Simultaneous Channel State Information (CSI) Capability Reporting Using Multiple Codebooks

Abstract

To provide a system and method for user equipment (UE) to transmit appropriate channel state information to a base station.SOLUTION: UE transmits simultaneous channel state information (CSI) processing capability information to a base station, and the base station makes a CSI request to the UE using the capability information as a constraint condition. The CSI processing capability information includes different CSI processing capabilities within a CC and between CCs and / or for different code book types, designation of a supported combination of code book types for simultaneous CSI reporting, and designation of maximum resources or weighting factors for different code book types. The UE can limit rank information to be used by providing priority rules for dropping CSI report data through payload size restrictions. Improved utilization of CSI resources shared for a plurality of simultaneous CSI reports may be instructed by the base station and performed by the UE. Minimum time requirements for CSI reporting are also relaxed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present application relates to wireless devices, and more particularly, to systems and methods for reporting channel state information (CSI) capabilities when performing simultaneous CSI processing using multiple codebooks. [Background technology]

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. Mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) support telephone calls, as well as providing access to the Internet, e-mail, text messaging, and navigation using a global positioning system (GPS), and can run advanced applications that utilize these capabilities. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH™, and the like.

[0003] To provide improved communication between a base station (BS) and a wireless user equipment (UE) device, the UE may calculate various metrics indicative of channel quality for feedback to the base station. The UE may generate these various metrics of the channel based on a received downlink (DL) reference signal from the base station. Without loss of generality, these metrics may be collectively referred to as channel state information (CSI). The channel state information may include an estimate of the spectral efficiency, the number of data layers, a precoding matrix in a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system scenario, etc. The CSI of the channel may also be calculated based on other performance metrics, such as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and signal-to-noise plus distortion ratio (SNDR) of the channel.

[0004] The base station can use this channel state information to adjust communications with the UEs to provide improved communications with the UEs. For example, this channel state information may be used by the BS to determine the code rate and modulation scheme assigned to each UE. The code rate and modulation scheme may be selected not only to maximize the throughput for a particular UE, but also to improve the overall throughput of the base station communication area (e.g., cell) through scheduling. Thus, the use of channel quality information allows the base station to more fully exploit the status of the wireless channel to improve communication throughput with various UEs.

[0005] Given that channel state information is used by the base station to improve downlink communications with the UE, generation of appropriate CSI is of great importance and improvements in this area are therefore desirable. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Presented herein are embodiments of apparatus, systems, and methods for a wireless device to perform improved reporting of concurrent channel state information (CSI) capabilities to a base station.

[0007] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device, such as a user equipment (UE), transmits concurrent channel state information (CSI) processing capability information to a base station. The concurrent CSI processing capability information may take various forms and is intended to constrain the base station in the type of CSI requests it can make to the UE. For example, the UE may indicate different CSI processing capabilities for intra-CC and inter-CC cases and / or for different codebook types. The UE may also specify supported combinations of codebook types for concurrent CSI reporting and / or may specify different concurrent CSI reporting capabilities for different component carrier configurations. The UE may also specify maximum resources or weighting factors for different codebook types.

[0008] When the UE generates a CSI report to the base station, the UE can limit the rank information it provides based on the type of CSI processing performed. The UE can also use priority rules to "drop" CSI report data due to payload size limitations based on the type of CSI processing. The base station may also direct, or the UE may implement, improved utilization of shared CSI resources for multiple simultaneous CSI reports. The minimum time requirement for CSI reporting may also be relaxed.

[0009] It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used in conjunction with many different types of devices, including, but not limited to, base stations, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various other computing devices.

[0010] This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. It should therefore be understood that the above features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

[0011] A better understanding of the invention can be obtained from the following detailed description of the embodiments when considered in conjunction with the following drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system. [Diagram 2] 1 illustrates a base station in communication with user equipment. [Diagram 3] 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a UE according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to one embodiment. [Figure 5A] 1 illustrates various carrier aggregation configurations according to the prior art; [Figure 5B] 1 illustrates various carrier aggregation configurations according to the prior art; [Figure 5C] 1 illustrates various carrier aggregation configurations according to the prior art; [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating various embodiments of a UE reporting concurrent CSI processing capabilities to a base station. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating various additional embodiments of a UE reporting concurrent CSI processing capabilities to a base station. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method for a base station to receive and utilize CSI processing capability information received from a UE according to some embodiments. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method for a UE to receive and process a CSI request from a base station according to some embodiments. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method for a base station to issue a single CSI configuration command that includes multiple CSI configuration requests, according to some embodiments. [Figure 11A] 13 shows a configuration of multiple channel measurement and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI reports. [Figure 11B] 1 illustrates a UE configuration of a single channel measurement and interference measurement resource for multiple CSI reports according to some embodiments. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method for a UE to configure a single channel measurement and interference measurement resource for multiple received CSI configuration requests according to some embodiments. [Figure 13A] 13 shows a configuration of multiple channel measurement and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI reports. [Figure 13B] 1 illustrates a UE configuration of single channel measurement and interference measurement resources for multiple CSI requests according to some embodiments. [Figure 14] 1 illustrates minimum timing of Z and Z′ for CSI-RS processing according to some embodiments. [Figure 15A] 1 is a table including possible CSI computation delay requirements according to some embodiments. [Figure 15B] 1 is a table including possible CSI computation delay requirements according to some embodiments.

[0013] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] acronym Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The most prominently used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows: ● UE: User Equipment ● RF: Radio Frequency ● BS: Base station ● DL: Downlink ● UL: Uplink ● GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications ● UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ● LTE: Long Term Evolution ● NR: New radio ● TX: Send / Transmit ● RX: Receive / Receive ● RAT: Radio Access Technology ● PUSCH: Physical uplink shared channel ● PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel ● CC: Component Carrier ● CA / DC: Carrier Aggregation / Dual Connectivity ● CSI: Channel State Information ● CRS: Cell-specific reference signal(s) ● CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal ● CMR: Channel Measurement Resources ● IMR: Interference Measurement Resources ● NZP: Non-zero power ● ZP: Zero Power ● MCS: Modulation and Coding Scheme ● RE: Resource element ● CQI: Channel Quality Indicator ● PMI: Precoding Matrix Indicator ● RI: Rank Indicator

[0015] term Below is a glossary of terms that may appear in this disclosure.

[0016] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include, for example, installation media such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape devices, computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, non-volatile memory such as flash, magnetic media such as hard drives, or optical storage, registers, or other similar types of memory elements, and the like. Storage media may include other types of non-transitory memory, or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system where a program is executed, or in a second, different computer system that connects to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system can provide the first computer system with program instructions to execute. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that can exist in different locations, for example, in different computer systems connected via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0017] Carrier Medium - storage media as described above, as well as physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission medium that carries signals, such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0018] Computer System (or Computer) - any of various types of computing or processing system, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or any other device or combination of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0019] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™ based phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily carried by a user and capable of wireless communications.

[0020] Wireless Device - any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device can be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed to a location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0021] Communications Device - any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communications. Communications can be wired or wireless. A communications device may be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed to a particular location. A wireless device is one example of a communications device. A UE is another example of a communications device.

[0022] Base Station (BS) - The term "base station" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone or wireless system.

[0023] Processing Element (or Processor) - refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing functions within a device, e.g., within a user equipment device or within a cellular network device. A processing element may include, for example, a processor and associated memory, a portion or circuitry of an individual processor core, an entire processor core, a processor array, a circuit such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a programmable hardware element such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and any of the various combinations of the above.

[0024] Wi-Fi - The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provides connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0025] Automatically - refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without the use of user input that directly specifies or performs the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to an operation that is manually performed or specified by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiated by input provided by a user, but the subsequent actions that are performed "automatically" are not specified by the user; that is, they are not performed "manually" with the user specifying each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, selecting radio selections, etc.) is considered to be manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user actions. A form may be filled out automatically by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without user input specifying answers to the fields. As noted above, a user can invoke automatic filling of a form, but is not involved in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers in fields, but rather the answers are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0026] Configured to - Various components may be described as "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, "configured to" is a broad description that generally means "having a structure" to perform a task(s) during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad description of a structure that generally means "having a circuit" to perform a task(s) during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuitry.

[0027] In the description herein, for convenience, various components may be described as performing tasks. Such descriptions should be construed to include the phrase "configured to." It is expressly intended that the description of a component as being configured to perform one or more tasks does not construe the interpretation of that component under 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph.

[0028] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2—An exemplary communication system 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system in which aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented, according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the system of FIG. 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and that embodiments may be implemented in a variety of systems, as desired.

[0029] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number of) user devices 106A, 106B, etc. through 106N over a transmission medium. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device. Accordingly, the user devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices. A UE device is an example of a wireless device.

[0030] The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site and may include hardware and / or software to enable wireless communication with the UEs 106A-106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with the network 100 (e.g., a cellular service provider's core network, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and / or between the user devices and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also, as used herein, from the perspective of a UE, the base station may be considered to represent the network as far as the UE's uplink and downlink communications are concerned. Thus, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in a network may be interpreted as a UE that communicates with the network.

[0031] The base stations 102 and user devices may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0032] Thus, base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may be provided as one or more networks of cells that may provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0033] It should be noted that the UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP or 3GPP2 cellular communication standards. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to re-establish a packet data network connection, such as in accordance with various methods described herein. The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using WLAN, BLUETOOTH™, one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including three or more wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A-106N) communicating with a base station 102, according to some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device. The UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The UE 106 may perform the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, the UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an integrated circuit, and / or any of a variety of other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. The UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a number of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are possible.

[0035] The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. A shared radio may include a single antenna or multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communication. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, a radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the hardware described above.

[0036] In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include a separate transmit and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol over which the UE 106 is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radios shared among multiple wireless communication protocols and one or more radios used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include a shared radio for communicating using either LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR or LTE or GSM) and a separate radio for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH™. Other configurations are possible.

[0037] Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example UE 106, according to some embodiments. As illustrated, the UE 106 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor(s) 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a motion sensing circuit 370 that may detect movement of the UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. The processor(s) 302 may be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or to couple the processor(s) 302 to other circuits or devices, such as a display circuit 304, a radio 330, a connector I / F 320, and / or a display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor(s) 302.

[0038] As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (including, for example, NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (for example, for coupling to a computer system, a dock, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (for example, for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH™, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a) and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., exemplified by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, the one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may perform wireless communications using the radio circuitry 330 using the antenna(s) 335. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0039] The UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing methods for the UE 106 to perform simultaneous generation of multiple codebooks for CSI reporting as further described herein. The processor(s) 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to perform some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor(s) 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Additionally, the processor(s) 302 may be coupled to or interoperate with other components to perform simultaneous generation of multiple codebooks for CSI reporting in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein, as shown in FIG. 3. The processor(s) 302 may also execute various other applications and / or end user applications operating on the UE 106.

[0040] In some embodiments, the radio 330 may include separate controllers dedicated to controlling communications for each of the various RAT standards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE and / or LTE controller) 354, and a BLUETOOTH™ controller 356, where in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (ICs or chips for short) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (and more specifically with the processor(s) 302). For example, the Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or the BLUETOOTH™ controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments have fewer or more similar controllers for the various different RATs that may be implemented in the UE device 106.

[0041] Further, embodiments are contemplated in which the controller is capable of performing functions related to multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, the cellular controller 354 may include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities related to Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection and / or Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signal generation and transmission, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications.

[0042] FIG. 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102, according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the base station of FIG. 4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor(s) 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 that may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450) or to locations in other circuits or devices.

[0043] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as the UE device 106, with access to the telephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2. The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also or instead be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as, for example, a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices, such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may couple to the telephone network via the core network and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0044] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possibly multiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via a radio 430. The antenna(s) 434 communicate with the radio 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including, but not limited to, NR, LTE, LTE-A, WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to perform and / or support the performance of some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored in a storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or as a combination thereof. For a given RAT, e.g., Wi-Fi, the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to the wide area network(s) and / or local area network(s), and may include, for example, at least one Ethernet port, and the radio 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0045] Channel State Information A wireless device, such as a user equipment, may be configured to measure the quality of a downlink channel and report information related to this quality measurement to a base station. For example, a UE may periodically transmit channel state information (CSI) to a BS. The base station may then receive and use this channel state information to determine adjustments to various parameters during communication with the wireless device. In particular, the BS may use the received channel state information to adjust the coding of downlink transmissions to improve downlink channel quality.

[0046] In most cellular systems, the base station transmits a pilot signal (or reference signal), called a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), which is used to estimate the channel between the base station and the UE. The UE receives the reference signal and calculates channel state information (CSI) based on the reference signal. The UE then reports the channel state information back to the base station. The base station can then generate downlink data based on the received CSI and transmit the downlink data to the UE. In other words, the base station can adjust how the downlink data is coded and generated based on the channel state information received from the UE.

[0047] In the NR standard, the channel state information fed back from the UE may typically include two or more of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix index (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), a SS / PBCH resource block indicator (SSBRI), and a tier indicator (LI), among other possible information.

[0048] The channel quality indicator may be provided to the base station for link adaptation, for example, to provide guidance on which modulation and coding system (MCS) the base station should use when transmitting data. When the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be high, the UE may feed back a high CQI value. This allows the base station to transmit data using a relatively high modulation order and a low channel coding rate. Alternatively, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be low, the UE may feed back a low CQI value. This allows the base station to transmit data using a relatively low modulation order and a high channel coding rate.

[0049] The PMI feedback is preferred precoding matrix information provided to the base station to indicate whether the base station should use which MIMO precoding scheme. In other words, the UE measures the quality of the downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on the received pilot signal received on the channel, and recommends through the PMI feedback which MIMO precoding is desired to be applied by the base station. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is expressed in a matrix form that provides linear MIMO precoding. The base station and the UE may share a codebook consisting of multiple precoding matrices, and each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook has a unique index. Thus, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI may include an index (one or more indexes) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook. This allows the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Thus, the PMI can indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

[0050] The rank indicator information (RI feedback) indicates the number of preferred transmission layers of the UE when the base station and the UE have multiple antennas, thereby enabling multi-layer transmission via spatial multiplexing. Collectively, the RI and PMI allow the base station to know which precoding needs to be applied to which layer depending on the number of transmission layers.

[0051] In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined according to the number of transmission layers. In other words, for R-layer transmission, N Nt×R matrices are defined (herein, R represents the number of layers, Nt represents the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N represents the size of the codebook). Here, the number of transmission layers (R) corresponds to the rank value of the precoding matrix (Nt×R matrix), and therefore R is called "Rank Indicator (RI)".

[0052] Thus, the channel state information may include an assigned rank (e.g., rank indicator or RI). For example, a MIMO-enabled UE communicating with a BS may include four receiver chains, e.g., four antennas. The BS may also include more than four antennas to enable MIMO communication (e.g., 4×4 MIMO). Thus, the UE may be capable of simultaneously receiving up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS. A layer to antenna mapping may be applied, e.g., each layer may be mapped to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port may transmit and / or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include multiple bits and may indicate the number of signals that the BS may transmit to the UE in the next time period (e.g., during the upcoming transmission time interval or TTI). For example, an indication of rank 4 may indicate that the BS will transmit 4 signals to the UE. In a 4×4 MIMO example, the RI may be 2 bits in length (e.g., because 2 bits is sufficient to distinguish between four different rank values).

[0053] Carrier Aggregation Carrier aggregation is a scheme in which multiple component carriers (or cells) may be used for wireless communication between a base station and a UE. Carrier aggregation may be used in LTE-Advanced and NR to increase the data transfer bandwidth and thus the bit rate between the base station and the UE. In carrier aggregation, a UE may be configured with multiple component carriers, each of which is referred to as a cell, e.g., either a primary cell or a secondary cell.

[0054] When the network configures a UE for channel state information (CSI) reporting, the network informs the UE which component carriers are the subject of the CSI report request, i.e., for which component carriers to perform channel and interference measurements. The network can configure multiple CSI requests at once, i.e., simultaneously.

[0055] The term "intra-CC" refers to the situation where multiple CSI reports are requested for the same component carrier. For example, these multiple CSI requests may be a wideband (Type I) report and a narrowband (Type II) report. The term "inter-CC" refers to the situation where multiple CSI reports are requested for different component carriers. These two (or more) component carriers may be "intra-band" (within the same frequency band) or "inter-band" (different frequency bands).

[0056] The following is background of intra-band and inter-band component carriers. One way to implement carrier aggregation is to use contiguous component carriers in the same operating frequency band, called intra-band contiguous (Fig. 5A). For example, due to operator frequency allocation scenarios, it may not always be possible to arrange component carriers in a contiguous manner within a band. A second way to implement carrier aggregation is to use non-contiguous intra-band component carriers (Fig. 5B), where the component carriers are in the same operating frequency band but have one or more gaps between them. A third way to implement carrier aggregation is to use non-contiguous inter-band component carriers (Fig. 5C), where the component carriers belong to different operating frequency bands.

[0057] In the currently proposed standard (Release 16 MIMO CSI Enhancement), there are six different codebook types for channel state information reporting (feedback). These six different codebook types are:

[0058] Rel-15 Type I Single Panel

[0059] Rel-15 Type I Multi Panel

[0060] Rel-15 Type II

[0061] Rel-15 Type II Port Selection

[0062] Rel-16 Type II

[0063] Rel-16 Type II Port Selection

[0064] As shown, there are four different codebook types in Release 15, with two additional codebook types added in Release 16. In Release 15, Type I refers to wideband or low-resolution CSI, where channel measurements are made across a large portion (e.g., all) of the cell transmission spectrum. Type I can be either single-panel (single panel or antenna array) or multi-panel (multi-panel or multi-antenna array). In Release 15, Type II refers to sub-band or high-resolution CSI feedback, where channel measurements are for a specific smaller portion of the spectrum. Release 16 enhances Type II CSI feedback, primarily by performing compression overhead and allowing for even higher resolution CSI feedback.

[0065] In some scenarios, a UE may be requested to simultaneously perform multiple instances of CSI reporting, e.g., generating and transmitting channel state information. For example, if a cellular system implements carrier aggregation, a UE may be requested to simultaneously perform different types of CSI reporting for different component carriers (or the same component carrier). As another example, a UE may be requested by a base station to perform aperiodic CSI reporting for a CC at the same time that a periodic or semi-persistent CSI report is scheduled for the same or another CC.

[0066] UE execution of simultaneous CSI reporting with different codebook types creates many problems. The currently proposed Release 16 standard is unclear regarding simultaneous CSI reporting, so a base station can request virtually any type of CSI reporting simultaneously. In other words, a base station can configure a UE to perform multiple different types of CSI reporting simultaneously. This may place a heavy burden on the UE. For example, a base station may request a UE to perform measurements for Type I CSI reporting and simultaneously request the UE to perform measurements for Type II CSI reporting. These multiple instances of CSI processing for different codebook types may be required to share the UE's baseband processing power. As a result, the open-ended requirement of simultaneous CSI reporting may complicate the design of the UE modem and burden UE designers on how to support simultaneous CSI Type I and Type II reporting.

[0067] The term "CSI-RS processing" may refer to a UE processing a received CSI reference signal (RS) on a downlink channel, for example, performing channel and interference measurements of the received CSI reference signal to determine the quality of the downlink channel. From the perspective of CSI-RS processing, the UE currently reports CSI processing capabilities for each codebook type independently. When the UE reports the capabilities of each CSI codebook type, the UE can assume the worst-case scenario when two or more (or all) of the codebook types are configured simultaneously. In other words, since the currently proposed standard allows for simultaneous CSI processing of different codebook types and the UE reports capability information for each codebook type independently, the UE may assume and therefore report the worst-case scenario capabilities of each when undesirable, allowing proper operation when all of the codebook types are configured simultaneously. For example, the CSI reporting capability information may include the maximum number of ports per CSI resource, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum number of total ports. If the network does not actually configure all codebook types, this worst-case capability report will underutilize the capabilities of the UE. Therefore, improvements in this area are desirable.

[0068] In particular, described herein are various embodiments that provide improved concurrent CSI processing capability reporting that operates, at least in some examples, to constrain or limit a cellular network (base station) on the type of concurrent CSI reporting that the UE can request, which can operate to reduce the burden on UE modem design and can also improve UE operation.

[0069] The embodiments described herein can be divided into five general categories as follows:

[0070] 1) UE simultaneous CSI processing capability report

[0071] 2) Enhanced UE CSI-RS processing capability reporting

[0072] 3) Concurrent CSI sharing the same CMR / IMR CSI-RS

[0073] 4) Simultaneous CSI reporting processing time mitigation

[0074] 5) Simultaneous CSI rank limit

[0075] 1. UE simultaneous CSI processing capability report Currently, general UE channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) processing capabilities are defined in TS 38.214, which states in part: "In any slot, a UE is not expected to have more active CSI-RS ports or active CSI-RS resources than reported as capabilities..."

[0076] In some embodiments, the UE operations described herein may operate to provide improved reporting of concurrent CSI processing capabilities, thus enabling the UE to provide greater input to the concurrent CSI reporting that is required to be performed. Various embodiments of improved reporting of concurrent CSI processing capabilities are described below with reference to FIG.

[0077] FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an improved method for reporting concurrent CSI processing capabilities.

[0078] At 522, the UE powers on or exits airplane mode. In other words, at 522, the UE enters a state in which it begins an active search for a cellular connection.

[0079] At 524, the UE establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the base station. Thus, the UE connects to the base station's cell at 524. In some embodiments, the UE and the network implement carrier aggregation, and the cellular network can transmit data to the UE using one or more component carriers. As described above with respect to FIG. 5, the one or more component carriers may be implemented as intra-CC or inter-CC, and may further be intra-band contiguous, intra-band non-contiguous, and inter-band non-contiguous.

[0080] At 526, the UE reports its channel state information (CSI) processing capabilities to the base station. As an example, the UE may report one or more CSI configurations it supports, and possibly also one or more Z values, where Z is the minimum required number of symbols for CSI calculation for a given CSI configuration. As part of reporting the CSI processing capabilities, the UE may perform one or more of 532-538 described below.

[0081] In addition to (or instead of) reporting any standard CSI processing capability information, in some embodiments, the UE may also report capability information regarding concurrent CSI processing that the UE may perform, as shown at one or more of 532-538 in FIG. 6. Thus, the UE may report capability information regarding concurrent CSI processing by performing one or more of 532-538. This may provide the UE with greater control over the concurrent CSI processing that it may be required to perform. This may help reduce the processing burden on the UE when performing CSI reporting.

[0082] As shown in 532, in some embodiments, for capability reporting of simultaneous CSI processing of multiple codebook types, the UE may report a specific type of simultaneous CSI reporting action for intra-CC and inter-CC situations. In other words, the UE may report a first type of capability where multiple CSI reports are requested for the same component carrier (intra-CC). The UE may report a different type of action for a situation where two or more CSI report requests are issued for two or more different component carriers (inter-CC). More specifically, the UE may report its simultaneous CSI processing capability indicating that the UE supports simultaneous CSI reporting for the inter-CC case and that the UE does not support simultaneous CSI reporting for the intra-CC case.

[0083] This capability report at 532 takes into account that supporting simultaneous CSI reporting for the inter-CC case is more plausible because different component carriers can each be allocated independent baseband processing power for carrier aggregation (CA). This capability report at 532 also takes into account that supporting simultaneous CSI reporting for the intra-CC case is less plausible because separate independent baseband processing power cannot be allocated for a single component carrier, and therefore attempting to support simultaneous CSI reporting for the intra-CC case may result in UE design complications.

[0084] As shown at 534, in some embodiments, the UE may report that the UE should not be configured with simultaneous active CSI reporting with different codebook types (different CodebookType) when multiple CSI requests are issued for the same component carrier. In other words, at 534, the UE reports its capability information such that in any slot (for any single component carrier) in the cell, the UE should not be configured with active CSI-RS ports or active CSI-RS resources corresponding to CSI reporting of different codebook types (per TS38.331). In yet another way, the capability information at 534 indicates to the base station that for multiple CSI requests for a single component carrier, the UE should not be configured to perform simultaneous CSI reporting of different codebook types for the same carrier.

[0085] As shown at 536, in some embodiments, for simultaneous CSI processing capability reporting, the UE may separately indicate or specify different simultaneous CSI reporting capabilities for various component carrier scenarios, including intra-CC simultaneous CSI, inter-CC intra-band simultaneous CSI, and inter-CC inter-band simultaneous CSI.

[0086] As mentioned above, the intra-CC simultaneous CSI case refers to the situation where two or more CSI requests are issued for the same component carrier.

[0087] The inter-CC in-band simultaneous CSI case refers to the situation where two or more CSI requests are issued for different component carriers, and the different component carriers are in the same frequency band.

[0088] The inter-CC inter-band simultaneous CSI case refers to the situation where two or more CSI requests are issued for different component carriers, and the different component carriers are in different frequency bands.

[0089] An example of a joint CSI processing capability report may be to indicate that the UE supports the use of different codebook types in joint CSI processing for the inter-CC inter-band case, but does not support the use of different codebook types in the intra-CC and inter-CC intra-band cases, where it is noted that the capability report may be per feature set, per band, combined per band, or combined per band per band.

[0090] As shown at 538, in some embodiments, the UE reports only certain supported combinations of codebook types for simultaneous CSI reporting. In other words, at 538, the UE reports certain combinations of codebook types as supported for simultaneous CSI reporting, and combinations of codebook types that are not reported as supported are not supported. Thus, this capability information instructs the base station to only configure the UE with supported combinations of codebook types for simultaneous CSI reporting, and thus the base station is instructed not to configure the UE with unsupported combinations of codebook types for simultaneous CSI reporting.

[0091] As mentioned above, there are currently six different types of codebooks for CSI reporting. This generates a large number of potential combinations of codebooks. Some potential combinations are not practical. To reduce the complexity of the UE, in this embodiment, the UE only reports the capability to support a smaller subset of the most likely codebook combinations.

[0092] In some embodiments, the UE provides capability information indicating that it can support the following combinations:

[0093] {Rel-15 Type I Single Panel,Rel-15 Type II}

[0094] {Rel-15 Type I Single Panel,Rel-16 Type II}

[0095] Each of these two combinations includes a "Type I single panel," where Type I is a low-resolution CSI report. One advantage of Type I is that the UE can report higher ranks of up to eight layers of MIMO operation. Type II is a typical configuration for multi-user MIMO and may include a base station pairing a UE with another UE. Type II includes high-resolution CSI reporting with a smaller number of layers compared to Type I.

[0096] 2) Enhanced UE CSI-RS processing capability reporting In some embodiments, the UE operations described herein may operate to provide improved reporting of CSI resource capabilities to the base station. This can assist the base station in providing better CSI processing requirements to the UE, especially in the case of simultaneous CSI requests. Various embodiments of improved reporting of CSI resource capabilities are described below with reference to FIG. 7.

[0097] 7 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an improved method for reporting CSI resource capabilities (CSI-RS processing capabilities) to a base station. As shown, the operation of FIG. 7 may proceed in a similar manner, with the UE receiving power or exiting airplane mode at 522, the UE performing an RRC connection with the base station at 524, and reporting CSI processing capability information at 526.

[0098] In addition to reporting any standard CSI processing capability information at 526, in some embodiments, the UE may also report capability information regarding the UE's CSI resources, as shown at one or more of 552-558 in FIG. 7. The term CSI-RS refers to reference signals transmitted by the base station and measured by the UE in generating channel state information. More specifically, the UE may measure channels and interference associated with the CSI reference signals and generate channel state information based on these measurements.

[0099] At 552-558, the UE provides enhanced information regarding CSI resources or CSI-RS processing capabilities, which may include information related to a maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum total number of CSI ports supported by the UE. One or more of steps 552-558 of FIG. 7 may be performed, and one or more of 552-558 may be performed instead of or in addition to one or more of 532-538 of FIG. 6. In other words, any combination of steps 532-538 and 552-558 may be performed, e.g., any one, two, three, or more combinations of any of these methods may be performed together.

[0100] As shown in 552, in addition to reporting the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports for each codebook type independently, the UE may additionally report the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports for all (or across all) codebook types. Thus, at 552, the UE reports all the total numbers of CSI resources for all codebook types. In other words, the maximum number of CSI ports per CSI-RS, the maximum number of CSI resources, and the maximum total number of CSI ports may each be summed across all of the codebook types, and this information is provided to the base station. This reporting of the total number of CSI resources may be done separately for intra-CC and inter-CC scenarios.

[0101] From the network's perspective, requests made to the UE should respect the maximum number of resources for each codebook type. In addition, the network can ensure that any / all CSI requests made to the UE use less than the total number of CSI resources for all codebook types reported by the UE in 552. In other words, as long as {max # ports per CSI-RS,max # CSI-RS,total # ports) across all activated simultaneous CSI-RS processes is less than the total UE reporting capability (summed over all codebook types), the UE has the resources to support multiple simultaneous CSI requests.

[0102] Note that different codebook types utilize different amounts of CSI resources. For example, codebook type I uses much less CSI resources (much less computational complexity) than codebook type II. The sum reporting performed at 552 would be most useful if all codebook types employed the same amount of computational complexity. If this were not the case, the UE could perform additional reporting as described below.

[0103] The UE may also report a joint CSI-RS processing capability for each codebook type / UE combination that the UE can support, as shown at 554. For example, the UE may report as follows:

[0104] {Rel-15 Type I Single Panel,Rel-15 Type II}:{max # ports / CSI-RS_1,max # CSI-RS_1,max total # ports_1)

[0105] {Rel-15 Type I Single Panel,Rel-16 Type II}:{max # ports / CSI-RS_2,max # CSI-RS_2,max total # ports_2)

[0106] Thus, if the UE reports only certain supported combinations of codebook types for simultaneous CSI reporting as described above in 538, the UE may additionally report (max # ports / CSI-RS,max # CSI-RS,max total # ports) for each of these supported combinations. In the above example, Rel-16 Type II requires a larger amount of computational resources than Rel-15 Type II. Thus, the UE may report a different amount of resources required for each combination.

[0107] The UE may indicate a weighting factor for each codebook type as part of its capability report, as shown at 556. Calculating these weighting factors may involve summing and weighting the resource utilization of the different codebook types as follows, where i is the codebook index:

[0108] max i {W i x MaxPortPerCSIRS i}

[0109] sum i {W i x NumberOfCSIRS i}

[0110] sum i {W i x TotalNumberoOfPorts i}

[0111] The weighting factors are rough estimates of the relative complexity of each of the codebook types. These weighting factors may be used by the base station in determining the appropriate CSI request to be made to the UE. As a simple example, assume that the total number of CSI resources is 128 and there are two codebook types, codebook type A and codebook type B. Further assume that the weighting factor of the CSI resources in the type A codebook is 1 and the weighting factor of the CSI resources in the type B codebook is set to 2, indicating that the type B codebook requires twice as many CSI resources as the type A codebook. In this case, the base station may know that 128 CSI resources are available when using the type A codebook and 64 CSI resources are available when using the type B codebook.

[0112] Alternatively, or additionally, as part of its capability report at 556, the UE may report several combinations of maximum CSI-RS configurations for each codebook type. For example, for {Rel-15 Type I Single Panel, Rel-16 Type II}, the UE may report the following combinations of maximum CSI resources available:

[0113] {16,0,0},{16,16,128},

[0114] {16,16,256},{16,0,0},

[0115] {16,16,64},{16,16,96},

[0116] {16,16,32},{16,16,80}, etc.

[0117] Each of these combinations includes three values, the first value representing the maximum number of ports per CSI-RS, the second value representing the maximum number of CSI resources, and the third value representing the maximum total number of ports. In the first exemplary combination above, little or no resources are allocated to the Rel-15 Type I single panel, and the majority of resources are allocated to Rel-16 Type II. In the second exemplary combination above, most resources are allocated for the Rel-15 Type I single panel, and almost no resources are allocated to Rel-16 Type II. The final two combinations above have a more balanced allocation of resources between the Rel-15 Type I single panel and the Rel-16 Type II.

[0118] FIG. 8 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the operation of base station 102 in response to receiving a CSI processing capabilities report from a UE, as described above in FIGS.

[0119] As shown, at 562, the base station receives a CSI processing capabilities report from the UE. The CSI processing capabilities report received from the UE may include any of the various sets or combinations of information described above in Figures 6 and 7. Thus, the CSI processing capabilities report received from the UE may include any one or more of the sets of information generated at 532, 534, 536, and / or 538 and / or may instead include any one or more of the sets of information generated at 552, 554, 556, and / or 558.

[0120] At 564, the base station 102 operates to dynamically signal future CSI processing requests to the UE based on or conditioned on the constraints or information in the capability report received at 562. Thus, the base station 102 can operate to constrain how it generates CSI processing requests to the UE based on the CSI capabilities received from the UE at 562.

[0121] FIG. 9 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the operation of the UE and base station 102 in receiving and processing a CSI request.

[0122] As shown, at 572, the UE receives a CSI request from the base station 102. In some embodiments, the UE can receive multiple simultaneous CSI requests from the base station 102 at 572. The specific operations of 572 are discussed further below.

[0123] At 574, the UE receives a CSI reference signal from the base station 102. The CSI reference signal may be received before or after receiving the CSI request at 572. If the CSI reference signal is received at 574 before receiving the CSI processing request at 572, the CSI reference signal may be included in the same time slot as the CSI processing request. If the UE receives multiple simultaneous CSI requests from the base station 102 at 572, the UE may also receive corresponding multiple CSI reference signals at 574.

[0124] At 576, the UE prepares channel state information (CSI) characterizing a downlink channel between the base station and the UE for each CSI request received from the base station at 572. At 572, the UE may perform at least one channel measurement on the downlink channel and at least one interference measurement on the downlink channel. If the UE receives multiple simultaneous CSI processing requests at 572, the UE may perform measurements for each processing request and generate multiple instances of a CSI report at 576, e.g., generate a CSI report for each of the received CSI requests. In some embodiments, as discussed further below, the UE performs a single set of measurements used in generating two or more CSI reports.

[0125] At 578, the UE transmits the channel state information report(s) to the base station 102.

[0126] At 580, the base station 102 receives the CSI report(s) from the UE and uses them to adjust the generation and transmission of downlink data. In other words, the base station 102 adjusts the generation and transmission of downlink data to the UE based on the information received in the CSI report.

[0127] 3. Concurrent CSI sharing the same CMR / IMR RS When the network wants to trigger the UE to perform CSI reporting (e.g., as in 572 in FIG. 9), the base station can provide configuration information to the UE to configure an instance of CSI reporting. This is currently done using the field CSI-ReportConfig according to TS38.331. Here, the base station configures the UE with the type of codebook that is desirable for the UE to report as well as informing the UE of the reference signals to be measured. If the base station wants to configure two different instances of CSI reporting simultaneously, the base station currently needs to do separate and independent configuration to configure different channel measurement resources (CMRs) and interference measurement resources (IMRs) for each instance of CSI reporting. Thus, for example, the base station currently configures a first set of CMRs and IMRs for type I CSI reporting and a different second set of CMRs and IMRs for type II CSI reporting. Also, currently the codebookConfig parameter is independently configured and can only configure one codebook type.

[0128] However, in the case of simultaneous CSI reporting, it is very likely that two instances of CSI reporting measure the same channel. Thus, the simultaneous instances of CSI processing are not completely independent even if they are performed for different codebook types. For example, these different simultaneous instances of CSI reporting may share multiple common processing components, such as one or more of channel estimation and interference estimation, which are generally common for all CSI reporting. The main difference between different simultaneous instances of CSI reporting occurs after the channel and interference measurements are made, such as how the UE selects a precoder and reports it. Thus, in current systems, when simultaneous CSI reporting is configured via overlapping (and redundant) configuration (two different CSI-ReportConfig), the UE may be required to perform two or more different instances of channel and interference measurements, which may be unnecessary.

[0129] Therefore, separate configuration of independent CMR and IMR for simultaneous CSI processing may be a waste of resources. In other words, it has been determined that separate configuration of independent channel measurement and interference measurement resources for simultaneous CSI processing is unnecessary in at least some instances. The unnecessary requirement of separate channel measurement and interference measurement resources for simultaneous CSI processing is inefficient and complicates CSI processing in the UE.

[0130] In some embodiments, the base station issues a CSI-ReportConfig (at 572 in FIG. 9 ), and the base station operates to configure the UE with one set of channel measurement and interference measurement resources for simultaneous CSI processing, i.e., a single CSI-ReportConfig triggers multiple instances of CSI reporting. Thus, this new CSI-ReportConfig message includes a list of multiple codebookConfig parameters, allowing the base station to configure multiple different codebook types for simultaneous CSI reporting. This allows the UE to process a unified set of channel measurement and interference measurement resources (CMR and IMR) for multiple simultaneous instances of CSI reporting. Thus, the base station can issue a single CSI configuration message (CSI-ReportConfig) to the UE that specifies one set of CMR and IMR but can specify more than one codebook type, and can trigger multiple instances of simultaneous CSI reporting. The base station can also issue one CSI reference signal for UE measurements instead of multiple CSI reference signals. This operates to reduce network signaling / overhead, UE processing complexity, and the risk of an erroneous configuration being generated for one of the CSI reports.

[0131] Below is an example of parameter changes.

[0132] "CodebookConfig CodebookConfig" -> codebookConfig SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofConcurrentCodebook)) OF CodebookConfig

[0133] Thus, instead of separate codebook configuration fields, the base station may generate a single codebook configuration field that contains the sequences of two or more codebooks to be used simultaneously.

[0134] The operation of the prior art is shown in Figure 11A, where different channel and interference measurement resources (CMR and IMR) are configured for each instance of CSI reporting. As shown, a first instance of CMR and IMR resources is configured for a first CSI report (CSI report 1), and a second instance of CMR and IMR resources is configured for a second CSI report (CSI report 2).

[0135] The flowchart of Figure 10 illustrates operations according to embodiments described herein. The flowchart of Figure 10 provides a more detailed example embodiment of the operations performed in Figure 9. Figure 11B is a timeline that also illustrates operations described herein.

[0136] 10, in 622, the base station issues a single CSI configuration request (CSI-ReportConfig) for multiple CSI reports, e.g., CSI reports 1 and 2. The single CSI configuration request can specify a single channel measurement resource (CMR) and a single interference measurement resource (IMR) for performing multiple CSI measurements for the multiple CSI reports.

[0137] At 624, the UE receives a single CSI configuration request from the base station.

[0138] At 626, based on the received CSI configuration request specifying the two (or more) CSI requests, the UE configures a single channel measurement resource (CMR) for the multiple CSI reports, e.g., for both CSI reports 1 and 2, as well as configures a single interference measurement resource (IMR) for the multiple CSI reports, e.g., for both CSI reports 1 and 2 (as shown in FIG. 11B ).

[0139] At 628, the UE may then perform a single channel estimation for the received CSI reference signals and may also perform a single interference measurement for the received CSI reference signals.

[0140] At 630, the UE provides two (or more) CSI reports back to the base station (as shown in FIG. 11B), where the two (or more) CSI reports are based on a single channel and interference measurement. Although this example was described above in the context of two CSI report requests, the above method may be used with any number of CSI report requests and subsequent CSI reports.

[0141] In other embodiments, if the network (base station) is not configured as described above and still issues two (or more) CSI configuration commands (two or more instances of CSI-ReportConfig) specifying two or more different sets of CSI reporting, the UE may be configured to use only one of the sets of channel and interference measurement resources for one of the codebook types to perform the requested simultaneous CSI reporting. Thus, even if the base station operates according to the prior art and issues multiple simultaneous CSI requests, the UE can use this optimization assuming that the configuration of ports for CMR and IMR is the same for each simultaneous instance of CSI reporting.

[0142] This operation is illustrated in Figure 12. As shown at 642, the base station issues multiple CSI configuration requests (multiple CSI-ReportConfig) for multiple CSI reports, e.g., CSI reports 1 and 2.

[0143] At 642, the UE receives a number of CSI configuration requests from the base station.

[0144] At 646, based on the received multiple CSI configuration requests specifying two (or more) CSI reports, as shown in FIG. 13B, the UE configures a single channel measurement resource (CMR) for one of the CSI reports (e.g., CSI report 1) and similarly configures a single interference measurement resource (IMR) for the one CSI report (CSI report 1).

[0145] At 648, the UE may then perform a single channel estimation for the received CSI reference signals and may also perform a single interference measurement for the received CSI reference signals.

[0146] At 650, the UE provides multiple (e.g., two) CSI reports to the base station (as shown in FIG. 11B), where the two CSI reports are based on a single channel and interference measurement for only one of the CSI requests. Although this example was described above in the context of two CSI report requests, the above method may be used with any number of CSI report requests and subsequent CSI reports.

[0147] 4.Reduced processing time for simultaneous CSI reporting For aperiodic CSI requests, in the current technology, the UE minimum CSI processing timing is defined by parameters Z and Z', as defined in TS 38.214. The embodiments described herein operate to redefine these processing time parameters by extending or "relaxing" them to account for the fact that a UE may perform multiple simultaneous CSI requests and therefore require more time to complete various channel and interference measurements.

[0148] As shown in FIG. 14, an aperiodic (AP) CSI request is received from the base station via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) as a PDCCH AP-CSI trigger (as downlink control information or DCI). An aperiodic CSI reference signal (AP CSI-RS) is also transmitted by the base station to the UE. Although the aperiodic CSI reference signal is shown as being transmitted later than the AP CSI request, it may be earlier in the same slot. After the AP CSI-RS is transmitted, the UE performs measurements on the reference signal and then generates one or more CSI reports that are transmitted to the base station on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). This is indicated by "PUSCH CSI" in FIG. 14.

[0149] In some embodiments, the time value Z is defined to start from the last symbol of the last PDCCH among all PDCCHs that trigger a simultaneous CSI-RS report. In other words, the time value Z is defined to start from the last symbol of the last set of downlink control information (DCI) associated with the last CSI request (in the last PDCCH that contains a CSI request). Thus, if the US receives multiple CSI report requests (for simultaneous CSI reporting) across multiple downlink control channels (multiple PDCCHs), the time value Z starts only from the last symbol of the last downlink control information of the last downlink control channel (last PDCCH) that contains a CSI report request. In other words, the time value measurement Z starts only at the last completion of the received simultaneous CSI report requests.

[0150] The time value Z' starts from the last symbol of the last AP-CSI-RS among all AP-CSI-RS activated for simultaneous CSI-RS reporting. Thus, if a base station transmits multiple aperiodic reference signals (multiple AP CSI-RS) for simultaneous CSI reporting, Z' starts only from the last symbol of the last received reference signal.

[0151] The time values ​​Z and Z' represent the minimum amount of time in which a UE can perform the necessary channel measurements and generate and transmit the resulting CSI report. In the embodiments described herein, the Z and Z' values ​​are redefined to account for simultaneous CSI reporting scenarios, thereby giving the UE more time to complete its operations in scenarios in which the UE is called upon to generate multiple simultaneous CSI reports.

[0152] In some embodiments, the Z and Z' values ​​are "hard-coded" into the cellular specifications, and UE manufacturers and network vendors agree on minimum values ​​for Z and Z' and implement these values ​​in their equipment. Figures 15A and 15B, respectively, show tables with example values ​​for Z and Z', respectively, which are relaxed time values ​​to account for simultaneous CSI reporting.

[0153] In one embodiment, the UE CSI processing time is set to the maximum value of the CSI reporting time among the concurrent CSI reporting being performed.

[0154] In another embodiment, the UE CSI processing time is set to the sum of Z and Z' corresponding to each CSI reporting instance in the concurrent CSI reporting being performed. This provides the most relaxed timing requirement, and the time values ​​of Z and Z' for all CSI reporting instances are summed. These summed Z and Z' values ​​can account for the situation where concurrent CSI reporting is actually done consecutively (and not simultaneously).

[0155] The relaxed time values ​​Z and Z′ may be operationally used as follows: First, the base station configures and triggers one or more aperiodic CSI reports as described above. The UE receives these CSI requests at 572 in FIG. 9. The aperiodic CSI requests (AP-CSI) may be triggered and configured in downlink control information (DCI) format 0_1. In the DCI, the base station (e.g., gNB) may provide configuration for CSI reference signals (CSI-RS / SSB) that the UE can use to measure the channel and interference. This includes both frequency and time domain allocations, i.e., when the CSI-RS / SSB is transmitted from the gNB for measurement at the UE. The term “SSB” refers to the combination of the synchronization signal (SS) and the physical broadcast channel (PBC), called “SSB” in NR.

[0156] In DCI, the base station (e.g., gNB) may also provide configuration of the PUSCH carrying the CSI content, including both frequency and time domain assignments, including, for example, when the UE should start transmitting CSI reports on the uplink channel (PUSCH).

[0157] Thus, in DCI, the base station can configure a time offset between the downlink control information containing the CSI request and the CSI reference signal (between DCI and CSI-RS / SSB) and between the DCI containing the CSI request and the transmission of the CSI report on the uplink channel PUSCH (between DCI and PUSCH). This allows the UE to know when to measure the CSI reference signal (CSI-RS / SSB) and also allows the UE to know when to transmit the resulting CSI report on PUSCH. In order not to exceed the UE's capabilities, the former (duration between DCI and CSI-RS / SSB) should be equal to or greater than Z, and the latter (duration between DCI and PUSCH) should be equal to or greater than Z'. As above, the minimum time value Z starts from the last symbol of the last PDCCH (last DCI) among all PDCCHs (among all DCIs) that triggers a simultaneous CSI-RS report. Also, the minimum time value Z′ starts from the last symbol of the last AP-CSI-RS among all aperiodic CSI reference signals activated for concurrent CSI-RS reporting.

[0158] Thus, in summary, in some embodiments, a UE may receive at least one channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration from a base station on a downlink channel, the at least one CSI reporting configuration including information for configuring multiple simultaneous CSI processing reports. The UE may also receive multiple CSI reference signals for simultaneous CSI reporting. The at least one CSI reporting configuration may specify a first minimum time offset between a last symbol of a last downlink control information (DCI) including the CSI reporting configuration and the CSI reference signal, and a second minimum time offset between a last symbol of a last one of the CSI reference signals and the uplink channel. The UE may then perform at least one measurement on each of the CSI reference signals to generate CSI and transmit the CSI on the uplink channel. The UE may perform the at least one measurement based on the first minimum time offset and may transmit the CSI on the uplink channel based on the second minimum time offset.

[0159] 5. Simultaneous CSI rank limit Simultaneous CSI reporting is most suitable for Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) and Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO). For example, Type I CSI reporting has lower resolution but supports up to 8 ports, which is suitable for SU-MIMO, while Type II CSI reporting has higher resolution and supports up to 4 ports, which is suitable for MU-MIMO.

[0160] In some embodiments, in case of concurrent CSI reporting, the UE restricts the rank information to certain designated values ​​based on the type of CSI reporting. For example, the rank information (RI) reported by the UE during concurrent CSI reporting is restricted to a first set of values ​​for Type I CSI reporting and a second set of values ​​for Type II CSI reporting. As an example, the rank restrictions (designated RI values ​​that may be reported by the UE) may be as follows:

[0161] Rank 1 / 2 for Type II CSI reporting

[0162] Rank 3 / 4 for Type I CSI reporting

[0163] In some embodiments, the RIs reported by the UE for different concurrent CSI reporting do not overlap as shown above. The rank restriction described herein is a "hard drop rule", meaning that even if additional rank data can fit into the CSI payload, there is no point in transmitting this extra data, as it is considered redundant with data already transmitted.

[0164] If a UE reports high resolution for a layer and then low resolution for the same layer, this can be a waste of uplink resources since the low resolution reports for the same layer are redundant. In other words, it does not make sense to send Type I and Type II reports for the same two layers since Type II reports are better (higher resolution) than Type I. Thus, for example, if there are two layers and Type II reports are already made, there is no point in sending Type I reports as well. The rank restriction above operates to help reduce or eliminate this redundancy of reports. Type II is currently limited to 4 layers or less, so Type I can be useful for scenarios with more than 4 layers, and therefore ranks 3 and 4 are reserved for Type I CSI reporting, while ranks 1 and 2 are reserved for Type II CSI reporting.

[0165] In some embodiments, if the concurrent CSI report information cannot fit into the CSI payload in the PUCCH or PUSCH, some CSI may be dropped based on a predefined priority rule. An example of the priority rule is as follows:

[0166] Type I Single Panel / Multi Panel > Rel-16 Type II > Rel-16 Port Selection > Rel-15 Type II > Rel-15 Type II Port Selection

[0167] Here, the first element (Type I single panel / multiple panel) has the highest priority, followed by the next element (Rel-16 Type II), etc. Type I single panel has the highest priority (dropped last) in this example since it has the lowest CSI overhead and has at least the basic MIMO reporting. Rel-16 Type 2 supports high resolution and includes overhead compression, and therefore has the next priority. The relative priority between Rel-16 Type II and Rel-16 port selection is less important. Rel-15 Type II has a lower priority since it has higher overhead and fewer layers. Note that any of the various priorities can be used as desired.

[0168] Thus, if a UE generates multiple CSI reports and lacks adequate payload capacity, the UE may prioritize certain CSI reports over others and thus selectively transmit the higher priority reports and drop (not transmit) one or more lower priority reports.

[0169] The following numbered paragraphs describe further aspects of the invention. 1. A cellular base station comprising: a plurality of antennas; a radio operably coupled to a plurality of antennas; and a processor operably coupled to the radio; The cellular base station is Establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network; and a cellular base station configured to generate and transmit a single channel state information (CSI) report configuration to a UE, the single CSI report configuration including information for configuring a plurality of simultaneous CSI processing reports and further including a plurality of codebook configuration parameters specifying different codebook types, the CSI report configuration usable to configure the UE with a plurality of simultaneous CSI processing requests, two or more of the plurality of simultaneous CSI processing requests using different codebook types.

[0170] 2. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a radio operably coupled to a plurality of antennas; and a processor operably coupled to the radio; UE is receiving, from a base station on a downlink channel, a channel state information (CSI) report configuration, the CSI report configuration including information for configuring a plurality of simultaneous CSI processing reports, the CSI report configuration including a plurality of codebook configuration parameters specifying different codebook types, wherein two or more of the plurality of simultaneous CSI processing requests use the different codebook types; Configuring a first channel measurement resource and a first interference measurement resource on the UE to perform CSI measurements on a downlink channel; generating a plurality of CSI reports based on the first channel measurement resource and the first interference measurement resource; transmitting the plurality of CSI reports to the base station; It is configured as follows: U.E.

[0171] 3. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a radio operably coupled to a plurality of antennas; and a processor operably coupled to the radio; UE is receive, from the base station on a downlink channel, at least one channel state information (CSI) report configuration including information for configuring a plurality of simultaneous CSI processing reports, the at least one CSI report configuration specifying a first minimum time offset between a last symbol of a last downlink control information (DCI) including the CSI report configuration and a CSI reference signal, and a second minimum time offset between a last symbol of the plurality of CSI reference signals and an uplink channel; receiving a plurality of CSI reference signals for simultaneous CSI reporting; performing at least one measurement on each of a plurality of CSI reference signals to generate CSI; configured to transmit CSI on an uplink channel; The UE performs at least one measurement based on the first minimum time offset; The UE transmits CSI on the uplink channel based on the second minimum time offset. U.E.

[0172] It is understood that use of personally identifiable information should comply with generally recognized privacy policies and practices that meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintended or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of permitted uses should be clearly indicated to users.

[0173] Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the present invention may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the present invention may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as an ASIC. In other embodiments, the present invention may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA.

[0174] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may store program instructions and / or data that, when executed by a computer system, may be configured to cause the computer system to perform a method, such as a method embodiment described herein, or a combination of the method embodiments described herein, or a subset of the method embodiments described herein, or a combination of such subsets.

[0175] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory element), where the memory medium stores program instructions and the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, where the program instructions are executable to perform various method embodiments described herein (or a combination of the method embodiments described herein, or a subset of the method embodiments described herein, or a combination of such subsets). The device may be realized in various forms.

[0176] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated, and it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. 1. A method comprising: In a user equipment (UE), Establishing a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with a base station of a cellular network; transmitting capability information associated with combinations of codebook types to the base station, the capability information including capabilities for each supported combination of codebook types, the capability information for each supported combination of codebook types including a maximum number of ports per channel state information (CSI) resource, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum number of total ports; The method includes:

2. the capability information is usable by the base station when formulating a simultaneous CSI processing request. The method of claim 1.

3. the capability information indicates support for simultaneous CSI reporting when multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for two or more different component carriers; the capability information indicating lack of support for simultaneous CSI reporting when multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types. The method of claim 1.

4. The capability information is provided in the following scenario: 1) multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for a single component carrier; 2) multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for multiple component carriers, the multiple component carriers being in the same operating frequency band; 3) multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are required for multiple component carriers, the multiple component carriers being in different operating frequency bands; Specifying separate simultaneous CSI reporting capabilities for each of The method of claim 1.

5. The combination of codebook types is: Rel-15 Type I Single Panel, Rel-15 Type II, and Rel-15 Type I Single Panel, Rel-16 Type II selected from the group consisting of combinations of The method of claim 1.

6. the capability information separately specifies a capability for two or more different component carriers and a capability for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types; The method of claim 1.

7. the capability information includes a weighting factor for each of a plurality of codebook types, the weighting factor being usable by the base station in evaluating use of CSI resources in a CSI processing request. The method of claim 1.

8. 1. A method comprising: In a base station of a cellular network, Establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (UE); receiving capability information for the UE regarding combinations of codebook types, the capability information including capabilities for each supported combination of codebook types, the capability information for each supported combination of codebook types including a maximum number of ports per channel state information (CSI) resource, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum number of total ports; The method includes:

9. the capability information is usable by the base station when formulating a simultaneous CSI processing request. The method according to claim 8.

10. the capability information indicates support for simultaneous CSI reporting when multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for two or more different component carriers; the capability information indicating lack of support for simultaneous CSI reporting when multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types. The method according to claim 8.

11. The capability information is provided in the following scenario: 1) multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for a single component carrier; 2) multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for multiple component carriers, the multiple component carriers being in the same operating frequency band; 3) multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are required for multiple component carriers, the multiple component carriers being in different operating frequency bands; Specifying separate simultaneous CSI reporting capabilities for each of The method according to claim 8.

12. The combination of codebook types is: Rel-15 Type I Single Panel, Rel-15 Type II, and Rel-15 Type I Single Panel, Rel-16 Type II selected from the group consisting of combinations of The method according to claim 8.

13. the capability information separately specifies a capability for two or more different component carriers and a capability for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types; The method according to claim 8.

14. the capability information includes a weighting factor for each of a plurality of codebook types, the weighting factor being usable by the base station in evaluating use of CSI resources in a CSI processing request. The method according to claim 8.

15. 1. A base station of a cellular network, comprising: A radio and a processor operatively coupled to the radio; Equipped with The processor may further include: establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (UE); receiving channel state information (CSI) capability information from the UE, the CSI capability information including information about simultaneous CSI processing capability of the UE, the CSI capability information including a capability for each supported combination of codebook types, the capability information for each supported combination of codebook types including a maximum number of ports per CSI resource, a maximum number of CSI resources, and a maximum number of total ports; A base station configured to execute the above steps.

16. the CSI capability information is usable by the base station in formulating a simultaneous CSI processing request to the UE.

16. The base station of claim 15.

17. the CSI capability information indicates that the UE supports simultaneous CSI reporting when multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for two or more different component carriers; the CSI capability information indicating that the UE does not support simultaneous CSI reporting when multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for a single component carrier using multiple codebook types.

16. The base station of claim 15.

18. The CSI capability information is in the following scenario: 1) multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for a single component carrier; 2) multiple simultaneous instances of CSI processing are required for multiple component carriers, the multiple component carriers being in the same operating frequency band; 3) multiple concurrent instances of CSI processing are required for multiple component carriers, the multiple component carriers being in different operating frequency bands; Specifying separate simultaneous CSI reporting capabilities for each of 16. The base station of claim 15.

19. The CSI capability information specifies a capability for simultaneous CSI separately for each band and for each combination of bands.

16. The base station of claim 15.

20. The CSI capability information separately specifies a capability for two or more different component carriers and a single component carrier using multiple codebook types.

16. The base station of claim 15.

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