Scheduling request triggered beam reporting

Abstract

A method performed by a user equipment for beam management is provided. The method includes receiving, from a network node, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals. The method also includes receiving, from the network node, the one or more reference signals and in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition, sending an indication to the network node regarding the measurement of the one or more reference signals.

Description

SCHEDULING REQUEST TRIGGERED BEAM REPORTINGCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 551,875 filed on February 9, 2024, titled “SCHEDULING REQUEST TRIGGERED BEAM REPORTING.”FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a wireless (e.g., cellular) communications system and, more particularly, to beam management and beam reporting in a wireless communications system.BACKGROUND

[0003] Generally, in wireless network, Channel State Information (CSI) measurement configurations may be used for beam management (BM). In 5G (5thGeneration) New Radio (NR), to support beam management operation, a user equipment (UE) is configured by the network with CSI measurement configuration e.g. IE CSI-MeasConfig received within an RRCReconfiguration message. That is configured per Serving Cell (within ServingCellConfig, e.g., of an SpCell), to associate a serving cell in which CSI reports are to be transmitted, e.g., Uplink (UL) channels of that serving cell. The signaling is defined in TS 38.331.

[0004] For each type of CSI report the UE needs to transmit, the network (NW) indicates an explicit list of CSI resources (also called CSI resource configuration(s)), comprising a list of reference signals to be measured, such as CSI-RSs sets (nzp-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList, IE SEQUENCE (SIZE (E.maxNrofNZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetsPerConfig)) OF NZP-CSI-RS- ResourceSetld) and / or SSBs sets (csi-SSB-ResourceSetList, IE SEQUENCE (SIZE (l..maxNrofCSI-SSB-ResourceSetsPerConfig)) OF CSI-SSB-ResourceSetld) for a given serving cell the UE is configured with e.g. the SpCell of a cell group, or an SCell. Notice that the UE may measure CSI resources of a first serving cell and report in another serving cell.

[0005] The IE in which the CSI resource configuration(s) is provided to the UE is shown below:CSI-ResourceConfig information element- ASN1 START- TAG-CSI-RESOURCECONFIG-STARTCSI-ResourceConfig ::= SEQUENCE { csi-ResourceConfigld CSI-ResourceConfigld, csi-RS-ResourceSetList CHOICE { nzp-CSI-RS-SSB SEQUENCE {nzp-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofNZP-CSLRS- ResourceSetsPerConfig)) OF NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetldOPTIONAL, - Need R csi-SSB-ResourceSetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofCSLSSB-ResourceSetsPerConfig)) OF CSLSSB-ResourceSetld OPTIONAL — Need R}, csi-IM-ResourceSetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofCSLIM-ResourceSetsPerConfig)) OF CSLIM-ResourceSetld}, bwp-Id BWP-Id, resourceType ENUMERATED { aperiodic, semiPersistent, periodic },}- TAG-CSI-RESOURCECONFIG-STOP- ASN1STOP

[0006] CSI resources to be measured (or resource set with one or more RSs, indicated by SSB indexes and / or CSLRS resource identifiers) are associated in the configuration to a CSI reporting configuration (CSI-ReportConfig), which configures an instance of a CSI report. A CSI report from the UE assists the network to perform beam management operations, such as the activation (and / or deactivation) of a beam to transmit data and / or control channels to the UE (or a beam switching). In 5G NR terminology, the activation of a beam may be referred as the activation of a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state, which is associated to a Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) source, corresponding to a Reference Signal (RS) such as an SSB and / or CSLRS, transmitted in a spatial direction (beam) correlated to the same spatial direction (beam) in which the network may transmit a control (e.g., PDCCH) and / or data channel (e.g., PDSCH).

[0007] The CSI reporting configuration is used to configure a periodic or semi-persistent report sent on PUCCH on the serving cell in which the CSI-ReportConfig is included, or to configure a semi-persistent or aperiodic report sent on PUSCH triggered by a CSI request field in Downlink Control Indication (DCI) received on the cell in which the CSI-ReportConfig is included (in this case, the cell on which the report is sent is determined by the received DCI).CSI-ReportConfig information element- ASN1 START- TAG-CSLREPORTCONFIG-STARTCSI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE )reportConfigld CSI-ReportConfigld, carrier ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need S resourcesForChannelMeasurement CSI-ResourceConfigld, csi-IM-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R nzp-CSLRS-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R reportConfigType CHOICE { periodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofflWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUCCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofflWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource}, semiPersistentOnPUSCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig ENUMERATED {sl5, sllO, sl20, sl40, sl80, sll60, sl320}, reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L. maxNrofUL- Allocations)) OFINTEGER(0..32), pOalpha PO-PUSCH-AlphaSetld}, aperiodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OFINTEGER(0..32) }}, reportQuantity CHOICE { none NULL, cri-RI-PMI-CQI NULL, cri-RI-il NULL, cri-RI-il-CQI SEQUENCE { pdsch-BundleSizeForCSI ENUMERATED {n2, n4} OPTIONAL - Need S },cri-RI-CQI NULL, cri-RSRP NULL, ssb-Index-RSRP NULL, cri-RI-LLPMI-CQI NULL},[...] groupBasedBeamReporting CHOICE { enabled NULL, disabled SEQUENCE { nrofReportedRS ENUMERATED {nl, n2, n3, n4{ OPTIONAL - Need S}},[...] csi-ReportMode-rl7 ENUMERATED {model, mode2{ OPTIONAL, — NeedR numberOfSingleTRP-CSI-Model-rl7 ENUMERATED {nO, nl, n2} OPTIONAL,- Need R}- TAG-CSLREPORTCONFIG-STOP- ASN1STOP

[0008] As shown above, the field reportConfigType within CSI-ReportConfig indicates to the UE the UL channel to transmit the report and the time domain behavior for reporting the CSI measurements, which may also be called beam reporting in case it includes measurements used for beam management. The configuration indicates whether the report is periodic, aperiodic or semi-persistent, and associated configurations such as periodicity.

[0009] For aperiodic CSI reporting, a UE is also configured with a list of aperiodic CSI trigger states, each associated to one or more CSI report configurations. Part of the CSL AperiodicTriggerStateList information element defined in 3gpp TS 38.331 is shown below. If multiple reference signal (NZP CSI-RS or SSB) resource sets are configured in a CSI resource configuration in an associated CSI report configuration, one set is selected in the corresponding trigger state.CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList information element- ASN1 START- TAG-CSI-APERIODICTRIGGERSTATELIST-STARTCSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrOfCSI-AperiodicTriggers)) OFCSI-AperiodicTriggerStateCSI-AperiodicTriggerState ::= SEQUENCE { associatedReportConfiglnfoList SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxNrofReportConfigPerAperiodicTrigger)) OF CSLAssociatedReportConfiglnfo,[[ ap-CSI-MultiplexingMode-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL - Need R]],[[ ltm-AssociatedReportConfigInfo-rl8 LTM-CSI-ReportConfigId-rl8 OPTIONAL — Need R]]}CSLAssociatedReportConfiglnfo ::= SEQUENCE { reportConfigld CSLReportConfigld, resourcesForChannel CHOICE { nzp-CSI-RS SEQUENCE { resourceSet INTEGER (1..maxNrofNZP-CSLRS-ResourceSetsPerConfig), qcl-info SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxNrofAP-CSI-RS-ResourcesPerSet)) OF TCLStateld OPTIONAL — Cond Aperiodic}, csi-SSB-ResourceSet INTEGER (1..maxNrofCSI-SSB-ResourceSetsPerConfig)},

[0010] An aperiodic CSI report is triggered when the CSI request field in DCI indicating an aperiodic trigger state associated to the corresponding aperiodic CSI report configuration. In legacy, the CSEbeam reporting is always network NW -initiated. The NW explicitly requests a certain report from the UE, by including a pointer to a certain CSI-ReportConfig in DCI.

[0011] The subject matter claimed in the present disclosure is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described in the present disclosure may be practiced.SUMMARY

[0012] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential characteristics of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0013] Various computer-implemented systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for beam management and beam reporting in a wireless communications system are described herein.

[0014] In some embodiments, a method performed by a user equipment for beam management is provided. The method includes receiving, from a network node, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals. The method also includes receiving, from the network node, the one or more reference signals and in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition, sending an indication to the network node regarding the measurement of the one or more reference signals.

[0015] In some embodiments, a method performed by a network node for beam management is provided. The method includes sending, to a user equipment, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals. The method also includes sending, to the user equipment, the one or more reference signals and receiving, from the user equipment, an indication regarding a measurement of the one or more reference signals, the indication sent by the user equipment in response to the measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition.

[0016] The object and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] 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.

[0018] Figure l is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed by a User Equipment (UE) for beam management, in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 2 is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed by a network node for beam management, in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 3 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 4 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 5 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized; andDETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] 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.

[0025] Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise:

[0026] The phrase “In some embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, though it may. Thus, as described below, various embodiments of the invention may be readily combined, without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0027] As used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or” operator and is equivalent to the term “and / or,” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0028] The term “based on” is not exclusive and allows for being based on additional factors not described unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0029] As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term “coupled to” is intended to include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements). Therefore, the terms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are used synonymously. Within the context of a networked environment where two or more components or devices are able to exchange data, the terms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are also used to mean “communicatively coupled with”, possibly via one or more intermediary devices.

[0030] In addition, throughout the specification, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural references, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”.

[0031] Although some of the various embodiments presented herein constitute a single combination of inventive elements, it should be appreciated that the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. As such, if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and another embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly discussed herein. Further, the transitional term “comprising” means to have as parts or members, or to be those parts or members. As used herein, the transitional term “comprising” is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.

[0032] It is noted that description herein is not intended as an extensive overview, and as such, concepts may be simplified in the interests of clarity and brevity. Any process or method or corresponding steps of any process or method described in this application may be performed in any order and may omit any of the steps in the process. Processes or methods may also be combined with other processes or steps of other processes, in part or in whole. Parts of processes or methods, or corresponding steps may be combined with other parts of processes or methods, or corresponding steps.

[0033] 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.

[0034] In the 3GPP Release 19 Work Item Description (WID) for MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), the following objective is included: Specify enhancement to facilitate UE- initiated / event-driven beam management for reducing overhead and / or latency, assuming the unified TCI while leveraging (as much as possible) legacy CSI measurement and reporting configuration frameworks, targeting frequency range 2 (FR2) and spatial Total Radiated Power (sTRP) with intra- and inter-cell beam management a) UL signaling content(s) (and procedure(s) as required) for UE-initiated / event-driven beam reporting facilitating fast beam switching b) UL signaling medium / container considering the UE-initiated / event-driven nature of the UL transmission, designed primarily for the purpose of beam reporting

[0035] This objective would imply that it is the UE that initiates the event-driven beam reporting. However, there currently exist certain challenges to the UE initiating the reporting. In a NW, the beam with which UE is connected to the NW is controlled by the NW node and the beam selection at the NW may depend on the CSI reports from the UE. Currently, the type of CSI reports supported in network nodes are periodic, semi-persistent or aperiodic report. In a multi-beamscenario, unless periodic / semi-persistent reporting is configured, NW may not know the best beam in a timely manner. However, periodic, or semi-persistent CSI report may come with high UL reporting overhead. And aperiodic reports require the network to request the report not too late, to prevent beam failures and possibly a Radio Link Failure, or too early, which would also include UL reporting overhead and UE energy consumption.

[0036] In a multi-beam scenario, there is needed a mechanism to reduce the UL signaling overhead without compromising on the beam management performance. Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose such mechanisms. Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

[0037] A solution to how the UE would notify the network that an event has occurred, based on which the UE is prepared to transmit lower layer reports (based on UL grants) is disclosed. Circumstances under which the UE would resend the indication to the network are also disclosed.

[0038] Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to how the UE would notify the network that an event has occurred, based on which the UE is prepared to transmit lower layer reports (based on UL grants). Other embodiments of the disclosure relate to circumstances under which the UE would resend the indication to the network.

[0039] In some embodiments, a method at a User Equipment (UE) for triggering the transmission of lower layer measurement reports to assist beam management is provided. The method includes one or more of the following steps:- receiving, from a network node, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals; receiving, from the network node, the one or more reference signals; and- in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition, sending an indication to the network node regarding the measurement of the one or more reference signals.

[0040] In some embodiments of the disclosure, a method at a User Equipment (UE) for triggering the transmission of lower layer measurement reports to assist beam management is provided. The method includes one or more of the following steps:- Receiving (e.g. from the network / network node) a configuration of at least one lower layer measurement report including at least one event configuration (e.g., in a CSI reporting configuration) indicating one or more trigger condition(s) based on beam measurements on one or more reference signals;Performing beam measurements on the one or more reference signals;- Evaluating (or otherwise determining) the fulfillment of (e.g. one or more of) the one or more trigger condition(s),- Upon the fulfillment of the one or more trigger condition(s), transmitting an indication to the network indicating the need to transmit a lower layer measurement report (e.g., indicating that the one or more trigger condition(s) have been fulfilled);Transmitting (e.g. to the network / network node) a lower layer measurement report

[0041] In some embodiments, a method at a User Equipment (UE) for triggering the transmission of lower layer measurement reports to assist beam management is provided. The method includes one or more of the following steps:- Receiving an RRC message (e.g., RRC Reconfiguration) configuring at least one configuration for a lower layer measurement report including at least one event configuration indicating one or more trigger condition(s) based on beam measurements on one or more reference signals;Performing the beam measurements on the one or more reference signals;- Evaluating the fulfillment of (e.g. one or more of) the one or more trigger condition(s), and- Upon the fulfillment of the one or more trigger condition(s), transmitting an indication to the network indicating the need for transmitting a lower layer measurement report (e.g., indicating that the one or more trigger condition(s) have been fulfilled);- Receiving from the network a request to transmit a lower layer measurement report Transmitting to the NW a lower layer measurement report

[0042] In a further embodiment, the reference signal(s) the UE measures is(are) associated with a TCI state of a serving cell and / or of an additional physical cell identifier and / or a cell configured for multi-TRP purposes.

[0043] In a further embodiment, the reference signal(s) the UE measures is(are) associated with a TCI state of a serving cell and / or of an additional physical cell identifier and / or a cell configured for multi-TRP purposes by being configured as Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) source of the TCI state.

[0044] In a further embodiment, the indication comprises transmitting a Scheduling Request (SR) configured via a Scheduling Request configuration for a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and / or transmitting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).

[0045] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Lower layer measurements report in existing systems, such as CSI reports / beam reports (when comprising measurements on beams reported by the UE and assisting the networkto perform beam management), are currently configured as periodic, aperiodic or semi-persistent. These measurements are network-initiated: the network instructs the UE when to transmit.

[0046] The design of efficient events (or trigger conditions) for the UE to trigger lower layer measurement reports to assist the network to perform beam management (e.g., activation of a first TCI state and deactivation of a second TCI state) reduces the amount of UL overhead, UE processing and energy consumption, as the UE only transmits the lower layer measurement reports when conditions mapped to what the network believes to be relevant to indicate a need to perform beam management. For example, lower layer measurement reports would not be transmitted when the current beam serving the UE is still the “best” beam e.g., if the SSB and / or CSI-RS configured as QCL source of the current active TCI state has the strongest Layer 1 RSRP and / or RSRQ and / or SINR compared to other SSBs of that same serving cell configured as QCL source of other TCI state(s) of that serving cell.

[0047] Another possible advantage is the reduction in UE power consumption, as fewer lower layer measurement reports would be transmitted if defined as event-triggered lower layer measurement reports, compared to periodic reports.

[0048] Another possible advantage is the reliability. In aperiodic report, the network needs to activate the report from the UE of beam measurements. However, this may occur when radio conditions are not ideal, so that the UE may not be able to receive the activation command and / or may not be able to transmit the report. In event-triggered reporting, the UE detects the fulfillment of the event and transmits the report to the network, without the need to receive a command right before. Another benefit is that it is not clear to the network when to request the aperiodic reports so these may be requested a bit too early or a bit too late. In this way, the proposed method addresses one of the points of interest in Rel-19 discussions as well as in future generations (e.g., 6thGeneration (6G)) of the 3 GPP system or other wireless systems.

[0049] Additionally, the indication consumes very little uplink resources. Only when the NW receives the indication, an uplink resource is needed / used for carrying the beam report.

[0050] Now, a more detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided. The embodiments presented herein are non-limiting.

[0051] Figure 1 illustrates an example method 100 that may be performed by a user equipment for beam management, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0052] One or more operations of the method 100 may be implemented by a UE such as the UE 312A or 312B of Figure 3, the UE 400 of Figure 4, or the UE 806 of Figure 8. Although illustrated as discrete steps, various steps of the method 100 may be divided into additional steps,combined into fewer steps, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Additionally, the order of performance of the different steps may vary depending on the desired implementation.

[0053] In some embodiments, the method 100 may start at block 102. At block 102, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals may be received from a network node. In some embodiments, the trigger condition is received as part of multiple trigger conditions for reporting a measurement of the one or more reference signals and the indication notifies the network node which of the trigger conditions is satisfied. Alternately or additionally, the trigger condition is based on one or more previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node. Alternately or additionally, the trigger condition is based on a number of previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

[0054] At block 104, the one or more reference signals may be received from a network node. In some embodiments, the one or more reference signals are associated with a same cell serving the user equipment or cells with different physical cell identifiers. In a further embodiment, when one of the one or more reference signals is associated with another cell, the another cell being configured as a quasi-co-location (QCL) source of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of the serving cell.

[0055] At block 106, in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition, an indication may be sent to the network node regarding the measurement of the one or more reference signals. In some embodiment, the measurement includes a reference signal received signal power (RSRP) of the one or more reference signals. In some embodiments, the sending the indication is initiated by the user equipment and not initiated by the network node.

[0056] In some embodiments, the indication is sent to the network node via a dedicated scheduling request. In another embodiment, the indication is a scheduling request in a specific resource. In this embodiment, the scheduling requests in the specific resource indicates to the network node that the trigger condition is satisfied. Alternately or additionally, the indication is in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource. In this embodiment, the indication in the PUCCH resource indicates to the network node that the trigger condition is satisfied.

[0057] In some embodiments, the one or more reference signals includes multiple reference signals and one of the multiple reference signals is associated with a current beam and other of the multiple reference signals are associated with one or more new beams. In a further embodiment, the reference signal associated with the current beam is indicated by an indicated transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

[0058] At block 108, in response to sending the indication, receiving, from the network or network node, a request to send a measurement report, such as a lower layer measurement report. The measurement report may be associated with the indication sent by the UE. In response to receiving the request, the UE may generate the measurement report.

[0059] Alternately or additionally, the request may include a command to indicate to the UE to start evaluating the triggering conditions associated to a given reporting configuration, wherein that reporting configuration has been previously received via an RRC message, e.g., in a CSI reporting configuration.

[0060] At block 110, the measurement report is sent to the network node. In some embodiments, in response to sending the measurement report, the UE receives from the network node, a command to switch from a current beam to a new beam for communication between the user equipment and the network node. In these and other embodiments, switching to the new beam may include the deactivation of a first TCI state and the activation of a second TCI state, wherein the second TCI state is associated to the new beam. In these and other embodiments, the trigger condition includes the RSRP of one of the other of the multiple reference signals associated with the one or more new beams being XdB greater than the RSRP of the one of the multiple reference signals associated with the current beam.

[0061] Referring to the request to transmit a measurement report at block 108, the request may include, for example, a command including an UL grant for transmitting the measurement report, which may either be used by the UE upon reception or when the triggering condition is fulfilled. In some embodiments, the request is a CSI request carried in downlink control information (DCI). In this embodiment, the request is received in DCI, where the CSI request field contains information about which measurement report, such as a lower layer measurement report, the UE shall transmit.

[0062] In some embodiments, UE evaluates the triggering conditions associated to a given reporting configuration. The configuration may be an extension of the existing network node CSI report configuration by introducing a new report type indicating that it is for UE-initiated beam reporting, e.g., denoted as “UEInitiatedBeamReport”. An example is shown below, where the additional configuration is highlighted. In addition to existing report types: ‘periodic, ‘semiPersistentOnPUCCH’, ‘semiPersistentOnPUSCH’, and ‘aperiodic’, a new report type ‘uelnitiatedBeamReport’ is introduced as shown in the Example 1 described further below. Associated to that new report type, a triggering condition and / or one or more parameters associated to the triggering condition (e.g. threshold(s), offsets, trigger quantity, reporting quantity, etc.) and / or an identifier associated to a triggering condition, e.g., an event Id, can be configured. Thetriggering condition can be one of multiple events. Also part of the new report type is an identifier of a scheduling request ‘schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated’ of type ‘ SchedulingRequestld’ dedicated to this new report type. This scheduling request identifier refers to a SchedulingRequestResourceConfig (as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 V18.0.0) which determines the physical layer resources on PUCCH on which the UE transmits the indication in a dedicated SR upon the fulfillment of the one or more trigger condition(s). In another variant of this embodiment, a list of scheduling request identifiers ‘schedulingRequestldList-UEinitiated’ is configured as part of the new report type as shown in Example 2. Each of the scheduling request identifiers in this list corresponds to one of the UL bandwidth parts. In this alternative embodiment, upon fulfillment of the one or more trigger condition(s), the UE transmits the indication in a dedicated SR that has the corresponding PUCCH resource in the active UL bandwidth part (UL BWP). In yet another alternative embodiment, instead of a scheduling request identifier, a RACH configuration specific to UE initiated reporting may be provided as part of the net report type as shown in Example 3 (where the RACH configuration is named ‘rach-config-UEinitiated’ and ‘RACH-ConfigGeneric’ is as defined in 3GPP TS38.331). Upon fulfillment of the one or more trigger condition(s), the UE transmits the indication via a RACH transmission according to RACH configurations provided in ‘rach-Config-UEinitiated’.

[0063] In another set of embodiments, instead of introducing a new reporting type, the UE initiated beam reporting can be configured as a special type of aperiodic CSI report or a special type of semi-persistent report. The parameters discussed above that are specific to UE initiated beam reporting can be configured as part of any one or more of aperiodic, semi-persistent (on PUSCH), and semi-persistent (on PUCCH) report types as shown in Example 4. For instance, when one or more of the optional parameters ‘UEinitiatedTriggerCondition’, ‘UEinitiatedTriggeringThreshold’, and ‘schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated’ are configured as part of an aperiodic reporting configuration, then the UE understands that this is a special type of aperiodic report configuration that is UE initiated. Although the example of Example 4 shows ‘schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated’, this parameter can be replaced by either ‘rach-Config- UEinitiated’ or ‘schedulingRequestldList-UEinitiated’, and the above alternative embodiments are also applicable to the example embodiment of Example 4.

[0064] In some embodiments, a trigger condition or event can be, for example, “RSRP (or SINR or RSRQ) of a new beam is x dB larger than RSRP (or SINR or RSRQ) of the current beam”, where the current beam is a beam currently serving the UE and is indicated by a TCI (Transmission configuration Indicator) state. The so-called “current beam” may correspond to a Reference Signal (e.g., SSB index) configured as QCL source of an activated TCI state of a serving cell (e.g.configured in the CSI resource configuration associated to the reporting configuration in which the event is configured), while the “new beam” may correspond to a Reference Signal (e.g. SSB index) configured as QCL source of a non-activated TCI state of the same serving cell. In some embodiments, the triggering condition is related to, e.g., BLER calculation for a hypothetical PDCCH based on the measurements on the dedicated DL-RS.

[0065] Example 1. The following coded illustrates an example showing an RRC configuration for the new report type ‘UEInitiatedBeamReporf and the associated parameters.- ASN1 START- TAG-CSLREPORTCONFIG-STARTCSI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE { reportConfigld CSI-ReportConfigld, carrier ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need S resourcesF orChannelMeasurement C SI-ResourceConfigld, csi-IM-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R nzp-CSI-RS-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R reportConfigType CHOICE { periodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSLReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUCCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSLReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUSCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig ENUMERATED {sl5, sllO, sl20, sl40, sl80, sll60, sl320}, reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L. maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32), pOalpha PO-PUSCH-AlphaSetld}, aperiodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32) }UEIniti atedB eamReport SEQUENCE {TriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB, ... }TriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, ... } schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated SchedulingRequestld} },

[0066] Example 2. The following code illustrates a second example showing an RRC configuration for the new report type ‘UEInitiatedBeamReport’ and the associated parameters.- ASN1 START- TAG-CSLREPORTCONFIG-STARTCSI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE { reportConfigld CSI-ReportConfigld, carrier ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need S resourcesF orChannelMeasurement C SI-ResourceConfigld, csi-IM-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R nzp-CSI-RS-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R reportConfigType CHOICE { periodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUCCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUSCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig ENUMERATED {sl5, sllO, sl20, sl40, sl80, sll60, sl320}, reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L. maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32), pOalpha PO-PUSCH-AlphaSetld}, aperiodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32) }UEIniti atedB eamReport SEQUENCE {TriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB, ... }TriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, . . . } schedulingRequestldList-UEinitiated SEQUENCE (SIZE (E.maxNrofBWPs))OF SchedulingRequestld }},

[0067] Example 3. The following code illustrates a third example showing a new report type ‘UEInitiatedBeamReport’ and the associated parameters.- ASN1 START- TAG-CSLREPORTCONFIG-STARTCSI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE { reportConfigld CSI-ReportConfigld, carrier ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need S resourcesF orChannelMeasurement C SI-ResourceConfigld, csi-IM-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R nzp-CSI-RS-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R reportConfigType CHOICE { periodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUCCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSLResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUSCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig ENUMERATED {sl5, sllO, sl20, sl40, sl80, sll60, sl320}, reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L. maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32), pOalpha PO-PUSCH-AlphaSetld}, aperiodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32) }UEIniti atedB eamReport SEQUENCE {TriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB, ... } TriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, ... } rach-Config-UEinitiated RACH-ConfigGeneric }

[0068] Example 4. The following code illustrates an example showing configuration of UE initiated beam report specific parameters as part of any one of aperiodic, semi-persistent (on PUSCH), and semi-persistent (on PUCCH) reporting types.- ASN1 START- TAG-CSLREPORTCONFIG-STARTCSI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE { reportConfigld CSI-ReportConfigld, carrier ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need S resourcesF orChannelMeasurement C SI-ResourceConfigld, csi-IM-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R nzp-CSI-RS-ResourcesForlnterference CSI-ResourceConfigld OPTIONAL, — Need R reportConfigType CHOICE { periodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSI-ResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUCCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig CSI-ReportPeriodicityAndOffset, pucch-CSI-ResourceList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofBWPs)) OF PUCCH-CSLResource }, semiPersistentOnPUSCH SEQUENCE { reportSlotConfig ENUMERATED {sl5, sllO, sl20, sl40, sl80, sll60, sl320}, reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L. maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32), pOalpha PO-PUSCH-AlphaSetld}, aperiodic SEQUENCE { reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofUL-Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32) }[[aperiodic-vl9xx SEQUENCE {UEInitiatedTriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB,... } OPTIONAL, - Need RUEInitiatedTriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, ... } OPTIONAL, - Need R schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated SchedulingRequestld OPTIONAL, — Need R} semiPersistentOnPUSCH-vl9xx SEQUENCE {UEInitiatedTriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB,... } OPTIONAL, - Need RUEInitiatedTriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, ... } OPTIONAL, - Need R schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated SchedulingRequestld OPTIONAL, — Need R} semiPersistentOnPUCCH-vl9xx SEQUENCE {UEInitiatedTriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB,... } OPTIONAL, - Need RUEInitiatedTriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, ... } OPTIONAL, - Need R schedulingRequestID-UEinitiated SchedulingRequestld OPTIONAL, — Need R}]]

[0069] In some embodiments, in addition to the UL resource for the indication in the new report type “UEInitiatedBeamReport”, the configuration the UE receives for the UE initiated beam reporting may include UL resource configuration(s) for subsequent UL transmissions of a measurement report, in case they are configured as event triggered periodic reports. For example, when the first report is transmitted, the UE transmits measurement reports periodically as long as the triggering condition(s) are fulfilled.

[0070] In some embodiments, the indication sent by the UE in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger conditionis a scheduling request (SR) resource, e.g., a PUCCH transmission or a PRACH transmission. The indication is configured specifically for this purpose such that the reception of such SR in that configured resource indicates to the network that an event was fulfilled. In other embodiments, the indication is a RACH resource so that the reception of a preamble and / or a preamble on a specific time / frequency RACH resource indicates the fulfillment of the event. The indication can be conveyed using either a Type-1 random access procedure (including CBRA, CFRA), or a Type-2 random access procedure. Note that irrespective of the type of the resource, the indication would indicate that one or more trigger conditions have been fulfilled. In some embodiments, the SR may indicate the reportConfigID or resourceConfigID for which the event is triggered. In another option, for different reporting configuration identifiers (reportConfiglD(s)) the UE is configured with different associated SR resources, so that the transmission of a specific SR resource indicates a specific reportConfigld to the network. In an option, in response to the transmission of an SR resource, the UE receives an UL grant and a request to transmit the lower layer measurement report associated with that SR resource.

[0071] In another embodiment, the indication is carried in a regular SR configured for general scheduling request. In this case, the UE receives a UL grant to transmit one or more lower layer measurement report. In this embodiment, the UE may at least include information about which of the one or more trigger condition(s), was fulfilled.

[0072] In some embodiments, the lower layer measurement report is carried in uplink control information (UCI), e.g., in an UL grant received by the UE in response to the indication. In other embodiments, the lower layer measurement report is carried in a MAC control element (MAC CE) e.g. in an UL grant provided received by the UE in response to the indication.

[0073] In some embodiments, when the lower layer measurement report is to be carried in uplink control information (UCI), the request received from the network comprises an aperiodic CSI report request in DCI. In this case, the CSI report configuration for the lower layer measurement report is associated to an aperiodic CSI trigger state. The aperiodic CSI request indicates the aperiodic CSI trigger state. A slot offset for a PUSCH carrying the UCI is also indicated in the DCI carrying the request. In this case, a list of slot offsets can be configured for the lower layer measurement report, an example is shown below;UEInitiatedBeamReport SEQUENCE {TriggeringCondition ENUMERATED {eventA, eventB, ... } TriggeringThreshold ENUMERATED {xdB, ydB, . . . } reportSlotOffsetList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofUL- Allocations)) OF INTEGER(0..32)}},

[0074] In some embodiments, the request received from the network includes an aperiodic CSI report request for a beam report that is different from the lower layer measurement report configured with UEInitiatedBeamReport associated to the indication, e.g., a beam report associated to a different CSI report configuration. In one option, upon reception of the request, the UE starts to evaluate the triggering condition(s) associated to the event for which the request was received. For example, the UE may not transmit the lower layer measurement report upon reception of the request, but when the triggering condition associated to the event is fulfilled.

[0075] In some embodiments, when the lower layer measurement report is to be carried in a MAC CE, the request received from the network comprises a UL grant for a PUSCH carrying the MAC CE. In case the lower layer measurement report is carried by a MAC CE and multiple CSI report configurations with ‘UEInitiatedBeamReport’ are configured, information about the CSI report configuration(s) associated to the indication (i.e., the event(s) triggered the indication) can also be included in the report.

[0076] In some embodiments, the indication sent by the UE in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition is retransmitted as long as the one or more trigger condition(s) are fulfilled. In other embodiments, the UE may check additional conditions before retransmitting the indication.

[0077] With respect to retransmitting the indication, in some embodiments, the UE transmits the indication, and starts a timer. While the timer is running, the UE does not transmit the indication. When the timer expires, the UE checks if the one or more trigger condition(s) are fulfilled, in which case the UE retransmits the indication. In another embodiment, the UE transmits the indication while the one or more trigger condition(s) but at most N times. In some embodiments, when the UE has transmitted the indication N times, the UE starts a timer. While the timer is running, the UE does not transmit the indication. When the timer expires, the UE checks if the one or more trigger condition(s) are fulfilled, in which case the UE retransmits the indication at most N times. In some embodiments, N is fixed in the specification, while in other embodiments, N is configurable, e.g., via RRC.

[0078] In some embodiments, the retransmission of the indication may use another serving beam, and / or another transmit power.

[0079] In some embodiments, a scheduling request for UE initiated beam report is configured in IE MAC-CellGroupConfig as shown in the example below.MAC-CellGroupConfig information element- ASN1 START- TAG-MAC-CELLGROUPCONFIG-STARTMAC-CellGroupConfig ::= SEQUENCE { drx-Config SetupRelease { DRX-Config } OPTIONAL, — Need M schedulingRequestConfig SchedulingRequestConfig OPTIONAL, — Need M bsr-Config BSR-Config OPTIONAL, - Need M tag-Config TAG-Config OPTIONAL, — Need M phr-Config SetupRelease { PHR-Config } OPTIONAL, — Need M skipUplinkTxDynamic BOOLEAN,[[ schedulingRequestID-UE-Initiated-BeamReport-rl9 SchedulingRequestldOPTIONAL, — Need R]]}

[0080] In some embodiments, the UE transmits the indication sent by the UE in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition until the UE receives the request to transmit a lower layer measurement report from the network. The request from the network could be sent in DCI, which may include an UL grant and / or a CSI request field. In a related embodiment, the UE transmits the indication until the lower layer measurement report has been sent. Based on the received lower layer measurement report, the network may indicate or activate a new TCI state of the UE. In some embodiments, the UE transmits the indication as long as the one or more trigger condition(s) are fulfilled until it receives an indication or activation of a TCI state, such as a new TCI state of the UE.

[0081] In some embodiments, the UE transmits the indication until it receives an explicit or an implicit acknowledgement from the network that the indication has been received. For example, the acknowledgement could be sent in DCI.

[0082] In some embodiments, it may be relevant that the UE informs the NW which trigger condition out of the one or more trigger condition(s) has been fulfilled, i.e., which event has been triggered. In some embodiments, the UE inform the NW implicitly or explicitly about how important it is to act on the triggered condition, e.g., if the new beam is x dB better than the current beam, or 2x dB better. In some embodiments, the UE send a different indication depending on which trigger condition out of the one or more trigger condition(s) has been fulfilled. For example,a first trigger condition may be associated with a first SR resource with a first schedulingRequestld, and a second trigger condition may be associated with a second SR resource with a second schedulingRequestld. Alternatively, a first trigger condition may be associated with a first RACH resource, and a second trigger condition may be associated with a second RACH resource. In a dependent embodiment the UE chooses to send only 1 indication when multiple trigger condition(s) are fulfilled, for instance if the current beam is both x dB and 2x dB better than the current beam, then the UE selects the indication for x or 2x (depending on the sign of x).

[0083] In another set of embodiments, the UE sends the same indication, irrespective of which of the one or more trigger condition(s) was fulfilled. In a related set of embodiments, the UE includes information about which condition out of the one or more trigger condition(s) was triggered in the subsequent lower layer measurement report. In some embodiments, one trigger condition is associated with one CSI reporting configuration, and in this case, the UE includes an identifier of the CSI reporting configuration, e.g., the reportConfigld. Alternatively, UE may indicate an identifier of the trigger condition, e.g., eventld. In further embodiments, UE may include one or more of reportConfigld(s), and / or eventld(s) in the lower layer measurement report.

[0084] In another set of embodiments, the network harvests the results of legacy periodic or semi-persistent or aperiodic CSI reports, if configured, and use this to set up RSRP (or SINR or RSRQ) event TriggeringConditions and the associated TriggeringThresholds, in order to reconfigure CSI reporting in such a way that periodic or semi-persistent or aperiodic CSI reports are replaced with UE-initiated / event-driven CSI reports, in order to further reduce report overhead and latency. For example, the trigger condition may be based on one or more previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node. Alternately or additionally, the trigger condition may be based on a number of previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

[0085] In some embodiments, the network regulates the amount of UE-initiated / event-driven CSI reports through analysis of the number of UE-initiated / event-driven CSI reports and reconfigures the TriggeringThresholds, accordingly.

[0086] In some embodiments, the UE informs the network that it supports SR-triggered beam reporting using, e.g., UE capability signaling. The signaling may also indicated which events are supported.

[0087] Figure 2 illustrates an example method 200 that may be performed by a network node for beam management, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0088] One or more operations of the method 200 may be implemented by a network node such as the network nodes 310A or 310B of Figure 3, the network node 500 of Figure 5, or thenetwork node 804 of Figure 8. Although illustrated as discrete steps, various steps of the method 100 may be divided into additional steps, combined into fewer steps, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Additionally, the order of performance of the different steps may vary depending on the desired implementation.

[0089] Furthermore, note that this process is complementary to the process performed by the UE described above, e.g., with respect to Figure 1. As such, details above provided in relation to Figures 1 are equally applicable to Figure 2.

[0090] In some embodiments, the method 200 may start at block 202. At block 202, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals is sent to a user equipment. In some embodiments, the one or more reference signals are associated with a same cell serving the user equipment or cells with different physical cell identifiers. In these and other embodiments, one of the one or more reference signals is associated with another cell, the another cell being configured as a quasi-co-location (QCL) source of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of the serving cell.

[0091] At block 204, the one or more reference signals are sent to a user equipment. In some embodiments, the one or more reference signals includes multiple reference signals and one of the reference signals is associated with a current beam and other of the reference signals are associated with one or more new beams. In some embodiments, the reference signal associated with the current beam is indicated by an indicated transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

[0092] At block 206, an indication is received from the user equipment regarding a measurement of the one or more reference signals, the indication sent by the user equipment in response to the measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition. In some embodiments, the receiving the indication is initiated by the user equipment and not initiated by the network node. In some embodiments, the measurement includes a reference signal received signal power (RSRP) of the one or more reference signals.

[0093] In some embodiments, the indication is received by the network node via a dedicated scheduling request. Alternately or additionally, indication is a scheduling request in a specific resource. In this embodiment, the scheduling requests in the specific resource indicates that the trigger condition is satisfied.

[0094] In some embodiments, the indication is in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, wherein the indication in the PUCCH resource indicates that the trigger condition is satisfied. In some embodiments, the trigger condition includes the RSRP of one of the other of the plurality of reference signals associated with the one or more new beams being XdB greater than the RSRP of the one of the plurality of reference signals associated with the current beam.

[0095] At block 208, in response to receiving the indication, sending, to the user equipment, a request for sending a measurement report to the network. In some embodiments, the request includes an uplink grant for transmission of the measurement report. In these and other embodiments, the request includes information indicating a channel state information (CSI) trigger state, the CSI trigger state indicating a CSI report configuration.

[0096] In some embodiments, the request is a CSI request carried in downlink control information (DCI). In these and other embodiments, events that result in the trigger condition being satisfied are included in the CSI report configuration.

[0097] In some embodiments, the trigger condition is sent as part of multiple trigger conditions for reporting a measurement of the one or more reference signals and the indication notifies the network node which of the plurality of trigger conditions is satisfied.

[0098] At block 210, receiving, from the user equipment, the measurement report. In these and other embodiments, the measurement report may be according to a CSI report configuration. In some embodiments, the measurement report is transmitted in an uplink control information signal or a medium access control element. In these and other embodiments, the trigger condition is based on one or more previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node. Alternately or additionally, the trigger condition is based on a number of previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

[0099] In some embodiments, the method 200 may further include after receiving the indication, receiving the indication again in response to a second measurement of the one or more reference signals satisfying the trigger condition. In these and other embodiments, the indication is sent to the network node after a time period lapses from the indication being previously sent by the user equipment. Alternately or additionally, the indication is received N number of times. Alternately, the indication is received until the network node sends to the user equipment an activation command activating one or more transmission configuration indicator states.

[0100] In some embodiments, the method 200 may further include sending, to the user equipment, a second reference signal, wherein satisfaction of the trigger condition is based on a comparison between the measurement of the reference signal and a second measurement of the second reference signal.

[0101] In some embodiments, the method 200 may further include in response to receiving the measurement report, sending, by the network node to the user equipment, commands to switch to from the current beam to a new beam for communication between the user equipment and the network node.

[0102] Figure 3 shows an example of a communication system 300 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0103] In the example, the communication system 300 includes a telecommunication network 302 that includes an access network 304, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 306, which includes one or more core network nodes 308. The access network 304 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 310A and 310B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 310), 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 302 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 302 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 302, including one or more network nodes 310 and / or core network nodes 308.

[0104] 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 defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 310 facilitate direct or indirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 312A, 312B, 312C, and312D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 312) to the core network 306 over one or more wireless connections.

[0105] 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 300 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 300 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0106] The UEs 312 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 310 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 310 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 312 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 302 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 302.

[0107] Note that the functionality of the network node or gNB described above (e.g., with respect to Figures 9-14) may be implemented in any one of the network nodes 310, and the functionality of the UE described above (e.g., with respect to Figures 9-14) may be implemented in any one of the UEs 312. In this regard, the network node 310 may be a multi-TRP network node (e.g., a gNB having multiple TRPs).

[0108] In the depicted example, the core network 306 connects the network nodes 310 to one or more hosts, such as host 316. 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 306 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 308) 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 308. 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).

[0109] The host 316 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 304 and / or the telecommunication network 302, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 316 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.

[0110] As a whole, the communication system 300 of Figure 3 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 300 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.[OHl] In some examples, the telecommunication network 302 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 302 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 302. For example, the telecommunication network 302 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.

[0112] In some examples, the UEs 312 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 304 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 304. Additionally, a UE may beconfigured 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).

[0113] In the example, a hub 314 communicates with the access network 304 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 312C and / or 312D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 310B). In some examples, the hub 314 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 314 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 306 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 314 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 310, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 314. As another example, the hub 314 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 314 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 314 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 314 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 314 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0114] The hub 314 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 310B. The hub 314 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 314 and UEs (e.g., UE 312C and / or 312D), and between the hub 314 and the core network 306. In other examples, the hub 314 is connected to the core network 306 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 314 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 304 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 310 while still connected via the hub 314 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 314 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 310B. In other embodiments, the hub 314 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 310B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0115] Figure 4 shows a UE 400 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with 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 3GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0116] 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), Vehicle-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).

[0117] The UE 400 includes processing circuitry 402 that is operatively coupled via a bus 404 to an input / output interface 406, a power source 408, memory 410, a communication interface 412, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 4. 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.

[0118] The processing circuitry 402 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 410. The processing circuitry 402 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), togetherwith appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 402 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0119] In the example, the input / output interface 406 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 400. 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.

[0120] In some embodiments, the power source 408 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 408 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 408 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 400 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 408. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 408 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 400 to which power is supplied.

[0121] The memory 410 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 410 includes one or more application programs 414, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 416. The memory 410 may store, for use by the UE 400, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0122] The memory 410 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 410 may allow the UE 400 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 410, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0123] The processing circuitry 402 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 412. The communication interface 412 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 422. The communication interface 412 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 418 and / or a receiver 420 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 418 and receiver 420 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 422) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0124] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 412 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 / Internet 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.

[0125] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 412, 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).

[0126] 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.

[0127] 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 400 shown in Figure 4.

[0128] 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 UEmay represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0129] 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.

[0130] Figure 5 shows a network node 500 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).

[0131] 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).

[0132] 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).

[0133] The network node 500 includes processing circuitry 502, memory 504, a communication interface 506, and a power source 508. The network node 500 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., aNodeB 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 500 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 500 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 504 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 510 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 500 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 500, 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 500.

[0134] The processing circuitry 502 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 500 components, such as the memory 504, to provide network node 500 functionality.

[0135] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 502 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 502 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 512 and baseband processing circuitry 514. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 512 and the baseband processing circuitry 514 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 512 and the baseband processing circuitry 514 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0136] The memory 504 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 502. The memory 504 may store any suitable 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 502 and utilized by the network node 500. The memory 504 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 502 and / or any data received via the communication interface 506. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 502 and the memory 504 are integrated.

[0137] The communication interface 506 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 506 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 516 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 506 also includes radio front-end circuitry 518 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 510. The radio front-end circuitry 518 comprises filters 520 and amplifiers 522. The radio front-end circuitry 518 may be connected to the antenna 510 and the processing circuitry 502. The radio front-end circuitry 518 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 510 and the processing circuitry 502. The radio front-end circuitry 518 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 518 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 520 and / or the amplifiers 522. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 510. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 510 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 518. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 502. In other embodiments, the communication interface 506 may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0138] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 500 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 518; instead, the processing circuitry 502 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 510. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 512 is part of the communication interface 506. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 506 includes the one or more ports or terminals 516, the radio frontend circuitry 518, and the RF transceiver circuitry 512 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 506 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 514, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0139] The antenna 510 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 510 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 518 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 510 is separate from the network node 500 and connectable to the network node 500 through an interface or port.

[0140] The antenna 510, the communication interface 506, and / or the processing circuitry 502 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 500. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 510, the communication interface 506, and / or the processing circuitry 502 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 500. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0141] The power source 508 provides power to the various components of the network node 500 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 508 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 500 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 500 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 508. As a further example, the power source 508 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.

[0142] Embodiments of the network node 500 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 5 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 500 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 500 and to allow output of information from the network node 500. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 500.

[0143] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 600 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 includevirtualizing 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 600 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 600 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.

[0144] Applications 602 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 600 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0145] Hardware 604 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 606 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 608A and 608B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 608), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 606 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 608.

[0146] The VMs 608 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 606. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual application 602 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 608, 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.

[0147] In the context of NFV, a VM 608 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Eachof the VMs 608, and that part of the hardware 604 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs 608, 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 608 on top of the hardware 604 and corresponds to the application 602.

[0148] The hardware 604 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 604 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 604 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 610, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 602. In some embodiments, the hardware 604 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 612 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0149] 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 beimplemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0150] 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 processing circuitry 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.

[0151] 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.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method (100) performed by a user equipment for beam management, the method comprising: receiving (102), from a network node, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals; receiving (104), from the network node, the one or more reference signals; and in response to a measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition, sending (106) an indication to the network node regarding the measurement of the one or more reference signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more reference signals includes a plurality of reference signals and one of the plurality of reference signals is associated with a current beam and other of the plurality of reference signals are associated with one or more new beams.

3. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the measurement includes a reference signal received signal power (RSRP) of the one or more reference signals.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the trigger condition includes the RSRP of one of the other of the plurality of reference signals associated with the one or more new beams being XdB greater than the RSRP of the one of the plurality of reference signals associated with the current beam.

5. The method of any of claims 2-4, wherein the reference signal associated with the current beam is indicated by an indicated transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the indication is initiated by the user equipment and not initiated by the network node.

7. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the indication is sent to the network node via a dedicated scheduling request.

8. The method of any of the claims 1-6, wherein the indication is a scheduling request in a specific resource, wherein the scheduling requests in the specific resource indicates to the network node that the trigger condition is satisfied.

9. The method of any of the claims 1-6, wherein the indication is in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, wherein the indication in the PUCCH resource indicates to the network node that the trigger condition is satisfied.

10. The method of any of the previous claims, further comprising in response to sending the indication, receiving, from the network node, a request for sending a measurement report to the network.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the request includes an uplink grant for transmission of the measurement report.

12. The method of claims 10-11, wherein the request includes information indicating a channel state information (CSI) trigger state, the CSI trigger state indicating a CSI report configuration.

13. The method of claims 10-12, where the request is a CSI request carried in downlink control information (DCI).

14. The method of any of claims 12-13, where events that result in the trigger condition being satisfied are included in the CSI report configuration.

15. The method of any of the claims 10-14, further comprising sending, to the network node, the measurement report according to a CSI report configuration.

16. The method of any of the claims 10-15, wherein the measurement report is transmitted in an uplink control information signal or a medium access control element.

17. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the one or more reference signals are associated with a same cell serving the user equipment or cells with different physical cell identifiers.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein when one of the one or more reference signals is associated with another cell, the another cell being configured as a quasi-co-location (QCL) source of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of the serving cell.

19. The method of any of the previous claims, further comprising after sending the indication, resending the indication in response to a second measurement of the one or more reference signalssatisfying the trigger condition.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the indication is resent after a time period lapses from sending the indication.

21. The method of any of the claims 19 and 20, wherein the indication is resent N number of times.

22. The method of any of the claims 19 and 20, wherein the indication is resent until the user equipment receives an activation command activating one or more transmission configuration indicator states.

23. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the trigger condition is received as part of a plurality of trigger conditions for reporting a measurement of the one or more reference signals and the indication notifies the network node which of the plurality of trigger conditions is satisfied.

24. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the trigger condition is based on one or more previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

25. The method of any of the claims 1-23, wherein the trigger condition is based on a number of previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

26. The method of any of the previous claims, further comprising receiving, from the network node, a second reference signal, wherein satisfaction of the trigger condition is based on a comparison between the measurement of the reference signal and a second measurement of the second reference signal.

27. The method of any of the previous claims, further comprising in response to sending the measurement report, receiving, at the user equipment from the network node, command to switch from a current beam to a new beam for communication between the user equipment and the network node.

28. A method (200) performed by a network node for beam management, the method comprising: sending (202), to a user equipment, a trigger condition for reporting a measurement of one or more reference signals;sending (204), to the user equipment, the one or more reference signals; and receiving (206), from the user equipment, an indication regarding a measurement of the one or more reference signals, the indication sent by the user equipment in response to the measurement of the one or more reference signals performed by the user equipment satisfying the trigger condition.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the one or more reference signals includes a plurality of reference signals and one of the plurality of reference signals is associated with a current beam and other of the plurality of reference signals are associated with one or more new beams.

30. The method of any of claims 28 and 29, wherein the measurement includes a reference signal received signal power (RSRP) of the one or more reference signals.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the trigger condition includes the RSRP of one of the other of the plurality of reference signals associated with the one or more new beams being XdB greater than the RSRP of the one of the plurality of reference signals associated with the current beam.

32. The method of any of claims 29-31, wherein the reference signal associated with the current beam is indicated by an indicated transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein the receiving the indication is initiated by the user equipment and not initiated by the network node.

34. The method of any of the claims 28-33, wherein the indication is received by the network node via a dedicated scheduling request.

35. The method of any of the claims 28-33, wherein the indication is a scheduling request in a specific resource, wherein the scheduling requests in the specific resource indicates that the trigger condition is satisfied.

36. The method of any of the claims 28-33, wherein the indication is in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, wherein the indication in the PUCCH resource indicates that the trigger condition is satisfied.

37. The method of any of the claims 28-36, further comprising in response to receiving the indication, sending, to the user equipment, a request for sending a measurement report to thenetwork.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the request includes an uplink grant for transmission of the measurement report.

39. The method of claims 37 and 38, wherein the request includes information indicating a channel state information (CSI) trigger state, the CSI trigger state indicating a CSI report configuration.

40. The method of claims 37-39, where the request is a CSI request carried in downlink control information (DCI).

41. The method of any of claims 39 and 40, where events that result in the trigger condition being satisfied are included in the CSI report configuration.

42. The method of any of the claims 37-41, further comprising receiving, from the user equipment, the measurement report according to a CSI report configuration.

43. The method of any of the claims 37-42, wherein the measurement report is transmitted in an uplink control information signal or a medium access control element.

44. The method of any of the claims 28-43, wherein the one or more reference signals are associated with a same cell serving the user equipment or cells with different physical cell identifiers.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein when one of the one or more reference signals is associated with another cell, the another cell being configured as a quasi-co-location (QCL) source of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of the serving cell.

46. The method of any of the claims 28-45, further comprising after receiving the indication, receiving the indication again in response to a second measurement of the one or more reference signals satisfying the trigger condition.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the indication is sent to the network node after a time period lapses from the indication being previously sent by the user equipment.

48. The method of any of the claims 46 and 47, wherein the indication is received N number oftimes.

49. The method of any of the claims 46 and 47, wherein the indication is received until the network node sends to the user equipment an activation command activating one or more transmission configuration indicator states.

50. The method of any of the claims 28-49, wherein the trigger condition is sent as part of a plurality of trigger conditions for reporting a measurement of the one or more reference signals and the indication notifies the network node which of the plurality of trigger conditions is satisfied.

51. The method of any of claims 28-50, wherein the trigger condition is based on one or more previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

52. The method of any of the claims 28-50, wherein the trigger condition is based on a number of previous channel state information reports obtained by the network node.

53. The method of any of the claims 28-52, further comprising sending, to the user equipment, a second reference signal, wherein satisfaction of the trigger condition is based on a comparison between the measurement of the reference signal and a second measurement of the second reference signal.

54. The method of any of the claims 28-53, further comprising in response to receiving the measurement report, sending, by the network node to the user equipment, commands to switch to from the current beam to a new beam for communication between the user equipment and the network node.

55. A user equipment comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the claims 1-27; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

56. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the claims 28-54; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

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