Methods and nodes for reporting CJT CSI with time and frequency pre-compensation

Abstract

There is provided a method performed by a wireless device for reporting Channel State Information (CSI) in a network. The method comprises: receiving a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a precoding matrix indicator, PMI, and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences; receiving a second configuration indicating whether the one or more delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report; computing the CSI of the first CSI report according to the first and the second configurations; and reporting to a network node the first CSI report.

Description

METHODS AND NODES FOR REPORTING CJT CSI WITH TIME AND FREQUENCY PRE-COMPENSATION RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefits of priority of US 63 / 553,708, entitled “METHODS FOR REPORTING CJT CSI WITH TIME AND FREQUENCY PRE- COMPENSATION” and filed at the USPTO on February 15, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This application relates to communication networks and more particularly to methods and apparatuses / nodes for reporting coherent joint transmission (CJT) Channel State information (CSI) with time and frequency pre-compensation. BACKGROUND

[0003] Tracking Reference Signal (TRS)

[0004] Similar to Long Term Evolution (LTE), CSI-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) was introduced in New Radio (NR) for channel measurement in the downlink (DL). A CSI-RS is transmitted over an antenna port (either a physical or virtual antenna) on certain Resource Elements (REs) for a User Equipment (UE) to measure the DL channel associated with the antenna port. CSI-RS for this purpose is also referred to as Non-Zero Power (NZP) CSI-RS. The supported number of antenna ports or CSI-RS ports in NR are {1,2,4,8,12,16,24,32}.

[0005] A TRS is a special NZP CSI-RS with one port and is used for time and frequency tracking in the DL. Fig. 1 shows an example of a TRS resource configuration in a Physical Resource Block (PRB) and 2 slots. A UE can be configured with one or more periodic TRSs, or one or more periodic TRSs and aperiodic TRSs in NR. For a periodic TRS, it has a periodicity and a slot offset. The periodicity can be one of 2ఓ^^^slots where ^^^ൌ10, 20, 40, or 80. A TRS occupies multiple RBs. When a NZP CSI-RS resource set contains “trs- info”, then the NZP CSI- RS resource set is for TRS.

[0006] CSI framework in NR

[0007] In NR, a UE can be configured with one or multiple CSI report configurations for DL CSI feedback by the UE. A CSI report may contain one or more of:

[0008] - Channel rank indicator (RI);

[0009] - Antenna precoding matrix indicator (PMI);

[0010] - Channel quality indicator (CQI);

[0011] - DL reference signal received power (RSRP) or signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR);

[0012] - CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI).

[0013] Each CSI report configuration is associated with a Banwidth part (BWP) and contains all necessary information required for a CSI report, including:

[0014] - a CSI resource configuration for channel measurement;

[0015] - reporting type, i.e., aperiodic CSI (on Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)), periodic CSI (on Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or semi-persistent CSI (on PUCCH, and DL Control Information (DCI) activated on PUSCH);

[0016] - report quantity specifying what to be reported, such as RI, PMI, CQI, RSRP, etc.

[0017] A UE can be configured with one or multiple CSI resource configurations for channel measurement. Each CSI resource configuration for channel measurement can contain one or more NZP CSI-RS resource sets. For each NZP CSI-RS resource set, it can further contain one or more NZP CSI-RS resources.

[0018] Periodic CSI starts after it has been configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) and is reported on PUCCH, the associated NZP CSI-RS resource(s) are also periodic.

[0019] For aperiodic CSI, it is reported on PUSCH and is activated by a CSI request bit field in DCI. The associated NZP CSI-RS resource(s) can be either periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic. The linkage between a code point of the CSI request field and a CSI report configuration is via an aperiodic CSI trigger state. A UE is configured by higher layer with a list of aperiodic CSI trigger states, where each of the trigger states contains an associated CSI report configuration. The CSI request field is used to indicate one of the aperiodic CSI trigger states and thus, one CSI report configuration.

[0020] If there are more than one NZP CSI-RS resource set and / or more than one CSI- Interference Measurement (IM) resource set are associated with a CSI report configuration, only one NZP CSI-RS resource set is selected in the aperiodic CSI trigger state. Thus, each aperiodic CSI report is based on a single NZP CSI-RS resource set.

[0021] CQI and PMI can be reported per subband or wideband. In case of wideband CQI or PMI, the CQI or PMI is for the whole bandwidth configured for CSI report. In case of subband QCI or PMI, the CQI or PMI is reported for each subband.

[0022] PDSCH transmission from Multiple TRPs

[0023] In NR Rel-16, non-coherent joint Physical DL Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission from two transmission and reception points (TRPs) was introduced in which a subset of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) layers of a PDSCH to a UE are transmitted from a first TRP and the rest of layers of the PDSCH are transmitted from a second TRP in the same time and frequency resource. Different layers are separated and received at the UE with MIMO capable receiver.

[0024] An example is shown in Fig. 2, where a PDSCH with two layers are scheduled with the first layer transmitted from TRP1 and the second layer from TRP2. This is signaled in the corresponding DCI by indicating a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) codepoint associated with two TCI states, a first and a second TCI states, and Demodulation (DM)-RS ports x and y in two CDM groups, where DM-RS port x in the first CDM group is associated with the first TCI state and DM-RS port y in the second CDM group is associated with the second TCI state. The first TCI state may contain TRS1 as the QCL source RS and the second TCI state may contain TRS2 as the QCL source RS.

[0025] Coherent Joint transmission (CJT) of PDSCH over Multiple TRPs

[0026] In NR Rel-18, downlink CJT from multiple TRPs is supported by extending the Rel- 16 enhanced type II codebook and Rel-17 further enhanced type II port selection codebook across multiple TRPs. The Rel-16, enhanced type II codebook is specified in clause 5.2.2.2.5 of 3GPP TS38.214 V18.0.0, and the enhanced type II codebook for CJT is specified in clause 5.2.2.2.8 of 3GPP TS38.214 V18.0.0. The Rel-17 enhanced type II port selection codebook is specified in clause 5.2.2.2.7 of 3GPP TS38.214 V18.0.0, and the enhanced type II port selection codebook for CJT is specified in clause 5.2.2.2.9 of 3GPP TS38.214 V18.0.0.

[0027] In CJT, all layers are transmitted from the multiple TRPs used for CJT. An example with two layers and two TRPs is shown in Fig. 3, where data symbols of the two layers are transmitted from two TRPs by applying two different precoding matrices at TRP1 and TRP2. The two precoders are designed such that for each layer, the signals received from the two TRPs are phase aligned at the UE and thus, are coherently combined.

[0028] There are a number of challenges in supporting CJT. Firstly, propagation delays (including any transmit timing differences) between different TRPs and a UE can be quite different. These large delay differences would result in a large frequency selective composite channel, i.e., the channel amplitude and phase vary rapidly across frequency. In existing NR CSI feedback, a precoding matrix per subband is reported. The subband size can vary between 2 RBs to 32RBs as specified in 3GPP TS38.214. Fig. 4 shows phase variation within a subband for different subband sizes with one microsecond (1us) delay difference between two TRPs. It can be seen that even with 2RB subband size, the phase variation exceeds 130 degrees. For constructive combining of two signals, their phase difference should be less than 90 degrees. Therefore, with current subband size and per subband CSI feedback, signals from multiple TRPs cannot be coherently combined with even 1us delay difference.

[0029] Secondly, even though a same nominal transmit frequency may be used at multiple TRPs, due to local oscillator stability, there will be some actual transmit frequency differencebetween the multiple TRPs. In 3GPP RAN4, the maximum transmit frequency error for a base station is specified in TS38.104 and is illustrated in Fig. 5. For the most stringent + / -0.05ppm requirement, there will be some residual frequency errors. These frequency errors means that the phase of a signal will change over time. 5

[0030] Delay difference and frequency difference pre-compensation for CJT over Multiple TRPs

[0031] Fig. 6 shows an example of transmission of a signal ^^^^^^ from two TRPs. ^^^^^^ is multiplied by two co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients ^^ and ^^ଶat the two TRPs being transmitted to the UE. The effective propagation channels from the two TRPs to the UE, 10 including transmitter and receiver circuitries and antenna patterns associated with the two TRPs, are denoted and ℎଶ, respectively. ^^^and ^^ଶare the transmit frequencies and ^^^and ^^ଶthe random initial phases at the two TRPs. ^^ is the propagation delay (including possible timing offsets) difference between the two TRPs.

[0032] The composite signal at the UE can be expressed as:15

[0034] For narrow-band signal and when the delay ^^ is small, the signal envelope doesn’t change much, i.e., ^^^^^ െ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^. Thus, we can revise (Eq. 1) as:20

[0038] To coherently combine the signals from the two TRPs, the following co-phasing / pre- compensation coefficients may be used:

[0039] ^^ ି^^∠^^ ൌ ^^ భାఝభ^ (Eq. 4a)25

[0041] where ∠^^^^denotes the angle of a complex variable ^^. The resulted composite signal, when the above co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients in Eq.4a-4b are applied, is:

[0043] Alternatively, the co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients can be as follows:

[0044] ^^^ ൌ 1 (Eq. 6a)30

[0046] The resulted composite signal, when the above co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients in Eq.6a-6b are applied, is then:

[0048] Note that the above applies also in cases where multiple antenna ports are deployed in each of the TRPs. In that case, additional precoding or beamforming is applied to ^^^^^^, where ^^^^^^ is data associated with a MIMO layer of PDSCH or DM-RS.

[0049] For a given MIMO layer, the signal received from TRP1 would becomeis a ^^^by M channel matrix, ^^^is a ^^^by 1 precoding vector associated with the corresponding MIMO layer, ^^^is the number of antenna ports deployed at TRPs and M is the number of receive antennas at the UE. Similarly, for the given MIMO layer, the signal received from TRP2 would become ^^ଶ^^ଶ^^ଶ^^^^^^^^^^ଶగ^మ^௧ିఛ^ାఝమ^, where ^^ଶis a ^^ଶby M channel matrix, ^^ଶis a ^^ଶby 1 precoding vector associated with the corresponding MIMO layer, ^^ଶis the number of antenna ports deployed at TRP2.

[0050] CJT from multiple TRPs is possible for the case of multiple PDSCH layers. For R PDSCH layers, each TRP will use a corresponding N1 x R precoding matrix wherein each column in the precoding matrix corresponds to one of the R MIMO layers. In the case of R PDSCH layers, the transmitted data ^^^^^^will consists of R different symbols (i.e., one symbol corresponding to each of the R PDSCH layers).

[0051] For CJT, it is envisioned that precoding matrices / vectors and the co-phasing / pre- compensation coefficientsare reported by the UE to the network.

[0052] In order to derive the co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficientsand ^^ଶ, one or more of the following need to be reported from the UE to the network: transmit frequency associated with a TRP, transmit frequency difference between two TRPs, delay associated with a TRP, delay difference between two TRPs. SUMMARY

[0053] There currently exist certain challenge(s). With DL CJT, the same data / layers are transmitted from multiple cooperative TRPs and the signals from the multiple TRPs are coherently combined at the UE through proper joint antenna precoding at the TRPs. This can be achieved by CSI feedback where the UE measures the channels associated with the TRPs and reports back a joint precoder across the multiple TRPs such that the precoded signals from these TRPs are phase- aligned when they reach the UE.

[0054] However, there are a number of challenges in CJT. For instance, the cooperated TRPs may not be perfectly synchronized in time, such timing misalignment, together with the propagation delay differences between the different TRPs, may result in a large frequency selective composite channel, i.e., the channel amplitude and / or phase vary rapidly across frequency. In addition, although the same nominal transmit frequency may be considered for the cooperative TRPs, due to local oscillator stability, there may be some actual transmit frequency drifts fordifferent TRPs. Therefore, it is desirable for the UE to measure and feedback such delay and frequency difference between TRPs so that they can be pre-compensated at the NW for a joint transmission. With this motivation, the following objective has been approved in Rel-19 WID for CJT enhancement:

[0055] Specify UE reporting enhancement for CJT deployments under non-ideal synchronization and backhaul, targeting FR1, both FDD and TDD a. Inter-TRP time misalignment and frequency / phase offset measurement and reporting, assuming legacy CSI-RS design, with stand-alone aperiodic reporting on PUSCH

[0056] As explained above, in Rel-19, dedicated signaling for time / frequency and / or phase mis-alignment between different TRPs can be reported in a report separate from e.g. the legacy CJT CSI reports introduced in Rel-18. The measurements of time / frequency and / or phase mis- alignment among TRPs are expected to be based on TRP specific CSI-RS resources (including TRSs). This requires that each TRP transmits its own TRS.

[0057] When a legacy Rel-18 CJT CSI is reported by a UE, the CSI comprises information of phase differences per PMI subband between TRPs configured for the CSI report. The phase differences can be due to a combination of delay differences, frequency differences and channel difference between the TRPs. If the delay differences and frequency differences are also reported separately and a DL joint transmission is pre-compensated based on the reported delay and frequency differences and precoded based on the CJT CSI, the phases due to delay and frequency differences among the TRPs are counted twice and incorrect phases can be applied to the joint transmission.

[0058] An example is shown in Fig. 7, where the phase differences between two TRPs are caused by a delay difference, ^^, between two TRPs plus a constant phase difference ^^^. WithRel-18 CJT CSI feedback, N phase values ^^^^, ^^ଶ, … ,^^ே} would be reported for subbands at {respectively. Ideally, ^^^ ൌ 2^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^. These phase values would be applied to asignal at one of the TRPs at the respective subbands such that the signals received from the two TRPs are phase aligned at the UE at least at some subcarrier frequencies in each subband. This works fine if the phase change is small within each subband. Otherwise, if there is a large phase change in each subband, good phase alignment cannot be achieved for all subcarriers in each subband.

[0059] When the delay difference is measured and reported by the UE, the phase differences due to the delay difference between the two TRPs can be pre-compensated at the network byapplying, e.g., a sub-carrier dependent phase correction to the signal at one of the two TRPs. After the pre-compensation, only the phase difference ^^^remains in this example.

[0060] When both Rel-18 CJT CSI and the delay difference are reported by the UE and if both^^^^, ^^ଶ, … , ^^ே} and the delay difference pre-compensation are applied to the signal at one of theTRPs, the signals received from the two TRPs would not be time aligned because the phase differences caused by the delay difference are corrected / compensated twice. Therefore, this is a problem. Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

[0061] In this disclosure, different methods on how the network can determine whether the UE has performed the CJT CSI report with or without frequency / delay pre-compensation are described. Different methods on how the network can indicate to the UE to pre-compensate the measured channel at the UE before computing CJT CSI are proposed. The quantities for pre- compensation include delay difference and / or frequency difference at multiple TRPs involved in CJT. For example, the disclosure describes how the network via an explicit signaling can request one or more of:

[0062] - a pre-compensated CJT CSI where the CJT CSI is calculated / computed after pre- compensating the measured channel, where the UE pre-compensates the measured channel for delay difference and / or frequency difference between TRPs;

[0063] - a non-pre-compensated CJT where the CJT CSI is calculated / computed using the measured channel without pre-compensating the measured channel for delay difference and / or frequency difference between TRPs.

[0064] There is provided a method at the UE for CSI reporting, such as pre-compensated CJT CSI reports. The method comprises: receiving a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a PMI and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences; receiving a second configuration indicating whether the one or more delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report; computing the CSI of the first CSI report according to the first and the second configurations; and reporting to a network node the first CSI reportThere is also provided a method at the network node for receiving pre- compensated CJT CSI reports.

[0065] There is provided a method at the network node for CSI. The method comprises: sending a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a PMI and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences; sending a second configuration indicating whether the one ormore delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report; and receiving the first CSI report, based on the first and second configurations.

[0066] There are also provided a UE and a network node for implementing these methods, respectively.

[0067] Certain embodiments may provide one or more technical advantage(s).

[0068] The advantage of the proposed solutions is that the network will know if the received CJT CSI report is derived with or without delay / frequency compensation (e.g., CJT Type II CSI report for mode 1 or mode 2 as specified in NR Rel-18), such that the network will have the correct understanding on whether the UE performs pre-compensation of delay difference and / or frequency difference on the measured channel before computing / calculating the CJT CSI. In other words, the proposed solutions provide the network node and the UE with the same understanding about the delay difference and / or frequency difference compensation process. The proposed solutions are related to one of the topics of interest in Rel-19 of NR as well as it can be applied for D-MIMO which is expected to be a key component in 6G. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] Exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the following figures, in which:

[0070] Fig.1 illustrates an example of RE allocation for a TRS in NR.

[0071] Fig.2 illustrates an example of PDCCH repetition from multiple TRPs.

[0072] Fig.3 illustrates an example of CJT over two TRPs.

[0073] Fig.4 illustrates an example showing phase variation over a subband for a 1us delay difference.

[0074] Fig.5 illustrates a 3gpp minimum requirement on transmit frequency error.

[0075] Fig.6 illustrates an example of CJT from two TRPs.

[0076] Fig.7 illustrates an example of phase difference between two TRPs caused by a delay difference between the two TRPs.

[0077] Fig.8 illustrates an example of phase rotation across subcarriers and OFDM symbols due to time delay and frequency offsets.

[0078] Fig.9. illustrates an example of a signal diagram in a network with a plurality of TRPs, according to an embodiment.

[0079] Fig. 10 illustrates an example of a flow chart of a method in a UE, according to an embodiment.

[0080] Fig.11 illustrates an example of a flow chart of a method in a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0081] Fig.12 shows an example of a communication system, according to an embodiment.

[0082] Fig.13 shows a schematic diagram of a UE, according to an embodiment.

[0083] Fig.14 shows a schematic diagram of a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0084] Fig.15 illustrates a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] 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.

[0086] Although the term TRP is used in this disclosure, the term TRP may not be captured in 3GPP specifications. Instead, a TRP can be represented by any one of ‘NZP CSI-RS resource set’, ‘NZP CSI-RS resource’, ‘TRS resource set’, and / or ‘TRS resource’, or in general DL-RS. The terminologies ‘delay(s)’ and ‘propagation delay(s)’ may be used interchangeably in the disclosure. The terms ‘NZP CSI-RS’ and ‘CSI-RS’ may be used interchangeably as well.

[0087] In 6G, other terms than NZP CSI-RS might be used. For example, a new DL RS or DL synchronization signal might be introduced which then can be used instead of NZP CSI-RS. The 6G DL RSs and / or DL synchronization signals might be aperiodically, semi-persistently or periodically transmitted from the network (NW), e.g. gNB, to the UE.

[0088] Although the embodiments below are written with respect to NZP CSI-RS resource sets, these embodiments are non-limiting and are equally applicable when NZP CSI-RS resource sets are replaced by NZP CSI-RS resource(s), TRS(s), TRS resource set(s), and / or DL-RS(s) or any other reference signals.

[0089] Although the subsequent description is written from the perspective of reporting delay differences and / or frequency differences, the embodiments presented herein are non-limiting and also equally applicable to e.g., phase difference, or phase changes in a relative time unit, etc. Further, the delay difference, frequency difference or phase difference can all be referred to as difference (between a plurality of TRPs) in this disclosure.

[0090] As explained earlier, there may exist time misalignment (or delay difference) between the multiple cooperated TRPs. On top of this, the propagation delays between different TRPs to a serving UE may also be quite different. The above timing (or delay) difference may make the multi-TRP channel very frequency selective. As a result, the channel phase may change rapidly within a frequency sub-band. In addition, although the same nominal transmit frequency may be considered for the cooperative TRPs, due to local oscillator stability, the actual carrier frequencyat different TRPs can be different. Such frequency differences would cause phase differences between the TRPs time varying, which means a CSI feedback can be outdated quickly if the frequency differences are large. It should be noted that the delay difference is not limited to the difference in propagation delay, local clocks / oscillators, processing delay between the multiple TRPs, but can comprise all kinds of delays.

[0091] To deal with the issues due to large time mis-alignment and / or propagation delay differences, and frequency differences / offsets between TRPs, the delay and frequency differences can be measured and reported by the UE to the NW. The NW can pre-compensate the differences before joint transmitting a DL channel or signal (e.g., DL PDSCH transmission).

[0092] For Rel-18 CJT CSI based on channel measurements, ^^, the precoder, ^^, reported in the CJT CSI would contain a phase component caused by the delay and frequency differences. If the delay and frequency differences are reported by the UE and pre-compensated at the NW before the DL joint data transmission (e.g., PDSCH) with antenna precoding with ^^, compensation for the phase due to delay differences would be applied twice, which could cause phase mis-alignment between the transmitted signals from different TRPs.

[0093] To solve the problem, one solution is to remove the phase components due to the delay differences and frequency differences from the channel measurements, ^^, which would result ina new channel matrix ^^^ . The CJT CSI is then computed based on ^^^ (instead of ^^ ) and theresulting precoder^^^ would not contain any phase component caused by the delay and frequency differences between the TRPs. DL joint data transmissions with precoder^^^ combined with pre- compensation of the delay and frequency differences would result in phase alignment among signals received from different TRPs at the UE. CJT CSI computed this way is referred to as pre- compensated CJT CSI in this disclosure.

[0094] For the example shownthe time when the channels are measured and it assumes that the UE is frequency locked to ^^^.Then, ^^^ ൌ ^ℎ^^^^ఝభ ,ℎଶ^^^ఝమ^ , where the phase component due to time and frequency differencesare removed from ^^.

[0095] In general, when a CSI-RS of a CSI-RS antenna port is transmitted in multiple OFDM symbols and / or multiple subcarriers, the received CSI-RS signal would be phase rotated across the OFDM symbols and subcarriers due to time delay and frequency offset with respect to the nominal timing and frequency.

[0096] An example is illustrated in Fig. 8, where two CSI-RS reference signals ^^^and ^^ଶrespectively from TRP#1 and TRP#2 are illustrated.has an associated time delay and frequency ^^^, and ^^ଶhas an associated time delay ^^ଶand frequency ^^ଶ, ^^^is the UE’s localoscillator frequency. ^^^^^, ^^^ and ^^^^^, ^^) are the received signals at the UE after down conversionand Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing. Due to the time delay and frequency offsets, the received signals are phase rotated across the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols and subcarriers as illustrated. For pre-compensated CSI estimation, the phaserotations are first removed from ^^^^^, ^^^ and ^^^^^, ^^) assuming that^^ଶ, ^^^ െ ^^^, and ^^ଶ െ ^^^ havebeen estimated. The resulted signals are ^^′^^^, ^^^and ^^′^^^, ^^), and ^^′^^^, ^^^ ൌ ^^^^^^, ^^^ℎ^^^, ^^^^^^ఝభandy’^^^, ^^^ ൌ ^^ଶ^^^,^^^ℎ^^^,^^^^^^ఝమ. Channel estimation based on ^^′^^^,^^^ and ^^′^^^,^^) is denoted as ^^^ .

[0097] For time delay difference reporting, it can mean to report ^^ଶ െ ^^^ or bothand ^^ଶ.Similarly, for frequency difference reporting, it can mean ^^ଶ െ ^^^ or both ^^^ െ ^^^ and ^^ଶ െ ^^^,where ^^^ െ ^^^ and ^^ଶ െ ^^^ denote frequency difference between TRP1 / TRP2 and UE,respectively. Removing the phase components due to time delay from ^^^^^,^^^ and ^^^^^,^^ ) isreferred to as time delay or difference pre-compensation, and removing the phase components dueto frequency offsets from ^^^^^, ^^^ and ^^^^^, ^^) is referred to as frequency offset or difference pre-compensation.

[0098] Now turning to Fig. 9, an example of a signal diagram between a UE, a gNB and 2 TRPs, according to an embodiment, will be described. Note that not all steps in the flowchart / signal diagram may be needed and that the steps might be performed in different orders than those shown in the figure. For instance, the UE may receive all RRC configurations at the same time (via RRC reconfiguration message). There could be also more than 2 TRPs.

[0099] In an optional Step 1, the UE sends a capability report to the NW on whether the UE supports pre-compensated CJT CSI reporting, where the reporting can be aperiodic or semi- persistent. The UE capability can for example indicate support for one or more embodiments described in this disclosure.

[0100] In Step 2, the UE receives one or more CSI report configurations for reporting (Step 2a) delay differences and / or frequency differences between TRPs (referred to as a first CSI report), and a CSI report configuration for reporting (Step 2b) the pre-compensated CJT CSI (referred to as a second CSI report). For example, the two CSI reports in Steps 2a and 2b may be configured as two separate CSI reporting configurations. Alternatively, the two CSI reports in Steps 2a and 2b may be configured as part of a joint CSI reporting configuration. It should be noted that the first CSI report is related or linked to the second CSI report, since the first CSI report includes information of time delay and / or frequency delay to be used in the determination of the CJT CSI, which is reported in the second CSI report.

[0101] In one example, the network configures the UE with an indication for pre- compensating the channel measured on the channel measurement resources beforecomputing / calculating the pre-compensated CJT CSI report in step 2b. The indication can be explicitly configured via one or more higher layer parameter(s), such as RRC parameters, or the indication can be implicit. Let us denote the channel measured on the channel measurementresources corresponding to the CSI report in step 2b as ^^ . The pre-compensated channelmeasurement corresponding to the CSI report in step 2b is denoted as ^^^ . As discussed above,when the network configures the UE with an indication, the pre-compensated CJT CSI report iscomputed / calculated based on the pre-compensated channel ^^^ .

[0102] The configuration of the indication can, for example, contain one or more of the following information:

[0103] - An indication that the UE should perform one or more of: a. Pre-compensation of delay difference(s) between TRPs, where the delay difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the delay difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre- compensation. b. Pre-compensation of frequency difference between different TRPs, where the frequency difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the frequency difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre-compensation.

[0104] - An indication that the UE should perform one or more of the following pre- compensations, but the UE shall indicate in the CJT CSI report if it has performed one or more pre-compensations, e.g., a. Pre-compensation of delay difference(s) between TRPs, where the delay difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the delay difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre- compensation. b. Pre-compensation of frequency difference between different TRPs, where the frequency difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the frequency difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre-compensation.

[0105] - A flag indicating that the UE is not allowed to perform one or more of the following pre-compensations: a. Pre-compensation of delay difference(s) between TRPs, where the delay difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the delay difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre- compensation. b. Pre-compensation of frequency difference between different TRPs, where the frequency difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the frequency difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre-compensation.

[0106] - When a UE is configured with both (a) a delay difference and / or frequency difference report in step 2a, and (b) a CJT CSI report in step 2b, then the UE performs pre-compensation without explicit configuration for the following: a. Pre-compensation of delay difference(s) between TRPs, where the delay difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the delay difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre- compensation. b. Pre-compensation of frequency difference between different TRPs, where the frequency difference(s) are the ones computed / calculated and / or reported as part of the CSI report in step 2a. In some cases, the frequency difference(s) values reported as part of the latest reporting instance in step 2a are used for pre-compensation.

[0107] In one example, the UE receives the CSI report configurations for reporting CJT CSI based on a CJT codebook (e.g., the Enhanced Type II codebook for CJT captured in clause 5.2.2.2.8 of 3GPP TS 38.214 V18.1.0) for CJT transmission using the multiple TRPs. The pre- compensation of delay and / or frequency differences between TRPs can be indicated by RRC. For example, an RRC parameter can be introduced in the CSI report configuration (e.g., the RRC parameter is introduced in the CSI-ReportConfig information element (IE) specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V18.0.0). Alternatively, an RRC parameter can be introduced in the codebook configuration (e.g., the RRC parameter is introduced in the CodebookConfig IE specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V18.0.0).

[0108] In one example, the RRC parameter is a flag parameter which can be enabled or disabled. If the flag parameter is enabled, the UE first pre-compensates the measured channel ^^to derive the pre-compensated channel ^^^ (i.e., the UE removes the effect of delay differenceand / or frequency difference from ^^ to derive the pre-compensated channel ^^^ ). The UE can thenderive the CJT CSI (e.g., PMI / CQI / RI) based on the pre-compensated channel ^^^ . If the flagparameter is disabled, the UE does not perform pre-compensation on the measured channel ^^, and derives the CJT CSI (e.g., PMI / CQI / RI) based on the measured channel ^^.

[0109] In another example, the RRC parameter indicates which quantity among delay difference and / or frequency difference shall be pre-compensated. If the RRC parameter indicates ‘pre-compensate delay difference’, then the UE shall pre-compensate the measured channel ^^ fordelay difference to derive the pre-compensated channel ^^^ . If the RRC parameter indicates ‘pre-compensate frequency difference’, then the UE shall pre-compensate the measured channel ^^ forfrequency difference to derive the pre-compensated channel ^^^ . If the RRC parameter indicates‘pre-compensate delay difference and frequency difference’, then the UE shall pre-compensate the measured channel ^^ for delay difference and frequency difference to derive the pre-compensatedchannel ^^^ . In all three cases, the UE can then derive the CJT CSI (e.g., PMI / CQI / RI) based onthe pre-compensated channel ^^^ . If the RRC parameter is not configured, then the UE does notperform pre-compensation on the measured channel ^^ , and derives the CJT CSI (e.g.,PMI / CQI / RI) based on the measured channel ^^.

[0110] In another example, an RRC parameter is introduced in the CSI-ReportConfig IE to include information about the associated CSI reporting configuration (e.g., reportConfigId which represents the CSI reporting configuration ID) from which the delay difference and / or frequency difference shall be obtained. For instance, this RRC parameter is configured in the CSI report configuration associated with the CJT CSI report in Step 2b, and the parameter indicates the reporting of the configuration ID of the CSI report for delay difference and / or frequency difference report in Step 2a.

[0111] In another example, an RRC parameter (e.g., reportConfigId- AssociatedReportConfigInfo-r19) is introduced in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList IE (as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331) to include information about the associated CSI reporting configuration (e.g., reportConfigId-AssociatedReportConfigInfo-r19 which represents the CSI reporting configuration ID) from which the delay difference and / or frequency difference shall be obtained. In one example, each CSI-AperiodicTriggerState of the CJT CSI report in Step 2b is configured with one reportConfigId-AssociatedReportConfigInfo-r19 pointing to the CSI report associated with the delay difference and / or frequency different. An example is shown below.CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList information element

[0112] Another example is shown below. In this example, the field ‘applyIndicatedCompensation-r19’ provides the reportConfigId associated with the CSI report in which the delay difference and / or frequency difference are reported. In addition, the ‘applyIndicatedCompensation-r19’ may optionally contain another parameter indicating which quantities shall be pre-compensated (e.g., precompensated_quantities). This parameter indicates whether the pre-compensated quantity shall be delay difference only, frequency difference only, or both delay difference and frequency difference. CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList information element -- --CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrOfCSI-AperiodicTriggers)) OF CSI- AperiodicTriggerState CSI-AperiodicTriggerState ::= SEQUENCE { associatedReportConfigInfoList SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofReportConfigPerAperiodicTrigger)) OF CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo, ..., } CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo ::= SEQUENCE { reportConfigId CSI-ReportConfigId, ..., applyIndicatedCompensation-r19 { reportConfigId CSI- ReportConfigId, precompensated_quantities ENUMERATED {delayDifference, frequencyDifference, delayDifferenceAndFrequencyDifference} } OPTIONAL, -- Need R } -- TAG-CSI-APERIODICTRIGGERSTATELIST-STOP -- ASN1STOP

[0113] In some examples, each CSI-AperiodicTriggerState of the CJT CSI report is configured with a list of CSI configuration IDs associated with CSI reports for delay difference and / or frequency difference reporting. For instance, one CJT CSI report can be associated with a CSI delay difference and / or frequency difference report with different reportQuantities, e.g., “reportConfigId = 0” has “reportQuantity=delayDifference”, “reportConfigId = 1” has“reportQuantity= delayDifference-frequencyOffset”, “reportConfigId = 2” has “reportQuantity= delayDifference-frequencyOffset-phase offset”, etc.

[0114] As part of the reporting configurations, the UE also receives the channel measurement resources (e.g., TRS resources and / or NZP CSI-RS resources) to be used for the two CSI reports in Steps 2a and 2b. In some examples, the channel measurement resources configured for the two CSI reports in Steps 2a and 2b may be different (e.g., a first one or more measurement resources or resource sets configured for the CSI report in Step 2a, and a second one or more measurement resources or resource sets configured for the CSI report in Step 2b). Alternatively, the channel measurement resources configured for the two CSI reports in Steps 2a and 2b may be the same.

[0115] In one example, the UE receives the configurations of N>1 different NZP CSI-RS resource sets where the CSI-RS resources are used to measure e.g., the delay difference and / or frequency difference between the N TRPs. Each of the NZP CSI-RS resource sets contain at least one NZP CSI-RS resource. The NZP CSI-RS resource sets that are configured in this example can be used as channel measurement resources for one of the CSI reports in Step 2a, and the CSI report in Step 2b, or both.

[0116] In some examples, the N>1 different NZP CSI-RS resource sets may be configured as part of the CSI-ResourceConfig IE, where a new report quantity for reporting delay difference and / or frequency difference is introduced. In some examples, each of the N>1 NZP CSI-RS resource sets is configured with parameter “trs-info” set to true which means that the NZP CSI-Rs resource in each of the N NZP CSI-RS resource sets is a TRS. In some examples, the N>1 NZP CSI-RS resources are transmitted in orthogonal time / frequency resources. In one example, the UE receives from the NW one or multiple CSI reporting configurations regarding delay difference and / or frequency difference measurement and reporting. In some examples, the CSI report for the delay difference and / or frequency difference is aperiodic and is triggered by a DCI, where the N>1 different NZP CSI-RS resource sets are configured as part of CSI-AssociatedReportConfigInfo in the CSI-AperiodicTRiggerStateList IE.

[0117] In Step 3, the UE receives the reference signals configured for channel measurement associated with the configured CSI reporting configurations in Steps 2a and 2b.

[0118] Fig. 9 shows an example with N=2 TRPs. The UE receives N=2 TRSs (or TRS resource sets or NZP CSI-RS resource sets with ‘trs-info’ set to ‘true’) from the NW, where each TRS corresponds to a different TRP. Similarly, the UE receives N=2 NZP CSI-RSs from the network, where each NZP CSI-RS corresponds to a different TRP. As a note, the number of TRPs is not limited to 2 and can be any number.

[0119] In one example, the UE measures / tracks delay difference(s) and / or frequency difference(s) for each TRP based on the associated TRS and computes / calculates the delay difference(s) and / or frequency difference(s) between the multiple TRPs. That is, the TRS(s) are used as channel measurement resources for the CSI report in Step 2a.

[0120] Alternatively, the UE may measure the delay difference(s) for each TRP based on the associated NZP CSI-RSs and computes / calculates the delay difference(s) to be reported as part of the CSI report in Step 2a. The frequency difference(s) in this alternative example will be measured based on the TRSs.

[0121] In another example, the UE uses the NZP CSI-RSs for channel measurement(s) associated with the CJT CSI report in Step 2b.

[0122] In Step 4, the UE receives from the NW a request (or trigger) for an aperiodic CSI report to report delay / frequency difference among the multiple TRPs (i.e., the request triggers the CSI report in step 2a).

[0123] In Step 5, upon receiving the request, the UE sends the CSI report(s) on delay difference and / or frequency difference, e.g., according to the reportConfigId(s) included in the CSI-AperiodicTriggerState as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 V18.0.0.

[0124] In Step 6, the UE receives from the NW a request (or trigger) for an aperiodic CSI report to report a pre-compensated CJT CSI report.

[0125] In Step 7, the UE computes the CJT CSI report assuming the delay and / or frequency difference between the TRPs are removed from the measured channel ^^ according to the CSI reporting configuration as described in Step 2.

[0126] In Step 8, the UE reports the CJT CSI report to the NW. Depending on the configuration received in Step 2, in some cases, the UE reports a CJT CSI which assumes the delay difference and / or frequency difference is pre-compensated. Alternatively, depending on the configuration received in Step 2, the UE reports a Rel-18 CJT CSI in which the delay difference and / or frequency difference is not pre-compensated from the measured channel ^^.

[0127] In some optional examples, the CJT CSI report includes information on whether the UE has assumed the delay difference and / or frequency difference is removed / pre-compensated, or not, when deriving the CJT CSI report.

[0128] In one example, the NW decision on whether the UE is allowed / should / not allowed to perform the pre-compensation depends on the capability report received in Step 1. In one example, the configurations regarding the NW decision are carried in RRC and / or Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) signaling. In one example, the configuration regarding the NW decision is done in a CSI report setting IE as specified in TS 38.331 version 18.0.0, or in a similarreport configuration in 6G. In one example, the configuration is done in an aperiodic trigger state IE as specified in TS 38.331 version 18.0.0, or in a similar aperiodic report configuration in 6G.

[0129] In one example, the network may trigger the UE with the one or more of the aperiodic CSI CJT reports using DCI (or similar control signaling message in 6G).

[0130] In one example, the indication whether the UE should / is allowed to / is not allowed to do pre-compensation for delay difference and / or frequency difference is dynamically indicated in the DCI triggering the CJT CSI report, for example by using one or more dedicated bitfields in the DCI (e.g., DCI 0_1 / 0_2) or other fields in the DCI or other signals.

[0131] In one example, the UE determines based on, e.g., one or more of indication(s) of the received measurement resource or CSI report configurations, indications in the received trigger messages, the received TRSs, the received CSI-RS resources, whether it should perform pre- compensation associated with the CJT CSI report or not.

[0132] How the UE can perform pre-compensation for the delay difference and / or frequency difference will not be described in detail in this disclosure.

[0133] Now turning to Fig. 10, an exemplary method 100 in a wireless device / UE for reporting CSI, such as pre-compensated CJT CSI for example, in a network comprising a plurality of TRPs for example, will be described. The UE can be the UE 1212 of Fig.12 or the UE 1300 of Fig.13. Method 100 comprises:

[0134] Step 110: receiving a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a PMI and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences;

[0135] Step 120: receiving a second configuration indicating whether the one or more delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report;

[0136] Step 130: computing the CSI of the first CSI report according to the first and the second configurations; and

[0137] Step 140: reporting to a network node the first CSI report.

[0138] In some examples, the UE can receive one or more reference signals (e.g. TRS, CSI- RS resources, NZP CSI-RS resource sets, etc.) from the plurality of TRPs.

[0139] In some examples, the UE calculates the CJT CSI by using the pre-compensatedchannel ^^^ , as described before, by removing the delay / frequency / phase differences from themeasured channel ^^. In some examples, the first and the second configuration are part of the same configuration message.

[0140] In some examples, the UE receives a third configuration for the first CSI report, wherein the third configuration comprises information on a first plurality of reference signal resources for channel measurements. In some examples, the UE receives a fourth configuration for the second CSI report, wherein the fourth configuration comprises information of a second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets for delay difference measurements, wherein a delay difference is a delay difference between each of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets and one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets. In some examples, each of the first plurality of reference signal resources is associated to one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets. In some examples, the first plurality of reference signal resources and / or the second plurality of reference signal resources are TRS. In some examples, the UE computes the CSI for the first CSI report according to the first and the second configurations comprises pre-compensating the CSI by removing each of the one or more delay differences from a channel measurement of an associated reference signal in the first plurality of reference signal resources. In some examples, the one or more delay differences are from the latest reported second CSI report. In some examples, the one or more delay differences are calculated by the wireless device. In some examples, the fourth configuration comprises an indication to calculate one or more delay differences to be used to pre-compensate the CSI of the first CSI report, before reporting the first CSI report. In some examples, the UE calculates the one or more delay differences based on the fourth configuration. In some examples, prior to sending the first CSI report, the UE sends the second CSI report to the network node, the second CSI report comprising an indication of the calculated one or more delay differences. In some examples, the UE sends a signaling capability indicating support for reporting the first CSI report, wherein CSI in the first CSI report is pre-compensated. In some examples, the first configuration is comprised in the third configuration. In some examples, one or more of the first configuration, second configuration, third configuration, and fourth configuration are received in a RRC message. In some examples, the UE receives a first request or trigger for reporting the second CSI report. In some examples, the UE receives a second request or trigger for reporting the first CSI report. In some examples, the first trigger and the second trigger are a same trigger. In some examples, the first CSI report and the second CSI report are part of a same CSI report.

[0141] Fig. 13 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary method 200 at the network node for CSI purposes, in a network comprising a UE and a plurality of TRPs, for example. The network node can be the network 1210 of Fig.12 or 1400 of Fig.14. The method 200 comprises:

[0142] Step 210: sending a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a PMI and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences;

[0143] Step 220: sending a second configuration indicating whether the one or more delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report; and

[0144] Step 230: receiving the first CSI report, based on the first and second configurations.

[0145] In some examples, the network node sends a third configuration for the first CSI report, wherein the third configuration comprises information on a first plurality of reference signal resources for channel measurements. In some examples, the network node sends a fourth configuration for the second CSI report, wherein the fourth configuration comprises information of a second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets for delay difference measurements, wherein a delay difference is a delay difference between each of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets and one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets. In some examples, each of the first plurality of reference signal resources is associated to one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets. In some examples, the first plurality of reference signal resources and / or the second plurality of reference signal resources are TRS. In some examples, the one or more delay differences are calculated by a wireless device. In some examples, the fourth configuration comprises an indication to calculate one or more delay differences to be used to pre-compensate the CSI of the first CSI report, before reporting the first CSI report. In some examples, prior to receiving the first CSI report, the network node receives the second CSI report from the wireless device, the second CSI report comprising an indication of calculated one or more delay differences. In some examples, the network node receives a signaling capability indicating support for reporting the first CSI report, wherein CSI in the first CSI report is pre-compensated. In some examples, the first configuration is comprised in the third configuration. In some examples, one or more of the first configuration, second configuration, third configuration, and fourth configuration are received in a RRC message. In some examples, the network node sends a first request or trigger to the wireless device for reporting the second CSI report. In some examples, the network node sends a second request or trigger to the wireless device for reporting the first CSI report. In some examples, the first trigger and the second trigger are a same trigger. In some examples, the first CSI report and the second CSI report are part of a same CSI report.

[0146] Fig.12 shows an example of a communication system 1200 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0147] In the example, the communication system 1200 includes a telecommunication network 1202 that includes an access network 1204, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 1206, which includes one or more core network nodes 1208. The access network 1204 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1210a and 1210b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1210), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. 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 1202 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1202 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 1202, including one or more network nodes 1210 and / or core network nodes 1208.

[0148] 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 A1, F1, W1, E1, 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 1210 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UE, such as by connecting UEs 1212a, 1212b, 1212c, and 1212d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1212) to the core network 1206 over one or more wireless connections.

[0149] 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 1200 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 1200 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0150] The UEs 1212 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 1210 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1210 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1212 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1202 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 1202.

[0151] In the depicted example, the core network 1206 connects the network nodes 1210 to one or more hosts, such as host 1216. 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 1206 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1208) 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 1208. 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).

[0152] The host 1216 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1204 and / or the telecommunication network 1202, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 1216 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 andcompiling 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.

[0153] As a whole, the communication system 1200 of Fig.12 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 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 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 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.

[0154] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1202 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 1202 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1202. For example, the telecommunications network 1202 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 IoT services to yet further UEs.

[0155] In some examples, the UEs 1212 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 1204 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1204. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) NR – Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0156] In the example, the hub 1214 communicates with the access network 1204 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1212c and / or 1212d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1210b). In some examples, the hub 1214 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1214 may be a broadband router enabling access to the corenetwork 1206 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1214 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 1210, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1214. As another example, the hub 1214 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 1214 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 1214 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1214 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1214 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.

[0157] The hub 1214 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1210b. The hub 1214 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1214 and UEs (e.g., UE 1212c and / or 1212d), and between the hub 1214 and the core network 1206. In other examples, the hub 1214 is connected to the core network 1206 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1214 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1204 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1210 while still connected via the hub 1214 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1214 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 1210b. In other embodiments, the hub 1214 may be a non-dedicated hub – that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1210b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0158] Fig. 13 shows a UE 1300 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 IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3GPP, including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0159] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP 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).

[0160] The UE 1300 includes processing circuitry 1302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1304 to an input / output interface 1306, a power source 1308, a memory 1310, a communication interface 1312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 13. 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.

[0161] The processing circuitry 1302 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 1310. The processing circuitry 1302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). Further, the processing circuitry 1302 is configured to perform any steps of method 100 of Fig.10.

[0162] In the example, the input / output interface 1306 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 1300. 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 displaymay 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.

[0163] In some embodiments, the power source 1308 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 1308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1308. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1308 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1300 to which power is supplied.

[0164] The memory 1310 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 1310 includes one or more application programs 1314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1316. The memory 1310 may store, for use by the UE 1300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0165] The memory 1310 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 random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or 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 ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1310 may allow the UE 1300 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 1310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0166] The processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1312. The communication interface 1312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1322. The communication interface 1312 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 1318 and / or a receiver 1320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1318 and receiver 1320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0167] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, 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 in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0168] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1312, 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).

[0169] 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 theswitch 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.

[0170] A UE, when in the form of an IoT 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 IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot, etc. A UE in the form of an IoT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 1300 shown in Fig.13.

[0171] As yet another specific example, in an IoT 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 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0172] 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.

[0173] Fig.14 shows a network node 1400 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, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs (NBs), evolved NBs (eNBs) and NR NBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0174] 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 O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units 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).

[0175] 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 base station 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).

[0176] The network node 1400 includes a processing circuitry 1402, a memory 1404, a communication interface 1406, and a power source 1408. The network node 1400 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a 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 1400 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 1400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, 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 network node 1400.

[0177] The processing circuitry 1402 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, 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 1400 components, such as the memory 1404, to provide network node 1400 functionality.

[0178] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1412 and baseband processing circuitry 1414. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1412 and the baseband processing circuitry 1414 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 RF transceiver circuitry 1412 and baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units. Further, the processing circuitry 1402 is configured to perform any steps of method 200 of Fig.11.

[0179] The memory 1404 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 1402. The memory 1404 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 1402 and utilized by the network node 1400. The memory 1404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 and memory 1404 is integrated.

[0180] The communication interface 1406 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 1406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1406 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1410. Radio front-end circuitry 1418 comprises filters 1420 and amplifiers 1422. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may be connected to an antenna 1410 and processing circuitry1402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1410 and processing circuitry 1402. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 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 1418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1420 and / or amplifiers 1422. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0181] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1400 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1418, instead, the processing circuitry 1402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1412 is part of the communication interface 1406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1406 includes one or more ports or terminals 1416, the radio front-end circuitry 1418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0182] The antenna 1410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1410 is separate from the network node 1400 and connectable to the network node 1400 through an interface or port.

[0183] The antenna 1410, communication interface 1406, and / or the processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1410, the communication interface 1406, and / or the processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0184] The power source 1408 provides power to the various components of network node 1400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1408 may further comprise, or be coupled to,power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1408. As a further example, the power source 1408 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.

[0185] Embodiments of the network node 1400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig.14 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 1400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1400 and to allow output of information from the network node 1400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1400.

[0186] Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1500 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 1500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0187] Applications 1502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0188] Hardware 1504 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 1506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1508a and 1508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1508.

[0189] The VMs 1508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1508, 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.

[0190] In the context of NFV, a VM 1508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1508, and that part of hardware 1504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, 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 1508 on top of the hardware 1504 and corresponds to the application 1502.

[0191] Hardware 1504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1504 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 1510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1502. In some embodiments, hardware 1504 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 radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, somesignaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0192] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) 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.

[0193] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on 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 hard-wired 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.

[0194] The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the description.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method (100) performed by a wireless device (1212, 1300) for reporting Channel State Information (CSI) in a network, the method comprising: - receiving (110) a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences; - receiving (120) a second configuration indicating whether the one or more delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report; - computing (130) the CSI of the first CSI report according to the first and the second configurations; and - reporting (140) to a network node (1210, 1400) the first CSI report.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a third configuration for the first CSI report, wherein the third configuration comprises information on a first plurality of reference signal resources for channel measurements.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising receiving a fourth configuration for the second CSI report, wherein the fourth configuration comprises information of a second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets for delay difference measurements, wherein a delay difference is a delay difference between each of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets and one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets.

4. The method of any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein each of the first plurality of reference signal resources is associated to one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets.

5. The method of any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first plurality of reference signal resources and / or the second plurality of reference signal resources are Tracking Reference Signals (TRS).

6. The method of any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein computing the CSI for the first CSI report according to the first and the second configurations comprises pre-compensating the CSI by removing each of the one or more delay differences from a channel measurement of an associated reference signal in the first plurality of reference signal resources.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more delay differences are from the latest reported second CSI report.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more delay differences are calculated by the wireless device.

9. The method of any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein the fourth configuration comprises anindication to calculate one or more delay differences to be used to pre-compensate the CSI of the first CSI report, before reporting the first CSI report.

10. The method of claims 3 and 9, further comprising calculating the one or more delay differences based on the fourth configuration.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, prior to sending the first CSI report, sending, the second CSI report to the network node, the second CSI report comprising an indication of the calculated one or more delay differences.

12. The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising sending a signaling capability indicating support for reporting the first CSI report, wherein CSI in the first CSI report is pre- compensated.

13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the first configuration is comprised in the third configuration.

14. The method of any one of claims 3 to 13, wherein one or more of the first configuration, second configuration, third configuration, and fourth configuration are received in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

15. The method of any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising receiving a first request or trigger for reporting the second CSI report.

16. The method of any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising receiving a second request or trigger for reporting the first CSI report.

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the first trigger and the second trigger are a same trigger.

18. The method of any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the first CSI report and the second CSI report are part of a same CSI report.

19. A method (200) performed by a network node (1210, 1400) for Channel State Information (CSI) in a network, the method comprising: - sending (210) a first configuration associating a first CSI report with a second CSI report, wherein the first CSI report comprises at least a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) and the second CSI report comprises an indication of at least one or more delay differences; - sending (220) a second configuration indicating whether the one or more delay differences in the second CSI report are used to pre-compensate a computation of CSI of the first CSI report; and - receiving (230) the first CSI report, based on the first and second configurations.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising sending a third configuration for the first CSI report, wherein the third configuration comprises information on a first plurality of reference signalresources for channel measurements.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, further comprising sending a fourth configuration for the second CSI report, wherein the fourth configuration comprises information of a second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets for delay difference measurements, wherein a delay difference is a delay difference between each of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets and one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets.

22. The method of any one of claims 20 to 21, wherein each of the first plurality of reference signal resources is associated to one of the second plurality of reference signal resources or resource sets.

23. The method of any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the first plurality of reference signal resources and / or the second plurality of reference signal resources are Tracking Reference Signals (TRS).

24. The method of any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein the one or more delay differences are are calculated by a wireless device.

25. The method of any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein the fourth configuration comprises an indication to calculate one or more delay differences to be used to pre-compensate the CSI of the first CSI report, before reporting the first CSI report.

26. The method of any one of claims 19 to 25, further comprising, prior to receiving the first CSI report, receiving the second CSI report from the wireless device, the second CSI report comprising an indication of calculated one or more delay differences.

27. The method of any one of claims 19 to 26, further comprising receiving a signaling capability indicating support for reporting the first CSI report, wherein CSI in the first CSI report is pre- compensated.

28. The method of any one of claims 19 to 27, wherein the first configuration is comprised in the third configuration.

29. The method of any one of claims 21 to 28, wherein one or more of the first configuration, second configuration, third configuration, and fourth configuration are received in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

30. The method of any one of claims 19 to 29, further comprising sending a first request or trigger to the wireless device for reporting the second CSI report.

31. The method of any one of claims 19 to 30, further comprising sending a second request or trigger to the wireless device for reporting the first CSI report.

32. The method of claim 30 or 31, wherein the first trigger and the second trigger are a same trigger.

33. The method of any one of claims 19 to 32, wherein the first CSI report and the second CSI report are part of a same CSI report.

34. A wireless device for reporting Channel State information (CSI), the wireless device comprising a network interface and processing circuitry connected thereto, the processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 18.

35. A network node for Channel State information (CSI), the network node comprising a network interface and processing circuitry connected thereto, the processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any one of claims 19 to 33.

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