Method and apparatus for performing user equipment-initiated beam management

Abstract

This method of a user equipment for performing user equipment-initiated beam management may comprise the steps of: receiving first measurement setting information from a base station; performing measurement on the basis of the first measurement setting information; determining whether user equipment-initiated beam management is required on the basis of the measurement results; transmitting a user equipment-initiated beam management triggering signal to the base station if it is determined that the user equipment-initiated beam management is required; and performing user equipment-initiated beam management with the base station.

Description

Terminal-driven beam management method and device

[0001] The present invention relates to beam management of a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a terminal-driven beam management method and device.

[0002] Communication networks (e.g., 5G communication networks, 6G communication networks, etc.) are being developed to provide improved communication services compared to existing communication networks (e.g., long term evolution (LTE), advanced LTE-A (LTE-A), etc.). 5G communication networks (e.g., new radio (NR) communication networks) can support frequency bands above 6 GHz as well as frequency bands below 6 GHz. That is, 5G communication networks can support FR1 bands and / or FR2 bands. 5G communication networks can support various communication services and scenarios compared to LTE communication networks. For example, usage scenarios of 5G communication networks can include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), etc.

[0003] Compared to 5G, 6G communication networks can support a wider range of communication services and scenarios. 6G communication networks can meet requirements for ultra-high performance, ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-high space, ultra-high precision, ultra-intelligence, and / or ultra-reliability. 6G communication networks can support diverse and wide frequency bands and be applied to various usage scenarios (e.g., terrestrial communications, non-terrestrial communications, sidelink communications, etc.).

[0004] Meanwhile, 3GPP (3 rdIn Release-19 of the 5GPP, standardization of user equipment-initiated / event-driven beam management is underway to resolve the problems of conventional network-driven beam management. Unlike conventional network-driven beam management, user equipment-initiated / event-driven beam management is a method in which the user equipment proactively performs beam management because it can recognize the current beam status and beam change trend relatively quickly compared to the base station. However, the method of switching from network-driven beam management to user equipment-initiated beam management and the signaling methods required for this have not yet been specified.

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure to solve the above problems is to provide a method and device for performing terminal-led beam management.

[0006] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure for achieving the above object, a method of a terminal may include: receiving first measurement configuration information from a base station; performing measurement based on the first measurement configuration information, and determining whether terminal-led beam management is required based on a result of the measurement; transmitting a terminal-led beam management triggering signal to the base station when it is determined that terminal-led beam management is required; and performing terminal-led beam management with the base station.

[0007] The method further includes a step of receiving second measurement configuration information from the base station in response to the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal, wherein the terminal-driven beam management can be performed based on the second measurement configuration information.

[0008] The measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the second measurement setting information may be different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the first measurement setting information.

[0009] The above first measurement configuration information may indicate at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a predetermined signal, or a predetermined time / frequency resource as a measurement target.

[0010] The above second measurement setting information may indicate at least one of CSI-RS and / or SSB as a measurement target.

[0011] The above terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may be transmitted via MAC (medium access control) CE (control element) and / or UCI (uplink control information).

[0012] The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the results of the above measurement may be performed based on a comparison between a first measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement setting information at a first point in time and a first threshold value.

[0013] The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the results of the above measurement may be performed based on a comparison between a second measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement setting information during the first time window and a second threshold value.

[0014] The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the result of the above measurement may be performed based on a comparison of a difference between a first measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information at a first point in time and a third measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information at a point in time immediately before the first point in time or at a point in time before a specific time from the first point in time, and a third threshold value.

[0015] The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the results of the above measurement may be performed based on a comparison of a difference between a fourth measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information during the second time window and a fifth measurement value obtained by measuring during the third time window with a fourth threshold value.

[0016] The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the result of the above measurement may be performed based on a comparison of a difference between a first measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information at a first time point and a sixth measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information during a fourth time window that started before the first time point, and a fifth threshold value.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure for achieving the above object, a method of a base station includes: transmitting first measurement configuration information to a terminal; receiving a terminal-led beam management triggering signal from the terminal; and performing terminal-led beam management with the terminal in response to the terminal-led beam management triggering signal, wherein the terminal performs measurement based on the first measurement configuration information and transmits the terminal-led beam management triggering signal when terminal-led beam management is required based on a result of the measurement.

[0018] The method further includes a step of transmitting second measurement configuration information to the terminal in response to the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal, wherein the terminal-driven beam management can be performed based on the second measurement configuration information.

[0019] The measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the second measurement setting information may be different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the first measurement setting information.

[0020] The above first measurement configuration information may indicate at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a predetermined signal, or a predetermined time / frequency resource as a measurement target.

[0021] The above second measurement setting information may indicate at least one of CSI-RS and / or SSB as a measurement target.

[0022] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure for achieving the above object, a terminal may include at least one processor, and the at least one processor may cause the terminal to perform the following steps: receiving first measurement configuration information from a base station; performing measurement based on the first measurement configuration information, and determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on a result of the measurement; transmitting a terminal-led beam management triggering signal to the base station when it is determined that terminal-led beam management is necessary; and performing terminal-led beam management with the base station.

[0023] The at least one processor further causes the terminal to perform the step of: receiving second measurement configuration information from the base station in response to the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal, wherein the terminal-driven beam management can be performed based on the second measurement configuration information.

[0024] The measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the second measurement setting information may be different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the first measurement setting information.

[0025] The above first measurement configuration information may indicate at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a predetermined signal, or a predetermined time / frequency resource as a measurement target.

[0026] When applying the embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal can switch from performing existing base station-led beam management to terminal-led beam management without delay. Furthermore, when applying the embodiments of the present disclosure, the uplink signaling overhead for switching to terminal-led beam management can be minimized. Since the switch from performing base station-led beam management to terminal-led beam management is performed without increasing signaling overhead and delay time, the overall system performance can be improved, especially in high-frequency bands (e.g., FR2 bands) where rapid beam switching is essential.

[0027] Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication system.

[0028] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication node constituting a communication system.

[0029] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of communication nodes performing communication.

[0030] Figure 4a is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a transmission path.

[0031] Figure 4b is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a receiving path.

[0032] Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a system frame in a communication system.

[0033] Figure 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a subframe in a communication system.

[0034] Figure 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a slot in a communication system.

[0035] Figure 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of time-frequency resources in a communication system.

[0036] FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a terminal-led beam management method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are conceptual diagrams for explaining a method for determining whether terminal-led beam management is triggered according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0038] FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are conceptual diagrams illustrating a method for determining whether terminal-led beam management is triggered according to other embodiments of the present invention.

[0039] This disclosure may be subject to various modifications and various embodiments. Specific embodiments are illustrated and described in detail in the drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the disclosure to specific embodiments, but rather to encompass all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and technical scope of the disclosure.

[0040] While terms such as "first" and "second" may be used to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, a first component could be referred to as a "second component," and similarly, a second component could also be referred to as a "first component." The term "and / or" may refer to a combination of multiple related items described herein or to any of multiple related items described herein.

[0041] In the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of combinations of one or more of A and B.” Additionally, in the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of combinations of one or more of A and B.”

[0042] In the present disclosure, (re)transmission may mean “transmission,” “retransmission,” or “transmission and retransmission,” (re)setting may mean “setting,” “resetting,” or “setting and resetting,” (re)connection may mean “connection,” “reconnection,” or “connection and reconnection,” and (re)connection may mean “connection,” “reconnection,” or “connection and reconnection.”

[0043] When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that it may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but that there may be other components intervening. Conversely, when a component is referred to as being "directly connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components intervening.

[0044] The terminology used in this disclosure is only used to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this disclosure, it should be understood that the terms "comprises" or "has" indicate the presence of a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0045] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology, and shall not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined herein.

[0046] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. In order to facilitate an overall understanding in describing the present disclosure, the same reference numerals will be used for identical components in the drawings, and redundant descriptions of identical components will be omitted. In addition to the embodiments explicitly described in the present disclosure, operations may be performed according to combinations of embodiments, extensions of embodiments, and / or modifications of embodiments. The performance of some operations may be omitted, and the order of operation may be changed.

[0047] In an embodiment, even if a method (e.g., transmitting or receiving a signal) performed by a first communication node among communication nodes is described, a corresponding second communication node can perform a method (e.g., receiving or transmitting a signal) corresponding to the method performed by the first communication node. That is, if an operation of a UE (user equipment) is described, a corresponding base station can perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the UE. Conversely, if an operation of a base station is described, a corresponding UE can perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the base station.

[0048] A base station may be referred to as a NodeB, an evolved NodeB, a gNodeB (next generation node B), a gNB, a device, an apparatus, a node, a communication node, a BTS (base transceiver station), a RRH (radio remote head), a TRP (transmission reception point), a RU (radio unit), an RSU (road side unit), a radio transceiver, an access point, an access node, etc. A UE may be referred to as a terminal, a device, an apparatus, a node, a communication node, an end node, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a station, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a portable subscriber station, an OBU (on-broad unit), etc.

[0049] In the present disclosure, signaling may be at least one of upper layer signaling, MAC signaling, or PHY (physical) signaling. A message used for upper layer signaling may be referred to as an "upper layer message" or an "upper layer signaling message." A message used for MAC signaling may be referred to as a "MAC message" or a "MAC signaling message." A message used for PHY signaling may be referred to as a "PHY message" or a "PHY signaling message." Upper layer signaling may refer to a transmission and reception operation of system information (e.g., a master information block (MIB), a system information block (SIB)) and / or an RRC message. MAC signaling may refer to a transmission and reception operation of a MAC control element (CE). PHY signaling may refer to a transmission and reception operation of control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI), uplink control information (UCI), sidelink control information (SCI)).

[0050] In the present disclosure, “an operation (e.g., a transmission operation) is set” may mean that “setting information for the operation (e.g., an information element, a parameter)” and / or “information instructing the performance of the operation” is signaled. “An information element (e.g., a parameter) is set” may mean that the information element is signaled. In the present disclosure, “a signal and / or a channel” may mean a signal, a channel, or “a signal and a channel,” and a signal may be used to mean “a signal and / or a channel.”

[0051] The communication network to which the embodiment is applied is not limited to what is described below, and the embodiment may be applied to various communication networks (e.g., 4G communication networks, 5G communication networks, and / or 6G communication networks). Here, the communication network may be used in the same sense as the communication system.

[0052] Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication system.

[0053] Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system (100) may include a plurality of communication nodes (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2, 130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6). In addition, the communication system (100) may further include a core network (e.g., a serving-gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN)-gateway (P-GW), a mobility management entity (MME)). If the communication system (100) is a 5G communication system (e.g., a new radio (NR) system), the core network may include an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), etc.

[0054] A plurality of communication nodes (110 to 130) can support a communication protocol (e.g., LTE communication protocol, LTE-A communication protocol, NR communication protocol, etc.) specified in the 3GPP (3rd generation partnership project) standard. The plurality of communication nodes (110 to 130) may support CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, WCDMA (wideband CDMA) technology, TDMA (time division multiple access) technology, FDMA (frequency division multiple access) technology, OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) technology, Filtered OFDM technology, CP (cyclic prefix)-OFDM technology, DFT-s-OFDM (discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM) technology, OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) technology, SC (single carrier)-FDMA technology, NOMA (non-orthogonal multiple access) technology, GFDM (generalized frequency division multiplexing) technology, FBMC (filter bank multi-carrier) technology, UFMC (universal filtered multi-carrier) technology, SDMA (space division multiple access) technology, etc. Each of the plurality of communication nodes may have the following structure.

[0055] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication node constituting a communication system.

[0056] Referring to FIG. 2, a communication node (200) may include at least one processor (210), a memory (220), and a transmission / reception device (230) that is connected to a network and performs communication. In addition, the communication node (200) may further include an input interface device (240), an output interface device (250), a storage device (260), etc. Each component included in the communication node (200) may be connected by a bus (270) and communicate with each other.

[0057] The processor (210) can execute program commands stored in at least one of the memory (220) and the storage device (260). The processor (210) may refer to a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor in which the methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure are performed. Each of the memory (220) and the storage device (260) may be configured with at least one of a volatile storage medium and a non-volatile storage medium. For example, the memory (220) may be configured with at least one of a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

[0058] Referring again to FIG. 1, the communication system (100) may include a plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) and a plurality of terminals (130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6). Each of the first base station (110-1), the second base station (110-2), and the third base station (110-3) may form a macro cell. Each of the fourth base station (120-1) and the fifth base station (120-2) may form a small cell. The fourth base station (120-1), the third terminal (130-3), and the fourth terminal (130-4) may be within the cell coverage of the first base station (110-1). The second terminal (130-2), the fourth terminal (130-4), and the fifth terminal (130-5) may be within the cell coverage of the second base station (110-2). The fifth base station (120-2), the fourth terminal (130-4), the fifth terminal (130-5), and the sixth terminal (130-6) may be within the cell coverage of the third base station (110-3). The first terminal (130-1) may be within the cell coverage of the fourth base station (120-1). The sixth terminal (130-6) may be within the cell coverage of the fifth base station (120-2).

[0059] Here, each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) may be referred to as a NodeB (NB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a gNB, an advanced base station (ABS), a high reliability-base station (HR-BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, an access point, an access node, a radio access station (RAS), a mobile multihop relay-base station (MMR-BS), a relay station (RS), an advanced relay station (ARS), a high reliability-relay station (HR-RS), a home NodeB (HNB), a home eNodeB (HeNB), a road side unit (RSU), a radio remote head (RRH), a transmission point (TP), a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc.

[0060] Each of the plurality of terminals (130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6) may be referred to as a user equipment (UE), terminal equipment (TE), advanced mobile station (AMS), high reliability-mobile station (HR-MS), terminal, access terminal, mobile terminal, station, subscriber station, mobile station, portable subscriber station, node, device, on board unit (OBU), etc.

[0061] Meanwhile, each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) may operate in a different frequency band or may operate in the same frequency band. Each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) may be connected to each other via an ideal backhaul link or a non-ideal backhaul link, and may exchange information with each other via the ideal backhaul link or the non-ideal backhaul link. Each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) may be connected to the core network via the ideal backhaul link or the non-ideal backhaul link. Each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) can transmit a signal received from the core network to the corresponding terminal (130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6), and can transmit a signal received from the corresponding terminal (130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6) to the core network.

[0062] Additionally, each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) may support MIMO transmission (e.g., single user (SU)-MIMO, multi user (MU)-MIMO, massive MIMO, etc.), coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission, carrier aggregation (CA) transmission, transmission in an unlicensed band, sidelink communication (e.g., device to device communication (D2D), proximity services (ProSe)), Internet of Things (IoT) communication, dual connectivity (DC), etc. Here, each of the plurality of terminals (130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6) can perform an operation corresponding to the base station (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) and an operation supported by the base station (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2). For example, the second base station (110-2) can transmit a signal to the fourth terminal (130-4) based on the SU-MIMO scheme, and the fourth terminal (130-4) can receive a signal from the second base station (110-2) by the SU-MIMO scheme. Alternatively, the second base station (110-2) can transmit signals to the fourth terminal (130-4) and the fifth terminal (130-5) based on the MU-MIMO method, and each of the fourth terminal (130-4) and the fifth terminal (130-5) can receive signals from the second base station (110-2) based on the MU-MIMO method.

[0063] Each of the first base station (110-1), the second base station (110-2), and the third base station (110-3) can transmit a signal to the fourth terminal (130-4) based on the CoMP scheme, and the fourth terminal (130-4) can receive a signal from the first base station (110-1), the second base station (110-2), and the third base station (110-3) based on the CoMP scheme. Each of the plurality of base stations (110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, 120-2) can transmit and receive a signal with terminals (130-1, 130-2, 130-3, 130-4, 130-5, 130-6) within its cell coverage based on the CA scheme. Each of the first base station (110-1), the second base station (110-2), and the third base station (110-3) can control sidelink communication between the fourth terminal (130-4) and the fifth terminal (130-5), and each of the fourth terminal (130-4) and the fifth terminal (130-5) can perform sidelink communication under the control of the second base station (110-2) and the third base station (110-3), respectively.

[0064] Meanwhile, communication nodes performing communication in a communication network may be configured as follows. The communication node illustrated in Fig. 3 may be a specific embodiment of the communication node illustrated in Fig. 2.

[0065] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of communication nodes performing communication.

[0066] Referring to FIG. 3, each of the first communication node (300a) and the second communication node (300b) may be a base station or a UE. The first communication node (300a) may transmit a signal to the second communication node (300b). The transmission processor (311) included in the first communication node (300a) may receive data (e.g., a data unit) from a data source (310). The transmission processor (311) may receive control information from the controller (316). The control information may include at least one of system information, RRC configuration information (e.g., information configured by RRC signaling), MAC control information (e.g., MAC CE), or PHY control information (e.g., DCI, SCI).

[0067] The transmitting processor (311) may perform a processing operation on data (e.g., an encoding operation, a symbol mapping operation, etc.) to generate data symbol(s). The transmitting processor (311) may perform a processing operation on control information (e.g., an encoding operation, a symbol mapping operation, etc.) to generate control symbol(s). In addition, the transmitting processor (311) may generate synchronization / reference symbol(s) for a synchronization signal and / or a reference signal.

[0068] The Tx MIMO processor (312) may perform a spatial processing operation (e.g., a precoding operation) on data symbol(s), control symbol(s), and / or synchronization / reference symbol(s). The output (e.g., a symbol stream) of the Tx MIMO processor (312) may be provided to modulators (MODs) included in the transceivers (313a to 313t). The modulators (MODs) may perform a processing operation on the symbol stream to generate modulation symbols, and may perform an additional processing operation (e.g., an analog conversion operation, an amplification operation, a filtering operation, an upconversion operation) on the modulation symbols to generate signals. The signals generated by the modulators (MODs) of the transceivers (313a to 313t) may be transmitted via the antennas (314a to 314t).

[0069] Signals transmitted by the first communication node (300a) may be received by antennas (364a to 364r) of the second communication node (300b). Signals received by the antennas (364a to 364r) may be provided to demodulators (DEMODs) included in transceivers (363a to 363r). The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a filtering operation, an amplification operation, a downconversion operation, a digital conversion operation) on the signal to obtain samples. The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform an additional processing operation on the samples to obtain symbols. The MIMO detector (362) may perform a MIMO detection operation on the symbols. The receiving processor (361) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a deinterleaving operation, a decoding operation) on the symbols. The output of the receiving processor (361) may be provided to a data sink (360) and a controller (366). For example, data may be provided to the data sink (360), and control information may be provided to the controller (366).

[0070] Meanwhile, the second communication node (300b) can transmit a signal to the first communication node (300a). The transmitting processor (368) included in the second communication node (300b) can receive data (e.g., data units) from a data source (367) and perform a processing operation on the data to generate data symbol(s). The transmitting processor (368) can receive control information from the controller (366) and perform a processing operation on the control information to generate control symbol(s). In addition, the transmitting processor (368) can perform a processing operation on a reference signal to generate reference symbol(s).

[0071] The Tx MIMO processor (369) may perform spatial processing operations (e.g., precoding operations) on data symbol(s), control symbol(s), and / or reference symbol(s). The output (e.g., symbol stream) of the Tx MIMO processor (369) may be provided to modulators (MODs) included in the transceivers (363a to 363t). The modulators (MODs) may perform processing operations on the symbol streams to generate modulation symbols, and may perform additional processing operations (e.g., analog conversion operations, amplification operations, filtering operations, upconversion operations) on the modulation symbols to generate signals. The signals generated by the modulators (MODs) of the transceivers (363a to 363t) may be transmitted via the antennas (364a to 364t).

[0072] Signals transmitted by the second communication node (300b) may be received by the antennas (314a to 314r) of the first communication node (300a). The signals received by the antennas (314a to 314r) may be provided to demodulators (DEMODs) included in the transceivers (313a to 313r). The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a filtering operation, an amplification operation, a downconversion operation, a digital conversion operation) on the signal to obtain samples. The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform an additional processing operation on the samples to obtain symbols. The MIMO detector (320) may perform a MIMO detection operation on the symbols. The receiving processor (319) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a deinterleaving operation, a decoding operation) on the symbols. The output of the receiving processor (319) may be provided to a data sink (318) and a controller (316). For example, data may be provided to the data sink (318) and control information may be provided to the controller (316).

[0073] Memories (315 and 365) can store data, control information, and / or program code. Scheduler (317) can perform scheduling operations for communication. The processors (311, 312, 319, 361, 368, 369) and controllers (316, 366) illustrated in FIG. 3 may be the processor (210) illustrated in FIG. 2 and may be used to perform the methods described in the present disclosure.

[0074] FIG. 4a is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a transmission path, and FIG. 4b is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a reception path.

[0075] Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a transmission path (410) may be implemented in a communication node that transmits a signal, and a reception path (420) may be implemented in a communication node that receives a signal. The transmission path (410) may include a channel coding and modulation block (411), an S-to-P (serial-to-parallel) block (512), an N IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) block (413), a P-to-S (parallel-to-serial) block (414), a CP (cyclic prefix) addition block (415), and an UC (up-converter) (UC) (416). The receiving path (420) may include a DC (down-converter) (421), a CP removal block (422), an S-to-P block (423), an N FFT block (424), a P-to-S block (425), and a channel decoding and demodulation block (426). Here, N may be a natural number.

[0076] In the transmission path (410), information bits may be input to a channel coding and modulation block (411). The channel coding and modulation block (411) may perform a coding operation (e.g., a low-density parity check (LDPC) coding operation, a polar coding operation, etc.) and a modulation operation (e.g., a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), etc.) on the information bits. The output of the channel coding and modulation block (411) may be a sequence of modulation symbols.

[0077] The S-to-P block (412) can convert modulation symbols in the frequency domain into parallel symbol streams to generate N parallel symbol streams. N can be an IFFT size or an FFT size. The N IFFT block (413) can perform an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate signals in the time domain. The P-to-S block (414) can convert the output (e.g., parallel signals) of the N IFFT block (413) into a serial signal to generate a serial signal.

[0078] The CP addition block (415) can insert a CP into a signal. The UC (416) can up-convert the frequency of the output of the CP addition block (415) to an RF (radio frequency) frequency. Additionally, the output of the CP addition block (415) can be filtered at the baseband before up-conversion.

[0079] A signal transmitted from a transmission path (410) may be input to a reception path (420). An operation in the reception path (420) may be the reverse operation of the operation in the transmission path (410). A DC (421) may down-convert the frequency of the received signal to a baseband frequency. A CP removal block (422) may remove a CP from a signal. The output of the CP removal block (422) may be a serial signal. An S-to-P block (423) may convert the serial signal into parallel signals. An N FFT block (424) may perform an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel signals. A P-to-S block (425) may convert the parallel signals into a sequence of modulation symbols. A channel decoding and demodulation block (426) may perform a demodulation operation on the modulation symbols and perform a decoding operation on the result of the demodulation operation to restore data.

[0080] In FIGS. 4A and 4B , Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Inverse DFT (IDFT) may be used instead of FFT and IFFT. Each of the blocks (e.g., components) in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be implemented by at least one of hardware, software, or firmware. For example, some of the blocks in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be implemented by software, and the remaining blocks may be implemented by hardware or a “combination of hardware and software.” In FIGS. 4A and 4B , a block may be subdivided into multiple blocks, multiple blocks may be integrated into a single block, some blocks may be omitted, and blocks supporting other functions may be added.

[0081] Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a system frame in a communication system.

[0082] Referring to FIG. 5, time resources in a communication system can be divided into frame units. For example, system frames can be set consecutively in the time domain of the communication system. The length of a system frame can be 10 ms (milliseconds). The system frame number (SFN) can be set from #0 to #1023. In this case, 1024 system frames can be repeated in the time domain of the communication system. For example, the SFN of the system frame after system frame #1023 can be #0.

[0083] A system frame may include two half frames. A half frame may be 5 ms long. A half frame located at the beginning of the system frame may be referred to as "half frame #0," and a half frame located at the end of the system frame may be referred to as "half frame #1." A system frame may include 10 subframes. A subframe may be 1 ms long. The 10 subframes within a system frame may be referred to as "subframes #0-9."

[0084] Figure 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a subframe in a communication system.

[0085] Referring to FIG. 6, one subframe may include n slots, where n may be a natural number. Accordingly, one subframe may be composed of one or more slots.

[0086] Figure 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a slot in a communication system.

[0087] Referring to Figure 7, a single slot may include one or more symbols. A single slot illustrated in Figure 7 may include 14 symbols. The length of a slot may vary depending on the number and length of symbols contained in the slot. Alternatively, the length of a slot may vary depending on the numerology.

[0088] In a communication system, the numerology applied to physical signals and channels may be variable. The numerology may be variable to meet various technical requirements of the communication system. In a communication system applying CP (cyclic prefix)-based OFDM waveform technology, the numerology may include subcarrier spacing and CP length (or CP type). Table 1 may be a first embodiment of a method for configuring a numerology for a CP-OFDM-based communication system. At least some of the numerologies in Table 1 may be supported depending on the frequency band in which the communication system operates. In addition, the communication system may additionally support numerologies not listed in Table 1.

[0089] Subcarrier spacing 15kHz 30kHz 60kHz 120kHz 240kHz 480kHz OFDM symbol length (μs) 66.733.316.78.34.22.1 CP length (μs) 4.762.381.190.600.300.151 Number of OFDM symbols in ms 142856112224448

[0090]

[0091] When the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz (e.g., μ=0), the slot length can be 1 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 10 slots. When the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz (e.g., μ=1), the slot length can be 0.5 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 20 slots.

[0092] When the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz (e.g., μ=2), the slot length can be 0.25 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 40 slots. When the subcarrier spacing is 120 kHz (e.g., μ=3), the slot length can be 0.125 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 80 slots. When the subcarrier spacing is 240 kHz (e.g., μ=4), the slot length can be 0.0625 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 160 slots.

[0093] A symbol may be configured as a downlink (DL) symbol, a flexible (FL) symbol, or an uplink (UL) symbol. A slot consisting solely of DL symbols may be referred to as a "DL slot," a slot consisting solely of FL symbols may be referred to as an "FL slot," and a slot consisting solely of UL symbols may be referred to as a "UL slot."

[0094] The slot format can be semi-statically configured by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). Information indicating the semi-static slot format can be included in the system information, and the semi-static slot format can be configured cell-specifically. In addition, the semi-static slot format can be additionally configured for each terminal through terminal-specific higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). The flexible symbol of the cell-specifically configured slot format can be overridden to a downlink symbol or an uplink symbol by terminal-specific higher layer signaling. In addition, the slot format can be dynamically indicated by physical layer signaling (e.g., a slot format indicator (SFI) included in DCI). The semi-statically configured slot format can be overridden by a dynamically indicated slot format. For example, the semi-statically configured flexible symbol can be overridden to a downlink symbol or an uplink symbol by the SFI.

[0095] The reference signal may be a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation-reference signal (DM-RS), a phase tracking-reference signal (PT-RS), etc. The channel may be a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), etc. In the present disclosure, a control channel may mean a PDCCH, a PUCCH, or a PSCCH, and a data channel may mean a PDSCH, a PUSCH, or a PSSCH.

[0096] Figure 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of time-frequency resources in a communication system.

[0097] Referring to FIG. 8, a resource consisting of one symbol (e.g., an OFDM symbol) in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain may be defined as a "RE (resource element)". Resources consisting of one OFDM symbol in the time domain and K subcarriers in the frequency domain may be defined as a "REG (resource element group)". A REG may include K REs. A REG may be used as a basic unit for resource allocation in the frequency domain. K may be a natural number. For example, K may be 12. N may be a natural number. In the slot illustrated in FIG. 7, N may be 14. N OFDM symbols may be used as a basic unit for resource allocation in the time domain.

[0098] In the present disclosure, RB may mean CRB (common RB). Alternatively, RB may mean PRB or VRB (virtual RB). In a communication system, CRB may mean RB that constitutes a set of consecutive RBs (e.g., a common RB grid) based on a reference frequency (e.g., point A). Carriers and / or bandwidth portions may be arranged on the common RB grid. That is, the carrier and / or bandwidth portions may be composed of CRB(s). RBs or CRBs that constitute the bandwidth portions may be referred to as PRBs, and within the bandwidth portions, the CRB index may be appropriately converted to the PRB index.

[0099] Downlink data can be transmitted via the PDSCH. The base station can transmit PDSCH configuration information (e.g., scheduling information) to the terminal via the PDCCH. The terminal can obtain the PDSCH configuration information by receiving the PDCCH (e.g., downlink control information (DCI)). For example, the PDSCH configuration information can include the MCS (modulation coding scheme) used for transmitting and receiving the PDSCH, time resource information of the PDSCH, frequency resource information of the PDSCH, feedback resource information for the PDSCH, etc. The PDSCH can refer to a radio resource through which downlink data is transmitted and received. Alternatively, the PDSCH can refer to the downlink data itself. The PDCCH can refer to a radio resource through which downlink control information (e.g., DCI) is transmitted and received. Alternatively, the PDCCH can refer to the downlink control information itself.

[0100] A terminal can perform a monitoring operation on the PDCCH to receive a PDSCH transmitted from a base station. The base station can inform the terminal of the configuration information for the PDCCH monitoring operation using a higher layer message (e.g., an RRC (radio resource control) message). The configuration information for the PDCCH monitoring operation can include CORESET (control resource set) information and search space information.

[0101] CORESET information may include PDCCH DMRS (demodulation reference signal) information, PDCCH precoding information, PDCCH occasion information, etc. The PDCCH DMRS may be a DMRS used to demodulate the PDCCH. The PDCCH occasion may be a region where the PDCCH can exist. That is, the PDCCH occasion may be a region where DCI can be transmitted. The PDCCH occasion may be referred to as a PDCCH candidate. The PDCCH occasion information may include time resource information and frequency resource information of the PDCCH occasion. In the time domain, the length of the PDCCH occasion may be indicated in symbol units. In the frequency domain, the size of the PDCCH occasion may be indicated in RB units (e.g., in PRB (physical resource block) units or CRB (common resource block) units).

[0102] The search space information may include a coreset identifier (ID) associated with the search space, a period of PDCCH monitoring, and / or an offset. The period and offset of PDCCH monitoring may each be indicated on a slot-by-slot basis. In addition, the search space information may further include an index of the symbol at which the PDCCH monitoring operation begins.

[0103] A base station can configure a bandwidth part (BWP) for downlink communication. The BWP can be configured differently for each terminal. The base station can inform the terminal of the BWP configuration information using higher layer signaling. The higher layer signaling can mean "transmission operation of system information" and / or "transmission operation of RRC (radio resource control) message." The number of BWPs configured for one terminal can be one or more. The terminal can receive BWP configuration information from the base station and check the BWP(s) configured by the base station based on the BWP configuration information. When multiple BWPs are configured for downlink communication, the base station can activate one or more BWPs among the multiple BWPs. The base station can transmit the configuration information of the activated BWP(s) to the terminal using at least one of higher layer signaling, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or DCI. The base station can perform downlink communication using the activated BWP(s). The terminal can identify the activated BWP(s) by receiving configuration information of the activated BWP(s) from the base station, and perform a downlink reception operation in the activated BWP(s).

[0104]

[0105] The 3GPP Rel-19 NR MIMO WI (work item) is currently discussing ways to improve intra-cell and inter-cell beam management. These improvements primarily target the FR2 band and single TRP (sTRP) scenarios, aiming to leverage existing legacy CSI measurement and reporting configuration procedures while reducing overhead and latency. UE-initiated and event-driven beam management techniques could be utilized for this purpose.

[0106] The beam management defined up to the existing 3GPP Rel-18 was performed in a way that the network (i.e., the base station) led the beam management. In the existing network (or base station)-led beam management method, the base station can instruct the terminal to perform beam switching for downlink reception or uplink transmission. In this case, the base station determines the need for beam switching based on the measurement report received from the terminal and instructs the terminal to perform the beam switching, so it cannot determine the optimal beam until it receives the measurement report transmitted by the terminal.

[0107] However, terminal-driven and event-based beam management techniques refer to beam management operations initiated by the terminal side, which can first detect beam changes. Compared to network-driven beam management operations, this can reduce latency (e.g., the time required for the base station to instruct the terminal to perform measurement and measurement reports, and to receive the measurement reports from the terminal) and signaling overhead (e.g., the signaling overhead for the base station to configure measurement reports for the terminal and the signaling overhead due to frequent measurement reports).

[0108]

[0109] Specifically, the procedure by which a base station receives channel state information (CSI) for configured beam(s) from a terminal can be largely divided into two steps. First, a beam selection step may be performed in which the base station selects candidate beams to be used for communication. The beam selection may be performed based on reference signals (RSs) that are transmitted in specific beam directions. In this case, the reference signal may be a downlink CSI-RS transmitted by the base station or a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the terminal. The number of configured RS resources may vary depending on the number of candidate analog beams. Next, in the downlink, the terminal may perform beam measurement for the CSI-RS (or SSB) transmitted by the base station, and in the uplink, the base station may perform beam measurement for the SRS transmitted by the terminal. That is, in order to derive beam quality through beam measurement, the terminal can measure the received power of each RS (e.g., L1-RSRP (layer 1-reference signal received power)) and report it to the base station. At this time, the terminal can report a preferred DL RS ID (e.g., SSBRI, CRI) based on the measurement value for CSI-RS or SSB. In the above description, the CSI-RS or SSB can be configured to be transmitted periodically or aperiodically from the base station, and the terminal can report the measurement value to the base station based on the RS transmitted periodically or aperiodically.

[0110] All beam management procedures currently defined in the NR standard are base station-driven. That is, the beam management procedure defined in the current NR standard uses a method in which the base station requests the terminal to measure some (or specific) beams, and then the terminal reports the optimal beam to the base station. In addition, the base station can instruct the terminal to switch to some (or specific) beams for downlink reception and / or uplink transmission. This base station-driven beam management method can incur delay time and signaling overhead. This is because the terminal is always the first to know about beam changes and changes to the optimal beam, but the base station is not aware of the beam change until the terminal reports the measurement results.

[0111]

[0112] Therefore, using a terminal-driven and event-driven beam management approach, the terminal can trigger the reporting of beam measurement results when it determines that beam fluctuations are sufficiently large (i.e., when a specific event occurs). This allows the terminal to report beam measurement results only when necessary, significantly reducing uplink signaling overhead. Furthermore, since the terminal can report measurement results immediately whenever necessary, the delay for measurement reporting can be reduced.

[0113]

[0114] In NR communication systems, CSI-RS or SSB can be set to a terminal at a predetermined period through higher-layer signaling, and the terminal can perform beam measurements based on the corresponding period and report the measurement results to the base station. However, beam management operations cannot be performed until the terminal receives the RS periodically (or aperiodically) transmitted by the base station and transmits the measurement results for the received RS as a measurement report to the base station. In other words, in existing beam management procedures, the base station must frequently configure periodic beam reports or frequently trigger aperiodic beam reports to obtain the optimal beam for data transmission. This can result in significant overhead due to frequent measurement reports or control signaling for triggering. On the other hand, setting a low beam reporting frequency can lengthen the interval between measurement reports, which can prevent the base station from always obtaining the optimal beam, degrading network performance. Considering that the terminal performs beam measurements and is more aware of changes in beam quality, if beam management is initiated by the terminal, it can provide benefits in terms of both reporting overhead and timely reporting. When a terminal identifies that its current beam quality is deteriorating, it can initiate a beam report, allowing the base station to recognize the beam quality without performing frequent beam reports. However, a method for switching from network-driven beam management to terminal-driven beam management, as well as the signaling methods required for this, have not yet been specified. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes a method for a terminal to trigger terminal-driven beam management.

[0115]

[0116] In the following description, terminal-initiated and event-based beam management may be collectively referred to as 'terminal-initiated beam management.' Furthermore, in the following description, network-initiated beam management may be used with the same meaning as base station-initiated beam management. Furthermore, in the following description, 'beam management' may be used with the same meaning as 'beam management procedure,' 'beam management operation,' 'beam management method,' and 'beam management method,' as the case may be.

[0117]

[0118] FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a terminal-led beam management method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0119] Referring to FIG. 9, the base station (920) may provide measurement configuration information to the terminal (910) (S910). At this time, the measurement configuration information may be measurement configuration information for a legacy beam management method and may be controlled through RRC (radio resource control) signaling. That is, in step S910, the base station (920) and the terminal (910) may be performing beam management in a legacy manner (i.e., base station-led beam management).

[0120] The terminal (910) can perform beam measurement for CSI-RS and / or SSB based on measurement setting information provided by the base station (920) (S920). The beam measurement performed in step S920 can also be performed in the same manner as beam measurement performed for conventional beam management.

[0121] Meanwhile, the measurement setting information provided in step (S910) may be information for setting a separate CSI-RS or SSB for determining whether to trigger the terminal-led beam management proposed in the present disclosure, rather than measurement setting information for conventional beam management (i.e., base station-led beam management), or may be information for setting measurement for a separate pre-arranged signal or resource other than the CSI-RS or SSB.

[0122] The terminal (910) may determine the necessity of terminal-led beam management based on the results of the measurement performed in step S920 (S930). The various conditions under which the terminal determines the necessity of terminal-led beam management are described below.

[0123] If it is determined as a result of the judgment performed in step (S930) that there is a need to perform terminal-led beam management, the terminal (910) can transmit a terminal-led beam management triggering signal to trigger terminal-led beam management to the base station (920) (S940).

[0124] In this case, the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may be transmitted while being included in a signal related to beam management that the terminal (910) transmits to the base station (920), transmitted simultaneously with a signal related to beam management that the terminal (910) transmits to the base station (920), or transmitted at a time before or after the time at which the terminal (910) transmits a signal related to beam management that the terminal (910) transmits to the base station (920). That is, the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may be transmitted with a predetermined time / frequency correlation with the signal related to beam management that the terminal (910) transmits to the base station (920). Alternatively, the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may be transmitted independently of other signals related to beam management that the terminal (910) transmits to the base station (920).

[0125] The terminal-driven beam management triggering signal (e.g., a 1-bit indicator) may be transmitted as part of a beam management-related signal or via uplink control information (UCI). Alternatively, the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may be transmitted via higher layer signaling (e.g., medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE) or RRC signaling).

[0126] The base station (920) that receives the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may provide measurement configuration information (e.g., configuration of periodic or aperiodic CSI-RS or SSB) for terminal-driven beam management to the terminal (910), terminals including the terminal (910), a terminal group, or terminal groups (S950). In order to distinguish the measurement configuration information of step (S910) from the measurement configuration information of step (S950), the measurement configuration information of step (S910) may be referred to as first measurement configuration information, and the measurement configuration information of step (S950) may be referred to as second measurement configuration information. Meanwhile, the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the second measurement configuration information may be different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the first measurement configuration information. Alternatively, the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the second measurement setting information may be the same as the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the first measurement setting information.

[0127]

[0128] Meanwhile, although FIG. 9 only illustrates a case where the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal performs the role of activating the terminal-driven beam management, the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal may also perform the role of deactivating the terminal-driven beam management. For example, when the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal is configured as a 1-bit indicator, the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal set to a first value (e.g., 1) may indicate activation of the terminal-driven beam management, and the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal set to a second value (e.g., 0) may indicate deactivation of the terminal-driven beam management.

[0129] As mentioned above, the terminal (910) may decide to perform terminal-led beam management if the beam measurement value obtained through measurement in step (S930) satisfies a certain condition. Alternatively, the terminal (910) may stop terminal-led beam management if the beam measurement value obtained through measurement satisfies a certain condition. The above-described certain condition may be set based on the RSRP value (or RSSI value or SINR value).

[0130] Below, conditions for determining the necessity of terminal-led beam management in step (S930) are described.

[0131] Condition 1: The terminal may determine to trigger (or activate) the terminal-driven beam management if the RSRP value measured for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) is less than the set threshold value. The terminal may determine to stop (or deactivate) the terminal-driven beam management if the RSRP value measured for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) is greater than the set threshold value. Meanwhile, the terminal-driven beam management may be activated if the measured RSRP value is greater than the set threshold value, and the terminal-driven beam management may be deactivated if the measured RSRP value is less than the set threshold value. This opposite assumption may be equally applied to the conditions described below.

[0132] Second condition: The terminal may determine to trigger (or activate) the terminal-led beam management if the average value (or the lower limit, upper limit, or median value among the measured RSRP values) of the RSRP values ​​measured for a specific period of time for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) is less than the set threshold value. Meanwhile, the terminal may determine to stop (or deactivate) the terminal-led beam management if the average value (or the lower limit, upper limit, or median value among the measured RSRP values) of the RSRP values ​​measured for a specific period of time for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) is greater than the set threshold value.

[0133] Third Condition: The terminal may determine to activate the terminal-driven beam management if the difference between the RSRP value measured for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) and the RSRP value measured at a point immediately preceding the time point of measurement of the RSRP value (i.e., the previous unit time resource - slot, subframe, etc.) or at a point immediately preceding a specific time from the time point of measurement of the RSRP is less than the set threshold value. Meanwhile, the terminal may determine to deactivate the terminal-driven beam management if the difference between the RSRP value measured for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) and the RSRP value measured at a point immediately preceding the time point of measurement of the RSRP value (i.e., the previous unit time resource - slot, subframe, etc.) or at a point immediately preceding a specific time from the time point of measurement of the RSRP is greater than the set threshold value.

[0134] Condition 4: The terminal may determine whether to trigger (or activate) the terminal-driven beam management based on a value (e.g., an average value, a lower limit value, or a median value of the measured RSRP values) measured in the first time window for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) and a value (e.g., an average value, a lower limit value, or a median value of the measured RSRP values) measured during a second time window prior to the first time window. For example, if the difference between the average value of the RSRP values ​​measured during the first time window and the average value of the RSRP values ​​measured during the second time window is less than a set threshold value, the terminal-driven beam management may be determined to be activated. On the other hand, if the difference between the average value of the RSRP values ​​measured during the first time window and the average value of the RSRP values ​​measured during the second time window is greater than a set threshold value, the terminal-driven beam management may be determined to be deactivated.

[0135] FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are conceptual diagrams for explaining a method for determining whether terminal-led beam management is triggered according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0136] Referring to FIG. 10, a first time window (1010) for measuring an average RSRP value may be set to include four RSs among periodic RSs transmitted from a base station, and a second time window (1020) for measuring an average RSRP value to be compared may also be set to include four RSs among the periodic RSs. An overlapping section may exist between the first time window (1010) and the second time window (1020) illustrated in FIG. 10. For example, the first time window (1010) and the second time window (1020) may be set in a sliding manner so as to overlap each other.

[0137] Referring to FIG. 11, there may be no overlapping section between the first time window (1110) and the second time window (1120). A time offset may be defined between the first time window (1110) and the second time window (1120) that do not overlap each other.

[0138] Condition 5: The terminal may determine to trigger (or activate) the terminal-driven beam management if the difference between the RSRP value measured for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) and the average value (or, lower limit, upper limit, or median value among the measured RSRP values) of the RSRP values ​​measured for a specific period prior to the time point of measuring the RSRP value is less than the set threshold value. As another example, the terminal may determine to stop (or deactivate) the terminal-driven beam management if the difference between the RSRP value measured for the signal(s) or resource(s) set in step (S910) and the average value (or, lower limit, upper limit, or median value among the measured RSRP values) of the RSRP values ​​measured for a specific period prior to the time point of measuring the RSRP value is greater than the set threshold value.

[0139] FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are conceptual diagrams illustrating a method for determining whether terminal-led beam management is triggered according to other embodiments of the present invention.

[0140] Referring to FIG. 12, a time window (1220) for measuring an RSRP average value measured over a specific period is set to include four RSs among periodic RSs transmitted from a base station, and the time window (1220) may include an RS transmitted at a time point immediately prior to a measurement time point (1210) of a current RSRP value.

[0141] Referring to FIG. 13, an example is provided where a time window (1320) has a predetermined time offset from the measurement point (1310) of the current RSRP value.

[0142]

[0143] In order to determine the necessity of terminal-led beam management, the above conditions may be applied alone or in combination of two or more conditions. For example, depending on how the conventional base station-led beam management operation was performed (e.g., periodic CSI-RS transmission or aperiodic CSI-RS transmission, etc.), it may be determined which one or a combination of two or more of the above conditions will be applied. For example, if base station-led beam management was performed based on periodic CSI-RS transmission, the terminal may determine the necessity of terminal-led beam management based on the first condition, and if base station-led beam management was performed based on aperiodic CSI-RS transmission, the terminal may determine the necessity of terminal-led beam management based on the third condition.

[0144]

[0145] In the above description, the operation for a specific period can be extended to mean operation based on a specific number of RSs. Assuming SSB transmission, this can be extended to mean operation based on the SSB transmission period unit, the section (e.g., half-frame) in which SSBs are actually transmitted within the SSB transmission period, or the maximum or specific number of SSBs within the SSB transmission period.

[0146]

[0147] In the above description, the meaning that terminal-led beam management is performed can be interpreted to mean that the terminal transmits a signaling message (e.g., a 'terminal-led beam management triggering signal') instructing the base station to perform terminal-led beam management. In the above description, the meaning that the performance of terminal-led beam management is stopped can be interpreted to mean that the terminal transmits a signaling message instructing the base station to stop terminal-led beam management or switches to conventional base station-led beam management.

[0148]

[0149] In the above description, performing terminal-driven beam management may mean that the terminal performs beam reporting to the base station when a beam reporting event occurs (i.e., event-based beam management). For terminal-driven and event-based beam reporting, trigger event detection conditions for beam reporting by the terminal, conditions for evaluating whether the beam reporting trigger conditions are met by the terminal monitoring the RS, and / or trigger conditions for declaring a beam reporting event, etc. must be defined.

[0150] The trigger events being discussed for terminal-driven and event-based beam reporting and the conditions (e.g., thresholds, etc.) for determining whether the event has occurred can be defined as follows.

[0151] - Event-1: When the quality of the current beam (e.g., L1-RSRP) is lower than a certain threshold.

[0152] - Event-2: When the quality of one or more new beams (such as L1-RSRP) is better than the current beam by a threshold.

[0153] - Event-3: The quality of the new beam is higher than a certain threshold.

[0154] - Event-4: The quality of the current beam is lower than threshold 1, and the quality of at least one new beam is higher than threshold 2.

[0155] - Event-5: The absolute value of the difference between the quality of the current beam and the quality of at least one new beam is less than the threshold.

[0156] - Event-6: Current beam is not included in the top K beams (not included in the set beams for measurement and reporting).

[0157] - Event-7a: The quality of at least one new beam improves by a threshold value compared to the worst quality RS in the enabled TCI state.

[0158] - Event-7b: The quality of at least one new beam improves by a threshold value greater than that of the RS with the highest quality in the enabled TCI state.

[0159] - Event-8: M > 1 The quality of the new beam is improved by a threshold value compared to the current beam.

[0160] - Event-9: The quality of at least one new beam improves by a threshold value above the established reference RS (SSB or CSI-RS).

[0161]

[0162] In the above description, for terminal-led and event-based beam reporting, L1-RSRP may be supported as a measurement quantity for at least intra-cell and inter-cell SSB, and periodic CSI-RS for beam management may be supported.

[0163]

[0164] The quality indicators used for each of the above events may vary, and for certain events (e.g., Event-2 above), at least RSRP is supported as the quality indicator used, and filtering for L1-RSRP (if any) can be determined by the terminal implementation. A timer / counter can be defined to filter the indication of event triggering (similar to the beam failure detection (BFD) procedure of TS 38.321). Alternatively, filtered RSRP / L1-RSRP configured by NW can be supported.

[0165]

[0166] In the above description, the RS for measuring the current beam may be implicitly derived from a quasi-co-located (QCL) RS in the indicated TCI state, implicitly derived from a QCL RS in the activated TCI state, and / or explicitly configured by RRC or MAC-CE.

[0167]

[0168] In the above description, the RS for measuring a new beam can be explicitly configured by RRC signaling (e.g., reusing a legacy configuration for RS measurement) or MAC-CE. In this case, the current beam may be excluded from the configured RS set. Alternatively, the RS for measuring a new beam can be implicitly derived from the QCL RS in the activated TCI state and / or implicitly derived from the QCL RS in the configured TCI state.

[0169]

[0170] In the above description, if there are two QCL RSs in the TCI state, the measured RS can be derived from the RS based on a specific QCL type (e.g., QCL-TypeD).

[0171]

[0172] In the above description, the thresholds used in terminal-driven and event-based beam reporting can be set via RRC signaling per BWP / CC (component carrier), per trigger event, or per CSI report configuration.

[0173]

[0174] In the above description, the transmission of information via DCI may mean that the information is transmitted as control information via a physical channel. The transmission of information via DCI may also be extended to mean that the information is transmitted via UCI.

[0175]

[0176] The methods and devices proposed in this disclosure can be applied to intra-cell beam management and inter-cell beam management scenarios, and the methods and devices proposed in this disclosure can also be applied in mTRP operation with similar principles.

[0177]

[0178] The operations of the method according to the present disclosure can be implemented as a computer-readable program or code on a computer-readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes any type of recording device that stores information readable by a computer system. Furthermore, a computer-readable recording medium can be distributed across network-connected computer systems, allowing the computer-readable program or code to be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

[0179] Additionally, the computer-readable recording medium may include hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. The program instructions may include not only machine language codes produced by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc.

[0180] While some aspects of the present disclosure have been described in the context of a device, they may also represent a description of a corresponding method, wherein a block or device corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Similarly, aspects described in the context of a method may also be described as a corresponding block or item or a feature of a corresponding device. Some or all of the method steps may be performed by (or using) a hardware device, such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, at least one or more of the most significant method steps may be performed by such a device.

[0181] A programmable logic device (e.g., a field-programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described in the present disclosure. The field-programmable gate array may operate in conjunction with a microprocessor to perform one of the methods described in the present disclosure. In general, the methods are preferably performed by some hardware device.

[0182] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the claims below.

Claims

1. As a terminal method, A step of receiving first measurement setting information from a base station; A step of performing a measurement based on the first measurement setting information and determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on a result of the measurement; If it is determined that the terminal-led beam management is necessary, a step of transmitting a terminal-led beam management triggering signal to the base station; and Comprising a step of performing the above base station and terminal-led beam management, Terminal method.

2. In claim 1, In response to the terminal-led beam management triggering signal, the step of receiving second measurement setting information from the base station is further included. The above terminal-led beam management is performed based on the second measurement setting information. Terminal method.

3. In claim 2, The measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the above second measurement setting information are different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the above first measurement setting information. Terminal method.

4. In claim 1, The first measurement configuration information indicates at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a predetermined signal, or a predetermined time / frequency resource as a measurement target. Terminal method.

5. In claim 2, The second measurement setting information indicates at least one of CSI-RS and / or SSB as a measurement target. Terminal method.

6. In claim 1, The above terminal-led beam management triggering signal is transmitted via MAC (medium access control) CE (control element) and / or UCI (uplink control information). Terminal method.

7. In claim 1, The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the results of the above measurement is performed based on a comparison of a first measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement setting information at a first point in time with a first threshold value. Terminal method.

8. In claim 1, The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the results of the above measurement is performed based on a comparison of a second measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement setting information during the first time window with a second threshold value. Terminal method.

9. In claim 1, The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the result of the above measurement is performed based on a comparison of a difference between a first measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information at a first point in time and a third measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information at a point in time immediately before the first point in time or at a point in time before a specific time from the first point in time, and a third threshold value. Terminal method.

10. In claim 1, The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the results of the above measurement is performed based on a comparison of the difference between the fourth measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement setting information during the second time window and the fifth measurement value obtained by measuring during the third time window with the fourth threshold value. Terminal method.

11. In claim 1, The step of determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on the result of the above measurement is performed based on a comparison of a difference between a first measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information at a first time point and a sixth measurement value obtained by measuring the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) indicated by the first measurement configuration information during a fourth time window started before the first time point and a fifth threshold value. Terminal method.

12. As a method of base station, A step of transmitting first measurement setting information to a terminal; A step of receiving a terminal-led beam management triggering signal from the terminal; and In response to the terminal-led beam management triggering signal, a step of performing terminal-led beam management with the terminal is included. The terminal performs measurement based on the first measurement setting information and transmits the terminal-led beam management triggering signal when terminal-led beam management is required based on the result of the measurement. Base station method.

13. In claim 12, In response to the terminal-led beam management triggering signal, further comprising the step of transmitting second measurement setting information to the terminal, The above terminal-led beam management is performed based on the second measurement setting information. Terminal method.

14. In claim 13, The measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the above second measurement setting information are different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the above first measurement setting information. Base station method.

15. In claim 12, The first measurement configuration information indicates at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a predetermined signal, or a predetermined time / frequency resource as a measurement target. Base station method.

16. In claim 13, The second measurement setting information indicates at least one of CSI-RS and / or SSB as a measurement target. Base station method.

17. A terminal including at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor: A step of receiving first measurement setting information from a base station; A step of performing a measurement based on the first measurement setting information and determining whether terminal-led beam management is necessary based on a result of the measurement; If it is determined that the terminal-led beam management is necessary, a step of transmitting a terminal-led beam management triggering signal to the base station; and To perform the steps of performing the above base station and terminal-led beam management, Terminal.

18. In claim 17, The at least one processor further causes the terminal to perform the step of: receiving second measurement configuration information from the base station in response to the terminal-driven beam management triggering signal; The above terminal-led beam management is performed based on the second measurement setup. Terminal.

19. In claim 18, The measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the above second measurement setting information are different from the measurement target reference signal(s) or resource(s) set by the above first measurement setting information. Terminal.

20. In claim 1, The first measurement configuration information indicates at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a predetermined signal, or a predetermined time / frequency resource as a measurement target. Terminal.

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