Pathloss prediction for power control

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium of pathloss prediction for power control. In a method, a first apparatus obtains at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value. The first apparatus selects at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value. The first apparatus determines a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

Description

PATHLOSS PREDICTION FOR POWER CONTROLCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, GB Application No. 2402741 .9, filed February 27, 2024, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.FIELDS

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium of pathloss prediction for power control.BACKGROUND

[0003] In a communication system, a terminal device such as user equipment (UE) may transmit signal or data to a network device. The UE may perform an uplink (UL) power control for the UL transmission. Some procedures of UL power control have been proposed. By way of example, new radio (NR) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) power control is essentially based on a combination of an open-loop power control and a closed-loop power control. The openloop power control includes support for fractional path-loss compensation, where the UE estimates the UL pathloss based on downlink (DL) measurements and sets the transmit power accordingly. The closed-loop power control is based on explicit transmit power-control (TPC) commands provided by the network. Works are ongoing regarding the pathloss estimation for the power control.SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: obtain at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; select at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and determine a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions ithat, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit, to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and receive, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: obtaining, at a first apparatus, at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; selecting at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and determining a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, at a second apparatus to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and receiving, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for obtaining at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; means for selecting at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and means for determining a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to thesecond apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.[OO1O] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

[0011] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow for pathloss prediction for power control according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for determining a transmission power according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for determining a transmission power according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the sameor similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0023] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0024] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0025] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second” and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0026] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0027] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0028] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms“a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0029] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware ci rcuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0030] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0031] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE- Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-loT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1 G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future.Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0032] As used herein, the term “network device” or “network access device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (I AB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0033] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehiclemounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an I nternet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”,“terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0034] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0035] As used herein, the term “model” is referred to as an association between an input and an output learned from training data, and thus a corresponding output may be generated for a given input after the training. The generation of the model may be based on a ML technique. The ML techniques may also be referred to as Al techniques. In general, a ML model can be built, which receives input information and makes predictions based on the input information. As used herein, a model is equivalent to an artificial intelligence (Al) and / or machine learning (ML) model, or a data-driven / data processing algorithm / procedure.

[0036] In some communication systems such as the next cellular systems, AI / ML technology is proposed to be used in order to improve the communication performance. An AI / ML model may be applied in the new radio (NR) radio interface to assist model functionalities or communication- related functions, such as, channel state information (CSI) overhead reduction, beam management (BM), positioning, and the like.

[0037] In release 18 (Rel-18) or Rel-19, AI-ML may be used for beam prediction or beam management. For AI / ML-based beam management, the AI / ML models are leveraged to predict the best beam(s) based on a limited set of measurements.

[0038] In some mechanisms, two sub-use cases are provided, the first sub-use case is a spatial-domain prediction, wherein the beam prediction is based on a limited set of measurements that does not contain any historical information. The second sub-use case is a time-domain prediction, wherein the beam prediction into the future is based on a limited set of measurements that contains historical information.

[0039] In some mechanisms, measurements and predictions are based on two beam sets. For a first beam set (referred to as Set A), the complete set of beams over which the prediction will operate. For a second beam set (referred to as Set B), the set of beams whose measurements are inputted to the AI / ML model (e.g., layer one (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP),etc.). Furthermore, the Set B may be different from Set A (space-domain and time-domain prediction). Alternatively, the Set B may be a subset of Set A (space-domain and time-domain prediction). Alternatively, the Set B may be the same as Set A (time-domain prediction).

[0040] Radio access network (RAN) #102 meeting approved the Rel-19 work item (Wl) on AI / ML for NR Air Interface, based on the AI / ML techniques to NR air interface. Several enhancements related to AI / ML for beam management are shown in Table 1 below.Table 1

[0041] The inference procedure for Beam Management is provided herein, including the process for beam management predictions for the BM-Case1 and BM-Case2. The process utilizes measurements from Set B beams as input for the AI / ML model. Additionally, the beam identification (ID) information may also be included as input for the AI / ML model. The AI / ML model’s output includes probabilities for each beam in Set A being the Top-1 beam or the predicted L1-RSRP or other relevant parameters depending on the labeling.

[0042] For BM-Case1 , Set B measurements are used to predict the Top-1 / N beams from Set A. Conversely, for BM-Case2, historical measurements from previous time instances are employed for temporal beam prediction for beams in Set A. The process considers various scenarios, including cases where Set A and Set B are different, Set B is a subset of Set A, and where Set A and Set B are identical for BM-Case 2.

[0043] Furthermore, in Release-18, both DL beam prediction and DL beam pair prediction (Tx- Rx) is considered. In both BM-Case1 and BM-Case2, the UE may use a UE-sided AI / ML model and report the prediction results to the NW, or the NW may predict the Top-1 / N beams or the L1- RSRP value based on the reported Set B measurements using a NW-sided model.

[0044] In the context of beam management, specifically, BM-Case1 and BM-Case2, various aspects related to enhanced signaling and beam reporting were studied in Release-18 and specification work is currently ongoing in Release-19.

[0045] Some considerations aim to optimize beam management strategies, particularly in scenarios where UE-side AI / ML models are employed. Firstly, there's a focus on signaling improvements for measurement configuration and reporting, potentially introducing new signaling mechanisms to facilitate these processes efficiently. For UE-side AI / ML models in BM-Case1 and BM-Case2, the network may indicate the Set A-Set B association to the UE, such as mapping beams within Set B to Set A if relevant. Furthermore, the network may provide beam indicationsto the UE for reception, including beams in Set A does not present in Set B. Legacy mechanisms, like the TCI state mechanism, may be reused for this purpose.

[0046] For BM-Case1 and BM-Case2 with a network-side AI / ML model, enhancements in L1 beam reporting are suggested, such as allowing the UE to report the measurement results of more than four beams in a single reporting instance. Other L1 reporting enhancements may also be considered.

[0047] Predicted L1-RSRPs corresponding to DL Tx beams or beam pairs are important outputs, along with considerations on how to differentiate predicted and measured L1-RSRP values. Additionally, confidence or probability information related to the AI / ML model's output inference is also relevant. For the output of an AI / ML model, release-18 SI considered the following options based on some alternative solutions.

[0048] For Alternative 1 , Tx and / or Rx Beam identification and / or the predicted L1 -RSRP of the N estimated DL Tx and / or Rx beams are involved, such as the Top-N predicted beams.

[0049] For Alternative 2, Tx and / or Rx Beam ID of the N predicted DL Tx and / or Rx beams along with other information are involved. The N-predicted DL can be the Top-N predicted beams.

[0050] For Alternative 3, Tx and / or Rx Beam angles and / or the predicted L1-RSRP of the N predicted DL Tx and / or Rx beams are incorporated, for instance, the Top-N predicted beams.

[0051] It is to be noted that the utilization of Beam ID is solely for discussion purposes, and all outputs are considered nominal and are considered for discussion purposes only. The value of N may vary depending on each company's implementation. Additionally, outputs from the AI / ML model may differ depending on whether the inference occurs at the UE or gNB side. The derivation of Top-N beam IDs might involve post-processing of the ML-model output.

[0052] As indicated above, Rel-19 will specify DL TX beam prediction (with two use cases, namely spatial domain, and time domain beam predictions), where an AI-ML model based at the UE and / or at the gNB could enable the DL Tx beam prediction. It should be noted that the UE may also be required to predict RSRP for a predicted beam (or CRI or TCI state) and report predicted beam(s) along with corresponding RSRPs to the gNB. Rel-18 SI (study item) on beam prediction had also considered DL beam pair (Tx-Rx) prediction as one option. Similarly, one could also consider UL beam or beam pair prediction.

[0053] As briefly mentioned, pathloss estimation or determination is needed for UL power control operation. However, currently, there is no framework to enable and incorporate predicted RSRP into the UL power control operations.

[0054] Furthermore, currently, a UE has limitations in terms of pathloss estimation (which is a function of RSRP measurements) as the UE is only required to maintain up to 4 pathloss processes,however having only up to 4 such processes is not enough to get accurate pathloss estimate when considering frequency range (FR) 1 or FR2 (or any other frequency range, such as FR3) as the number of synchronization signal block (SSB)Zchannel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) beams could be a multiple of 4. At the same time, increasing such a limit would add a burden on the UE. Hence, for this reason, and given that anyhow a beam / RS may be predicted (and not measured) at least in some instances, pathloss prediction is an area that would need to be exploited and enabled.

[0055] In order to solve at least part of the above problems or other potential problems, a solution on (enabling) pathloss prediction for power control is proposed. According to example embodiments, a first apparatus (for example, a terminal device) at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value. The first apparatus selects at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value. The first apparatus determines a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value. In this manner, the transmission power can be determined at least in part based on the predicted signal power such as predicted RSRP value. For example, the predicted RSRP value may be used for pathloss estimation. Such power determination can improve the estimation accuracy for the pathloss estimation and thus determine a proper transmission power.

[0056] Principle and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 -8. FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication apparatuses, including a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120, can communicate with each other.

[0057] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 is a network device serving the terminal device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0058] In some example embodiments, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) is supported in the communication environment 100. For example, the second apparatus 120 and the firstapparatus 110 may communicate with each other via different beams to enable a directional communication. The first apparatus 110 may be configured with at least one beam (corresponding to at least one reference signal (RS)) used as reference for receiving / transmitting data and control channels. For example, the first apparatus 110 may have one or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) channels and one or more physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) channels. The one or more PDSCH channels and / or one or more PDSCH channels may be configured to be received on one or more DL beams.

[0059] As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the second apparatus 120 transmits downlink transmission to the first apparatus 110 via one or more beams. Among these beams, at least one beam may be measured, such as beams 140-1 , 140-2, , and 140-K (K being an integer greater than or equal to 1). For purpose of discussion, the beams 140-1 , 140-2, > , and 140-K are collectively or individually referred to as measured beam(s) 140. Other beams such as beams 130-1 , 130-2, , and 130-N may be predicted by a model such as a model 115 deployed at the first apparatus 110. For purpose of discussion, the beams 130-1 , 130-2, , and 130-N are collectively or individually referred to as predicted beam(s) 130. In some example embodiments, the measured beam or the predicted beam may be a wide-band beam such as a beam 150-1 or a beam 150-2. The beam 150-1 and the beam 150-2 are collectively or individually referred to as beam(s) 150.

[0060] It is to be understood that although the model 115 is shown as deployed at the first apparatus 110, in some example embodiments, the model 115 may be deployed at the second apparatus 120, or at a further apparatus or device. The model 115 may alternatively be a doubleside model deployed at the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. Scope of the present disclosure is not limited here.

[0061] Correspondingly, in uplink, the second apparatus 120 is an RX device (or a receiver) and the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter), and the first apparatus 110 may transmit uplink transmission to the second apparatus 120 via one or more beams (not shown).

[0062] In the example of FIG. 1 , the second apparatus 120 has a certain coverage range, which may be called as a serving area or a cell (not shown). The first apparatuses 110 are located in the cell covered by the second apparatus 120. In the communication environment 100, the second apparatus 120 may communicate data and control information to the first apparatus 110 and the first apparatus 110 may also communication data and control information to the second apparatus 120.

[0063] In some example embodiments, a model functionality such as an AI / ML based functionality may be provided for the first apparatus 110 and / or the second apparatus 120. For example, the model 115 may perform the model functionality for the first apparatus 110. By wayof example, the second apparatus 120 may provide a plurality of beams for the first apparatuses 110. The model functionality may be an AI / ML based beam management or beam prediction which predicts a beam such as a DL Tx beam for the first apparatus 110. In another example, the model functionality may be an AI / ML based beam management which predicts a DL Tx Rx beam pair for the first apparatus 110. For purpose of illustration, some example embodiments hereinafter will be described with the beam management or beam prediction as the model functionality. It is to be understood that the model 115 may also perform a different model functionality for the first apparatus 110. Scope of the present disclosure is not limited here.

[0064] The AI / ML based beam management may be spatial and / or time domain beam prediction. The spatial beam prediction (also referred to as BM-Case1) is to predict one or more best Tx beams or Tx-Rx beam pairs or corresponding reference signal received power (RSRP) values in different spatial locations. The time-domain beam predictions (also referred to as BM- Case2) aim to predict the best Tx beams or Tx-Rx beam pairs to use for next time instants, e.g., beam prediction in the spatial domain (BM-Case1 ) for next time instants. For purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described where the model functionality is the spatial and / or time domain beam prediction.

[0065] In some example embodiments, one or more models may derive an outcome such as the predicted beam of the beam management. The one or more models may be implemented at the first apparatus 110 (shown as a model 115), or the second apparatus 120 (not shown), or both (not shown). The first apparatus 110 and / or the second apparatus 120 may perform the beam management by running inference or perform training. For purpose of illustration, some example embodiments hereinafter will be described with the model 115 implemented at the first apparatus 110.

[0066] It is to be understood that the number of apparatuses and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of apparatuses configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0067] In the following, for purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0068] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented accordingto any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1 G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0069] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow 200 for pathloss prediction for power control according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The signaling flow 200 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1 . For purpose of illustration, the signaling flow 200 will be described with respect to FIG. 1. For purpose of discussion, some example embodiments are described where the first apparatus 110 is implemented as a terminal device, and the second apparatus 120 is implemented as a network device.

[0070] In operation, the first apparatus 110 obtains (230) at least one TCI state for a transmission to the second apparatus 120. The at least one TCI state is associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value. As used herein, the term “reference signal for determining a pathloss value” may also be referred to as a “pathloss reference signal” or “PL- RS”. In embodiments where the first apparatus 110 being a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 being a network device, the transmission to the second apparatus 120 may be referred to as a UL transmission.

[0071] In some example embodiments, the at least one reference signal may comprise or be, or may be associated with at least one of: at least one predicted beam, at least one predicted reference signal, or at least one predicted TCI state. For example, the pathloss reference signal may correspond to at least one predicted beam, at least one predicted RS, or at least one predicted TCI state from the model 115.

[0072] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may be indicated as at least one TCI state, such as a joint TCI state or a UL TCI state, for a UL transmission(s) where this TCI state may be associated to a pathloss reference signal (PL-RS) which corresponds to a predicted beam (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS beam).

[0073] It is to be noted that, depending on the case, a predicted beam may or may not bepreviously measured (in some instances). For example, assuming spatial beam prediction AI / ML model and assuming that Set B (the set of beams whose measurements are inputted to the AI / ML model (e.g., via RSRP, etc.)) is different or is a subset of Set A (the complete set of beams over which the prediction will operate), then some beams / RSs may not be measured but only be predicted. In another case, assuming temporal beam prediction AI / ML model, assuming that Set A beams are measured during an observation window by using the set of beams whose measurements are inputted to the AI / ML model (e.g., via RSRP, etc.) and are predicted during a prediction window meaning that predictions (e.g., predicted RSRPs, predicted ID / IDs, etc.) related to the full Set A of beams or related to the best beam of Set A are provided as the output of the AI / ML model.

[0074] In some example embodiments, the at least one TCI state may be obtained based on a prediction of the at least one TCI state or a determination of the at least one TCI state. For example, the obtained at least one TCI state may be at least one predicted TCI state. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (210) an indication or configuration of the at least one TCI state to the first apparatus 110. The first apparatus 110 may receive (220) the indication and obtain (230) the at least one TCI state based on the indication. The indication or configuration may be transmitted (210) via downlink control information (DCI), medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), radio resource control (RRC), or any other suitable message or signaling.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the at least one TCI state may include quasi-colocation (QCL) information or source reference signal information. The first apparatus 110 may determine the at least one reference signal based on the quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information. That is, the at least one pathloss reference signal may be determined based on (or maybe) an RS provided by the TCI state, e.g., through QCL (quasi-colocation) information (or source RS) comprised in the TCI state.

[0076] Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive, from the second apparatus 120, at least one of: a configuration of the at least one reference signal, or association information between the at least one reference signal and the at least one TCI state. The first apparatus 110 may determine the at least one reference signal based on the at least one of the configuration or the association information. By way of example, the first apparatus 110 may be configured with or may obtain predicted PL information, such as predicted PL-RS(s) and / or measured PL-RS(s), which may be used to predict / determine the pathloss. For example, a TCI state may be associated, through configuration or indication, with predicted PL- RS information. Then, when the TCI state is obtained by the first apparatus 110 to be used for aUL transmission, the first apparatus 110 may determine / update the corresponding pathloss based on at least partially predicted RSRP(s) / pathloss corresponding to the PL-RS(s). It’s noted that the association information or the configuration may be indicated / updated via e.g., RRC, MAC CE, and / or DCI.

[0077] The first apparatus 110 selects (240) at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value. The first apparatus 110 determines (245) a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value. For example, the signal power may be a RSRP or any other parameter for the signal quality. That is, the predicted signal power may be a predicted RSRP(s), and the measured signal power may be a measured RSRP. The at least one predicted RSRP(s) may be the predicted RSRP value(s) for the predicted RS(s) or beam(s) if the pathloss RS(s) corresponds to predicted RS(s) or beam(s). The predicted RSRP value(s) may be predicted RSRP value(s) for the RS(s) if RSRP is predicted for that RS(s). It is to be noted the RS associated with the predicted signal power may be the same as or different from the RS associated with the measured signal power. In some example embodiments, the at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal is determined by using an AI / ML model such as the model 115 in FIG. 1 .

[0078] In some example embodiments, the at least one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power may be selected based on at least one of: indication information about the selection of the at last one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power from the second apparatus 120, a prediction quality of the at least one predicted signal power, temporal information of the at least one predicted signal power, temporal information of the at least one measured signal power, or a time instance of the transmission. For example, the indication information transmitted by the second apparatus 120 may indicate whether predicted signal power or measured signal power should be selected, or may indicate a certain predicted signal power or a certain measured signal power is to be selected. For another example, the indication information may indicate a threshold time period or threshold quality for selecting the signal power. The indication information may be transmitted via DCI, MAC CE or RRC.

[0079] By way of example, the prediction quality of the predicted signal power may be indicated by confidence information of a prediction model (such as the model 115) for predicting the signal power of the reference signal. Alternatively, or in addition, the prediction quality of the predicted signal power may be indicated by a performance metric obtained by a performance monitoring of the prediction model.

[0080] In some example embodiments, if the prediction quality is less than a threshold quality, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) the measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. Otherwise, if the prediction quality is higher than or equal to the threshold quality, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the predicted signal power to determine the transmission power. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) the predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value, or may select (240) the predicted signal power and measured signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0081] In some example embodiments, the at least one predicted signal power at least comprises a first predicted signal power at a first time instance, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance. If a first time period between the first and second time instances is larger than or equal to a first threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. If the first time period is less than the first threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the first predicted signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power(s) to determine the pathloss value. For another example, first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0082] It is noted that the threshold time period may be provided through specifications or through a higher layer configuration (e.g., through RRC) or through indication (e.g., via MAC CE or DCI). It is to be understood that the term “first”, “second” or the like used herein is not intended to limit the order or sequence. For example, the first time instance may be before the second time instance, or after the second time instance, or at a same time with the second time instance.

[0083] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if a first time period between the first and second time instances is lower than or equal to the first threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. If the first time period is higher than the first threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the first predicted signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power andoptionally previously measured or predicted signal power(s) to determine the pathloss value. For another example, first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0084] In some example embodiments, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance. If a second time period between the second time instance and the time instance of the transmission is less than or equal to a second threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the first predicted signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. If the second time period between the second time instance and the time instance associated with the transmission is larger than the second threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) the measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. For another example, first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. It is noted that the threshold time period may be provided through specifications or through a higher layer configuration (e.g., through RRC) or through indication (e.g., via MAC CE or DCI).

[0085] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the second time period between the second time instance and the time instance of the transmission is larger than or equal to the second threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) at least the first predicted signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. If the second time period between the second time instance and the time instance associated with the transmission is lower than the second threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may select (240) the measured signal power to determine the pathloss value. For example, the first apparatus 110 may select the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. For another example, first apparatus 110 may select the first predicted signal power and the first measured signal power and optionally previously measured or predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value. It is noted that the threshold time period may be provided through specifications or through a higher layer configuration (e.g., through RRC) or throughindication (e.g., via MAC CE or DCI).

[0086] It is to be understood that these rules or thresholds for selecting the signal power may be provided through specifications or through a higher layer configuration (e.g., through RRC) or through indication (e.g., via MAC CE or DCI). These rules or conditions may be varied. Any suitable rules or conditions may be applied. Scope of the present disclosure is not limited here.

[0087] In some example embodiments, the selection of the at least one measured signal power comprises or implies the first apparatus 110 measuring the at least one reference signal. That is, the at least one measured signal power may not be always available and the selection of measurements instead of prediction implies the first apparatus 110 measuring the corresponding RS (under the hypothesis that the corresponding RS is transmitted by the second apparatus 120).

[0088] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine the pathloss value based on a set of predicted signal powers and optionally a set of measured signal powers. The set of predicted signal powers may be filtered. The set of measured signal powers may also be filtered. Filtering may correspond to a higher layer or lower layer function which filters, or averages (e.g., over time), the signal powers such as RSRP values.

[0089] By way of example, the first apparatus 110 may determine a filtered signal power of the reference signal based on a first predicted signal power of the reference signal at a third time instance and a second predicted signal power of the reference signal at a fourth time instance. The first apparatus 110 may determine the pathloss value based at least in part on the filtered signal power. The filtering of the signal power may be a higher layer filtering or a lower layer filtering. It is to be understood that there may be more than two predicted signal powers, and / or two or more measured signal powers to be filtered.

[0090] In some example embodiments, a time period between the third and fourth time instances is less than or equal to a third threshold time period. For example, if the time period between the third and fourth time instances is larger than the third threshold time period, the first apparatus 110 may not perform the filtering, but instead use the newest predicted signal power among the first and second predicted signal powers to determine the transmission power.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may discard at least one of the first predicted signal power or the second predicted signal power. The first apparatus 110 may determine the pathloss value based on the filtered signal power without using the discarded predicted signal power. For example, the pathloss may be determined at least partially based on higher layer filtered RSRP, and thus the predicted RSRP value(s) may be discarded from the input to update or determine the higher layer filtered RSRP at least in some cases.

[0092] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine the pathlossvalue associated with the transmission based on the selected (240) at least one of the at least one predicted signal power of the reference signal or the at least one measured signal power of the reference signal. The first apparatus 110 may determine (245) the transmission power based on the pathloss value. Further details regarding the determination of the transmission power will be described with respect to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

[0093] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 transmits (250), to the second apparatus 120, a transmission based on the transmission power. The second apparatus 120 receives (260) the transmission transmitted based on the transmission power.

[0094] With these embodiments, UL power control (PC) operation under the beam prediction framework is enabled. The present solution may not require additional overhead or processes to maintain for pathloss measurements. Then, the need to update PL-RS and the delays that would be incurred from such updates is reduced or avoided. Furthermore, the present solution can be applied on top of the beam prediction framework. It may also be applied separately from that framework.

[0095] As described, the first apparatus 110 may determine the transmission power based at least in part on the predicted signal power such as predicted RSRP value(s). FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method 300 for determining a transmission power according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 300 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0096] At block 310, the first apparatus 110 obtains a TCI state corresponding to a pathloss RS associated with a transmission to the second apparatus 120 such as an uplink transmission / channel / signal (e.g., PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, PRACH). The pathloss reference signal may correspond to a predicted beam, a predicted RS, or a predicted TCI state or even predicted quasi-colocation information from the model 115. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may be indicated as a TCI state, such as a joint TCI state or a UL TCI state, for a UL transmission(s) where this TCI state may be associated to a pathloss reference signal which corresponds to a predicted beam (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS beam).

[0097] It is to be noted that, depending on the case, a predicted beam may or may not be previously measured (in some instances). For example, assuming that Set B (the set of beams / RSs whose measurements are inputted to the AI / ML model (e.g., via RSRP, etc.)) is different or is a subset of Set A (the complete set of beams over which the prediction will operate), then some beams / RSs may not be measured but only be predicted.

[0098] At block 320, the first apparatus 110 determines that the pathloss RS corresponds to the predicted RS. For example, the predicted RS may be predicted by the model 115. For thepredicted beam, predicted RS or predicted TCI state, a signal power such as RSRP value may be predicted by the model 115. Alternatively, for the pathloss RS, an RSRP value is predicted for the corresponding beam.

[0099] At block 330, the first apparatus 110 may determine or update the pathloss corresponding to the TCI state based on the predicted RSRP of the predicted RS. For example, the first apparatus 110 may use at least the predicted RSRP value(s) to determine the power of an UL transmission associated with the TCI state.

[0100] At block 340, the first apparatus 110 may determine the transmission power of the UL transmission(s) at least partially based on the pathloss determined at block 330. In an example embodiment, the first apparatus 110 may determine the power of the UL transmission based on the determined or updated pathloss corresponding to the pathloss RS based on the predicted RSRP. For example, the pathloss may be determined based only on the predicted RSRP value(s) and not on a previously measured RSRP value(s). Alternatively, or additionally, the pathloss may depend on both the predicted RSRP value(s) and a previously measured RSRP value(s).

[0101] In some example embodiments, the predicted RSRP value(s) and / or the measured RSRP value(s) may be filtered, such as higher layer filtered, or lower layer filtered. The pathloss may be determined at least partially based on higher layer filtered RSRP, and thus the predicted RSRP value(s) is used as input to update or determine the higher layer filtered RSRP. In a variant, the pathloss may be determined based on the lower layer filtered or not filtered function of RSRP including predicted RSRP value(s).

[0102] The first apparatus 110 may determine the power of the UL transmission such as a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission based on the pathloss following a procedure described in a standard. In summary, the first apparatus 110 indicates or determines closed-loop parameters (closed-loop index, TPC command) and open-loop parameters (pathloss reference RS, pO, alpha). The TPC command is carried in the DCI scheduling the PUSCH transmission. Also, the TPC command (and corresponding closed-loop index) may be carried jointly to multiple first apparatuses 110 by means of group-common DCI using DCI format 2-2.

[0103] Some of the main power control parameters that the PUSCH transmission power depends on are the following elements: closed-loop index (also known as PC adjustment state), TPC command (fb, f, c, absolute or accumulative TPC command), pathloss reference RS (reference signal), pO (also denoted as PO_UE_PUSCH), and alpha (for partial of full path-loss compensation). DETLA_TF (i.e., ATFA ;C(I) ), also sometimes referred to as the power adjustment component essentially models how the required received power varies when the number of information such as bits per resource element (BPRE) changes due to differentmodulation schemes and channel-coding rates.

[0104] Specifically, the PUSCH power is determined based on the following as shown in Table2. The estimated path loss in Table 2 may be the pathloss determined at least based on the predicted RSRP value(s).Table 2

[0105] In some example embodiments, sounding reference signal (SRS) power control is somewhat similar to PUSCH power control. Specifically, the SRS transmission power is determined based on the following as shown in Table 3. The estimated path loss in Table 3 may be the pathloss determined at least based on the predicted RSRP value(s).Table 3

[0106] In some example embodiments, the physical unlink control channel (PUCCH) transmission power is determined based on the following as shown in Table 4. The estimated path loss in Table 4 may be the pathloss determined at least based on the predicted RSRP value(s).Table 4

[0107] Note that PL refers to the pathloss component / parameter and is defined as follows. PLbfC(cid)=referenceSignalPower- higher layer filtered RSRP, where referenceSignalPower isprovided by higher layers and RSRP is defined for the reference serving cell, and the higher layer filter configuration provided by QuantityConfig is defined for the reference serving cell. An example determination of these parameters is shown in Table 5 below. The estimated path loss in Table 5 may be the pathloss determined at least based on the predicted RSRP value(s). Table 5

[0108] With these embodiments, UL power control (PC) operation under the beam prediction framework is enabled. The present solution may not require additional overhead or processes to maintain for pathloss measurements. Then, the need to update PL-RS and the delays that would be incurred from such updates is reduced or avoided. Furthermore, the present solution can be applied on top of the beam prediction framework. It may also be applied separately from that framework.

[0109] Several example embodiments regarding the determination of the transmission power have been described with respect to FIG. 3. FIG. 4 illustrates another flowchart of a method 400 for determining a transmission power according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0110] At block 410, the first apparatus 110 may determine a prediction accuracy (or prediction quality). For example, the prediction accuracy may be based on confidence or probability information of the model 115, or performance monitoring process for the model 115.

[0111] At block 420, the first apparatus 110 may determine whether the prediction accuracy is higher than a threshold. If the prediction accuracy is higher than the threshold, at block 430, the first apparatus 110 may use the predicted RSRP value(s) for the pathloss determination. For example, the first apparatus 110 may use the predicted RSRP value(s) as input to a higher layer filtered RSRP.

[0112] If the prediction accuracy is lower than or equal to the threshold, at block 440, the first apparatus 110 may discard the predicted RSRP value(s) from input for the pathloss determination. For example, the first apparatus 110 may use the measured RSRP value(s) for the pathloss determination.

[0113] In some example embodiments, pathloss reference signal corresponds to a beam, where a beam ID(s) / RSRP value(s) is predicted for this beam. If confidence or probability or quality information related to the AI / ML model's output inference indicates low-quality predictions and / or performance monitoring process indicates low-performance metrics or relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) (such as beam prediction accuracy, RSRP differences, or the like), the firstapparatus 110 uses no more than the measured RSRP value (excluding the at least the predicted RSRP value) to determine the power of a UL transmission associated with the TCI state.

[0114] It is to be noted that the pathloss may depend on both the measured RSRP value(s) and predicted RSRP values whenever the AI / ML model's output inference indicates high-quality predictions and / or performance monitoring process indicates high-performance metrics. For example, if a KPI or performance metric, such as prediction accuracy, confidence level, etc., is above a threshold.

[0115] If inference indicates low-quality predictions and / or performance monitoring process indicates low-performance metrics, e.g., if a KPI or performance metric, such as prediction accuracy, confidence level, etc., is below a threshold, the pathloss may be determined based only on the measured RSRP value(s) and not on a predicted RSRP value(s). At least some predicted RSRP value(s) (which correspond to low-quality predictions and / or low-performance metrics) may be discarded in this case.

[0116] The pathloss may be determined at least partially based on higher layer filtered RSRP, and thus the predicted RSRP value(s) may be discarded from the input to update or determine the higher layer filtered RSRP at least in some cases.

[0117] With these embodiments, UL power control (PC) operation under the beam prediction framework is enabled. The present solution may not require additional overhead or processes to maintain for pathloss measurements. Then, the need to update PL-RS and the delays that would be incurred from such updates is reduced or avoided. Furthermore, the present solution can be applied on top of the beam prediction framework. It may also be applied separately from that framework.

[0118] It is to be understood that the signaling flow, the method 300, and / or the method 400 can be performed separately, or in any combination. With these signaling flow and / or methods, the pathloss estimation can be improved. Therefore, the UL power control can be enhanced.

[0119] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0120] At block 510, the first apparatus 110 obtains at least one TCI state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value.

[0121] At block 520, the first apparatus 110 selects at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at leastone reference signal to determine the pathloss value.

[0122] At block 530, the first apparatus 110 determines a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the at least one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power is selected based on at least one of: indication information about the selection of the at least one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power from the second apparatus, a prediction quality of the at least one predicted signal power, temporal information of the at least one predicted signal power, temporal information of the at least one measured signal power, or a time instance of the transmission.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the prediction quality of the predicted signal power is indicated by at least one of: confidence information of a prediction model for predicting the signal power of the reference signal, or a performance metric obtained by a performance monitoring of the prediction model.

[0125] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: based on the prediction quality being less than a threshold quality, select at least the at least one measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the prediction quality being higher than or equal to the threshold quality, select at least the at least one predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the at least one predicted signal power at least comprises a first predicted signal power at a first time instance, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the method 500 further comprises: based on a first time period between the first and second time instances being larger than or equal to a first threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the first time period being less than the first threshold time period, select at least the first predicted signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the at least one predicted signal power at least comprises a first predicted signal power at a first time instance, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the method 500 further comprises: based on a first time period between the first and second time instances being lower than or equal to a first threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the first time period being larger than the first threshold time period, select at least the first predicted signal power or another measuredsignal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the method 500 further comprises: based on a second time period between the second time instance and the time instance of the transmission being less than or equal to a second threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the second time period being larger than the second threshold time period, select at least the at least one predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the method 500 further comprises: based on a second time period between the second time instance and the time instance of the transmission being larger than or equal to a second threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the second time period being less than the second threshold time period, select at least the at least one predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the selection of the at least one measured signal power comprises or implies the first apparatus measuring the at least one reference signal.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the at least one predicted signal power comprises at least a first predicted signal power at a third time instance and a second predicted signal power at a fourth time instance, and the method 500 further comprises: determine a filtered signal power of the reference signal at least based on the first predicted signal power and the second predicted signal power; and determine the pathloss value based at least in part on the filtered signal power.

[0132] In some example embodiments, a time period between the third and fourth time instances is less than or equal to a third threshold time period.

[0133] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: discarding at least one of the first predicted signal power or the second predicted signal power; and determining the pathloss value based on the filtered signal power without using the discarded predicted signal power.

[0134] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: performing the transmission to the second apparatus based on the transmission power.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the at least one TCI state is obtained based on at least one of: an indication of the at least one TCI state from the second apparatus, or a prediction of the at least one TCI state.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the at least one TCI state comprises quasi-colocationinformation or source reference signal information, and the first apparatus 110 may determine the at least one reference signal based on the quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one of: a configuration of the at least one reference signal, or association information between the at least one reference signal and the at least one TCI state; and determining the at least one reference signal based on the at least one of the configuration or the association information.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the at least one reference signal is associated with at least one of: at least one predicted beam, at least one predicted reference signal, or at least one predicted TCI state.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal is determined by using an AI / ML model.

[0140] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0141] At block 610, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one TCI state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value.

[0142] At block 620, the second apparatus 120 receives, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signa.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the indication of the at least one TCI state comprises quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information, and the at least one reference signal is based on the quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the method 600 may further comprise: transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one of: a configuration of the at least one reference signal, or association information between the at least one reference signal and the at least one TCI state.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the method 600 may further comprise: transmitting, to the first apparatus, indication information about the selection of the at least one of the at least onepredicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power.

[0146] In some example embodiments, the at least one reference signal comprises or is associated with at least one of: at least one predicted beam, at least one predicted reference signal, or at least one predicted TCI state.

[0147] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 500 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 .

[0148] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for obtaining at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; means for selecting at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and means for determining a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 500 or the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the first apparatus.

[0150] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 600 or the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the second apparatus.

[0153] FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the processor 710.

[0154] The communication module 740 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 740 may include at least one antenna.

[0155] The processor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0156] The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 724, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0157] A computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The instructions of the program 730 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 730 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

[0158] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 730 so that the device 700 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 6. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0159] In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 722 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0160] FIG. 8 shows an example of the computer readable medium 800 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 800 has the program 730 stored thereon.

[0161] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as nonlimiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0162] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non- transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may belocated in both local and remote storage media.

[0163] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0164] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0165] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0166] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0167] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structuralfeatures and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:1 . A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: obtain at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; select at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and determine a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power is selected based on at least one of: indication information about the selection of the at least one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power from the second apparatus, a prediction quality of the at least one predicted signal power, temporal information of the at least one predicted signal power, temporal information of the at least one measured signal power, or a time instance of the transmission.

3. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the prediction quality of the at least one predicted signal power is indicated by at least one of: confidence information of a prediction model for predicting the signal power of the reference signal, or a performance metric obtained by a performance monitoring of the prediction model.

4. The first apparatus of claim 2 or 3, wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: based on the prediction quality being less than a threshold quality, select at least the at least one measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the prediction quality being higher than or equal to the threshold quality, select at least the at least one predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

5. The first apparatus of any of claims 2-4, wherein the at least one predicted signal power at least comprises a first predicted signal power at a first time instance, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the first apparatus is further caused to: based on a first time period between the first and second time instances being larger than or equal to a first threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the first time period being less than the first threshold time period, select at least the first predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 2-4, wherein the at least one predicted signal power at least comprises a first predicted signal power at a first time instance, the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the first apparatus is further caused to: based on a first time period between the first and second time instances being lower than or equal to a first threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power or another measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the first time period being larger than the first threshold time period, select at least the first predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

7. The first apparatus of any of claims 2-6, wherein the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the first apparatus is further caused to: based on a second time period between the second time instance and the time instance of the transmission being less than or equal to a second threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the second time period being larger than the second threshold time period, select at least the at least one predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 2-6, wherein the at least one measured signal power at least comprises a first measured signal power at a second time instance, and the first apparatus is further caused to:based on a second time period between the second time instance and the time instance of the transmission being larger than or equal to a second threshold time period, select at least the first measured signal power to determine the pathloss value; and based on the second time period being less than the second threshold time period, select at least the at least one predicted signal power to determine the pathloss value.

9. The first apparatus of any of claims 2-8, wherein the selection of the at least one measured signal power comprises or implies the first apparatus measuring the at least one reference signal.

10. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the at least one predicted signal power comprises at least a first predicted signal power at a third time instance and a second predicted signal power at a fourth time instance, and the first apparatus is further caused to: determine a filtered signal power of the reference signal at least based on the first predicted signal power and the second predicted signal power; and determine the pathloss value based at least in part on the filtered signal power.

11. The first apparatus of claim 10, wherein a time period between the third and fourth time instances is less than or equal to a third threshold time period.

12. The first apparatus of claim 10 or 11 , wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: discard at least one of the first predicted signal power or the second predicted signal power; and determine the pathloss value based on the filtered signal power without using the discarded predicted signal power.

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-12, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: perform the transmission to the second apparatus based on the transmission power.

14. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-13, wherein the at least one TCI state is obtained based on at least one of: an indication of the at least one TCI state from the second apparatus, or a prediction of the at least one TCI state.

15. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-14, wherein the at least one TCI state comprises quasicolocation information or source reference signal information, and the first apparatus is caused to:determine the at least one reference signal based on the quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information.

16. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-15, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: receive, from the second apparatus, at least one of: a configuration of the at least one reference signal, or association information between the at least one reference signal and the at least one TCI state; and determine the at least one reference signal based on the at least one of the configuration or the association information.

17. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 -16, wherein the at least one reference signal comprises or is associated with at least one of: at least one predicted beam, at least one predicted reference signal, or at least one predicted TCI state.

18. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-17, wherein the at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal is determined by using an artificial intelligence (Al) and / or machine learning (ML).

19. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and receive, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.

20. The second apparatus of claim 19, wherein the indication of the at least one TCI state comprises quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information, and the at least one reference signal is based on the quasi-colocation information or source reference signal information.

21. The second apparatus of claim 19 or 20, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the first apparatus, at least one of: a configuration of the at least one reference signal, or association information between the at least one reference signal and the at least one TCI state.

22. The second apparatus of any of claims 19-21 , wherein the second apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the first apparatus, indication information about the selection of the at least one of the at least one predicted signal power or the at least one measured signal power.

23. The second apparatus of any of claims 19-21 , wherein the at least one reference signal comprises or is associated with at least one of: at least one predicted beam, at least one predicted reference signal, or at least one predicted TCI state.

24. A method comprising: obtaining, at a first apparatus, at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; selecting at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and determining a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

25. A method comprising: transmitting, at a second apparatus to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and receiving, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.

26. A first apparatus comprising: means for obtaining at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission to a second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; means for selecting at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal to determine the pathloss value; and means for determining a transmission power of the transmission based on the pathloss value.

27. A second apparatus comprising: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an indication of at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for a transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the at least one TCI state being associated with at least one reference signal for determining a pathloss value; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, the transmission, wherein a transmission power of the transmission is determined based on the pathloss value, and where the pathloss value is determined based on at least one of at least one predicted signal power of the at least one reference signal or at least one measured signal power of the at least one reference signal.

28. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 24 or the method of claim 25.

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