Framework and signaling for dynamic non-coherent joint transmission (NC-JT) channel state information (CSI) assumption indication

Abstract

A method, a network node, and a wireless device (WD) for dynamic non-coherent joint transmission channel state information (CSI) indication are disclosed. According to one aspect, the method in the network node includes transmitting a first indication of a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) for CSI. The CSI includes at least one of a first CSI for a multiple transmission / reception point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission and at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP. The method includes transmitting a second indication of a first subset of the set of CMRs for use in determining the first CSI. The method includes configuring the WD to use the second set of the set of CMRs for determining the at least one second CSI, and receiving a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Related Applications This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 171,436, entitled “FRAMEWORK AND SIGNALING FOR DYNAMIC NC-JT CSI HYPOTHESIS INDICATION,” filed April 6, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to a framework and signaling for dynamic non-coherent joint transmission (NC-JT) channel state information (CSI) assumption indication. [Background technology]

[0003] Long Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR) support multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna configurations and MIMO-related technologies. Spatial multiplexing is one of the MIMO techniques used to achieve high data rates in favorable channel conditions.

[0004] DL symbol s = [s1, s2, ..., s r ] T N at the network node for transmitting T For an antenna array with antenna ports, N R The signal received at the wireless device (WD) by the receive antenna can be expressed as: y n =H n Ws+e n where y n is N R is the x1 received signal vector, H n is the number of nodes in the RE between the network node and the WD. R ×N T is the channel matrix, and W is N T ×r precoder matrix, and e nis received at RE by WD R The noise and interference vectors are 1×1. The precoder W may be a wideband precoder, i.e., constant over the entire bandwidth portion (BWP), or a subband precoder, i.e., constant over each subband.

[0005] The precoder matrix is ​​typically selected from a codebook of possible precoder matrices and is typically reported by a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) that specifies a unique precoder matrix in the codebook for a certain number of symbol streams. Each of the r symbols in s corresponds to a spatial layer. The number r is referred to as the rank of the channel and is reported by a rank indicator (RI).

[0006] For a constant block error rate (BLER), the modulation level and coding scheme (MCS) are decided by the WD based on the observed signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), which is reported by a channel quality indicator (CQI). NR supports transmitting either one or two transport blocks (TBs) to the WD in a slot, depending on the rank. One TB is used for ranks 1-4 and two TBs are used for ranks 5-8. A CQI is associated with each TB. CQI / RI / PMI reporting can be either wideband or subband based on the configuration.

[0007] The rank indicator (RI), precoder matrix indicator (PMI) and channel quality indicator (CQI) are part of the channel state information (CSI) and are reported by the WD to the network node.

[0008] The CSI-RS is transmitted on each transmit antenna port and is used by the WD to measure the downlink channel associated with each of the antenna ports. The antenna port is also referred to as the CSI-RS port. The supported number of antenna ports in NR is {1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32}. By measuring the received CSI-RS, the WD can estimate the channel that the CSI-RS traverses, including the radio propagation channel and antenna gain. The CSI-RS for this purpose is also referred to as the non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS.

[0009] The NZP CSI-RS can be configured to be transmitted in a certain number of REs per PRB. Figure 1 shows an example of an NZP CSI-RS resource configuration with four CSI-RS ports in a PRB in one slot.

[0010] In addition to the NZP CSI-RS, a zero power (ZP) CSI-RS has been defined in NR to indicate that the associated RE is not available for PDSCH scheduling in the network node. The ZP CSI-RS can have the same RE pattern as the NZP CSI-RS.

[0011] A CSI resource for interference measurement (CSI-IM) is also defined in NR for WD to measure noise and interference, typically from other cells. CSI-IM includes 4 REs in one slot. Two different CSI-IM patterns are defined: the CSI-IM pattern can be either 4 consecutive REs in one OFDM symbol, or 2 consecutive REs in both frequency and time domains. An example is shown in Figure 1. Typically, a network node does not transmit any signal in the CSI-IM resource, so what is observed in the resource is noise and interference from other cells.

[0012] CSI Framework in NR In NR, a WD can be configured with one or more CSI reporting configurations. Each CSI reporting configuration (defined by the higher layer information element (IE) CSI-ReportConfig) is associated with a BWP and may include one or more of the following: CSI resource configuration for channel measurement · CSI-IM resource configuration for interference measurement · NZP CSI-RS resource for interference measurements Reporting type, i.e. aperiodic CSI (in PUSCH), periodic CSI (in PUCCH), or semi-persistent CSI (in PUCCH and activated DCI in PUSCH) Reporting quantities that specify what is being reported, such as RI, PMI, CQI, etc. Codebook settings such as Type I or Type II CSI, and / or Frequency domain configuration, i.e. subband vs. wideband CQI or PMI, and subband size The CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE) is provided in 3GPP Technical Standard (TS) 38.331.

[0013] The WD can configure one or more CSI resource configurations for channel and interference measurements, each with a CSI-ResourceConfigId. Each CSI resource configuration for channel measurements or NZP CSI-RS based interference measurements can contain one or more NZP CSI-RS resource sets. Each NZP CSI-RS resource set can further contain one or more NZP CSI-RS resources. The NZP CSI-RS resources can be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic.

[0014] Similarly, each CSI-IM resource configuration for interference measurements may contain one or more CSI-IM resource sets. Each CSI-IM resource set may further contain one or more CSI-IM resources. The CSI-IM resources may be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic.

[0015] The periodic CSI starts after it is configured by RRC and is reported in the PUCCH. The associated NZP CSI-RS and CSI-IM resources are also periodic.

[0016] For semi-persistent CSI, this can be either in the PUCCH or in the PUSCH. Semi-persistent CSI in the PUCCH is activated or deactivated by a Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) command. Semi-persistent CSI in the PUSCH is activated or deactivated by a DCI. The associated NZP CSI-RS and CSI-IM resources can be periodic or semi-persistent.

[0017] Aperiodic CSI is reported in the PUSCH and is activated by a CSI request bit field in the DCI. The associated NZP CSI-RS and CSI-IM resources can be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic. The link between the codepoint of the CSI request field and the CSI reporting configuration is through the aperiodic CSI trigger state. The WD is configured by higher layers with a list of aperiodic CSI trigger states, where each trigger state contains an associated CSI reporting configuration. The CSI request field is used to indicate one of the aperiodic CSI trigger states and thus one CSI reporting configuration.

[0018] If there are more than one NZP CSI-RS resource set and / or more than one CSI-IM resource set associated with a CSI reporting configuration, only one NZP CSI-RS resource set and one CSI-IM resource set are selected in an aperiodic CSI trigger state, and thus each aperiodic CSI report is based on a single NZP CSI-RS resource set and a single CSI-IM resource set.

[0019] If multiple NZP CSI-RS resources are configured in the NZP CSI-RS resource set for channel measurement, the WD shall select one NZP CSI-RS resource and report the CSI associated with the selected NZP CSI-RS resource. The CRI (CSI-RS resource indicator) shall be reported as part of the CSI. In this case, the same number of CSI-IM resources, each paired with an NZP CSI-RS resource, shall be configured in the associated CSI-IM resource set. That is, when the WD reports a CRI value k, it corresponds to the (k+1)-th entry of the NZP CSI-RS resource set for channel measurement and, if configured, corresponds to the (k+1)-th entry of the CSI-IM resource set for interference measurement (see 3GPP TS 38.214, section 5.2.1.4.2).

[0020] When an NZP CSI-RS resource is configured for interference measurement in a CSI-ReportConfig, only a single NZP-CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set may be configured for channel measurement in the same CSI-ReportConfig.

[0021] Since the TRPs may be in different physical locations, the propagation channels to the WDs may also be different. Different antennas or transmit beams are used at different TRPs. At the WD side, different receive antennas or receive beams may be used to receive from different TRPs. To facilitate reception of PDSCH from different TRPs, a transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state was introduced in 3GPP NR Release 15 (3GPP NR Rel-15). The TCI state contains quasi-co-location (QCL) information between the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PDCCH or PDSCH and one or two DL reference signals such as CSI-RS or SSB. The supported QCL information types in NR are: "QCL-Type A": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}, "QCL-Type B": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}, "QCL-Type C": {Doppler shift, average delay}, and "QCL-TypeD": {Spatial Rx parameters}

[0022] The QCL information is used by the WD to apply one or more channel characteristics estimated from the DL reference signal (CSI-RS or SSB) to the DMRS-based channel estimation for PDSCH or PDCCH reception. For example, channel delay spread and Doppler shift parameters can be estimated from the QCL source RS, which are then used to determine channel filtering parameters for the DMRS-based channel estimation.

[0023] In 3GPP NR Rel-15, only PDSCH transmission from a single TRP is supported, where a WD receives PDSCH from a single TRP at any time.

[0024] In 3GPP NR Rel-16, PDSCH transmission across multiple TRPs was introduced. One of the multi-TRP schemes is NC-JT, where the PDSCH for WD is transmitted across two TRPs where different MIMO layers of the PDSCH are transmitted from different TRPs. For example, two layers can be transmitted from the first TRP and one layer can be transmitted from the second TRP.

[0025] NC-JT refers to MIMO data transmission over multiple TRPs where different MIMO layers are sent over different TRPs. An example in which PDSCH is sent to the WD over two TRPs, each carrying one codeword, is shown in FIG. 2. When the WD has four receive antennas and each of the TRPs has only two transmit antennas, the WD can support up to four MIMO layers, but there are a maximum of two MIMO layers from each TRP. In this case, by transmitting data to the WD over two TRPs, the peak data rate to the WD can be increased because up to four aggregated layers from the two TRPs are available. This can be beneficial when the traffic load, and thus the resource utilization, is low at each TRP. This scheme can also be beneficial when the WD is in line of sight (LOS) of both TRPs and the rank per TRP is limited even when there are more transmit antennas available at each TRP.

[0026] This type of NC-JT is also supported in LTE with two TRPs, each with up to eight antenna ports. For CSI feedback purposes, the WD is configured with two NZP CSI-RS resources in the CSI process, one for each TRP and one interference measurement resource. The WD may report one of the following example scenarios: 1. The WD reports 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, if the WD considers that the best throughput is achieved by transmitting PDSCH on the TRP or beam associated with the first NZP CSI-RS resource. The WD reports CRI=1, indicating that only CSI is calculated and reported for the second NZP CSI-RS resource, i.e., RI, PMI, and CQI associated with the second NZP CSI-RS resource are reported, if the WD considers that the best throughput is achieved by transmitting PDSCH on the TRP or beam associated with the second NZP CSI-RS resource. 2. WD reports CRI=2, which indicates both of the 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 combination is restricted to be |RI1-RI2|≦1, where RI1 and RI2 correspond to the ranks associated with the first and second NZP CSI-RS, respectively.

[0027] In 3GPP NR Rel-16, a different approach is adopted where a single CW is transmitted across two TRPs. An example where one layer is transmitted from each of the two TRPs is shown in Figure 3.

[0028] Two types of NC-JT are supported: single DCI-based N-JT and multi-DCI-based NC-JT. In single DCI-based NC-JT, it is assumed that a single scheduler is used to schedule data transmissions across multiple TRPs. Different layers of a single PDSCH scheduled by a single PDCCH can be transmitted from different TRPs.

[0029] In multi-DCI based NC-JT, independent schedulers for scheduling PDSCH for WD in different TRPs are assumed. Two PDSCHs scheduled from two TRPs may fully or partially overlap in time and frequency resources. Only semi-static coordination between TRPs may be possible.

[0030] For CSI measurements associated with a reporting configuration CSI-ReportConfig for NC-JT there shall be: · Ks ≧ 2 NZP CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set for channel measurement. The Ks resources are referred to as channel measurement resources (CMR). There are N≧1 NZP CSI-RS resource pairs for NC-JT CSI, each pair is used for NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions.

[0031] Furthermore, the agreement states that the Ks ≥ 2 NZP CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set for a CMR may be divided into two different CMR groups, and that each of the N pairs used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions may be associated with one CMR from each of the two CMR groups.

[0032] Furthermore, the agreement states that higher layer signaling can be used to configure the N CMR pairs, but how this signaling is performed is to be further studied (FFS).

[0033] For CSI measurements associated to the reporting configuration CSI-ReportConfig for NCJT, the WD is configurable for Ks ≥ 2 NZP CSI-RS resources and N ≥ 1 NZP CSI-RS resource pairs in the CSI-RS resource set for CMR, where each resource pair is used for the NCJT measurement assumption: · Two CMR groups with Ks=K1+K2 CMRs are set in WD. The CMR pairs are determined from the two CMR groups by the following method: a) K1 and K2 are the numbers of CMR in the two groups, respectively. K1=K2 or a different K1 / K2 shall be considered in future studies. b) Note that the CMRs in each CMR group can be used for both the NCJT measurement assumption and the single TRP measurement assumption. c) The N CMR pairs are higher layer configured by selecting from all possible pairs: i) The signalling mechanism can be further discussed, for example using bitmaps. ii) Whether MAC-CE or RRC+MAC CE indication is required will be considered in future studies. iii) Future studies will consider how to support the NCJT measurement assumptions in FR2. d) Support N=1 and Ks=2 to FFS other maxima for N>1 and Ks>2. · Note: For CPU / resource / port occupancy, the NCJT assumptions are considered separately from the single TRP assumptions.

[0034] To support dynamic switching between single-TRP and NC-JT transmissions on a coordination cluster of multiple TRPs in a suitable manner, the WD shall preferably evaluate both multiple single-TRP measurement hypotheses and multiple NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses (and also report one or more CSI corresponding to the measurement hypothesis associated with the best performance). The number of possible measurement hypotheses grows rapidly with increasing coordination cluster size. One example of this is shown in Figure 4, where four TRPs are included in the coordination cluster and the possible number of measurement hypotheses can be as high as 10 (considering a limit of up to two TRPs per NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis), whereas a coordination cluster of two TRPs requires only three measurement hypotheses.

[0035] Due to the limited number of CPUs (CSI processing units as specified in 3GPP Technical Standard (TS) 38.214) available for CSI calculation in commercially available WDs, it is not conceivable that the WD will calculate all possible measurement hypotheses for a calibration cluster size of, for example, 3 or more TRPs. Also, in some cases, the network may realize that one or a subset of the TRPs of a calibration cluster is unavailable (e.g., due to high load on that TRP or too high path loss). In this case, WD processing capacity is wasted and heat generation in the WD causes the WD to calculate measurement hypotheses associated with the unavailable TRPs. Furthermore, if certain TRPs are unavailable and the WD is configured to, for example, report only the best of all evaluated NC-JT hypotheses, there is a risk that the reported NC-JT hypotheses will include the unavailable TRPs, which may render the NC-JT CSI report useless.

[0036] Therefore, how a network node indicates the CMR used for NC-JT CSI and single-TRP CSI is open to debate. Although the agreement from RAN1#104-e states that N CMR pairs can be higher layer configured, the detailed signaling mechanism for indicating the CMR used for NC-JT CSI and single-TRP CSI is still open. Summary of the Invention

[0037] Some embodiments advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatus for dynamic NC-JT CSI assumption indication framework and signaling.

[0038] Some embodiments provide a framework and signaling for a WD to dynamically indicate a single TRP / NC-JT CSI measurement assumption that should be considered during NC-JT CSI calculation.

[0039] Some embodiments include: Configuring different CMR pairs corresponding to different NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions as part of the CSI reporting configuration or the CSI-AssociatedReportConfig configuration; Dynamically indicating different CMR pairs (i.e., different NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions) to the WD via the DCI or MAC CE; and · Signaling details regarding which CMR resources the WD can use for NC-JT CSI assumptions and which CMR resources the WD can use for single TRP assumptions.

[0040] By dynamically changing the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions for the WD, the network can adapt the TRP at which the WD should calculate the single TRP / NC-JT CSI in a flexible manner, thereby improving flexibility and performance in the system.

[0041] Furthermore, by indicating which CMR the WD should use for the single-TRP measurement assumption and which CMR should be used for the NC-JT measurement assumption, the WD can also perform CSI measurements in an efficient manner for FR2.

[0042] According to one aspect, a method in a network node includes transmitting a first indication to a WD indicating a set of CMRs to use in determining a CSI, the first indication including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multi-TRP PDSCH transmission and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP. The process also includes transmitting a second indication to the WD indicating a first subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to use in determining the first CSI. The process also includes configuring the WD to use the second subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to determine the at least one second CSI. The process also includes receiving a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

[0043] According to another aspect, a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device includes an air interface configured to transmit a first indication to a WD indicating a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) to use in determining channel state information (CSI), the CSI including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multiple transmit / receive point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP, and transmit a second indication to the WD indicating a first subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to use in determining the first CSI. The network node also includes a processing circuit configured to communicate with the air interface and to configure the WD to use the second subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to determine the at least one second CSI. The air interface is further configured to receive a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

[0044] According to another aspect, a method in a wireless device includes receiving a first indication of a set of CMRs to use in determining a CSI, the CSI including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multi-TRP PDSCH transmission and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP. The process also includes receiving a second indication of a first subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to use in determining the first CSI. The process also includes determining at least one second CSI using the second subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs. The process further includes transmitting a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

[0045] According to yet another aspect, a WD configured to communicate with a network node includes an air interface configured to receive a first indication of a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) for use in determining channel state information (CSI), the CSIs including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multiple transmit / receive point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP, and receive a second indication of a first subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs for use in determining the first CSI. The WD also includes a processing circuit configured to communicate with the air interface and determine at least one second CSI using the second subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs. The air interface is further configured to transmit a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

[0046] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and their attendant advantages and features will be more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0047] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of resource element allocation. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an NC-JT. [Diagram 3] Another example of NC-JT is shown below. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a possible measurement assumption. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary network architecture illustrating a communication system connected to a host computer through an intermediate network in accordance with principles of the present disclosure; [Figure 6]1 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a wireless device via a network node over an at least partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for executing a client application on a wireless device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for receiving user data at a wireless device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for receiving user data at a host computer from a wireless device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for receiving user data at a host computer, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node according to principles disclosed herein. [Figure 12] 4 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device in accordance with principles presented herein. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an implicit mapping. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of bit fields and code points. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list of bit fields. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of using bit fields to indicate measurement assumptions. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0048] Before describing the exemplary embodiment in detail, it should be noted that the embodiment resides primarily in a combination of device components and processing steps related to a framework and signaling for dynamic NC-JT CSI assumption indication. Therefore, components are appropriately represented in the figures by conventional symbols and only specific details relevant to understanding the embodiment are shown, so as not to obscure the present disclosure with details that are immediately apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the specification.

[0049] As used herein, relationship terms such as "first" and "second," "upper" and "lower" may be used only to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element and do not necessarily require or imply any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, the terms "comprising" and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but are understood not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0050] In the embodiments described herein, linking terms such as "communicating with" may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished, for example, by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling, or light signaling. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, multiple components may interact and modifications and variations are possible to accomplish electrical and data communication.

[0051] In some embodiments described herein, terms such as "coupled," "connected," and the like, when used herein, may be used to indicate a connection, although not necessarily a direct one, and may include a wired and / or wireless connection.

[0052] The term "network node" as used herein can be any type of network node included in a wireless network, and may further include any of a base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), gNode B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), integrated radio access backhaul (IAB) node, relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission point, transmitting node, remote radio unit (RRU) remote radio head (RRH), core network node (e.g., mobility management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, coordination node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), external node (e.g., third party node, node outside the current network), node in a distributed antenna system (DAS), spectrum access system (SAS) node, element management system (EMS), etc. The network nodes may also include test equipment.

[0053] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms WD or user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. A WD in this specification may be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another WD through wireless signals. A WD may also be a wireless communication device, a target device, a device-to-device (D2D) WD, a machine-type WD or a WD capable of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, a low-cost and / or low-complexity WD, a sensor with a WD, a tablet, a mobile terminal, a smartphone, a laptop embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a customer premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or a narrowband IoT (NB-IOT) device, etc.

[0054] It should be noted that, while terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or NR, may be used in this disclosure, this should not be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned systems. Other wireless systems, including, without limitation, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), can also benefit from utilizing concepts within the scope of this disclosure.

[0055] Furthermore, it should be noted that functionality described herein as being performed by a wireless device or network node may be distributed across multiple wireless devices and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functionality of the network nodes and wireless devices described herein is not limited to being performed by a single physical device, but may in fact be distributed among several physical devices.

[0056] 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 will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined as such in this specification.

[0057] Returning now to the figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, such as a 3GPP type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G), comprising an access network 12, such as a radio access network, and a core network 14, according to one embodiment. The access network 12 comprises a number of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c, such as eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless access points (collectively referred to as network nodes 16), each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (collectively referred to as coverage area 18). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 through a wired or wireless connection 20. A first wireless device (WD) 22a located in the coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding network node 16a. A second WD 22b within the coverage area 18b can be wirelessly connected to a corresponding network node 16b. Although multiple WDs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as wireless devices 22) are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single WD is within a coverage area or where a single WD is connected to a corresponding network node 16. It should be noted that while only two WDs 22 and three networks 16 are shown for convenience, a communication system may include many more WDs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0058] It is also contemplated that the WD 22 may be configured to be in simultaneous and / or separate communication with multiple and types of network nodes 16. For example, the WD 22 may have dual connectivity with a network node 16 supporting LTE and the same or different network node 16 supporting NR. As an example, the WD 22 may communicate with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR / NG-RAN.

[0059] The communication system 10 itself may be connected to a host computer 24, which may be embodied in hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 24 may be owned or under the control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The connection 26, 28 between the communication system 10 and the host computer 24 may extend directly from the core network 14 to the host computer 24, or may extend through an optional intermediate network 30. The intermediate network 30 may be one or a combination of public, private, or hosted networks. The intermediate network 30, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet. In some embodiments, the intermediate network 30 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0060] The communication system of FIG. 5 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected WDs 22a, 22b and the host computer 24. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection. The host computer 24 and the connected WDs 22a, 22b are configured to communicate data and / or signaling over the OTT connection using the access network 12, the core network 14, any intermediate networks 30 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection may be transparent in the sense that at least some of the involved communication devices through which the OTT connection passes are unaware of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the network node 16 may not or need not be informed regarding the past routing of an incoming downlink communication having data originating from the host computer 24 and to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected WD 22a. Similarly, the network node 16 does not need to be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the WD 22a towards the host computer 24.

[0061] The network node 16 is configured to include an indicating unit 32 configured to send an indication of at least one measurement assumption included by the WD in a CSI report, the indication indicating at least one set of CMRs to be used by the WD to measure a channel between the network node and the WD according to the indicated at least one measurement assumption. The WD 22 is configured to include an applying unit 34 configured to apply the at least one measurement assumption.

[0062] An exemplary implementation according to one embodiment of the WD 22, the network node 16, and the host computer 24 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Fig. 6. In the communication system 10, the host computer 24 comprises hardware (HW) 38 including a communication interface 40, which is configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 10. The host computer 24 further comprises a processing circuit 42, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. The processing circuit 42 may include a processor 44 and a memory 46. In addition to or instead of a processor and memory, such as a central processing unit, among others, the processing circuit 42 may comprise an integrated circuit for processing and / or control, for example, one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) and / or ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 44 may be configured to access (e.g., write and / or read) the memory 46, which may comprise any type of volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (random access memory) and / or ROM (read only memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory).

[0063] The processing circuitry 42 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or cause such methods and / or processes to be performed, for example, by the host computer 24. The processor 44 corresponds to one or more processors 44 for performing the functions of the host computer 24 described herein. The host computer 24 includes a memory 46, which is configured to store data, program software code, and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 48 and / or host application 50 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 44 and / or the processing circuitry 42, cause the processor 44 and / or the processing circuitry 42 to perform the processes described herein with respect to the host computer 24. The instructions may be software associated with the host computer 24.

[0064] The software 48 may be executable by the processing circuitry 42. The software 48 includes a host application 50. The host application 50 may be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as the WD 22 connecting via an OTT connection 52 that terminates at the WD 22 and the host computer 24. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 50 may provide user data that is transmitted using the OTT connection 52. "User data" may be data and information described herein as implementing the described functionality. In one embodiment, the host computer 24 may be configured to provide control and functionality to a service provider and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The processing circuitry 42 of the host computer 24 may enable the host computer 24 to observe, monitor, control, transmit to and / or receive from the network node 16 and / or the wireless device 22.

[0065] The communication system 10 further includes a network node 16, the network node 16 being provided within the communication system 10 and including hardware 58 enabling the network node 16 to communicate with the host computer 24 and the WD 22. The hardware 58 may include a communication interface 60 for establishing and maintaining wired or wireless connections with interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 10, and a wireless interface 62 for establishing and maintaining at least a wireless connection 64 with the WD 22 located within the coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. The wireless interface 62 may be formed as or include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The communication interface 60 may be configured to facilitate a connection 66 to the host computer 24. The connection 66 may be direct or may be via the core network 14 of the communication system 10 and / or one or more intermediate networks 30 outside the communication system 10.

[0066] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 58 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may include a processor 70 and a memory 72. In addition to or instead of a processor and memory, such as a central processing unit, among others, the processing circuitry 68 may comprise integrated circuits for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs and / or ASICs adapted to execute instructions. The processor 70 may be configured to access (e.g., write and / or read) the memory 72, which may comprise any type of volatile and / or non-volatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM and / or ROM and / or optical memory and / or EPROM.

[0067] Thus, the network node 16 further comprises software 74, which may be stored internally, e.g., in memory 72, or in an external memory accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection (e.g., a database, a storage array, a network storage device, etc.). The software 74 may be executable by the processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or cause such methods and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by the network node 16. The processor 70 corresponds to one or more processors 70 for performing the functions of the network node 16 described herein. The memory 72 is configured to store data, program software code, and / or other information as described herein. In some embodiments, the software 74 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 70 and / or the processing circuitry 68, cause the processor 70 and / or the processing circuitry 68 to perform the processes described herein with respect to the network node 16. For example, the processing circuitry 68 of the network node 16 may include an instruction unit 32 as described above.

[0068] The communication system 10 further includes the already mentioned WD 22. The WD 22 may have hardware 80, which may include a wireless interface 82 configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 64 with a network node 16 that serves the coverage area 18 in which the WD 22 is currently located. The wireless interface 82 may be formed as or include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers.

[0069] The hardware 80 of the WD 22 further includes processing circuitry 84. The processing circuitry 84 may include a processor 86 and a memory 88. The processing circuitry 84 may be similar to the processing circuitry 68 of the network node 16, as described above.

[0070] Thus, the WD 22 may further comprise software 90, which may be stored, for example, in memory 88 in the WD 22 or in an external memory accessible by the WD 22 (e.g., a database, a storage array, a network storage device, etc.). The software 90 may be executable by the processing circuitry 84. The software 90 may include a client application 92. The client application 92 may be operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via the WD 22 with the support of the host computer 24. At the host computer 24, an executing host application 50 may communicate with the executing client application 92 via the WD 22 and an OTT connection 52 that terminates at the host computer 24. In providing services to the user, the client application 92 may receive request data from the host application 50 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 52 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 92 may interact with the user to generate the user data that the client application 92 provides.

[0071] The processing circuitry 84 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or cause such methods and / or processes to be performed, for example, by the WD 22. The processor 86 corresponds to one or more processors 86 for performing the functions of the WD 22 described herein. The WD 22 includes a memory 88, which is configured to store data, program software code, and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 90 and / or the client application 92 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 86 and / or the processing circuitry 84, cause the processor 86 and / or the processing circuitry 84 to perform the processes described herein with respect to the WD 22. For example, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 may include an applying unit 34 configured to apply at least one measurement assumption.

[0072] In some embodiments, the internal structure of the network node 16, the WD 22, and the host computer 24 may be as shown in FIG. 6, and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG.

[0073] 6, OTT connection 52 is depicted abstractly to show communication between host computer 24 and WD 22 through network nodes 16, without explicit reference to any intermediate devices or the exact routing of messages through these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to be hidden from WD 22, or from the service provider operating host computer 24, or both. While OTT connection 52 is active, the network infrastructure may further make decisions to dynamically change the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0074] The wireless connection 64 between the WD 22 and the network node 16 follows the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the WD 22 using the OTT connection 52, of which the wireless connection 64 may form the final segment. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve data rates, latency, and / or power consumption to provide benefits such as reduced user wait times, relaxed limitations on file sizes, improved responsiveness, extended battery life, etc.

[0075] In some embodiments, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, latencies, and other factors for which one or more embodiments are improved. There may further be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 52 between the host computer 24 and the WD 22 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 52 may be implemented in the software 48 of the host computer 24, the software 90 of the WD 22, or both. In an embodiment, a sensor (not shown) may be located in or associated with the communication device through which the OTT connection 52 passes, and the sensor may participate in the measurement procedure by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software 48, 90 may calculate or approximate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 52 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, and the like. The reconfiguration need not affect the network node 16, and may be unknown or unknowable to the network node 16. Some such procedures and functions may be known and implemented in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve dedicated WD signaling to facilitate host computer 24 measurements of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. In some embodiments, the measurements may be implemented in that the software 48, 90 causes messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, to be sent using the OTT connection 52 while the software 48, 90 monitors propagation times, errors, etc.

[0076] Thus, in some embodiments, host computer 24 includes processing circuitry 42 configured to provide user data and communications interface 40 configured to forward the user data to the cellular network for transmission to WD 22. In some embodiments, the cellular network also includes network node 16 having wireless interface 62. In some embodiments, network node 16 and / or processing circuitry 68 of network node 16 are configured to perform the functions and / or methods described herein to prepare / initiate / maintain / support / terminate transmissions to WD 22 and / or prepare / terminate / maintain / support / terminate in receipt of transmissions from WD 22.

[0077] In some embodiments, host computer 24 includes processing circuitry 42 and communications interface 40 configured to receive user data originating from transmissions from WD 22 to network node 16. In some embodiments, WD 22 comprises a wireless interface 82 and / or processing circuitry 84 configured to and / or configured to implement the functions and / or methods described herein to prepare / initiate / maintain / support / terminate transmissions to network node 16 and / or to prepare / terminate / maintain / support / terminate in reception of transmissions from network node 16.

[0078] 5 and 6 depict various "units," such as the instruction unit 32 and the application unit 34, as being within their respective processors, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that portions of the units are stored in corresponding memories within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0079] 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as the communication systems of FIGS. 5 and 6, according to one embodiment. In a first step of the method, the host computer 24 provides user data (block S100). In an optional sub-step of the first step, the host computer 24 provides the user data by executing a host application, such as the host application 50 (block S102). In a second step, the host computer 24 initiates a transmission conveying the user data to the WD 22 (block S104). In an optional third step, the network node 16 transmits the user data conveyed in the host computer 24 initiated transmission to the WD 22 (block S106), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional fourth step, the WD 22 executes a client application, such as the client application 92, associated with the host application 50 executed by the host computer 24 (block S108).

[0080] 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as the communication system of FIG. 5, including the host computer 24, network node 16, and WD 22 of FIG. 6. In a first step of the method, the host computer 24 provides user data (block S110). In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer 24 provides the user data by executing a host application, such as the host application 50. In a second step, the host computer 24 initiates a transmission conveying the user data to the WD 22 (block S112). The transmission may be via the network node 16 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In an optional third step, the WD 22 receives the user data conveyed in the transmission (block S114).

[0081] 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as the communication system of FIG. 5 having the host computer 24, the network node 16, and the WD 22 of FIG. 6. In an optional first step of the method, the WD 22 receives input data provided by the host computer 24 (block S116). In an optional sub-step of the first step, the WD 22 executes a client application 92, which provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer 24 (block S118). Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second step, the WD 22 provides the user data (block S120). In an optional sub-step of the second step, the WD provides the user data by executing a client application, such as the client application 92 (block S122). In providing the user data, the executed client application 92 may further take into account user input received from a user. Regardless of the particular manner in which the user data was provided, in an optional third sub-step, WD 22 may initiate transmission of the user data to host computer 24 (block S124). In a fourth step of the method, host computer 24 receives the user data transmitted from WD 22 (block S126) in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0082] Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example method implemented in a communication system, such as that of Figure 5 including host computer 24, network node 16, and WD 22 of Figure 6. In an optional first step of the method, network node 16 receives user data from WD 22 (block S128) in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional second step, network node 16 initiates transmission of the received user data to host computer 24 (block S130). In a third step, host computer 24 receives the user data conveyed in a transmission initiated by network node 16 (block S132).

[0083] 11 is a flow chart of an example process in the network node 16 according to the principles presented herein. One or more blocks described herein may be executed by one or more elements of the network node 16, such as by one or more of the processing circuitry 68 (including the indication unit 32), the processor 70, the radio interface 62, and / or the communication interface 60. The network node 16 is configured to transmit a first indication to the WD indicating a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) to use in determining channel state information (CSI), the CSI including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multiple transmission / reception point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP (block S134). The process also includes transmitting a second indication to the WD indicating a first subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to use in determining the first CSI (block S136). The process also includes configuring the WD to use a second subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs to determine the at least one second CSI (block S138). The process also includes receiving a CSI report that includes at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI (block S140).

[0084] In some embodiments, configuring the WD includes transmitting radio resource control (RRC) parameters. In some embodiments, the RRC parameters are included in a CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE). In some embodiments, configuring the WD includes indicating that a CMR resource in the second subset of CMRs does not include a CMR resource in the first subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, configuring the WD includes indicating that at least one CMR of the first subset of CMRs is to be reused in the second subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, the second subset of CMRs partially overlaps with the first subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, configuring the WD includes indicating that only CMRs from the first subset of CMRs are to be used in the second subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, the second indication explicitly indicates the first subset of CMRs, the explicit indication including an indication of a pair of non-zero power (NZP) CSI reference signal resource IDs. In some embodiments, the second indication indicates the first subset of CMRs via a downlink control information (DCI) message. In some embodiments, the first subset of the CMRs is indicated in a CSI-AssociatedReportConfiginfo information element triggered by a CSI request field in the DCI message. In some embodiments, the second indication includes indicating the first subset of the CMRs via a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) message.

[0085] 12 is a flowchart of an example process in the wireless device 22 according to some embodiments of the disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be executed by one or more elements of the wireless device 22, such as by one or more of the processing circuitry 84 (including the applying unit 34), the processor 86, the air interface 82, and / or the communication interface 60. The wireless device 22 is configured to receive a first indication of a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) for use in determining channel state information (CSI), the CSI including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multiple transmission / reception point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP (block S142). The process also includes receiving a second indication of a first subset of CMRs from the set of CMRs for use in determining the first CSI (block S144). The process also includes determining at least one second CSI using a second subset of the CMRs from the set of CMRs (block S146). The process further includes transmitting a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI (block S148).

[0086] In some embodiments, the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) parameter. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter is included in a CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE). In some embodiments, the CMR resources in the second subset of CMRs do not include CMR resources in the first subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, at least one CMR of the first subset of CMRs is to be reused in the second subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, the second subset of CMRs partially overlaps with the first subset of CMRs. In some embodiments, only CMRs from the first subset of CMRs are used in the second subset of CMRs.

[0087] Having described the general process flow of the configuration of the present disclosure and provided example hardware and software configurations for implementing the processes and functions of the present disclosure, the following sections provide configuration details and examples for the dynamic NCJT assumption indication framework and signaling.

[0088] In 3GPP NR Rel-17, it is necessary for the network node 16 to dynamically indicate which of the CMRs, typically NZP CSI-RSs, in the CSI-RS resource set the WD22 should use for NC-JT CSI calculation. This is because the two CMRs (corresponding to the two TRPs) that are best suited for NC-JT may change over time. For example, at time t1, TRP1 and TRP2 may be best suited for NC-JT reception by the WD22. However, if the WD22 moves to a different location, at time t2, the WD22 may consider TRP2 and TRP3 to be best suited for NC-JT reception. If the CMR pair used for NC-JT CSI is semi-statically configured by RRC, any change of the suitable CMR pair may require RRC reconfiguration, which is time-consuming and inefficient. A better approach would be for the network node 16 to dynamically indicate which CMR the WD22 should use for NC-JT CSI calculation. In the detailed embodiments below, different signaling mechanisms are disclosed for indicating the CMR pair used for the NC-JT CSI. In addition, a signaling mechanism is included for indicating which CMR is used for the single TRP CSI.

[0089] Also, the CMRs used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption can be reused for the single-TRP measurement assumption. Note that the CMRs in each CMR group can be used for both the NC-JT measurement assumption and the single-TRP measurement assumption.

[0090] However, in NR frequency range 2 (FR2, see 3GPP TS 38.101-2 v17.0.0), where WD22 may use different WD22 panels / UE beams for different TRPs, reusing the same CMR for single-TRP measurement assumptions and NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions may not work in a suitable manner. For example, consider a coordination cluster with two TRPs (TRP1 and TRP2) and a WD22 with four WD22 panels, where two WD22 panels may be active and available to receive from a single TRP to improve receive diversity. In this case, the WD22 may, for example: · WD22 Panel 1 and WD22 Panel 2 for single TRP CSI measurement assumptions for TRP1, · WD22 Panel 3 and WD22 Panel 4 for the single TRP CSI measurement assumption for TRP2, and · WD22 Panel 1 and WD22 Panel 3 for NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions (for TRP1 and TRP2) may be used.

[0091] Because the WD22 in this example uses different panels for the two single TRP CSI measurement assumptions, the WD22 will not be able to determine the inter-layer interference between the two TRPs from these single TRP measurements. For example, the WD22 will not be able to determine the interference generated from TRP2 to panel 1 of the WD22 used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption because the WD22 uses only panel 1 of the WD22 to receive CMR from TRP1. Therefore, a separate CMR is needed for each CSI measurement assumption for FR2. In this disclosure, detailed signaling embodiments are provided on how to indicate to the WD22 which CMR is used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption and the single TRP CSI measurement assumption.

[0092] However, it should be noted that reuse of CMRs for NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions and single-TRP CSI measurement assumptions is still possible in NR frequency range 1 (FR1, see 3GPP TS 38.101-1 v17.0.0), because in FR1, WDs typically do not have multiple panels, and therefore channel measurements for a CMR corresponding to a given TRP can be used for both single-TRP CSI measurement assumptions and NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions with that TRP. Detailed signaling embodiments for indicating use of the same CMR for NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions and single-TRP CSI measurement assumptions are also disclosed in this disclosure.

[0093] It should be noted that the term TRP may not actually be used in the 3GPP specifications. In some embodiments, the TRP may be either a network node 16, a radio head, a spatial relationship, or a TCL state. The TRP may be represented by a spatial relationship or a TCI state in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the TRP may use multiple TCI states. In some embodiments, the TRP may be part of the network node 16 that transmits and receives radio signals to the WD 22 according to physical layer characteristics and parameters specific to its elements. In some embodiments, the TRP may be part of the network node 16 that transmits and receives radio signals to the WD 22 according to physical layer characteristics and parameters specific to its elements. In some embodiments, in multiple multi-TRP operation, the serving cell can schedule the WD 22 from two TRPs to provide good PDSCH coverage, reliability, and / or data rates. There are two different operation modes for multi-TRP: single DCI and multi-DCI. For both modes, the control of uplink and downlink operation is done by both the physical layer and the MAC. In single DCI mode, WD22 is scheduled by the same DCI for both TRPs, and in multi-DCI mode, WD22 is scheduled by an independent DCI from each TRP. In some embodiments, the TRP may be represented by a CMR group as described in the detailed embodiments below. In some embodiments, the TRP may be represented by a CMR, NZP CSI-RS resource, or CRI.

[0094] The term NC-JT may not be captured in 3GPP specifications. Rather, the NC-JT may be described as receiving multiple PDSCH layers, where the PDSCH is scheduled by the DCI to indicate two TCI states where the PDSCH DM-RS port belongs to two different Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) groups as specified in 3GPP TS 38.214.

[0095] In the following embodiments, even though the configuration of the CMR pair is described in terms of a bit field, such configuration may also be done by other types of indicators, such as an integer, a series of integers, etc. Furthermore, the terms CSI reporting configuration and CSIReportConfig are used interchangeably.

[0096] In one embodiment, a single bit field indicates, for example, that the CSI reporting configuration is set and which of the single-TRP / NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions WD22 should include in the CSI calculation / report. In some embodiments, each bit in the bit field corresponds to an NC-JT CSI measurement assumption consisting of a pair of CMRs configured for WD22. In some embodiments, a bit in the bit field may correspond to either an NC-JT CSI measurement assumption or a single-TRP CSI measurement assumption. For the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption, a pair of CMRs is configured for WD22. For the single-TRP CSI measurement assumption, only a single CMR is configured for WD22. In some embodiments, each bit in the bit field corresponds to both an NC-JT CSI measurement assumption and two single-TRP CSI measurement assumptions. That is, a pair of CMRs is configured for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption, where each of the two CMRs is usable for the two single-TRP CSI measurement assumptions.

[0097] Note that in the above embodiment, the pair of CMRs may be two CMRs from the channel measurement resource set for which "resourcesForChannelMeasurement" in CSI-ReportConfig is set. Similarly, the single CMR used for the single-TRP CSI measurement assumption is from the channel measurement resource set for which "resourcesForChannelMeasurement" in CSI-ReportConfig is set.

[0098] In one alternative to this embodiment, the single bit field is a string of Boolean operators, where each Boolean operator indicates whether or not an NC-JT CSI measurement assumption should be applied. TIFF0007672509000001.tif121170

[0099] In one alternative of this embodiment, the length of the bit field is equal to the maximum number of candidate NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses that the WD22 can configure (either according to the specification or the capabilities of the WD22). For example, assuming that the maximum number of NZP CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set used for channel measurements for NC-JT CSI is equal to 8, the maximum number of candidate NC-JT hypotheses becomes k1*k2=4*4=16, where k1 is the number of NZP CSI-RS resources in CMR group 0 and k2 is the number of NZP CSI-RS resources in CMR group 1. This means that the bit field of the Boolean operator is 16 bits long. Note that in this example, the NZP CSI-RS resources for channel measurements are divided into two groups (i.e., CMR group 0 and CMR group 1). The CMR groups may be configured for the WD22 by the CMR group index included for each CMR (i.e., the NZP CSI-RS resource configuration includes the CMR group index). Alternatively, the WD22 may be configured with two lists of NZP CSI-RS indexes, where each list corresponds to one of the CMR groups.

[0100] It should be noted that other RRC configurations are possible, for example the bit sequences can be used as shown below. TIFF0007672509000002.tif10170

[0101] Alternatively, the corresponding bit fields may be set as follows: TIFF0007672509000003.tif32170

[0102] In one alternative to this embodiment, there is an implicit mapping between the bits in the bit field and the different CMR pairs used for the NC-JT measurement assumptions. One example of how this implicit mapping may be implemented is described with reference to Figure 13, where the CSI reporting configuration for the NC-JT CSI is configured with an NZP CSI-RS resource set having five NZP CSI-RS resources (CMRs). The CMRs are divided into two CMR groups, where CMR group 0 has three CMRs and CMR group 1 has two CMRs. Since each NC-JT CSI measurement assumption shall consist of one CMR from each CMR group, there are six possible NC-JT measurement assumptions for this CSI-RS resource set (CMR1 to CMR4, CMR1 to CMR5, CMR2 to CMR4, CMR2 to CMR5, CMR3 to CMR4, CMR3 to CMR5). Thus, the six bits of the bit field are implicitly associated with these six candidate NC-JT measurement hypotheses, where each of these six bits indicates whether WD22 should measure the CMR pair, calculate the CSI, and report the CSI corresponding to the NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis associated with that bit.

[0103] In this example, the left-most bit in the bit field (X1) is associated with the first NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis, the second-leftmost bit is associated with the second NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis, etc. The NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses can be ordered according to the following: The first NC-JT assumption corresponds to the CMR with the lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the first CMR group (CMR group 0) and the CMR with the lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the second CMR group (CMR group 1). The second NC-JT assumption corresponds to the CMR with the lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the first CMR group and the CMR with the second lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the second CMR group. The third NC-JT assumption corresponds to the CMR with the second lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the first CMR group and the CMR with the second lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the second CMR group. ·others

[0104] The NC-JT assumption order in this example is based on first putting the CMR with the lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the first CMR group, and then pairing that CMR with all the CMRs in the second CMR group, where the CMR order in the second CMR group is also based on the lowest CSI-RS resource ID for these CMRs, and then the same can be done with the CMR with the second lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the first CMR group, and so on, until all the CMRs in the first CMR group are paired with one CMR in the second CMR group.

[0105] Note that this is just one example of an implicit mapping between bits in a bit field and candidate NC-JT measurement hypotheses, and other implicit mappings are possible, e.g., the ordering of bits in a bit field may start from the right instead of starting from the left.

[0106] FIG. 13 is an example of one embodiment using a bit field to indicate which NC-JT measurement hypotheses WD22 should include for an NC-JT CSI report and an implicit mapping between bits in the bit field and candidate NC-JT measurement hypotheses. If the maximum number of NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses that WD22 can measure and calculate CSI for (e.g., due to limited CPU capabilities in WD22) is smaller than the total number of candidate NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses for the corresponding CSI-RS resource set, it may be possible to reduce the number of bits used to indicate the NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses, where each hypothesis is given by a bit to indicate which CMR pair WD22 should measure the channel and report CSI for. For example, assuming that WD22 can only calculate one NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis for an NC-JT CSI report and the maximum number of candidate NC-JT hypotheses is still equal to 16, only 4 bits are needed in the bit field to select the NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. One example of such a bit field is shown in FIG. 13, where each code point in the bit field is associated with one of the candidate NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses.

[0107] In the above embodiment, the NC-JT CMR pairing is also configurable in CSI-ReportConfig as an integer. In this embodiment, a single NC-JT CSI hypothesis is configured for WD22 that WD22 will use to measure the channel, calculate CSI, and report CSI. Following the example in Figure 13, assume that the NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses are ordered from 1 to 6. Furthermore, for WD22, the NC-JT CSI CMR pairing is configurable for use by the integer ncjt-CMR-pairing-r17 in CSI-ReportConfig.

[0108] Below is an example of an RRC configuration of the bit field used to indicate one NC-JT CSI measurement assumption used for NC-JT CSI calculation and reporting. TIFF0007672509000004.tif105170

[0109] In one alternative to this embodiment, there is an implicit mapping between different code points of the bit field and different CMR pairs used for the NC-JT measurement assumptions. Figure 14 is an example of an association of bit fields and code points for NC-JT measurement assumptions used to indicate a single NC-JT assumption. One example of this is described with reference to Figure 14. Here, the reporting configuration for NC-JT CSI points to a NZP CSI-RS resource set having five NZP CSI-RS resources (CMRs), and the CMRs are divided into two CMR groups, in this case three CMRs in CMR group 0 and two CMRs in CMR group 1. Since each NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis shall consist of one CMR from each CMR group, there are six possible NC-JT measurement hypotheses for this CSI-RS resource set (CMR1 to CMR4, CMR1 to CMR5, CMR2 to CMR4, CMR2 to CMR5, CMR3 to CMR4, CMR3 to CMR5). Thus, the six code points of the bit field shall be implicitly associated with these six candidate NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. Here, the same ordering as described in the previous embodiment of the NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses can be used, and the first NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis may furthermore be associated with code point "1", the second NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis with code point "2", etc.

[0110] This embodiment can be easily extended to use multiple bit fields, where each bit field indicates one NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis when WD22 is capable of calculating more than one NC-JT CSI measurement hypothesis during an NC-JT CSI report. One example of this is shown in the following pseudocode, where M (= the maximum number of NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses that WD22 can measure and calculate during one NC-JT CSI report, denoted by "maxNrofNCJT-Hypothesis") bit fields are set, and each bit field is used to indicate one of N (= the maximum number of candidate NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses, denoted by "maxNumberOfCandidateNCJT-Hypotheses"). Note that when WD22 is set with M different NC-JT CSI hypotheses, WD22 will measure M CMR pairs corresponding to the M different NC-JT CSI hypotheses. However, WD22 will, in some embodiments, report only one of the M NC-JT CSIs that will result in the best performance.

[0111] Below is an example of an RRC configuration of a list of bit fields used to indicate one or several NC-JT measurement assumptions used for NC-JT CSI reporting. TIFF0007672509000005.tif99170

[0112] FIG. 15 is an example list of bit fields and their codepoint associations for NC-JT measurement assumptions used to indicate one or several NC-JT assumptions.

[0113] The mapping between the code points of each bit field in the list of bit fields may be the same as that shown diagrammatically in Figure 15. So, for example, if the code point of the first bit field in the list of bit fields is equal to "2" and the code point of the second bit field in the list of bit fields is equal to "4", then WD22 shall measure NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions 2 and 4, i.e., "CMR1&CMR5" and "CMR2&CMR5".

[0114] In one alternative to this embodiment, one code point in each bit field is associated with a "no NC-JT CSI measurement assumption" for that bit field. For example, if network node 16 indicates code point 0 in bit field 2, assuming code point "0" is reserved for that purpose, then WD 22 shall omit the second NC-JT CSI measurement assumption.

[0115] In one embodiment, two CMR groups in an NZP CSI-RS resource set may be indicated with a bitmap in which a respective bit is associated with an NZP CSI-RS resource in the resource set. If the bit is set to 0, the associated NZP CSI-RS resource belongs to the first CMR group, and if the bit is set to 1, the associated NZP CSI-RS resource belongs to the second CMR group. Alternatively, the first K CSI-RS groups in the resource set may be indicated with a bitmap in which a respective bit is associated with an NZP CSI-RS resource in the resource set. If the bit is set to 0, the associated NZP CSI-RS resource belongs to the first CMR group, and if the bit is set to 1, the associated NZP CSI-RS resource belongs to the second CMR group. s1 The NZP CSI-RS resources belong to the first CMR group, and the remaining NZP CSI-RS resources belong to the second CMR group. s1 is signaled to the WD22 in the CSI-ReportConfig CSI-AperiodicTriggerState or as part of the CSI-ReportConfig.

[0116] In one alternative to this embodiment, the single TRP CSI measurement assumption associated with the NC-JT reporting configuration is implicitly determined by the CMR corresponding to the indicated NC-JT measurement assumption. For example, assuming that the network node 16 indicates that the WD22 is to calculate the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption in CMR1 and CMR4, the WD22 shall also calculate the single TRP CSI measurement assumption for CMR1 and CMR4. Note that this may work for FR1 but not in FR2, because in FR2 the WD22 may be equipped with multiple antenna panels. For the single TRP CSI measurement assumption, the WD22 may use multiple antenna panels to receive from a single TRP (to improve receive diversity). For the NC-JT CSI assumption, the WD22 may use a single antenna panel to receive from each of the TRPs. Because measurements are made using different numbers of panels, it may not be possible to use the same CMR pair for both the single TRP CSI measurement assumption and the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption.

[0117] In one alternative to this embodiment, each CMR in the CSI-RS resource set shall be considered as a single-TRP CSI measurement assumption, regardless of which CMR is indicated for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption. In this embodiment, the CMR used for the single-TRP CSI is selected from the CSI-RS resource set and selected independently from the CMR pair indicated for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption. With reference to the example in Figure 16, when CMR pair CMR1&CMR4 is indicated to WD22 as the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption, WD22 may select a CMR for the single-TRP CSI using one of the following examples: Selecting one CMR from CMR group 0 for a first single TRP CSI measurement, which may be one of CMR1, CMR2, or CMR3, and selecting another CMR from CMR group 1 for a second single TRP CSI measurement assumption, which may be one of CMR4 or CMR5; or · Select only one CMR from either CMR Group 0 or CMR Group 1 for one single TRP CSI measurement. If a CMR from CMR Group 0 is selected, it can be any one of CMR1, CMR2, or CMR3. If a CMR from CMR Group 1 is selected, it can be any one of CMR4 or CMR5.

[0118] In one alternative to this embodiment, a bit field is set in the aperiodic trigger state instead of the CSI reporting configuration or CSI-ReportConfig (as used in the previous examples) and indicated as follows: In such a case, whenever the aperiodic trigger state is triggered, WD22 shall apply in that bit field the information indicating the NC-JT measurement assumptions for the triggered NC-JT CSI report. In some embodiments, if another bit field is already set in the associated reporting configuration, WD22 shall override the bit field in the reporting configuration in favor of the bit field in the aperiodic trigger state.

[0119] Below is an example of an RRC setting of the bit field in the aperiodic trigger state used to indicate one or several NC-JT measurement assumptions used for NC-JT CSI reporting: TIFF0007672509000006.tif170170

[0120] In another embodiment, a first CMR pair representing a first NC-JT CSI measurement assumption may be configured in a first CSI-AssociatedReportConfig. A second CMR pair representing a second NC-JT CSI measurement assumption may be configured in a second CSI-AssociatedReportConfig. The network node 16 may also trigger one of the CSI-AssociatedReportConfigs via a CSI request field in a DCI containing one of the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions. After receiving the DCI, the WD 22 performs measurements on the corresponding CMR pair, calculates the CSI, and reports the corresponding NC-JT CSI to the network. The benefit of this embodiment is that the network can dynamically switch the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption that the WD 22 should use for measurements, CSI calculations, and reporting.

[0121] In some FR2 scenarios, the WD22 may not be able to reuse the CMR for multiple measurements. That is, the WD22 may not be able to use the CMR for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption and the single TRP assumption as assumed in the previous embodiment. Because in FR2, the WD22 may be equipped with multiple antenna panels. For the single TRP CSI measurement assumption, the WD22 may use multiple antenna panels to receive from a single TRP to improve receive diversity. However, for the NC-JT CSI assumption, the WD22 may use a single antenna panel to receive from each of the TRPs. Because measurements are made using different numbers of panels, it may not be possible to use the same CMR pair for both the single TRP CSI measurement assumption and the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption.

[0122] In one embodiment, the bit fields and corresponding mappings for NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions described in the previous embodiment related to FR1 are reused for FR2. However, the 3GPP standard provides an additional rule that prohibits the use of CMRs for multiple measurement assumptions. In one alternative to this embodiment, CMRs in the NZP CSI-RS resource set associated with a reporting configuration (i.e., a CSI-ReportConfig configured for NC-JT CSI reporting) that is not indicated in any NC-JT measurement assumption are instead used for the single-TRP measurement assumption by default. One example of this is described with reference to FIG. 16. Here, it is assumed that the WD22 can handle only one NC-JT CSI measurement assumption and a single bit field is used to indicate which of the six possible NC-JT measurement assumptions the WD22 should use. In this example, it is assumed that the code point of the bit field is equal to "1", which means that the WD22 shall use CMR1 and CMR4 as the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions. Since the remaining CMRs are not used for any of the NC-JT measurement assumptions, they will instead be used by default for the single-TRP measurement assumption, which means that WD22 shall make the single-TRP measurement assumption for CMR2, CMR3, and CMR5.

[0123] FIG. 16 is an example of an embodiment related to FR2, where a bit field is used to indicate the NC-JT measurement assumption, and the remaining CMRs not used for any NC-JT measurement assumption are used by default for the single-TRP measurement assumption.

[0124] In another example, two or more of the possible NC-JT measurement hypotheses are indicated in WD22. Consider another example with reference to Figure 16. Here, the code points of the indicated bit fields are "1" and "2", which means that WD22 shall use the CMR pairs (CMR1, CMR4) and (CMR1, CMR5) as the NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. The remaining CMRs that are not used for any NC-JT measurement hypotheses are CMR2 and CMR3, which according to the above embodiment will be used for the single-TRP measurement hypotheses.

[0125] In one alternative to this embodiment, one codepoint is reserved to indicate "no NC-JT CSI measurement assumption", which means that all CMRs will be used for single TRP measurement assumption instead.

[0126] In one embodiment, different bit fields are used to indicate the single-TRP and NC-JT measurement assumptions (instead of assuming that all CMRs not indicated for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption may be used for the single-TRP measurement assumption). In this way, the network node 16 can indicate to the WD 22 which CMRs not included for the NC-JT measurement assumption may be used for the single-TRP CSI measurement assumption. This may be useful, for example, if the network node 16 does not want to include certain CMRs / TRPs in the CSI calculation.

[0127] In another embodiment, the network node 16 may configure higher layer parameters (e.g., RRC parameters) to control whether the CMRs used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions are reusable for single TRP measurement assumptions. Considering the example in FIG. 16, assume that CMR pair 1 (i.e., pair including CMR1&CMR4) is indicated to the WD 22 for NC-JT CSI measurements. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, if the higher layer parameters are set to a first value, the WD 22 may reuse the indicated CMR pair 1 for single TRP CSI measurement assumptions. For example, the WD 22 may use CMR1, CMR2, CMR3, CMR4, and CMR5 to perform measurements related to the single TRP CSI assumptions. If the higher layer parameters are set to a second value, the WD 22 may not reuse the indicated CMR pair 1 for single TRP CSI measurement assumptions. In this case, the WD 22 may use CMR2, CMR3, and CMR5 to perform measurements related to the single TRP CSI assumptions. In some embodiments, the higher layer parameters are configured in the CSI-ReportConfig or in the CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo configured for each CSI-AperiodicTriggerState in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList information element in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0128] In an alternative embodiment, the network node 16 configures higher layer parameters (e.g., RRC parameters) to control whether the CMRs used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions are reusable for single-TRP measurement assumptions. If the higher layer parameters are configured, the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions are reusable for single-TRP measurement assumptions by the WD 22. If the higher layer parameters are not configured, the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions are not reusable for single-TRP measurement assumptions by the WD 22. Considering the example in FIG. 16, assume that CMR pair 1 (i.e., the pair including CMR1&CMR4) is indicated to the WD 22 for NC-JT CSI measurements. Furthermore, according to this alternative embodiment, if the higher layer parameters are configured, the WD 22 can reuse the indicated CMR pair 1 for single-TRP CSI measurement assumptions. For example, the WD 22 may use CMR1, CMR2, CMR3, CMR4, and CMR5 to perform measurements related to the single-TRP CSI assumptions. If the higher layer parameters are not configured, WD22 may not reuse the indicated CMR pair 1 for the single TRP CSI measurement assumption. In this case, WD22 may use CMR2, CMR3, and CMR5 to make measurements related to the single TRP CSI assumption. In some embodiments, the higher layer parameters are configured in CSI-ReportConfig or in CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo configured per CSI-AperiodicTriggerState in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList information element in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0129] In another embodiment, higher layer parameters are configured (e.g., RRC parameters) to instruct WD22 to measure only a single TRP CSI measurement assumption for a CMR pair indicated for NC-JT CSI measurement assumption. Considering the example in FIG. 16, assume that CMR pair 1 (i.e., a pair including CMR1&CMR4) is indicated to WD22 for NC-JT CSI measurement. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, if higher layer parameters are configured, WD22 measures only a single TRP CSI measurement assumption for CMR pair 1 indicated for NC-JT CSI measurement assumption. That is, WD22 may use only CMR1 and CMR4 for single TRP CSI measurement. If higher layer parameters are not configured, WD22 may use all CMRs configured in the CSI-RS resource set for single TRP CSI measurement. In some embodiments, the higher layer parameters are configured in the CSI-ReportConfig or in the CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo configured for each CSI-AperiodicTriggerState in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList information element in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0130] In one embodiment, the indication of which CMRs should be included for the NC-JT measurement assumption is explicitly indicated by including a pair of NZP CSI-RS resource IDs. One example of this embodiment is shown below, where the new field "ncjt-CMR-pairing" contains two lists of NZP CSI-RS resource IDs ("cmr-pair-list-1" and "cmr-pair-list-2"). Each CMR pair used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption contains one NZP CSI-RS resource indicated in "cmr-pair-list-1" (in this case the NZP CSI-RS resources are from the first CMR group in some embodiments) and one NZP CSI-RS resource indicated in "cmr-pair-list-2" (in this case the NZP CSI-RS resources are from the second CMR group in some embodiments). The first NZP CSI-RS resource ID in each list may result in a first CMR pair used for the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption, and the second NZP CSI-RS resource ID in each list results in a second CMR pair.

[0131] Below is an example of an RRC configuration of a new field that explicitly pairs NZP CSI-RS resources for NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions used for NC-JT CSI reporting. TIFF0007672509000007.tif135170

[0132] In one alternative to this embodiment, instead of using an explicit NZP CSI-RS resource ID in the lists, a local codepoint or local ID from within each CMR group is used to indicate the NZP CSI-RS resource in the NZP CSI-RS resource set used for channel measurements. If we assume that the maximum number of CMRs in one CMR group is eight NZP CSI-RS resources in the NZP CSI-RS resource set used for NC-JT CSI reporting, then the number of bits used to indicate the NZP CSI-RS resource in each entry of each of the two lists is only three bits, which is less than the number of bits required to indicate an explicit CSI-RS resource ID. The local ordering of the NZP CSI-RS resources in a CMR group may be based on the CSI-RS resource ID, such that the NZP CSI-RS resource with the lowest CSI-RS resource ID in a particular CMR group is associated with the lowest codepoint, the NZP CSI-RS resource with the second lowest CSI-RS resource ID in the same CMR group is associated with the second lowest codepoint, etc. Alternatively, the local ordering of the NZP CSI-RS resources in a CMR group follows the ordering in the corresponding NZP CSI-RS resource set.

[0133] In another embodiment, a set of NC-JT CMR pairs is explicitly configured in either CSI-reportConfig or CSI-AperiodicTriggerState. For each pair, the NZP CSI-RS resource index pair is (CRI i , CRI j ), where i ≠ j, i, j = 0, 1, ..., K s -1, where CRI k is the k-th NZP CSI-RS resource in the NZP CSI-RS resource set, and K sis the number of NZP CSI-RS resources in the NZP CSI-RS resource set. Alternatively, the indexing can be per CMR group, i.e. TIFF0007672509000008.tif7170, where: TIFF0007672509000009.tif7170 are the i-th and j-th NZP CSI-RS resources in CMR groups 0 and 1, respectively, and K s1 and K. s2 are the numbers of NZP CSI-RS resources in CMR groups 0 and 1, respectively. An example of configuring a set of NC-JT CMR resource pairs in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerState is shown below, where maxNrofNcjtHypothesis is the number of NC-JT hypotheses configured based on the capabilities of WD22.

[0134] Below is an example of configuring a set of NC-JT CMR resource pairs. TIFF0007672509000010.tif248170

[0135] In one embodiment, the WD22 is configured with a list of possible NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses as described in one of the above embodiments. In one example, if we assume that the maximum number of NZP CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set used for NC-JT CSI is equal to 8, the maximum number of candidate NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses becomes k1*k2=4*4=16, where k1 is the number of NZP CSI-RS resources in CMR group 0 and k2 is the number of NZP CSI-RS resources in CMR group 1. Note that if all NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses are known, they can be specified in the specification and no RRC configuration is required. However, it is a large burden for the WD22 to calculate the CSI for all NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. A more practical solution would be for the RRC configuration to configure only a finite number of CMR pairs for a finite number of NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses, and further narrow the selection range in the MAC CE to one or a subset of the configured CMR pairs.

[0136] Consider the following example where the CSI reporting configuration for NC-JT CSI is configured with an NZP CSI-RS resource set for channel measurement with five NZP CSI-RS resources (i.e., five CMRs). Further assume that the CMRs are divided into two CMR groups, with three CMRs in CMR group 0 and two CMRs in CMR group 1. Since each NC-JT CSI measurement assumption shall consist of one CMR from each CMR group, there are six possible NC-JT measurement assumptions for this NZP CSI-RS resource set. The corresponding CMR pairs for the six possible NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions are CMR1 to CMR4, CMR1 to CMR5, CMR2 to CMR4, CMR2 to CMR5, CMR3 to CMR4, and CMR3 to CMR5.

[0137] In one embodiment, the MAC CE has a field that is a bit string with each bit indicating one of the possible NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. In other words, each bit in the field indicates one of the CMR pairs corresponding to one of the possible NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. Using the above example, the field in the MAC CE may consist of 6 bits [S0 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5], where the mapping of bits to CMR pairs is shown, for example, as follows: Bit S0 corresponds to CMR pair CMR1~CMR4, Bit S1 corresponds to CMR pair CMR1~CMR5, Bit S2 corresponds to CMR2~CMR4, Bit S3 corresponds to CMR2~CMR5, Bit S4 corresponds to the CMR pair CMR3 to CMR4, and / or Bit S5 corresponds to the CMR pairs CMR3 to CMR5.

[0138] For a given MAC CE, in some embodiments, the WD 22 may be indicated one of the CMR pairs (e.g., one of the six bits in the above example is set to 1, while the other five bits are set to 0). In this case, the WD 22 measures the CMR pair, calculates the CSI, and reports the NC-JT CSI corresponding to the indicated CMR pair.

[0139] In some other embodiments, WD22 may indicate more than one CMR pair (e.g., two or more of the six bits in the above example are set to 1). In this case, WD22 measures the indicated CMR pairs, calculates the CSI, and reports only the NC-JT CSI corresponding to one of the CMR pairs. The NC-JT CSI to be reported is determined by WD22 to be the NC-JT CSI that gives the best throughput among the NC-JT hypotheses corresponding to the indicated CMR pairs.

[0140] An example MAC CE for the first example that can indicate to WD 22 which NC-JT assumptions should be considered may be shown as follows: In this example, assume a defined list of 16 NC-JT CSI assumptions. Although a list of NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions is shown in the MAC CE, the same principles encompassed in the other embodiments above also apply in this embodiment. The fields in this MAC CE may be shown as follows: Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identifier of the serving cell to which the MAC CE applies; · BWP ID: This field indicates the UL BWP to which the MAC CE applies. CSI reporting configuration ID: This field indicates the ID of the CSI reporting configuration for which the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption(s) are indicated; Si: this field indicates the selection status of the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption (e.g., if available, the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption list is specified in TS 38.331, and further, S0 refers to the first NC-JT CSI measurement assumption in the list, S1 refers to the second NC-JT CSI measurement assumption in the list, etc.), and / or · R: Reserved bits that are set to 0.

[0141] In an alternative variation of the above embodiment, the NZP CSI-RS resource set ID for the CMR pair used for NC-JT CSI measurements may be signaled instead of the CSI reporting configuration ID. Note that although 16 bits are shown in the S i field above, the number of bits in the S i field may depend on the maximum number of NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions. Table 1 below shows another example MAC CE where the S i field has 6 bits corresponding to six different NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions. In some embodiments, the maximum number of NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions may be predefined in the 3GPP specifications. TIFF0007672509000011.tif56170

[0142] In an alternative variation of the above embodiment, the NZP CSI-RS resource set ID in which the CMR pairs used for NC-JT CSI measurements are configured may be signaled instead of the CSI reporting configuration ID. i Note that the number of bits in the field may depend on the maximum number of NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. i 13 shows another example MAC CE where the field has 6 bits corresponding to six different NC-JT CSI measurement hypotheses. TIFF0007672509000012.tif49170

[0143] It should be noted that the MAC CE for indicating the above CMR pair may be a different and independent MAC CE from the MAC CE used for activating the semi-persistent CSI-RS resources as indicated in clause 6.1.3.12 of 3GPP TS38.321 V16.3.0.

[0144] In an alternative embodiment, the Si field for indicating the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions to the WD22 may be provided as part of the MAC CE for activating semi-persistent CSI-RS resources as indicated in clause 6.1.3.12 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.3.0.

[0145] In yet another alternative embodiment, the Si field for indicating the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions to WD22 can be provided as part of the MAC CE for activating semi-persistent CSI reporting in PUCCH as specified in clause 6.1.3.16 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.3.0.

[0146] In yet another alternative, the Si field for indicating the NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions in WD22 may be provided as part of the "Aperiodic CSI Trigger State Sub-Selection MAC CE" as specified in clause 6.1.3.13 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.3.0. In this embodiment, the CMR pairs corresponding to the indicated NC-JT CSI measurement assumptions are indicated for each selected aperiodic CSI trigger state.

[0147] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may optionally be without a BWP ID.

[0148] In another embodiment, instead of indicating the Si field in the MAC CE, each CMR pair corresponding to the NC-JT CSI measurement assumption indicated in WD22 is indicated via a NZP CSI-RS resource ID pair in the MAC CE.

[0149] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, a data processing system, a computer program product, and / or a computer storage medium having an executable computer program stored thereon. Thus, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects, all generally referred to herein as "circuits" or "modules." Any process, step, act, and / or function described herein may be performed by and / or associated with a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied therein, executable by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

[0150] Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer program instructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (thereby creating a special purpose computer), a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine such that the instructions, when executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, produce means for implementing the function / act specified in the block(s) of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams.

[0151] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture that includes instruction means that implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block(s).

[0152] It should be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the illustrations of the acts. For example, two blocks illustrated in succession may in fact be executed substantially in parallel, depending on the functions / acts involved, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order. Although some of the figures include arrows on communication paths to indicate the primary direction of communication, it should be understood that communication may occur in a direction opposite to that of the illustrated arrows.

[0153] Many different embodiments are described herein in connection with the above description and drawings. It is understood that a verbatim description and illustration of every combination and subcombination of these embodiments would be overly repetitive and unclear. Therefore, all embodiments can be combined in any manner and / or combination, and this specification, including the drawings, shall be construed as constituting a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and the methods and processes for making and using them, and shall support the rights to any such combination or subcombination.

[0154] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the embodiments described herein are not limited to those specifically shown and described herein above. Moreover, unless otherwise noted above, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. Various modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A method in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), comprising: Transmitting a first indication to the WD indicating a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) to use in determining channel state information (CSI), the CSI including at least one of (i) a first CSI for a multiple transmission / reception point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP; transmitting a second indication to the WD indicating a first subset of CMRs for non-coherent joint transmission (NC-JT) CSI measurement hypotheses from the set of CMRs to use in determining the first CSI; configuring the WD to use a second subset of CMRs used for single TRP measurement hypotheses from the set of CMRs to determine the at least one second CSI; transmitting a third indication indicating that at least one CMR of the first subset of CMRs used for NC-JTCSI measurement hypotheses is reused in a second subset of CMRs used for single-TRP measurement hypotheses; receiving a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third indication is a radio resource control (RRC) parameter.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the RRC parameters are included in a CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE).

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein when the RRC parameter is not set to the WD, the CMRs of the first subset of CMRs are not reusable in the second subset of CMRs.

5. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the WD includes indicating that resources of CMRs in a second subset of CMRs do not include resources of CMRs in a first subset of CMRs.

6. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication explicitly indicates a first subset of the CMRs, the explicit indication comprising an indication of a pair of non-zero power (NZP) CSI reference signal resource IDs.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second indication indicates the first subset of CMRs via a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first subset of CMRs is indicated in a CSI-AssociatedReportConfiginfo information element triggered by a CSI request field in the DCI message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication comprises indicating the first subset of the CMRs via a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) message.

10. A computer-readable medium comprising code portions which, when executed on a processor of a network node, configure the processor to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD), comprising: A wireless interface; A processing circuit configured to communicate with the wireless interface and to configure the WD to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 9; A network node comprising:

12. A method in a wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, comprising: receiving a first indication of a set of channel measurement resources (CMRs) to use in determining channel state information (CSI), the CSI including at least one of: (i) a first CSI for a multiple transmission / reception point (multi-TRP) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission; and (ii) at least one second CSI for a PDSCH transmission from one TRP; receiving a second indication indicating a first subset of CMRs for non-coherent joint transmission (NC-JT) CSI measurement hypotheses from a set of CMRs to use in determining the first CSI; receiving a third indication indicating that at least one CMR of the first subset of CMRs used for NC-JTCSI measurement hypotheses is to be reused in a second subset of CMRs used for single-TRP measurement hypotheses; determining the at least one second CMR using a second subset of the CMRs used for single TRP measurement assumptions from the set of CMRs; transmitting a CSI report including at least one of the first CSI and the at least one second CSI.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the third indication is a radio resource control (RRC) parameter.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the RRC parameters are included in a CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE).

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein when the RRC parameter is not set to the WD, the CMRs of the first subset of CMRs are not reusable in the second subset of CMRs.

16. A computer-readable medium comprising code portions which, when executed on a processor of a wireless device (WD), configure the processor to perform a method according to any one of claims 12 to 15.

17. A wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, comprising: A wireless interface; A processing circuit in communication with the wireless interface and configured to perform the method of any one of claims 12 to 15; A wireless device (WD) comprising:

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