Control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration

Abstract

To provide techniques for control channel resource grouping and spatial relation configuration.SOLUTION: Aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). The method generally includes receiving an indication of one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relation. The UE applies a spatial relation for a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources in a grouping of the one or more groupings. The grouping is associated with the spatial relation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 842,375 filed on May 2, 2019, and claims priority to U.S. Application No. 16 / 803,590 filed on February 27, 2020, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for control channel resource configuration. [Background Art]

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. Such wireless communication systems can employ multiple access technologies that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access systems include 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, to name a few.

[0004] These multiple access technologies are employed in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at urban, national, regional, and even global levels. New radio (e.g., 5G NR) is an example of a new telecommunications standard. NR is a set of extensions to the LTE mobile standard published by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving service, utilizing new spectrums, and better integrating with other open standards that use OFDMA with cyclic prefixes (CP) on downlink (DL) and uplink (UL). To these purposes, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0005] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in NR and LTE technologies are needed. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunications standards that employ them. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Each of the systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure has several embodiments, and not just one of them embodies the desired attributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressed in the following claims, some features are briefly discussed here. After considering this discussion, and then reading the section entitled “Modes for Carrying Out the Invention” in detail, it will be understood how the features of this disclosure bring advantages, including improved control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration.

[0007] Several embodiments provide a method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE). This method generally includes the step of receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. This method generally includes the step of applying a spatial relationship to a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings. The groupings are associated with spatial relationships.

[0008] In some examples, one or more control channel resources include physical link control channel (PUCCH) resources. In some examples, at least one of one or more groupings includes any subset of PUCCH resources within the configured bandwidth. In some examples, the configured bandwidth includes at least one bandwidth part (BWP).

[0009] In some implementations, the instructions are explicit. In some examples, instructions for one or more groupings are received via one or more bitmaps. In some examples, one or more bitmaps indicate PUCCH identifiers (IDs) contained within one or more of the groupings. In some examples, this method includes the steps of receiving instructions for one or more updated spatial relations and, for each updated spatial relation, receiving one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs associated with at least one of the one or more groupings. In some examples, the step of receiving one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs includes the step of receiving multiple bitmaps or PUCCH IDs associated with multiple groupings among the one or more groupings for at least one of the one or more updated spatial relations. In some examples, instructions for one or more updated spatial relations, one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs, or both, are received via a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0010] In some examples, the instructions are implicit. In some examples, instructions for one or more groupings are received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In some examples, the RRC signaling indicates the associated spatial relation for each PUCCH resource. PUCCH resources having the same indicated spatial relation indicate a grouping. In some examples, this method includes the steps of receiving instructions for one or more updated spatial relations and, for each updated spatial relation, receiving one or more previously indicated spatial relations or one or more PUCCH IDs associated with at least one grouping of one or more groupings. In some examples, the step of receiving one or more previously indicated spatial relations or one or more PUCCH IDs includes the step of receiving multiple previously indicated spatial relations or multiple PUCCH IDs associated with multiple groupings for at least one updated spatial relation instruction. In some examples, one or more updated spatial relation instructions, one or more previously indicated spatial relations or one or more PUCCH IDs, or both, are received via MAC-CE.

[0011] Several embodiments provide a method for wireless communication by a base station (BS). This method generally includes the step of sending instructions to a UE for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. This method generally includes the step of receiving a control channel transmission from the UE using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings. The control channel transmission is based on the spatial relationship associated with the grouping.

[0012] Some embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. This device generally includes means for receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. This method generally includes means for applying a spatial relationship to a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources within one or more groupings. The groupings are associated with spatial relationships.

[0013] Some embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. This device generally includes means for sending instructions to another device for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. This device generally includes means for receiving control channel transmissions from another device using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings. The control channel transmissions are based on the spatial relationships associated with the groupings.

[0014] Some embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The memory and at least one processor are generally configured to receive instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. The memory and at least one processor may generally be configured to apply spatial relationships to control channel transmissions using one or more control channel resources within one or more groupings. The groupings are associated with spatial relationships.

[0015] Some embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The memory and at least one processor are generally configured to send instructions to another device for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. The memory and at least one processor may generally be configured to receive control channel transmissions from another device using one or more control channel resources within one or more groupings. The control channel transmissions are based on the spatial relationships associated with the groupings.

[0016] In some embodiments, a computer-readable medium is provided on which computer-executable code is stored. This computer-readable medium generally includes code for receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. This computer-readable medium generally includes code for applying spatial relationships to control channel transmissions using one or more control channel resources within one or more groupings. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship.

[0017] In some embodiments, a computer-readable medium is provided on which computer-executable code is stored. This computer-readable medium generally includes code for sending instructions to a UE for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. This computer-readable medium generally includes code for receiving control channel transmissions from the UE using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings. The control channel transmissions are based on the spatial relationships associated with the groupings.

[0018] To achieve the above and related objectives, one or more embodiments shall have features that are fully described below and, in particular, indicated in the claims. The following description and accompanying drawings illustrate in detail some exemplary features of one or more embodiments. However, these features represent only a few of the various ways in which the principles of various embodiments may be employed.

[0019] To allow for a more detailed understanding of the features of this disclosure described above, more specific explanations of the concepts outlined above may be provided by referring to embodiments partially shown in the drawings. However, it should be noted that these explanations may apply to other equally effective embodiments, and therefore the accompanying drawings only illustrate some typical embodiments of this disclosure and should not be considered to limit the scope of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0020] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary telecommunications system according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating the design of exemplary base station (BS) and user equipment (UE) according to several aspects of this disclosure. [Figure 3A] This figure shows an exemplary New Radio Frame format according to several aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] This figure shows exemplary grouping of control channel resources within a configured bandwidth according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3C] This figure shows illustrative instructions for control channel resource grouping and spatial relationships according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3D] This figure shows an exemplary channel status information (CSI-RS) reference signal reception using a UE received beam according to several aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3E]FIG. 1 illustrates an example physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission using a UE transmission beam in accordance with a spatial relationship associated with control channel resource grouping, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication by a UE, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication by a BS, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a call flow diagram illustrating an example control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 5 is a call flow diagram illustrating another example control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 6 illustrates a communication device that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 7 illustrates a communication device that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0021] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to refer to identical elements that are common to the drawings. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be advantageously utilized with other aspects without specific recitation.

[0022] Some systems, such as some new radio systems (e.g., 5G NR systems), allow for one or more groupings of control channel resources within a configured frequency bandwidth, such as a frequency range. A control channel resource may refer to a time and / or frequency resource configured for use for control channel transmission. For example, a grouping of control channel resources may be called a grouping (or group) of one or more physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) within at least one bandwidth part (BWP), such as a frequency range, configured in a user equipment (UE). For example, one or more control channel resources of a configured BWP may be included in the grouping. A BWP may refer to a bandwidth through which the UE is configured to communicate (e.g., using a constant numerology within a set of consecutive resource blocks (RBs)). The UE may consist of multiple BWPs, which may be active or inactive at a given time. A grouping of control channel resources may be a group, set, subset, collectible, combination, or pool of control channel resources.

[0023] One or more groupings of control channel resources can be associated with a spatial relationship (for example, meaning the same spatial relationship can apply to all control channel resources within the grouping). In some examples, a spatial relationship associated with a grouping describes the relationship between the control channel resources of the grouping and another signal, such as the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and / or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The spatial relationship can instruct the UE to use the same spatial beam (e.g., the transmit beam and / or the same set of weights when performing beamforming) used to receive the corresponding associated signals (e.g., CSI-RS, SSB, SRS) to transmit the control channel resources of the grouping.

[0024] Aspects of this disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration, including spatial relationship updates for control channel resource grouping.

[0025] In some embodiments, grouping of control channel resources (e.g., one or more PUCCHs) may be configured (e.g., signaled, indicated, and / or updated) at the UE (e.g., simultaneously or within at least partially overlapping time resources) together with the configuration and / or updating of spatial relationships to the groupings. By configuring and / or updating spatial relationships to the groupings together, the overhead for configuring spatial relationships to the groupings may be reduced. For example, instead of individually updating the spatial relationships for each PUCCH, such as using a separate media access control element (MAC-CE), a base station (BS) may send a single MAC-CE to update the spatial relationships for one or more groups of PUCCHs.

[0026] In some examples, a single grouping may include all PUCCHs within one BWP and / or multiple BWPs. However, finer, more flexible grouping techniques may be used to signal (e.g., indicate and / or update) the groupings and their associated spatial relationships, requiring any combination of control channel resources. In some examples, a single grouping may include a subset of PUCCHs within a BWP.

[0027] In some examples, grouping may be explicitly indicated to the UE, for example, by a bitmap indicating the control channel resources within the group. For instance, bits in the bitmap may indicate control channel resources within the grouping, and spatial relationships may be signaled using a bitmap indicating the spatial relationships associated with the grouping. In some examples, grouping of control channel resources may be implicitly indicated, for example, by the configuration of spatial relationships or PUCCH IDs for the control channel resources (e.g., via higher-layer signaling, such as a radio resource control (RRC) signaling). For example, control channel resources configured with the same spatial relationship or PUCCH ID may be considered (e.g., assumed / determined) to be grouped.

[0028] The following descriptions provide examples of control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configurations and do not limit the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Modifications may be made to the function and configuration of the elements described without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various examples may omit, replace, or add various procedures or components as needed. For example, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described in some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of embodiments described herein. In addition, the scope of this disclosure shall include, in addition to or in addition to, the various embodiments of this disclosure described herein, any such apparatus or method practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions. It should be understood that any embodiment of this disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims. The term “exemplary” is used herein to mean “acting as an example, case, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” should not necessarily be construed as being preferable or more advantageous than any other embodiment.

[0029] Figure 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In some examples, the wireless communication network 100 may be an NR system (e.g., a 5G NE network). As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication network 100 may communicate with a core network 132. The core network 132 may communicate with one or more base stations (BS) 110 and / or user equipment (UE) 120 within the wireless communication network 100 via one or more interfaces.

[0030] As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication network 100 may include several BS110a-110z (each also referred to herein as BS110 or collectively as BS110 individually) and other network entities. Each BS110 may provide communication coverage to a specific geographic area, and the communication coverage may also be called a “cell,” and may be stationary or mobile according to the location of the mobile BS110. In some examples, the BS110s may be interconnected with each other and / or with one or more other network nodes (not shown) within the wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (such as direct physical connections, wireless connections, and virtual networks) using any suitable transport network. In the example shown in Figure 1, BS110a, 110b, and 110c may be macro BS for macrocells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS110x may be a pico BS for picocell 102x. BS110y and 110z may be femtoBS for femtocells 102y and 102z, respectively. BS110 may support one or more cells. BS110 communicates with user equipment (UEs) 120a to 120y (each also referred to individually as UE120 or collectively as UE120 in this specification) within a wireless communication network 100. The UE120s (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be distributed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE120 may be stationary or mobile.

[0031] As shown in Figure 1, UE120a includes a spatial relationship manager 122. The spatial relationship manager 122 may be configured to receive instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, each grouping being associated with a spatial relationship according to some aspects of this disclosure. The spatial relationship manager 122 may be configured to apply a spatial relationship to a control channel transmission using the control channel resources in one or more groupings. The grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. As shown in Figure 1, BS110a includes a spatial relationship manager 112. The spatial relationship manager 112 may be configured to send instructions to UE120a for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, each grouping being associated with a spatial relationship according to some aspects of this disclosure. The spatial relationship manager 112 may be configured to receive a control channel transmission from UE120a using the control channel resources in one or more groupings. The control channel transmission is based on a spatial relationship associated with a grouping.

[0032] The wireless communication network 100 may include relay stations (e.g., relay station 110r), also known as relays, which receive data and / or other information from upstream stations (e.g., BS110a or UE120r) and send data and / or other information to downstream stations (e.g., UE120 or BS110) or relay transmissions between UE120s to facilitate communication between devices.

[0033] The network controller 130 may be coupled to a set of BS110s to provide coordination and control for these BS110s. The network controller 130 may communicate with the BS110s via backhaul.

[0034] Figure 2 shows exemplary BS and US components, such as BS110a and UE120a in the wireless network 100 of Figure 1, which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, the antenna 252, processors 266, 258, 264, and / or controller / processor 280 of the UE120a, and / or the antenna 234, processors 220, 230, 238, and / or controller / processor 240 of the BS110a may be used to perform various techniques and methods described herein.

[0035] In BS110a, the transmitting processor 220 can receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may relate to the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), PDCCH, Group Common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may relate to the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor 220 can process the data and control information (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmitting processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and Cell-Specific Reference Signal (CRS). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can, where applicable, perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, and provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Each modulator 232 may process its respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process the output sample stream (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0036] In UE120a, antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from BS110a and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 can adjust its respective received signal (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) and acquire an input sample. Each demodulator can further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to acquire a received symbol. A MIMO detector 256 can acquire received symbols from all demodulators 254a-254r and, where applicable, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols and provide the detected symbols. A receiving processor 258 can process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) and provide the decoded data for UE120a to the data sink 260 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0037] On the uplink, in UE120a, the transmit processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for PUCCH). The transmit processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for SRS). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 can be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, where applicable, further processed by demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS110a. In BS110a, the uplink signal from UE120a can be received by antenna 234, processed by modulator 232, detected by MIMO detector 236, where applicable, and further processed by receive processor 238 to obtain the decoded data and control information sent by UE120a. The receiving processor 238 can supply the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0038] Controllers / processors 240 and 280 can direct the operation of BS110a and UE120a, respectively. Memories 242 and 282 can store data and program code related to BS110a and UE120a, respectively. A scheduler 244 can schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink. As shown in Figure 2, the controller / processor 280 of UE120a has a spatial relationship manager 281 which can be configured to receive instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, each grouping associated with a spatial relationship. The spatial relationship manager 281 can be configured to apply spatial relationships to control channel transmissions using the control channel resources in one or more of the groupings. A spatial relationship is associated with a grouping according to the embodiments described herein. As shown in Figure 2, the controller / processor 240 of the BS110a has a spatial relationship manager 241 which can be configured to send instructions to the UE120a for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, each grouping associated with a spatial relationship. The spatial relationship manager 241 can be configured to receive control channel transmissions from the UE120a using the control channel resources in one or more of the indicated groupings. The control channel transmissions are based on the spatial relationships associated with the groupings, according to the embodiments described herein.

[0039] Figure 3A shows an example of frame format 300 for NR. The transmission timelines for the downlink and uplink, respectively, may be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be divided into 10 subframes, each 1 ms long, with indices from 0 to 9. Each subframe contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ... slots) depending on the subcarrier interval (SCS). Each slot may contain a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 to 14 symbols) depending on the SCS. The symbol periods within each slot may be assigned an index. Minislots, sometimes called subslot structures, refer to transmission time intervals with a shorter duration than one slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). Each symbol within a slot may indicate the link direction for data transmission (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible), and the link direction for each subframe can be dynamically switched. The link direction may be based on the slot format. Each slot may contain DL / UL data and DL / UL control information.

[0040] As described above, aspects of this disclosure relate to control channel grouping and spatial relationship configuration. In some systems (e.g., NR systems), beamforming is applied to some transmits. In the case of uplink beamforming transmits, a UE (e.g., UE120a in a wireless communication network 100) may be configured with spatial relationships. Spatial relationships may be used to determine the uplink transmit (TX) beam that the UE should use for transmission. In some examples, the spatial relationship describes a relationship between an uplink transmit and another signal, such as a downlink reference signal. The spatial relationship can tell the UE to use the uplink beam corresponding to the receive beam used to receive the corresponding associated downlink signal in the UE in order to transmit the uplink transmit. In some cases, the UE may be configured with a set of spatial relationships, and another signal, such as a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), may be used to activate one of the configured spatial relationships.

[0041] Exemplary control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration Aspects of this disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration, including spatial relationship updates for control channel resource grouping.

[0042] In some cases, control channel resources, such as physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs), that use the same spatial relationships may be included in a grouping and signaled together (e.g., simultaneously) to configure and / or update the spatial relationships associated with the grouping. This can reduce the overhead of configuring spatial relationships for PUCCHs. For example, instead of individually updating the spatial relationships for each PUCCH, such as using a separate media access control element (MAC-CE), a base station (BS) may send a single MAC-CE to update the spatial relationships for one or more groups of PUCCHs.

[0043] Aspects of this disclosure provide techniques that can enable flexible grouping of configurations, as well as techniques for configuring and updating related spatial relationships.

[0044] A control channel resource grouping may include any grouping of control channel resources within at least one of the configured bandwidths. In some examples, a bandwidth part (BWP) may include multiple groupings, where each grouping includes a subset of control channel resources within the BWP. In some examples, a grouping may include all control channel resources within a single BWP. In some examples, a grouping may include control channel resources from multiple BWPs. In some examples, a grouping may be explicitly indicated to the user equipment (UE). In some examples, a grouping of control channel resources may be implicitly indicated to the UE.

[0045] In an exemplary example, as shown in Figure 3A, a subframe may include a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission sent from the BS to the UE. The UE can measure the CSI-RS and send a CSI report within the PUCCH. The UE may determine the beam used for the PUCCH transmission based on the grouping to which the PUCCH belongs and the spatial relationships associated with that grouping.

[0046] As shown in Figure 3B, the UE may consist of bandwidths such as a bandwidth part (BWP) 302 containing control channel resources, such as PUCCH303, 304, 305, 306, 307, and 309. The BS310 may configure / signalize the UE308 in groupings of control channel resources, as shown in Figure 3C. For example, as shown in Figure 3B, the BS310 may configure / signalize PUCCH303, 304, and 305 as a first grouping, and PUCCH306, 307, and 309 as a second grouping. As shown in Figure 3C, the BS310 also configures / signalizes spatial relationships related to the groupings. For example, the first grouping of PUCCH303, 304, and 305 may have a first spatial relationship related to DL CSI-RS, and the second grouping of PUCCH306, 307, and 309 may have a second spatial relationship related to DL CSI-RS. Based on the control channel resources used for PUCCH transmission, UE308 and BS310 may determine the relevant spatial relationships for use for PUCCH transmission.

[0047] Based on the applicable spatial relationships, UE308 can determine which beam to use to send PUCCH, and BS310 can determine which beam to use to receive PUCCH. For example, as shown in Figure 3D, UE308 may receive CSI-RS from BS310 via the receive beam 312. Thus, as shown in Figure 3E, UE308 sends a PUCCH transmission using the transmit beam 314, according to the spatial relationships related to receiving CSI-RS using the receive beam 312.

[0048] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 400 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 400 may be performed, for example, by a UE such as UE120a in a wireless communication network 100. Operation 400 may be implemented as a software component that is executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by UE120a in operation 400 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by UE120a may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280) that acquires and / or outputs signals.

[0049] Operation 400 may be initiated in 405 by receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. In some examples, one or more control channel resources include PUCCH resources. For example, one or more groupings may correspond to one or more groupings of PUCCH.

[0050] In some embodiments, a grouping may be any set of control channel resources within at least one configured bandwidth (e.g., a configured portion of the available system bandwidth). In some examples, as shown in 405, at least one of one or more groupings includes a subset of PUCCHs within the configured bandwidth. The configured bandwidth may include at least one BWP. In some examples, one or more groupings may correspond to all PUCCHs within one BWP. In some examples, one or more groupings may correspond to PUCCHs within multiple BWPs.

[0051] In some embodiments, groupings may be explicitly indicated. For example, a bitmap may be used to indicate control channel resources selected to be included in a grouping. An indication of one or more groupings received in 405 may be received via one bitmap or via multiple bitmaps (e.g., one bitmap per grouping). The bitmap may indicate the PUCCH identifier (ID) of a PUCCH included in at least one of the one or more groupings.

[0052] In some examples, the UE120a may receive instructions for one or more updated spatial relationships and, for each updated spatial relationship, receive one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs associated with at least one of one or more groupings. For example, to update multiple groupings (e.g., simultaneously) with an updated spatial relationship, the UE120a receives instructions for a new (e.g., updated) spatial relationship for at least one of the one or more updated spatial relationships, along with multiple bitmaps or PUCCH IDs associated with multiple groupings among the one or more groupings. The UE120a then updates the spatial relationship for each of the multiple groupings to form the new spatial relationship. In some examples, one or more updated spatial relationship instructions, one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs, or both, are received via MAC-CE (e.g., a single MAC-CE).

[0053] In some embodiments, grouping can be implicitly indicated. For example, a grouping can be defined as control channel resources configured with the same spatial relationship. In some examples, an indication of one or more groupings received at 405 is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. For example, the RRC signaling may indicate (configure) an associated spatial relationship or group ID for each PUCCH. PUCCHs configured with the same spatial relationship or group ID can be considered a grouping.

[0054] In some examples, UE120a may receive one or more updated (e.g., new) spatial relation instructions and, for each updated spatial relation, receive one or more previously indicated (e.g., old) spatial relations or one or more PUCCH IDs associated with at least one of the groupings. Thus, based on the groupings associated with the indicated old spatial relations, UE120a can know (determine) that those groupings should be updated with the indicated new spatial relation. In the case of PUCCH IDs, based on the groupings associated with the indicated PUCCH IDs, UE120a can know (determine) that those groupings should be updated with the indicated new spatial relation. In some examples, in order to update multiple groupings (e.g., simultaneously) with an updated spatial relation, UE120a may receive multiple previously indicated spatial relations or multiple PUCCH IDs associated with multiple groupings for at least one updated spatial relation instruction. In some examples, one or more updated spatial relation references, one or more previously indicated spatial relations, or one or more PUCCH IDs, or both, are received via MAC-CE (e.g., a single MAC-CE). In some examples, MAC-CE contains one or more bitmaps. In some examples, MAC-CE contains references to one or more pre-configured bitmaps (e.g., MAC-CE may indicate the index of a pre-configured bitmap).

[0055] In 410, UE120a applies a spatial relationship to control channel transmission using control channel resources within one or more groupings. Groupings are associated with spatial relationships. For example, UE120a may use an uplink TX beam for control channel (e.g., PUCCH) transmission, determined based on the spatial relationship associated with the grouping to which the control channel resources used for control channel transmission belong.

[0056] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 500 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 500 may be performed by a BS such as BS110a in a wireless communication network 100. Operation 500 may be a complementary operation by BS110a for operation 400 performed by UE120a. Operation 500 may be implemented as a software component that is executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 240 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by BS110a in operation 500 may be enabled by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 234 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by BS110a may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 240) that acquire and / or output signals.

[0057] Operation 500 may be initiated in 505 by sending instructions to a UE (e.g., UE120a) for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. A grouping of control channel resources may be a group, set, subset, collectible, combination, or pool of control channel resources.

[0058] As discussed herein, the groupings shown in 505 may include any set or subset of control channel resources (e.g., PUCCH) within at least one configured bandwidth (e.g., BWP). One or more groupings shown in 505 may be indicated explicitly (e.g., via a bitmap) or implicitly (e.g., via a configured spatial relation or PUCCH ID). Spatial relations for groupings may be indicated / updated (e.g., via MAC-CE) by indicating the updated spatial relation along with an indication of the grouping to be updated with a new spatial relation, such as by indicating the old spatial relation associated with the grouping to be updated, such as by indicating the old spatial relation.

[0059] In 510, BS110a receives control channel transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE120a) using one or more control channel resources within one or more groupings. Control channel transmissions are based on spatial relationships associated with the groupings. For example, a control channel transmission may be scheduled by BS110a on one or more control channel resources. Based on the scheduled control channel resources, BS110a can know (e.g., determine) that it will apply spatial relationships associated with the grouping to which the scheduled control channel resources belong to the control channel transmission. Thus, BS110a may monitor control channel transmissions using an RX beam associated with an uplink TX beam associated with a spatial relationship. In some examples, BS110a may select an RX beam to use for control channel transmissions based on the uplink TX used by UE120a.

[0060] Figure 6 is a diagram of a call flow 600 illustrating exemplary control channel resource grouping and spatial relation configurations according to several aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6, at 606, UE602 (e.g., UE120a) may receive a PUCCH configuration for a BWP from BS604 (e.g., BS110a). In some examples, the PUCCH configuration may be received by RRC signaling and / or downlink control information (DCI). At 608, UE602 may receive a MAC-CE with updated spatial relations and one or more bitmaps. For example, the MAC-CE received at 608 may include a bitmap or PUCCH ID related to a PUCCH grouping that will be updated with the updated spatial relations. At 610, UE602 may receive a physical downlink control channel (PDUCCH) that schedules a PUCCH transmission. At 612, UE602 may determine the spatial relations to apply to the PUCCH transmission. For example, PUCCH may schedule resources that will be used for PUCCH transmissions. Based on the grouping to which the scheduled resources belong, UE602 may determine the spatial relationships associated with that grouping. Thus, in 614, UE602 transmits the PUCCH according to the determined spatial relationships. For example, UE602 may use the uplink TX beam based on the determined spatial relationships (for example, using the beam corresponding to the beam used for the associated transmission indicated by the spatial relationships).

[0061] Figure 7 is a diagram of a call flow 700 showing another exemplary control channel resource grouping and spatial relationship configuration according to several aspects of the present disclosure.

[0062] As shown in Figure 7, at 706, UE702 (e.g., UE120a) may receive the PUCCH configuration for the BWP from BS704 (e.g., BS110a). In some examples, the PUCCH configuration may be received by RRC signaling and / or DCI. At 708, UE702 may receive RRC signaling that constitutes the configured PUCCH and associated spatial relations. At 710, UE702 may determine PUCCH groupings. For example, based on the spatial relations configured for a PUCCH, UE702 may determine PUCCHs configured with the same spatial relations that fall within a grouping. At 712, UE702 may receive a MAC-CE with the updated spatial relations and associated old spatial relations or PUCCH ID. For example, the MAC-CE received at 712 may include the old spatial relationship (e.g., configured at 708) or the PUCCH ID (which may be configured at 706) related to the PUCCH grouping that will be updated with the updated spatial relationship. At 714, UE702 may receive a PDCCH that schedules a PUCCH transmission. At 716, UE702 may determine the spatial relationship to apply to the PUCCH transmission. For example, the PUCCH may schedule resources that will be used for the PUCCH transmission. Based on the grouping to which the scheduled resources belong, UE702 may determine the spatial relationship associated with that grouping. Thus, at 718, UE702 transmits the PUCCH according to the determined spatial relationship. For example, UE702 may use the uplink TX beam based on the determined spatial relationship (e.g., using the beam corresponding to the beam used for the associated transmission indicated by the spatial relationship).

[0063] Figure 8 shows a communication device 800 which may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein for control channel resource grouping and spatial relation configuration, such as the operation shown in Figure 4. The communication device 800 includes a processing system 802 coupled to a transceiver 808. The transceiver 808 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communication device 800, such as various signals as described herein, via an antenna 810. The processing system 802 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 800, including processing of signals that will be received and / or transmitted by the communication device 800.

[0064] The processing system 802 includes a processor 804 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 812 via a bus 806. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 812 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 804, cause the processor 804 to perform the operation shown in Figure 4, or other operations to perform the various techniques discussed herein for control channel resource grouping and spatial relation configuration. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 812 stores a code 814 for receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, according to embodiments of the disclosure, where each grouping is associated with a spatial relation, and a code 816 for applying spatial relations to control channel transmissions as shown in the display, according to embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the processor 804 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 812. The processor 804 includes a circuit 818 for receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, as described in the embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship, and a circuit 820 for applying the spatial relationships to control channel transmissions as indicated in the instructions.

[0065] Figure 9 shows a communication device 900 which may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein for control channel resource grouping and spatial relation configuration, such as the operation shown in Figure 5. The communication device 900 includes a processing system 902 coupled to a transceiver 908. The transceiver 908 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communication device 900 via an antenna 910, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 902 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 900, including processing of signals that will be received and / or transmitted by the communication device 900.

[0066] The processing system 902 includes a processor 904 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 912 via a bus 906. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 912 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 904, cause the processor 904 to perform the operations shown in Figure 5, or other operations to perform the various techniques discussed herein for control channel resource grouping and spatial relation configuration. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 912 stores code 914 for sending instructions to a UE for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, according to embodiments of the disclosure, where each grouping is associated with a spatial relation, and code 916 for receiving control channel transmissions from the UE based on the spatial relation associated with the control channel, according to embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the processor 904 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 912. The processor 904 includes a circuit 918 for sending instructions to a UE for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, each grouping being associated with a spatial relationship, and a circuit 920 for receiving control channel transmissions from the UE based on the spatial relationships associated with the control channels.

[0067] Exemplary embodiments In a first embodiment, a method for wireless communication by a user device (UE) includes the step of receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. The UE applies the spatial relationship to a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings. The groupings are associated with spatial relationships.

[0068] In the second embodiment, in combination with the first embodiment, one or more control channel resources are physical link control channel (PUCCH) resources.

[0069] In a third embodiment, in combination with one or more of the first and second embodiments, at least one of the one or more groupings includes a subset of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

[0070] In the fourth aspect, the bandwidth configured in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects is a bandwidth part (BWP).

[0071] In the fifth embodiment, the step of receiving instructions for one or more groupings, in combination with one or more of the first to fourth embodiments, includes the step of receiving explicit instructions for one or more groupings.

[0072] In the sixth aspect, in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, one or more grouping instructions are received via one or more bitmaps.

[0073] In the seventh aspect, in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, one or more bitmaps indicate physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) identifiers (IDs) of control channel resources included in one or more groupings.

[0074] In the eighth aspect, in combination with one or more of the first through seventh aspects, the UE receives one or more updated spatial relation instructions, and for each updated spatial relation, the UE receives one or more bitmaps or PUCCH identifiers (IDs) associated with at least one of one or more groupings.

[0075] In the ninth aspect, the step of receiving one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects includes the step of receiving multiple bitmaps or PUCCH IDs associated with one or more groupings after a grouping for at least one of one or more updated spatial relationships.

[0076] In the tenth aspect, in combination with one or more of the first through ninth aspects, one or more updated spatial relationship indicators, one or more bitmaps or PUCCH IDs, or both, are received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0077] In the eleventh aspect, one or more grouping instructions, in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects, are implicit instructions.

[0078] In the twelfth embodiment, in combination with one or more of the first to eleventh embodiments, instructions for one or more groupings are received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0079] In the thirteenth aspect, in combination with one or more of the first through twelfth aspects, the RRC signaling indicates the relevant spatial relationships for each PUCCH resource. PUCCH resources having the same indicated spatial relationships implicitly indicate grouping.

[0080] In the fourteenth aspect, in combination with one or more of the first through thirteenth aspects, the RRC signaling indicates an associated group identifier (ID) for each PUCCH resource. PUCCH resources having the same indicated group ID implicitly indicate grouping.

[0081] In the 15th aspect, in combination with one or more of the first to 14th aspects, the UE receives instructions for one or more updated spatial relationships, and for each updated spatial relationship, the UE receives one or more previously indicated spatial relationships or one or more physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) identifiers (IDs) associated with at least one of the groupings.

[0082] In the sixteenth aspect, the step of receiving one or more previously indicated spatial relationships or one or more PUCCH IDs in combination with one or more of the first to fifteenth aspects includes the step of receiving multiple previously indicated spatial relationships or multiple PUCCH IDs relating to multiple groupings for at least one updated spatial relationship instruction.

[0083] In the 17th aspect, in combination with one or more of the first through 16th aspects, one or more updated spatial relationship indications, one or more previously indicated spatial relationships, or one or more PUCCH IDs, or both, are received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0084] In the 18th aspect, a method for wireless communication by a base station (BS) includes the step of sending instructions to a user device (UE) for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured band. Each grouping is associated with a spatial relationship. The BS receives control channel transmissions from the UE using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings. The control channel transmissions are based on the spatial relationships associated with the groupings.

[0085] In the 19th aspect, in combination with the 18th aspect, at least one of the one or more groupings includes a subset of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

[0086] In the 20th aspect, the configured bandwidth, in combination with one or more of the 18th and 19th aspects, includes at least one bandwidth part (BWP).

[0087] In the 21st aspect, the step of sending instructions for one or more groupings in combination with one or more of the aspects from the 18th to the 20th aspect includes the step of sending explicit instructions for one or more groupings.

[0088] In the 22nd aspect, in combination with one or more of the aspects from the 18th to the 21st aspect, one or more grouping instructions are sent via one or more bitmaps.

[0089] In the 23rd aspect, in combination with one or more of the aspects from the 18th to the 22nd aspects, one or more bitmaps indicate physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) identifiers (IDs) of control channel resources included in one or more groupings.

[0090] In the 24th aspect, in combination with one or more of the aspects from the 18th to the 23rd aspects, one or more grouping instructions are implicit instructions.

[0091] In the 25th aspect, in combination with one or more of the 18th to 24th aspects, one or more grouping instructions are radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating the associated spatial relationship for each control channel resource. Control channel resources having the same indicated spatial relationship indicate a grouping.

[0092] In the 26th aspect, in combination with one or more aspects from the 18th to the 25th aspects, the BS sends an instruction for one or more updated spatial relationships, and for each updated spatial relationship, the BS receives one or more previously indicated spatial relationships or one or more PUCCH identifiers (IDs) relating to at least one of the groupings.

[0093] In the 27th aspect, in combination with one or more aspects from the 18th to the 26th aspects, the step of sending one or more previously indicated spatial relationships or one or more PUCCH IDs includes the step of sending multiple previously indicated spatial relationships or multiple PUCCH IDs relating to multiple groupings for at least one updated spatial relationship instruction.

[0094] In the 28th aspect, in combination with one or more aspects from the 18th to the 27th aspects, one or more grouping instructions include radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating an associated grouping identifier (ID) for each control channel resource. Control channel resources having the same indicated group ID implicitly indicate the grouping.

[0095] The techniques described herein may be used for a variety of wireless communication technologies, including NR (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. CDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and cdma2000. UTRA includes broadband CDMA (WCDMA®) and other variations of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks may implement wireless technologies such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM®). OFDMA networks may implement wireless technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Advanced UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and Flash-OFDMA. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM® are documented in documents from an organization called the "Third Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are documented in documents from an organization called the "Third Generation Partnership Project II" (3GPP2). NR is a new wireless communication technology under development.

[0096] The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies described above, as well as for other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, aspects may be described herein using terms generally associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G wireless technologies, but aspects of this disclosure may be applicable to other generation-based communication systems.

[0097] Generally, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographical area. Each wireless network may support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. RATs are sometimes called radio technologies or air interfaces. Frequencies are sometimes called carriers, subcarriers, frequency channels, tones, or subbands. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographical area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

[0098] In 3GPP, the term “cell” may refer to the coverage area of ​​a Node B (NB) and / or NB subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the terms “cell” and BS, Next Generation Node B (gNB or gNodeB), Access Point (AP), Distributed Unit (DU), Carrier, or Transmit / Receive Point (TRP) may be used interchangeably. A BS may provide communication coverage for macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells. A macrocell may cover a relatively large geographical area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs subscribing to the service. A picocell may cover a relatively small geographical area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs subscribing to the service. A femtocell may cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a home) and may allow limited access by UEs associated with the femtocell (e.g., UEs within a Limited Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in a home, etc.). A BS for a macrocell is sometimes called a macroBS. BS for picocells is sometimes called picoBS. Similarly, BS for femtocells is sometimes called femtoBS or homeBS.

[0099] UEs may also be referred to as mobile stations, terminals, access terminals, subscriber units, stations, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, handheld devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, tablet computers, cameras, gaming devices, netbooks, smartbooks, ultrabooks, appliances, medical devices or equipment, biosensors / devices, wearable devices such as smartwatches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristbands, and smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings, smart bracelets, etc.), entertainment devices (e.g., music devices, video devices, satellite radios, etc.), vehicle components or vehicle sensors, smart meters / sensors, industrial production equipment, global positioning system devices, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via wireless or wired media. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communications (MTC) devices or advanced MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC UEs and eMTC UEs can communicate with BS, other devices (e.g., remote devices), or any other entities, such as robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, and location tags. Wireless nodes may provide connectivity for a network (e.g., the Internet or a wide area network such as a cellular network) or network connectivity via, for example, a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices may be Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

[0100] Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, commonly also called tones or bins. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, the modulation symbol is transmitted in the frequency domain in OFDM and in the time domain in SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (called a "resource block" (RB)) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) sizes may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband could cover 1.08 MHz (e.g., 6 RBs), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively. In LTE, the basic transmit time interval (TTI) or packet duration is 1 ms subframe.

[0101] NR can utilize OFDM with CP on the uplink and downlink, and may include support for half-duplex operation using TDD. Beamforming may be supported, and the beam direction may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmission with precoding may also be supported. In some examples, MIMO configurations in DL may support up to 8 transmitting antennas in multilayer DL transmission with up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. In some examples, multilayer transmission with up to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported with up to 8 serving cells. In NR, subframes are still 1 ms, but the basic TTI is called a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ... slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing. NR RB consists of 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR can support a base subcarrier interval of 15 kHz, and other subcarrier intervals may be defined with respect to the base subcarrier interval, such as 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. The symbol and slot lengths correspond to the subcarrier intervals. The CP length also depends on the subcarrier interval.

[0102] In some examples, access to an air interface can be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communication between some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. A scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more dependent entities. That is, for scheduled communication, dependent entities utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. A base station is not the only entity that can function as a scheduling entity. In some examples, one UE can function as a scheduling entity and schedule resources for one or more dependent entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), and other UEs can utilize resources scheduled by that UE for wireless communication. In some examples, UEs can function as scheduling entities in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and / or mesh networks. In the mesh network example, UEs can communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with scheduling entities.

[0103] In some examples, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) can communicate with each other using side-link signals. Real-world applications of such side-link communication may include public safety, proximity services, UE-network relay, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, Internet of Everything (IoE) communication, IoT communication, mission-critical mesh, and / or various other suitable applications. Generally, a side-link signal may refer to a signal communicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying its communication through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though a scheduling entity may be available for scheduling and / or control. In some examples, side-link signals may be communicated using licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, which generally use unlicensed spectrum).

[0104] The phrase “at least one of” in the enumeration of items used herein refers to any combination of those items that contain a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination of multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other order of a, b, and c).

[0105] As used herein, the term “determine” encompasses a wide range of actions. For example, “determine” may include calculating, calculating, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database or another data structure), and confirming. “Determine” may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and resolving, selecting, electing, and establishing.

[0106] In an LTE or LTE-A network, one or more sets of base stations may be defined as an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (for example, in next-generation networks, New Radio (NR) networks, or 5G networks), a wireless multiple access communication system may include several distributed units (DUs) (for example, edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmit / receive points (TRPs), etc.) communicating with several central units (CUs) (for example, central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), and one or more sets of DUs communicating with the CUs may define an access node (for example, sometimes called a BS, next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), TRP, etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set of UEs on a downlink channel (for example, for transmissions from a BS or DU to a UE) and on an uplink channel (for example, for transmissions from a UE to a BS or DU).

[0107] The foregoing description is provided so that any person skilled in the art can practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications of these embodiments will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may apply to other embodiments. Accordingly, the claims should not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the entire scope consistent with the language of the claims, and references to singular elements should mean "one or more" rather than "one unique" unless otherwise explicitly stated. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the term "several" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents of elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure, which are known to a person skilled in the art or will become known later, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made public, whether such disclosure is expressly enumerated in the claims or not. No element of a claim should be construed under Section 112(f) of the United States Patent Act unless it is explicitly enumerated using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, unless it is enumerated using the phrase “steps for”

[0108] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any preferred means capable of performing the corresponding functions. These means may include, but are not limited to, various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding equivalent means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

[0109] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure may be implemented or run using general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices (PLDs), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0110] When implemented as hardware, an exemplary hardware configuration may include a processing system within a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus may link various circuits to each other, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface may be used, among other things, to connect a network adapter to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a user terminal (see Figure 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus can also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, but these circuits are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose and / or dedicated processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits capable of running software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the aforementioned functions of a processing system in accordance with the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0111] When implemented in software, functionality may be stored on or transmitted via computer-readable media as one or more instructions or code. Software is broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitate the transmission of computer programs from one location to another. A processor may be responsible for managing buses and general operations, including the execution of software modules stored on machine-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media may be coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage media. Alternatively, the storage media may be integrated with the processor. For example, machine-readable media may include computer-readable storage media storing instructions separate from transmission lines, data-modulated carriers, and / or wireless nodes, all of which may be accessed by the processor via a bus interface. As an alternative or addition, machine-readable media or any part thereof may be integrated into the processor, as well as caches and / or general-purpose register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be embodied within computer program products.

[0112] A software module may consist of a single instruction or many instructions and may be distributed across several different code segments, between different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may contain several software modules. When executed by a device such as a processor, a software module contains instructions that cause a processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a send module and a receive module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, when a trigger event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into RAM. While a software module is executing, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general-purpose register file to be executed by the processor. When the functions of a software module are referred to below, it will be understood that such functions are implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

[0113] Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc (disc), optical disc (disc), digital versatile disc (disc) (DVD), floppy disk (disk), and Blu-ray® disc (disc), where a disk typically reproduces data magnetically, and a disc (disc) reproduces data optically using a laser. Thus, in some embodiments, a computer-readable medium may include non-temporary computer-readable medium (e.g., tangible medium). In addition, in other embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include a temporary computer-readable medium (e.g., a signal). The above combinations should also be included in the scope of the computer-readable medium.

[0114] Accordingly, some embodiments may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in which instructions are stored (and / or encoded) that are executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, instructions for performing the operations described herein and shown in one or more of Figures 4 to 7.

[0115] Furthermore, it should be understood that modules and / or other suitable means for performing the methods and techniques described herein may be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by user terminals and / or base stations where applicable. For example, such devices may be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein may be provided via storage means (e.g., physical storage media such as RAM, ROM, compact disks (CDs), or floppy disks) so that user terminals and / or base stations may obtain the various methods when coupling or providing storage means to devices. Furthermore, any other suitable techniques for providing the methods and techniques described herein to devices may be utilized.

[0116] It should be understood that the claims are not limited to the exact configuration and components described above. Various modifications, changes, and variations may be made to the configuration, operation, and details of the method and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0117] 100 Wireless Communication Networks 110 Base station (BS) 110a base station, BS 110r BS, relay station, relay 110z BS, femtocell 112 Spatial Relations Manager 120 User Equipment (UE) 120a~120y User Equipment (UE) 122 Spatial Relations Manager 130 Network Controllers 132 Core Network 134 CN nodes 212 data sources 220 processors, transmit processors 230 processors, transmit (TX) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processors 232 Modulator 232a~232t Modulator (MOD) 234 Antenna 234a~234t Antenna 238 processors, receiving processors 236 MIMO detector 238 processors, receiving processors 239 Data Sync 240 Controllers / Processors 241 Spatial Relations Manager 242 memory 244 Scheduler 252 Antenna 252a~252r Antenna 254 Demodulator 254a~254r Demodulators, Transceivers 256 MIMO detector 258 processors, receiving processors 260 Data Syncs 262 data sources 264 processors, transmit processors 266 processors, TX MIMO processors 280 Controllers / Processors 281 Spatial Relations Manager 282 memory 300 frame format 302 Bandwidth Part (BWP) 303 PUCCH 304 PUCCH 305 PUCCH 306 PUCCH 307 PUCCH 308 UE 309 PUCCH 310 BS 312 Received beam 314 Send 400 operations 500 operations 600 Call Flow Diagram 602 UE 604 BS 700 Call Flow Diagram 702 UE 704 BS 800 communication devices 802 Processing System 804 Processor 806 Bus 808 Transceiver 810 Antenna 812 Computer-readable media / memory 814 Code for receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Code for applying spatial relationships to control channel transmissions as shown in display 816. 818 Circuit for receiving instructions for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth. Circuit for applying spatial relationships to control channel transmission as shown in instruction 820 900 communication devices 902 Processing System 904 Processor 906 Bus 908 Transceiver 910 Antenna 912 Computer-readable media / memory 914 Code for sending instructions to the UE for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth. 916 Code for receiving control channel transmissions from the UE based on spatial relationships related to the control channel. 918 Circuitry for sending instructions to the UE for one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth. Circuitry for receiving control channel transmissions from the UE, based on spatial relationships related to the 920 control channel.

Claims

1. A device for wireless communication. One or more memory units, One or more processors coupled to the one or more memory and The device includes, and the one or more processors provide the device Receiving radio resource control signaling (RRC) indicating an associated spatial relationship for each control channel resource of one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, wherein the one or more control channel resources having the same associated spatial relationship implicitly indicate a grouping among the one or more groupings, and the associated spatial relationship indicates the use of the transmit beam of the device for each control channel resource corresponding to the beam used for the reference signal. Applying the associated spatial relationship to a control channel transmission using the one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings, wherein the grouping is associated with the spatial relationship and the application of the spatial relationship A device configured to perform a certain action.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more groupings of the one or more control channel resources comprises one or more physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more groupings includes a subset of control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the configured bandwidth includes a bandwidth part (BWP).

5. The one or more processors in the device Receiving instructions for updated spatial relationships, For each of the one or more updated spatial relationships, one or more previously shown spatial relationships are received that relate to at least one of the groupings. Applying each of the updated spatial relationships to the control channel transmission using the one or more control channel resources in the at least one grouping related to the one or more previously indicated spatial relationships: The apparatus according to claim 1, configured to perform the following.

6. In order to cause the device to receive the one or more previously indicated spatial relationships, one or more processors cause the device to: The apparatus according to claim 5, configured to receive a plurality of previously shown spatial relationships relating to a plurality of groupings for at least one of the one or more updated spatial relationships shown.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the instructions for one or more updated spatial relationships, one or more previously indicated spatial relationships, or both are received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

8. A device for wireless communication. One or more memory units, One or more processors coupled to the one or more memory and The device includes, and the one or more processors provide the device Sending a radio resource control signaling (RRC) indicating an associated spatial relationship to each control channel resource of one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, wherein the one or more control channel resources having the same associated spatial relationship implicitly indicate one of the groupings, and the associated spatial relationship indicates to each control channel resource corresponding to the beam used for the reference signal that the transmit beam of the user equipment should be used. Receiving a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings, wherein the control channel transmission is received based on the spatial relationship related to the grouping. A device configured to perform a certain action.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the one or more groupings includes a subset of control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the configured bandwidth includes at least one bandwidth part (BWP).

11. The one or more processors in the device Sending instructions for updated spatial relationships, To each of the one or more updated spatial relationships, one or more previously shown spatial relationships relating to at least one of the one or more groupings are sent. Receiving a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings, wherein the control channel transmission is based on an updated spatial relationship related to a previously indicated spatial relationship associated with the grouping. The apparatus according to claim 8, configured to perform the following.

12. In order to cause the device to send the one or more previously indicated spatial relationships, one or more processors instruct the device to The apparatus according to claim 11, configured to send a plurality of previously shown spatial relationships relating to a plurality of groupings for at least one of the one or more updated spatial relationships.

13. A method for wireless communication in user equipment (UE), The steps of receiving radio resource control signaling (RRC) indicating an associated spatial relationship for each control channel resource of one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, wherein the one or more control channel resources having the same associated spatial relationship implicitly indicate a grouping among the one or more groupings, and the associated spatial relationship indicates that the transmit beam of the UE should be used for each control channel resource corresponding to the beam used for the reference signal. A step of applying the associated spatial relationship to a control channel transmission using the one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings, wherein the grouping is associated with the spatial relationship. Methods that include...

14. A method for wireless communication in a network entity, A step of sending a radio resource control signaling (RRC) indicating an associated spatial relationship to each control channel resource of one or more groupings of one or more control channel resources within a configured bandwidth, wherein the one or more control channel resources having the same associated spatial relationship implicitly indicate the grouping among the one or more groupings, and the associated spatial relationship indicates to each control channel resource corresponding to the beam used for the reference signal that the transmit beam of the user equipment should be used. A step of receiving a control channel transmission using one or more control channel resources within one or more of the groupings, wherein the control channel transmission is based on the spatial relationship relating to the grouping. Methods that include...

15. A device for wireless communication, One or more memory units, One or more processors coupled to the one or more memory and The device includes, and the one or more processors provide the device, Receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that constitutes multiple groupings of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources, wherein each of the multiple groupings is associated with multiple PUCCH resources, and receiving Receiving a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), wherein the MAC CE includes an updated spatial relationship and a plurality of PUCCH identifiers (IDs), the plurality of PUCCH IDs identify a plurality of PUCCH resources within the plurality of groupings, and each of the plurality of PUCCH IDs identifies a PUCCH resource within the plurality of PUCCH resources within the groupings. Based on receiving each PUCCH ID of the plurality of PUCCH resources within the plurality of groupings, the updated spatial relationship is applied to the plurality of PUCCH resources within each of the plurality of groupings. A device configured to perform a certain action.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of PUCCH IDs do not include other PUCCH IDs of other PUCCH resources in the plurality of groupings.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of groupings includes a subset of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of groupings include PUCCH resources from a bandwidth part (BWP).

19. A method for wireless communication in a user device (UE), A step of receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that constitutes multiple groupings of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources, wherein each of the multiple groupings is associated with multiple PUCCH resources. A step of receiving a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), wherein the MAC CE includes an updated spatial relationship and a plurality of PUCCH identifiers (IDs), the plurality of PUCCH IDs identify a plurality of PUCCH resources within a plurality of groupings, and each of the plurality of PUCCH IDs identifies a PUCCH resource within a plurality of PUCCH resources within a grouping. The steps include: receiving the PUCCH IDs of the PUCCH resources in the PUCCH groupings, and applying the updated spatial relationships to the PUCCH resources in each of the PUCCH groupings; Methods that include...

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the plurality of PUCCH IDs do not include other PUCCH IDs of other PUCCH resources in the plurality of groupings.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of the plurality of groupings includes a subset of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the plurality of groupings include PUCCH resources from a bandwidth part (BWP).

23. A device for wireless communication, Means for receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that constitutes multiple groupings of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources, wherein each of the multiple groupings is associated with multiple PUCCH resources; Means for receiving a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), wherein the MAC CE includes an updated spatial relationship and a plurality of PUCCH identifiers (IDs), the plurality of PUCCH IDs identify a plurality of PUCCH resources within a plurality of groupings, and each of the plurality of PUCCH IDs identifies a PUCCH resource within a plurality of PUCCH resources within a grouping. Means for applying the updated spatial relationship to the multiple PUCCH resources in each of the multiple groupings, based on receiving the PUCCH ID of each of the multiple PUCCH resources in the multiple groupings, A device including a device.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the plurality of PUCCH IDs do not include other PUCCH IDs of other PUCCH resources in the plurality of groupings.

25. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein at least one of the plurality of groupings includes a subset of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

26. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of groupings include PUCCH resources from a bandwidth part (BWP).

27. ​​A non-temporary computer-readable recording medium storing computer executable code, wherein when the computer executable code is executed by one or more processors of a user device (UE), the UE receives Receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that constitutes multiple groupings of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources, wherein each of the multiple groupings is associated with multiple PUCCH resources, and receiving Receiving a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), wherein the MAC CE includes an updated spatial relationship and a plurality of PUCCH identifiers (IDs), the plurality of PUCCH IDs identify a plurality of PUCCH resources within the plurality of groupings, and each of the plurality of PUCCH IDs identifies a PUCCH resource within the plurality of PUCCH resources within the groupings. Based on receiving the PUCCH IDs of the multiple PUCCH resources within the multiple groupings, the updated spatial relationships are applied to the multiple PUCCH resources within each of the multiple groupings. A non-temporary computer-readable recording medium that enables the following process.

28. The non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to claim 27, wherein the plurality of PUCCH IDs do not include other PUCCH IDs of other PUCCH resources in the plurality of groupings.

29. The non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to claim 27, wherein at least one of the plurality of groupings includes a subset of one or more control channel resources within the configured bandwidth.

30. The non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to claim 27, wherein the plurality of groupings include PUCCH resources from a bandwidth part (BWP).

31. Each single PUCCH ID among the plurality of PUCCH IDs identifies the PUCCH resource among the plurality of PUCCH resources within the grouping of the plurality of groupings, The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, in order to cause the apparatus to apply the spatial relationship, one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to apply the updated spatial relationship to the plurality of PUCCH resources in each of the plurality of groupings based on receiving a single PUCCH ID from each of the plurality of PUCCH IDs of the plurality of PUCCH resources in the plurality of groupings.

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