI report regarding the spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the determined subset of CSI RS resources.

[0074] In some exemplary embodiments, one or more port subsets are associated with a set of ports in a spatial pattern.

[0075] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 110 performs the following: obtain at least one slot offset, each slot offset associated with a port subset, and each slot offset indicates when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding port subset are measured; and perform a CSI measurement based on at least one slot offset and the original CSI-RS resources indicated in the CSI reporting configuration.

[0076] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 110 obtains a PMI port indication, applies one or more port subsets to the non-PMI port indication to determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from the non-PMI port indication, and determines a CSI report regarding spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the determined at least one subset of CSI RS resources.

[0077] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 110 obtains a reporting factor associated with a reporting configuration for a particular spatial pattern and, based on the reporting factor, transmits a CSI report related to the particular spatial pattern.

[0078] In some exemplary embodiments, the reporting factor indicates the time interval for reporting CSI reports related to a particular spatial pattern.

[0079] Figure 6 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 600 for spatial adaptation for network ES, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 can be implemented with the network device 120 shown in Figure 1. For convenience of explanation, Method 600 will be described with reference to Figure 1.

[0080] In 610, the network device 120 transmits information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device 120 to the terminal device 110, which includes at least one of the following: one or more pattern sets, each of which corresponds to a spatial pattern and is associated with a group of CSI-RS resources; or one or more port subsets, each of which indicates the number of ports of the spatial pattern in the network device.

[0081] In 620, the network device 120 receives from the terminal device 110 at least one CSI report generated based on information at least related to spatial pattern adaptation.

[0082] In some exemplary embodiments, one or more port subsets are associated with a set of ports in a spatial pattern.

[0083] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device 120 provides at least one slot offset along with the number of ports, each slot offset being associated with a subset of ports, and each slot offset indicates when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding subset of ports are measured by the terminal device.

[0084] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device 120 configures the terminal device 110 with reporting factors associated with a reporting configuration for a specific spatial pattern.

[0085] In some exemplary embodiments, the reporting factor indicates the time interval for reporting CSI reports related to a particular spatial pattern.

[0086] In some exemplary embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 500 (for example, implemented on terminal device 110) may include means for receiving information from a network device relating to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, the information including at least one of one or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of CSI-RS resources, or one or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports of a spatial pattern in the network device. For example, this means may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0087] In some exemplary embodiments, the device includes means for transmitting at least one CSI report to a network device based on information relating to at least spatial pattern adaptation.

[0088] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for performing a CSI measurement of a group of CSI-RS resources associated with spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets. The apparatus further comprises means for generating a CSI report of spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the CSI measurement and the CSI reporting configuration.

[0089] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for obtaining PMI port indications; means for applying one or more pattern sets to a set of CSI RS resources in a non-PMI port indication to determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from a non-PMI port indication; and means for determining a CSI report relating to spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the determined subset of CSI RS resources.

[0090] In some exemplary embodiments, one or more port subsets are associated with a set of ports in a spatial pattern.

[0091] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for acquiring at least one slot offset, each slot offset associated with a port subset, and each slot offset indicating when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding port subset are measured; and means for performing a CSI measurement based on at least one slot offset and the original CSI-RS resources indicated in the CSI reporting configuration.

[0092] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for obtaining PMI port indications, applying one or more port subsets to non-PMI port indications to determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from non-PMI port indications, and means for determining a CSI report relating to spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets based on the determined subset of at least one subset of CSI RS resources.

[0093] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for obtaining reporting factors associated with a reporting configuration of a particular spatial pattern, and means for transmitting a CSI report related to the particular spatial pattern based on the reporting factors.

[0094] In some exemplary embodiments, the reporting factor indicates the time interval for reporting CSI reports related to a particular spatial pattern.

[0095] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing Method 600 (for example, on network device 120) may include means for performing each step of Method 600. These means can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these means can be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0096] In some exemplary embodiments, one or more port subsets are associated with a set of ports in a spatial pattern.

[0097] In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises means for providing at least one slot offset along with the number of ports, each slot offset being associated with a subset of ports, and each slot offset indicating when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding subset of ports are measured by a terminal device.

[0098] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for configuring a terminal device with a reporting factor associated with a reporting configuration of a particular spatial pattern.

[0099] In some exemplary embodiments, the reporting factor indicates the time interval for reporting CSI reports related to a particular spatial pattern.

[0100] Figure 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for carrying out exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to carry out a communication device such as the terminal device 110 or network device 120 shown in Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processors 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the processors 710.

[0101] The communication module 740 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interfaces necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communication module 640 may include at least one antenna.

[0102] The processor 710 can be any type suitable for a local technology network and, in non-limiting examples, may include one or more of the following: a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0103] Memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), optical discs, laser discs, and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random-access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power-off periods.

[0104] The computer program 730 contains computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The instructions in program 730 may include instructions for performing actions / behaviors of some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Program 730 may be stored in memory, such as ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading program 730 into RAM 722.

[0105] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by program 730, thereby enabling device 700 to perform any process of the present disclosure described with reference to Figures 6-6. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0106] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium that may be contained within device 700 (for example, in memory 720) or in other storage devices accessible by device 700. Device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 722 and execute it. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-temporary storage medium such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term “non-temporary,” as used herein, refers to the limitations of the medium itself (i.e., tangible rather than signal) rather than limitations on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0107] Figure 8 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 800, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc. The computer-readable medium 800 stores a program 730.

[0108] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Various embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other graphical representations, but it should be understood that any blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers, or other computing devices, or any combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0109] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored in a computer-readable medium, such as a non-temporary computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those contained in a program module, that are executed on a target physical or virtual processor in a device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. The functionality of a program module may be combined or divided among program modules as needed in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions of a program module may be executed in a local device or a distributed device. In a distributed device, a program module may reside in both local and remote storage media.

[0110] Program code for performing the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code performs the functions / operations specified in the flowchart and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, run as a standalone software package, run partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or run entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0111] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related 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 and computer-readable media.

[0112] Computer-readable media may be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include electrical connections using one or more wires, portable computer diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0113] Furthermore, although the operations are shown in a specific order, this should not be understood as meaning that such operations must be performed in a specific illustrated order, sequentially, or all illustrated operations must be performed in order to obtain the desired result. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although the above description includes some specific implementation details, these should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless expressly stated, certain features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless expressly stated, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable subcombination.

[0114] While the present invention is described using language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the present invention as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. At least one processor, At least one memory for storing instructions, A device comprising, where, when the instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device has at least, Receiving information from a network device related to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, wherein the information is One or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, or One or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports in the spatial pattern of the network device, Receiving, which includes at least one of the following: Based on the information relating to spatial pattern adaptation, at least one channel state information CSI report is transmitted to the network device. A device that performs an action.

2. The aforementioned device is Performing a CSI measurement on a group of CSI-RS resources associated with a spatial pattern in one or more pattern sets, Based on the CSI measurement and CSI reporting configuration, a CSI report is generated relating to the spatial pattern in the one or more pattern sets. The apparatus according to claim 1, which is configured to perform the following.

3. The aforementioned device is Obtaining non-precoded matrix indicator PMI port indications, To determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from the non-PMI port indication, apply the one or more pattern sets to the set of CSI RS resources in the non-PMI port indication. Based on at least one subset of the determined CSI RS resources, a CSI report concerning the spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets is determined; The apparatus according to claim 1, which is configured to perform the following.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more port subsets are associated with a set of ports in the spatial pattern.

5. The aforementioned device is Obtaining at least one slot offset, each slot offset associated with a port subset, and each slot offset indicating when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding port subset are measured, Performing a CSI measurement based on the aforementioned at least one slot offset and the original CSI-RS resource indicated in the CSI reporting configuration, The apparatus according to claim 1 or 4, further configured to perform the following.

6. The aforementioned device is Obtaining non-precoded matrix indicator PMI port indications, To determine at least one subset of CSI RS resources from the non-PMI port indication, apply the one or more port subsets to the non-PMI port indication. Based on at least one subset of the determined CSI RS resources, a CSI report concerning the spatial patterns in one or more pattern sets is determined; The apparatus according to claim 1, which is configured to perform the following.

7. The aforementioned device is Obtaining reporting factors associated with the reporting configuration of a specific spatial pattern, Based on the aforementioned reporting factors, a CSI report related to a specific spatial pattern is transmitted, The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further configured to perform the following.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the reporting factor indicates a time interval for reporting the CSI report relating to a specific spatial pattern.

9. At least one processor, At least one memory for storing instructions, A device comprising, where, when the instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device has at least, The information relating to spatial pattern adaptation in a network device is transmitted to a terminal device, wherein the information is, One or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, or One or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports in the spatial pattern of the network device, Sending, which includes at least one of the following: Receiving from the terminal device at least one channel state information CSI report generated based on the information relating to spatial pattern adaptation, A device that performs an action.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the one or more port subsets are associated with a set of ports in the spatial pattern.

11. The aforementioned device is To provide at least one slot offset along with the number of ports, each slot offset being associated with a subset of ports, and each slot offset indicating when one or more CSI-RS resources of the number of ports associated with the corresponding subset of ports are measured by the terminal device. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, which is configured to perform the following.

12. The aforementioned device is Configuring a reporting factor associated with a specific spatial pattern reporting configuration in the terminal device. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, which is configured to perform the following.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the reporting factor indicates a time interval for reporting the CSI report relating to a particular spatial pattern.

14. In a terminal device, information related to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device is received from a network device, wherein the information is One or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, or One or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports in the spatial pattern of the network device, Receiving, which includes at least one of the following: Based on the information relating to spatial pattern adaptation, at least one channel state information CSI report is transmitted to the network device. Methods that include...

15. In a network device, information related to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device is transmitted to a terminal device, wherein the information is One or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, or One or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports in the spatial pattern of the network device, Sending, which includes at least one of the following: Receiving from the terminal device at least one channel state information CSI report generated based on the information relating to spatial pattern adaptation, Methods that include...

16. A means for receiving information from a network device related to spatial pattern adaptation in the network device, wherein the information is One or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, or One or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports in the spatial pattern of the network device, A means for receiving, which includes at least one of the following: A means for transmitting at least one channel state information CSI report to the network device based on the information relating to at least spatial pattern adaptation, A device equipped with the following features.

17. A means for transmitting information related to spatial pattern adaptation in a network device to a terminal device, wherein the information is, One or more pattern sets, each pattern set corresponding to a spatial pattern and associated with a group of channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, or One or more port subsets, each subset indicating the number of ports in the spatial pattern of the network device, A means for transmission, including at least one of the following: Means for receiving from the terminal device at least one channel state information CSI report generated based on the information relating to at least spatial pattern adaptation, A device equipped with the following features.

18. A computer-readable medium storing instructions for causing a device to perform at least the method according to claim 14 or claim 15.

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