User equipment event-driven beam reports for group based beam reporting

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for group-based beam reporting via user equipment event-driven beam reports. One method may include receiving, by a user device, from an access node, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations including at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals received by the user device from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The method may also include obtaining, by the user device, from the access node, at least configuration information including at least one triggering condition to switch from a first reference signal reporting configuration to a second reference signal reporting configuration. The method may further include switching, by the user device, from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration in response to the user device determining that the at least one triggering condition is met.

Description

USER EQUIPMENT EVENT-DRIVEN BEAM REPORTS FOR GROUP BASEDBEAM REPORTINGTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Some example embodiments may generally relate to mobile or wireless telecommunication systems, such as 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5thgeneration (5G) radio access technology (RAT), new radio (NR) access technology, 6thgeneration (6G), and / or other communications systems. For example, certain example embodiments may relate to systems and / or methods for group-based beam reporting via user equipment (UE) event-driven beam reports.BACKGROUND

[0002] Examples of mobile or wireless telecommunication systems may include radio frequency (RF) 5G RAT, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), LTE Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-A Pro, NR access technology, and / or MulteFire Alliance. 5G wireless systems refer to the next generation (NG) of radio systems and network architecture. A 5G system is typically built on a 5G NR, but a 5G (or NG) network may also be built on E-UTRA radio. It is expected that NR can support service categories such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency- communication (URLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). NR is expected to deliver extreme broadband, ultra-robust, low-latency connectivity, and massive networking to support the Internet of Things (loT). The next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) represents the radio access network (RAN) for 5G, which may provide radio access for NR, LTE, and LTE-A. It is noted that the nodes in 5G providing radio access functionality to a user equipment (UE) (e.g., similar to the Node B in UTRAN or the Evolved Node B (eNB) in LTE) may be referred to as nextgeneration Node B (gNB) when built on NR radio, and may be referred to as nextgeneration eNB (NG-eNB) when built on E-UTRA radio.SUMMARY

[0003] Various example embodiments may provide a method including receiving, by a user device, from an access node, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprising at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals received by the user device from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The method may also include obtaining, by the user device, from the access node, at least configuration information comprising at least one triggering condition to switch from a first reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations to a second reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations. In response to the user device determining that the at least one triggering condition is met, the method may further include switching, by the user device, from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration.

[0004] Certain example embodiments may provide a method including transmitting, by an access node, to a user device, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprising at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The method may also include receiving, by the access node, from the user device, a selected reference signal reporting configuration from the plurality of transmitted reference signal reporting configurations.

[0005] Some example embodiments may provide a method including receiving, by a user device, from an access node, at least one reference signal reporting configuration comprising a plurality of report quantities configured to report channel state information associated with reference signals received by the user device from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The method may also include obtaining, by the user device, from the access node, at least one determined report quantity for the plurality of reference signals based on received configuration information comprising at least one triggering condition. The method may further include transmitting, by the user device, to the access node, the at least onedetermined report quantity of the plurality of report quantities of the at least one reference signal reporting configuration.

[0006] Certain example embodiments may provide a method including transmitting, by an access node, to a user device, at least one reference signal reporting configuration comprising a plurality of report quantities configured to report channel state information associated with reference signals from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. In response to determining that at least one triggering condition is met, the method may also include determining, by the access node, a report quantity for each of the plurality of report quantities. The method may further include transmitting, by the access node, to the user device, the determined report quantity for each of the plurality of report quantities.

[0007] Some example embodiments may provide an apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive, from an access node, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations including at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals received from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The apparatus may also be caused to obtain, from the access node, at least configuration information including at least one triggering condition to switch from a first reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations to a second reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations. The apparatus may further be caused to, in response to the apparatus determining that the at least one triggering condition is met, switch from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration.

[0008] Various example embodiments may provide an apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to a user device, at least one reference signal reporting configuration including a plurality of report quantities configured to report channel state information associated with reference signals from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The apparatus may also becaused to, in response to determining that at least one triggering condition is met, determine a report quantity for each of the plurality of report quantities, and transmit, to the user device, the determined report quantity for each of the plurality of report quantities.

[0009] Certain example embodiments may provide an apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive, from an access node, at least one reference signal reporting configuration including a plurality of report quantities configured to report channel state information associated with reference signals received by the apparatus from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The apparatus may also be caused to obtain, from the access node, at least one determined report quantity for the plurality of reference signals based on received configuration information including at least one triggering condition. The apparatus may further be caused to transmit, to the access node, the at least one determined report quantity of the plurality of report quantities of the at least one reference signal reporting configuration.

[0010] Some example embodiments may provide an apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to a user device, at least one reference signal reporting configuration including a plurality of report quantities configured to report channel state information associated with reference signals from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states. The apparatus may also be caused to, in response to determining that at least one triggering condition is met, determine a report quantity for each of the plurality of report quantities, and transmit, to the user device, the determined report quantity for each of the plurality of report quantities.

[0011] Various example embodiments may provide one or more apparatuses each including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the one or more apparatuses at least to perform one or more of the methods described herein.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] For a proper understanding of example embodiments, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates frequency range (FR) 2 UE radio frequency (RF) front end (FE) architecture for 4 layer downlink (DL) reception, with 2 layers per UE RF panel;

[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of group-based beam reporting (GBBR);

[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of inter-beam interference for 4-layer DL multiple input multiple output (MIMO) with single transmit receive point (sTRP) in FR2;

[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates an example ratio between a desired and undesired signal received depending on UE antenna receiver (Rx) gain and on angle-on-arrival (Ao A);

[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram for a change of GBBR report quantity via radio resource control (RRC) signaling according to certain example embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of inter-beam interference causing low channel quality indicator (CQI);

[0019] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram according to certain example embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of another signaling diagram according to some example embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of various network devices according to some example embodiments; and

[0022] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a 5G network and system architecture according to certain example embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] It will be readily understood that the components of certain example embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following detailed description of some example embodiments of systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for group-based beam reporting via UEevent-driven beam reports is not intended to limit the scope of certain example embodiments, but is instead representative of selected example embodiments.

[0024] 3GPP Release (Rel)-18 is considering multi-Rx chains to enable and set requirements for 4-layer DL MIMO in FR2. In this way, UEs may be equipped with multiple panels (e.g., 2 panels) and multiple Rx chains (e.g., 2 Rx dual polarized chains), as shown in FIG. 1.

[0025] MIMO Phase 5 in 3 GPP Rel-19 may define UE-initiated / e vent-driven reports for beam management. Rel-19 is identifying some applications where the UE could benefit from initiating the beam reporting and / or switch. For example, the UE- initiated transmit configuration index (TCI)-state / beam reporting / switch feature may include the UE being configured with at least one event / condition, and then the UE may start TCI-state / beam reporting / switch if this at least one event / condition occurs and / or is satisfied.

[0026] 3 GPP Rel-19 may also specify enhancements to facilitate UE-initiated / event- driven beam management to reduce overhead and / or latency, assuming a unified TCI while leveraging (as much as possible) legacy channel state information (CSI) measurements and reporting configuration frameworks, targeting FR2 and sTRP with intra-cell and inter-cell beam management. For example, the enhancements may include uplink (UL) signaling content / procedures for UE-initiated / event-driven beam reporting facilitating fast beam switching, as well as UL signaling medium / containers considering the UE-initiated / event-driven nature of the UL transmission, designed primarily for beam reporting.

[0027] 3GPP RANI has specified GBBR, where the UE reports M groups / pairs (z.e., beams that can be simultaneously received) of N beams per group, with N>1. The number of M groups may be reported, and max(M) per CSI report may be a UE capability where the UE chooses from among { 1,2, 3,4], with max(M) being the RRC configured by the network. 3 GPP Rel-18 has focused on pairs of beams for the number of beams N per group (z.e., N=2).

[0028] In 3GPP Rel-16, the UE indicates a capability of whether it supports receiving two physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH) simultaneously and with different AoAs. Throughout Rel-16, the focus of GBBR has been on sTRP cases, and possiblereported metrics included layer 1 (LI preference signal received power (RSRP) and Ll-SINR, with the Ll-SINR being introduced to capture inter-beam interference. 3GPP Rel-17 extended GBBR where the UE reports M pairs potentially from different TRPs, as shown in FIG. 2. For multi-TRP (mTRP) cases, El-RSRP is supported, but El-SINR was not specified.

[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of FR24-layers DE MIMO in an intra-cell sTRP framework, where each TCI sends 2-port CSI beams, where CSI#1 and CSI#2 belong to the same TRP, and the UE receives CSI#1 on Array 1 (Al) and CSI#2 on Array 2 (A2). While FIG. 3 is shown for FR2 sTRP, this may be extended to a mTRP scenario e.g., 6G).

[0030] However, strong UE antenna side lobes may pollute the UE desired receive signal with undesired signals (e.g., measured with relatively high Rx antenna gain). For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the ratio between desired and undesired gain may be significantly affected by the selected TRP beam pair. Beam pair CSI#1 and CSI#2 may only have 5 decibel (dB) gain difference at the UE Rx beam, while the beam pair CSI#1 and CSI#3 have 23 dB gain difference. The undesired signal may lead to interference depending on how the UE demodulates the received signal.

[0031] In a case of separate demodulation by the UE, the UE may separately demodulate two times 2-layers DL MIMO simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 3, the UE may only invert the elements from the desired signals, and thus the elements from the undesired signals are treated as interference; this may cause throughput degradation, and possibly cause sub-optimal performance. In the separate demodulation technique, the undesired signal from CSI#2 may create interference and degrade achievable throughput of the beam pair. Therefore, the best throughput may come from optimizing SINR rather that finding best RSRP. The beam pairs that optimize SINR may differ from the ones that maximize RSRP values.

[0032] GBBR includes an RRC configured by the network, and may indicate which report quantity e.g., Ll-RSRP or Ll-SINR) the UE should report. FIG. 5 depicts example procedure 500 for changing the report quantity. Specifically, at operation 501, a UE may transmit a GBBR report with Ll-RSRP to a NE, and at operation 502, the NE may respond with an RRCReconfiguration message indicating the UE isconfigured with Ll-SINR. At operation 503, the UE may transmit an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the NE, and at operation 504, the NE may transmit to the UE a GBBR report with Ll-SINR. If UE is configured with GBBR Ll-RSRP reports for sTRP, and CQI is consistently low, the UE may know that the reason is inter- beam interference, but the network may only know this with an Ll- SINR report. Currently, only the network determines the report quantity, and when and which beam pairs to select. The report quantity may not change because it is significantly resource-intensive and slower, requiring RRC reconfiguration.

[0033] Certain example embodiments described herein may have various benefits and / or advantages to overcome the disadvantages described above. For example, certain example embodiments may enable a UE to indicate to the network to switch the GBBR report quantity from Ll-RSRP to Ll-SINR. Some example embodiments may also enable the network to minimize switching delay when changing from Ll-RSRP to Ll-SINR GBBR. Thus, certain example embodiments discussed below are directed to improvements in computer-related technology.

[0034] In certain example embodiments, the network may generate at least a first configuration for GBBR with Ll-RSRP report quantity, and at least a second configuration for GBBR with Ll-SINR report quantity. An event may then occur, such as CQI consistently low / high, including network configuration for UE measurements of N samples below / above T dB threshold. As shown in FIG. 6, if the baseline configuration is with Ll-RSRP, if the network schedules two beams with good (e.g., above a relatively high threshold value) Ll-RSRP as reported by the UE, and if the reported CQI eventually is consistently low (e.g., below a certain CQI threshold), that may indicate that the pair is suffering strong inter-beam interference, and that switching to Ll-SINR may improve performance. In contrast, if Ll-SINR is currently reported and if the reported CQI is consistently high e.g., above a certain CQI threshold), that may indicate that the pair is suffering low inter-beam interference, and that reverting to Ll-RSRP may improve performance. The certain CQI thresholds may be the same threshold or different thresholds.

[0035] Furthermore, there may be an association between the UL resource request and the GBBR config 1 or 2 for Ll-RSPR or Ll-SINR, respectively, with implicitindications through UL occasions and / or with explicit indications embedded in UL signals. Additionally or alternatively, the network may schedule UL resources for GBBR reports, and be configured to interpret the reported quantity (z.e., either Ll- RSRP or Ll-SINR quantities), depending on which UL resource(s) were triggered for UE event-driven reports.

[0036] In various example embodiments, instead of the network generating a first and second configuration, the network may generate a single GBBR configuration, which may be agnostic from the report quantity type. The network may then dynamically indicate which of the two report quantities is requested without having to perform RRC reconfiguration.

[0037] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram 700 depicting group-based beam reporting via UE event-driven beam reports. UE 710 and TRP 720 may be similar to UE 920 and NE 910, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 9, according to certain example embodiments. TRP 720 may include a plurality of beams (e.g., beam A and beam B).

[0038] At operation 701, TRP 720 may transmit a first RRC configuration message to UE 710 for GBBR with a report quantity LLRSPR (e.g., GBBRConfigID_X). By default, the configuration with the lowest index may apply.

[0039] At operation 702, TRP 720 may transmit a second RRC configuration to UE 710 for GBBR with report quantity Ll-SINR (e.g., GBBRConfigID_Y).

[0040] At operation 703, UE 710 and TRP 720 may exchange sTRP 4-layers on 2 TCI states.

[0041] At operation 704, UE 710 may transmit to TRP 720 a GBBR report with Ll- RSPR according to the report quantity LLRSPR of the first RRC configuration message (i.e., GBBRConfigID_X).

[0042] At operation 705, TRP 720 may transmit to UE 710 at least one event-driven report configuration wherein CQI is an event including threshold T and / or a number of samples N. If the CQI is below the threshold T for the N samples, UE 710 may trigger a switch of GBBR configuration.

[0043] In various example embodiments, instead of the CQI being consistently low (to switch to Ll-SINR) or high (to switch back to LLRSRP), metrics may be used that areclosely related to the CQI (e.g., the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) that has been selected by the network for the last N’ samples, wherein N’ has a different value from N. This may provide advantages similar to the CQI: if the scheduled MCS is consistently low e.g., below a certain MCS threshold) the pair may be suffering strong inter-beam interference, and switching to Ll-SINR may improve performance. Alternatively, if Ll- SINR is currently reported, and if the scheduled MCS is consistently high e.g., above a certain MCS threshold), the pair may experience low inter-beam interference conditions, and reverting to Ll-RSRP reporting may be adequate. The certain MCS thresholds may be the same threshold or different thresholds.

[0044] In certain example embodiments, instead of using CQI (or similar like MCS), triggering UE 710 to switch among Ll-RSRP and Ll-SINR may be based on the number of the decoding failures at UE 710, such that UE 710 requests HARQ retransmissions. For example, if the number of decoding failures is above a threshold number of decoding failures in the last N” occasions, then switching to Ll-SINR (from Ll-RSRP) may be triggered, wherein some inter-beam interference may cause fluctuations in the SINR at UE 710 that may eventually cause these decoding failures. If the number of decoding failures is below a threshold number of decoding failures in the last N” occasions, then reverting to Ll-RSRP (from Ll-SINR) may be sufficient. The certain thresholds of the number of decoding failures may be the same threshold or different thresholds.

[0045] In some example embodiments, the two beams / TCIs that are measured / reported with GBBR at UE 710 may be scheduled for two TRPs. This may require Ll-SINR metrics to also apply for mTRP.

[0046] At operation 707, UE 710 may perform UL signaling with TRP 720 configured to trigger UL resources for at least one event-driven GBBR report.

[0047] In various example embodiments, UE 710 may indicate to TRP 720 that UE 710 is requesting UL resources for transmitting GBBR for Ll-RSRP quantity specifically or for Ll-SINR quantity specifically. This indication may be implicit, wherein specific occasions (e.g., slot l...slot m) for UL signaling triggering to request UL reporting resources are dedicated for requesting UL resources for GBBR with Ll-RSRP, and different specific occasions (e.g., slot m...slot n) for UL signaling triggering to requestUL reporting resources are dedicated for requesting UL resources for GBBR with Ll- SINR. Thus, the occasions may be associated with a specific GBBRConfig_Id.

[0048] Alternatively, the indication may be explicit, wherein the UL signaling carries the indication of which report quantity UE 710 wants to transmit in GBBR. Thus, the UL signaling may indicate which GBBRConfig_Id UE 710 prefers. In either implicit or explicit, UL signaling may be any of a scheduling request (SR), random access channel (RACH), new dedicated UL sequence, etc.

[0049] At operation 708, TRP 720 may transmit to UE 710 UL resources allocated to the GBBR report for the report quantity LLSINR of the second RRC configuration (e.g., GBBRConfigID_Y).

[0050] At operation 709, UE 710 may transmit to TRP 720 a GBBR report with LL SINR according to the report quantity LLSINR of the second RRC configuration e.g., GBBRConfigID_Y).

[0051] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram 800 depicting group-based beam reporting via UE event-driven beam reports. NE 810 and UE 820 may be similar to NE 910 and UE 920, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 9, according to certain example embodiments. UE 820 may be configured for both LLSINR and LLRSRP, and may use LLRSRP unless otherwise configured.

[0052] At operation 801, NE 810 may transmit to UE 820 an RRC configuration for GBBR with a report quantity set for LLRSRP and LLSINR. For example, the default may be for GBRR with LLRSRP to be reported.

[0053] At operation 802, UE 820 may transmit to NE 810 a GBBR report with LL RSRP.

[0054] At operation 803, NE 810 may measure a low CQI received N times, and at operation 804, NE 810 may determine that UE 820 should report GBBR reports with LLSINR.

[0055] At operation 805, NE 810 may transmit to UE 820 any of lower layer signaling, downlink control information (DCI), and / or MAC-control element (CE) indicating that UE 820 should report GBBR with report quantity LLSINR.

[0056] At operation 806, UE 820 may respond by transmitting to NE 810 a GBBR report with LLSINR.

[0057] At operation 807, NE 810 may transmit to UE 820 any of lower layer signaling, DCI, MAC-CE indicating that UE 820 should report GBBR with report quantity Ll-RSRP.

[0058] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a system according to certain example embodiments. In one example embodiment, a system may include multiple devices, such as, for example, NE 910 and / or UE 920.

[0059] NE 910 may be one or more of a base station (e.g., 3G UMTS NodeB, 4G LTE Evolved NodeB, or 5G NR Next Generation NodeB), a serving gateway, a server, and / or any other access node or combination thereof.

[0060] NE 910 may further include at least one gNB -centralized unit (CU), which may be associated with at least one gNB -distributed unit (DU). The at least one gNB-CU and the at least one gNB -DU may be in communication via at least one Fl interface, at least one Xn-C interface, and / or at least one NG interface via a 5thgeneration core (5GC).

[0001] UE 920 may include one or more of a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, or portable media player, digital camera, pocket video camera, video game console, navigation unit, such as a global positioning system (GPS) device, desktop or laptop computer, single-location device, such as a sensor or smart meter, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, NE 910 and / or UE 920 may be one or more of a citizens broadband radio service device (CBSD).

[0062] NE 910 and / or UE 920 may include at least one processor, respectively indicated as 911 and 921. Processors 911 and 921 may be embodied by any computational or data processing device, such as a central processing unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or comparable device. The processors may be implemented as a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or processors.

[0063] At least one memory may be provided in one or more of the devices, as indicated at 912 and 922. The memory may be fixed or removable. The memory may include computer program instructions or computer code contained therein. Memories 912 and 922 may independently be any suitable storage device, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, may correspond to a limitation of the medium itself (z.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposedto a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., random access memory (RAM) vs. read-only memory (ROM)). A hard disk drive (HDD), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or other suitable memory may be used. The memories may be combined on a single integrated circuit as the processor, or may be separate from the one or more processors. Furthermore, the computer program instructions stored in the memory, and which may be processed by the processors, may be any suitable form of computer program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted computer program written in any suitable programming language.

[0064] Processors 911 and 921, memories 912 and 922, and any subset thereof, may be configured to provide means corresponding to the various blocks of FIGs. 6-8. Although not shown, the devices may also include positioning hardware, such as GPS or micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS) hardware, which may be used to determine a location of the device. Other sensors are also permitted, and may be configured to determine location, elevation, velocity, orientation, and so forth, such as barometers, compasses, and the like.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 9, transceivers 913 and 923 may be provided, and one or more devices may also include at least one antenna, respectively illustrated as 914 and 924. The device may have many antennas, such as an array of antennas configured for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communications, or multiple antennas for multiple RATs. Other configurations of these devices, for example, may be provided. Transceivers 913 and 923 may be a transmitter, a receiver, both a transmitter and a receiver, or a unit or device that may be configured both for transmission and reception.

[0066] The memory and the computer program instructions may be configured, with the processor for the particular device, to cause a hardware apparatus, such as UE, to perform any of the processes described above (z.e., FIGs. 6-8). Therefore, in certain example embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may be encoded with computer instructions that, when executed in hardware, perform a process such as one of the processes described herein. Alternatively, certain example embodiments may be performed entirely in hardware.

[0067] In certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include circuitry configured to perform any of the processes or functions illustrated in FIGs. 6-8. Asused 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), (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 circuit(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. 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.

[0068] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a 5G network and system architecture according to certain example embodiments. Shown are multiple network functions that may be implemented as software operating as part of a network device or dedicated hardware, as a network device itself or dedicated hardware, or as a virtual function operating as a network device or dedicated hardware. The NE and UE illustrated in FIG. 10 may be similar to NE 910 and UE 920, respectively. The user plane function (UPF) may provide services such as intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, routing and forwarding of data packets, inspection of packets, user plane quality of service (QoS) processing, buffering of downlink packets, and / or triggering of downlink data notifications. The application function (AF) may primarily interface with the core network to facilitate application usage of traffic routing and interact with the policy framework.

[0069] According to certain example embodiments, processors 911 and 921, and memories 912 and 922, may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry. In addition, in some example embodiments, transceivers 913 and 923 may be included in or may form a part of transceiving circuitry.

[0070] In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., NE 910 and / or UE 920) may include means for performing a method, a process, or any of the variants discussed herein. Examples of the means may include one or more processors, memory, controllers, transmitters, receivers, and / or computer program code for causing the performance of the operations.

[0071] The features, structures, or characteristics of example embodiments described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “various embodiments,” “certain embodiments,” “some embodiments,” or other similar language throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an example embodiment may be included in at least one example embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in certain embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” or other similar language throughout this specification does not necessarily all refer to the same group of example embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments.

[0072] 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.

[0073] Additionally, if desired, the different functions or procedures discussed above may be performed in a different order and / or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the described functions or procedures may be optional or may be combined. As such, the description above should be considered as illustrative of the principles and teachings of certain example embodiments, and not in limitation thereof.

[0074] One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the example embodiments discussed above may be practiced with procedures in a different order, and / or with hardware elements in configurations which are different than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although some embodiments have been described based upon these example embodiments, it would be apparent to those of skill in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions would be apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the example embodiments.

[0075] Partial Glossary

[0076] 3GPP 3rdGeneration Partnership Project

[0077] 5G 5thGeneration

[0078] 5GC 5thGeneration Core

[0079] 6G 6thGeneration

[0080] AF Application Function

[0081] AoA Angle-on- Arrival

[0082] ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit

[0083] CBSD Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device

[0084] CE Control Element

[0085] CPU Central Processing Unit

[0086] CQI Channel Quality Indicator

[0087] CSI Channel State Information

[0088] CU Centralized Unit

[0089] dB Decibel

[0090] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0091] DL Downlink

[0092] DU Distributed Unit

[0093] eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

[0094] eNB Evolved Node B

[0095] FE Front End

[0096] FR Frequency Range

[0097] GBBR Group-Based Beam Reporting

[0098] gNB Next Generation Node B

[0099] GPS Global Positioning System

[0100] HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0101] HDD Hard Disk Drive

[0102] loT Internet of Things

[0103] LI Layer 1

[0104] LTE Long-Term Evolution

[0105] LTE-A Long-Term Evolution Advanced

[0106] MAC Medium Access Control

[0107] MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

[0108] MEMS Micro Electrical Mechanical System

[0109] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0110] mMTC Massive Machine Type Communication

[0111] mTRP Multi-Transmit Receive Point

[0112] NE Network Entity

[0113] NG Next Generation

[0114] NG-eNB Next Generation Evolved Node B

[0115] NG-RAN Next Generation Radio Access Network

[0116] NR New Radio

[0117] PCI Physical Cell Identifier

[0118] PDA Personal Digital Assistance

[0119] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0120] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0121] QoS Quality of Service

[0122] RACH Random Access Channel

[0123] RAM Random Access Memory

[0124] RAN Radio Access Network

[0125] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0126] REL Release

[0127] RF Radio Frequency

[0128] ROM Read-Only Memory

[0129] RRC Radio Resource Control

[0130] RS Reference Signal

[0131] RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

[0132] Rx Receiver

[0133] SINR Signal to Interference Plus Noise Ratio

[0134] SR Scheduling Request

[0135] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0136] SSB Synchronization Signal Block

[0137] sTRP Single Transmit Receive Point

[0138] TCI Transmit Configuration Index

[0139] TRP Transmit Receive Point

[0140] TS Technical Specification

[0141] TTI Transmission Time Interval

[0142] UE User Equipment

[0143] UL Uplink

[0144] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0145] UPF User Plane Function

[0146] URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication

[0147] UTRAN Universal Mobile Telecommunications System TerrestrialRadio Access Network

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a user device, from an access node, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprising at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals received by the user device from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states; obtaining, by the user device, from the access node, at least configuration information comprising at least one triggering condition to switch from a first reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations to a second reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations; and in response to the user device determining that the at least one triggering condition is met, switching, by the user device, from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: informing the access node of the switching from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration.

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the user device comprises a user equipment, and the access node comprises a base station.

4. The method of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprise group-based beam reporting configurations.

5. The method of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the at least one report quantity comprises at least one of a reference signal received power reporting or a signal-to-interference and noise ratio reporting.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the reference signals arereceived from a single transmission and reception point or multiple transmission and reception points.

7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the reference signals comprise at least one of a plurality of channel state information reference signals or a plurality of synchronization signal blocks, and a plurality of reference signal resources comprise 2-port channel state information reference signal resources.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the at least one triggering condition comprises at least one of the following: a channel quality indicator being above or below a first threshold; a modulation and coding scheme index being above or below a second threshold; or a number of decoding failures being above or below a third threshold.

9. A method comprising: transmitting, by an access node, to a user device, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprising at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states; and receiving, by the access node, from the user device, a selected reference signal reporting configuration from the plurality of transmitted reference signal reporting configurations.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the user device comprises a user equipment, and the access node comprises a base station.

11. The method of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprise group-based beam reporting configurations.

12. The method of any one of claims 9-11, wherein the at least one reportquantity comprises at least one of a reference signal received power reporting or a signal-to-interference and noise ratio reporting.

13. The method of any one of claims 9-12, wherein the reference signals are transmitted from a single transmission and reception point or multiple transmission and reception points.

14. The method of any one of claims 9-13, wherein the reference signals comprise at least one of a plurality of channel state information reference signals or a plurality of synchronization signal blocks, and a plurality of Hrcfcrcncc signal resourcesH comprise 2-port channel state information reference signal resources.

15. The method of any one of claims 9-14, wherein the at least one triggering condition comprises at least one of the following: a channel quality indicator being above or below a first threshold; a modulation and coding scheme index being above or below a second threshold; or a number of decoding failures being above or below a third threshold.

16. The method of any one of claims 9-15, wherein the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations are associated with an uplink resource request.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: scheduling a plurality of uplink resources in response to the uplink resource request; receiving the at least one report quantity using at least part of the scheduled plurality of uplink resources and based on the selected reference signal reporting configuration; and determining the selected reference signal reporting configuration based on the uplink resource.

18. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from an access node, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprising at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals received from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states; obtain, from the access node, at least configuration information comprising at least one triggering condition to switch from a first reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations to a second reference signal reporting configuration of the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations; and in response to the apparatus determining that the at least one triggering condition is met, switch from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: inform the access node of the switching from the first reference signal reporting configuration to the second reference signal reporting configuration.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 or claim 19, wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment, and the access node comprises a base station.

21. The apparatus of any one of claims 18-20, wherein the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprise group-based beam reporting configurations.

22. The apparatus of any one of claims 18-21, wherein the at least one reportquantity comprises at least one of a reference signal received power reporting or a signal-to-interference and noise ratio reporting.

23. The apparatus of any one of claims 18-22, wherein the reference signals are received from a single transmission and reception point or multiple transmission and reception points.

24. The apparatus of any one of claims 18-23, wherein the reference signals comprise at least one of a plurality of channel state information reference signals or a plurality of synchronization signal blocks, and a plurality of reference signal resources comprise 2-port channel state information reference signal resources.

25. The apparatus of any one of claims 18-24, wherein the at least one triggering condition comprises at least one of the following: a channel quality indicator being above or below a first threshold; a modulation and coding scheme index being above or below a second threshold; or a number of decoding failures being above or below a third threshold.

26. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit, to a user device, a plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprising at least one report quantity for reporting channel state information associated with reference signals from a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states; and receive, from the user device, a selected reference signal reporting configuration from the plurality of transmitted reference signal reporting configurations.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the user device comprises a userequipment, and the apparatus comprises a base station.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 or claim 27, wherein the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations comprise group-based beam reporting configurations.

29. The apparatus of any one of claims 26-28, wherein the at least one report quantity comprises at least one of a reference signal received power reporting or a signal-to-interference and noise ratio reporting.

30. The apparatus of any one of claims 26-29, wherein the reference signals are transmitted from a single transmission and reception point or multiple transmission and reception points.

31. The apparatus of any one of claims 26-30, wherein the reference signals comprise at least one of a plurality of channel state information reference signals or a plurality of synchronization signal blocks, and a plurality of Hrcfcrcncc signal resourcesH comprise 2-port channel state information reference signal resources.

32. The apparatus of any one of claims 26-31, wherein the at least one triggering condition comprises at least one of the following: a channel quality indicator being above or below a first threshold; a modulation and coding scheme index being above or below a second threshold; or a number of decoding failures being above or below a third threshold.

33. The apparatus of any one of claims 26-32, wherein the plurality of reference signal reporting configurations are associated with an uplink resource request.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:schedule a plurality of uplink resources in response to the uplink resource request; receive the at least one report quantity using at least part of the scheduled plurality of uplink resources and based on the selected reference signal reporting configuration; and determine the selected reference signal reporting configuration based on the uplink resource.

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