Methods and apparatuses for extremely large-scale MIMO DL transmission
By partitioning antenna arrays into subarrays and employing a new codebook design with angular offsets, the system addresses near-field challenges in extremely large-scale MIMO, improving spectral efficiency and capacity in 6G wireless communications.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/CN2024/124385
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-12
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-14
AI Technical Summary
Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing extremely large-scale MIMO transmissions due to the near-field effects of extremely large antenna arrays, which violate the planar wave assumption of traditional codebooks, leading to inefficiencies in channel state information reporting.
The proposed solution involves partitioning the antenna array into subarrays and using a new codebook design that reports angular offsets and co-phasing factors relative to a reference subarray, reducing the overhead in precoder matrix indicator (PMI) reporting by utilizing finer granularity and smaller ranges for angular offsets.
This approach enhances spectral efficiency and capacity in 6G communications by supporting transmission ranks up to 8, overcoming the limitations of traditional codebooks and near-field complexities in extremely large-scale MIMO systems.
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Figure CN2024124385_14082025_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR EXTREMELY LARGE-SCALE MIMO DL TRANSMISSIONTECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) downlink (DL) transmission with extremely large antenna arrays.BACKGROUND
[0002] A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations, which may support wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE) , or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers, or the like) . Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G) ) .SUMMARY
[0003] An article "a" before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to "at least one" of those elements or "one or more" of those elements. The terms "a, " "at least one, " "one or more, " and "at least one of one or more" may be interchangeable. As used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of" or "one or both of" ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase "based on" shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as "based on condition A" may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on. " Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a "set" may include one or more elements.
[0004] Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may include a UE for wireless communication. The UE may include: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive, from a network equipment (NE) , DL reference signals (RSs) from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and transmit, to the NE, a channel state information (CSI) report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) , and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0005] In some implementations of the UE described herein, one of the plurality of subarrays is a reference subarray, and the PMI indicates the respective precoder for each of subarray (s) other than the reference subarray by offset value (s) with respect to a precoder for the reference subarray.
[0006] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by a network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report; or a DL RS resource associated with the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by the network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report.
[0007] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the PMI indicates the precoder for the reference subarray by codebook index based on a new radio (NR) Release 15 (R15) single-panel Type 1 codebook.
[0008] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes at least one of: a first offset value with respect to a first codebook index indicating an azimuth angle of departure (AOD) associated with the reference subarray; or a second offset value with respect to a second codebook index indicating a zenith angle of departure (ZOD) associated with the reference subarray.
[0009] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the first offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the first codebook index; or the second offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the second codebook index.
[0010] In some implementations of the UE described herein, absence of at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value.
[0011] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes: a third offset value with respect to a third codebook index indicating a beam offset associated with the reference subarray or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of the reference subarray.
[0012] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the third offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the third codebook index.
[0013] In some implementations of the UE described herein, absence of the third offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the third offset value.
[0014] In some implementations of the UE described herein, a common first offset value associated with a column of subarrays in the PMI indicates the first offset value for each subarray in the column, or a common second offset value associated with a row of subarrays in the PMI indicates the second offset value for each subarray in the row.
[0015] In some implementations of the UE described herein, the PMI further indicates a respective co-phasing factor for each subarray of the antenna array, and the co-phasing factor for a reference subarray in the plurality of subarrays is 1.
[0016] Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include an NE for wireless communication. The NE may include: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NE to: transmit, to a UE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and receive, from the UE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0017] In some implementations of the NE described herein, one of the plurality of subarrays is a reference subarray, and the PMI indicates the respective precoder for each of subarray (s) other than the reference subarray by offset value (s) with respect to a precoder for the reference subarray.
[0018] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by a network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report; or a DL RS resource associated with the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by the network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report.
[0019] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the PMI indicates the precoder for the reference subarray by codebook index based on an NR R15 single-panel Type 1 codebook.
[0020] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes at least one of: a first offset value with respect to a first codebook index indicating an AOD associated with the reference subarray; or a second offset value with respect to a second codebook index indicating a ZOD associated with the reference subarray.
[0021] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the first offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the first codebook index; or the second offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the second codebook index.
[0022] In some implementations of the NE described herein, absence of at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value.
[0023] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes: a third offset value with respect to a third codebook index indicating a beam offset associated with the reference subarray or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of the reference subarray.
[0024] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the third offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the third codebook index.
[0025] In some implementations of the NE described herein, absence of the third offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the third offset value.
[0026] In some implementations of the NE described herein, a common first offset value associated with a column of subarrays in the PMI indicates the first offset value for each subarray in the column, or a common second offset value associated with a row of subarrays in the PMI indicates the second offset value for each subarray in the row.
[0027] In some implementations of the NE described herein, the PMI further indicates a respective co-phasing factor for each subarray of the antenna array, and the co-phasing factor for a reference subarray in the plurality of subarrays is 1.
[0028] Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a processor for wireless communication. The processor may include: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:receive, from an NE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and transmit, to the NE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0029] Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a processor for wireless communication. The processor may include: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:transmit, to a UE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and receive, from the UE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0030] Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a method performed by a UE. The method may include: receiving, from an NE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and transmitting, to the NE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0031] Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a method performed by an NE. The method may include: transmitting, to a UE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and receiving, from the UE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0033] Figure 2A illustrates an AOD and a ZOD for an antenna array of a transmitter in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, and Figure 2B illustrates an azimuth angle of arrival (AOA) and a zenith angle of arrival (ZOA) for an antenna array of a receiver in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0034] Figures 3A-3C illustrate examples of subarray partition in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0035] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0036] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a processor in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0037] Figure 6 illustrates an example of an NE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0038] Figure 7 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method performed by a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0039] Figure 8 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method performed by an NE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] To facilitate understanding, embodiments of the present disclosure are provided under specific network architectures and service scenarios, such as 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) and LTE advanced, 3GPP 5G new radio (NR) , 5G-Advanced, 6G, and so on. It is contemplated that along with developments of network architectures and new service scenarios, all embodiments in the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems; and moreover, the terminologies recited in the present disclosure may change, which should not affect the principle of the present disclosure.
[0041] Aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of a wireless communications system.
[0042] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more NEs 102, one or more UEs 104, and a core network (CN) 106. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as a long-term evolution (LTE) network or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be an NR network, such as a 5G network, a 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network, or a 5G ultrawideband (5G-UWB) network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G, for example, 6G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , or code division multiple access (CDMA) , etc.
[0043] The one or more NEs 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the NEs 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a network function, a network entity, a radio access network (RAN) , a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. An NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.
[0044] An NE 102 may provide a geographic coverage area for which the NE 102 may support services for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. ) according to one or multiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, an NE 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) . In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas may be associated with different NEs 102.
[0045] The one or more UEs 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a subscriber device, a transmitter device, a receiver device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, an Internet-of-Everything (IoE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples.
[0046] A UE 104 may be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link may be referred to as a sidelink. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a PC5 interface.
[0047] An NE 102 may support communications with the CN 106, or with another NE 102, or both. For example, an NE 102 may interface with other NE 102 or the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., S1, N2, N3, or other network interface) . In some implementations, the NEs 102 may communicate with each other directly. In some other implementations, the NEs 102 may communicate with each other indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106) . In some implementations, one or more NEs 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC) . An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs) .
[0048] The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) , or a 5G core (5GC) , which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) and a user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc. ) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more NEs 102 associated with the CN 106.
[0049] The CN 106 may communicate with a packet data network over one or more backhaul links (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or other network interface) . The packet data network may include an application server. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the CN 106 via an NE 102. The CN 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session) . The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the CN 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the CN 106) .
[0050] In the wireless communications system 100, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers) ) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications) . In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures) . The NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.
[0051] One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., μ=0) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., μ=1) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., μ=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., μ=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.
[0052] A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames) . Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.
[0053] Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., μ=0, μ=1, μ=2, μ=3, μ=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols) . In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on a numerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing) , a slot may include 12 symbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.
[0054] In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz –7.125 GHz) , FR2 (24.25 GHz –52.6 GHz) , FR3 (7.125 GHz –24.25 GHz) , FR4 (52.6 GHz –114.25 GHz) , FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz –71 GHz) , and FR5 (114.25 GHz –300 GHz) . In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data) . In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.
[0055] FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies) . For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) , which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., μ=1) , which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies) . For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) , which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.
[0056] Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) has been a fundamental part of the 4G or 5G system, and may continue to be an important part of 6G networks. Massive MIMO (also known as large-scale antenna systems and very large MIMO) is a MIMO technology where an NE may be equipped with a large number of antenna elements (for example, 50 antenna elements) , which are used to perform transmissions that share the same time and frequency band and are separated in the spatial domain. Massive MIMO is one of the most critical technologies for 5G communications. With massive antenna arrays at the NE, massive MIMO can improve the spectral efficiency by orders of magnitude through beamforming or multiplexing. Herein, the terms "antenna elements" and "antennas" may be used interchangeably.
[0057] For 6G communications, extremely large-scale MIMO (XL-MIMO) , which is a MIMO technology where an NE (e.g. a BS) may be equipped with a number of antennas much larger than that for massive MIMO, can effectively achieve 10-fold increases in spectral efficiency. On the other hand, benefiting from the rich spectrum resource at millimeter-wave (mmWave) band or terahertz (THz) band, high-frequency communications may provide largely available bandwidth. Meanwhile, the very small size of high-frequency antennas favorably enables the deployment of XL-MIMO with an extremely large number of antennas. Therefore, high-frequency XL-MIMO may be a key enabling technology for 6G communications.
[0058] As the size of the antenna array increases, the electromagnetic (EM) field begins to exhibit some near field properties. In particular, the Rayleigh distance (e.g., denoted as LR) , which defines the boundary between the near field and the far field, is calculated as follows:
[0059] where D is the largest dimension of the antenna array, and λ is the wavelength.
[0060] As the value of D increases with the size of the antenna array, and the value of λ decreases as the frequency increases, the Rayleigh distance may increase, which means that the near field region increases, and thus more UEs are included in the near field region of the antenna array.
[0061] For a transmitter with a rectangular antenna array, e.g., an uniform planar array (UPA) with a size of Dx in the x direction and a size of Dy in the y direction, two different Rayleigh distances, i.e. and in the x and y directions may be given by:
[0062] For a regular receiver (whose antenna array cannot be considered as an extremely large antenna array for XL-MIMO transmission) , when the distance d from the transmitter to the receiver is between and for example, assuming Dy<Dx and the receiver is considered to be in the near field of the antenna array of the transmitter in the x direction, and in the far field of the antenna array of the transmitter in the y direction. Accordingly, the near field effect in the y direction may be ignored, and only the near field effect in the x direction is considered. In other words, we may assume that the phase variation is linear in the y direction but not in the x direction.
[0063] When the value of D decreases, LR is reduced quadratically. By partitioning a large antenna array into several subarrays, where each subarray consists of fewer antenna elements and has a smaller size, its Rayleigh distance is reduced quadratically, too. When a large antenna array is split evenly by Kx and Ky in the x and y directions, respectively, the two Rayleigh distances of a subarray, i.e. and in the x and y directions may be given by:
[0064] and
[0065] As can be seen, the two Rayleigh distances in the y and y directions for the subarray are reduced to and respectively, and thus a receiver within the Rayleigh distance of the antenna array may be outside of the Rayleigh distance of the subarray.
[0066] The electromagnetic wave propagation in the near field is explained as follows.
[0067] The typical antenna in an extremely large antenna array may still be an electric dipole antenna (unidirectional or cross polarized) . The electric field from an oscillating electric dipole is as follows:
[0068] where
[0069] is the electric dipole moment of the electric dipole at the origin;
[0070] is perpendicular to the direction vector
[0071] and
[0072] is the outgoing spherical wave with speed c.
[0073] Because vacuum (or air) is a linear medium, the electric field of the near field EM wave radiated from an antenna array is the summation of the electric field radiated from all the antennas in the antenna array. Accordingly, a near field signal received from the antenna array can be calculated as a sum of the signals from all the antennas in the antenna array.
[0074] The design of MIMO in 5G NR is based on a planar wave assumption (i.e., the EM wave radiated from an antenna array can be treated as a combination of planar waves) . However, in the near field, the EM wave radiated from an antenna array cannot be treated as a combination of planar waves. Therefore, the use of XL-MIMO in 6G with near field requires new theory in the area of channel model, transceiver architecture, channel estimation, and transmission scheme design.
[0075] Since in the near field the EM wave is no longer a planar wave, the traditional codebook (e.g., NR R15 single-panel Type 1 codebook) for CSI reporting designed based on the planar wave assumption no longer applies. The present disclosure proposes some solutions for codebook design for XL-MIMO DL transmission with an antenna array partitioned into multiple subarrays.
[0076] The channel from a transmitter with a rectangular antenna array partitioned into KxKy subarrays to a regular receiver can be represented as
[0077] where the channel Hn (n = 0, 1, 2, …, Kx Ky-1) from subarray n (or the n-th subarray) is a traditional far field MIMO channel of a UPA.
[0078] It is assumed that the size of the subarray of the transmitter is the size of the antenna array of the receiver is and there are p different paths from the n-th subarray of the antenna array of the transmitter to the receiver including the line of sight (LOS) path, the channel Hn is a summation of all these paths, which is as follows:
[0079] where
[0080] Hm, n is the channel of the m-th path (m=0, 1, 2, …, p-1) from the n-th subarray of the antenna array of the transmitter to the receiver,
[0081] βn, m is the amplitude of the m-th path from the n-th subarray of the antenna array of the transmitter to the receiver,
[0082] are the ZOA, AOA, ZOD, AOD for the m-th path from the n-th subarray of the antenna array of the transmitter to the receiver respectively -it should be noted that different subarrays may have different ZODs, AODs, ZOAs, and / or AOAs to the receiver due to their different placement in the antenna array of the transmitter,
[0083] are the random (but correlated between different subarrays) initial phases for two polarizations and their cross terms,
[0084] κn, m is the cross polarization power ratio (XPR) for the m-th path from the n-th subarray of the antenna array of the transmitter to the receiver,
[0085] is an array response matrix for a transmitting beam in a transmitting direction with a ZOD of θn, m, ZOD and an AOD of and is an array response matrix for a receiving beam in a receiving direction with a ZOA of θn, m, ZOA and an AOA of which are as follows:
[0086] and
[0087] is a scaler function for a transmitting antenna element in response to the transmitting direction with the ZOD of θn, m, ZOD and the AOD of and is a scaler function for a receiving antenna element in response to the receiving direction with the ZOA of θn, m, ZOA and the AOA of
[0088] are the 3-dimensional (3D) vector locations of all the antenna elements in the subarray n of the antenna array of the transmitter and all the antenna elements in the antenna array of the receiver, respectively,
[0089] and are the unit length directions of the outgoing beam (n, m) at the subarray n of the antenna array of the transmitter and the incident beam (n, m) at the antenna array of the receiver respectively, which are as follows:
[0090] and
[0091] Figure 2A illustrates an AOD and a ZOD for an antenna array (or subarray) of a transmitter in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, and Figure 2B illustrates an AOA and a ZOA for an antenna array (or subarray) of a receiver in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0092] In Figure 2A, the antenna array (or subarray) of the transmitter is in the xz plane, and the direction vector of the transmitted signal is denoted as n. The ZOD is the angle between the z axis and n, and is denoted as θ. The AOD is the angle between the x axis and the projection of the direction vector, i.e. n′, in the xy plane, and is denoted as When the ZOD is zero, i.e. θ=0°, the direction of the transmitted signal points to zenith, and when the ZOD is +90°, i.e. θ=+90°, the direction of the transmitted signal points to the horizon.
[0093] In Figure 2B, the antenna array (or subarray) of the receiver is in the xz plane, and the direction vector of the received signal is denoted as m. The ZOA is the angle between the z axis and m, and is denoted as θ. The AOA is the angle between the x axis and the projection of the direction vector, i.e. m′, in the xy plane, and is denoted as
[0094] The channel state information (CSI) of a channel from an individual subarray of an antenna array of a transmitter to an antenna array of a receiver may be represented using Type 1 codebook in NR R15. Type 1 codebook is designed for single user MIMO feedback up to 8 layers. In NR, when a Type 1 CSI is reported for a single panel gNB, the UE includes a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) in the CSI report to indicate the CSI-RS resource used in the measurement to derive the CSI, rank indicator (RI) of the reported rank, channel quality indicator (CQI) on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to use, and PMI on the selection of transmitter precoder.
[0095] The present disclosure proposes some codebook designs for subarray-based downlink transmission scheme.
[0096] For example, the codebook may be applied to the following scenario: an NE (e.g., BS) may transmit DL RSs, e.g. CSI-RSs, from its antenna array including a plurality of subarrays to a UE, and the UE may perform channel estimation and transmit a CSI report to the NE. When a same set of data layers are transmitted from multiple subarrays of the NE to the UE, the CSI report of the UE may include a common CRI, an RI, a CQI, an individual CRI for each of the participating subarrays as well as co-phasing factors among them. Because XL-MIMO is introduced to enhance the capacity, the solutions proposed by the present disclosure may support a transmission rank up to 8 while the current R15 multi-panel Type 1 codebook only supports up to rank 4.
[0097] Because different subarrays have different AODs or different ZODs towards the UE, the directions of useful beams from these subarrays to the receiver of the UE are different. However, because they are close to each other, these AODs or ZODs are not independent but related. How they are different depends on the AODs or ZODs and also on how these subarrays are relative to each other.
[0098] Figures 3A-3C illustrate examples of subarray partition in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0099] In the example illustrated in Figure 3A, an antenna array including 28×4 antenna elements is partitioned into 7 subarrays, each subarray includes 4×4 antenna elements, and the 7 subarrays are arranged in the horizontal direction. In particular, the 7 subarrays are denoted as antenna arrays (0, 0) , (1, 0) , (2, 0) , (3, 0) , (4, 0) , (5, 0) and (6, 0) . When the antenna array is used for transmitting, for the same object, these subarrays may have a same ZOD but different AODs.
[0100] In the example illustrated in Figure 3B, an antenna array including 4×20 antenna elements is partitioned into 5 subarrays, each subarray includes 4×4 antenna elements, and the 5 subarrays are arranged in the vertical direction. In particular, the 5 subarrays are denoted as antenna arrays (0, 0) , (0, 1) , (0, 2) , (0, 3) and (0, 4) . When the antenna array is used for transmitting, for the same object, these subarrays may have a same AOD but different ZODs.
[0101] In the example illustrated in Figure 3C, an antenna array including 24×8 antenna elements is partitioned into 10 subarrays, each subarray includes 4×4 antenna elements, and the 10 subarrays are arranged in two rows in the vertical direction and five columns in the horizontal direction. In particular, the 10 subarrays include subarrays (0, 0) , (1, 0) , (2, 0) , (3, 0) and (4, 0) in the first row (row 0) , and subarrays (0, 1) , (1, 1) , (2, 1) , (3, 1) and (4, 1) in the second row (row 1) . When the antenna array is used for transmitting, for the same object, the subarrays in the same row may have a same ZOD but different AODs, and the subarrays in the same column may have a same AOD but different ZODs.
[0102] In R15 Type 1 codebook, a beam direction is represented in the horizontal and vertical directions by two discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors concatenated together, e.g. vl, m or which are represented as follows:
[0103] where
[0104] l represents a horizontal beam;
[0105] m represents a vertical beam;
[0106] N1 is a number of antenna ports per polarization direction in a horizontal direction of the antenna array;
[0107] N2 is a number of antenna ports per polarization direction in a vertical direction of the antenna array;
[0108] O1 is a horizontal oversampling factor; and
[0109] O2 is a vertical oversampling factor.
[0110] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, among the subarrays of the antenna array of the transmitter, one subarray can be chosen as a reference subarray and have corresponding horizontal beam l and vertical beam m fully described as in Type 1 codebook. The beams of the other subarrays can be described using differential values or relative differences with respect to the beams of the reference subarray.
[0111] For example, in the antenna array illustrated in Figure 3A where the subarrays are arranged in a row, subarray (0, 0) can be chosen as the reference subarray. For an object Ok (either a UE in an LOS path, or a reflector for a non-LOS (NLOS) path) , denote the ZOD and AOD from subarray i (i.e., subarray (i, 0) ) as Then the AODs and the ZODs from subarrays (1, 0) , (2, 0) , …, (6, 0) are as follows:
[0112] and
[0113] where is the azimuth offset between and
[0114] In the antenna array illustrated in Figure 3B where the subarrays are arranged in a column, subarray (0, 0) can be chosen as the reference subarray. For an object Ok (either a UE in an LOS path, or a reflector for an NLOS path) , denote the ZOD and AOD from subarray j (i.e., subarray (0, j) ) as Then the AODs and the ZODs from subarrays (0, 1) , …, (0, 4) are as follows:
[0115] and
[0116] where is the zenith offset between and
[0117] In the antenna array illustrated in Figure 3C, subarray (0, 0) can be chosen as the reference subarray. For an object Ok (either a UE in an LOS path, or a reflector for an NLOS path) , denote the ZOD and AOD from subarray (i, j) ) as and j=0, 1. Then the AODs and the ZODs from subarrays other than the reference subarray are as follows:
[0118] and
[0119] where
[0120] is the azimuth offset between and which is common for all subarrays in column i; and
[0121] is the zenith offset between and which is common for all subarrays in row j.
[0122] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, for the selected path (s) , the UE may report the AOD and ZOD for the reference subarray (e.g., and ) and the angular offset (s) (e.g., and / or ) , instead of the AOD and ZOD (e.g., and ) for each subarray. The network may reconstruct the AODs or ZODs for all the subarrays based on the AOD and ZOD for the reference subarray and the angular offset (s) . The range of the angular offset (s) (e.g., and / or ) may be much smaller than the range of the AOD and ZOD of each subarray (e.g., and ) , therefore, the bits required for indicating the angular offset (s) is fewer than the bits required for indicating the AOD and ZOD of each subarray, thereby the PMI overhead is reduced significantly.
[0123] In some embodiments, in the case that an offset value for the AOD or ZOD is not reported in the PMI, it is assumed to be 0 by default.
[0124] In some embodiments, the PMI may include a co-phasing factor for representing the phase offset applied to two different polarization directions for cross-polarized antenna array of the transmitter, and / or a co-phasing factor for representing the phase offset applied to the left and right half panels for a subarray. Each polarization or half-panel is an independent degree for signaling and their signals can be added coherently at the receiver by the co-phasing factor (s) at the transmitter. When subarrays are used, the co-phasing factor (s) may also be reported with offset value (s) with respect to the reference subarray.
[0125] In some embodiments, in the case that an offset value for the co-phasing factor is not reported in the PMI, it is assumed to be 0 by default.
[0126] In R15 single-panel Type 1 codebook, a UE may select a set of paths (LOS and / or NLOS) and report them as PMI. Depending on the individual codebook design, all selected paths or a subset of the selected paths may be reported. The codebook may take the following form:
[0127] and i2
[0128] where
[0129] i1 contains the angle information (e.g., i1, 1 may indicate an AOD, and i1, 2 may indicate a ZOD) , and
[0130] i2 contains the co-phasing information (e.g., a phase offset applied to two different polarization directions) .
[0131] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the offset values for the subarrays with respect to a reference subarray may be applied to each of the field in (i1, i2) based on the R15 single-panel Type 1 codebook.
[0132] For example, in the case of rank 1, the following codebooks shown in table 1, which are the same as those provided in table 5.2.2.2.1-5 in 3GPP TS 38.214, may be adopted:
[0133] Table 1: Codebook for 1-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0134] In such case, a single path is selected, and the AOD and ZOD associated with the selected path can be indicated by i1= [i1, 1, i1, 2] . The detailed information regarding table 1 may be find in descriptions for table 5.2.2.2.1-5 in 3GPP TS 38.214, and details are omitted here for simplicity.
[0135] In the case of rank 2, the following codebooks shown in table 2, which are the same as those provided in table 5.2.2.2.1-6 in 3GPP TS 38.214, may be adopted:
[0136] Table 2: Codebook for 2-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0137] In such case, a pair of paths are selected, and the AODs and ZODs associated with the selected paths can be indicated by i1= [i1, 1, i1, 2, i1, 3] . The detailed information regarding table 2 may be find in descriptions for table 5.2.2.2.1-6 in 3GPP TS 38.214, and details are omitted here for simplicity.
[0138] In the case of rank 5, the following codebook shown in table 3, which is the same as that provided in table 5.2.2.2.1-9 in 3GPP TS 38.214, may be adopted:
[0139] Table 3: Codebook for 5-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0140] In such case, three paths (represented by (l, m) , (l′, m′) , and (l″, m″) respectively) are selected, but only the AOD and ZOD associated with the first path are indicated by i1= [i1, 1, i1, 2] . The other two paths can be derived based on the reported i1,1, i1, 2 without additional signaling. The detailed information regarding table 3 may be find in descriptions for table 5.2.2.2.1-9 in 3GPP TS 38.214, and details are omitted here for simplicity.
[0141] In the case of rank 8, the following codebook shown in table 4, which is the same as that provided in table 5.2.2.2.1-12 in 3GPP TS 38.214, may be adopted:
[0142] Table 4: Codebook for 8-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0143] In such case, four paths (represented by (l, m) , (l′, m′) , (l″, m″) , and (l″′, m″′) respectively) are selected, but only the AOD and ZOD associated with the first path are indicated by i1= [i1, 1, i1, 2] . The other three paths can be derived based on the reported i1,1, i1, 2 without additional signaling. The detailed information regarding table 4 may be find in descriptions for table 5.2.2.2.1-12 in 3GPP TS 38.214, and details are omitted here for simplicity.
[0144] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, for the reference subarray, e.g. subarray (0, 0) as shown in Figure 3C, i1 (0, 0) = [i1, 1 (0, 0) , i1, 2 (0, 0) ] or i1 (0, 0) = [i1, 1 (0, 0) , i1, 2 (0, 0) , i1, 3 (0, 0) ] is reported in the PMI; for each of the other subarray, offset value (s) with respect to the reference subarray is reported in the PMI.
[0145] For example, for a subarray (a, b) , an offset value as follows may be reported in the PMI:
[0146] where Δi1, 1 (a, b) =i1, 1 (a, b) -i1, 1 (0, 0) , Δi1, 2 (a, b) =i1, 2 (a, b) -i1, 2 (0, 0) , and Δi1, 3 (a, b) =i1,3 (a, b) -i1, 3 (0, 0) .
[0147] The value of i1, 3 is reported for υ=2, 3, 4, but is used differently in different codebooks. It may be used to indicate an angle offset (also referred to as beam offset) in some cases, or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of an antenna array (or subarray) in some other cases.
[0148] For example, in some cases of rank 3 and rank 4, the following codebooks shown in table 5-1 and table 5-2, which are the same as those provided in table 5.2.2.2.1-7 and table 5.2.2.2.1-8 in 3GPP TS 38.214, may be adopted:
[0149] Table 5-1: Codebook for 3-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0150] Table 5-2: Codebook for 4-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0151] In such cases, i1, 3 (corresponding to θp=ejπp / 4) may indicate a co-phasing factor between the left half and the right half of a subarray. The detailed information regarding table 5-1 and table 5-2 may be find in descriptions for table 5.2.2.2.1-7 and table 5.2.2.2.1-8 in 3GPP TS 38.214, and details are omitted here for simplicity.
[0152] In some other cases of rank 2, rank 3 and rank 4, the following codebooks shown in table 5-3 to table 5-5, which are the same as those provided in table 5.2.2.2.1-6 to table 5.2.2.2.1-8 in 3GPP TS 38.214, may be adopted:
[0153] Table 5-3: Codebook for 2-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0154] Table 5-4: Codebook for 3-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0155] Table 5-5: Codebook for 4-layer CSI reporting using antenna ports 3000 to 2999+PCSI-RS
[0156] In such cases, i1, 3 may indicate a beam offset (k1 and / or k2) . The detailed information regarding table 5-3 to table 5-5 may be find in descriptions for table 5.2.2.2.1-6, table 5.2.2.2.1-7 and table 5.2.2.2.1-8 in 3GPP TS 38.214, and details are omitted here for simplicity.
[0157] In some embodiments, Δi1, 1 (a, b) , Δi1, 2 (a, b) , Δi1, 3 (a, b) may have different (e.g., finer) quantization granularities and / or different (e.g., smaller) ranges with respect to i1,1 (a, b) , i1, 2 (a, b) , i1, 3 (a, b) .
[0158] For example, u1, 1 (a, b) and i1, 2 (a, b) may have the granularity of and respectively, while Δi1, 1 (a, b) and Δi1, 2 (a, b) may have the granularity of and respectively, where each of R1 and R2 is a positive integer such as 1, 2 or 4.
[0159] For example, the range of Δi1, 1 (a, b) and Δi1, 2 (a, b) may be smaller than that of i1,1 (a, b) and i1, 2 (a, b) (i.e., 2π) , but just a fraction of 2π to reduce the overhead. As an example, each of i1, 1 (a, b) and i1, 2 (a, b) may cover the range of with a finer granularity as described above.
[0160] Alternatively, Δi1, 1 (a) may be reported for column a to indicate a common azimuth offset for subarrays in column a. Also, Δi1, 2 (b) may be reported for row b to indicate a common zenith offset for subarrays in row b. Δi1, 1 (a) and Δi1, 2 (b) may have the same granularity and range as Δi1, 1 (a, b) and Δi1, 2 (a, b) . In such way, for subarrays arranged in two dimensions (e.g. subarrays as shown in Figure 3C) , an offset for each subarray can be computed from two one-dimensional offset values.
[0161] In some embodiments, Δi1, 1 (a, b) (or Δi1, 1 (a) ) and / or Δi1, 2 (a, b) (or Δi1, 2 (b) ) are assumed to be 0 by default when absent in the PMI.
[0162] In the case that i1, 3 indicates a beam offset (k1 and / or k2) , Δi1, 3 (a, b) may map to Δk1 (a, b) and / or Δk2 (a, b) , and it may have a finer granularity and / or a smaller range than i1,3 (a, b) .
[0163] For example, the mapping of i1, 3 to k1 and k2 for 2-layer CSI reporting may be illustrated in table 6-1 as follows, which is the same as table 5.2.2.2.1-3 in 3GPP TS 38.214:
[0164] Table 6-1: Mapping of i1, 3 to k1 and k2 for 2-layer CSI reporting
[0165] Then, the mapping of Δi1, 3 to Δk1 and Δk2 may be illustrated in table 6-2 as follows:
[0166] Table 6-2: Mapping of Δi1, 3 to Δk1 and Δk2 for 2-layer CSI reporting
[0167] As another example, the mapping of i1, 3 to k1 and k2 for 3-layer and 4-layer CSI reporting when PCSI-RS<16 may be illustrated in table 6-3 as follows, which is the same as table 5.2.2.2.1-4 in 3GPP TS 38.214:
[0168] Table 6-3: Mapping of i1, 3 to k1 and k2 for 3-layer and 4-layer CSI reporting when PCSI-RS<16
[0169] Then, the mapping of Δi1, 3 to Δk1 and Δk2 may be illustrated in table 6-4 as follows:
[0170] Table 6-4 Mapping of Δi1, 3 to Δk1 and Δk2 for 3-layer and 4-layer CSI reporting when PCSI-RS<16
[0171] In the case that i1, 3 indicate a co-phasing factor between two half-panels, or two half-subarrays of an subarray of the antenna array, Δi1, 3 (a, b) may represent a finer relative co-phase factor with a smaller range. For example, if a codebook as shown in table 5-1 or table 5-2 is adopted, Δi1, 3 (a, b) may take the value of {0, 1, 3, 4} and represent an additional phase factor Δθp=ejπp / 8.
[0172] In some embodiments, Δi1, 3 (a, b) is not signaled, which implies that no additional beam direction adjustment or co-phasing factor adjustment is necessary. That is, Δi1, 3 (a, b) is assumed to be 0 by default when absent in the PMI.
[0173] In the embodiments described above, the reference subarray is fixed as subarray (0, 0) . In some other embodiments, a different subarray may be selected to be the reference subarray, and the method for indicating the offset values for the other subarrays with respect to the reference subarray may be similar. It is assumed that there is a one-to-one correspondence between CSI-RS resources and subarrays, and there may be the following options for determining the reference subarray.
[0174] Option 1: the reference subarray may be pre-defined. Alternatively, a CSI-RS resource (e.g., the first CSI-RS resource) may be pre-defined as a reference CSI-RS resource, and the subarray corresponding to the reference CSI-RS resource is considered as the reference subarray.
[0175] Option 2: the reference subarray may be determined or configured by the NE or by the network. Alternatively, a reference CSI-RS resource may be determined or configured by the NE or by the network, and the subarray corresponding to the reference CSI-RS resource is considered as the reference subarray. The NE or the network may indicate the reference CSI-RS resource or the reference subarray with signals such as a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message which indicates the details of the Type 1 codebook.
[0176] Option 3: the reference subarray is selected by the UE, and the UE may report the reference subarray (e.g., an index of the reference subarray) in the CSI report. Alternatively, the UE may select a reference CSI-RS resource and report it in the CSI report, and the subarray corresponding to the reference CSI-RS resource is considered as the reference subarray. This option offers flexibility to the UE at the cost of additional signaling overhead in the CSI report.
[0177] In some embodiments, co-phasing may be needed between different subarrays of an antenna array.
[0178] For example, the subarray (0, 0) is the reference subarray and the relative-phases (e.g. co-phasing factors) of the other subarrays may be included in the PMI. For each subarray (a, b) , a co-phasing factor (e.g., with a value range of {0, 1, 2, 3} ) may be introduced with
[0179] It is assumed that an antenna array is partitioned into M1×M2 subarrays. When the transmitting precoder of a certain rank k for subarray (a, b) is the overall transmitting precoder for the entire array with all the subarrays is
[0180] where for the reference subarray.
[0181] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a UE 400 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 400 may include at least one processor 402 and at least one memory 404. Additionally, the UE 400 may also include one or more of at least one controller 406 or at least one transceiver 408. The processor 402, the memory 404, the controller 406, or the transceiver 408, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.
[0182] The processor 402, the memory 404, the controller 406, or the transceiver 408, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.
[0183] The processor 402 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 402 may be configured to operate the memory 404. In some other implementations, the memory 404 may be integrated into the processor 402. The processor 402 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 404 to cause the UE 400 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.
[0184] The memory 404 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 404 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 402 cause the UE 400 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as the memory 404 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.
[0185] In some implementations, the processor 402 and the memory 404 coupled with the processor 402 may be configured to cause the UE 400 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 402, instructions stored in the memory 404) . For example, the processor 402 may support wireless communication at the UE 400 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The UE 400 may be configured to support a means for performing the operations of the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0186] In an embodiment, the processor 402 may be configured to cause the UE 400 to:receive, from an NE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and transmit, to the NE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0187] The controller 406 may manage input and output signals for the UE 400. The controller 406 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the UE 400. In some implementations, the controller 406 may utilize an operating system such as or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 406 may be implemented as part of the processor 402.
[0188] In some implementations, the UE 400 may include at least one transceiver 408. In some other implementations, the UE 400 may have more than one transceiver 408. The transceiver 408 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 408 may include one or more receiver chains 410, one or more transmitter chains 412, or a combination thereof.
[0189] A receiver chain 410 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 410 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 410 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 410 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 410 may include at least one decoder for decoding the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.
[0190] A transmitter chain 412 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmitter chain 412 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmitter chain 412 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 412 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.
[0191] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a processor 500 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The processor 500 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 500 may include at least one controller 502 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 500 may optionally include at least one memory 504, which may be, for example, an L1 / L2 / L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 500 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 506. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .
[0192] The processor 500 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 500) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .
[0193] The controller 502 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 500 to cause the processor 500 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 502 may operate as a control unit of the processor 500, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 500. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.
[0194] The controller 502 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 504 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 500 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 502 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 504. The controller 502 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 502 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 500 to cause the processor 500 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 502 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 500. The controller 502 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 500.
[0195] The memory 504 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 500 or other memory, such as RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 504 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 500) . In some other implementations, the memory 504 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 500) .
[0196] The memory 504 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 500, cause the processor 500 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 502 and / or the processor 500 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 504 to cause the processor 500 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 500 and / or the controller 502 may be coupled with or to the memory 504, the processor 500, the controller 502, and the memory 504 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 500 may include multiple processors and the memory 504 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.
[0197] The one or more ALUs 506 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or more ALUs 506 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 500) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 506 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 500) . One or more ALUs 506 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 506 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 506 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 506 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 506 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.
[0198] The processor 500 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 500 may be configured to or operable to support a means for performing the operations of the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0199] In an embodiment, the processor 500 may be applicable for a UE or a device with similar functions. The controller 502 may be configured to cause the processor 500 to:receive, from an NE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and transmit, to the NE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0200] In an embodiment, the processor 500 may be applicable for an NE (e.g., a base station) or a device with similar functions. The controller 502 may be configured to cause the processor 500 to: transmit, to a UE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and receive, from the UE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0201] Figure 6 illustrates an example of an NE 600 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The NE 600 may include at least one processor 602 and at least one memory 604. Additionally, the NE 600 may also include one or more of at least one controller 606 or at least one transceiver 608. The processor 602, the memory 604, the controller 606, or the transceiver 608, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.
[0202] The processor 602, the memory 604, the controller 606, or the transceiver 608, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.
[0203] The processor 602 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 602 may be configured to operate the memory 604. In some other implementations, the memory 604 may be integrated into the processor 602. The processor 602 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 604 to cause the NE 600 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.
[0204] The memory 604 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 604 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 602 cause the NE 600 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as the memory 604 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.
[0205] In some implementations, the processor 602 and the memory 604 coupled with the processor 602 may be configured to cause the NE 600 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 602, instructions stored in the memory 604) . For example, the processor 602 may support wireless communication at the NE 600 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The NE 600 may be configured to support a means for performing the operations of the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0206] In an embodiment, the processor 602 may be configured to cause the NE 600 to:transmit, to a UE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; and receive, from the UE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
[0207] The controller 606 may manage input and output signals for the NE 600. The controller 606 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the NE 600. In some implementations, the controller 606 may utilize an operating system such as or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 606 may be implemented as part of the processor 602.
[0208] In some implementations, the NE 600 may include at least one transceiver 608. In some other implementations, the NE 600 may have more than one transceiver 608. The transceiver 608 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 608 may include one or more receiver chains 610, one or more transmitter chains 612, or a combination thereof.
[0209] A receiver chain 610 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 610 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 610 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 610 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 610 may include at least one decoder for decoding the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.
[0210] A transmitter chain 612 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmitter chain 612 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmitter chain 612 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 612 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.
[0211] Figure 7 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method may be implemented by a UE as described herein. In some implementations, the UE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the UE to perform the described functions.
[0212] At 702, the method may include receiving, from an NE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array. The operations of 702 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 702 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 4.
[0213] At 704, the method may include transmitting, to the NE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array. The operations of 704 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 704 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 4.
[0214] In some embodiments, one of the plurality of subarrays is a reference subarray, and the PMI indicates the respective precoder for each of subarray (s) other than the reference subarray by offset value (s) with respect to a precoder for the reference subarray.
[0215] In some embodiments, the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by a network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report; or a DL RS resource associated with the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by the network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report.
[0216] In some embodiments, the PMI indicates the precoder for the reference subarray by codebook index based on an NR R15 single-panel Type 1 codebook.
[0217] In some embodiments, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes at least one of: a first offset value with respect to a first codebook index (e.g., i1, 1) indicating an AOD associated with the reference subarray; or a second offset value with respect to a second codebook index (e.g., i1, 2) indicating a ZOD associated with the reference subarray.
[0218] In some embodiments, the first offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the first codebook index; or the second offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the second codebook index.
[0219] In some embodiments, absence of at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value.
[0220] In some embodiments, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes: a third offset value with respect to a third codebook index (e.g., i1, 3) indicating a beam offset associated with the reference subarray or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of the reference subarray.
[0221] In some embodiments, the third offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the third codebook index.
[0222] In some embodiments, absence of the third offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the third offset value.
[0223] In some embodiments, a common first offset value (e.g., Δi1, 1 (a) ) associated with a column (e.g., column a) of subarrays in the PMI indicates the first offset value for each subarray in the column, or a common second offset value (e.g., Δi1, 2 (b) ) associated with a row (e.g., row b) of subarrays in the PMI indicates the second offset value for each subarray in the row.
[0224] In some embodiments, the PMI further indicates a respective co-phasing factor for each subarray of the antenna array, and the co-phasing factor for a reference subarray in the plurality of subarrays is 1.
[0225] It should be noted that the method described herein describes a possible implementation, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.
[0226] Figure 8 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method may be implemented by an NE as described herein. In some implementations, the NE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the NE to perform the described functions.
[0227] At 802, the method may include transmitting, to a UE, DL RSs from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array. The operations of 802 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 802 may be performed by an NE as described with reference to Figure 6.
[0228] At 804, the method may include receiving, from the UE, a CSI report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a PMI, and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array. The operations of 804 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 804 may be performed by an NE as described with reference to Figure 6.
[0229] In some embodiments, one of the plurality of subarrays is a reference subarray, and the PMI indicates the respective precoder for each of subarray (s) other than the reference subarray by offset value (s) with respect to a precoder for the reference subarray.
[0230] In some embodiments, the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by a network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report; or a DL RS resource associated with the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by the network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report.
[0231] In some embodiments, the PMI indicates the precoder for the reference subarray by codebook index based on an NR R15 single-panel Type 1 codebook.
[0232] In some embodiments, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes at least one of: a first offset value with respect to a first codebook index (e.g., i1, 1) indicating an AOD associated with the reference subarray; or a second offset value with respect to a second codebook index (e.g., i1, 2) indicating a ZOD associated with the reference subarray.
[0233] In some embodiments, the first offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the first codebook index; or the second offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the second codebook index.
[0234] In some embodiments, absence of at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value.
[0235] In some embodiments, the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes: a third offset value with respect to a third codebook index (e.g., i1, 3) indicating a beam offset associated with the reference subarray or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of the reference subarray.
[0236] In some embodiments, the third offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the third codebook index.
[0237] In some embodiments, absence of the third offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the third offset value.
[0238] In some embodiments, a common first offset value (e.g., Δi1, 1 (a) ) associated with a column (e.g., column a) of subarrays in the PMI indicates the first offset value for each subarray in the column, or a common second offset value (e.g., Δi1, 2 (b) ) associated with a row (e.g., row b) of subarrays in the PMI indicates the second offset value for each subarray in the row.
[0239] In some embodiments, the PMI further indicates a respective co-phasing factor for each subarray of the antenna array, and the co-phasing factor for a reference subarray in the plurality of subarrays is 1.
[0240] It should be noted that the method described herein describes a possible implementation, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.
[0241] The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Claims
1.A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:at least one memory; andat least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:receive, from a network equipment (NE) , downlink (DL) reference signals (RSs) from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; andtransmit, to the NE, a channel state information (CSI) report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) , and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.2.The UE of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of subarrays is a reference subarray, and the PMI indicates the respective precoder for each of subarray (s) other than the reference subarray by offset value (s) with respect to a precoder for the reference subarray.3.The UE of claim 2, wherein:the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by a network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report; ora DL RS resource associated with the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by the network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report.4.The UE of claim 2, wherein the PMI indicates the precoder for the reference subarray by codebook index based on a new radio (NR) Release 15 (R15) single-panel Type 1 codebook.5.The UE of claim 4, wherein the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes at least one of:a first offset value with respect to a first codebook index indicating an azimuth angle of departure (AOD) associated with the reference subarray; ora second offset value with respect to a second codebook index indicating a zenith angle of departure (ZOD) associated with the reference subarray.6.The UE of claim 5, wherein:the first offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the first codebook index; orthe second offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the second codebook index.7.The UE of claim 5, wherein absence of at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the at least one of the first offset value or the second offset value.8.The UE of claim 4, wherein the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes: a third offset value with respect to a third codebook index indicating a beam offset associated with the reference subarray or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of the reference subarray.9.The UE of claim 8, wherein the third offset value has at least one of a finer granularity or a smaller range than the third codebook index.10.The UE of claim 8, wherein absence of the third offset value in the PMI indicates a default value of zero for the third offset value.11.The UE of claim 5, wherein a common first offset value associated with a column of subarrays in the PMI indicates the first offset value for each subarray in the column, or a common second offset value associated with a row of subarrays in the PMI indicates the second offset value for each subarray in the row.12.The UE of claim 1, wherein the PMI further indicates a respective co-phasing factor for each subarray of the antenna array, and the co-phasing factor for a reference subarray in the plurality of subarrays is 1.13.A network equipment (NE) for wireless communication, comprising:at least one memory; andat least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NE to:transmit, to a user equipment (UE) , downlink (DL) reference signals (RSs) from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; andreceive, from the UE, a channel state information (CSI) report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) , and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.14.The NE of claim 13, wherein one of the plurality of subarrays is a reference subarray, and the PMI indicates the respective precoder for each of subarray (s) other than the reference subarray by offset value (s) with respect to a precoder for the reference subarray.15.The NE of claim 14, wherein:the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by a network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report; ora DL RS resource associated with the reference subarray is pre-defined, configured by the network, or reported by the UE in the CSI report.16.The NE of claim 14, wherein the PMI indicates the precoder for the reference subarray by codebook index based on a new radio (NR) Release 15 (R15) single-panel Type 1 codebook.17.The NE of claim 16, wherein the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes at least one of:a first offset value with respect to a first codebook index indicating an azimuth angle of departure (AOD) associated with the reference subarray; ora second offset value with respect to a second codebook index indicating a zenith angle of departure (ZOD) associated with the reference subarray.18.The NE of claim 16, wherein the offset value (s) with respect to the precoder for the reference subarray includes: a third offset value with respect to a third codebook index indicating a beam offset associated with the reference subarray or a co-phasing factor between a left half and a right half of the reference subarray.19.A processor for wireless communication, comprising:at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:receive, from a network equipment (NE) , downlink (DL) reference signals (RSs) from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; andtransmit, to the NE, a channel state information (CSI) report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) , and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.20.A method performed by a user equipment (UE) , the method comprising:receiving, from a network equipment (NE) , downlink (DL) reference signals (RSs) from a plurality of subarrays of an antenna array of the NE, wherein each subarray includes a number of adjacent antenna elements of the antenna array; andtransmitting, to the NE, a channel state information (CSI) report based on the DL RSs, wherein the CSI report includes a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) , and the PMI indicates a respective precoder for each subarray of the antenna array.
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