Expansion of beam group reporting in multi-TRP scenarios

Abstract

An embodiment includes a method in which a user equipment (UE) is configured to perform beam reporting in a wireless network. Such a method includes receiving a configuration of at least a first resource set and a second resource set. Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals associated with a corresponding plurality of spatial filtering configurations. Such a method includes performing measurements on the reference signals of the first resource set and the second resource set, and sending a beam report to the wireless network including the measurements defined in at least a first group and a second group. Each group includes measurements performed on a first reference signal from the first resource set and a second reference signal from the second resource set. The first reference signal and the second reference signal are received by the UE simultaneously. One measurement included in the first group is expressed as an absolute value, while the other measurements in the first group are expressed as differential values ​​relative to the absolute value.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication networks, and more specifically to a wireless device that reports measurements made on beam groups received from (or transmitted by) multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs) in a wireless network. [Background technology]

[0002] LTE, also known as Enhanced UTRAN (E-UTRAN), is an umbrella term referring to radio access technologies developed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and first standardized in Release 8 (Rel-8) and Release 9 (Rel-9). LTE targets various licensed frequency bands and is accompanied by improvements to non-radio aspects, including the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network, commonly referred to as System Architecture Evolution (SAE). LTE continues to evolve with subsequent releases.

[0003] A general example architecture of a network with LTE and SAE is shown in Figure 1. E-UTRAN 100 includes one or more evolved node Bs (eNBs), such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115, and one or more user equipment (UE), such as UE 120. As used within 3GPP standards, "user equipment" or "UE" refers to any wireless communication device (e.g., a smartphone or computing device) capable of communicating with 3GPP standards-compliant network equipment, including E-UTRAN as well as UTRAN and / or GERAN, as third generation ("3G") and second generation ("2G") 3GPP RANs are commonly known.

[0004] As specified by 3GPP, E-UTRAN 100 is responsible for all radio related functions in the network, including radio bearer control, radio admission control, radio mobility control, scheduling, and dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in the uplink and downlink, as well as security of communications with the UEs. These functions reside in eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115. Each of the eNBs can serve a geographic coverage area that includes one or more cells, including cells 106, 111, and 115, which are served by eNBs 105, 110, and 115, respectively.

[0005] The eNBs in the E-UTRAN communicate with each other via an X2 interface, as shown in Figure 1. The eNBs also serve as the E-UTRAN interface to the EPC 130, and specifically the S1 interface to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and Serving Gateway (SGW), shown collectively in Figure 1 as MME / S-GW 134 and 138. In general, the MME / S-GW handles both the overall control of the UE and the data flow between the UE and the rest of the EPC. More specifically, the MME handles the signaling (e.g., control plane) protocols between the UE and the EPC, known as the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols. The S-GW handles all Internet Protocol (IP) data packets (e.g., data or user plane) between the UE and the EPC, and serves as a local mobility anchor for data bearers as the UE moves between eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115.

[0006] The EPC 130 may also include a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 131 that manages user-related and subscriber-related information. The HSS 131 may also provide support functions in mobility management, call and session setup, user authentication and access authorization. The functionality of the HSS 131 may relate to legacy Home Location Register (HLR) functions and Authentication Center (AuC) functions or operations. The HSS 131 may also communicate with the MMEs 134 and 138 via their respective S6a interfaces. In some embodiments, the HSS 131 may communicate with a User Data Repository (UDR), labeled EPC-UDR 135 in FIG. 1, via a Ud interface. The EPC-UDR 135 may store user credentials after they are encrypted by the AuC algorithm.

[0007] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an exemplary control plane (CP) protocol stack between a UE, an eNB, and an MME. The exemplary protocol stack includes a physical (PHY) layer between the UE and the eNB, a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and a radio resource control (RRC) layer. The PHY layer is concerned with how and what characteristics are used to transfer data on transport channels on the LTE air interface. The MAC layer provides data transfer services on logical channels, maps logical channels to PHY transport channels, and reallocates PHY resources to support these services. The RLC layer provides error detection and / or correction, concatenation, segmentation, reassembly, and reordering of data transferred to or from higher layers. The PDCP layer provides encryption / decryption and integrity protection for both the CP and user plane (UP), as well as other UP functions such as header compression. The exemplary protocol stack also includes Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling between the UE and the MME.

[0008] The RRC layer controls the communication between the UE and the eNB in ​​the radio interface and the mobility of the UE between cells in the E-UTRAN. After the UE is powered on, the UE will be in the RRC_IDLE state until an RRC connection with the network is established, at which time the UE will transition to the RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can take place). The UE returns to RRC_IDLE after being disconnected from the network. In the RRC_IDLE state, the UE does not belong to any cell, there is no RRC context established for the UE (e.g., in the E-UTRAN), and the UE is not synchronized with the network. A UE in the RRC_IDLE state is still known in the EPC and has an assigned IP address.

[0009] Furthermore, in the RRC_IDLE state, the UE's radio is active in a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by higher layers. During the DRX validity period (also referred to as the "DRX ON period"), an RRC_IDLE UE receives system information (SI) broadcasted by the serving cell, performs measurements on neighboring cells to support cell reselection, and monitors a paging channel for paging from the EPC via the eNB serving the cell on which the UE is camped.

[0010] To move from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE needs to perform a Random Access (RA) procedure. In RRC_CONNECTED state, the serving cell for the UE is known and an RRC context is established for the UE at the serving eNB so that the UE and the eNB can communicate. For example, a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) - a UE identifier used for signaling between the UE and the network - is configured for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED state.

[0011] Fifth generation (5G) NR technology shares many similarities with fourth generation LTE. For example, NR uses cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in the downlink (DL, i.e., from the network to the UE) and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL (i.e., from the UE to the network). As another example, in the time domain, NR DL physical resources and NR UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized, 1 ms subframes. The subframes are further divided into multiple slots of equal duration, each of which contains multiple OFDM-based symbols. NR may use the same DL and UL physical channels as LTE. In addition, the NR RRC layer adds a state called RRC_INACTIVE, which includes the RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED states, but has some properties similar to the "suspended" condition used in LTE.

[0012] In addition to providing coverage via "cells" as in LTE, NR networks also provide coverage via "beams". In general, a DL "beam" is a coverage area of ​​network transmitted RSs that can be measured or monitored by a UE. In NR, for example, such RSs can include SS / PBCH Blocks (SSBs), CSI-RSs, tertiary reference signals (or any other synchronization signals), positioning RSs (PRSs), demodulation related RSs (DMRSs), phase tracking reference signals (PTRSs), etc., either alone or in combination. In general, SSBs are available to all UEs regardless of RRC state, while other RSs (e.g., CSI-RSs, DM-RSs, PTRSs) are associated with a particular UE that has a network connection, i.e., is in RRC_CONNECTED state.

[0013] High-gain beamforming is often used at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies such that each beam is optimal only in a small area, and performance outside the optimal beam area degrades rapidly. Therefore, frequent and fast beam switching (e.g., within a single TRP or between TRPs) is often necessary to maintain satisfactory performance for UEs, especially at mmW frequencies.

[0014] To support such beam switching, a beam instruction framework is specified in NR. For example, the PDCCH downlink control information (DCI) contains a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) field that informs the UE which network beam is used for DL ​​data transmission so that the UE can adjust its receiving beam accordingly. However, prior to data transmission, a training phase is used to determine the preferred and / or optimal UL and DL beam configurations for the UE and the network. CSI-RS and SSB are used for DL ​​beam management operations including UE beam measurement reporting in this training phase.

[0015] NR Rel-16 supports multi-source transmission of DL data to UEs. In this context, the term "source" may refer to a beam, a panel, a transmit / receive point (TRP), etc. One type of multi-source transmission is noncoherent combining transmission (NCJT), which is a type of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission in which different layers and / or codewords are transmitted by different sources. Summary of the Invention

[0016] An NCJT extension targeted for NR Rel-17 is group-based beam reporting, which allows a UE to report N>1 beam groups and M>1 beams per group in a single CSI report, including beams within a group that can be received simultaneously by the UE. Yet, it is unclear how the UE can report such information in a manner that reduces and / or minimizes signaling overhead between the UE and the network.

[0017] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide specific improvements to communications between user equipment (UE) and network nodes in wireless networks, such as by providing, enabling, and / or facilitating solutions to overcome example problems summarized above and described in more detail below.

[0018] Embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for beam reporting in a wireless network (e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN). These example methods are executable by a UE (e.g., a wireless device, an IoT device, etc.).

[0019] The exemplary methods may include receiving a configuration of at least a first resource set and a second resource set from a network node of the wireless network. Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals. The reference signals in each resource set are associated with a respective spatial filtering configuration. The exemplary methods may also include performing measurements of the reference signals of at least the first resource set and the second resource set. The exemplary methods may also include sending a beam report to the network node including the measurements defined in at least the first group and the second group.

[0020] Each group includes measurements made on a first reference signal from a first resource set and a second reference signal from a second resource set, the first and second reference signals being received simultaneously by the UE, and one of the measurements included in the first group is expressed as an absolute value, while the other measurement included in the first group is expressed as a difference value relative to the absolute value included in the first group.

[0021] In some embodiments, each resource set is associated with one TRP, i.e., each resource set is associated with each TRP.

[0022] In some embodiments, the measurements in the first group expressed as absolute values ​​are measurements of a first reference signal in a first resource set. In some embodiments, other measurements in the first group expressed as differential values ​​include one or more measurements of a second reference signal in a second resource set. In some embodiments, the measurements included in the second group are expressed as differential values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group. In some embodiments, each group includes measurements made for up to one reference signal from each of the resource sets.

[0023] In some embodiments, for each group, the beam report also includes a respective reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal and the second reference signal. In some of these embodiments, the beam report is defined in a plurality of pre-configured bit fields, and each group of measurements is defined according to: A first bit field containing a measurement of a first reference signal a second bit field including a reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal; A third bit field containing the measurement of the second reference signal a fourth bit field containing a reference signal identifier associated with the second reference signal;

[0024] In some embodiments, these exemplary methods include receiving from a network node the Number of groups In some of these embodiments, the method may also include receiving a setting for the number of beams of the first group and the second group. In such a case, at least the first group and the second group are included in the beam report according to the set number. The number of groups The settings for are included in the settings for CSI reporting.

[0025] In some embodiments, each of the reference signals may be one of the following: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB). In some embodiments, each of the measurements for a reference signal is one of the following: a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR).

[0026] Other embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for performing beam management in a wireless network. These example methods may be performed by a network node (e.g., a base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or components thereof) in the wireless network (e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN).

[0027] The example methods may include sending a configuration of at least a first resource set and a second resource set to the UE. Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals. The reference signals in each resource set are associated with a respective spatial filtering configuration. The example methods may also include transmitting a reference signal including at least the first resource set and the second resource set. The example methods may also include receiving a beam report from the UE including measurements defined in at least the first group and the second group.

[0028] Each group includes measurements made by the UE on a first reference signal from a first resource set and a second reference signal from a second resource set, the first and second reference signals being transmitted simultaneously, one of the measurements included in the first group being expressed as an absolute value, while the other measurement included in the first group being expressed as a difference value relative to the absolute value included in the first group.

[0029] In some embodiments, each resource set is associated with one TRP, i.e., each resource set is associated with each TRP, in other words, the network node can transmit a reference signal including each resource set via each TRP.

[0030] In some embodiments, the measurements in the first group expressed as absolute values ​​are measurements of a first reference signal in a first resource set. In some embodiments, other measurements in the first group expressed as differential values ​​include one or more measurements of a second reference signal in a second resource set. In some embodiments, the measurements included in the second group are expressed as differential values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group. In some embodiments, each group includes measurements made for up to one reference signal from each of the resource sets.

[0031] In some embodiments, for each group, the beam report also includes a respective reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal and the second reference signal. In some of these embodiments, the beam report is defined in a number of pre-configured bit fields, and each group of measurements may be defined in the same or similar manner as summarized above for the UE embodiment.

[0032] In some embodiments, these exemplary methods include having the UE receive the measurement information to be included in the beam report. Number of groupsIn such a case, at least the first group and the second group are included in the beam report according to the configured number. The number of groups The settings for are included in the settings for CSI reporting.

[0033] In some embodiments, each of the reference signals may be one of the following: CSI-RS or SSB. In some embodiments, each of the measurements on the reference signals is one of the following: RSRP or SINR.

[0034] Other embodiments include UEs (e.g., wireless devices, IoT devices, etc., or components thereof) and network nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc., or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the example methods described herein. Other embodiments include non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit, configure such UEs or network nodes to perform operations corresponding to any of the example methods described herein.

[0035] These and other embodiments described herein provide flexible and efficient techniques that enable and / or facilitate efficient signaling of group-based beam reporting for multi-TRP (mTRP) scenarios. Such techniques can reduce signaling overhead for individual CSI reports, thereby facilitating the ability for earlier and / or more CSI reports from individual UEs, thereby improving beam management operations in wireless networks.

[0036] These and other objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description in light of the drawings briefly described below. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0037] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of an example LTE network architecture. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example LTE control plane (CP) protocol stack. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram of an example 5G / NR network architecture. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram of an example 5G / NR network architecture. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 illustrates an example frequency domain configuration for a 5G / NR UE. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an example time-frequency resource grid for an NR (e.g., 5G) slot. [Figure 7] A diagram showing an exemplary NR slot configuration. [Figure 8] A diagram showing an example beam training phase and data transmission phase. [Figure 9A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of non-coherent combining transmission (NCJT) with two transmit / receive points (TRPs) and one UE. [Figure 9B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of non-coherent combining transmission (NCJT) with two transmit / receive points (TRPs) and one UE. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of two TRPs and a UE according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 1 is a flow diagram of an example method (e.g., procedure) for a UE (e.g., a wireless device), in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of an example method (e.g., procedure) for a network node (e.g., a base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.) in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 13]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example wireless device or UE in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example network node in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example network configured to provide over-the-top (OTT) data services between a host computer and a UE, in accordance with various example embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0038] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, other embodiments are within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments described herein, but rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0039] In general, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless clearly given a different meaning and / or implied from the context in which they are used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless otherwise specified. The steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step, and / or if a step must necessarily follow or precede another step due to some dependency. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, where appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any of the embodiments may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the included embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

[0040] In addition, the following terminology is used throughout the description set forth below: Wireless Node: As used herein, a "wireless node" may be either a "wireless access node" or a "wireless device." Radio Access Node: As used herein, a "radio access node" (or equivalently, a "radio network node", "radio access network node", or "RAN node") may be any node in a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to transmit and / or receive signals wirelessly. Some examples of radio access nodes include, but are not limited to, base stations (e.g., a new radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3GPP fifth generation (5G) NR network, or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), high power or macro base stations, low power base stations (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, or a home base station, etc.), an integrated radio access backhaul (IAB) node, a transmission point, a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node. Core Network Node: As used herein, a "core network node" is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of core network nodes include, for example, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (SGW), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (AMF), a User Plane Function (UPF), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), etc. Wireless Device: As used herein, a "wireless device" (or "WD" for short) is any type of device that can access (i.e., be served by) a cellular communications network by wirelessly communicating with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Wireless communication may involve the transmission and / or reception of radio signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information over the air. Some examples of wireless devices include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), mobile type communications (MTC) devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, vehicle mounted wireless terminal devices, and the like. Unless otherwise noted, the term "wireless device" is used interchangeably herein with the term "user equipment" (or "UE" for short). Network Node: As used herein, a "network node" is any node that is part of either a radio access network (e.g., a radio access node or equivalent designation as discussed above) or a core network (e.g., a core network node as discussed above) of a cellular communications network. Functionally, a network node is equipment that enables, is configured to, is defined to, and / or is operable to communicate, directly or indirectly, with wireless devices and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, enable and / or provide wireless access to wireless devices, and / or other functions (e.g., management) in the cellular communications network.

[0041] It should be noted that the description herein focuses on 3GPP cellular communication systems, and as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is often used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to 3GPP systems. Furthermore, although the term "cell" is used herein, it should be understood that the concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams, since beams may be used instead of cells (especially with respect to 5G NR).

[0042] As briefly mentioned above, in NR, cell reselection measurements involve the UE calculating the parameters SS-RSRP and SS-RSRQ for the serving cell and neighboring cells. These parameters are typically calculated based on UE measurements of SSBs transmitted with a configured periodicity, e.g., 20 ms. Currently, the UE must rely on SSBs for cell reselection because there are no other DL RSs that are guaranteed to ensure that the UE is in a disconnected state (e.g., RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE). This uncertainty can lead to undesirable UE behavior, particularly in relation to energy consumption, which is discussed in more detail below after the following description of the NR network architecture and air interface.

[0043] 3 is a high-level diagram of a 5G network architecture consisting of a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 399 and a 5G Core (5GC) 398. The NG-RAN 399 can include a set of gNodeBs (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 300, 350 connected via interfaces 302, 352, respectively. Additionally, the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as an Xn interface 340 between gNB 300 and gNB 350. With respect to the NR interface to the UE, each of the gNBs can support Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), Time Division Duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.

[0044] The NG-RAN 399 is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL). The NG-RAN architecture, i.e. the NG-RAN logical nodes and the interfaces between them, are specified as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (NG, Xn, F1), the associated TNL protocols and functions are specified. The TNL provides user plane transport and signaling transport services. In some example configurations, each gNB is connected to all 5GC nodes within an "AMF domain", a term that is explained in more detail below.

[0045] The NG-RAN logical node shown in FIG. 3 includes a central (or centralized) unit (CU or gNB-CU) and one or more distributed (or distributed) units (DU or gNB-DU). For example, gNB 300 includes gNB-CU 310 and gNB-DU 320 and 340. The CU (e.g., gNB-CU 310) is a logical node that hosts higher layer protocols and performs various gNB functions, such as controlling the operation of the DU. Each DU is a logical node that hosts lower layer protocols and can include various subsets of gNB functions depending on the functional division. As such, each of the CU and DU can include various circuits necessary to perform their respective functions, including processing circuits, transceiver circuits (e.g., for communication), and power supply circuits. Furthermore, the terms "central unit" and "centralized unit" are used interchangeably in this specification, as are the terms "distributed unit" and "distributed unit".

[0046] The gNB-CU connects to the gNB-DU through respective F1 logical interfaces, such as interfaces 322 and 332 shown in Figure 3. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DU appear as gNBs only to other gNBs and 5GC. In other words, the F1 interface is not visible beyond the gNB-CU.

[0047] 4 illustrates a high-level diagram of another example 5G network architecture including an NG-RAN 499 and a 5GC 498. As illustrated in the figure, the NG-RAN 499 may include gNBs (e.g., 410a, 410b) and ng-eNBs (e.g., 420a, 420b) interconnected with each other via respective Xn interfaces. The gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected to the 5GC 498 via an NG interface, more specifically to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF, e.g., 430a, 430b) via respective NG-C interfaces, and to a User Plane Function (UPF, e.g., UPF 440a, 440b) via respective NG-U interfaces. Additionally, the AMF may communicate with one or more Policy Control Functions (PCF, e.g., 450a, 450b) and Network Publication Functions (NEF, e.g., 460a, 460b).

[0048] Each of the gNBs can support an NR air interface including frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof. In contrast, each of the ng-eNBs 420 can support an LTE air interface, but unlike a conventional LTE eNB (such as that shown in FIG. 1), can connect to the 5GC via an NG interface. Each of the gNBs and ng-eNBs can serve a geographic coverage area that includes one or more cells, including cells 411a-b and 421a-b shown illustratively in FIG. 4. As noted above, the gNBs and ng-eNBs can also use various directional beams to provide coverage in their respective cells. Depending on where a particular cell is located, the UE 405 can communicate with the gNB or ng-eNB serving that particular cell via the NR or LTE air interface, respectively.

[0049] Each of the gNGs 410 may include and / or be associated with multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs). Each TRP is typically an antenna array having one or more antenna elements and is located at a particular geographic location. Thus, a gNB associated with multiple TRPs may transmit the same or different signals from each of the TRPs. For example, a gNB may transmit different versions of the same signal in multiple TRPs to a single UE. Each of the TRPs may also use beams for transmission and reception toward UEs served by the gNB, as discussed above.

[0050] In multi-TRP operation, a UE receives from (or transmits to) multiple TRPs in the NG-RAN. Until NR Rel-16, these multiplexed transmissions were for a single carrier and associated with a single cell, as compared to carrier aggregation using multiple carriers / cells. A key benefit of multi-TRP operation is reliability due to spatial diversity provided by different transmission paths to / from each TRP. The basic operating principle of spatial diversity is that multiple copies of the same data payload are combined at the receiver to improve the receiver's ability to recover the data payload. More specifically, multi-TRP diversity helps to reduce both blocking due to obstructions (macro diversity) and fast fading due to a combination of signal reflections at the receiver.

[0051] FIG. 5 shows an example frequency domain configuration for an NR UE. In Rel-15 NR, the UE may be configured with up to four carrier bandwidth parts (BWPs) in the DL, with a single DL BWP active at a given time. The UE may be configured with up to four BWPs in the UL, with a single UL BWP active at a given time. If the UE is configured with auxiliary UL, the UE may be configured with up to four additional BWPs in the auxiliary UL, with a single auxiliary UL BWP active at a given time. In the example configuration of FIG. 5, the UE is configured with three DL (or UL) BWPs, labeled BWP0-2, respectively.

[0052] Common RBs (CRBs) are numbered from 0 to the end of the carrier bandwidth. Each BWP configured for a UE has a common reference of CRB0 (as shown in FIG. 5) so that a configured BWP may start at a CRB greater than 0. CRB0 may be identified by one of the following parameters provided by the network, as further specified in 3GPP TS38.211 section 4.4: PRB-index-DL-common for DL ​​in the primary cell (PCell, e.g., PCell or PSCell) -PRB-index-UL-common for UL in PCell ·PRB-index-DL-Dedicated for DL ​​in secondary cell (SCell) -PRB-index-UL-Dedicated for UL in SCell ·PRB-index-SUL-common for supplemental UL

[0053] Thus, a UE can be configured with a narrow BWP (e.g., 10 MHz) and a wide BWP (e.g., 100 MHz), each of which starts in a particular CRB, but only one BWP can be active for the UE at a given point in time. In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, BWPs 0-2 are each associated with CRB N.0 BWP , N 1 BWP , and N 2 BWP Within the BWP, the PRB is defined and starts at 0 to 5, BWPs 0-2 include PRBs N0-N1, N2, and N3, respectively.

[0054] Each NR resource element (RE) corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval. NR supports various SCS values ​​Δf = (15 × 2 μ ) kHz, where μ∈(0, 1, 2, 3, 4) is referred to as a "numerology". The numerology μ=0 (i.e., Δf=15 kHz) gives the basic (or reference) SCS that is also used in LTE. The symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) duration, and slot duration are inversely related to the SCS or numerology. For example, for Δf=15 kHz, there is one (1 ms) slot per subframe, for Δf=30 kHz, there are two 0.5 ms slots per subframe, etc. Furthermore, the maximum carrier bandwidth is 2 μ* 50 MHz. Table 1 below summarizes the supported NR numerologies and associated parameters. Different DL and UL numerologies can be configured by the network. TIFF0007649864000002.tif102170

[0055] Figure 6 shows an example time-frequency resource grid for an NR slot. As shown in Figure 6, a resource block (RB) consists of a group of 12 consecutive OFDM subcarriers with a duration of a 14-symbol slot. As in LTE, a resource element (RE) consists of one subcarrier in one slot. An NR slot can contain 14 OFDM symbols for the normal cyclic prefix and 12 symbols for the extended cyclic prefix.

[0056] In general, an NR physical channel corresponds to a set of REs that carry information originating from higher layers. Downlink (DL, i.e., gNB to UE) physical channels include a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

[0057] The PDSCH is the primary physical channel used for unicast downlink data transmission, but is also used to transmit RARs (random access responses), certain system information blocks (SIBs), and paging information. The PBCH carries the basic system information (SI) required for a UE to access a cell. The PDCCH is used to transmit DL control information (DCI), including scheduling information for DL ​​messages on the PDSCH, grants for UL transmissions on the PUSCH, and channel quality feedback (e.g., CSI) for the UL channel.

[0058] Uplink (UL, i.e., UE to gNB) physical channels include the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). The PUSCH is the uplink counterpart of the PDSCH. The PUCCH is used by the UE to transmit uplink control information (UCI), including HARQ feedback for gNB DL transmissions, channel quality feedback (e.g., CSI) for DL ​​channels, scheduling requests (SR), etc. The PRACH is used for random access preamble transmissions.

[0059] Within the NR DL, certain REs within each subframe are reserved for the transmission of reference signals (RS). These include demodulation reference signals (DM-RS) that are transmitted to assist the UE in receiving the associated PDCCH or PDSCH. Other DL reference signals include positioning reference signals (PRS) and CSI reference signals (CSI-RS), which are monitored by the UE to provide channel quality feedback (e.g., CSI) for the DL channel. Phase tracking RS (PTRS) is used by the UE to identify common phase errors (CPEs) present in the subcarriers of a received DL OFDM symbol. DL signals, like other RSs, include primary synchronization sequences (PSS) and secondary synchronization sequences (SSS), which facilitate the UE's time and frequency synchronization and acquisition of system parameters (e.g., via the PBCH). The PSS, SSS, and PBCH are collectively referred to as the SS / PBCH block (SSB).

[0060] FIG. 7 illustrates another exemplary NR slot structure that includes 14 symbols. In this configuration, the PDCCH is restricted to a region that contains a specific number of symbols and a specific number of subcarriers, referred to as the Control Resource Set (CORESET). In general, the CORESET includes multiple RBs (i.e., multiples of 12 REs) in the frequency domain and one to three OFDM symbols in the time domain. In the exemplary structure illustrated in FIG. 7, the first two symbols contain the PDCCH, and each of the remaining 12 symbols contains a Physical Data Channel (PDCH), i.e., either a PDSCH or a PUSCH. However, the first two slots may also carry a PDSCH or other information, if necessary, depending on the particular CORESET configuration (discussed below).

[0061] The smallest unit for defining a CORESET is a Resource Element Group (REG), which spans one PRB in frequency and one OFDM symbol in time. CORESET resources may be indicated to the UE by RRC signaling.

[0062] In addition to the PDCCH, each REG in the CORESET contains a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) to aid in estimating the wireless channel on which the REG was transmitted. When transmitting the PDCCH, a precoder can be used to add weights at the transmit antenna based on some knowledge of the wireless channel prior to transmission. If the precoders used at the transmitter for the REGs are not different, it is possible to improve the channel estimation performance at the UE by estimating the channel over multiple REGs that are close in time and frequency. To aid the UE's channel estimation, multiple REGs may be grouped together to form a REG bundle, and the REG bundle size for the CORESET (i.e., 2, 3, or 5 REGs) may be indicated to the UE. The UE may assume that the precoder used for the transmission of the PDCCH is the same for all REGs in the REG bundle.

[0063] Similar to LTE, NR data scheduling can be performed dynamically, e.g., on a slot-by-slot basis. In each slot, a base station (e.g., gNB) transmits downlink control information (DCI) on the PDCCH, indicating which UEs are scheduled to receive data in that slot and which RBs carry the data. The UE first detects and decodes the DCI, and if the DCI includes DL scheduling information for the UE, the UE receives the corresponding PDSCH based on the DL scheduling information. DCI formats 1_0 and 1_1 are used to convey PDSCH scheduling.

[0064] Similarly, the DCI on the PDCCH may include an UL grant indicating which UE is scheduled to transmit data on the PUCCH in that slot and which RB carries that data. The UE first detects and decodes the DCI, and if the DCI includes an uplink grant for the UE, the UE transmits the corresponding PUSCH on the resource indicated by the UL grant. DCI formats 0_0 and 0_1 are used to convey UL grants for PUSCH, and other DCI formats (2_0, 2_1, 2_2, and 2_3) are used for other purposes, including transmitting slot format information, reserved resources, transmit power control information, etc.

[0065] In NR Rel-15, DCI formats 0_0 / 1_0 are referred to as "fallback DCI formats" and DCI formats 0_1 / 1_1 are referred to as "non-fallback DCI formats". Fallback DCI supports resource allocation type 1, where the DCI size depends on the size of the active BWP. As such, DCI formats 0_1 / 1_1 are targeted to scheduling a single transport block (TB) transmission with limited flexibility. On the other hand, non-fallback DCI formats can provide flexible TB scheduling with multi-layer transmission.

[0066] The DCI comprises a payload that is complemented by a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) of the payload data. Because the DCI is sent on a PDCCH that is received by multiple UEs, the identifier of the targeted UE needs to be included. In NR, this is done by scrambling the CRC with the Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) assigned to the UE. Most commonly, the Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) assigned to the targeted UE by the serving cell is used for this purpose.

[0067] The DCI payload is coded with a CRC scrambled with the identifier and transmitted on the PDCCH. Given the previously set search space, each UE attempts to detect the PDCCH addressed to that search space according to multiple hypotheses (also called "candidates") in a process known as "blind decoding". The PDCCH candidates span 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 CCEs, the number of CCEs being called the aggregation level (AL) of the PDCCH candidates. If more than one CCE is used, the information in the first CCE is repeated in the other CCEs. By varying the AL, the PDCCH can be made more or less robust for a certain payload size. In other words, PDCCH link adaptation is possible by adjusting the AL. Depending on the AL, the PDCCH candidates can be located at different time-frequency locations in the CORESET.

[0068] A hashing function can be used to determine the CCEs corresponding to the PDCCH candidates that the UE must monitor in the search space set. The hashing is performed differently for different UEs. In this way, the CCEs used by the UE are randomized and the probability of collision between multiple UEs with messages included in the CORESET is reduced. When the UE decodes the DCI, the UE descrambles the CRC with the RNTI assigned to the UE and / or associated with the particular PDCCH search space. In case of a match, the UE considers the detected DCI as addressed to the UE and follows the instructions (e.g., scheduling information) in the DCI.

[0069] For example, to determine the modulation order, target code rate, and TB size for a scheduled PDSCH transmission, the UE first determines the modulation order (Q m) and the target code rate (R), the 5-bit modulation coding scheme field (I MCS The UE then reads the redundancy version field (rv) in the DCI to determine the redundancy version. ... PRB Based on this information together with the PDSCH (transport block size) and the PDSCH (transport block size), the UE determines the transport block size (TBS) for the PDSCH according to the procedure specified in 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.0.0 clause 5.1.3.2.

[0070] High-gain beamforming is often used at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies such that each beam is optimal only in a small area, and performance outside the optimal beam area degrades rapidly. Therefore, frequent and fast beam switching (e.g., within a single TRP or between TRPs) is often necessary to maintain satisfactory performance for UEs, especially at mmW frequencies.

[0071] Beam management is specified for NR Rel-15 and later. Its features are used to keep track of suitable beams for transmission and reception. Network nodes using analog beamforming with constant beam grid transmission schemes typically continuously monitor beam candidates, for example, by evaluating UE reports of Layer 1 (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) per beam. The UE performs such measurements for the SSBs associated with each beam.

[0072] In general, the NR beam management framework allows the network to inform the UE of the spatial relationship between beams and facilitates beam tracking on the UE side. Before initiating a random access channel (RACH) procedure towards the network, the UE measures a set of SSBs to select a suitable SSB. The UE then transmits on the RACH resource associated with the selected SSB. The corresponding beam will be used for both the UE and the network to communicate until the beam management in the RRC_CONNECTED state is active. The network infers which SSB beam has been selected by the UE without any explicit signaling. This procedure for finding the first beam is often denoted as P1.

[0073] The network can use the SSB beam as an indication of which (narrow) CSI-RS beams to try, i.e., the candidate set of narrow CSI-RS beams for beam management is based on the best SSB beam. When CSI-RS is transmitted, the UE measures the RSRP and reports the result to the network. If the network receives a CSI-RSRP report from the UE indicating that the new CSI-RS beam is better than the beam used to transmit the PDCCH / PDSCH, the network updates the serving beam for that UE accordingly (and possibly also modifies the candidate set of CSI-RS beams).

[0074] The network can also instruct the UE to make measurements on the SSB. If the network receives a UE report indicating that a new SSB beam is better than the previous best SSB beam, it may cause a corresponding update of the candidate set of CSI-RS beams for the UE. This improved procedure is often referred to as P2.

[0075] Upon entering the RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE is configured with a set of reference signals. Based on beam management / L1 measurements, the UE determines which of its DL beams is suitable for receiving each reference signal in the set. The network then indicates which reference signal is associated with the beam that will be used to transmit the PDCCH / PDSCH, and the UE uses this information to adjust its DL beam when receiving the PDCCH / PDSCH. The PDCCH beam and the PDSCH beam can be the same if no additional signaling is required.

[0076] For example, the PDCCH DCI contains a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) field that informs the UE which network beam is used for data transmission on the PDSCH so that the UE can adjust its receive (Rx) beam accordingly. This can be particularly beneficial for analog Rx beamforming, where the UE needs to determine and apply Rx beamforming weights before it can receive the PDSCH.

[0077] In the following, the terms "beamforming weights", "spatial filtering weights" and "spatial filtering settings" refer to complex-valued weights applied to antenna signals at either the transmitter (network node or UE) and receiver (UE or network node) to facilitate data control transmission and / or reception. Different propagation environments may result in different spatial filtering weights that align the transmission / reception of signals to the propagation channel. Strictly speaking, spatial filtering weights may not always result in a beam.

[0078] When the network updates its serving DL transmission beam for a UE, the UE may need to update its corresponding DL receiving beam. To accomplish this, the network repeatedly transmits CSI-RS on the new serving transmission beam while the UE changes its receiving beam. The UE can then select the best receiving beam and associate this beam with the measured reference signal. This procedure is often referred to as P3.

[0079] Several signals can be transmitted from the same base station (e.g., gNB) antenna from different antenna ports. These signals can have the same large-scale properties, such as with respect to parameters including Doppler shift / spread, average delay spread, and / or average delay. These antenna ports are said to be "quasi-colocated" or "QCL". The network can signal to the UE that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to one or more parameters. Once the UE knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a particular parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the UE can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and use the estimate when receiving the other antenna port. Typically, the first antenna port is represented by a measurement reference signal, such as a CSI-RS (referred to as the "source RS"), and the second antenna port is represented by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (referred to as the "target RS").

[0080] For example, if antenna ports A and B are QCL in terms of average delay, the UE can estimate the average delay from the signal received from antenna port A (source RS) and assume that the signal received from antenna port B (target RS) has the same average delay. This can be useful for demodulation because when the UE attempts to measure the channel using DMRS, the channel properties can be known in advance.

[0081] Information regarding what assumptions can be made regarding the QCL is signaled from the network to the UE. In NR, four types of QCL relationships between the transmitted source RS and the transmitted target RS are defined: Type A: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread} Type B: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} Type C: {average delay, Doppler shift} Type D: {Spatial Rx parameters} QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management using analog beamforming and is known as "spatial QCL". Currently, there is no strict definition of spatial QCL, but what is understood is that if two transmitted antenna ports are spatially QCL, the UE can use the same Rx beam to receive the antenna ports. When the QCL relationship is signaled to the UE, it includes not only information about a particular QCL type (e.g., A, B, C, or D), but also the serving cell index, BWP index, and source reference signal identity (CSI-RS, TRS, or SSB).

[0082] Although QCL Type D is most relevant for beam management, QCL Type D is also needed to communicate Type A QCL RS relations to the UE so that the UE can estimate all relevant large-scale parameters. Typically, this can be done by configuring the UE with a tracking reference signal (TRS, e.g., CSI-RS) for time / frequency offset estimation. To be able to use any QCL reference, the UE will have to receive the QCL reference with a sufficiently good signal-to-interference-plus-noise power ratio (SINR). In many cases, this forces the TRS for a particular UE to be transmitted on a particular beam and / or beam configuration.

[0083] In other words, two signals are said to be transmitted in the same direction or via the same downlink beam when they are QCL type D. If the UE knows that a signal is spatially QCL because there is some other signal received earlier in a particular RX beam, the UE can ensure that it uses the same RX beam to receive this signal. Thus, the network can provide this relationship between the channel being decoded (e.g., PDCCH / PDSCH) and a signal known to be transmitted in a certain direction, such as CSI-RS, SSB, etc., that can be used as a reference by the UE.

[0084] To introduce dynamics into beam and TRP selection, the UE may be configured through RRC signaling with N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, where N is up to 128 for Frequency Range 2 (FR2, e.g., above 6 GHz) and up to 8 for FR1 (e.g., below 6 GHz), depending on the UE capabilities. Each configured TCI state contains parameters for QCL association between a source RS (e.g., CSI-RS or SS / PBCH) and a target RS (e.g., PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS antenna port). The TCI state can also be used to convey QCL information for reception of the CSI-RS. The N states in the list of TCI states may represent N possible beams transmitted by the network, N possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE, or a combination of one or more beams transmitted from one or more TRPs. It can be interpreted as:

[0085] As a more specific example, the PDSCH may be transmitted to the UE from multiple TRPs. Different TRPs may be located at different physical locations and have different beams, so the propagation channels may be different. To facilitate reception of PDSCH data from different TRPs or beams, the UE may be configured in multiple TCI states by the RRC. Each TCI state contains QCL information between the DMRS for the PDSCH and one or two DL reference signals, such as NZP CSI-RS or SSB. Different NZP CSI-RS or SSBs may be associated with different TRPs or beams. The QCL information is usable by the UE to provide the DMRS of the PDSCH with large-scale channel characteristics associated with the DL reference signals (e.g., NZP CSI-RS or SSB) for channel estimation and PDSCH reception.

[0086] More specifically, each TCI state may contain IDs along with QCL information for one or two source DL RSs, where each source RS is associated with a QCL type, serving cell index, BWP index, and source reference signal identity (CSI-RS, TRS, or SSB). For example, two different CSI-RSs {CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2} are configurable in a TCI state as {qcl-Type1, qcl-Type2}={Type A, Type D}. The UE may interpret this TCI state to mean that the UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and spatial Rx parameters (e.g., RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2. If QCL Type D is not applicable (e.g., low or mid-band operation), the TCI state contains only a single source RS. However, unless specifically stated, references to a "pair" of source RSs include the case of a single source RS.

[0087] Moreover, a first list of available TCI states may be configured for the PDSCH and a second list may be configured for the PDCCH. This second list may contain a pointer, known as a TCI state ID, to a subset of the TCI states configured for the PDSCH. For a UE operating in FR1, the network may also activate one TCI state for the PDCCH (i.e., by providing a TCI to the UE) and up to eight TCI states for the PDSCH, depending on the UE capabilities.

[0088] As an example, the UE may be configured with 4 active TCI states from a list of a total of 64 configured TCI states. A subset of the RRC configured TCI states may be activated by the MAC CE for PDSCH. The UE does not need to be prepared to estimate large-scale parameters for configured but inactive TCI states. On the other hand, the UE continuously tracks and updates the large-scale parameters for the active TCI states by making measurements and analyses of the source RS indicated for each of those active TCI states.

[0089] One or two of the activated TCI states may be dynamically selected and indicated in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH depending on which TRP or beam carries the PDSCH. Each code point of the TCI field in the DCI provides a pointer (or index) to one or two active TCI states for the scheduled UE. A TCI field code point indicating one TCI state can be used to transmit the PDSCH from a single TRP or a single beam. If the TCI field code point indicates two TCI states, the PDSCH can be transmitted from two TRPs or two beams. Based on the particular code point, the UE knows which large-scale parameters are estimated to use when performing PDSCH DMRS channel estimation and PDSCH demodulation.

[0090] The beam management procedure discussed above includes a beam training phase that is used to determine preferred and / or optimal UL and DL beam settings for the UE and network prior to data transmission. Figure 8 illustrates an exemplary beam training phase followed by an exemplary data transmission phase. In this example, CSI-RS is used to find a suitable beam pair link (BPL), which includes a suitable network transmit spatial filtering setting (e.g., gNB Tx beam) and a suitable UE receive spatial filtering setting (e.g., UE Rx beam) that results in a satisfactory link budget.

[0091] In the example shown in FIG. 8, in gNB Tx beam sweeping, the gNB configures the UE to measure on a set of five (5) CSI-RS resources (RS1-RS5) transmitted with five different spatial filtering configurations (e.g., gNB Tx beams). The UE is also configured to report back the RS ID, as well as the maximum measured RSRP, and the RS ID of this CSI-RS for which the CSI-RS was measured. In this example, the maximum measured RSRP corresponds to RS4. In this way, the gNB learns the preferred Tx beam from the UE perspective.

[0092] In the subsequent UE Rx beam sweep, the gNB transmits several CSI-RS resources in different OFDM symbols using the same spatial filtering setting (e.g., gNB Tx beam) used to transmit RS4 earlier. The UE tries to maximize the measured RSRP by applying different Rx spatial filtering settings (e.g., UE Rx beam) in each OFDM symbol. The UE remembers the RS ID (RS ID6 in this example) and the corresponding spatial filtering setting for which the maximum measured RSRP occurred. The network can then refer to this RS ID in the future when DL data is scheduled to the UE, thus allowing the UE to adjust the UE's Rx spatial filtering setting (Rx beam) for receiving the PDSCH. As mentioned above, the RS ID is contained in the TCI that is conveyed in a field in the DCI that schedules the PDSCH.

[0093] As briefly mentioned above, NR Rel-16 supports multi-source transmission (also referred to as NC-JT) from the PDSCH to the UE, where the MIMO layers carrying the mapped codewords (CWs) can be transmitted over multiple TRPs in various ways. For example, when the UE has four receive antennas and each of the TRPs has only two transmit antennas, the UE can support up to four MIMO layers. In this case, by transmitting data to the UE over two TRPs, the peak data rate to the UE can be increased because up to four aggregated layers from the two TRPs are available. This is beneficial when the traffic load and / or resource utilization is low in each TRP, because resources in the two TRPs are available to schedule one UE.

[0094] FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary NCJT configuration in which PDSCH is sent to a UE from two TRPs, each carrying a different CW. For example, when a UE has four receive antennas and each of the TRPs has only two transmit antennas, the UE can support up to four MIMO layers. In this case, by transmitting data to the UE via two TRPs, the peak data rate to the UE can be increased because up to four aggregated layers from the two TRPs are available. This is beneficial when traffic load and / or resource utilization is low in each TRP, thereby facilitating scheduling resources in two TRPs for one UE. This technique can also be beneficial when the UE is in line of sight (LOS) of both TRPs and the rank per TRP (i.e., the maximum number of layers that a UE can receive from one TRP) is less than the transmit antennas available in each TRP, thereby allowing the UE to receive more layers than a single TRP can deliver. This technique can also be beneficial when the maximum number of layers a TRP can transmit is less than the number of layers a UE can receive. In such cases, utilizing two or more TRPs can increase the spectral efficiency of communications to the UE.

[0095] This type of NC-JT is also supported in LTE with two TRPs. For CSI feedback, the UE is configured with a CSI process with two NZP CSI-RS resources (i.e., one for each TRP) and one interference measurement resource. The UE may report one of the following: CRI=0, which indicates that CSI is calculated and reported only for the first NZP CSI-RS resource (i.e., RI, PMI, and CQI associated with the first NZP CSI-RS resource are reported). This is the case when the UE considers that the best throughput is achieved by transmitting a PDSCH over the TRP or a beam associated with the first NZP CSI-RS resource. CRI=1, which indicates that CSI is calculated and reported only for the second NZP CSI-RS resource (i.e., RI, PMI, and CQI associated with the second NZP CSI-RS resource are reported). This is the case when the UE considers that the best throughput is achieved by transmitting the PDSCH over the TRP or the beam associated with the second NZP CSI-RS resource. CRI=2, which indicates that CSI is calculated and reported for both two NZP CSI-RS resources. In this case, two sets of CSI, each for one CW, are calculated and reported based on the two NZP CSI-RS resources and by considering the inter-CW interference caused by the other CW. The reported RI combinations are restricted to be |RI1-RI2|≦1, where RI1 and RI2 correspond to the ranks associated with the first and second NZP CSI-RS, respectively.

[0096] In NR Rel-16, a different NCJT approach is adopted in which a single CW is transmitted across multiple TRPs. Figure 9B shows another example NCJT configuration in which the PDSCH is sent to the UE from two TRPs, each carrying a different MIMO layer of a single CW.

[0097] An extension of NCJT targeted for NR Rel-17 is group-based beam reporting, which allows a UE to report N>1 beam groups and M>1 beams per group in a single CSI report, including beams in the group that can be received simultaneously by the UE. There are several existing techniques for group-based beam reporting for multiple TRPs. One such technique includes an indication signaled from the gNB to the UE with information about which DL-RS are transmitted for the same and / or different TRPs. The UE can use this information to extend group-based beam reporting by including beams associated with two different TRPs in a beam group. This improves the possibility to perform NC-JT and dynamic point selection.

[0098] The following options are targeted for group-based beam reporting in NR Rel-17: 1. In CSI reporting, the UE can report N>1 pairs / groups and M≧1 beams per pair / group. Different beams in different pairs / groups can be received simultaneously. · It is further examined whether M is the same or different across different pairs / groups (FFS). 2. In CSI reporting, the UE may report N≧1 pairs / groups and M>1 beams per pair / group. Different beams in a pair / group can be received simultaneously. 3. The UE reports M≧1 beams in N>1 CSI reports corresponding to N reporting configurations. Different beams in different CSI reports can be received simultaneously. ·FFS if / how they are implementing linkages between different CSI reports. FFS on whether / how to distinguish between reported measurements on beams that are received simultaneously and those on beams that are not received simultaneously, e.g. whether / how to introduce an indication along with the CSI report to indicate whether beams in different CSI reports are receiveable simultaneously.

[0099] The following issues related to the above options for group-based beam reporting are unspecified and / or FFS: The values ​​of N and M for each option. · Association between different beams and different TRP / UE panels in the above options. Identify new use cases for each option compared to R16 (including backhaul). · Whether different beams in different pairs / groups / reports can be received by the same spatial filter as per option.

[0100] Additionally, several options are directed to the configuration of the resource set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) in group-based beam reporting for NR Rel-17. In general, the CMRs correspond to the NZP CSI-RS resources used by the UE to measure the channel. These options include: A. CSI resource configuration retains the existing CSI framework consisting of a single CMR resource set. Different CMR resources can be associated with different TRPs. The UE is allowed to report beams associated with different TRPs. A TRP identifier is required for each CMR resource. B. Slightly modify the CSI framework so that the CSI resource configuration consists of multiple CMR resource sets, each associated with a different TRP. The UE is allowed to report beam pairs / groups consisting of beams associated with different TRPs.

[0101] The above Option 2 for group-based beam reporting configuration is based on the Rel-16 provisions, which means that the CSI report consists of N=2 beam pairs / groups that can be received by the UE simultaneously. The goal of Option 2 is to extend the number of beam pairs / groups beyond 1. The signaling technique for efficient reporting of CSI reporting with Option 2 is still to be determined. Moreover, this will add additional undesirable complexity to CSI reporting if the above CMR configuration Option B is adopted.

[0102] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure provide flexible and efficient techniques that enable and / or facilitate efficient signaling of group-based beam reporting for multi-TRP (mTRP) scenarios. Such techniques can reduce signaling overhead for individual CSI reporting, thereby facilitating the ability for earlier and / or more CSI reporting by individual UEs, thereby improving beam management operations.

[0103] The term "TRP" may be used in the following discussion to refer to hardware elements associated with a base station. However, this term may also refer to or be associated with a logical set of resources, such as: The TRP identifier configured for the respective SSB or NZP CSI-RS (e.g., option A above), or An SSB resource set or an NZP CSI-RS resource set (e.g., option B above).

[0104] The following description is based on the UE being configured for group-based beam reporting, whereby the UE reports N groups of beams, where each group includes two beams that can be received by the UE simultaneously. The following description is also based on the UE making measurements on two sets of DL-RS. There is an applicable scenario in which the gNB can transmit at most one DL RS in each group, which may be the case where a first set of DL-RS is associated with a first TRP (or gNB panel) and a second set of DL-RS is associated with a second TRP (or gNB panel).

[0105] Figure 10 shows an example configuration of two TRPs and a UE illustrating this scenario. In Figure 10, the gNB indicates to the UE (1030) that a first set of DL-RSs (SSB1, SSB2, SSB3) originates from TRP1 (1010) and a second set of DL-RSs (SSB4, SSB5, SSB6) originates from TRP2 (1020). The configuration shown in Figure 10 is used as the basis for the following description and explanation of various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0106] Note that a beam group corresponds to a transmission hypothesis. If a gNB transmits two signals (e.g., PDCCH DM-RS, PDSCH DM-RS, NZP CSI-RS) simultaneously, and if the first signal uses a first reported DL-RS in a group as a QCL source and the second signal uses a second reported DL-RS in the same group as a QCL reference, then the UE can receive both signals simultaneously.

[0107] In some embodiments, the UE's group-based beam report includes one DL-RS from each of the M resource sets (corresponding to the M TRPs) for each beam group in the report. The following is an example structure of a beam report (M=2) according to these embodiments, where the UE reports three beam groups (1, 2, 3): ·Beam Report Group ID 1 SSB1, RSRP1 SSB4, RSRP4 Group ID 2 SSB2, RSRP2 SSB5, RSRP5 Group ID 3 SSB2, RSRP2 SSB4, RSRP4

[0108] It should be noted that the RSRP of each beam can be either absolute (e.g., relative to the RSRP of the strongest beam) or relative / differential. In some embodiments, an absolute RSRP may be reported for the first DL RS in the first group. RSRPs corresponding to the remaining DL-RSs (e.g., the second DL-RS in the first group and DL-RSs in groups other than the first group) may be reported as relative RSRPs to the absolute RSRP reported for the first DL-RS in the first group. It should be noted that although RSRP is shown as an exemplary measurement quality or metric, other relevant measurement qualities or metric (eg, SINR) may be reported in place of RSRP.

[0109] In the above variation, the UE's group-based beam report includes one DL-RS from each of the M TRP identifiers.

[0110] In the above example, a particular DL-RS is reported multiple times in different groups: SSB2 in group IDs 2 and 3, SSB4 in group IDs 1 and 3. This means that the same RSRP is reported twice for the same beam / DL-RS, thereby requiring extra signaling overhead. In some embodiments, the RSRP of any particular beam / DL-RS is included at most once in the UE report. For example, when the same DL-RS is included in multiple beam groups, the RSRP is reported only in the beam group with the smallest beam group ID. In this way, the number of bits required in the beam report can be reduced. Below is an exemplary structure of a beam report (M=2) according to these embodiments, where the UE reports three beam groups (1, 2, 3): ·Beam Report Group ID 1 SSB1, RSRP1 SSB4, RSRP4 Group ID 2 SSB2, RSRP2 SSB5, RSRP5 Group ID 3 ·SSB2 ·SSB4 As can be seen above, the reported information for group ID 3 does not include the RSRPs reported in association with groups IDs 1 and 2.

[0111] One consequence of not including RSRP in multiple groups is that the number of bits required in the beam report (i.e., uplink control information, UCI associated with the beam report) becomes variable. For example, if SSB6 is included in group 3 instead of SSB2, the beam report will require a different number of bits since the RSRP value must be reported for SSB6. Such a varying number of bits in the bit report increases the decoding complexity at the gNB, but this is not noticeable prior to the UCI payload of the beam report.

[0112] To alleviate this difficulty, one solution is to split the beam report into two parts: a first part that contains information to help the gNB determine the UCI size, and a second part that contains different numbers of RSRP components reported in different group IDs. The following is an example of a beam report according to these embodiments: ·Beam Report ·Part 1 Number of absolute RSRPs reported in group ID 1 = 1 · Number of absolute RSRPs reported in group ID 2 = 0 · Number of absolute RSRPs reported in group ID 3 = 0 Number of relative RSRPs reported in group ID 1 = 1 Number of relative RSRPs reported in group ID 2 = 2 Number of relative RSRPs reported in group ID 3 = 0 ·Part 2 Group ID 1 SSB1, RSRP1 (absolute) SSB4, RSRP4 (relative) Group ID 2 SSB2, RSRP2 (relative) SSB5, RSRP5 (relative) Group ID 3 ·SSB2 ·SSB4

[0113] Note that indicating the number of absolute and relative RSRPs per group ID is required here because a different number of bits are used for absolute and relative RSRPs. For example, according to 3GPP TS 38.212, 7 bits are used for absolute RSRP and 4 bits are used for relative RSRP. Thus, from part 1, the number of absolute and relative RSRPs in part 2 is known, which informs the gNB about the number of UCI bits in the beam report.

[0114] In some embodiments, if there is a rule and / or predetermined requirement that the absolute RSRP for only the first DL-RS of the first group (e.g., group ID 1) is reported, the number of absolute RSRPs per group does not need to be included in part 1 of the beam report.

[0115] Although the embodiments described above include explicit beam group IDs, these may be implicit in other embodiments. In other words, the bits used to report the DL-RS index and the corresponding RSRP index may be implicitly known based on the specification and / or pre-configuration using RRC. Table 2 below shows an example structure of a beam report using an explicit group ID, for example, as discussed above. TIFF0007649864000003.tif55170

[0116] The exemplary beam report shown in Table 2 can be modified to use dedicated bit fields to report DL-RS / beam and RSRP for each beam group. For example, such a report can include a 12 bit field defined as follows: Bit fields 1 and 2 indicate DL-RS index for beam group 1. Bit fields 3 and 4 indicate DL-RS index for beam group 2. Bit fields 5 and 6 indicate DL-RS index for beam group 3. Bit fields 7 and 8 indicate RSRP for DL-RS1 and 2. Bit fields 9 and 10 indicate RSRP for DL-RS3 and 4. Bit fields 11 and 12 indicate RSRP for DL-RS5 and 6.

[0117] In a similar manner as discussed above, the RSRP of any particular beam / DL-RS may be included at most once in the UE report. For example, the RSRP bit field allocated for the DL-RS may be omitted the second and subsequent times the DL-RS appears in the beam group in the beam report. The receiving gNB may implicitly interpret this omission as being the same RSRP value conveyed by the bit field associated with the DL-RS in its first occurrence in the beam report. This interpretation may be part of the 3GPP specification and / or may be preconfigured using RRC signaling.

[0118] In the above described embodiment, the UE does not inform the gNB as to whether the UE applies the same or different UE antenna panels to the two reported beams in each beam group. For example, the 3GPP specification states that the UE shall be capable of receiving two reported beams simultaneously, but it is possible for the UE to use the same beam on the same UE panel when receiving both beams in a beam group (e.g., analog beamforming).

[0119] In such a case, assuming each UE panel has a maximum of two RX chains, the gNB will be unable to perform NC-JT from two TRPs with ranks higher than two (2). Since the gNB is unaware of this limitation and / or restriction, the UE may attempt to schedule further CSI reports from both TRPs to facilitate NC-JT that is not feasible, resulting in unnecessary signaling overhead. In some embodiments, the UE may indicate in the CSI report whether two reported beams belonging to the same beam group are received by the same or different UE panels.

[0120] As shown in FIG. 10, the UE has three virtual panels (P1-P3), each of which can generate three different beams for a total of nine beams (labeled B1-B9). In these embodiments, the UE's group-based beam report can include, for each reported DL-RS / beam, the virtual UE panel index (P1, P2, or P3) used to receive the DL-RS / beam. In this way, the gNB will know for each reported beam group whether the same or different UE panel IDs are used by the UE to receive the two beams of the beam group. Table 3 below shows an example structure of a beam report according to these embodiments. TIFF0007649864000004.tif77170

[0121] Note that if the DL-RS is signaled multiple times, the Virtual Panel ID can be removed from the report in the same way as the RSRP. This is shown as "already included" in Table 3. Note that removing the Virtual Panel ID of a DL-RS that has been signaled multiple times may result in a changing number of bits in the beam report (e.g., UCI size) in a similar manner as discussed above for the RSRP. The two-part beam reporting structure discussed above can be used to alleviate this difficulty, where the number of Virtual Panel IDs with their respective Group IDs included are reported in part 1, and the SSB / RSRP / Virtual Panel IDs are included in part 2.

[0122] Nevertheless, indicating the virtual panel ID of each reported beam (as in Table 3 above) requires substantial signaling overhead. In the example shown in FIG. 10, with a UE having nine different UE panels, four (4) bits are required to report the virtual panel ID of each reported beam. Reporting four beam groups with two beams per group requires 32 bits of signaling overhead. One way to alleviate this problem is to use a single bit or flag to indicate whether the same or different UE panels were used for two reported beams of a beam group. This requires only one bit per beam group being reported. Table 4 below shows an example structure of a beam report according to these embodiments. TIFF0007649864000005.tif87170

[0123] The UE may turn off one of the two RX panels (e.g., two of the four RX chains) to reduce energy consumption. Although the UE may have only one active UE RX panel at a given time during SSB RSRP measurement, it may still report SSB beams (and measured RSRPs) from multiple different UE panels because the UE will activate different panels at different times during SSB reception. It may be useful for the gNB to know whether the UE has one or two RX panels active, which may be indicated in the UE's beam report in some embodiments. Table 5 below shows an example structure of a beam report according to these embodiments, which includes a flag (e.g., one bit) indicating whether one or two panels were active for the UE reception. TIFF0007649864000006.tif87170

[0124] As previously mentioned above, if two signals are received on the same panel, the UE can only receive the signal with a rank equal to the maximum number of RX chains connected to one panel (e.g., 2). If two signals are received on different panels, the maximum rank of the received signal may be larger (e.g., 4). Therefore, in some embodiments, the UE may include the maximum rank of the respective beam group in the beam report rather than signaling a virtual panel ID as discussed above. Table 6 below shows an example structure of a beam report according to these embodiments. TIFF0007649864000007.tif77170

[0125] Although the UE can make measurements for many DL-RSs and form many groups, the beam report can only include a limited number of groups due to signaling constraints. As such, the UE may be required to select a subset of possible beam groups. In some embodiments, the UE sorts the groups based on the sum of the two RSRP values ​​per group and selects the few beam groups with the highest sum. In other embodiments, the UE sorts the groups based on the maximum rank and selects the few beam groups with the highest maximum rank. The number of groups selected can be configurable by the gNB or determined by the UE.

[0126] In some embodiments, it is assumed by the gNB that when two sets of DL-RSs are configured for group-based CSI reporting, the two DL-RSs / beams in each group are associated with different Rx panels in the UE, so that no additional signaling is required. A group-based CSI request from the gNB can trigger activation of multiple Rx panels in the UE, whereby the UE performs measurements based on the two sets of DL-RSs / beams only after the multiple Rx panels are activated. The required activation time can be signaled by the UE to the gNB as part of the UE capabilities, and the gNB can use this information to determine the time offset between the CSI request and the expected CSI report from the UE. Alternatively, the activation time can be predefined as part of the 3GPP specifications.

[0127] The number of beam groups reported may be configured by the gNB as part of the group-based CSI reporting configuration provided to the UE. Alternatively, the maximum number of groups may be configured by the gNB, and the actual number of groups reported may be determined by the UE based on some specific criteria subject to the maximum number (e.g., RSRP difference between beams in a group < 10 dB). When the actual number of groups reported is a UE decision, the beam report may have a varying number of bits. To mitigate these difficulties, the number of groups reported may be included in part 1 of the beam report, as well as other information discussed above.

[0128] The embodiments described above are further illustrated in Figures 11-12, which show example methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE and a network node, respectively. In other words, various features of the operations described below correspond to the various embodiments described above. Furthermore, the example methods shown in Figures 11-12 can be used in conjunction to provide various example benefits described herein. Although Figures 11-12 show certain blocks in a particular order, the operations of the example methods can be performed in a different order than shown, and can be combined and / or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown. Optional blocks or operations are indicated by dashed lines.

[0129] In particular, Figure 11 illustrates an example method (e.g., procedure) for beam reporting in a wireless network (e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The example method may be performed by a UE (e.g., a wireless device, an IoT device, etc.), such as those described elsewhere herein.

[0130] The example method may include the operation of block 1120, in which the UE may receive configurations of at least a first resource set and a second resource set from a network node of the wireless network. Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals. The reference signals in each resource set are associated with respective spatial filtering configurations. In other words, each reference signal has a corresponding spatial filtering configuration. In some variations, each of the spatial filtering configurations associated with a resource set may be unique, i.e., different from other spatial filtering configurations associated with the same resource set.

[0131] The example method may also include operations of block 1130, in which the UE may perform measurements on reference signals of at least the first resource set and the second resource set. The example method may also include operations of block 1140, in which the UE may send a beam report to the network node that includes the measurements defined in at least the first group and the second group.

[0132] More specifically, each group includes measurements made on a first reference signal from a first resource set and a second reference signal from a second resource set, the first and second reference signals being received simultaneously by the UE, and one of the measurements included in the first group is expressed as an absolute value, while the other measurement included in the first group is expressed as a difference value relative to the absolute value included in the first group.

[0133] In some embodiments, each resource set is associated with one TRP, i.e., each resource set is associated with each TRP.

[0134] In some embodiments, the measurements in the first group expressed as absolute values ​​are measurements of a first reference signal in a first resource set. In some embodiments, other measurements in the first group expressed as differential values ​​include one or more measurements of a second reference signal in a second resource set. In some embodiments, the measurements included in the second group are expressed as differential values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group. In some embodiments, each group includes measurements made for up to one reference signal from each of the resource sets.

[0135] In some embodiments, for each group, the beam report also includes a respective reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal and the second reference signal. In some of these embodiments, the beam report is defined in a plurality of pre-configured bit fields, and each group of measurements is defined according to: A first bit field containing a measurement of a first reference signal a second bit field including a reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal; A third bit field containing the measurement of the second reference signal a fourth bit field containing a reference signal identifier associated with the second reference signal;

[0136] In some embodiments, the exemplary method includes a UE receiving from a network node a set of measurements to be included in a beam report. Number of groups In some of these embodiments, the operation of block 1110 may also include receiving a configuration for the number of beams of the first group and the second group. In such a case, at least the first group and the second group are included in the beam report (e.g., sent in block 1140) according to the configured number. The number of groups The settings for are included in the settings for CSI reporting.

[0137] In some embodiments, each of the reference signals may be one of the following: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB). In some embodiments, each of the measurements for a reference signal is one of the following: a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR).

[0138] 12 illustrates an example method (e.g., procedure) for beam management in a wireless network, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, that may be performed by a network node (e.g., a base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or a component thereof), such as those described elsewhere herein.

[0139] The example method may include the operation of block 1220, in which the network node may send to the UE configurations of at least a first resource set and a second resource set. Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals. The reference signals in each resource set are associated with respective spatial filtering configurations. In other words, each reference signal has a corresponding spatial filtering configuration. In some variations, each of the spatial filtering configurations associated with a resource set may be unique, i.e., different from other spatial filtering configurations associated with the same resource set.

[0140] The example method may also include operations of block 1230, where the network node may transmit a reference signal including at least the first resource set and the second resource set. The example method may also include operations of block 1240, where the network node may receive, from the UE, a beam report including measurements defined in at least the first group and the second group.

[0141] More specifically, each group includes measurements made by the UE on a first reference signal from a first resource set and a second reference signal from a second resource set, the first and second reference signals being transmitted simultaneously. One of the measurements included in the first group is expressed as an absolute value, while the other measurement included in the first group is expressed as a difference value relative to the absolute value included in the first group.

[0142] In some embodiments, each resource set is associated with one TRP, i.e., each resource set is associated with each TRP, in other words, the network node can transmit a reference signal including each resource set via each TRP.

[0143] In some embodiments, the measurements in the first group expressed as absolute values ​​are measurements of a first reference signal in a first resource set. In some embodiments, other measurements in the first group expressed as differential values ​​include one or more measurements of a second reference signal in a second resource set. In some embodiments, the measurements included in the second group are expressed as differential values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group. In some embodiments, each group includes measurements made for up to one reference signal from each of the resource sets.

[0144] In some embodiments, for each group, the beam report also includes a respective reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal and the second reference signal. In some of these embodiments, the beam report is defined in a plurality of pre-configured bit fields, and each group of measurements is defined according to: A first bit field containing a measurement of a first reference signal a second bit field including a reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal; A third bit field containing the measurement of the second reference signal a fourth bit field containing a reference signal identifier associated with the second reference signal;

[0145] In some embodiments, the exemplary method includes a network node informing the UE of the measurements to be included in the beam report. Number of groupsIn such a case, at least the first group and the second group are included in the beam report (e.g., received in block 1240) according to the configured number. In some of these embodiments, The number of groups The settings for are included in the settings for CSI reporting.

[0146] In some embodiments, each of the reference signals may be one of the following: CSI-RS or SSB. In some embodiments, each of the measurements on the reference signals is one of the following: RSRP or SINR.

[0147] While various embodiments are described above with respect to methods, techniques, and / or procedures, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that such methods, techniques, and / or procedures may be embodied in various combinations of hardware and software in a variety of systems, communication devices, computing devices, control devices, apparatus, non-transitory computer readable media, computer program products, and the like.

[0148] 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device or user equipment (UE) 1300 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 1300") in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, including those described above with reference to other figures. For example, the UE 1300 is configurable by executing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium to perform operations corresponding to one or more of the example methods described above.

[0149] The UE 1300 may include a processor 1310 (also referred to as “processing circuitry”) that is operably connected to a program memory 1320 and / or a data memory 1330 via a bus 1370, which may comprise a parallel address and data bus, a serial port, or other methods and / or structures known to those skilled in the art. The program memory 1320 may store software codes, programs, and / or instructions (collectively shown in FIG. 13 as computer program product 1321) that, when executed by the processor 1310, can configure and / or facilitate the UE 1300 to perform various operations, including operations corresponding to various example methods described herein. As part of or in addition to such operations, execution of such instructions may configure and / or facilitate UE 1300 to communicate using one or more wired or wireless communications protocols, including one or more wireless communications protocols standardized by 3GPP, 3GPP2, or IEEE, such as those commonly known as 5G / NR, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 1xRTT, CDMA2000, 802.11 WiFi, HDMI, USB, Firewire, etc., or any other current or future protocols available with wireless transceiver 1340, user interface 1350, and / or control interface 1360.

[0150] As another example, the processor 1310 may execute program code stored in the program memory 1320 corresponding to MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP (e.g., for NR and / or LTE). As a further example, the processor 1310 may execute program code stored in the program memory 1320 implementing corresponding PHY layer protocols, such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), in conjunction with the wireless transceiver 1340. As another example, the processor 1310 may execute program code stored in the program memory 1320 implementing device-to-device (D2D) communications with other compatible devices and / or UEs in conjunction with the wireless transceiver 1340.

[0151] The program memory 1320 may also include software code executed by the processor 1310 to control the functionality of the UE 1300, including configuring and controlling various components such as the wireless transceiver 1340, the user interface 1350, and / or the control interface 1360. The program memory 1320 may also include one or more application programs and / or modules comprising computer-executable instructions embodying any of the example methods described herein. Such software code may be specified or written using any known or future developed programming language, such as, for example, Java, C++, C, Objective C, HTML, XHTML, machine code, and assembler, so long as the desired functionality defined by the implemented method steps is preserved. Additionally or alternatively, the program memory 1320 may comprise an external storage arrangement (not shown) remote from the UE 1300 from which instructions are downloadable to the program memory 1320 located within or removably coupled to the UE 1300 to enable execution of such instructions.

[0152] The data memory 1330 may include memory areas for the processor 1310 to store variables used in protocols, configuration, control, and other functions of the UE 1300, including operations corresponding to or including any of the example methods described herein. Moreover, the program memory 1320 and / or the data memory 1330 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), volatile memory (e.g., static RAM or dynamic RAM), or a combination thereof. Additionally, the data memory 1330 may include a memory slot into which one or more formats of removable memory cards (e.g., SD cards, memory sticks, compact flash, etc.) can be inserted and removed.

[0153] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the processor 1310 can include multiple individual processors (including, for example, a multi-core processor) each implementing a portion of the functionality described above. In such cases, the multiple individual processors can be commonly connected to the program memory 1320 and the data memory 1330, or can be individually connected to multiple individual program memories and / or data memories. More generally, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various protocols and other functions of the UE 1300 can be implemented in many different computer configurations including different combinations of hardware and software, including, but not limited to, application processors, signal processors, general purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, fixed and / or programmable digital circuits, analog baseband circuits, radio frequency circuits, software, firmware, and middleware.

[0154] The wireless transceiver 1340 may include radio frequency transmitter and / or receiver functionality that facilitates the UE 1300 to communicate with other devices supporting similar wireless communication standards and / or protocols. In some embodiments, the wireless transceiver 1340 includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that enable the UE 1300 to communicate in accordance with various protocols and / or methodologies proposed for standardization by 3GPP and / or other standards bodies. For example, such functionality may operate in cooperation with the processor 1310 to implement a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA techniques, as described herein with respect to other figures.

[0155] In some embodiments, the wireless transceiver 1340 includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can facilitate the UE 1300 to communicate with various LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), and / or NR networks in accordance with standards promulgated by 3GPP. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless transceiver 1340 includes circuitry, firmware, etc. necessary for the UE 1300 to communicate with various NR, NR-U, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-LAA, UMTS, and / or GSM / EDGE networks, also in accordance with 3GPP standards. In some embodiments, the wireless transceiver 1340 can include circuitry to support D2D communications between the UE 1300 and other compatible devices.

[0156] In some embodiments, the wireless transceiver 1340 includes circuitry, firmware, etc. necessary for the UE 1300 to communicate with various CDMA2000 networks in accordance with 3GPP2 standards. In some embodiments, the wireless transceiver 1340 is capable of communicating using wireless technologies operating in unlicensed frequency bands, such as IEEE 802.11 WiFi operating using frequencies in the 2.4 GHz, 5.6 GHz, and / or 60 GHz ranges. In some embodiments, the wireless transceiver 1340 may include a transceiver capable of wired communication, such as by using IEEE 802.3 Ethernet technology. Functionality particular to each of these embodiments may be coupled to and / or controlled by other circuitry in the UE 1300, such as the processor 1310 executing program code stored in the program memory 1320 in conjunction with and / or supported by the data memory 1330.

[0157] The user interface 1350 may take various forms or may not be present at all depending on the particular embodiment of the UE 1300. In some embodiments, the user interface 1350 may comprise a microphone, a loudspeaker, a slidable button, a depressible button, a display, a touch screen display, a mechanical or virtual keypad, a mechanical or virtual keyboard, and / or any other user interface features commonly found on a mobile phone. In other embodiments, the UE 1300 may comprise a tablet computing device including a larger touch screen display. In such embodiments, one or more of the mechanical features of the user interface 1350 may be replaced by an equivalent or functionally equivalent virtual user interface feature (e.g., a virtual keypad, virtual buttons, etc.) implemented using a touch screen display, as is well known to those skilled in the art. In other embodiments, the UE 1300 may be a digital computing device, such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, workstation, etc., with a mechanical keyboard, which may be integrated, detached, or removable depending on the particular embodiment. Such a digital computing device may also comprise a touch screen display. Many embodiments of a UE 1300 having a touch screen display are capable of receiving user input, such as inputs associated with the exemplary methods described herein or otherwise known to those skilled in the art.

[0158] In some embodiments, the UE 1300 may include an orientation sensor that may be used in a variety of ways depending on the features and capabilities of the UE 1300. For example, the UE 1300 may use the output of the orientation sensor to determine when a user has changed the physical orientation of the UE 1300's touch screen display. The indication signal from the orientation sensor may be available to any application program executing on the UE 1300, such that the application program may automatically change the orientation of the screen display (e.g., from portrait to landscape) when the indication signal indicates an approximately 130 degree change in the device's physical orientation. In this exemplary manner, the application program may maintain the screen display readable by the user regardless of the device's physical orientation. Additionally, the output of the orientation sensor may be used in conjunction with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0159] The control interface 1360 of the UE 1300 may take a variety of forms, depending on the particular embodiment of the UE 1300 and the particular interface requirements of the other devices with which the UE 1300 is intended to communicate and / or control. For example, the control interface 1360 may be an RS-232 interface, a USB interface, an HDMI interface, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE ("Firewire") interface, an I / O interface, a USB 2.0 IEEE 802.11b interface, an HDMI 2.0 IEEE 802.11b interface, an IEEE 802.11c interface, an ... 2 C interface, a PCMCIA interface, etc. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 1360 may comprise an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interface, as described above. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 1360 may comprise an analog interface circuit including, for example, one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and / or analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).

[0160] Those skilled in the art can recognize that the above list of features, interfaces, and radio frequency communication standards are merely illustrative and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the UE 1300 may include more functionality than that shown in FIG. 13, including, for example, a video camera and / or a still image camera, a microphone, a media player and / or a recorder, etc. Also, the wireless transceiver 1340 may include circuitry necessary to communicate using additional radio frequency communication standards, including Bluetooth, GPS, and / or others. Moreover, the processor 1310 may execute software code stored in the program memory 1320 to control such additional functionality. For example, directional speed and / or position estimates output from the GPS receiver may be available to any application program executing on the UE 1300, including any program code corresponding to and / or embodying any embodiment (e.g., of the method) described herein.

[0161] FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary network node 1400 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including those described above with reference to other figures. For example, the exemplary network node 1400 is configurable by executing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium to perform operations corresponding to one or more of the exemplary methods described herein. In some embodiments, the network node 1400 may comprise a base station, an eNB, a gNB, or one or more components thereof. For example, the network node 1400 is configurable as a central unit (CU) and one or more distributed units (DUs) according to the NR gNB architecture specified by 3GPP. More generally, the functionality of the network node 1400 may be distributed across various physical devices and / or functional units, modules, etc.

[0162] Network node 1400 may include a processor 1410 (also referred to as “processing circuitry”) operably connected to program memory 1420 and data memory 1430 via a bus 1470, which may include a parallel address and data bus, a serial port, or other methods and / or structures known to those skilled in the art.

[0163] The program memory 1420 may store software codes, programs, and / or instructions (collectively shown in FIG. 14 as computer program product 1421) that, when executed by the processor 1410, may configure and / or facilitate the network node 1400 to perform various operations, including operations corresponding to various example methods described herein. As part of and / or in addition to such operations, the program memory 1420 may also include software code executed by the processor 1410 that may configure and / or facilitate the network node 1400 to communicate with one or more other UEs or network nodes using other protocols or protocol layers, such as one or more of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized for LTE, LTE-A, and / or NR by 3GPP, or any other higher layer (e.g., NAS) protocols utilized in conjunction with the radio network interface 1440 and / or the core network interface 1450. By way of example, the core network interface 1450 may comprise an S1 interface or an NG interface, and the wireless network interface 1440 may comprise a Uu interface, as standardized by 3GPP. The program memory 1420 may also comprise software code that is executed by the processor 1410 to control the functionality of the network node 1400, including configuring and controlling various components, such as the wireless network interface 1440 and the core network interface 1450.

[0164] The data memory 1430 may comprise a memory area for the processor 1410 to store variables used in the protocols, configuration, control, and other functions of the network node 1400. As such, the program memory 1420 and the data memory 1430 may comprise non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk, etc.), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), network-based (e.g., "cloud") storage, or a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the processor 1410 may include multiple individual processors (not shown), each implementing a portion of the functionality described above. In such cases, the multiple individual processors may be commonly connected to the program memory 1420 and the data memory 1430, or may be individually connected to multiple individual program memories and / or data memories. More generally, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various protocols and other functions of the network node 1400 may be implemented in many different combinations of hardware and software, including, but not limited to, application processors, signal processors, general purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, fixed digital circuitry, programmable digital circuitry, analog baseband circuitry, radio frequency circuitry, software, firmware, and middleware.

[0165] The radio network interface 1440 may comprise transmitters, receivers, signal processors, ASICs, antennas, beamforming units, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1400 to communicate with other devices, such as multiple compatible user equipment (UE), in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the interface 1440 may also enable the network node 1400 to communicate with compatible satellites of a satellite communications network. In some embodiments, the radio network interface 1440 may comprise various protocols or protocol layers, such as PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and / or RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, LTE-LAA, NR, NR-U, etc., improvements to those protocols as described above herein, or any other higher layer protocols utilized in conjunction with the radio network interface 1440. According to further embodiments of the present disclosure, the radio network interface 1440 may comprise a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA technology. In some embodiments, such PHY layer functionality may be provided cooperatively by the wireless network interface 1440 and the processor 1410 (including program code in memory 1420).

[0166] The core network interface 1450 may comprise a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1400 to communicate with other equipment in a core network, such as, in some embodiments, a circuit-switched (CS) core network and / or a packet-switched core (PS) network. In some embodiments, the core network interface 1450 may comprise an S1 interface standardized by 3GPP. In some embodiments, the core network interface 1450 may comprise an NG interface standardized by 3GPP. In some embodiments, the core network interface 1450 may comprise one or more interfaces to one or more AMFs, SMFs, SGWs, MMEs, SGSNs, GGSNs, and other physical devices that comprise functionality found in GERAN, UTRAN, EPC, 5GC, and CDMA2000 core networks known to those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, these one or more interfaces may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface. In some embodiments, the lower layers of the core network interface 1450 may include one or more of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP) over Ethernet, SDH over fiber optics, T1 / E1 / PDH over copper, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those skilled in the art.

[0167] In some embodiments, the network node 1400 may include hardware and / or software that configures and / or facilitates the network node 1400 to communicate with other network nodes in the RAN, such as other eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, en-gNBs, IAB nodes, etc. Such hardware and / or software may be part of the radio network interface 1440 and / or the core network interface 1450, or may be a separate functional unit (not shown). For example, as standardized by 3GPP, such hardware and / or software may configure and / or facilitate the network node 1400 to communicate with other RAN nodes over an X2 or Xn interface.

[0168] The OA&M interface 1460 may comprise transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1400 to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, and the like for purposes of operation, administration, and maintenance of the network node 1400 or other network equipment operatively connected thereto. The lower layers of the OA&M interface 1460 may comprise one or more of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP) over Ethernet, SDH over fiber optics, T1 / E1 / PDH over copper, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those skilled in the art. Moreover, in some embodiments, one or more of the wireless network interface 1440, the core network interface 1450, and the OA&M interface 1460 may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface, such as the examples listed above.

[0169] 15 is a block diagram of an example communication network configured to provide over-the-top (OTT) data services between a host computer and a user equipment (UE), in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. A UE 1510 can communicate with a radio access network (RAN) 1530 over an air interface 1520, which can be based on the protocols discussed above, including, for example, LTE, LTE-A, and 5G / NR. For example, the UE 1510 can be configured and / or defined as shown in the other figures discussed above.

[0170] The RAN 1530 may include one or more terrestrial network nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, controllers, etc.) capable of operating in licensed spectrum bands, and one or more network nodes capable of operating in unlicensed spectrum, such as the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz bands (e.g., using LAA or NR-U technologies). In such cases, the network nodes comprising the RAN 1530 may operate cooperatively using licensed and unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the RAN 1530 may include or be in communication with one or more satellites comprising a satellite access network.

[0171] The RAN 1530 may further communicate with the core network 1540 according to the various protocols and interfaces described above. For example, one or more devices (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, etc.) comprising the RAN 1530 may communicate with the core network 1540 via the core network interface 1550 described above. In some embodiments, the RAN 1530 and the core network 1540 may be configured and / or defined as shown in other figures discussed above. For example, an eNB comprising the E-UTRAN 1530 may communicate with the EPC core network 1540 via an S1 interface. As another example, a gNB and a ng-eNB comprising the NR-RAN 1530 may communicate with the 5GC core network 1530 via an NG interface.

[0172] The core network 1540 may further communicate with an external packet data network, shown in FIG. 15 as the Internet 1550, according to various protocols and interfaces known to those skilled in the art. Many other devices and / or networks may also connect to and communicate via the Internet 1550, such as an exemplary host computer 1560. In some embodiments, the host computer 1560 may communicate with the UE 1510 using the Internet 1550, the core network 1540, and the RAN 1530 as intermediaries. The host computer 1560 may be a server (e.g., an application server) owned and / or under the control of the service provider. The host computer 1560 may be operated by the OTT service provider or by another entity on behalf of the service provider.

[0173] For example, the host computer 1560 may provide over-the-top (OTT) packet data services to the UE 1510 using facilities of the core network 1540 and the RAN 1530, and the UE 1510 may be unaware of the routing of outgoing / incoming communications to / from the host computer 1560. Similarly, the host computer 1560 may be unaware of the routing of transmissions from the host computer to the UE, e.g., through the RAN 1530. A variety of OTT services can be provided using the example configuration shown in FIG. 15, including, for example, streaming (one-way) audio and / or video from the host computer to the UE, interactive (two-way) audio and / or video between the host computer and the UE, interactive messaging or social communications, interactive virtual or augmented reality, and the like.

[0174] The example network shown in Figure 15 may also include measurement procedures and / or sensors that monitor network performance metrics, including data rates, latency, and other factors that are improved by the embodiments disclosed herein. The example network may also include functionality for reconfiguring links between endpoints (e.g., between a host computer and a UE) in response to fluctuations in the measurements. Such procedures and functionality are known and practiced, and in cases where the network hides or abstracts the air interface from the OTT service provider, the measurements may be facilitated by dedicated signaling between the UE and the host computer.

[0175] The embodiments described herein provide flexible and efficient techniques that enable and / or facilitate efficient signaling of group-based beam reporting for multi-TRP (mTRP) scenarios. Such techniques can reduce signaling overhead for individual CSI reporting, thereby facilitating the ability for earlier and / or more CSI reporting by individual UEs, thereby improving beam management operations. The embodiments described herein, when used in an NR UE (e.g., UE 1510) and a gNB (e.g., a gNB including a RAN 1530), can increase user data rates by facilitating multi-TRP / multi-beam data transmission to a single UE based on beam reporting provided in accordance with various embodiments. This, in turn, increases the benefit and / or value of OTT data services provided by multi-TRP / multi-beam configurations to both end users and OTT service providers.

[0176] The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the present disclosure. Various modifications and alternatives to the described embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the teachings herein. Thus, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, configurations, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure and that may be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The various embodiments, as should be understood by those skilled in the art, can be used together and interchangeably with one another.

[0177] The term unit, as used herein, may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronic equipment, electrical devices, and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state devices and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing respective tasks, procedures, computations, output, and / or display functions, etc., such as those described herein.

[0178] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may comprise several of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented through processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, and other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs) and dedicated digital logic circuits, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, and the like. The program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols, and instructions for executing one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause each functional unit to perform a corresponding function according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0179] As described herein, the devices and / or apparatus may be represented by semiconductor chips, chipsets, or (hardware) modules comprising such chips or chipsets, but this does not exclude the possibility that the functions of the devices or apparatuses are executed as software modules, such as computer programs or computer program products that include executable software code portions that execute or run on a processor, rather than executed by hardware. Furthermore, the functions of the devices or apparatuses may be executed by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus may also be considered as an assembly of multiple devices and / or apparatuses, whether functionally cooperating with each other or independent. Moreover, the devices and apparatuses may be executed in a distributed manner throughout a system, as long as the functionality of the devices or apparatuses is preserved. Such and similar principles are deemed to be known to those skilled in the art.

[0180] Unless otherwise specified, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that the terms used herein should be interpreted to have a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and related art, and are not to be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined as such herein.

[0181] Additionally, certain terms used in this disclosure, including the specification and drawings, may be used synonymously in certain instances (e.g., "data" and "information"). Although these terms (and / or other terms that may be synonymous with each other) may be used synonymously herein, it should be understood that there may be instances where such words are not intended to be used synonymously. Additionally, to the extent that prior art knowledge has not been expressly incorporated herein by reference above, it is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety. All publications referenced are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0182] Embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following listed examples.

[0183] A1. A method for beam management by a user equipment (UE) operating in a wireless network, comprising: receiving signals associated with a first plurality of beams transmitted by a second plurality of transmission / reception points (TRPs) in the wireless network; sending a beam report to a network node in the wireless network, the beam report including measurements on received signals defined in one or more groups, each group being a beam of signals simultaneously received by the UE from a different one of the TRPs; and including a measurement on the signal.

[0184] A2. The method of embodiment A1, wherein each group includes at most one signal received simultaneously from each of the TRPs.

[0185] A3. The Beam Report is a group identifier associated with each group; and The method of any of embodiments A1 or A2 comprising, for each group, a beam identifier and a measurement associated with each of the signals included in the group.

[0186] A4. The method of embodiment A3, wherein when a particular beam identifier and associated measurements are included in a first group of beam reports, the associated associated measurements are excluded when the particular beam identifier is included in a subsequent second group of beam reports.

[0187] A5. The Beam Report is a measurement of a first signal in the first group expressed as an absolute value; The following are expressed relative to the absolute value: Measurement of other signals in the first group; and The method of embodiment A4, comprising: and non-excluded measurements of signals included in subsequent groups in the beam report.

[0188] A6. The beam report includes a first portion and a subsequent second portion; The first part includes each group of measurements: the absolute value of each number, and each number of relative values, The second part is for each group: A group identifier, and The method of embodiment A5, including, for each signal included in the group, an associated beam identifier and one of the following types of measurements: absolute, relative, excluded.

[0189] A7. The method of embodiment A6, in which the first portion indicates the number of absolute values ​​included in a first group of beam reports, but does not indicate the number of each of the absolute values ​​included in a subsequent group of beam reports.

[0190] A8. Beam reporting is defined in multiple pre-configured bit fields, a bit field in the first number corresponding to each group; The method of any of embodiments A1 or A2, wherein each bit field of the first number includes a plurality of beam identifiers associated with a corresponding plurality of signals included in the corresponding group.

[0191] A9. The bit field of the second number corresponds to each disjoint set of the first plurality of beams; The method of embodiment A8, in which each bit field of the second number includes a plurality of measurements of signals associated with a corresponding set of beams.

[0192] A10. The method of any of embodiments A8 or A9, wherein the beam report does not include an explicit group identifier.

[0193] A11. Each of the signals is received by one of the UE's multiple virtual antenna panels; The Beam report states: an identifier for each of the virtual antenna panels used to receive each of the signals; or The method of any of embodiments A1 to A10 including, for each group, one of an indication of whether the same or different virtual antenna panels were used to simultaneously receive the signals included in the group.

[0194] A12. The method of embodiment A11, in which when a particular beam identifier and an identifier of a virtual antenna panel used to receive an associated signal are included in a first group of beam reports, the identifier of the virtual antenna panel is excluded when the particular beam identifier is included in a subsequent second group of beam reports.

[0195] A13. The beam report includes a first portion and a subsequent second portion; The first portion indicates an antenna virtual panel identifier for each number included in a respective group of measurements; The method of embodiment A13, wherein the second part includes, for each group, a group identifier and one or more identifiers of virtual antenna panels used to receive signals included in the group when not excluded.

[0196] A14. BEAM reports also: The number of UE antenna panels that are active during reception of the signal, and The method of any of embodiments A1 to A13, further comprising indicating one or more of: a maximum rank associated with each group.

[0197] A15. Sending to a network node an indication of a UE capability of a minimum activation time for multiple antenna panels; The method of any of embodiments A1 to A14, further including receiving a request from the network node to start measuring signals associated with the first plurality of beams, the request indicating a start time coincident with a minimum activation time after the request.

[0198] A16. Below: The request is for several groups and measurements for these several groups are included in the beam report, or The method of embodiment A15, wherein one of the following applies: the request is for a maximum number of groups, and the beam report includes an indication of how many groups targeted to the maximum number are included in the beam report.

[0199] A17. Below: a function of measurements of the received signals contained in each group; and The method of embodiment A16, further comprising selecting one or more groups for inclusion in the report based on one or more of: a maximum rank associated with each group;

[0200] A18. The method of any of embodiments A1-A17, wherein each of the received signals is one of the following: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB).

[0201] A19. The method of any of embodiments A1-A18, wherein each of the measurements on the received signal is one of the following: a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

[0202] B1. A method for beam management by a network node of a wireless network, comprising: Transmitting signals associated with the first plurality of beams via a second plurality of transmission / reception points (TRPs) in the wireless network; A method comprising: receiving a beam report from a user equipment (UE) including measurements on transmitted signals defined in one or more groups, each group including measurements on signals simultaneously received by the UE from different ones of the TRPs.

[0203] B2. The method of embodiment B1, in which each group includes at most one signal received simultaneously from each of the TRPs.

[0204] B3. Beam Report a group identifier associated with each group; and The method of any of embodiments B1 or B2 comprising, for each group, a beam identifier and a measurement associated with each of the signals included in the group.

[0205] B4. The method of embodiment B3, in which when a particular beam identifier and associated measurements are included in a first group of beam reports, associated related measurements are excluded when the particular beam identifier is included in a subsequent second group of beam reports.

[0206] B5. Beam Report a measurement of a first signal in the first group expressed as an absolute value; The following are expressed relative to the absolute value: Measurement of other signals in the first group; and The method of embodiment B4, comprising: and non-excluded measurements of signals included in subsequent groups in the beam report.

[0207] B6. The beam report includes a first portion and a subsequent second portion; The first part includes each group of measurements: the absolute value of each number, and each number of relative values, The second part is for each group: A group identifier, and The method of embodiment B5, including, for each signal included in the group, an associated beam identifier and one of the following types of measurements: absolute, relative, excluded.

[0208] B7. The method of embodiment B6, in which the first portion indicates the number of absolute values ​​included in a first group of beam reports, but does not indicate the number of each of the absolute values ​​included in a subsequent group of beam reports.

[0209] B8. The beam report is defined in multiple pre-configured bit fields, a bit field in the first number corresponding to each group; The method of any of embodiments B1 or B2, wherein each bit field of the first number includes a plurality of beam identifiers associated with a corresponding plurality of signals included in the corresponding group.

[0210] B9. A bit field of the second number corresponds to each disjoint set of the first plurality of beams; The method of embodiment B8, in which each bit field of the second number includes a plurality of measurements of signals associated with a corresponding set of beams.

[0211] B10. The method of any of embodiments B8 or B9, wherein the beam report does not include an explicit group identifier.

[0212] B11. Each of the signals is received by one of a plurality of virtual antenna panels of the UE; The Beam report states: an identifier for each of the virtual antenna panels used to receive each of the signals; or The method of any of embodiments B1 to B10 including, for each group, one of an indication of whether the same or different virtual antenna panels were used to simultaneously receive the signals included in the group.

[0213] B12. The method of embodiment B11, in which when a particular beam identifier and an identifier of a virtual antenna panel used to receive an associated signal are included in a first group of beam reports, the identifier of the virtual antenna panel is excluded when the particular beam identifier is included in a subsequent second group of beam reports.

[0214] B13. The beam report includes a first portion and a subsequent second portion; The first portion indicates an antenna virtual panel identifier for each number included in a respective group of measurements; The method of embodiment B13, in which the second part includes, for each group, a group identifier and one or more identifiers of the virtual antenna panels used to receive signals included in the group when not excluded.

[0215] B14.Beam reports also: The number of UE antenna panels that are active during reception of the signal, and The method of any of embodiments B1 to B13, further comprising indicating one or more of: a maximum rank associated with each group;

[0216] B15. Receive, from a UE, an indication of a UE capability of a minimum activation time for a plurality of antenna panels; The method of any of embodiments B1 to B14, further including: sending a request to the UE to start measuring signals associated with the first plurality of beams, the request indicating a start time coincident with a minimum activation time after the request.

[0217] B16. Below: The request is for several groups and measurements for these several groups are included in the beam report, or The method of embodiment B15, wherein one of the following applies: the request is for a maximum number of groups, and the beam report includes an indication of how many of the groups covered by the maximum number are included in the beam report.

[0218] B17. The method of any of embodiments B1-16, wherein each of the transmitted signals is one of the following: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB).

[0219] B18. The method of any of embodiments B1-B17, wherein each of the measurements on the transmitted signal is one of the following: a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

[0220] C1. A user equipment (UE) configured for beam management in a wireless network, comprising: a radio transceiver circuit configured to communicate with a network node and to receive signals from a plurality of transmission / reception points (TRPs); A user equipment (UE) comprising: a processing circuit operably coupled to a radio transceiver circuit, whereby the processing circuit and the radio transceiver circuit are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1 to A19.

[0221] C2. A user equipment (UE) configured for beam management in a wireless network, the UE being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1 to A19.

[0222] C3. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured for beam management in a wireless network, configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1 to A19.

[0223] C4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured for beam management in a wireless network, configures the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1 to A19.

[0224] D1. A network node configured for beam management in a wireless network, a radio network interface circuit configured to communicate with the UE and to transmit signals via a plurality of transmission / reception points (TRPs); A network node comprising: a processing circuit operably coupled to a wireless network interface circuit, whereby the processing circuit and the wireless network interface circuit are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1 to B18.

[0225] D2. A network node configured for beam management in a wireless network, the network node being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1 to B18.

[0226] D3. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit of a network node configured for beam management in a wireless network, configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1 to B18.

[0227] D4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit of a network node configured for beam management in a wireless network, configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1 to B18.

Claims

1. 1. A method for a user equipment (UE) configured for beam reporting in a wireless network, comprising: receiving 1120 a configuration of at least a first resource set and a second resource set from a network node of the wireless network, Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals; The reference signals in each resource set are associated with a respective spatial filtering configuration; and performing 1130 measurements on the reference signals of the at least a first resource set and a second resource set; Sending 1140 a beam report to the network node, the beam report comprising two parts: one part including the measurements defined in at least a first group and a second group; each group includes measurements made on a first reference signal from the first resource set and a second reference signal from the second resource set; the first reference signal and the second reference signal are received simultaneously by the UE; one of the measurements in the first group is expressed as an absolute value; other measurements included in the first group are expressed as difference values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group; the other part includes, for each group, the number of measurements expressed as an absolute value and the number of measurements expressed as a difference value relative to said absolute value; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements in the first group expressed as the absolute value are measurements of the first reference signal in the first resource set.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the other measurements in the first group expressed as the difference value include one or more measurements of the second reference signal in the second resource set.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the measurements included in the second group are expressed as difference values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein for each group, the beam report also includes respective reference signal identifiers associated with the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

6. The beam report is defined in a plurality of pre-configured bit fields; Each group of measurements is: a first bit field containing said measurement of said first reference signal; a second bit field including the reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal; a third bit field containing the measurement of the second reference signal; and The method of claim 5 , wherein the second reference signal is determined according to a fourth bit field that includes the reference signal identifier associated with the second reference signal.

7. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving from the network node a configuration for a number of groups of measurements to be included in a beam report (1110), wherein the at least first group and the second group are included in the beam report according to the configured number, and the configuration for the number of groups is included in a configuration for a channel state information (CSI) report.

8. Each of the reference signals is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB); 8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the measurements on the reference signal is one of: Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) or Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR).

9. 1. A method for a network node configured for beam management in a wireless network, comprising: Sending 1220 a configuration of at least a first resource set and a second resource set to a user equipment (UE), Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals; The reference signals in each resource set are associated with a respective spatial filtering configuration; and transmitting 1230 the reference signal including the at least first and second resource sets; receiving 1240 a beam report from the UE, the beam report including two parts, one portion includes at least the measurements defined in the first group and the second group; Each group includes measurements made by the UE on a first reference signal from the first resource set and a second reference signal from the second resource set. the first reference signal and the second reference signal are transmitted simultaneously; one of the measurements in the first group is expressed as an absolute value; other measurements included in the first group are expressed as difference values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group; the other part includes, for each group, the number of measurements expressed as an absolute value and the number of measurements expressed as a difference value relative to said absolute value; A method comprising:

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the measurements in the first group expressed as the absolute value are measurements of the first reference signal in the first resource set.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the other measurements in the first group expressed as the difference value include one or more measurements of the second reference signal in the second resource set.

12. 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the measurements included in the second group are expressed as difference values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group.

13. 13. The method of claim 9, wherein for each group, the beam report also includes respective reference signal identifiers associated with the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

14. The beam report is defined in a plurality of pre-configured bit fields; Each group of measurements is: a first bit field containing said measurement of said first reference signal; a second bit field including the reference signal identifier associated with the first reference signal; a third bit field containing the measurement of the second reference signal; and The method of claim 13 , wherein the second reference signal is determined according to a fourth bit field that includes the reference signal identifier associated with the second reference signal.

15. 15. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending to the UE a configuration for a number of groups of measurements to be included in a beam report (1210), wherein the at least first group and the second group are included in the beam report according to the configured number, and the configuration for the number of groups is included in a configuration for a channel state information (CSI) report.

16. Each of the reference signals is one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB); 16. The method of claim 9, wherein each of the measurements on the reference signal is one of: Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) or Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR).

17. A user equipment (UE) (405, 1030, 1300, 1510) configured for beam reporting in a wireless network (399, 499, 1530), comprising: receiving a configuration of at least a first resource set and a second resource set from a network node (300, 350, 410, 420, 1400) of said wireless network, Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals; The reference signals in each resource set are associated with a respective spatial filtering configuration; and performing measurements on the reference signals of the at least a first resource set and a second resource set; sending a beam report to the network node, the beam report comprising two parts: one part including the measurements defined in at least a first group and a second group; each group includes measurements made on a first reference signal from the first resource set and a second reference signal from the second resource set; the first reference signal and the second reference signal are received simultaneously by the UE; one of the measurements in the first group is expressed as an absolute value; other measurements included in the first group are expressed as difference values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group; the other part includes, for each group, the number of measurements expressed as an absolute value and the number of measurements expressed as a difference value relative to said absolute value; and further configured to:

18. 18. The UE of claim 17, further configured to perform operations corresponding to the method of any one of claims 2 to 8.

19. A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit (1310) of a user equipment (UE) (405, 1030, 1300, 1510) configured for beam reporting in a wireless network (399, 499, 1530), configures the UE to perform operations corresponding to the methods described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

20. A network node (300, 350, 410, 420, 1400) configured for beam management in a wireless network (399, 499, 1530), comprising: Sending configurations of at least a first resource set and a second resource set to a user equipment (UE) (405, 1030, 1300, 1510), Each resource set includes a plurality of reference signals; The reference signals in each resource set are associated with a respective spatial filtering configuration; and transmitting the reference signal including the at least a first resource set and a second resource set; receiving, from the UE, a beam report comprising two parts, one portion includes at least the measurements defined in the first group and the second group; Each group includes measurements made by the UE on a first reference signal from the first resource set and a second reference signal from the second resource set. the first reference signal and the second reference signal are transmitted simultaneously; one of the measurements in the first group is expressed as an absolute value; other measurements included in the first group are expressed as difference values ​​relative to the absolute values ​​included in the first group; the other part includes, for each group, the number of measurements expressed as an absolute value and the number of measurements expressed as a difference value relative to said absolute value; and further configured to:

21. 21. A network node according to claim 20, further configured to perform operations corresponding to the method according to any one of claims 10 to 16.

22. A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit (1410) of a network node (300, 350, 410, 420, 1400) configured for beam management in a wireless network (399, 499, 1530), configures the network node to perform operations corresponding to the methods described in any one of claims 9 to 16.

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