method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable medium, in which a terminal device generates a PHR for a first waveform based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for an uplink transmission performed using a second waveform different from the first waveform, and transmits the PHR to a network device, thereby allowing the PHR for the unused waveform to be reported.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to communication methods, apparatus, and computer storage media for power headroom reporting (PHR). [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, waveforms for uplink (UL) transmission are semi-statically configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling to be orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveforms. Technically, DFT-s-OFDM waveforms have a lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) than OFDM waveforms and can therefore support higher transmit power. However, DFT-s-OFDM waveforms have relatively lower spectral efficiency than OFDM waveforms due to poorer frequency selective gain and only single-layer transmission.

[0003] Recently, it has been agreed that dynamic waveform switching should be investigated for coverage enhancement. That is, the waveform for UL transmission may be switched from OFDM to DFT-s-OFDM waveform or from DFT-s-OFDM waveform to OFDM waveform by lower layer signaling. Since the maximum transmit power for DFT-s-OFDM waveform and OFDM waveform are different, an extension of PHR reporting needs to be considered to better support dynamic waveform switching. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for PHR reporting. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In a first aspect, a method of communications is provided, the method including: generating, at a terminal device, a PHR for a first waveform based on at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) or a scheduled bandwidth for uplink transmissions performed using a second waveform different from the first waveform; and transmitting the PHR to a network device.

[0006] In a second aspect, a method of communications is provided, comprising transmitting, at a terminal device to a network device, a PHR for a first waveform not used by an uplink transmission in response to at least one of receiving from the network device first downlink control information (DCI) indicating transmission of the PHR, a change in a power parameter being above or below a threshold change, a value of the PHR being above or below a threshold, a measured rank indicator (RI) changing from a first number to a second number, or a modulation order indicated by a second DCI differing from a modulation order indicated by a third DCI preceding the second DCI.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method of communications is provided, the method including receiving, at a network device, a PHR for a first waveform from a terminal device, the PHR generated based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for uplink transmissions performed by the terminal device using a second waveform different from the first waveform.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method of communication is provided, the method including: transmitting, in a network device, to a terminal device, a first DCI indicating transmission of a PHR for a first waveform not used by uplink transmissions; and receiving the PHR from the terminal device.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, there is provided a communications apparatus, the apparatus comprising a processor configured to perform a method according to any one of the first and third aspects of the present disclosure.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, there is provided a communications apparatus, the apparatus comprising a processor configured to perform the method according to any one of the second and fourth aspects of the present disclosure.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method according to any one of the first and third aspects of the present disclosure.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method according to any one of the second and fourth aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] Other features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of several embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings.

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0016] [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] [Figure 3A] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary determination of scheduled bandwidth for unused waveforms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] [Figure 3B] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary determination of scheduled bandwidth for unused waveforms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] [Figure 3C] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating yet another exemplary determination of scheduled bandwidth for unused waveforms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] [Figure 3D] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary determination of scheduled bandwidth for unused waveforms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] [Figure 3E] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) for PHR reporting, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] [Figure 3F] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary MAC CE for PHR reporting, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] [Figure 5]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example PHR report for an unused waveform, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication method implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] [Figure 7] FIG. 10 illustrates another exemplary communication method implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] [Figure 8] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary communication method implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates another exemplary communication method implemented in a network device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] In the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways different from those described below.

[0032] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0033] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any device with wireless or wired communication capabilities.Examples of terminal devices include user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, vehicle-mounted devices for V2X communications where X stands for pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), space-borne vehicles or air-borne vehicles in non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including high altitude (stratospheric) platforms (HAPs) including satellites and unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), and augmented reality (AR) devices. These include, but are not limited to, extended reality (XR) devices that include different types of reality, such as XR, mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are aircraft without a human pilot and are commonly referred to as drones, devices on high-speed trains (HST), image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensor gaming devices, music storage and playback devices, or internet appliances that enable wireless or wired internet access and browsing.A "terminal device" may further have "multicast / broadcast" capabilities to support public safety and mission-critical V2X applications, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast distribution, IPTV, smart TV, wireless services, over-the-air software distribution, group communication, and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), known as multi-SIMs. The term "terminal device" may be used interchangeably with UE, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, or wireless device.

[0034] The term "network device" refers to a device that can provide or host a cell or coverage area within which terminal devices can communicate. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, a Node B (Node B or NB), an evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), an IAB node, a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), and other low-power nodes.

[0035] The terminal device or network device may have artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning capabilities, which generally include a trained model trained from a large amount of data collected for a specific function and can be used to predict some information.

[0036] The terminal device or network device may operate on several frequency ranges, such as FR1 (410 MHz to 7125 MHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz to 71 GHz), frequency bands above 100 GHz, and Terahertz (THz). It can also operate on licensed, unlicensed, or shared spectrum. The terminal device may have two or more connections with the network device under a Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or network device can operate in full duplex, flexible duplex, or cross division duplex mode.

[0037] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in test equipment, such as, for example, a signal generator, a signal analyzer, a spectrum analyzer, a network analyzer, a test terminal device, a test network device, a channel emulator, and the like.

[0038] In one embodiment, a terminal device can connect to a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs). In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device, and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is an eNB, and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information related to the different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, the first information may be transmitted from the first network device to the terminal device, and the second information may be transmitted from the second network device directly or via the first network device to the terminal device. In one embodiment, information related to the terminal device configuration configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. The information regarding the reconfiguration of the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device directly from the second network device or via the first network device.

[0039] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "said" include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "comprises" and variations thereof should be understood as open terms meaning "including, but not limited to." The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on." The terms "one embodiment" and "embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment." The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment." Terms such as "first," "second," etc. may refer to different or the same object. The following may include other explicit and implicit definitions.

[0040] In some instances, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as "best," "lowest," "highest," "minimum," "maximum," etc. It should be understood that such descriptions are intended to illustrate that choices may be made from among many functional alternatives used, and that such choices are not necessarily better, smaller, higher, or otherwise more preferred than other choices.

[0041] As is known, the PHR is used to enable power-aware scheduling for the UL. Using the information in the PHR, a network device may determine the number of scheduled physical resource blocks (PRBs) and / or the MCS for the next UL transmission.

[0042] For coverage extension, dynamic waveform switching between OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM waveforms is supported, meaning that the network equipment may dynamically indicate to the terminal equipment, for example by DCI, to switch waveforms for a particular UL transmission. Typically, a DFT-s-OFDM waveform may be used at the cell edge for higher transmit power, and an OFDM waveform may be used at the cell center for higher spectral efficiency. However, this is not required; i.e., a DFT-s-OFDM waveform may be used at the cell center.

[0043] Dynamic waveform switching may occur more frequently than the current semi-static configuration of waveforms. However, the difference in maximum transmit power for OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM waveforms can be significant, especially for lower modulation orders, e.g., when π / 2 binary phase shift keying (BPSK) with power boosting is supported.

[0044] Therefore, when a network device decides to switch the waveform for UL transmission, the network device does not know the maximum transmit power for the unused waveform. In this case, the network device may make an incorrect decision on the number of scheduling PRBs. Therefore, waveform-specific PHRs are beneficial for scheduling in dynamic waveform switching scenarios. However, it may not be necessary for a terminal device to always report two PHRs for two waveforms, as reporting may cause high overhead, especially when channel conditions change slowly.

[0045] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for PHR reporting for unused waveforms. In one aspect, a terminal device generates a PHR for a first waveform based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for an UL transmission performed on a second waveform, and transmits the PHR to a network device.

[0046] In this way, the network device may obtain the power headroom for two different waveforms and decide whether to perform waveform switching based on the power headroom for the two different waveforms. If the network device decides to perform waveform switching, using the information of the PHR for the unused waveform, the network device can more accurately determine the number of PRBs and MCS to be scheduled for UL transmission after the waveform is switched.

[0047] In another aspect, the terminal device transmits a PHR for a first waveform not used in uplink transmission in response to at least one of receiving a first DCI from the network device indicating transmission of the PHR, a change in a power parameter being above or below a threshold change, the value of the power parameter being above or below a threshold, a change in a measured RI from a first number to a second number, or a difference between a modulation order indicated by the second DCI and a modulation order indicated by a third DCI preceding the second DCI. In this way, PHRs for unused waveforms are reported only when necessary, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0048] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable scenario. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented for XR. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented within one of a reduced capability NR device, NR multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), NR sidelink enhancement, NR systems at frequencies higher than 52.6 GHz, extended NR operation up to 71 GHz, narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IOT) / enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) over non-terrestrial based networks (NTN), NTN, UE power saving enhancement, NR coverage enhancement, NB-IOT and LTE-MTC, integrated access and backhaul (IAB), NR multicast and broadcast services, or enhancement on multi-radio dual-connectivity.

[0049] The principles and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example of a communication network

[0050] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. 100 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication network 100 including a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be served by the network device 120. It should be understood that the number of terminal devices and network devices in FIG. 1 is provided for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitations on the present disclosure. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and / or terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0051] 1, terminal device 110 may communicate with network device 120 via a channel, such as a wireless communication channel. Communications in communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standard, including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), New Radio (NR), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Machine Type Communication (MTC), etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in accordance with any generation of communication protocols now known or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or sixth generation (6G) networks.

[0052] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may send an indication to the terminal device 110 indicating a waveform switch for UL transmission. This triggers a dynamic waveform switch. In some embodiments, the indication may be carried within the DCI. Of course, any other suitable method for the indication is also possible. In some embodiments, when an OFDM waveform is used, transform precoding is disabled. When a DFT-s-OFDM waveform is used, transform precoding is enabled. Technically, transform precoding is a DFT process.

[0053] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit the PHR to the network device 120. In some embodiments, the transmit power of the UL transmission is determined by a set maximum output power (P CMAX ), an open-loop parameter (P O ), the path loss (denoted as PL) and the compensation factor (denoted as α), the MCS factor (Δ tf ) may be determined primarily based on the accumulative closed-loop adjustment value f indicated by the network device in the DCI. For example, if a UE transmits a PUSCH on an active UL BWP b of carrier f of serving cell c using a parameter set configuration with index j and a PUSCH power control adjustment state with index l, the UE may determine the PUSCH transmit power P PUSCH,b,f,c (i,j,q d , l) is determined as shown in the following formula (1).

number

[0054] The UE adjusts its configured maximum output power P CMAX,f,c It is allowed to set the maximum output power P CMAX,f,c is set within the following bounds as shown in equation (2) below: P CMAX_L,f,c ≦ P CMAX,f,c ≦ P CMAX_H,f,c (2) where P CMAX_L,f,c and P CMAX_H,f,cis defined as shown in the following equations (3) and (4). P CMAX_L,f,c = MIN {P EMAX,c - Δ TC,c , (P PowerClass - ΔP PowerClass ) - MAX(MAX(MPR c +ΔMPR c , A-MPR c ) + ΔT IB,c + ΔT C,c + ΔT RxSRS , P-MPR c )} (3) P CMAX_H,f,c = MIN {P EMAX,c , P PowerClass - ΔP PowerClass} (4)

[0055] New Radio (NR) supports three types of PHR: Type 1 PHR is based on UL transmission, e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSH) transmission; Type 2 PHR may be used in EUTRA-NR dual connection (EN-DC) scenarios; and Type 3 PHR is based on sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission.

[0056] In some embodiments for Type 1 PHR, the power headroom (PH) may be determined based on the actual UL transmission. In some embodiments, PH may be equal to the difference between the configured maximum output power and the estimated power of the actual UL transmission. For example, if the UE determines that the Type 1 PHR for an activated serving cell is based on the actual PUSCH transmission, then for a PUSCH transmission opportunity i on active UL BWP b of carrier f of serving cell c, the UE calculates the Type 1 PHR as shown in equation (5) below.

number

[0057] Note that, especially for lower modulation orders, e.g., when pi / 2 BPSK with power boosting is supported, two P CMAX Or the difference between the two pH levels may be large. CMAX The value of P depends on the implementation of the UE and is not a constant. Therefore, when the network device decides to switch to a waveform for PUSCH, the network device must CMAX Or the terminal device does not know the PH. In this case, the network device may make an incorrect decision on the number of scheduling PRBs after the waveform is switched. Therefore, waveform-specific PHRs are beneficial for scheduling in dynamic waveform switching scenarios. However, it may not be necessary for the terminal device to always report two PHRs for two waveforms, as reporting may cause high overhead, especially when channel conditions change slowly. For this reason, PHRs for unused waveforms may be triggered on demand.

[0058] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for PHR reporting for unused waveforms, which is described below with reference to Figures 2-5. Example of PHR reporting implementation for unused waveforms

[0059] In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for reporting PHR for unused waveforms. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication process 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1. The process 200 may involve a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 as shown in Figure 1.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 110 generates a PHR for a waveform not used by the UL transmission (also referred to herein for convenience as a first waveform or an unused waveform) based on at least one of the MCS or the scheduled bandwidth for the UL transmission. The UL transmission is performed using another waveform (also referred to herein for convenience as a second waveform or a used waveform). In some embodiments, the first waveform may be an OFDM waveform and the second waveform may be a DFT-s-OFDM waveform. In some alternative embodiments, the first waveform may be a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the second waveform may be an OFDM waveform.

[0061] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the PHR for an unused waveform may be determined based on a reference UL transmission, assuming that the used waveform of the actual UL transmission is replaced with the unused waveform, with some possible changes in MCS and scheduled bandwidth. Some exemplary embodiments of PHR generation are described with reference to embodiment 1 and embodiment 2. Embodiment 1

[0062] In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may generate a PHR for the unused waveform based on the MCS for UL transmission.

[0063] 2, network device 120 may transmit to terminal device 110 a configuration indicating an MCS table for a first waveform (also referred to herein as the first MCS table for convenience) and an MCS table for a second waveform (also referred to herein as the second MCS table for convenience). For illustrative purposes, example MCS tables are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below. Table 1: Example MCS table for PUSCH [Table 1] Table 2: Example MCS table for PUSCH with transform precoding and 64QAM [Table 2] In the example of Table 2, if the upper layer parameter tp-pi2BPSK is set, q = 1, otherwise q = 2. It should be understood that the above table is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0064] In some embodiments for PHR determination, terminal device 110 may determine an MCS index in a first MCS table (also referred to herein as a first MCS index for convenience) based on an MCS index in a second MCS table (also referred to herein as a second MCS index for convenience) used by the UL transmission (210). Terminal device 110 may then determine a modulation order for a first waveform (also referred to herein as a first modulation order for convenience) and a modulation order for a second waveform (also referred to herein as a second modulation order for convenience) based on the first MCS index and the second MCS index (211), and determine a PHR based on the first modulation order and the second modulation order (212).

[0065] In some embodiments for determining the first MCS index, the terminal device 110 may determine the first MCS index to be equal to the second MCS index. Accordingly, the first modulation order and the second modulation order may be determined. In these embodiments, if the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same, the terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order. If the first modulation order is different from the second modulation order, the terminal device 110 may determine the PHR using a predetermined modulation order.

[0066] The predetermined modulation order may be determined based on the type of the second waveform (i.e., the used waveform) and the type of the second modulation order. For example, if the used waveform is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the corresponding MCS index is associated with pi / 2 BPSK, the PHR for the unused waveform may be determined based on quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). As another example, if the used waveform is an OFDM waveform and the corresponding MCS index is associated with QPSK in the MCS table for the used waveform but is associated with pi / 2 BPSK in the MCS table for the unused waveform, the PHR for the unused waveform may be determined based on pi / 2 BPSK. As yet another example, if the used waveform is an OFDM waveform and the corresponding MCS index is associated with 256QAM / 512QAM in the MCS table for the used waveform but 256QAM / 512QAM is not supported for the unused waveform, the PHR for the unused waveform may be determined based on 64QAM.

[0067] For illustrative purposes, several examples will be described with reference to Tables 1 and 2 above. Assume that the first waveform (i.e., the unused waveform) is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the second waveform (i.e., the used waveform) is an OFDM waveform. Table 1 above is for OFDM, and Table 2 is for DFT-s-OFDM. In one example, assume that the MCS index (i.e., the second MCS index) used by UL transmission is 3. Then, the MCS index for the unused waveform (i.e., the first MCS index) is 3. From Table 1, it can be seen that the modulation order (i.e., the second modulation order) corresponding to MCS index 3 for OFDM is 2. From Table 2, it can be seen that the modulation order (i.e., the first modulation order) corresponding to MCS index 3 for DFT-s-OFDM is 2. In this example, since the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same, the terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on whether the first modulation order or the second modulation order is 2. For example, the terminal device 110 calculates P CMAX Alternatively, at least one of the pHs may be determined as the PHR.

[0068] In another example, assume that the MCS index used by UL transmission (i.e., the second MCS index) is 0. And the MCS index for the unused waveform (i.e., the first MCS index) is 0. From Table 1, it can be seen that the modulation order corresponding to MCS index 0 for OFDM (i.e., the second modulation order) is 2. From Table 2, it can be seen that the modulation order corresponding to MCS index 0 for DFT-s-OFDM (i.e., the first modulation order) is q. In this example, the first modulation order is different from the second modulation order. It is assumed that the upper layer parameter tp-pi2BPSK is configured, and q=1. In this case, MCS index 0 is associated with QPSK in Table 1, but with pi / 2 BPSK in Table 2. Therefore, the terminal device 110 may determine pi / 2 BPSK as the predetermined modulation order and determine the PHR using pi / 2 BPSK. For example, the terminal device 110 may calculate PCMAX Alternatively, at least one of the pHs may be determined as the PHR.

[0069] In some alternative embodiments for determining the first MCS index, terminal device 110 may determine the first MCS index such that the spectral efficiency associated with the first MCS index (also referred to herein as the first spectral efficiency for convenience) is closest to the spectral efficiency associated with the second MCS index (also referred to herein as the second spectral efficiency for convenience) in the first MCS table. In some embodiments, the first spectral efficiency may be equal to or greater than the second spectral efficiency. In some embodiments, the first spectral efficiency may be equal to or less than the second spectral efficiency. Once the first MCS index and the second MCS index are determined, the first modulation order and the second modulation order may be determined accordingly. In these embodiments, if the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order.

[0070] For illustrative purposes, an example will be described with reference to Tables 3 and 4. Assume that the first and second MCS tables may be set as shown in Tables 3 and 4 below. Table 3: Another example of an MCS table for PUSCH [Table 3] Table 4: Another example of an MCS table for PUSCH with transform precoding and 64QAM [Table 4] In the example of Table 4, if the upper layer parameter tp-pi2BPSK is set, q = 1, otherwise q = 2. It should be understood that the above table is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0071] Assume that the first waveform (i.e., unused waveform) is an OFDM waveform and the second waveform (i.e., used waveform) is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform. Table 3 above is for OFDM, and Table 4 is for DFT-s-OFDM. Assume that the MCS index used by UL transmission (i.e., the second MCS index) is 3. From Table 4, it can be seen that the spectral efficiency (i.e., the second spectral efficiency) corresponding to MCS index 3 for DFT-s-OFDM is 0.4902. From Table 3, it can be seen that the spectral efficiency (i.e., the first spectral efficiency) for OFDM, which is closest to but less than 0.4902, is 0.3770, which corresponds to MCS index 1. Therefore, the MCS index for the unused waveform (i.e., the first MCS index) is determined to be MCS index 1. In this case, it can be seen from Table 3 that the first modulation order corresponding to MCS index 1 for DFT-s-OFDM is 2, and from Table 4 that the second modulation order corresponding to MCS index 3 for OFDM is 2. Since the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same, the terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine P CMAX Alternatively, at least one of the pHs may be determined as the PHR.

[0072] In some embodiments, if the first modulation order is different from the second modulation order, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the first modulation order (i.e., the modulation order associated with the MCS index in the MCS table for the unused waveform). In some embodiments, if the first modulation order is different from the second modulation order, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the lower of the first modulation order and the second modulation order. In some embodiments, if the first modulation order is different from the second modulation order, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the higher of the first modulation order and the second modulation order. In some embodiments, if the first modulation order is different from the second modulation order, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on a configuration from network device 120, the configuration indicating whether the first modulation order or the second modulation order was used to determine the PHR.

[0073] In some alternative embodiments of PHR determination, terminal device 110 may directly determine the first modulation order for the first waveform to be equal to the second modulation order associated with the second MCS index in the second MCS table for the second waveform, and determine the PHR based on the PHR that is based on the first modulation order. It should be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative and not intended to be limiting. Embodiment 2

[0074] In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may generate a PHR for the unused waveform based on the scheduled bandwidth for the UL transmission. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may generate a PHR for the unused waveform based on the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the UL transmission.

[0075] Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of PRBs (for convenience, also referred to herein as the first set of PRBs) for a first waveform (i.e., an unused waveform) based on at least a set of PRBs (for convenience, also referred to herein as the second set of PRBs) for a second waveform (i.e., a used waveform).

[0076] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the number of PRBs in the first set is the closest integer to the number of PRBs in the second set of PRBs. For example, the integer may be the largest integer that is equal to or smaller than the number of PRBs in the second set of PRBs. As another example, the integer may be the smallest integer that is equal to or larger than the number of PRBs in the second set of PRBs. In these embodiments, the integer may also be determined by the number of PRBs allowed, M, as shown in equation (6) below. RB PUSCH Meet the requirements for.

number

[0077] For illustrative purposes, an example will be described with reference to FIG. 3A . FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram 300A illustrating an exemplary determination of a scheduled bandwidth for an unused waveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the unused waveform is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the used waveform is an OFDM waveform. As shown in FIG. 3A , a set of PRBs 311 is used for UL transmission in the OFDM waveform. Based on the set of PRBs 311, a set of PRBs 312 may be determined for the DFT-s-OFDM waveform. In this example, the number of PRBs in the set of PRBs 312 is the largest integer less than or equal to the number of PRBs in the set of PRBs 311. It should be noted that this is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0078] In some embodiments in which the second set of PRBs for the used waveform are non-contiguous, assuming that the first set of PRBs for the unused waveform are contiguous, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first set of PRBs are contiguous and that a PRB in the first set of PRBs (also referred to herein as the first PRB for convenience) is the same as a PRB in the second set of PRBs (also referred to herein as the second PRB for convenience). For example, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first PRB in the first set of PRBs may be the same as the first PRB in the second set of PRBs in frequency order. As another example, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the last PRB in the first set of PRBs may be the same as the last PRB in the second set of PRBs.

[0079] For illustrative purposes, an example will be described with reference to FIG. 3B. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram 300B illustrating another exemplary determination of a scheduled bandwidth for an unused waveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the unused waveform is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the used waveform is an OFDM waveform. As shown in FIG. 3B, a set of PRBs 321 for OFDM is non-contiguous. Based on the set of PRBs 321, a set of PRBs 322 may be determined for the DFT-s-OFDM waveform. In this example, the PRBs in the set of PRBs 322 are contiguous, and the last PRB of the set of PRBs 322 is the same as the last PRB of the set of PRBs 321. It should be noted that this is merely an example and does not limit the present disclosure.

[0080] In some embodiments in which the second set of PRBs for the waveform used are non-contiguous, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first set of PRBs are contiguous and a PRB in the first set of PRBs (also referred to herein for convenience as the third PRB) is the same as a PRB in a predetermined bandwidth part (BWP) (also referred to herein for convenience as the fourth PRB). For example, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first PRB in the first set of PRBs in frequency order may be the same as the first PRB in the predetermined BWP. As another example, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the last PRB in the first set of PRBs may be the same as the last PRB in the predetermined BWP.

[0081] In some embodiments, the predetermined BWP may be an active BWP for UL transmission. In some embodiments, the predetermined BWP may be configured by network device 120. In some embodiments, the predetermined BWP may be a pre-configured BWP for a pre-configured component carrier (CC). Of course, the pre-configured BWP may also be determined in any other suitable manner.

[0082] For illustrative purposes, an example will be described with reference to FIG. 3C . FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram 300C illustrating yet another exemplary determination of a scheduled bandwidth for an unused waveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the unused waveform is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the used waveform is an OFDM waveform. As shown in FIG. 3C , a set of PRBs 331 for OFDM is non-contiguous. Based on the set of PRBs 331, a set of PRBs 332 may be determined for the DFT-s-OFDM waveform. In this example, the PRBs in the set of PRBs 332 are contiguous, and the last PRB in the set of PRBs 332 is the same as the last PRB in a given BWP. It should be noted that this is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0083] In some embodiments where the second set of PRBs for the used waveform are non-contiguous, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first set is the maximum number of consecutive PRBs allowed. In some embodiments, when frequency domain resource allocation type 2 is used (i.e., when interlace-based resource allocation is used) or when terminal device 110 is operating on a shared spectrum, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR for the unused waveform based on the assumption that the maximum number of consecutive PRBs allowed has been used. The number of allowed PRBs may be determined based on equations (1)-(5) above and occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) requirements, and may be configured by network device 120.

[0084] For illustrative purposes, an example will be described with reference to FIG. 3D . FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram 300D illustrating another exemplary determination of a scheduled bandwidth for an unused waveform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the unused waveform is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the used waveform is an OFDM waveform. As shown in FIG. 3D , a set of PRBs 341 for OFDM is non-contiguous. Based on the set of PRBs 341, a set of PRBs 342 may be determined for the DFT-s-OFDM waveform. In this example, the PRBs in the set of PRBs 342 are contiguous and occupy the entire BWP. It should be noted that this is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0085] In some embodiments, if the second set of PRBs for the used waveform are contiguous, terminal device 110 may use the second set of PRBs as the first set of PRBs. In other words, if the resource allocation for the current UL transmission is always contiguous, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR for the unused waveform based on the same resource allocation for the current UL transmission.

[0086] 2, once the first set of PRBs is determined, the terminal device 110 may determine a PHR based on the number of PRBs in the first set of PRBs (221). In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine PHR using, for example, equations (1) to (5). CMAX Alternatively, at least one of the pHs may be determined as the PHR.

[0087] It should be understood that the above embodiments for determining the PHR for unused waveforms may be implemented in any suitable combination or separately.

[0088] Once the PHR for the unused waveform is determined, terminal device 110 transmits 202 the PHR for the unused waveform to network device 120. In some embodiments of transmitting the PHR, terminal device 110 may transmit 230 the PHR for the unused waveform together with another PHR for the used waveform within a single MAC CE. For example, the PHR for the unused waveform may be CMAX As another example, the PHR may include at least one of a delta PH value or a delta P value. As another example, the PHR may include a delta value determined based on the difference between the PHR for an unused waveform and another PHR for a used waveform. For example, the delta value may be a delta PH or a delta P CMAX may include at least one of:

[0089] In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an indication (for convenience also referred to herein as the first indication) indicating whether a maximum permissible exposure (MPE) or a delta value is being reported. Thus, the MAC CE for the PHR can be extended by reusing the field for the MPE to report the delta value.

[0090] 3E is a schematic diagram illustrating an example MAC CE 300E for PHR reporting, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3E, the MAC CE 300E may include an indication P indicating whether an MPE or a delta value is being reported. For example, if P is equal to a first value, e.g., 10, then the PHR or P CMAX If P is equal to a second value, e.g., 01, then a delta value (expressed as delta, i.e., delta P H or delta P CMAX at least one of the following) is reported in the MAC CE 300E. It should be understood that this is just one example and that the MAC CE may take any other suitable form.

[0091] In some alternative embodiments for transmitting a PHR, terminal device 110 may transmit 240 a PHR for an unused waveform solely within a MAC CE. For example, if a trigger event occurs, terminal device 110 may transmit 240 a PHR for an unused waveform. The MAC CE may include an indication (also referred to herein as a second indication for convenience) indicating whether the PHR is based on a first waveform (i.e., an unused waveform) or a second waveform (i.e., a used waveform). For example, the MAC CE for the PHR may be extended by reusing field "R" for the second indication.

[0092] 3F is a schematic diagram illustrating another example MAC CE 300F for PHR reporting, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3F, the MAC CE 300F may include an indication P indicating whether an MPE is being reported and a field R indicating whether the PHR is based on an unused waveform or a used waveform (i.e., the current waveform). For example, if R is equal to 1, a PHR for an unused waveform is reported in the MAC CE 300F. If R is equal to 0, a PHR for a used waveform is reported in the MAC CE 300F. It should be understood that this is just one example, and the MAC CE may adopt any other suitable format.

[0093] So far, the PHR report for unused waveforms has been described. Thus, the network device may obtain the power headroom for two different waveforms, and may decide whether to perform waveform switching based on the power headroom for the two different waveforms. Furthermore, once the network device decides to perform waveform switching, the network device can use the information in the PHR for the unused waveforms to more accurately determine the number of PRBs and MCS to be scheduled for the next UL transmission. Example of PHR reporting trigger for unused waveforms

[0094] In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solution for triggering PHR reporting for unused waveforms. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another communication process 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 400 will be described with reference to Figure 1. The process 400 may involve a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 as shown in Figure 1.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 110 may report 401 a PHR for a waveform not used by UL transmission (ie, the first waveform or an unused waveform) in response to a trigger event.

[0096] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may receive 410 from network device 120 a DCI (also referred to herein as a first DCI for convenience) indicating transmission of a PHR for a first waveform. In response to receiving the first DCI, terminal device 110 may transmit 411 a PHR for the first waveform. In some embodiments, a field in the first DCI may indicate whether the PHR should be reported for the first waveform, the waveform used by the uplink transmission (i.e., the second waveform or the waveform used), or both the first and second waveforms.

[0097] In some embodiments, this field may include a PHR request field. For example, a PHR request field, such as a 1-bit or 2-bit PHR request, may be introduced into DCI format 0_0, 0_1, or 0_2. If the PHR request field indicates a first value (e.g., 0 or 00), terminal device 110 may report a PHR for the second waveform in the next PHR report. If the PHR request field indicates a second value (e.g., 1 or 01), terminal device 110 may report a PHR for the first waveform in the next PHR report. If the PHR request field indicates a third value (e.g., 10), terminal device 110 may report a PHR for both the first waveform and the second waveform in the next PHR report. It should be understood that the first, second, and third values ​​may take any other appropriate format.

[0098] In some embodiments, the field may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) request field or a transmit power control (TPC) command field. For example, if a set of code points in the SRS request field or TPC command field is associated with an unused waveform, but the SRS request field or TPC command field indicates one of the set of code points, terminal device 110 may report a PHR for the unused waveform in a next PHR report. The set of code points may include one or more code points.

[0099] The above description provides for PHR reporting that is explicitly triggered by DCI. Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide for PHR reporting that is triggered by the occurrence of certain events and the satisfaction of certain criteria. Some example embodiments are described below.

[0100] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine 420 whether the delta value is greater than a threshold delta. The delta value is determined based on a difference between a PHR for a first waveform and another PHR for a second waveform used by the uplink transmission. If the delta value is greater than the threshold delta, terminal device 110 may transmit 421 the PHR for the first waveform. For example, terminal device 110 may determine 421 whether delta PH is greater than a threshold delta PH. As another example, terminal device 110 may determine 422 whether delta PH is greater than a threshold delta PH. CMAX is the threshold delta P CMAX As another example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is an OFDM waveform and the delta value is above the threshold delta, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for an unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform).

[0101] Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the delta value is below a threshold delta (430). If the delta value is below the threshold delta, the terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the first waveform (431). For example, the terminal device 110 may determine whether delta PH is below a threshold delta PH. As another example, the terminal device 110 may determine whether delta PH is below a threshold delta PH. CMAX is the threshold delta P CMAX As another example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the delta value is below a threshold delta, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for an unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform).

[0102] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine 440 whether the value of PHR is above a threshold. In some embodiments, PHR may be a PH value for the first waveform. In some embodiments, PHR may be a P value for the first waveform. CMAXIf the value of the PHR is above a threshold, the terminal device 110 may transmit the PHR for the first waveform (441). For example, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the PH value for the first waveform is above a threshold PH. As another example, the terminal device 110 may transmit the PHR for the first waveform (442). CMAX is the threshold P CMAX As another example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the value of the PHR is above a threshold, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for an unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform).

[0103] Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the value of the PHR is below a threshold (450). If the value of the PHR is below the threshold, the terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the first waveform (451). For example, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the PH value for the first waveform is below a threshold PH. As another example, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the PHR for the first waveform is below a threshold PH. CMAX is the threshold P CMAX As another example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is an OFDM waveform and the value of the PHR is below a threshold, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for an unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform).

[0104] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine whether a measured rank indicator (RI) has changed from one number (also referred to herein as a first number for convenience) to another number (also referred to herein as a second number for convenience) (460). If the measured RI has changed from the first number to the second number, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the first waveform (461). In some embodiments, if the measured RI has changed and terminal device 110 is operating on unpaired spectrum, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the first waveform (461).

[0105] For example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is an OFDM waveform and the measured RI changes from a number greater than 1 to 1, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform). As another example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the measured RI changes from 1 to a number greater than 1, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform).

[0106] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine 470 whether a modulation order indicated by a current DCI (also referred to herein as a second DCI for convenience) differs from a modulation order indicated by a previous DCI (also referred to herein as a third DCI for convenience) that precedes the current DCI. For example, terminal device 110 may determine 471 whether a modulation order indicated by the current DCI differs from a modulation order of a last UL transmission (e.g., a last dynamically scheduled UL transmission (not a configured grant UL transmission)). If the modulation orders indicated by the second DCI and the third DCI differ, terminal device 110 may transmit 471 a PHR for the first waveform.

[0107] For example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is an OFDM waveform and the modulation order is changed from a higher order to a lower order, the terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform). As another example, if the current waveform (i.e., the second waveform) is a DFT-s-OFDM waveform and the modulation order is changed from a lower order to a higher order, the terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for the unused waveform (i.e., the first waveform).

[0108] It should be understood that the above embodiments of trigger events may be implemented in any suitable combination or separately.

[0109] In some embodiments, in response to one or more trigger events, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for an unused waveform in an UL transmission within one opportunity (also referred to herein as a first opportunity for convenience). In some alternative embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit a PHR for an unused waveform within an opportunity later than the first opportunity (also referred to herein as a second opportunity for convenience). For illustrative purposes, several examples are described with reference to FIG. 5.

[0110] 5 is a schematic diagram 500 illustrating an example PHR report for an unused waveform, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, DCI 510 indicates transmission of a PHR for an unused waveform, and DCI 510 schedules PUSCH 521. In one example, the PHR for the unused waveform may be carried by PUSCH 521, which is scheduled by DCI 510.

[0111] In another example, the PHR for an unused waveform may be carried by the next PUSCH 522. In other words, the PHR for an unused waveform may be carried by the earliest transmission opportunity for the PHR after the PUSCH 521 scheduled by the DCI 510. The earliest transmission opportunity may be triggered by an event, such as a timer expiry. In this case, the term "unused waveform" may refer to a waveform that is not used by the PUSCH 521 scheduled by the DCI 510 that triggers the PHR report, or may be a waveform that is not used by the PUSCH 522 on which the terminal device 110 reports the PHR. It should be noted that this is just one example, and any other suitable method is also possible.

[0112] In this way, the terminal device only needs to report PHRs for unused waveforms when necessary, thereby reducing signaling overhead. Example of the method

[0113] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure provide communication methods implemented in a terminal device and a network device, which are described below with reference to Figures 6-7.

[0114] 6 illustrates an exemplary communication method 600 implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 600 may be performed in terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For purposes of explanation, method 600 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that method 600 may include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some blocks that are shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0115] In block 610, the terminal device 110 generates a PHR for a first waveform based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for an UL transmission performed using a second waveform different from the first waveform.

[0116] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a first MCS index in a first MCS table for the first waveform based on a second MCS index used by the uplink transmission in a second MCS table for the second waveform, and may determine a first modulation order for the first waveform and a second modulation order for the second waveform based on the first MCS index and the second MCS index. Terminal device 110 may then determine a PHR based on the first modulation order and the second modulation order.

[0117] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the first MCS index to be equal to the second MCS index. In these embodiments, if the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order. If the first modulation order and the second modulation order are different, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR using a predetermined modulation order based on the type of the second waveform and the type of the second modulation order.

[0118] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a first MCS index such that a first spectral efficiency associated with the first MCS index is closest to a second spectral efficiency associated with the second MCS index in the first MCS table. In these embodiments, if the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order. If the first modulation order and the second modulation order are different, terminal device 110 may determine the PHR by at least one of determining the PHR based on the first modulation order, determining the PHR based on a lower or higher of the first modulation order and the second modulation order, or determining the PHR based on a configuration from network device 120, the configuration indicating whether the first modulation order or the second modulation order was used to determine the PHR.

[0119] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a first modulation order for the first waveform to be equal to a second modulation order associated with a second MCS index in a second MCS table for the second waveform, and determine the PHR based on the first modulation order.

[0120] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a first set of PRBs for a first waveform based on at least a second set of PRBs for a second waveform and determine a PHR based on the number of PRBs in the first set of PRBs. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a PHR based on the number of PRBs in the first set of PRBs being the integer closest to the number of PRBs in the second set of PRBs, and the integer being 2. a2 *3 a3 *5 a5 A first set of PRBs may be determined to be equal to a2, a3, and a5, where a2, a3, and a5 are non-negative integers.

[0121] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first set of PRBs are contiguous and the first PRB in the first set is the same as the second PRB in the second set of PRBs. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first set of PRBs are contiguous and the third PRB in the first set is the same as the fourth PRB in a given BWP. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the first set of PRBs such that the first set of PRBs is the maximum allowed number of consecutive PRBs.

[0122] In some embodiments, if the second set of PRBs are contiguous, terminal device 110 may use the second set of PRBs as the first set of PRBs.

[0123] At block 620, terminal device 110 transmits the PHR to network device 120. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit the PHR along with another PHR for the second waveform in a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the MAC CE includes a first indication of whether an MPE or a delta value is being reported, the delta value being determined based on a difference between the PHR for the first waveform and another PHR for the second waveform.

[0124] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit the PHR in a MAC CE that includes a second indication of whether the PHR is based on the first waveform or the second waveform.

[0125] The method of FIG. 6 may explicitly define PHR reporting for unused waveforms.

[0126] 7 illustrates another exemplary communication method 700 implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 700 may be performed in terminal device 110, such as that shown in FIG. 1. For purposes of explanation, method 700 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that method 700 may include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some blocks that are shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0127] In block 710, the terminal device 110 transmits a PHR for a first waveform not used by UL transmission to the network device 120 in response to at least one of the following: receiving a first DCI from the network device 120 indicating transmission of the PHR; a delta value determined based on the difference between the PHR for the first waveform and another PHR for a second waveform used by the uplink transmission being above or below a threshold delta; the value of the PHR being above or below a threshold; a measured RI changing from a first number to a second number; or the modulation order indicated by the second DCI being different from the modulation order indicated by a third DCI preceding the second DCI.

[0128] In some embodiments, a field in the first DCI may indicate whether the PHR is being reported for the first waveform, the second waveform, or both the first and second waveforms, and the field may include at least one of a PHR request field, an SRS request field, or a TPC command field.

[0129] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit the PHR via UL transmission within a first opportunity, or may transmit the PHR within a second opportunity that is later than the first opportunity.

[0130] In some embodiments, the UL transmission is scheduled by the first DCI. In some embodiments, a PHR is carried by the UL transmission.

[0131] The method of FIG. 7 makes it possible to report PHRs for unused waveforms as needed, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0132] 8 illustrates an exemplary communication method 800 implemented in a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 800 may be performed in network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. For purposes of explanation, method 800 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that method 800 may include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some blocks that are shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0133] In block 810, the network device 120 receives a PHR for a first waveform from the terminal device 110, the PHR being generated based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for an UL transmission performed by the terminal device 110 using a second waveform different from the first waveform.

[0134] In some embodiments, network device 120 may receive the PHR along with another PHR for the second waveform in a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include a first indication of whether an MPE value or a delta value is being reported, the delta value being determined based on a difference between the PHR for the first waveform and another PHR for the second waveform.

[0135] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive the PHR in a MAC CE that includes a second indication indicating whether the PHR is based on the first waveform or the second waveform.

[0136] According to the method of Fig. 8, the network device may obtain the power headroom for two different waveforms and determine whether to perform waveform switching based on the power headroom for the two different waveforms. If the network device decides to perform waveform switching, using the information of the PHR for the unused waveform, the network device can more accurately determine the number of PRBs and MCS to be scheduled for the next UL transmission.

[0137] 9 illustrates another exemplary communication method 900 implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 900 may be performed in network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. For purposes of explanation, method 900 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that method 900 may include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some blocks that are shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0138] In block 910, network device 120 transmits a first DCI to terminal device 110 indicating transmission of a PHR for a first waveform not used by an UL transmission. In some embodiments, a field in the first DCI may indicate whether a PHR is reported for the first waveform, a second waveform used by an UL transmission, or both the first and second waveforms. In some embodiments, the field may include at least one of a PHR request field, an SRS request field, or a TPC command field.

[0139] At block 920, network device 120 receives the PHR from terminal device 110. In some embodiments, network device 120 may receive the PHR via UL transmission within a first opportunity, or may receive the PHR within a second opportunity that is later than the first opportunity.

[0140] In some embodiments, the UL transmission is scheduled by the first DCI. In some embodiments, a PHR is carried by the UL transmission.

[0141] The method of FIG. 9 allows PHR reporting for unused waveforms to be triggered as needed, reducing signaling overhead accordingly. Device and equipment implementation examples

[0142] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1000 may be considered as another exemplary implementation of the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 shown in Figure 1. Thus, the apparatus 1000 may be implemented in, or as at least a part of, the terminal device 110 or the network device 120.

[0143] As shown, the apparatus 1000 comprises a processor 1010, a memory 1020 coupled to the processor 1010, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1040 coupled to the processor 1010, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1040. 1020stores at least a portion of the program 1030. The TX / RX 1040 is used for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 1040 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although the access nodes referred to herein may actually have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 / Xn interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs / gNBs, an S1 / NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / SGW / UPF and an eNB / gNB, an Un interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a relay node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a terminal device.

[0144] The program 1030 may be considered to include program instructions that, when executed by an associated processor 1010, enable the device 1000 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to Figures 1-9. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1010 of the device 1000, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1010 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the combination of the processor 1010 and the memory 1020 may form a processing means 1050 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0145] The memory 1020 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. While only one memory 1020 is shown in the device 1000, there may be several physically distinct memory modules within the device 1000. The processor 1010 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 1000 may have multiple processors, for example, application-specific integrated circuit chips time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0146] In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to generate, at the terminal device, a PHR for a first waveform based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for an uplink transmission performed using a second waveform different from the first waveform, and to transmit the PHR to a network device.

[0147] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to generate the PHR by: determining a first MCS index in a first MCS table for the first waveform based on a second MCS index used by the uplink transmission in a second MCS table for the second waveform; determining a first modulation order for the first waveform and a second modulation order for the second waveform based on the first MCS index and the second MCS index; and determining the PHR based on the first modulation order and the second modulation order.

[0148] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the first MCS index by determining the first MCS index to be equal to the second MCS index. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the PHR by: determining the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order in accordance with a determination that the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same; or determining the PHR using a predetermined modulation order based on the type of the second waveform and the type of the second modulation order in accordance with a determination that the first modulation order and the second modulation order are different.

[0149] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the first MCS index by determining the first MCS index such that a first spectral efficiency associated with the first MCS index is closest to a second spectral efficiency associated with the second MCS index in the first MCS table.

[0150] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the PHR by at least one of: determining the PHR based on the first modulation order or the second modulation order in accordance with a determination that the first modulation order and the second modulation order are the same; or determining the PHR based on the first modulation order in accordance with a determination that the first modulation order and the second modulation order are different; determining the PHR based on a lower or higher of the first modulation order and the second modulation order; or determining the PHR based on a setting from the network device, the setting indicating whether the first modulation order or the second modulation order was used for determining the PHR.

[0151] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to generate the PHR by determining a first modulation order for the first waveform to be equal to a second modulation order associated with a second MCS index in a second MCS table for the second waveform, and determining the PHR based on the first modulation order.

[0152] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to generate the PHR by determining a first set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the first waveform based on at least a second set of PRBs for the second waveform, and determining the PHR based on a number of PRBs in the first set of PRBs.

[0153] In some embodiments, the circuitry is configured to determine whether the number of PRBs in the first set of PRBs is the integer closest to the number of PRBs in the second set of PRBs, and whether the integer is 2 a2 *3 a3 *5 a5 where a2, a3 and a5 are non-negative integers.

[0154] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to determine the first set of PRBs by at least one of: ensuring that the first set of PRBs are contiguous and that a first PRB in the first set of PRBs is the same as a second PRB in the second set of PRBs; ensuring that the first set of PRBs are contiguous and that a third PRB in the first set of PRBs is the same as a fourth PRB within a predetermined bandwidth part (BWP); or ensuring that the first set of PRBs is the maximum allowed number of contiguous PRBs.

[0155] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the first set of PRBs by using the second set of PRBs as the first set of PRBs in accordance with a determination that the second set of PRBs are contiguous.

[0156] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the PHR by transmitting the PHR in a MAC CE along with another PHR for the second waveform. In some embodiments, the MAC CE includes a first indication of whether an MPE or a delta value is being reported, the delta value being determined based on a difference between the PHR for the first waveform and the another PHR for the second waveform.

[0157] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the PHR by transmitting the PHR in a MAC CE that includes a second indication indicating whether the PHR is based on the first waveform or the second waveform.

[0158] In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises circuitry configured to transmit a PHR for a first waveform not used by an uplink transmission to the network device in response to at least one of: receiving a first DCI from the network device indicating transmission of the PHR; a delta value determined based on a difference between the PHR for the first waveform and another PHR for a second waveform used by the uplink transmission being above or below a threshold delta; the value of the PHR being above or below a threshold; a measured RI changing from a first number to a second number; or a modulation order indicated by a second DCI being different from a modulation order indicated by a third DCI preceding the second DCI.

[0159] In some embodiments, a field in the first DCI indicates whether the PHR is being reported for the first waveform, the second waveform, or both the first and second waveforms, and the field includes at least one of a PHR request field, an SRS request field, or a TPC command field.

[0160] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the PHR by transmitting the PHR together with the uplink transmission within a first opportunity, or by transmitting the PHR within a second opportunity that is later than the first opportunity.

[0161] In some embodiments, the uplink transmission is scheduled by the first DCI. In some embodiments, the PHR is carried by the uplink transmission.

[0162] In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to receive a PHR for a first waveform from a terminal device, the PHR being generated based on at least one of an MCS or a scheduled bandwidth for an uplink transmission performed by the terminal device using a second waveform different from the first waveform.

[0163] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the PHR by receiving the PHR in a MAC CE along with another PHR for the second waveform, and in some embodiments, the MAC CE includes a first indication of whether an MPE value or a delta value is being reported, the delta value being determined based on a difference between the PHR for the first waveform and another PHR for the second waveform.

[0164] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the PHR by receiving the PHR in a MAC CE that includes a second indication indicating whether the PHR is based on the first waveform or the second waveform.

[0165] In some embodiments, the network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit a first DCI to a terminal device indicating transmission of a power headroom report (PHR) for a first waveform not used by an uplink transmission, and to receive the PHR from the terminal device.

[0166] In some embodiments, a field in the first DCI indicates whether the PHR is being reported for the first waveform, the second waveform used by the uplink transmission, or both the first and second waveforms, and the field includes at least one of a PHR request field, an SRS request field, or a TPC command field.

[0167] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the PHR by receiving the PHR along with the uplink transmission within a first opportunity, or by receiving the PHR within a second opportunity that is later than the first opportunity.

[0168] In some embodiments, the uplink transmission is scheduled by the first DCI. In some embodiments, the PHR is carried by the uplink transmission.

[0169] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to a hardware circuit and / or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, a circuit may be a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware. As yet another example, a circuit may be any portion of a hardware processor with software, including a digital signal processor, software, and one or more memories, that cooperate to cause a device, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In yet another example, a circuit may be a hardware circuit and / or a processor, such as a microprocessor or portion thereof, that requires software / firmware for operation, although the software may not be present if not necessary for operation. As used herein, the term "circuitry" also includes an implementation of a hardware circuit or one or more processors only, or a hardware circuit or portion of one or more processors and its / their accompanying software and / or firmware.

[0170] Overall, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software executable by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented, by way of non-limiting example, in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or any combination thereof.

[0171] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules, that execute within a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the processes or methods described above with reference to FIGS. 1-9. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0172] Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, and when executed by the processor or controller, cause the program code to implement the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a separate software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0173] The above-described program code may be embodied on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program used by or associated with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the aforementioned media. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium may include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0174] It should be noted that, although operations have been described in a particular order, it should not be understood that performing such operations in the particular order shown, or in any sequential order, or performing all of the operations described, is required to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features that are described in the context of individual embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0175] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

[Claim 1] Setting a maximum output power for a first waveform in a terminal device based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for uplink transmission performed using a second waveform different from the first waveform; transmitting the maximum output power to a network device; A method comprising:

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