Dynamic PL RS update for uplink-only node TCI states

Abstract

Systems and methods for dynamic Pathloss Reference Signal (PL-RS) update for Uplink (UL) only Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states are provided. In some embodiments, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for determining UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal includes: receiving a configuration for a first TCI state, where the first TCI state is associated with a PL-RS; determining to update the PL-RS; and performing an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS. In this way, dynamic updates are enabled of the PL-RS associated to the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node. Accordingly, accurate pathloss estimation and open-loop power control can be performed by UE for communication towards a UL-only node. Some solutions can enable automatic update (e.g., without additional L1 / L2 signaling) of the PL-RS associated with the UL-TCI state by an association to the PL-RS of the activated DL-TCI state.

Description

DYNAMIC PL RS UPDATE FOR UPLINK-ONLY NODE TCI STATESRELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63 / 550,540, filed February 6, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to power control.BACKGROUND

[0003] Data scheduling in New Radio (NR) is typically in slot basis, an example is shown in Figure 1 with a 14-symbol slot, where the first two symbols contain physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the rest contains physical shared data channel, either Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Figure 1 illustrates NR time-domain structure with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0004] Downlink (DL) transmissions can be dynamically scheduled in a slot-by-slot basis. The scheduling information such as resource allocation and modulation order is contained in downlink control information (DCI) carried by PDCCH. DL user data are carried in PDSCH.

[0005] Uplink (UL) data transmission can also be dynamically scheduled using DCI carried in PDCCH. A UE first decodes UL grants in DCI and then transmits data in PUSCH based on the scheduling information in the UL grant.

[0006] In addition to dynamic scheduling of PUSCH, semi -persistent transmission of periodic PUSCH using configured grants (CG) is also supported in NR. In CG type 1, the periodicity as well as a slot offset are configured by RRC. In CG type 2, the PUSCH transmission can be activated or deactivated dynamically by DCI.

[0007] For channel estimation purpose, channel state information reference signals, CSI-RS, in the DL and sounding reference signals (SRS) in the UL are also supported.

[0008] Uplink power control in NR

[0009] The gNB may consist of a single transmission and reception point (TRP) or multiple TRPs. In case of multiple TRPs, a UE can be scheduled with DL transmissions from one or more of the TRPs and UL data transmission to one or more of the TRPs, either one TRP at a time or simultaneously.

[0010] UL power control in NR consists of two parts, i.e., open-loop power control and closed-loop power control. Open-loop power control is used to set the UL transmit power based on a few factors such as pathloss estimation between the UE and a TRP in a serving cell, the target receive power, channel / signal bandwidth, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), fractional power control factor, etc.

[0011] Closed-loop power control is based on UL power adjustments signaled in power control commands received from the gNB. The power control commands are typically determined based on the difference between the actual UL received power and a desired received power at the gNB. Up to two closed power control loops can be configured in NR for each UL channel or signal. Either cumulative or non-cumulative closed-loop power adjustments are supported in NR. A closed-loop adjustment at a given time is also referred as a power control adjustment state.

[0012] A DL reference signal (RS) is transmitted from each TRP, which can be used by a UE to estimate the pathloss between the UE and the TRP. Each DL RS has an associated index for identifying it. For UL transmission, power control can be performed separately for each TRP.

[0013] For an UL channel or signal (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, or SRS) to be transmitted in UL associated with a pathloss RS with index k, its transmit power in a transmission occasion1within a slot in a bandwidth part (BWP) of a carrier frequency of a serving cell and a closed-loop index I (Z = 0,1) can be expressed as:where PcMAx,f,c(P) isaLE’s maximum output power for the carrier frequency, , of the serving cell, c, in transmission occasion i for the UL channel or signal. Popen-ioop(i, fc) is the open-loop transmit power and Pciosed-ioop(i> is the closed-loop power adjustment.

[0014] POpen-ioop(i’ ) is given by:where Pois the nominal target receive power for the UL channel or signal and comprises a cellspecific part P0,ceii andaUE-specific part P0,UE - Also, PRB(Z) is a power adjustment related to the bandwidth or number of RBs occupied by the channel or signal at transmission occasion Z, PL(k) is a pathloss (PL) estimation based on a DL-RS with index k, a (0 < a < 1) is a fractional pathloss compensation factor, and A(Z) is a power offset determined by modulation and code rate of the UL channel or signal.^closed- ioop(i> 0 is given by: if cumulation is enabled8(i, P); if cumulation is disabled (i. e. , absolute is enable) where <5(Z, Z) is a power adjustment value indicated in a transmit power control (TPC) command in a DCI associated with the UL channel or signal at transmission occasion Z and configured with closed-loop index Z; Sm=o<5(m- is a sum of power adjustment values indicated in the TPC commands that the UE has received for the channel or signal since the TPC command for transmission occasion i — Zo.

[0015] Note that power control parameters Po, PRB(Z) , a, PL , A(Z) , 8(i, Z) are generally configured separately for each UL channel or signal (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, and SRS) and may be different for different UL channels or signals.

[0016] UL beam management

[0017] Some UEs might have analog beamformers without or with poor beam correspondence, which implies that DL / UL reciprocity cannot be used to determine the beams for these beamformers. For such UEs, the UE beam used for UL cannot be derived from beam management procedures based on DL RSs as described above. To handle such UEs, UL beam management has been included in the NR standard specification since Release 15. The main difference between normal beam management and UL beam management is that UL beam management utilizes UL RSs instead of DL RSs. The UL RS that has been agreed to be used for UL beam management is sounding reference signals (SRS). Two UL beam management procedures are supported in NR: U2 and U3. The U2 procedure is performed by transmitting a burst of SRS resources in one UE TX beam and letting the TRP evaluate different TRP RX beams. The U3 procedure lets the UE evaluate a suitable UE TX beam by transmitting different SRS resources in different UE TX beams.

[0018] UL beam management can also be useful even if UEs have beam correspondence:

[0019] Some companies in 3 GPP are arguing that a combined DL beam management procedure and UL beam management procedure requires less overhead and latency compared to only using DL beam management procedures.

[0020] UL-only”-node deployments are a hot topic in 3GPP to improve UL coverage in a cost-efficient way (especially at higher frequencies). An “UL-only” network node is equipped with UL capability but with none or very limited DL capability. In this case, since the “UL-only” nodeis not capable of transmitting DL RSs, the beam pair link between a UE and an “UL-only” node has to be based on UL beam management procedures.

[0021] In D-MIMO, there will be many different access points (AP) or transmission points (TRPs) in a small area, and where each AP / TRP might be equipped with multiple different beams. In case DL-beam management is used to determine a suitable AP / TRP and corresponding AP / TRP beam to a UE, significant amount of RS overhead is needed, which has been identified as an issue for D-MIMO. One approach to circumvent the large RS overhead is to perform AP / TRP selection and corresponding beam selection based on UL SRS transmission from the UE (which then could be used to determine suitable AP / TRP and corresponding AP / TRP beams for that UE).

[0022] Rel-17 / 18 Unified TCI state framework

[0023] The unified TCI state framework can be RRC configured in one of two modes of operation “Joint DL / UL TCI” or “Separate DL / UL TCI”. For “Joint DL / UL TCI” one common Joint / DL TCI state (e.g., “DLorJoint-TCIState-rl7”) is used for both DL and UL signals / channels, while for “Separate DL / UL TCI”, one common Joint / DL TCI state is used for DL channel s / signals (TCLState) and one common UL TCI state (e.g., UL-TCIState-rl7) is used for UL signals / channels.

[0024] For both “Joint DL / UL TCI” and “Separate DL / UL TCI”, the large scale QCL properties are inferred from one (QCL-Typel) or two RSs (QCL-Typel and QCL-Type2). For “Joint DL / UL TCI”, the UL spatial filter is derived from the RS of DL QCL Type D.

[0025] For the unified TCI state framework, a pathloss reference signal (PL-RS) is either included in or associated with a TCI state (Joint / DL TCI state or UL TCI state), see below. This means that the PL-RS is automatically updated when the TCI state is updated.TCLState information element- ASN1 START- TAG-TCLSTATE-STARTTCLState SEQUENCE { tci-Stateld TCLStateld, qcl-Typel QCL-Info, qcl-Type2 QCL-Info OPTIONAL, — Need R[[additionalPCLrl 7 Additi onalPCIIndex-r 17 OPTIONAL, -Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 OPTIONAL,-- Cond JointTCIl ul-powerControl-rl7 Uplink-powerControlId-rl7 OPTIONAL— Cond JointTCI]],[[ tag-Id-ptr-rl8 ENUMERATED {n0,nl } OPTIONAL -- Cond 2TA]]}QCL-Info ::= SEQUENCE { cell ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, - Need R bwp-Id BWP-Id OPTIONAL, - Cond CSLRS -Indicated referencesignal CHOICE { csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-Resourceld, ssb S SB -Index}, qcl-Type ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},- TAG-TCLSTATE-STOP- ASN1STOPTCI-UL-State information element- ASN1 START- TAG-TCI-UL-STATE-STARTTCI-UL-State-rl7 ::= SEQUENCE { tci-UL-StateId-r!7 TCI-UL-StateId-rl7,servingCellId-rl7 ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R bwp-Id-rl7 BWP-Id OPTIONAL, - Cond CSI- RSorSRS-Indicated referenceSignal -r 17 CHOICE { ssb-Index-rl7 S SB -Index, csi-RS-Index-rl7 NZP-CSI-RS-Resourceld, srs-rl7 SRS-Resourceld}, additionalPCI-rl7 AdditionalPCIIndex-r 17 OPTIONAL, - NeedR ul-powerControl-r 17 Uplink-powerControlId-r 17 OPTIONAL, -Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 OPTIONAL, - - Cond Mandatory[[ tag-Id-ptr-rl8 ENUMERATED {nO,nl } OPTIONAL - Cond2TA]]- TAG-TCI-UL-STATE-STOP- ASN1STOP

[0026] UL-only node

[0027] It is expected that the demand on capacity and user throughput will increase in the future. It is also expected that UL will become a limiting factor, partly due to the natural imbalance of spectral efficiency between UL and DL (which comes from for instance different number of antennas, different transmit power levels, etc.) but also partly due to an increase of UL-heavy services like gaming, V2V communication, etc. Particularly, 6G is expected to rely a lot on Al which implies high load on UL.

[0028] A potential remedy to this is to densify the networks more in the UL than in the DL. This may be done by for instance providing radio nodes that only receive in the UL (they do hence not perform any DL transmissions). Such a transmission node is referred to as an “UL-only node”herein. By using such UL-only nodes one could consequently enhance the UL without enhancing the DL. While there is obviously no direct improvement in DL performance, as compared to normal DL+UL nodes, benefits of UL-only nodes include lower complexity, lower weight, lower cost, smaller volumes, ease of deployment and avoiding the need for permits to deploy radio transmitters. Also, depending on the deployment, UL-only nodes may be deployed at lower heights, compared to DL+UL nodes, which improves the UL link to such nodes. A first step to better support UL-only nodes has been included in the NR MEMO Rel-19 WID (RP -234007, “New WID: NR MIMO Phase 5,” Dec. 2023), where the power control for FR1 and FR2 will be enhanced to better support UL-only nodes.

[0029] In the Rel-19 MIMO WID, the following objective is included:

[0030] Specify enhancement for asymmetric DL sTRP / UL mTRP deployment scenarios, assuming intra-band intra-DU non-co-located mTRP scenarios, without changing existing cell definition or defining a new cell (e.g., UL-only cell), assuming the Rel-17 / 18 unified TCI framework and fully reusing the legacy QCL / UL spatial relation rules, targeting FR1 and FR2.

[0031] Two closed-loop PC adjustment states for SRS, both separate from PUSCH; and pathloss offset configurations for pathloss calculation to UL TRP(s), when the pathloss RS is from DL sTRP. Improved systems and methods for reference signals are needed.SUMMARY

[0032] Systems and methods for dynamic Pathloss Reference Signal (PL-RS) update for Uplink (UL) only Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states are provided. In some embodiments, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for determining UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal includes: receiving a configuration for a first TCI state, where the first TCI state is associated with a PL-RS; determining to update the PL-RS; and performing an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS. In this way, dynamic updates are enabled of the PL-RS associated to the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node. Accordingly, accurate pathloss estimation and open-loop power control can be performed by UE for communication towards a UL-only node. Some solutions can enable automatic update (e.g., without additional L1 / L2 signaling) of the PL-RS associated with the UL-TCI state by an association to the PL- RS of the activated DL-TCI state.

[0033] In some embodiments, determining to update the PL-RS comprises implicitly determining to update the PL-RS.

[0034] In some embodiments, determining to update the PL-RS comprises receiving a first message comprising a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) the MAC CEcomprises information about one or more of: serving cell ID, UL Bandwidth Part (BWP) ID, UL- TCI state ID, updated PL-RS ID.

[0035] In some embodiments, the first TCI state comprises an UL-TCI state. In some embodiments, the pathloss reference signal in the first message is a DL-RS associated to a second TCI state. In some embodiments, the second TCI is a Downlink-TCI (DL-TCI) state. In some embodiments, the first and second TCI states are unified TCI states.

[0036] In some embodiments, the first and second TCI states are separate DL / UL TCI. In some embodiments, the PL-RS is received from a second node and the UL channel or signal is transmitted towards a first node. In some embodiments, the first message can activate / deactivate one or multiple PL-RSs for one or multiple UL-TCI-states.

[0037] In some embodiments, the method also includes receiving a second indication to indicate one of the multiple updated / activated PL-RSs carried in the first message. In some embodiments, the second indication comprises a Downlink Configuration Indication (DCI).

[0038] In some embodiments, the pathloss Reference ID is simultaneously updated for multiple cells. In some embodiments, receiving the configuration comprises receiving the configuration for a first TCI state via Radio Resource Control (RRC). In some embodiments, the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable the determining.

[0039] In some embodiments, the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable an association of the PL-RSs between an UL-TCI state and / or an DL-TCI state. In some embodiments, the DL-TCI state is an activated DL-TCI state. In some embodiments, the first node is a node with only UL receive capabilities and the second node has both DL / UL capabilities. In some embodiments, at the same time when a new DL-TCI is activated towards the anchor node, a MAC CE message updates the PL-RS for the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node.

[0040] In some embodiments, if multi-DCI (mDCI) is used, the MAC CE message may in addition contain the Coreset pool index. In some embodiments, one MAC CE message carries information to update pathloss Reference RS for multiple UL TCI states.

[0041] In some embodiments, when the pathloss RS IDs for one or more UL-TCI states is updated via MAC CEs, the updated path loss RS IDs for UL TCI states apply simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl; simultaneousU- TCI-UpdateList2; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3; and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

[0042] In some embodiments, when the pathloss RS ID for an UL TCI states in Serving Cell A is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state, then pathloss RS ID derivation for the UL-TCI state also applies simultaneously to all the serving cells in oneor more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2; simultaneousU -T CI-UpdateLi st3 ; and simultaneousU-T CI-UpdateLi st4.

[0043] In some embodiments, if multiple TCI-states are updated / activated by MAC CE message, a DCI is additionally signaled to indicate about UL-TCI state and the associated pathloss Reference RS.

[0044] In some embodiments, a new MAC-CE message is enabled by an RRC flag parameter which could be configured in the TCI-UL-State information element. In some embodiments, a flag parameter which enables the PL-RS update MAC-CE is configured in ServingCellConfig IE. In some embodiments, the PL-RS of the UL-TCI state is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state.

[0045] In some embodiments, the updated pathloss RS for the UL-TCI state can be conveyed in one of the DL Scheduling DCIs or one of the UL Scheduling DCIs. In some embodiments, a new field in DCI is added to indicate if the pathloss reference RS for UL transmission associated with UL-TCI state shall follow the pathloss reference RS associated with DL-TCI state in a beam indication DCI.

[0046] In some embodiments, the DL-TCI State is indicated in the same DCI contains PL-RS update field. In some embodiments, the DL TCI States is implicitly derived from activated DL- TCI state. In some embodiments, the DCI is used to indicate which one of the multiple activated UL-TCI states in the MAC CE should be applied. In some embodiments, a list of pathloss-RS indexes can be configured in power control configuration.

[0047] In some embodiments, when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for PDCCH reception in a CORESET with the lowest controlREsourceSetld.

[0048] In some embodiments, when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for default PDCCH reception.

[0049] In some embodiments, a method performed by a network node for configuring UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal includes: transmitting, to a UE a configuration for a first TCI state, where the first TCI state is associated with a PL-RS; transmitting, to the UE, a first message to update the PL-RS; and receiving, from the UE, an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0051] Figure 1 illustrates data scheduling in New Radio (NR) is typically in slot basis, an example is shown with a 14-symbol slot, where the first two symbols contain Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the rest contains physical shared data channel, either Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH);

[0052] Figure 2 illustrates a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for determining Uplink (UL) transmission power for an UL channel or signal, according to some embodiments;

[0053] Figure 3 illustrates an example of UE communicating to a serving cell with an anchorTRP0 and an UL-only TRP1 using two panels, according to some embodiments;

[0054] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a Pathloss Reference Signal (PL-RS) update Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) for unified Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state, according to some embodiments;

[0055] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a PL-RS update MAC CE for unified TCI state for mDCI, according to some embodiments;

[0056] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a PL-RS update MAC CE carry PL-RS update for multiple TCI states, according to some embodiments;

[0057] Figure 7 illustrates another example of a PL-RS update MAC CE carry PL-RS update for multiple TCI states, according to some embodiments;

[0058] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0059] Figure 9 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0060] Figure 10 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0061] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host, which may be an embodiment of the host ofFigure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0062] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0063] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0065] As used herein, the terms UL-only node, UL-only TRP, UL-only RP are exchangeable.

[0066] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0067] There currently exist certain challenge(s). In existing NR multi-TRP operation, it is assumed that each node can be used for both DL transmission and UL reception. For NR Rel-19, the idea of deploying UL-only nodes in a cell has been proposed (see, e.g., RWS-230248, Views on Rel-19 MIMO / UL enhancements, NTT DOCOMO, INC, 3GPP TSG RAN Rel-19 workshop, Taipei, June 15th - 16th, 2023, and RWS-230290, Views on Rel-19 MIMO evolution, ZTE, Sanechips, 3GPP TSG RAN Rel-19 workshop, Taipei, June 15th - 16th, 2023). UL-only nodes may be useful in following scenarios:

[0068] UL-only nodes deployed at the cell edge to provide better UL coverage for cell edge UEs.

[0069] UL-only node deployed in a TDD band where there is dominant UL allocation.

[0070] UL-only node deployed in a band that can only be used for UL transmission due to regulatory issues.

[0071] UL-only node deployed for network energy saving.

[0072] An UL-only node receives only and does not transmit any DL signals. For this reason, it can also be referred to as UL-only RP. However, one issue with enabling UL-only node is UL power control for UL transmissions to those nodes. In NR, UL power control is based on the DL pathloss computation at the UE (e.g., based on the pathloss computed from DL PL-RS). According to the Rel-19 MIMO WID, the working assumption for beam management towards UL-only node is the Rel- 17 / 18 unified TCI framework and fully reusing the legacy QCL / UL spatial relation rules. Since the UL-only node does not transmit any DL signal / channel, it is reasonable to assume that the UE will be configured with separate DL-TCI states and UL-TCI state. The UL-only node power control configurations are likely to be associated with an UL-TCI state. However, the pathloss DL-RS is semi-statically configured to the UL-TCI state. When UE moves and the DLbeam represented by DL-TCI state from the anchor node (and hence the pathloss RS) changes, the statically configured pathloss RS associated with UL-TCI state used for the UL-only node may not be the most suitable pathloss RS and rapidly become outdated. UE might even not be able to receive the outdated pathloss RS. In legacy an update of the pathloss RS associated with an UL- TCI state requires an RRC reconfiguration which is a slow procedure.

[0073] Hence, methods are needed to dynamically reconfigure and rapidly update a pathloss RS for an UL-TCI used by a node which does not transmit DL-RS.

[0074] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Some embodiments herein describe different candidate methods on how to dynamically reconfigure / update a pathloss RS (PL-RS) to an UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node.

[0075] Systems and methods for dynamic PL-RS update for UL only TCI states are provided. In some embodiments, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for determining UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal includes: receiving a configuration for a first TCI state, where the first TCI state is associated with a PL-RS; determining to update the PL-RS; and performing an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS. In this way, dynamic updates are enabled of the PL-RS associated to the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node. Accordingly, accurate pathloss estimation and open-loop power control can be performed by UE for communication towards a UL-only node. Some solutions can enable automatic update (e.g., without additional L1 / L2 signaling) of the PL-RS associated with the UL- TCI state by an association to the PL- RS of the activated DL-TCI state

[0076] Figure 2 illustrates a method performed by a UE for determining UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the method includes one or more of: receiving (200) a configuration for a first TCI state, where the first TCI state is associated with a PL-RS; determining (202) to update the PL-RS (e.g., implicitly or by receiving a first message); and performing (204) an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS. Optionally, the UE receives (206) a second indication to indicate one of the multiple updated / activated PL-RSs carried in the first message.

[0077] In some embodiments, the first message comprises a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE). In some embodiments, the MAC CE comprises information about one or more of: serving cell ID, UL Bandwidth Part (BWP) ID, UL-TCI state ID, updated PL-RS ID, etc.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first TCI state comprises an UL-TCI state. In some embodiments, the pathloss reference signal in the first message is a DL-RS associated to a second TCI state.

[0079] In some embodiments, the second TCI is a Downlink (DL)-TCI state. In some embodiments, the first and second TCI states are unified TCI states. In some embodiments, the first and second TCI states are separate DL / UL TCI.

[0080] In some embodiments, the PL-RS is received from a second node and the UL channel or signal is transmitted towards a first node. In some embodiments, the first message can activate / deactivate one or multiple PL-RSs for one or multiple UL-TCI-states. In some embodiments, the second indication comprises a Downlink Configuration Indication (DCI).

[0081] In some embodiments, the pathloss Reference ID is simultaneously updated for multiple cells. In some embodiments, receiving the configuration comprises receiving the configuration for a first TCI state via Radio Resource Control (RRC).

[0082] In some embodiments, the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable the first message. In some embodiments, the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable an association of the PL-RSs between an UL-TCI state and / or an DL-TCI state. In some embodiments, the DL-TCI state is an activated DL-TCI state. In some embodiments, the first node is a node with only UL receive capabilities and the second node has both DL / UL capabilities.

[0083] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). The proposed solutions enable dynamic update of the pathloss reference RS associated to the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node. Accordingly, accurate pathloss estimation and open-loop power control can be performed by UE for communication towards UL- only node. Some solutions can enable automatic update (without additional L1 / L2 signaling) of the PL- RS associated to the UL-TCI state by an association to the PL- RS of the activated DL- TCI state.

[0084] Figure 3 illustrates an example of UE communicating to a serving cell with an anchorTRP0 and an UL-only TRP1 using two panels. A general diagram of a serving cell with an UL- only node is shown in Figure 3, where an anchor node (TRP0) provides a full coverage of a serving cell with both DL and UL transmissions and an UL-only node (TRP1) is deployed, e.g., at the cell edge to improve UL performance of cell edge UEs. TRP0 and TRP1 are connected to a gNB via an ideal backhaul link. A UE in the cell may perform initial access and network connection via TRP0. After initial access and / or network connection, if the UE is closer to TRP1 than to TRP0 or if the gNB decides to move the UE to TRP1, e.g., to reduce the UL interference for TRP0 or to improve resource usage efficiency, the gNB may direct the UE to transmit towards the TRP1. Alternatively, instead of performing initial access via TRP0, for UEs close to TRP1, all UL transmissions including the ones in initial access can be performed via TRP1. The presence ofTRP 1 may be transparent to UEs in the cell . Due to UE mobility and depending on the deployment, the distance between UE and TRPO could be considerably different from the distance between UE and TRP1. It will be useful to configure UE with separate UL-RSs (e.g., SRS resource sets and / or SRS resources) targeting TRPO and TRP1 (SRSO vs SRS1 in Figure 3).

[0085] In the following, the first node refers to a node with UL-only capabilities. The second node, or sometimes referred to as Anchor node, refers to a node with both DL and UL capabilities.

[0086] A general description of how UE estimates the pathloss between UE and the UL-only node, and determines the transmit power for an UL channel / signal towards the UL-only node includes the following steps:

[0087] Step 1 : NW configures the UL-only node and the default pathloss reference RS associated with the transmission to UL-only node to derive the transmission power to the UL-only node.

[0088] Step 2: UE transmits UL signal(s) to both the first (e.g., UL-only node) and the second (e.g., the anchor node) in same or different slots.

[0089] Step 3: NW computes the pathloss offset, i.e., the pathloss difference related to the first and the second nodes, based on e.g., UL received power (UL RSRP) at each of the two nodes.

[0090] Step 4: NW signals the pathloss offset to the UE.

[0091] Step 5: UE computes a second pathloss associated to the anchor node based on a DL¬RS transmitted from the second node.

[0092] Step 6: UE computes an updated first pathloss associated to the UL-only node based on the second pathloss, and the latest pathloss offset signaled from the NW.

[0093] Step 7: UE computes a transmit power for an UL channel / signal towards the UL-only node based on the computed pathloss in step 6.

[0094] Step 8: UE transmits the UL channel / signal with the computed transmit power.

[0095] When UE is moving in the cell, there are different situations that the PL-RS of the UL- TCI state needs to be updated. For instance, the DL-TCI state of the anchor node is updated and uses another PL-RS which is different from the previous DL-TCI state. Another example is that the PL-RS in the activated / indicated DL-TCI state is updated. In both examples the pathloss calculation between UE and the UL-only node could become unreliable if the PL-RS of the UL- TCI state used by the UL-only node is still the PL-RS of the previous DL-TCI state of the anchor node. In the worst case, the UE may not even be able to receive this outdated PL-RS. Hence, there is a need to update the PL-RS for the UL-TCI state which with the legacy signaling can only be done by RRC reconfiguration which is not a preferred solution due to large latency. Thislimitation is mainly due to the fact that the UL-only node does not transmit any DL-RS. Therefore, there is a needed for methods to dynamically reconfigure the PL-RS for an UL-TCI used by the UL-only node.

[0096] Some embodiments disclosed herein propose a dynamic update of the PL-RS associated with the UL-TCI state toward the UL-only node using L1 / L2 signaling such as: MAC CE activation; DCI indication; or default rules.

[0097] Embodiments related to MAC CE activation:

[0098] In one embodiment, at the same time (or after) when the NW actives a new DL-TCI for UE communication towards the anchor node, the NW can send a MAC CE message to update the pathloss reference RS for the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node.

[0099] In one detailed embodiment, the MAC CE comprises one or more of the following information: Serving cell ID; UL BWP ID; the UL-TCI state ID; and the updated PL-RS ID.

[0100] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a PL-RS update MAC CE for unified TCI state, according to some embodiments. One example is given to illustrate a such MAC CE message. In this case, at each time, the MAC CE message only updates one PL reference RS ID of one UL- TCI state. Here the UL-TCI state could be the activated UL-TCI state which serves the communication between UE and UL-only node.

[0101] 6.1.3.xx Unified TCI State Pathloss Reference RS Update MAC CE

[0102] The Unified TCI States Pathloss Reference RS Update MAC CE is

[0103] Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies.

[0104] UL BWP ID: This field indicates a UL BWP for which the MAC CE applies;

[0105] UL TCI state ID: This field indicates the TCI state identified by TCI-UL-State-Id (6 bits) as specified in TS 38.331.

[0106] R: Reserved bit, set to 0

[0107] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a PL-RS update MAC CE for unified TCI state for mDCI, according to some embodiments. In one embodiment, if multi-DCI (mDCI) is used, the MAC CE message may in addition contain the Coreset pool index, see an example in Figure 5.

[0108] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a PL-RS update MAC CE carry PL-RS update for multiple TCI states, according to some embodiments. Figure 7 illustrates another example of a PL-RS update MAC CE carry PL-RS update for multiple TCI states, according to some embodiments. In one embodiment, one MAC CE message may carry information to update pathloss Reference RS for multiple UL TCI states, see two examples in Figure 6 and Figure 7. InFigure 7, the field Xtindicates if PL-RS update corresponding to the i-th TCI state is present or not. For instance, if Xt= 1, then the field PL-RS update is present for the i-th UL-TCI State i in the MAC CE.

[0109] In some cases, one or more list of serving cells may be configured to the UE for which the Unified TCI state Activation / Deactivation MAC CE of clauses 6.1.3.69 and 6.1.3.70 of 3GPP 38.321 V18.0.0 applies simultaneously. These lists of serving cells are specified as simultaneousU -T CI-UpdateLi st 1 , simultaneousU-T CLUpdateLi st2, simultaneousU-T CL UpdateList3, and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4 in 3GPP TS 38.331 V18.0.0. Now assume Serving Cell A is configured as part of one of these lists. In one embodiment, when the pathloss RS ID(s) for one or more UL-TCI state(s) in Serving Cell A is updated via MAC CEs as proposed in Figures 3-6, the updated path loss RS ID(s) for UL TCI state(s) apply simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl, simultaneousU-TCI- UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3, and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

[0110] In one related embodiment, if multiple TCLstates are updated / activated by MAC CE message, a DCI can be additionally signaled to indicate about UL-TCI state and the associated pathloss Reference RS.[OHl] In one embodiment, the new MAC-CE message (see Figure 4-Figure 7) is enabled by an RRC flag parameter (e g., enablePL-RS-UpdateForUnifiedTCI-rl9 or enablePL-RS- UpdateForTCI-UL-rl9) which could be configured in the TCI-UL-State information element. If the flag is not enabled, the PL-RS update is done by the legacy RRC reconfiguration of pathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 in the TCI-UL-State IE. Note that the TCI-UL-TCI-state information element is defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 V17.5.0, and the changes needed to introduce the flag parameter is highlighted in boldface font below.

[0112] The IE TCI-UL-State indicates the TCI state information for UL transmission: TCI-UL-State information element- ASN1 START- TAG-TCLUL-STATE-STARTTCI-UL-State-rl7 ::= SEQUENCE { tci-UL-StateId-rl7 TCI-UL-StateId-rl7, servingCellId-rl7 ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R bwp-Id-rl7 BWP-Id OPTIONAL, - Cond CSLRSorSRS-Indicated referenceSignal -r 17 CHOICE {ssb-Index-r!7 S SB -Index, csi-RS-Index-rl7 NZP-CSI-RS-Resourceld, srs-rl7 SRS-Resourceld}, additionalPCI-rl7 AdditionalPCIIndex-r 17 OPTIONAL, - Need R ul-powerControl-r 17 Uplink-powerControlId-rl7 OPTIONAL, - Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-r!7 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 OPTIONAL, — CondMandatory[[ enablePL-RS-UpdateForUnifiedTCI-r!9 ENUMERATED{enabled} OPTIONAL]]}- TAG-TCI-UL-STATE-STOP- ASN1STOP

[0113] In an alternative embodiment, a flag parameter (e.g., enablePL-RS- UpdateForUnifiedTCI-rl9 or enablePL-RS-UpdateForTCI-UL-rl9) which enables the PL- RS update MAC-CE is configured in ServingCellConfig IE, see an example below:[[ powerBoostPi2BPSK BOOLEAN OPTIONAL,-- Need M uplinkChannelBW-PerSCS-List SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxSCSs)) OF SCS-SpecificCarrier OPTIONAL — Need S]],[[ enablePL-RS-UpdateForPUSCH-SRS-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled}OPTIONAL, - Need R enableDefaultBeamPL-ForPUSCH0-0-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled}OPTIONAL, — Need RenableDefaultBeamPL-ForPUCCH-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled}OPTIONAL, — Need R enableDefaultBeamPL-ForSRS-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled}OPTIONAL, - Need R uplinkTxSwitching-rl6 SetupRelease {UplinkTxSwitching-rl6}OPTIONAL, - Need M mpr-PowerBoost-FR2-rl6 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL— Need R enablePL-RS-UpdateForUnifiedTCI-rl9 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need R]],[[ srs-PosTx-Hopping-rl8 SetupRelease { SRS-PosTx-Hopping-rl8 }OPTIONAL - Need M]]}

[0114] In another embodiment, the PL-RS of the UL-TCI state is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state. Since the DL-TCI state is updated as the UE moves, the PL-RS of the UL-TCI state is automatically updated. In some embodiments, this behavior is configured in the UL-TCI state. One example is given below that an RRC flag parameter (e g., pathlossReferenceRS-Id-sameAs-IndicatedDLTCIState) is introduced to enable the association of the pathloss reference RSs between an UL-TCI state and an active DL- TCI state.

[0115] Assume that Serving Cell A is configured as part of one of the lists simultaneousU- TCI-UpdateListl, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3, and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4. In a further embodiment, when the pathloss RS ID for an UL TCI state(s) in Serving Cell A is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state, then pathloss RS ID derivation for the UL-TCI state also applies simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl, simultaneousU- TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3, and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

[0116] TCI-UL-State information element- ASN1 START- TAG-TCI-UL-STATE-STARTTCI-UL-State-rl7 SEQUENCE { tci -UL- Stateld-r 17 TCI-UL-StateId-rl7, servingCellId-rl7 ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R bwp-Id-rl7 BWP-Id OPTIONAL, - Cond CSLRSorSRS-Indicated referenceSignal -r 17 CHOICE { ssb-Index-rl7 S SB -Index, csi-RS-Index-r!7 NZP-CSI-RS-Resourceld, srs-r!7 SRS-Resourceld additionalPCI-rl 7 AdditionalPCIIndex-r 17 OPTIONAL, - Need R ul-powerControl-r 17 Uplink-powerControlId-rl7 OPTIONAL, - Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-r 17 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-rl7 OPTIONAL, - CondMandatory[[ pathlossReferenceRS-Id-sameAs-indicatedDLTCIState-rl9 ENUMERATED { enable}OPTIONAL]]}- TAG-TCI-UL-STATE-STOP- ASN1STOP

[0117] Embodiments related to DCI indication

[0118] In one embodiment, the updated pathloss RS (e.g., pathloss RS identifier / index) for the UL-TCI state can be conveyed in one of the DL Scheduling DCIs (e.g., l_0 / l_l / I_2) or one of the UL Scheduling DCIs (e.g., 0_0 / 0_l / 0_2).

[0119] In one embodiment, a new field (e.g., 1 bit) in DCI is added to indicate if the pathloss reference RS for UL transmission associated with UL-TCI state shall follow the pathloss reference RS associated with DL-TCI state (“separate DL-TCI state”) in a beam indication DCI. If the bit is set to value l(or 0), UE performs UL transmission with respect to the power control configuration parameters (alpha, pO, pathloss offset, etc.) of SRS / PUCCH / PUSCH except for pathloss reference RS ID, which is associated with the DL TCI State for DL reception; if the bit is set to value 0 (or 1), UE performs uplink transmission with respect to the higher layer power control configuration including the configured pathloss-RS ID. In one embodiment the DL-TCI State is indicated in the same DCI contains PL-RS update field. In one embodiment the DL TCI States is implicitly derived from activated DL-TCI state, i.e., the TCI state of CORESET#0 or CORESET#x or the activated DL-TCI state(s) for PDSCH reception.

[0120] In one embodiment, the DCI is used to indicate which one of the multiple activated UL-TCI states in the MAC CE should be applied. The DCI will contain a pointer to an activated UL-TCI state and the associated pathloss reference RS.

[0121] In another embodiment, a list of pathloss-RS indexes can be configured in power control configuration. UE expects the network indicates a dynamic PL-RS updates in a DCI only if the indicated PL-RS is within the set of pre-configured list of PL-RS indexes and is associated with an activated DL TCI state. A new DCI field is added to indicate which PL-RS from the set of pre-configured list of PL-RS indexes to switch to for a UL transmission.

[0122] Embodiments related to fallback / default rule:

[0123] When UE is moving in the cell and the TCI state towards the anchor node is updated, the pathloss calculation could become unreliable if the PL-RS for the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node is still associated to the PL-RS of the previous DL-TCI state. The update of the PL- RS for the UL-TCI toward the UL-only node may be updated by RRC reconfiguration, MAC CE activation, or DCI indication etc.

[0124] In order to ensure a reliable PL estimation at UE, some default rules can be specified to determine which PL-RS to use for some special cases. Similarly, the default rule may also include a prioritization of the mechanisms for PL estimation at the UE, i.e., method A may take precedence over method B, etc.

[0125] In one embodiment, when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for PDCCH reception in a CORESET with the lowest controlREsourceSetld.

[0126] In one embodiment, when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for default PDCCH reception.

[0127] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 800 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0128] In the example, the communication system 800 includes a telecommunication network 802 that includes an access network 804, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 806, which includes one or more core network nodes 808. The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 810A and 810B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 810), or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP Access Points (APs). Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 802 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 802 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 802, including one or more network nodes 810 and / or core network nodes 808.

[0129] Examples of an ORAN network node include an Open Radio Unit (O-RU), an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), including an O-CU Control Plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU User Plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non- real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface definedby the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 812A, 812B, 812C, and 812D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 812) to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections.

[0130] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 800 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 800 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0131] The UEs 812 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 810 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 810 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 812 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 802 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 802.

[0132] In the depicted example, the core network 806 connects the network nodes 810 to one or more hosts, such as host 816. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 806 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 808. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-Concealing Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0133] The host 816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 804 and / or the telecommunication network 802, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 816 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0134] As a whole, the communication system 800 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 800 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0135] In some examples, the telecommunication network 802 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 802 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 802. For example, the telecommunication network 802 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / massive Internet of Things (loT) services to yet further UEs.

[0136] In some examples, the UEs 812 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 804 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 804. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR),and LTE, i.e. being configured for Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0137] In the example, a hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 810B). In some examples, the hub 814 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 814 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 806 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 814 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 810, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 814. As another example, the hub 814 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 814 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 814 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0138] The hub 814 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 810B. The hub 814 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 814 and UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D), and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 814 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 804 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 810 while still connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 810B. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and the network node 810B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0139] Figure 9 shows a UE 900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate wirelesslywith network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), smart device, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3 GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0140] A UE may support Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Vehi cl e-to- Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), or Vehicle- to-Everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0141] The UE 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input / output interface 906, a power source 908, memory 910, a communication interface 912, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0142] The processing circuitry 902 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 910. The processing circuitry 902 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 902 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0143] In the example, the input / output interface 906 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 900. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0144] In some embodiments, the power source 908 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 908 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 908 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 900 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 908. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 908 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 900 to which power is supplied.

[0145] The memory 910 may be or be configured to include memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 910 includes one or more application programs 914, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 916. The memory 910 may store, for use by the UE 900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0146] The memory 910 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, High Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, Holographic Digital Data Storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM),Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a tamper resistant module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) including one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and / or Internet Protocol Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as a ‘SIM card.’ The memory 910 may allow the UE 900 to access instructions, application programs, and the like stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 910, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0147] The processing circuitry 902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 912. The communication interface 912 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 922. The communication interface 912 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 918 and / or a receiver 920 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 918 and receiver 920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 922) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0148] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 912 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, NFC, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Intemet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0149] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 912, via a wireless connection to a network node.Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0150] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0151] A UE, when in the form of an loT device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or VR, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 900 shown in Figure 9.

[0152] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment thatis capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0153] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0154] Figure 10 shows a network node 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g., 0-RU, 0-DU, O-CU).

[0155] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an 0-RAN access node), and / or Remote Radio Units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such RRUs may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS).

[0156] Other examples of network nodes include multiple Transmission Point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, Multi -Standard Radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or BS Controllers (BSCs), Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, Multi-Cell / Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0157] The network node 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002, memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power source 1008. The network node 1000 may becomposed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1000 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1004 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1000 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1000, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within the network node 1000.

[0158] The processing circuitry 1002 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1000 components, such as the memory 1004, to provide network node 1000 functionality.

[0159] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0160] The memory 1004 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD), or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device- readable, and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1002. The memory 1004 may store anysuitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1002 and utilized by the network node 1000. The memory 1004 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1002 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1006. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 and the memory 1004 are integrated.

[0161] The communication interface 1006 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1006 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1016 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1006 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1018 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1010. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 comprises filters 1020 and amplifiers 1022. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be connected to the antenna 1010 and the processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 1010 and the processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 1020 and / or the amplifiers 1022. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1010. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1010 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1018. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1002. In other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0162] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1000 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1018; instead, the processing circuitry 1002 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 is part of the communication interface 1006. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 includes the one or more ports or terminals 1016, the radio front-end circuitry 1018, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1006 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1014, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0163] The antenna 1010 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1010 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1018 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / orsignals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1010 is separate from the network node 1000 and connectable to the network node 1000 through an interface or port.

[0164] The antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1000. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1000. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0165] The power source 1008 provides power to the various components of the network node 1000 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1008 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1000 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid or an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1008. As a further example, the power source 1008 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0166] Embodiments of the network node 1000 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1000 and to allow output of information from the network node 1000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1000.

[0167] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host 1100, which may be an embodiment of the host 816 of Figure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1100 may be or comprise various combinations of hardware and / or software including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1100 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0168] The host 1100 includes processing circuitry 1102 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1104 to an input / output interface 1106, a network interface 1108, a power source 1110, and memory 1112. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 9 and 10, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 1100.

[0169] The memory 1112 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1114 and data 1116, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1100 or data generated by the host 1100 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1100 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1114 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, and heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1114 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1100 may select and / or indicate a different host for Over-The-Top (OTT) services for a UE. The host application programs 1114 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0170] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1200 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more Virtual Machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1200 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host),then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1200 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0171] Applications 1202 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1200 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0172] Hardware 1204 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1206 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1208A and 1208B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1208), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1206 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1208.

[0173] The VMs 1208 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1206. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1202 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 1208, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as Network Function Virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0174] In the context of NFV, a VM 1208 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1208, and that part of the hardware 1204 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs 1208, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1208 on top of the hardware 1204 and corresponds to the application 1202.

[0175] The hardware 1204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 1204 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 1204 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a datacenter or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1210, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 1202. In some embodiments, the hardware 1204 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a RAN or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1212 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0176] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host 1302 communicating via a network node 1304 with a UE 1306 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as the UE 812A of Figure 8 and / or the UE 900 of Figure 9), the network node (such as the network node 810A of Figure 8 and / or the network node 1000 of Figure 10), and the host (such as the host 816 of Figure 8 and / or the host 1100 of Figure 11) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 13.

[0177] Like the host 1100, embodiments of the host 1302 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1302 also includes software, which is stored in or is accessible by the host 1302 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1306 connecting via an OTT connection 1350 extending between the UE 1306 and the host 1302. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1350.

[0178] The network node 1304 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1302 and the UE 1306. The connection 1360 may be direct or pass through a core network (like the core network 806 of Figure 8) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0179] The UE 1306 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1306 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 1306 with the support of the host 1302. In the host 1302, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1350 terminating at the UE 1306 and the host 1302. In providing theservice to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1350.

[0180] The OTT connection 1350 may extend via the connection 1360 between the host 1302 and the network node 1304 and via a wireless connection 1370 between the network node 1304 and the UE 1306 to provide the connection between the host 1302 and the UE 1306. The connection 1360 and the wireless connection 1370, over which the OTT connection 1350 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 via the network node 1304, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0181] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1350, in step 1308, the host 1302 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1306. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1306 that shares data with the host 1302 without explicit human interaction. In step 1310, the host 1302 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1306. The host 1302 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1306. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1306 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1306. The transmission may pass via the network node 1304 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1312, the network node 1304 transmits to the UE 1306 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1302 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1314, the UE 1306 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1306 associated with the host application executed by the host 1302.

[0182] In some examples, the UE 1306 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1302. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1302. Accordingly, in step 1316, the UE 1306 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1306. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1306 initiates, in step 1318, transmission of the user data towards the host 1302 via the network node1304. In step 1320, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1304 receives user data from the UE 1306 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1302. In step 1322, the host 1302 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1306.

[0183] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1306 using the OTT connection 1350, in which the wireless connection 1370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the e.g., data rate, latency, power consumption, etc. and thereby provide benefits such as e.g., reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc.

[0184] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1302. As another example, the host 1302 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1302 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1302 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1302 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR which it can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1302 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or transmitting data.

[0185] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1302 and / or the UE 1306. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1304. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certainembodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like by the host 1302. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1350 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0186] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0187] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processingcircuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0188] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

[0189] EMBODIMENTS

[0190] Group A Embodiments

[0191] Embodiment 1 : A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, for determining Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, the method comprising one or more of: receiving (200) a configuration for a first Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state, where the first TCI state is associated with a Pathloss Reference Signal, PL-RS; receiving (202) a first message to update the PL-RS; and performing (204) an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.

[0192] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1 wherein the first message comprises a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE.

[0193] Embodiment 3 : The method of embodiment 2 wherein the MAC CE comprises information about one or more of: serving cell ID, UL Bandwidth Part, BWP, ID, UL-TCI state ID, updated PL-RS ID.

[0194] Embodiment 4: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the first TCI state comprises an UL-TCI state.

[0195] Embodiment s: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the pathloss reference signal in the first message is a DL-RS associated to a second TCI state.

[0196] Embodiment 6: The method of the previous embodiment wherein the second TCI is a Downlink-TCI, DL-TCI, state.

[0197] Embodiment 7: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the first and second TCI states are unified TCI states.

[0198] Embodiment 8: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the first and second TCI states are separate DL / UL TCI.

[0199] Embodiment 9: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the PL-RS is received from a second node and the UL channel or signal is transmitted towards a first node.

[0200] Embodiment 10: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the first message can activate / deactivate one or multiple PL-RSs for one or multiple UL-TCI-states.

[0201] Embodiment 11 : The method of any of the previous embodiments further comprising: receiving (206) a second indication to indicate one of the multiple updated / activated PL-RSs carried in the first message.

[0202] Embodiment 12: The method of the previous embodiment wherein the second indication comprises a Downlink Configuration Indication, DCI.

[0203] Embodiment 13: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the pathloss Reference ID is simultaneously updated for multiple cells.

[0204] Embodiment 14: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein receiving the configuration comprises receiving the configuration for a first TCI state via Radio Resource Control, RRC.

[0205] Embodiment 15: The method of the previous embodiment wherein the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable the first message.

[0206] Embodiment 16: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable an association of the PL-RSs between an UL-TCI state and / or an DL-TCI state.

[0207] Embodiment 17: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the DL- TCI state is an activated DL-TCI state.

[0208] Embodiment 18: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the first node is a node with only UL receive capabilities and the second node has both DL / UL capabilities.

[0209] Embodiment 19: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein at the same time (or after) when a new DL-TCI is activated towards the anchor node, a MAC CE message updates the PL-RS for the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node.

[0210] Embodiment 20: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein, if multi - DCI (mDCI) is used, the MAC CE message may in addition contain the Coreset pool index.

[0211] Embodiment 21 : The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein one MAC CE message carries information to update pathloss Reference RS for multiple UL TCI states.

[0212] Embodiment 22: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein, when the pathloss RS ID(s) for one or more UL-TCI state(s) is updated via MAC CEs, the updated path loss RS ID(s) for UL TCI state(s) apply simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2; simultaneousU-TCL UpdateList3; and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

[0213] Embodiment 23 : The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein, when the pathloss RS ID for an UL TCI state(s) in Serving Cell A is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state, then pathloss RS ID derivation for the UL-TCI state alsoapplies simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCI- UpdateListl; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3; and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

[0214] Embodiment 24: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein, if multiple TCI-states are updated / activated by MAC CE message, a DCI is additionally signaled to indicate about UL-TCI state and the associated pathloss Reference RS.

[0215] Embodiment 25: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein a new MAC-CE message is enabled by an RRC flag parameter (e.g., enablePL-RS- UpdateForUnifiedTCI-rl9 or enablePL-RS-UpdateForTCI-UL-rl9) which could be configured in the TCI-UL-State information element.

[0216] Embodiment 26: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein a flag parameter (e.g., enablePL-RS-UpdateForUnifiedTCI-rl9 or enablePL-RS-UpdateForTCI-UL- rl9) which enables the PL-RS update MAC-CE is configured in ServingCellConfig IE.

[0217] Embodiment 27: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the PL-RS of the UL-TCI state is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state.

[0218] Embodiment 28: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the updated pathloss RS (e.g., pathloss RS identifier / index) for the UL-TCI state can be conveyed in one of the DL Scheduling DCIs (e.g., l_0 / l_l / l_2) or one of the UL Scheduling DCIs (e.g., 0_0 / 0_l / 0_2).

[0219] Embodiment 29: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein a new field (e.g., 1 bit) in DCI is added to indicate if the pathloss reference RS for UL transmission associated with UL-TCI state shall follow the pathloss reference RS associated with DL-TCI state (e.g., “separate DL-TCI state”) in a beam indication DCI.

[0220] Embodiment 30: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the DL- TCI State is indicated in the same DCI contains PL-RS update field.

[0221] Embodiment 31 : The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the DL TCI States is implicitly derived from activated DL-TCI state (e.g., the TCI state of CORESET#0 or CORESET#x or the activated DL-TCI state(s) for PDSCH reception).

[0222] Embodiment 32: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the DCI is used to indicate which one of the multiple activated UL-TCI states in the MAC CE should be applied.

[0223] Embodiment 33: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein a list of pathloss-RS indexes can be configured in power control configuration.

[0224] Embodiment 34: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for PDCCH reception in a CORESET with the lowest controlREsource S etld .

[0225] Embodiment 35: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for default PDCCH reception.

[0226] Embodiment 36: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

[0227] Group B Embodiments

[0228] Embodiment 37: A method performed by a network node for configuring Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, the method comprising one or more of: transmitting (200), to a User Equipment, UE, a configuration for a first Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state, where the first TCI state is associated with a Pathloss Reference Signal, PL-RS; transmitting (202), to the UE, a first message to update the PL-RS; and receiving (204), from the UE, an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.

[0229] Embodiment 38: The method of the previous embodiment further comprising any of the features disclosed herein or in the Group A Embodiments.

[0230] Embodiment 39: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.

[0231] Group C Embodiments

[0232] Embodiment 40: A user equipment for determining UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal, comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0233] Embodiment 41 : A network node for configuring Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, the network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0234] Embodiment 42: A user equipment (UE) for determining UL transmission power for an UL channel or signal, the UE comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, andconfigured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0235] Embodiment 43 : A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0236] Embodiment 44: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

[0237] Embodiment 45: A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0238] Embodiment 46: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

[0239] Embodiment 47: The method of any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0240] Embodiment 48: A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having acommunication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0241] Embodiment 49: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and / or the UE.

[0242] Embodiment 50: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0243] Embodiment 51 : The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that receives the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0244] Embodiment 52: The host of the any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

[0245] Embodiment 53: A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

[0246] Embodiment 54: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.

[0247] Embodiment 55: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0248] Embodiment 56: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host.

[0249] Embodiment 57: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0250] Embodiment 58: A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0251] Embodiment 59: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the host application.

[0252] Embodiment 60: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0253] Embodiment 61 : A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0254] Embodiment 62: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host.

[0255] Embodiment 63 : The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0256] Embodiment 64: A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0257] Embodiment 65: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising:

[0258] at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0259] Embodiment 66: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, for determining Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, the method comprising: receiving (200) a configuration for a first Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state, where the first TCI state is associated with a Pathloss Reference Signal, PL-RS; determining (202) to update the PL-RS; and performing (204) an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining to update the PL-RS comprises implicitly determining to update the PL-RS.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining to update the PL-RS comprises receiving a first message comprising a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, the MAC CE comprises information about one or more of: serving cell ID, UL Bandwidth Part, BWP, ID, UL- TCI state ID, updated PL-RS ID.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3 wherein the first TCI state comprises an UL-TCI state.

5. The method of any of claims 3-4 wherein the pathloss reference signal in the first message is a DL-RS associated to a second TCI state.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the second TCI is a Downlink-TCI, DL-TCI, state.

7. The method of any of claims 5-6 wherein the first and second TCI states are unified TCI states.

8. The method of any of claims 5-7 wherein the first and second TCI states are separate DL / UL TCI.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8 wherein the PL-RS is received from a second node and the UL channel or signal is transmitted towards a first node.

10. The method of any of claims 3-9 wherein the first message can activate / deactivate one or multiple PL-RSs for one or multiple UL-TCI-states.

11. The method of any of claims 1-10 further comprising: receiving (206) a second indication to indicate one of the multiple updated / activated PL- RSs carried in the first message.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the second indication comprises a Downlink Configuration Indication, DCI.

13. The method of any of claims 3-12 wherein the pathloss Reference ID is simultaneously updated for multiple cells.

14. The method of any of claims 1-13 wherein receiving the configuration comprises receiving the configuration for a first TCI state via Radio Resource Control, RRC.

15. The method of claims 1-14 wherein the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable the determining.

16. The method of any of claims 6-15 wherein the RRC configuration comprises a flag and / or parameter to enable an association of the PL-RSs between an UL-TCI state and / or an DL-TCI state.

17. The method of any of claims 6-16 wherein the DL-TCI state is an activated DL-TCI state.

18. The method of any of claims 9-17 wherein the first node is a node with only UL receive capabilities and the second node has both DL / UL capabilities.

19. The method of any of claims 6-18 wherein at the same time when a new DL-TCI is activated towards the anchor node, a MAC CE message updates the PL-RS for the UL-TCI state used by the UL-only node.

20. The method of any of claims 1-19 wherein, if multi-DCI, mDCI, is used, the MAC CE message may in addition contain the Coreset pool index.

21. The method of any of claims 3-20 wherein one MAC CE message carries information to update pathloss Reference RS for multiple UL TCI states.

22. The method of any of claims 1-21 wherein, when the pathloss RS IDs for one or more UL- TCI states is updated via MAC CEs, the updated path loss RS IDs for UL TCI states apply simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCL UpdateListl; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3; and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

23. The method of any of claims 1-22 wherein, when the pathloss RS ID for an UL TCI states in Serving Cell A is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state, then pathloss RS ID derivation for the UL-TCI state also applies simultaneously to all the serving cells in one or more of the lists: simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl; simultaneousU-TCL UpdateList2; simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3; and simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4.

24. The method of any of claims 1-23 wherein, if multiple TCLstates are updated / activated by MAC CE message, a DCI is additionally signaled to indicate about UL-TCI state and the associated pathloss Reference RS.

25. The method of any of claims 1-24 wherein a new MAC-CE message is enabled by an RRC flag parameter which could be configured in the TCI-UL-State information element.

26. The method of any of claims 1-25 wherein a flag parameter which enables the PL-RS update MAC-CE is configured in ServingCellConfig IE.

27. The method of any of claims 1-26 wherein the PL-RS of the UL-TCI state is derived from the DL reference signals of the activated / indicated DL-TCI state.

28. The method of any of claims 1-27 wherein the updated pathloss RS for the UL-TCI state can be conveyed in one of the DL Scheduling DCIs or one of the UL Scheduling DCIs.

29. The method of any of claims 1-28 wherein a new field in DCI is added to indicate if the pathloss reference RS for UL transmission associated with UL-TCI state shall follow thepathloss reference RS associated with DL-TCI state in a beam indication DCI.

30. The method of any of claims 1-29 wherein the DL-TCI State is indicated in the same DCI contains PL-RS update field.

31. The method of any of claims 1-30 wherein the DL TCI States is implicitly derived from activated DL-TCI state.

32. The method of any of claims 1-31 wherein the DCI is used to indicate which one of the multiple activated UL-TCI states in the MAC CE should be applied.

33. The method of any of claims 1-32 wherein a list of pathloss-RS indexes can be configured in power control configuration.

34. The method of any of claims 1-33 wherein when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for PDCCH reception in a CORESET with the lowest controlREsourceSetld.

35. The method of any of claims 1-34 wherein when UE detects an update of the DL-TCI state, before receiving an update of the PL-RS, the UE can switch to the DL-RS which is QCL for default PDCCH reception.

36. A method performed by a network node for configuring Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, the method comprising: transmitting (200), to a User Equipment, UE, a configuration for a first Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state, where the first TCI state is associated with a Pathloss Reference Signal, PL-RS; transmitting (202), to the UE, a first message to update the PL-RS; and receiving (204), from the UE, an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein transmitting the first message comprises transmitting the first message comprising a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, the MAC CE comprises information about one or more of: serving cell ID, UL Bandwidth Part, BWP, ID, UL-TCI state ID, updated PL-RS ID.

38. The method of any of claims 36-37 wherein the first TCI state comprises an UL-TCI state.

39. The method of any of claims 36-38 wherein the pathloss reference signal in the first message is a DL-RS associated to a second TCI state.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the second TCI is a Downlink-TCI, DL-TCI, state.

41. The method of any of claims 39-40 wherein the first and second TCI states are unified TCI states.

42. The method of any of claims 39-41 wherein the first and second TCI states are separate DL / UL TCI.

43. The method of any of claims 36-42 wherein the PL-RS is transmitted from a second node and the UL channel or signal is transmitted towards a first node.

44. The method of any of claims 36-43 wherein the first message can activate / deactivate one or multiple PL-RSs for one or multiple UL-TCI-states.

45. The method of any of claims 36-44 further comprising: transmitting (206) a second indication to indicate one of the multiple updated / activated PL- RSs carried in the first message.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the second indication comprises a Downlink Configuration Indication, DCI.

47. A User Equipment, UE, (900) for determining Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, comprising processing circuitry (902) and memory (910), the memory (910) comprising instructions to cause the UE (900) to: receive (200) a configuration for a first Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state, where the first TCI state is associated with a Pathloss Reference Signal, PL-RS; determine (202) to update the PL-RS; andperform (204) an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.

48. The UE (900) of claim 47 further comprising instructions to cause the UE (900) to: implement any of the features of claims 2-35.

49. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 35.

50. A network node (1000) for configuring Uplink, UL, transmission power for an UL channel or signal, comprising processing circuitry (1002) and memory (1004), the memory (1004) comprising instructions to cause the network node (1000) to: transmit (200), to a User Equipment, UE, a configuration for a first Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state, where the first TCI state is associated with a Pathloss Reference Signal, PL-RS; transmit (202), to the UE, a first message to update the PL-RS; and receive (204), from the UE, an UL transmission where the transmit power is based on at least the updated PL-RS.

51. The network node (1000) of claim 50 further comprising instructions to cause the network node (1000) to: implement any of the features of claims 37-46.

52. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 36 to 46.

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