User equipments, base stations, and communication methods

Abstract

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) is described. The method includes receiving, from a base station, a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, N, and the second parameter indicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and determining a report to include a time instance indicator, N x K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and (N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s), wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the N x K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the (N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

Description

[DESCRIPTION][Title of Invention]USER EQUIPMENTS, BASE STATIONS, AND COMMUNICATION METHODS [Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a user equipment, a base station, and a communication method.[Background Art]

[0002] At present, as a radio access system and a radio network technology aimed for the fifth-generation (5G) cellular system and the sixth-generation (6G) cellular system, technical investigation and standard development are being conducted, as extended standards of Long Term Evolution (LTE), on LTE- Advanced Pro (LTE- A Pro) and New Radio technology (NR) in The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0003] In the fifth-generation cellular system, three services of enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) to achieve high-speed and large-volume transmission, Ultra- Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC) to achieve low-latency and high- reliability communication, and massive Machine Type Communication (tnMTC) to allow connection of a large number of machine type devices such as Internet of Things (loT) have been demanded as assumed scenarios.

[0004] Additionally, 3GPP has been actively engaging in Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) initiatives. The integration of AI / ML into 3GPP’s development of 5G and 6G wireless communication standards is to facilitate the application of AI / ML technologies in commercial cellular system. However, how to enable supporting of AI / ML in 5G and 6G wireless communication standards has not been well discussed, with offering limited flexibility and the efficiency for the whole wireless communication system. As illustrated by this discussion, systems and methods according to the present invention, effectively enabling the support of AI / ML functionality, may improve the communication flexibility and efficiency and may be beneficial.[Brief Description of the Drawings]

[0005] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating one configuration of one or more base stations and one or more user equipments (UEs) in which systems and methods for reporting measurement results may be implemented;

[0006] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating one example 200 of a resource grid;

[0007] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating one example 300 of common resource block grid, carrier configuration and BWP configuration by a UE 102 and a base station 160;

[0008] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating one 400 example of functional framework for AI / ML for NR air interface by a UE 102 and a base station 160;

[0009] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating one 500 example of downlink beam prediction by a base station 160;

[0010] Figure 6 is a flow diagram illustrating one implementation of a method 600 for reporting measurement results by a UE 102;

[0011] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating one 700 example of mapping order of fields of one report by a UE 102 and a base station 160;

[0012] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating one implementation of a method 800 for determining RS resource sets for channel measurement by a UE 102;

[0013] Figure 9 illustrates various components that may be utilized in a UE;

[0014] Figure 10 illustrates various components that may be utilized in a base station;[Description of Embodiments]

[0015] A user equipment (UE) is described. The UE includes reception unit configure to receive, from a base station, a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, N, and the second parameter indicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and control unit configured to generate a report to include a time instance indicator, N x K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and ( N x K — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s) , wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the N x K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the (N x K — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

[0016] A base station is described. The base station includes transmission unit configured to transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, 2V, and the second parameter indicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and control unitconfigured to generate a report to include a time instance indicator, N x K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and (N X K) - 1 differential predicted RSRP(s), wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the N X K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the (IV X 20 — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

[0017] A communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) is described. The method includes receiving from a base station, a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, N , and the second parameter indicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and determining a report to include a time instance indicator, N x K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and (N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s), wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the N x K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the (N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

[0018] 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the name given to a project to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone or device standard to cope with future requirements. In one aspect, UMTS has been modified to provide support and specification for the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). 3GPP NR (New Radio) is the name given to a project to improve the LTE mobile phone or device standard to cope with future requirements. In one aspect, LTE has been modified to provide support and specification (TS 38.331, 38.321, 38.300, 37.340, 38.211, 38.212, 38.213, 38.214, etc.) for the New Radio Access (NR) and Next generation — Radio Access Network (NG-RAN).

[0019] At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be described in relation to the 3GPP LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Advanced Pro, New Radio Access (NR), and other 3G / 4G / 5G standards (e.g., 3GPP Releases 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and / or 18, and / or Narrow Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT)). However, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited in this regard. At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be utilized in other types of wireless communication systems.

[0020] A wireless communication device may be an electronic device used to communicate voice and / or data to a base station, which in turn may communicate with a network of devices (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, etc.). In describing systems and methods herein, a wireless communication device may alternatively be referred to as a mobile station, a UE (User Equipment), an access terminal, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a remote station, a user terminal, a terminal, a subscriber unit, a mobile device, a relay node, etc. Examples of wireless communication devices include cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, netbooks, e-readers, wireless modems, industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, wearables, vehicles, roadside units, infrastructure devices, etc. In 3GPP specifications, a wireless communication device is typically referred to as a UE. However, as the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the 3GPP standards, the terms “UE” and “wireless communication device” may be used interchangeably herein to mean the more general term “wireless communication device”.

[0021] In 3GPP specifications, a base station is typically referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an eNB, a home enhanced or evolved Node B (HeNB) or some other similar terminology. As the scope of the disclosure should not be limited to 3GPP standards, the terms “base station,” “gNB”, “Node B,” “eNB,” and “HeNB” may be used interchangeably herein to mean the more general term “base station.” Furthermore, one example of a “base station” is an access point. An access point may be an electronic device that provides access to a network (e.g., Local Area Network (LAN), the Internet, etc.) for wireless communication devices. The term “communication device” may be used to denote both a wireless communication device and / or a base station.

[0022] It should be noted that as used herein, a “cell” may be any communication channel that is specified by standardization or regulatory bodies to be used for International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced), IMT-2020 (5G) and all of it or a subset of it may be adopted by 3GPP as licensed bands (e.g., frequency bands) to be used for communication between a base station and a UE. It should also be noted that in NR, NG-RAN, E-UTRA and E-UTRAN overall description, as used herein, a “cell” may be defined as “combination of downlink and optionally uplink resources." The linking between the carrier frequency of the downlink resourcesand the carrier frequency of the uplink resources may be indicated in the system information transmitted on the downlink resources.

[0023] “Configured cells” are those cells of which the UE is aware and is allowed by a base station to transmit or receive information. “Configured cell(s)” may be serving cell(s). The UE may receive system information and perform the required measurements on configured cells. “Configured cell(s)” for a radio connection may consist of a primary cell and / or no, one, or more secondary cell(s). “Activated cells” are those configured cells on which the UE is transmitting and receiving. That is, activated cells are those cells for which the UE monitors the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and in the case of a downlink transmission, those cells for which the UE decodes a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). “Deactivated cells” are those configured cells that the UE is not monitoring the transmission PDCCH. It should be noted that a “cell" may be described in terms of differing dimensions. For example, a “cell” may have temporal, spatial (e.g., geographical) and frequency characteristics.

[0024] The base stations may be connected by the NG interface to the 5G - core network (5G-CN). 5G-CN may be called as to NextGen core (NGC), or 5G core (5GC). The base stations may also be connected by the SI interface to the evolved packet core (EPC). For instance, the base stations may be connected to a NextGen (NG) mobility management function by the NG-2 interface and to the NG core User Plane (UP) functions by the NG-3 interface. The NG interface supports a many-to-many relation between NG mobility management functions, NG core UP functions and the base stations. The NG-2 interface is the NG interfree for the control plane and the NG-3 interface is the NG interface for the user plane. For instance, for EPC connection, the base stations may be connected to a mobility management entity (MME) by the SI- MMS interface and to the serving gateway (S-GW) by the Sl-U interface. The SI interface supports a many-to-many relation between MMEs, serving gateways and the base stations. The SI -MME interface is the SI interface for the control plane and the Sl-U interface is the S 1 interface for the user plane. The Uu interface is a radio interface between the UE and the base station for the radio protocol.

[0025] The radio protocol architecture may include the user plane and the control plane. The user plane protocol stack may include packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and physical (PHY) layers. A DRB (Data Radio Bearer) is a radio bearer that carries user data (as opposedto control plane signaling). For example, a DRB may be mapped to the user plane protocol stack. The PDCP, RLC, MAC and PHY sublayers (terminated at the base station 460a on the network) may perform functions (e.g., header compression, ciphering, scheduling, ARQ and HARQ) for the user plane. PDCP entities are located in the PDCP sublayer. RLC entities may be located in the RLC sublayer. MAC entities may be located in the MAC sublayer. The PHY entities may be located in the PHY sublayer.

[0026] The control plane may include a control plane protocol stack. The PDCP sublayer (terminated in base station on the network side) may perform functions (e.g., ciphering and integrity protection) for the control plane. The RLC and MAC sublayers (terminated in base station on the network side) may perform the same functions as for the user plane. The Radio Resource Control (RRC) (terminated in base station on the network side) may perform the following functions. The RRC may perform broadcast functions, paging, RRC connection management, radio bearer (RB) control, mobility functions, UE measurement reporting and control. The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) control protocol (terminated in MME on the network side) may perform, among other things, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer management, authentication, evolved packet system connection management (ECM)-IDLE mobility handling, paging origination in ECM-IDLE and security control.

[0027] Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) are Radio Bearers (RB) that may be used only for the transmission of RRC and NAS messages. Three SRBs may be defined. SRB0 may be used for RRC messages using the common control channel (CCCH) logical channel. SRB1 may be used for RRC messages (which may include a piggybacked NAS message) as well as for NAS messages prior to the establishment of SRB2, all using the dedicated control channel (DCCH) logical channel. SRB2 may be used for RRC messages which include logged measurement information as well as for NAS messages, all using the DCCH logical channel. SRB2 has a lower priority than SRB1 and may be configured by a network (e.g., base station) after security activation. A broadcast control channel (BCCH) logical channel may be used for broadcasting system information. Some of BCCH logical channel may convey system information which may be sent from the network to the UE via BCH (Broadcast Channel) transport channel. BCH may be sent on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Some of BCCH logical channel may convey system information which may be sent from the networkto the UE via DL-SCH (Downlink Shared Channel) transport channel. Paging may be provided by using paging control channel (PCCH) logical channel.

[0028] System information may be divided into the MasterlnformationBlock (MIB) and a number of SystemlnformationBlocks (SIBs).

[0029] The UE may receive one or more RRC messages from the base station to obtain RRC configurations or parameters. The RRC layer of the UE may configure RRC layer and / or lower layers (e.g., PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer) of the UE according to the RRC configurations or parameters which may be configured by the RRC messages, broadcasted system information, and so on. The base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to the UE to cause the UE to configure RRC layer and / or lower layers of the UE according to the RRC configurations or parameters which may be configured by the RRC messages, broadcasted system information, and so on.

[0030] The size of various fields in the time domain is expressed in time units Tc=1 / (ΔfmaxX Nf) whereΔfmax=480*103Hz and Nf=4096. The constant k = Ts / Tc= 64 where Ts= 1 / (Δfref• Nf,re)\ Δfref= 15 • 103and Nf,ref= 2048.

[0031] Multiple OFDM numerologies are supported as given by Table 4.2-1 of [TS 38.211] where μ and the cyclic prefix for a bandwidth part are obtained from the higher- layer parameter subcarrierSpacing and cyclicPrefix, respectively.

[0032] The size of various fields in the time domain may be expressed as a number of time units Tc=l / (15000x2048) seconds. Downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into frames with Tf= (ΔfmaxNf 100) • Tc= 10ms duration, each consisting of ten subframes of Tsf= (ΔfmaxNf / 1000) • Tc= 1ms duration. The number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe is Each frame is divided into two equally-sized half-frames of five subframes each with half-frame 0 consisting of subframes 0-4 and half- frame 1 consisting of subframes 5 - 9.

[0033] For subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration μ, slots are numbered in increasing order within a subframe and} in increasing order within a frame is the number ofslots per subframe for subcarrier spacing configuration μ. There areconsecutiveOFDM symbols in a slot wheredepends on the cyclic prefix as given by Tables 4.3.2-1 and 4.3.2-2 of [TS 38.211]. The start of slotin a subframe is aligned in time with the start of OFDM symbol in the same subframe. Subcarrier spacingrefers to a spacing (or frequency bandwidth) between two consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be set to 15kHz (i.e., μ=0), 30kHz (i.e. μ =1), 60kHz (i.e. μ=2), 120kHz (i.e. or 240kHz (i.e. μ =4\ A resource block is defined as a number of consecutive subcarriers (e.g., 12) in the frequency domain. For a carrier with different frequency, the applicable subcarrier may be different. For example, for a carrier in a frequency rang 1 , a subcarrier spacing only among a set of (15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz} is applicable. For a carrier in a frequency rang 2, a subcarrier spacing only among a set of (60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz} is applicable. The base station may not configure an inapplicable subcarrier spacing for a carrier.

[0034] OFDM symbols in a slot can be classified as 'downlink', 'flexible', or 'uplink'.Signaling of slot formats is described in subclause 11.1 of [TS 38.213].

[0035] In a slot in a downlink frame, the UE may assume that downlink transmissions only occur in 'downlink' or 'flexible* symbols. In a slot in an uplink frame, the UE may only transmit in 'uplink' or 'flexible' symbols.

[0036] Various examples of the systems and methods disclosed herein are now described with reference to the Figures, where like reference numbers may indicate functionally similar elements. The systems and methods as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different implementations. Thus, the following more detailed description of several implementations, as represented in the Figures, is not intended to limit scope, as claimed, but is merely representative of the systems and methods.

[0037] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating one configuration of one or more base stations 160 (e.g., eNB, gNB) and one or more user equipments (UEs) 102 in which systems and methods for reporting measurement results may be implemented. The one or more UEs 102 may communicate with one or more base stations 160 using one or more antennas 122 a— n. For example, a UE 102 transmits electromagnetic signals to the base station 160 and receives electromagnetic signals from the base station 160 using the one or more antennas 122a-n. The base station 160 communicates with the UE 102 using one or more antennas 180ar-n.

[0038] It should be noted that in some configurations, one or more of the UEs 102 described herein may be implemented in a single device. For example, multiple UEs 102 may be combined into a single device in some implementations. Additionally or alternatively, in some configurations, one or more of the base stations 160 described herein may be implemented in a single device. For example, multiple base stations 160 may be combined into a single device in some implementations. In the context of Figure 1, for instance, a single device may include one or more UEs 102 in accordance with the systems and methods described herein. Additionally or alternatively, one or more base stations 160 in accordance with the systems and methods described herein may be implemented as a single device or multiple devices.

[0039] The UE 102 and the base station 160 may use one or more channels 119, 121 to communicate with each other. For example, a UE 102 may transmit information or data to the base station 160 using one or more uplink (UL) channels 121 and signals. Examples of uplink channels 121 include a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc. Examples of uplink signals include a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) and a sounding reference signal (SRS), etc. The one or more base stations 160 may also transmit information or data to the one or more UEs 102 using one or more downlink (DL) channels 119 and signals, for instance. Examples of downlink channels 119 include a PDCCH, a PDSCH, etc. A PDCCH can be used to schedule DL transmissions on PDSCH and UL transmissions on PUSCH, where the Downlink Control Information (DCI) on PDCCH includes downlink assignment and uplink scheduling grants. The PDCCH is used for transmitting Downlink Control Information (DCI) in a case of downlink radio communication (radio communication from the base station to the UE). Here, one or more DCIs (may be referred to as DCI formats) are defined for transmission of downlink control information. Information bits are mapped to one or more fields defined in a DCI format. Examples of downlink signals include a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a non- zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP CSI-RS), and a zero-power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI-RS), etc. Other kinds of channels or signals may be used.

[0040] Each of the one or more UEs 102 may include one or more transceivers 118, one or more demodulators 114, one or more decoders 108, one or more encoders 150,one or more modulators 154, one or more data buffers 104 and one or more UE operations modules 124. For example, one or more reception and / or transmission paths may be implemented in the UE 102. For convenience, only a single transceiver 118, decoder 108, demodulator 114, encoder 150 and modulator 154 are illustrated in the UE 102, though multiple parallel elements (e.g., transceivers 118, decoders 108, demodulators 114, encoders 150 and modulators 154) may be implemented.

[0041] The transceiver 118 may include one or more receivers (reception units) 120 and one or more transmitters (transmission units) 158. The one or more receivers 120 may receive signals (e.g., downlink channels, downlink signals, sidelink channels, sidelink signals) from the base station 160 or from another UE 102 using one or more antennas 122ar-n. For example, the receiver 120 may receive and downconvert signals to produce one or more received signals 116. The one or more received signals 116 may be provided to a demodulator 114. The one or more transmitters 158 may transmit signals (e.g., uplink channels, uplink signals, sidelink channels, sidelink signals) to the base station 160 or to another UE 102 using one or more antennas 122a-n. For example, the one or more transmitters 158 may upconvert and transmit one or more modulated signals 156.

[0042] The demodulator 114 may demodulate the one or more received signals 116 to produce one or more demodulated signals 112. The one or more demodulated signals 112 may be provided to the decoder 108. The UE 102 may use the decoder 108 to decode signals. The decoder 108 may produce one or more decoded signals 106, 110. For example, a first UE-decoded signal 106 may comprise received payload data, which may be stored in a data buffer 104. A second UE-decoded signal 110 may comprise overhead data and / or control data. For example, the second UE-decoded signal 110 may provide data that may be used by the UE operations module 124 to perform one or more operations.

[0043] As used herein, the term “module” may mean that a particular element or component may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software. However, it should be noted that any element denoted as a “module” herein may alternatively be implemented in hardware. For example, the UE operations module 124 may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both.

[0044] In general, the UE operations module 124 may enable the UE 102 to communicate with the one or more base stations 160. The UE operations module 124may include a UE RRC information configuration module 126. The UE operations module 124 may include a UE control module 128. In some implementations, the UE operations module 124 may include physical (PHY) entities, Medium Access Control (MAC) entities, Radio Link Control (RLC) entities, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entities, and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) entity. For example, the UE RRC information configuration module 126 may process RRC parameters for random access configurations, initial UL BWP configuration, CSI report configuration(s), and so on.

[0045] For a UE which is capable of implementing operations of AI / ML models and / or AI / ML functionalities, the UE operations module 124 may implement functions of Data Collection, Model Training, Management, Inference, and / or model storage.

[0046] The UE control module 128 may determine, based on CSI report configuration, to generate a report including one, more or all of one or more resource indicators, bitmap, one or more RSRP values, one or more differential RSRP values. The UE control module 128 may also determine the order of the one, more or all of one or more resource indicators, bitmap, one or more RSRP values, one or more differential RSRP values to be reported in a report.

[0047] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 148 to the one or more receivers 120. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the receivers) 120 when or when not to receive transmissions based on the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message (e.g., broadcasted system information, RRC reconfiguration message), MAC control element, SCI (Sidelink Control Information) and / or the DCI (Downlink Control Information). The UE operations module 124 may provide information 148, including the PDCCH monitoring occasions, DCI format size, PSCCH monitoring occasions and SCI format size, to the one or more receivers 120. The UE operation module 124 may inform the receiver(s) 120 when or where to receive / monitor the PDCCH candidate for DCI formats and / or the PSCCH candidate for SCI formats.

[0048] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 138 to the demodulator 114. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the demodulator 114 of a modulation pattern anticipated for transmissions from the base station 160.

[0049] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 136 to the decoder 108. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the decoder 108 of ananticipated encoding for transmissions from the base station 160. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the decoder 108 of an anticipated PDCCH candidate encoding with which DCI size for transmissions from the base station 160.

[0050] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 142 to the encoder150. The information 142 may include data to be encoded and / or instructions for encoding. For example, the UE operations module 124 may instruct the encoder 150 to encode transmission data 146 and / or other information 142.

[0051] The encoder 150 may encode transmission data 146 and / or other information 142 provided by the UE operations module 124. For example, encoding the data 146 and / or other information 142 may involve error detection and / or correction coding, mapping data to space, time and / or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder 150 may provide encoded data 152 to the modulator 154.

[0052] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 144 to the modulator 154. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the modulator 154 of a modulation type (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmissions to the base station 160. The modulator 154 may modulate the encoded data 152 to provide one or more modulated signals 156 to the one or more transmitters 158.

[0053] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 140 to the one or more transmitters 158. This information 140 may include instructions for the one or more transmitters 158. For example, the UE operations module 124 may instruct the one or more transmitters 158 when to transmit a signal to the base station 160. The one or more transmitters 158 may upconvert and transmit the modulated signal(s) 156 to one or more base stations 160.

[0054] The base station 160 may include one or more transceivers 176, one or more demodulators 172, one or more decoders 166, one or more encoders 109, one or more modulators 113, one or more data buffers 162 and one or more base station operations modules 182. For example, one or more reception and / or transmission paths may be implemented in a base station 160. For convenience, only a single transceiver 176, decoder 166, demodulator 172, encoder 109 and modulator 113 are illustrated in the base station 160, though multiple parallel elements (e.g., transceivers 176, decoders 166, demodulators 172, encoders 109 and modulators 113) may be implemented.

[0055] The transceiver 176 may include one or more receivers (reception units) 178 and one or more transmitters (transmission units) 117. The one or more receivers 178may receive signals (e.g., uplink channels, uplink signals) from the UE 102 using one or more antennas 180a- n. For example, the receiver 178 may receive and downconvert signals to produce one or more received signals 174. The one or more received signals 174 may be provided to a demodulator 172. The one or more transmitters 117 may transmit signals (e.g., downlink channels, downlink signals) to the UE 102 using one or more antennas 180a-n. For example, the one or more transmitters 117 may upconvert and transmit one or more modulated signals 115.

[0056] The demodulator 172 may demodulate the one or more received signals 174 to produce one or more demodulated signals 170. The one or more demodulated signals 170 may be provided to the decoder 166. The base station 160 may use the decoder 166 to decode signals. The decoder 166 may produce one or more decoded signals 164, 168. For example, a first base station-decoded signal 164 may comprise received payload data, which may be stored in a data buffer 162. A second base station-decoded signal 168 may comprise overhead data and / or control data. For example, the second base station-decoded signal 168 may provide data (e.g., PUSCH transmission data) that may be used by the base station operations module 182 to perform one or more operations.

[0057] In general, the base station operations module 182 may enable the base station 160 to communicate with the one or more UEs 102. The base station operations module 182 may include a base station RRC information configuration module 194. The base station operations module 182 may include a base station control module 196 (or a base station processing module 196). The base station operations module 182 may include PHY entities, MAC entities, RLC entities, PDCP entities, and an RRC entity.

[0058] For a base station which is capable of implementing operations of AI / ML models and / or AI / ML functionalities, the base station operation 182 may implement functions of Data Collection, Model Training, Management, Inference, and / or model storage.

[0059] The base station control module 196 may determine, for respective UE, CSI report configuration and input the information to the base station RRC information configuration module 194. The base station control module 196 may determine order of the one, more or all of one or more resource indicators, bitmap, one or more RSRP values, one or more differential RSRP values received in a report from a UE.

[0060] The base station operations module 182 may provide the benefit of performing PDCCH candidate search and monitoring efficiently. The base stationoperations module 182 may provide information 190 to the one or more receivers 178. For example, the base station operations module 182 may inform the receivers) 178 when or when not to receive transmissions based on the RRC message (e.g., broadcasted system information, RRC reconfiguration message), MAC control element, and / or the DCI (Downlink Control Information).

[0061] The base station operations module 182 may provide information 188 to the demodulator 172. For example, the base station operations module 182 may inform the demodulator 172 of a modulation pattern anticipated for transmissions from the UE(s) 102.

[0062] The base station operations module 182 may provide information 186 to the decoder 166. For example, the base station operations module 182 may inform the decoder 166 of an anticipated encoding for transmissions from the UE(s) 102.

[0063] The base station operations module 182 may provide information 101 to the encoder 109. The information 101 may include data to be encoded and / or instructions for encoding. For example, the base station operations module 182 may instruct the encoder 109 to encode transmission data 105 and / or other information 101.

[0064] In general, the base station operations module 182 may enable the base station 160 to communicate with one or more network nodes (e.g., a NG mobility management function, a NG core UP functions, a mobility management entity (MME), serving gateway (S-GW), gNBs). The base station operations module 182 may also generate a RRC reconfiguration message to be signaled to the UE 102.

[0065] The encoder 109 may encode transmission data 105 and / or other information 101 provided by the base station operations module 182. For example, encoding the data 105 and / or other information 101 may involve error detection and / or correction coding, mapping data to space, time and / or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder 109 may provide encoded data 111 to the modulator 113. The transmission data 105 may include network data to be relayed to the UE 102.

[0066] The base station operations module 182 may provide information 103 to the modulator 113. This information 103 may include instructions for the modulator 113. For example, the base station operations module 182 may inform the modulator 113 of a modulation type (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmissions to theUE(s) 102. The modulator 113 may modulate the encoded data 111 to provide one or more modulated signals 115 to the one or more transmitters 117.

[0067] The base station operations module 182 may provide information 192 to the one or more transmitters 117. This information 192 may include instructions for the one or more transmitters 117. For example, the base station operations module 182 may instruct the one or more transmitters 117 when to (or when not to) transmit a signal to the UE(s) 102. The base station operations module 182 may provide information 192, including the PDCCH monitoring occasions and DCI format size, to the one or more transmitters 117. The base station operation module 182 may inform the transmitters) 117 when or where to transmit the PDCCH candidate for DCI formats with which DCI size. The one or more transmitters 117 may upconvert and transmit the modulated signal(s) 115 to one or more UEs 102.

[0068] It should be noted that one or more of the elements or parts thereof included in the base station(s) 160 and UE(s) 102 may be implemented in hardware. For example, one or more of these elements or parts thereof may be implemented as a chip, circuitry or hardware components, etc. It should also be noted that one or more of the functions or methods described herein may be implemented in and / or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and / or realized using a chipset, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) or integrated circuit, etc.

[0069] A base station may generate a RRC message including the one or more RRC parameters and may transmit the RRC message to a UE. A UE may receive, from a base station, a RRC message including one or more RRC parameters. In the present disclosure, the terms ‘RRC parameter(s)’, ‘RRC information elements)’, ‘higher layer parameters)' can be used interchangeably. In the present disclosure, higher layer may refer to a layer upper than the physical layer (i.e., Layer 1), for example, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, RRC layer, and / or application layer.

[0070] A RRC parameter may further include one or more RRC parameters). In the present disclosure, a RRC message may include system information, a RRC message may include one or more RRC parameters. A RRC message may be sent on a broadcast control channel (BCCH) logical channel, a common control channel (CCCH) logical channel or a dedicated control channel (DCCH) logical channel.

[0071] In the present disclosure, a description “a UE is configured with or is provided a parameter” also implies the description "the UE may receive, from the base station, an RRC message (or information) which includes the parameter”. Likewise, the description “a base station configures the UE with or provides the UE the parameter” also implies the description “the base station may transmit, to the UE, an RRC message (or information) which includes the parameter”.

[0072] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating one example of a resource grid 200.

[0073] For each numerology (i.e., for each SCS u ) and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and Nsymbsubframe,μOFDM symbols is defined, starting at common resource block indicated by higher layer signaling. There is one set of resource grids per transmission direction (uplink or downlink) with the subscript x set to DL and UL for downlink and uplink, respectively. There is one resource grid for a given antenna port p, subcarrier spacing configuration p, and the transmission direction (downlink or uplink). When there is no risk for confusion, the subscript x may be dropped.

[0074] In the Figure 2, the resource gird 200 includes the Ngrtd^ ^NsP (202) subcarriers in the frequency domain and includes Nsymbsubframe,μ(204) symbols in the time domain. In the Figure 2, as an example for illustration, the subcarrier spacing configuration p is set to 0. That is, in the Figure 2, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols Nsymbsubframe,μ(204) per subframe is equal to 14.

[0075] The carrier bandwidth Ngridsi ze,μμ for subcarrier spacing configuration p is given by the higher-layer (RRC) parameter carrierBandwidth in the SCS-SpecificCarrier IE. The starting position Ngridst art,μfor subcarrier spacing configuration p is given by the higher-layer parameter offsetToCarrier in the SCS- SpecificCarrier IE. The frequency location of a subcarrier refers to the center frequency of that subcarrier.

[0076] In the Figure 2, for example, a Value of offset is provided by the higher-layer parameter offsetToCarrier. That is, k= 12 X offset is the lowest usable subcarrier on this carrier.

[0077] Each element in the resource grid for antenna port p and subcarrier spacing configuration p is called a resource element and is uniquely identified by (k, l)p,uwhere fcis the index in the frequency domain and I refers to the symbols position in the timedomain relative to same reference point. The resource element consists of one subcarrier during one OFDM symbol.

[0078] A resource block is defined as=12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. As shown in the Figure 2, a resource block 206 includes 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Resource block can be classified as common resource block (CRB) and physical resource block (PRB).

[0079] Common resource blocks are numbered from 0 and upwards in the frequency domain for subcarrier spacing configuration μ. The center of subcarrier 0 of common resource block with index 0 (i.e. CRB0) for subcarrier spacing configuration μ coincides with point A. The relation between the common resource block number in the frequency domain and resource element (k, Z) for subcarrier spacingconfiguration μ is given by Formula (1)where k is defined relative to the point A such that k=0 corresponds to the subcarrier centered around the point A. The function floor(A) hereinafter is floor operation to output a maximum integer not larger than the A.

[0080] Point A refers to as a common reference point. Point A coincides with subcarrier 0 (i.e., k=0) of a CRB 0 for all subcarrier spacing. Point A can be obtained from a RRC parameter offsetToPointA or a RRC parameter absoluteFrequencyPointA. The RRC parameter offsetToPointA is used for a PCell downlink and represents the frequency offset between point A and the lowest subcarrier of the lowest resource block, which has the subcarrier spacing provided by a higher-layer parameter subCarrierSpacingCommon and overlaps with the SSZPBCH block used by the UE for initial cell selection, expressed in units of resource blocks assuming 15 kHz subcarrier spacing for frequency range (FR) 1 and 60 kHz subcarrier spacing for frequency range (FR2). FR1 corresponds to a frequency range between 410MHz and 7125MHz. FR2 corresponds to a frequency range between 24250MHz and 52600MHz. The RRC parameter absoluteFrequencyPointA is used for all cased other than the PCell case and represents the frequency-location of point A expressed as in ARFCN. The frequency location of point A can be the lowest subcarrier of the carrier bandwidth ( or the actual carrier). Additionally, point A may be located outside the carrier bandwidth ( or the actual carrier).

[0081] As above mentioned, the information element (IE) SCS-SpeciflcCarrier provides parameters determining the location and width of the carrier bandwidth or the actual carrier. That is, a carrier (or a carrier bandwidth, or an actual carrier) is determined (identified, or defined) at least by a RRC parameter offsetToCarrier, a RRC parameter subcarrierSpacing, and a RRC parameter carrierBandwidth in the SCS- SpecificCarrier IE.

[0082] The subcarrierSpacing indicates (or defines) a subcarrier spacing of the carrier. The offsetToCarrier indicates an offset in frequency domain between point A and a lowest usable subcarrier on this carrier in number of resource blocks (e.g. CRBs) using the subcarrier spacing defined for the carrier. The carrierBandwidth indicates width of this carrier in number of resource blocks (e.g., CRBs or PRBs) using the subcarrier spacing defined for the carrier. A carrier includes at most 275 resource blocks.

[0083] Physical resource blocks for subcarrier spacing configuration p are defined within a bandwidth part and numbered form 0 to NBWP,isize,μwhere i is the number of the bandwidth part. The relation between the physical resource block nPRBμin bandwidth part (BWP) i and the common resource block nCRBμis given by Formula (2) nCRBμ= nPRBμ+ NBWP,ist art,μwhere NBWP,ist art,μis the common resource block where bandwidth part i starts relative to common resource block 0 (CRB0). When there is no risk for confusion the index p may be dropped.

[0084] A BWP is a subset of contiguous common resource block for a given subcarrier spacing configuration p on a given carrier. To be specific, a BWP can be identified (or defined) at least by a subcarrier spacing p indicated by the RRC parameter subcarrierSpacing, a cyclic prefix determined by the RRC parameter cyclicPrefix, a frequency domain location, a bandwidth, an BWP index indicated by bwp-Id and so on. The locationAndBandwidth can be used to indicate the frequency domain location and bandwidth of a BWP. The value indicated by the locationAndBandwidth is interpreted as resource indicator value (RIV) corresponding to an offset (a starting resource block)RBstartand a length LRBin terms of contiguously resource blocks. The offset RBstartis a number of CRBs between the lowest CRB of the carrier and the lowest CRB of the BWP. The NBWP,ist art,μis given as Formula (3) NBWP,ist art,μ=Ocarrier+RBstart. The value ofOcarrier is provided by offsetTocarrier for the corresponding subcarrier spacing configuration p.

[0085] A UE 102 configured to operate in BWPs of a serving cell, is configured by higher layers for the serving cell a set of at most four BWPs in the downlink for reception. At a given time, a single downlink BWP is active. The bases station 160 may not transmit, to the UE 102, PDSCH and / or PDCCH outside the active downlink BWP. A UE 102 configured to operate in BWPs of a serving cell, is configured by higher layers for the serving cell a set of at most four BWPs for transmission. At a given time, a single uplink BWP is active. The UE 102 may not transmit to the base station 160, PUSCH or PUCCH outside the active BWP. The specific signaling (higher layers signaling) for BWP configurations are described later.

[0086] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating one example 300 of common resource block grid, carrier configuration and BWP configuration by a UE 102 and a base station 160.

[0087] Point A 301 is the lowest subcarrier of a CRBO for all subcarrier spacing configurations. The CRB grid 302 and the CRB grid 312 are corresponding to two different subcarrier spacing configurations. The CRB grid 302 is for subcarrier spacing configuration p =0 (i.e., the subcarrier spacing with 15kHz). The CRB grid 312 is for subcarrier spacing configuration p =1 (i.e., the subcarrier spacing with 30kHz).

[0088] One or more carriers are determined by respective SCSSpecificCarrier IBs, respectively. In the Figure 3, the carrier 304 uses the subcarrier spacing configuration μ =0. And the carrier 314 uses the subcarrier spacing configuration μ =l. The starting position Ngridst art,μof the carrier 304 is given based on the value of an offset 303 (i.e.Ocarrier) indicated by an offsetToCarrier in an SCSSpecificCarrier IE. As shown in the Figure 3, for example, the offsetToCarrier indicates the value of the offset 303 as Ocarrier =3. That is, the starting position Ngridst art,μof the carrier 304 corresponds to the CRB3 of the CRB grid 302 for subcarrier spacing configuration μ=0. In the meantime, the starting position of the carrier 314 is given based on the value of an offset 313(i.e. Ocarrier) indicated by an offsetToCarrier in another SCSSpecificCarrier IE. For example, the offsetToCarrier indicates the value of the offset 313 as Ocarrier =1. That is, the starting position of the carrier 314 corresponds to the CRB1 of the CRBgrid 312 for subcarrier spacing configuration μ=1. A carrier using different subcarrier spacing configurations can occupy different frequency ranges.

[0089] As above-mentioned, a BWP is for a given subcarrier spacing configuration μ. One or more BWPs can be configured for a same subcarrier spacing configuration p.For example, in the Figure 3, the BWP 306 is identified at least by the μ =0, a frequency domain location, a bandwidth (LRB), and an BWP index (index A). The first PRB (i.e. PRB0) of a BWP is determined at least by the subcarrier spacing of the BWP, an offset derived by the locationAndBandwidth and an offset indicated by the offsetToCarrier corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the BWP. An offset 305 (RBstart) is derived as 1 by the locationAndBandwidth. According to the Formulas (2) and (3), the PRB0 of BWP 306 corresponds to CRB 4 of the CRB grid 302, and the PRB1 of BWP 306 corresponds to CRB 5 of the CRB grid 302, and so on.

[0090] Additionally, in the Figure 3, the BWP 308 is identified at least by the μ=0, a frequency domain location, a bandwidth (LRB), and an BWP index (index B). For example, an offset 307 (Restart) is derived as 6 by the locationAndBandwidth. According to the Formulas (2) and (3), the PRB0 of BWP 308 corresponds to CRB 9 of the CRB grid 302, and the PRB1 of BWP 308 corresponds to CRB 10 of the CRB grid 302, and so on. .

[0091] Additionally, in the Figure 3, the BWP 316 is identified at least by the μ=0, a frequency domain location, a bandwidth (IRB), and an BWP index (index C). For example, an offset 315 (Restart) is derived as 1 by the locationAndBandwidth. According to the Formulas (2) and (3), the PRB0 of BWP 316 corresponds to CRB 2 of the CRB grid 312, and the PRB1 of BWP 316 corresponds to CRB 3 of the CRB grid 312, and so on.

[0092] In the present disclosure, a BWP illustrated in the Figure 3 may refer to a DL BWP, a UL BWP, or a sidelink BWP.

[0093] As shown in the Figure 3, a carrier with the defined subcarrier spacing locate in a corresponding CRB grid with the same subcarrier spacing. A BWP with the defined subcarrier spacing locate in a corresponding CRB grid with the same subcarrier spacing as well.

[0094] A base station may transmit a RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to BWP configuration to a UE. A UE may receive the RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to BWP configuration from a base station. For each cell, the base station may configure at least an initial DL BWP, one initial uplink bandwidth parts (initial UL BWP) and one sidelink BWP to the UE. Furthermore, the base station may configure additional UL and DL B WPs to the UE for a cell.

[0095] SIB1, wwhhiicchh iiss aa cell-specific system information block (SystemlnformationBlock, SIB), may contain information relevant when evaluating if a UE is allowed to access a cell and define the scheduling of other system information. SIB1 may also contain radio resource configuration information that is common for all UEs, and barring information applied to the unified access control. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfigCommon is used to configure cell specific parameters of a UE's serving cell. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfig is used to configure (add or modify) the UE with a serving cell, which may be the SpCell or an SCell of an MCG or SCG. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfig herein are mostly UE specific but partly also cell specific.

[0096] The base station may configure the UE with a RRC parameter BWP- Downlink and a RRC parameter BWP-Uplink. The RRC parameter BWP-Downlink can be used to configure an additional DL BWP. The RRC parameter BWP-Uplink can be used to configure an additional UL BWP. The base station may transmit the BWP- Downlink and the BWP-Uplink which may be included in RRC parameter ServingCellConfig to the UE.

[0097] The UE may be configured by the based station, at least one initial BWP and up to 4 additional BWP(s). One of the initial BWP and the configured additional BWP(s) may be activated as an active BWP. The UE may monitor DCI format, and / or receive PDSCH in the active DL BWP. The UE may not monitor DCI format, and / or receive PDSCH in a DL BWP other than the active DL BWP. The UE may transmit PUSCH and / or PUCCH in the active UL BWP. The UE may not transmit PUSCH and / or PUCCH in a BWP other than the active UL BWP.

[0098] As above-mentioned, a UE may monitor DCI format in the active DL BWP. To be more specific, a UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs on the active DL BWP on each activated serving cell configured with PDCCH monitoring according to corresponding search space set where monitoring implies decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI formats.

[0099] A set of PDCCH candidates for a UE to monitor is defined in terms of PDCCH search space sets. A search space set can be a CSS set or a USS set. A UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more of the search space sets.

[0100] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating one 400 example of functional framework for AI / ML for NR air interface by a UE 102 and a base station 160.

[0101] As illustrated in the Figure 4, the AI / ML functional framework for the NR air interface includes a set of core functions, including Data Collection 401, Model Training 402, Management 403, Inference 404, and model storage 405.

[0102] The Data Collection 401 is a function that provides input data to the Model Training, Management, and Inference functions. Specifically, the Data Collection 401 function may provide training data to the Model Training function. That is, the training data refers to data needed as input for the AI / ML Model Training function. The Data Collection 401 function may provide monitoring data to the Management function. That is, the monitoring data refers to data needed as input for the Management of AI / ML Models or AI / ML functionalities. The Data Collection 401 function may provide inference data to the Inference function. That is, the inference data refers to data needed as input for the AI / ML Inference function.

[0103] The Model Training function 402 is a function that performs AI / ML model training, validation, and testing which may generate model performance metrics which can be used as part of the model testing procedure. The Model Training function is also responsible for data preparation based on training data delivered by the Data Collection function. In case of having a Model Storage function 405, the trained, validated, and tested AI / ML models may be delivered to the Model Storage function. Additionally, an updated version of a model may be also delivered to the Model Storage function.

[0104] The Management function 403 is a function that oversees the operation (e.g., selection / (de)activation / switching / fallback) and monitoring (e.g., performance) of AI / ML models or AI / ML functionalities. This function is also responsible for making decisions to ensure the proper inference operation based on data received from the Data Collection function and the Inference function.

[0105] The Inference function 404 is a function that provides outputs from the process of applying AI / ML models or AI / ML functionalities, using the data that is provided by the Data Collection function (i.e., Inference Data) as an input. The Inference function is also responsible for data preparation (e.g., data pre-processing and cleaning, formatting, and transformation) based on Inference Data delivered by a Data Collection function, if required.

[0106] The Model Storage 405 is a function responsible for storing trained / updated models that can be used to perform the Inference function.

[0107] In the present disclosure, the functional framework illustrated in the Figure 4 provides a general functional architecture that can be applied to both AI / ML model and AI / ML functionalities.

[0108] An AI / ML model or an AI / ML functionality needs to be developed, deployed, and managed during the entire lifecycle, i.e., AI / ML model-based life cycle management (LCM) or AI / ML functionality-based LCM.

[0109] An AI / ML model may be identified by a model ID. A model ID is a distinctive identifier for an AI / ML model. The model ID may be a logical ID. A logical AI / ML model refers to a model that is identified and assigned a model ID. The logical AI / ML model can be mapped to a physical AI / ML model by implementation. That is, a physical AI / ML model refers to an actual implementation of a logical AI / ML model.

[0110] In AI / ML model-based LCM, models are identified at the network, and the network and / or the UE may activate, deactivate, select, or switch individual AI / ML models via model ID. In the present disclosure, the AI / ML model-based LCM can be referred to as model-ID-based LCM.

[0111] An AI / ML functionality is a functionality defined within an AI / ML-enabled feature whereby AI / ML-enabled feature refers to a feature where AI / ML may be used. A UE may have one AI / ML model for one functionality or may have multiple AI / ML models for one functionality,

[0112] In AI / ML functionality-based LCM, the UE may indicate its supported functionalities by using UE capability signaling to network. Additionally, the UE may also indicate its applicable functionalities that the UE is ready to apply for model inference. Upon reception of UE capability signaling, the network may indicate activation, deactivation, fallback, and / or switching of an AI / ML functionality through signaling such as RRC signaling, MAC CE, DCI. The exact AI / ML model that underpin a given functionality might not be identified at the network.

[0113] In the present disclosure, the UE 102 and / or the base station 160 may apply the AI / ML model and / or the AI / ML functionalities for beam management such as spatial domain downlink beam prediction and / or temporal downlink beam prediction.

[0114] For spatial domain downlink beam prediction, it aims to provide good spatial domain downlink beam performance with less measurement and reference signal overhead.

[0115] For temporal downlink beam prediction, it aims to provide temporal downlink beam prediction for future time instance(s) based on historical measurement results on historic time instances.

[0116] Spatial-domain or temporal DL transmission beam prediction is to predict one or more best or optimal beams from a Set A of beams based on measurement results of Set B of beams. In other words, a Set B consists of one or more downlink beams whose measurements are taken as model input of an AI / ML model / functionality. A Set A consists of plentiful downlink beams within which one or more downlink beams will be predicted as model output of the AI / ML model / functionality.

[0117] In the present disclosure, the input to AI / ML model / functionality for the spatial-domain or temporal downlink beam prediction may be the layer 1 reference signal received power (Ll-RSRP) measurement of beams within set B. The output from the AI / ML model / functionality is the predicted one or more optimal / best beams in Set A. The AI / ML mode training and inference can reside at the base station (network) side or the UE side. In the present disclosure, RSRP hereinafter can refer to Ll-RSRP, unless specified otherwise.

[0118] The base station may configure one or more resource sets for the Set B such that the base station may transmit reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS or SSB) on the configured resources in the one or more resource sets with applying different spatial domain transmission filters. The UE may perform measurement on the configured resources. That is, one or more resource sets configured for the Set B may be also referred to as one or more resource sets configured for channel measurement. Therefore, the terms “one or more resource sets configured for the Set B” and “one or more resource sets configured for channel measurement” may be used interchangeably.

[0119] In the present disclosure, one resource set configured by base station for set B (or for channel measurement) may be a set of CSI-RS resources or a set of SSB resources. That is, reference signals in each resource in the set B may be transmitted by the base station with different downlink spatial domain transmission filters. A resource set configured for set B may be used by the UE to perform channel measurement on each resource in the resource set to estimate or measure RSRPs.

[0120] The base station may configure one or more resource sets for the Set A while the base station may not transmit reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS or SSB) on theconfigured resources in the one or more resource sets. The UE may not perform measurement on resources configured for the Set A.

[0121] In the present disclosure, Set A and Set B may be different, i.e., Set B is NOT a subset of Set A. For example, a Set B may consist of downlink wide beams based on SSB transmission. A set A may consist of a larger number of downlink narrow beams based on CSI-RS transmission. Additionally or alternatively, Set B may be a subset of Set A. For example, the Set B may consist of a part of downlink beams in the set A. Additionally or alternatively, Set A and Set B may be same, i.e., Set B and Set A may include same one or more RS (CSI-RS or SSB) resource sets.

[0122] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating one 500 example of downlink beam prediction by a base station 160. Here, the AI / ML inference takes place at the base station / network side. The base station may apply AI / ML functionalities / models for downlink beam prediction. The prediction may refer to network-side model inference. The UE is required to report Ll-RSRP measurements for one, more or all of beams within set B to base station.

[0123] The base station 160 may transmit 501, to the UE 102, reference signals (SSB or CSI-RS) on each resources configured in one or more resource sets for channel measurement. Here, the base station may use different spatial domain transmission filters to transmit the reference signals on different resources. The base station may perform downlink beam sweeping on resources configured for Set B.

[0124] The UE 102 may perform 502 channel measurement on each resource for Ll-RSRP measurement.

[0125] The UE 102 may transmit 503, to the base station, the measurement report including, e.g., Ll-RSRP values and the resource indicators to which the Ll-RSRPs correspond to.

[0126] The base station may take the measurement report as inputs for the AI / ML inference function. The base station may apply 504, AI / ML models or AI / ML functionalities to predict one or more optimal downlink beams (i.e., the top K best transmit beams in the set A) for the UE based on the measurement reports.

[0127] For temporal downlink beam prediction, the base station may, based on the measurement report, predict one or more optimal downlink beams for future one or more time intervals. The measurement reports from UE may include one or more measurement results in one or more historic measurement instances.

[0128] The base station may perform 505, subsequent transmissions of signals and / or channels (e.g., CSI-RS, PDCCH, PDSCH) to the UE based on the predicted one or more optimal downlink beams. For example, the base station may choose a beam among the predicted one or more optimal beams and perform the subsequent transmissions with the chosen beam.

[0129] Figure 6 is a flow diagram illustrating one implementation of a method 600 for reporting measurement results by a UE 102. In the implementation, the UE 102 is configured to report measurement results to the base station 160. The base station 160 may use the reported measurement results as input of the AI / ML model / functionality and predict one or more DL Tx beams for one or more future time instances. The measurement results may include one or more historical / past time instances.

[0130] The UE 102 may receive 601, from the base station 160, a report configuration. The report configuration may indicate, from multiple configured resource setting configurations, a resource setting configuration for channel measurement. Each resource setting configuration may define a group of one or more RS resource sets. That is, the report configuration indicates a resource setting configuration of one or more RS resource sets for channel measurement.

[0131] One RS (reference signal) resource set may include one or more resources. A resource specifically refers to a reference signal resource. Hereinafter, in various implementations of the present disclosure, a resource can be a CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resource or a SSB resource. A RS resource set can be a CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resource set or a SSB resource set. In other words, a resource set may be a set of CSI-RS resources or a set of SSB resources. A CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resource is a resource where a NZP CSI-RS may be transmitted by the base station. A SSB resource is a resource where an SSB may be transmitted by the base station. The UE may be configured to measure on the CSI-RS resources or the SSB resources. In the present disclosure, the terms “RS resource set” and “resource set” can be interchangeably used. Likewise, the terms “RS resource” and “resource” can be interchangeably used.

[0132] Specifically, one RS resource set includes a list of a plurality of entries, wherein each entry indicates a resource (a resource configuration) within the resource set. That is, the configuration of a resource set can be represented as a list of entries where each entry corresponds to or indicate a specific resource such as a CSI-RS (non-zero-power (NZP) CSI-RS) resource or an SSB resource. Herein, a list of entries refers to a list of resources for channel measurement.

[0133] For illustration, the total number of resources within one RS resource set, configured for channel measurement, can be denoted as K, meaning there are K entries in the list for a single RS resource set. Different resource sets within the same resource setting configuration maybe configured with either the same or different values of K.

[0134] In the present disclosure, a resource setting configuration can be identified by a resource setting configuration ID. A resource set can be identified by a RS resource set ID. Likewise, a resource can be identified by a RS resource ID.

[0135] For example, for a CSI-RS resource, the CSI-RS resource can be identified by a resource identifier (CSI-RS resource ID). The resource identifier (CSI-RS resource ID) may be indicated by a higher layer parameter that is included in a CSI-RS resource configuration for the CSI-RS resource. Specifically, one CSI-RS resource configuration might include a parameter, NZP-CSI-RS-ResourcelD, which is used to determine the CSI-RS resource configuration identity, i.e., the CSI resource identifier (CSI-RS resource ID). Each CSI-RS resource has its associated ID. Similarly, an SSB resource can also be identified by a resource identifier (SSB resource ID), with each SSB resource identifiable by an SSB index. These resource IDs (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceID or SSB index) can identity a resource configured to the UE.

[0136] Additionally, for a resource setting configuration including one or more RS resource sets, each resource set within a resource setting configuration can be identified by their ordering in the resource setting configuration. As above-mentioned, a resource setting configuration contains a list of one or more RS resource sets. For the list, the first entry in the list corresponds to entry number 1, the second entry in the list corresponds to entry number 2, and so on. Thus, each RS resource set in the list has an entry number based on its corresponding entry position within the list, i.e., their ordering in the resource setting configuration. Then, an entry number in a list can identity a RS resource set within the list but cannot identity a RS resource set that is not configured in the list. The first entry in the list corresponds to the first RS resource set in the resource setting configuration, the second entry in the list corresponds to the second RS resource set in the resource setting configuration, and so on. In other words, entry numbers in the list implies the ordering of the RS resource sets in the list, i.e., the ordering of the RS resource sets in the one or more resources sets configured for channelmeasurement If there is only one entry in the list, there is one resource set indicated by the report configuration for channel measurement.

[0137] Additionally, for a resource set including one or more RS resources, each resource within the resource set can be identified by their ordering in the resource set. As above-mentioned, a resource set contains a list of one or more RS resources. For the list, the first entry in the list corresponds to entry number 1, the second entry in the list corresponds to entry number 2, and so on. Thus, each RS resource in the list has an entry number based on its corresponding entry position within the list, i.e., their ordering in the resource set Then, an entry number in a list can identity a RS resource within the list but cannot identity a RS resource that is not configured in the list. The first entry in the list corresponds to the first RS resource in the resource set indicated by the report configuration for channel measurement, the second entry in the list corresponds to the second resource in the resource set indicated by the report configuration for channel measurement, and so on. In other words, entry numbers in the list implies the ordering of the resources in the list, i.e., the ordering of the resources in the resources set configured for channel measurement. If there is only one entry in the list, the resource set indicated by the report configuration for channel measurement consists of one resource. The CRI (CSI-RS resource indicator) or SSBRI (SSB resource indicator), which will be described later, is used to indicate an entry number in the list, i.e., the ordering of a resource in the resource set.

[0138] In various implementations of the present disclosure, the time domain behavior of the RS resources within a resource setting configuration can be indicated or configured by a higher layer parameter to be aperiodic, periodic, or semi-persistent.

[0139] In various implementations of the present disclosure, the report configuration may be used to configure a periodic or semi-persistent report sent on PUCCH on the cell, or to configure a semi-persistent or aperiodic report sent on PUSCH. For a periodic or semi-persistent report sent on PUCCH, a RRC parameter included in the report configuration can be used to indicate in which serving cell the report is sent. Additionally or alternatively, for a semi-persistent or aperiodic report sent on PUSCH, the report may be triggered by DCI and the cell on which the report is sent is determined by the received DCI.

[0140] In an example of the implementation, the report configuration may include a first parameter and a second parameter where the first parameter is used to indicate anumber P of time instances for channel measurement and the second parameter is used to indicate a number M of measured resources per time instance to be reported in the report. In a case that the first parameter is absent in the report configuration, the UE 102 may determine the value P is equal to 1. When the UE is configured with a reporting configuration with the first parameter and the second parameter, the UE may determine to report measurement results on past P time instances in a single report.

[0141] In another example of the implementation, the report configuration may include the second parameter and may not include the first parameter. In the example, the UE may determine the value of P based on the number of RS resource sets configured in the resource setting configuration.

[0142] Specifically, for periodic or semi-persistent RS resource setting (the time behavior of the resource setting configuration is indicated to be periodic or semi- persistent), the UE may determine the number P of time instances for channel measurement based on the number of RS resource sets configured in the resource setting configuration. For aperiodic CSI resource setting (the time behavior of the resource setting configuration is indicated to be aperiodic), the UE may determine the number P of time instances for channel measurement based on the number of RS resource sets in the resource setting configuration. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may determine the number P of time instances for channel measurement based on the number of RS resource sets in the resource setting configuration which are indicated for channel measurement. That is, for a report configuration, not all RS resource sets within the resource setting configuration indicated by the report configuration may be configured for channel measurement. For a report configuration, the base station may indicate which RS resource sets within the resource setting configuration to be used for channel measurement. The RS resource sets to be used for measurement may be one, part, or all of the RS resource sets within the resource setting configuration.

[0143] The base station may transmit reference signals such as CSI-RSs or SSBs on RS resource(s) within the one or more RS resource sets indicated for channel measurement. The UE 102 may perform 602, channel measurement on RS resource(s) on each of the P time instances and measure RSRP on each resource in the one or more resource set. For a measured resource, the UE 102 may determine its associated RSRP, i.e., the linear average of the received power on resource elements occupied by the reference signal (an NZP CSI-RS or an SSB) that is transmitted on the resource. Foreach of time instances, the UE 102 may select M measured resources based on the results of the RSRP measurement and report the selected M measured resources to base station.

[0144] In an example of the report generation in the implementation, the UE may generate 604, a report to include measurement results on P past time instances and transmit it to the base station. The report includes a time instance indicator, (P x M) resource indicators, a RSRP value (i.e., the largest measured RSRP value), and (P X M) — 1 differential RSRP values. The UE may generate the report in the order of the time instance indicator, P X M resource indicators, the RSRP value (i.e., the largest measured RSRP value), and the (P x M) — 1 differential RSRP values.

[0145] The bitwidth of the time instance indicator field in the report is flogz (P)l - The bitwidth of each CRI or SSBRI field in the report is [log2(Ks)] where Ksis the number of RS resources configured in the RS resource set per time instance. The bitwidth of the RSRP#1 field in the report is 7 bit. The bitwidth of each differential RSRP field is 4 bit. Additionally or alternatively, the bitwidth of each differential RSRP field is 3 bit.

[0146] For each time instance, the UE 102 may determine or select M RS resources for reporting based on the measured RSRPs. Specifically, for a time instance, the UE may determine or select M RS resources from a plurality of RS resources configured for channel measurement on the time instance based on the measurement results on the time instance. Therefore, the UE may determine P x M measured resources to be reported in a report. Each time instance has its associated M measured resources.

[0147] In the implementation, reporting a measured RS resource may include reporting a pair of a resource indication and a RSRP for the measured RS resource. The RSRP may refer to either a RSRP value or a differential RSRP value. As depicted in the Figure 7, which will be described later, a resource indication and a RSRP for a measured RS resource are mapped to a CRI or SSBRI field and a RSRP (or a differential RSRP) field with same field index.

[0148] The UE 102 may determine a RS resource across the P time instances where the RS resource is associated with a largest measured RSRP value among the measured RSRPs of the P time instances. To indicate the RS resource associated with the largest measured RSRP value, the UE may use the time instance indicator and a resourceindicator where the time instance indicator indicates which particular time instance, among the P time instances, the RS resource is associated with and the resource indicator indicates which measured RS resource in the indicated time instance has the largest measured RSRP value. In an example, the first resource indicator of the (P x M) resource indicators in the report is used to indicator the measured RS resource associated with the largest measured RSRP value. The RSRP value in the report is used to indicate the largest measured RSRP value. The first resource indicator in the report is associated with the RSRP value in the report.

[0149] Furthermore, upon determining the largest measured RSRP value, the UE 102 may compute (P x M) — 1 differential RSRP values for remaining (P x M ) — 1 resources with a reference to the largest measured RSRP value.

[0150] As above-mentioned, the UE 102 may generate the report in the order of the time instance indicator, the P X M resource indicators, the RSRP value, and the (P X M) — 1 differential RSRP values. In other words, the reported contents in the report are arranged to start with the time instance indicator, followed by the P x M resource indicators, then the RSRP value, and finally, the (P x M) — 1 differential RSRP values.

[0151] Furthermore, the P x M resource indicators are arranged in the report based on the time instance indicator and starting time ofP time instances. The P X M resource indicators correspond to P sets of M resource indicators. Each set of M resource indicators corresponds to or is associated with a specific time instance.

[0152] The first set of M resource indicators in the report corresponds to the M resource indicators corresponding to the time instance identified by the time instance indicator. That is, the M resource indicators corresponding to the time instance indicated by the time instance indicator are placed in the first set of M resource indicators in the report. This set is followed by additional (P — 1) sets of M resource indicators where the (P — 1) sets of M resource indicators are organized according to the chronological progression of the remaining (P — 1) time instances. Each set of the M resource indicators is sequentially arranged according to the order of the remaining (P - 1) time instances, starting from the earliest to the latest in time.

[0153] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating one 700 example of mapping order of fields of one report by a UE 102 and a base station 160. The UE may transmit a report to the base station based on the Figure 7. As depicted in the Figure 7, the number of timeinstances to repented in the report is 3 (i.e., P = 3) and the number of measured resources per time instance to be reported is 2 (i.e., M= 2).

[0154] For illustration, in the Figure 7, the indicated resource setting configuration configures the UE a CSI-RS resource set with K = 4 CSI-RS resources for channel measurement in each time instance. For the CSI-RS resource set in each time instance, the CRIs for the K = 4 CSI-RS resources can be denoted as CSI-RS resource #1, CSI- RS resource #2, CSI-RS resource #3, CSI-RS resource #4 according to their ordering in the resource set, i.e., their entry numbers in a list indicating the K = 4 CSI-RS resources.

[0155] The UE may perform channel measurement on the 4 CSI-RS resources on each of the P = 3 time instance. The UE may determine, based on the measurement results (measured RSRPs), to select M = 2 measured resources per time instance in the report wherein the report includes a time instance indicator, P X M = 6 resource indicators, a RSRP value, and 5 differential RSRP values. The Figure 7 provides the reporting fields (CSI fields) in the report. The CSI fields in the report in the order from upper part to lower part in the Figure 7 are a time instance indicator 701, a CRI or SSBRI#1 field 702, a CRI or SSBRI#2 field 703, a CRI or SSBRI#3 field 704, a CRI or SSBRI#4 field 705, a CRI or SSBRI#5 field 706, a CRI or SSBRI#6 field 707, a RSRP#1 field 708, a differential RSRP#2 field 709, a differential RSRP#3 field 710, a differential RSRP#4 field 711, a differential RSRP#5 field 712, and a differential RSRP#6 field 713.

[0156] For example, based on the measurement results, the UE may select CSI-RS resource #1 and CSI-RS resource #2 for the first time instance, select CSI-RS resource #2 and CSI-RS resource #3 for the second time instance, and CSI-RS resource #3 and CSI-RS resource #4 for the third time instance to report in a single report. Across the P = 3 time instances, the CSI-RS resource #4 for the third time instance has the largest measured RSRP value among the measured RSRPs of the 3 time instances. Here, the first time instance, the second time instance and the third time instance specifically denote P=3 time instances for channel measurement, arranged in sequential order from the earliest to the latest in time domain.

[0157] The UE may determine that, information indicating the third time instance (e.g., [log2(P)l = 2 bits with value ‘10’) is mapped to the time resource indicator 701,CSI-RS resource #3 and CSI-RS resource #4 for the third time instance (e.g.,‘10’ and ‘11’) are mapped to the CRI or SSBRI#1 field 702 and the CRI or SSBRI#2 field 703, CSI-RS resource #1 and CSI-RS resource #2 for the first time instance (e.g.,‘00’ and ‘01’) are mapped to the CRI or SSBRI#3 field 704 and the CRI or SSBRI#4 field 705, CSI-RS resource #2 and CSI-RS resource #3 for the second time instance (e.g.,‘0r and ‘10’) are mapped to the CRI or SSBRI#5 field 706 and the CRI or SSBRI#6 field 707, the measured RSRP value associated with the CSI-RS resource #4 for the third time instance (e.g., a 7-bit value) is mapped to the RSRP#1 field 708, the differential RSRP value associated with the CSI-RS resource #3 for the third time instance is mapped to the differential RSRP#2 field 709, the differential RSRP value associated with the CSI- RS resource #1 for the first time instance is mapped to the differential RSRP#3 field 710, the differential RSRP value associated with the CSI-RS resource #2 for the first time instance is mapped to the differential RSRP#4 field 711, the differential RSRP value associated with the CSI-RS resource #2 for the second time instance is mapped to the differential RSRP#5 field 712, and the differential RSRP value associated with the CSI-RS resource #3 for the second time instance is mapped to the differential RSRP#6 field 713. In the Figure 7, the CRI or SSBR1#1 field 702 is the first resource indicator of the (P X M) resource indicators in the report.

[0158] In another example of the report generation in the implementation, the UE may generate 604, a report to include measurement results on P past time instances and transmit it to the base station. The report includes (P X M) resource indicators, PRSRP value (i.e., the largest measured RSRP value), and P x (M — 1) differential RSRP values. Specifically, the report includes P sets of M resource indicators, a RSRP value and M — 1 differential RSRP values. Each set, corresponds to one of the P time instances, includes M resource indicators, a RSRP value and M — 1 differential RSRP values. The bitwidth of each CRI or SSBRI field in the report is flog2( Ks)] where Ksis the number of RS resources configured in the RS resource set per time instance. The bitwidth of the RSRP#1 field in the report is 7 bit. The bitwidth of each differential RSRP field is 4 bit. Additionally or alternatively, the bitwidth of each differential RSRP field is 3 bit.

[0159] For each time instance, the UE 102 may determine or select M RS resources for reporting based on the measured RSRPs. Specifically, for a time instance, the UEmay determine or select M RS resources from a plurality of RS resources configured for channel measurement on the time instance based on the measurement results on the time instance. Therefore, the UE may determine P X M measured resources to be reported in a report. Each time instance has its associated M measured resources.

[0160] For each time instance, the UE 102 may determine its respective RS resource where the RS resource is associated with a largest measured RSRP value among the measured RSRPs of the time instances.

[0161] The first resource indicator of the M resource indicators in a set is used to indicator the measured RS resource associated with the largest measured RSRP value. The RSRP value in the set is used to indicate the largest measured RSRP value. The first resource indicator in the set is associated with the RSRP value in the set. For each time instance, upon determining the largest measured RSRP value, the UE 102 may compute (M — 1) differential RSRP values for remaining (M — 1) resources with a reference to the largest measured RSRP value.

[0162] The UE 102 may determine to arrange the P sets of { resource indicators, a RSRP value, M — 1 differential RSRP values} in the report according to the chronological progression of the P time instances. The P sets are arranged according to the order of P time instances, sequentially from the earliest to the lasted in time. That is, the P sets are arranged in the report starting with the earliest time instance and proceeding to the latest. For example, the set corresponding to the first time instance appears first in the report, followed by the second time instance, and so on, culminating with the set for the last time instance.

[0163] Alternatively, each set is sequentially arranged according to the order of P time instances, starting from the lasted to the earliest in time. That is, the P sets may be arranged in the report in reverse chronological order, starting with the latest time instance and moving backwards to the earliest. In this arrangement, the set corresponding to the last time instance appears first in the report, followed by the preceding time instances, leading up to the first time instance.

[0164] Additionally or alternatively, for a time instance, the set of { resource indicators, a RSRP value, M — 1 differential RSRP values} maybe divided a set of { M resource indicators} and a set of {a RSRP value and M — 1 differential RSRP values}. The UE may determine to first arrange the P sets of { M resource indicators} accordingto the order of P time instances, and then arrange the P sets of {a RSRP value and M — 1 differential RSRP values} according to the chronological progression (or inverse chronological progression) of the P time instances. The details of the chronological progression of the P time instances are as above-mentioned.

[0165] According to the implementation, the M resources on each of P past time instances can be efficiently reported.

[0166] In the present disclosure, the determination of a report to include M measured resources for P past time instance may be equally apply to the determination of a report to include M predicted resources for P future time instance by applying “measured resources”, “measured RSRP value", “largest measured RSRP value”, “past time instance” instead of “predicted resources”, “predicted RSRP”, “largest predicted RSRP value”, “predicted time instance”, respectively.

[0167] In various implementations of the present disclosure, the base station may configure RS resources for channel measurement as NZP CSI-RS(s) or SSB(s). The base station may transmit, to the UE 102, the report configuration wherein the report configuration indicates a list of resources for channel measurement It should be noted that in the present disclosure, one resource (i.e., a CSI-RS resource or an SSB resource) may consists of multiple resource elements across different symbols within one or more slots. Moreover, one resource can be periodically transmitted by the base station. In this context one resource can also be regarded as a resource set in the present disclosure, and these two terms can be used interchangeably.

[0168] In various implementations of the present disclosure, the resource with the largest measured RSRP may be represented by a resource indicator based on the entry number of the resource in the list. The UE may determine a resource indicator for the resource with the largest measured RSRP. The resource indicator is determined based on the entry number of the resource with the largest measured RSRP. The resource indicator for the resource with the largest measured RSRP corresponds to the entry number of the resource with the largest measured RSRP value in the list.

[0169] To be specific, for a list including CSI-RS resources, the bitwidthof the resource indicator, CRI (CSI-RS resource indicator), is l wherenumber of CSI-RS resources in the list. Alternatively, for a list includingSSB resources, the bitwidth of the resource indicator, SSBRI (SSB resourceindicator), is where is the configured number of SSB resources inthe list. For example, in a case that the entry number of the resource with the largest measured RSRP is value k (i.e., the k-th entry in the list), the UE may determine the value of the resource indicator (CRI or SSBRI) is i-1.

[0170] The UE may determine or compute the different RSRPs for the resources in the list other than the resource with the largest measured RSRP. The differential RSRP values are calculated with a reference to the largest measured RSRP value. The UE may not calculate the differential RSRP value for the resource with the largest measured RSRP values.

[0171] In various implementations of the present disclosure, the UE (the control unit of the UE) may quantize the RSRP value (largest measured RSRP value) to a 7-bit value and quantize each differential RSRP value to a 4-bit value. The RSRP value is defined by a 7-bit value in the range [-140, -44] dBm with 1 dB step size. The differential RSRP is defined by a 4-bit value with 2 dB step size with a reference to the largest measured RSRP. The UE may compute the differential RSRP value with 2 dB step size with a reference to the largest measured RSRP value.

[0172] Additionally or alternatively, the UE may quantize each differential RSRP value to a 3-bit value. Then the differential RSRP value is computed with 4 dB step size with a reference to the largest measured RSRP value.

[0173] In various implementations of the present disclosure, the base station may use a parameter included in the report configuration to indicate whether UE reports the differential LI -RSRP as a 4-bit value or a 3-bit value. Based on the parameter included the report configuration, the UE may determine how to compute the differential Ll- RSRP value either as a 4-bit value or a 3-bit value.

[0174] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating one implementation of a method 800 for determining RS resource sets for channel measurement by a UE 102. In the implementation, the UE 102 is configured to determine time location of RS resource sets for the above-mentioned P time instance.

[0175] The UE may receive 801, from the base station 160, a PDCCH with a DCI format in a first slot to trigger an aperiodic reporting for a report configuration. The DCI format includes a CSI request field. The CSI request field indicates the report configuration. As above-mentioned, the report configuration may include the firstparameter to indicate the number, P, of time instances for channel measurement. In addition, the report configuration indicates the UE one or more CSI-RS resource sets for channel measurement. The number of the one or more CSI-RS resource sets can be denoted as R. That is, the UE is configured with R CSI-RS resource sets for channel measurement on P time instance. Herein, the CSI-RS resource set may refer to the aperiodic CSI-RS resource set. One CSI-RS resource Set may include one or more CSI- RS resources.

[0176] As depicted in the Figure 8, the UE 102 is configured with R = 2 CSI-RS resource sets for channel measurement, i.e., a CSI-RS resource set r = 0 and a CSI-RS resource set r = 1. The number of time instances is indicated as P = 2. Each of the blocks 802, 803, 804, 805 represent the CSI-RS resource set. The 802 and 804 refers to the CSI-RS resource set r = 0 on the first (p = 0) time instance and the second (p = 1) time instance, respectively. The 803 and 805 refers to the CSI-RS resource set r = 1 on the first (p = 0) time instance and the second (p = 1) time instance, respectively.

[0177] The UE 102 may determine that each of the R CSI-RS resource sets are repeatedly transmitted P = 2 times. The UE 102 may determine the time location for each of the R CSI-RS resource sets according to Noffset ,r+ L x p where 0 < p < P — 1. Herein, the Noffset ,ris a slot offset between the first slot and a slot in which the CSI- RS resource set aperiodic CSI-RS resource set, r, is transmitted. Specifically, the slot offset is between the first slot and the slot where the first transmission of the CSI-RS resource set takes place (i.e., the transmission of the CSI-RS resource set on the first time instance). For each CSI-RS resource set, the slot offset are separately configured, The slot offset 807 indicate the slot offset between the first slot and the slot where CSI- RS resource set r = 0 on the first (p = 0) time instance is transmitted. The slot offset 809 indicate the slot offset between the first slot and the slot where CSI-RS resource set r = 1 on the first (p = 0) time instance is transmitted. In other words, based on the separately configured slot offsets, different CSI-RS resource set can be transmitted in different time resources.

[0178] The value of L may be indicated by a parameter. The value of L may be a common value for the R CSI-RS resource sets. The value of L provides a slot offset between two consecutive transmissions of a same CSI-RS resource set. That is, the 808 and the 810 may be provided by a same parameter included in the report configuration.Additionally or alternatively, the value of L may be separately configured for each of the R CSI-RS resource sets.

[0179] After determining the time location of the R CSI-RS resource sets, the UE may perform channel measurement on the determine time location and report, 806, the measurement results.

[0180] Figure 9 illustrates various components that may be utilized in a UE 902. The UE 902 (UE 102) described in connection with Figure 9 may be implemented in accordance with the UE 102 described in connection with Figure 1. The UE 902 includes a processor 981 that controls operation of the UE 902. The processor 981 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 987, which may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a combination of the two or any type of device that may store information, provides instructions 983a and data 985a to the processor 981. A portion of the memory 987 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions 983b and data 985b may also reside in the processor 981. Instructions 983b and / or data 985b loaded into the processor 981 may also include instructions 983a and / or data 985a from memory 987 that were loaded for execution or processing by the processor 981. The instructions 983b may be executed by the processor 981 to implement one or more of the methods described above.

[0181] The UE 902 may also include a housing that contains one or more transmitters 958 and one or more receivers 920 to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitters) 958 and receivers) 920 may be combined into one or more transceivers 918. One or more antennas 922a-n are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver 918.

[0182] The various components of the UE 902 are coupled together by a bus system 989, which may include a power bus, a control signal bus and a status signal bus, in addition to a data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in Figure 9 as the bus system 989. The UE 902 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 991 for use in processing signals. The UE 902 may also include a communications interface 993 that provides user access to the functions of the UE 902. The UE 902 illustrated in Figure 9 is a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components.

[0183] Figure 10 illustrates various components that may be utilized in a base station 1060. The base station 1060 described in connection with Figure 10 may be implemented in accordance with the base station 160 described in connection with Figure 1. The base station 1060 includes a processor 1081 that controls operation of the base station 1060. The processor 1081 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 1087, which may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a combination of the two or any type of device that may store information, provides instructions 1083a and data 1085a to the processor 1081. A portion of the memory 1087 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions 1083b and data 1085b may also reside in the processor 1081. Instructions 1083b and / or data 1085b loaded into the processor 1081 may also include instructions 1083a and / or data 1085a from memory 1087 that were loaded for execution or processing by the processor 1081. The instructions 1083b may be executed by the processor 1081 to implement one or more of the methods 300 described above.

[0184] The base station 1060 may also include a housing that contains one or more transmitters 1017 and one or more receivers 1078 to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitters) 1017 and receivers) 1078 may be combined into one or more transceivers 1076. One or more antennas 1080ar-n are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver 1076.

[0185] The various components of the base station 1060 are coupled together by a bus system 1089, which may include a power bus, a control signal bus and a status signal bus, in addition to a data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in Figure 10 as the bus system 1089. The base station 1060 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 1091 for use in processing signals. The base station 1060 may also include a communications interface 1093 that provides user access to the functions of the base station 1060. The base station 1060 illustrated in Figure 10 is a functional block diagram rather titan a listing of specific components.

[0186] The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a processor. The term “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, may denote a computer- and / or processor-readable medium that is non- transitory and tangible. By way of example, and not limitation, a computer-readable or processor-readable medium may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer or processor. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray® disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.

[0187] It should be noted that one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and / or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and / or realized using circuitry, a chipset, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) or integrated circuit, etc.

[0188] Each of the methods disclosed herein comprises one or more steps or actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and / or actions may be interchanged with one another and / or combined into a single step without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is required for proper operation of the method that is being described, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0189] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the systems, methods and apparatus described herein without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

[CLAIMS]1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: reception unit configured to receive, from a base station, a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, N, and the second parameter indicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and control unit configured to generate a report to include a time instance indicator, N x K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and (N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s) , wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the N X K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the (N x IQ - 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

2. The UE according to the claim 1 : wherein the N x K reference signal resource indicators includes AT sets of K reference signal resource indicators wherein each set of K reference signal resource indicators corresponds to a time instance of the N time instances, a set of K reference signal resource indicators corresponding to a time instance indicated by the time instance is arranged firstly in the report, followed by remaining N — 1 set(s) of K reference signal resource indicators wherein the remaining N - 1 set(s) of K reference signal resource indicators are arranged in the report according to an ascending order of their corresponding time instances in time domain .

3. The UE according to the claim 1 : wherein a reference signal resource indicator refers to one of the CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) and SSB resource indicator (SSBRI).

4. A base station, comprising:transmission unit configured to transmit, to a UE, a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, N, and the second parameter indicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and control unit configured to generate a report to include a time instance indicator, N X K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and (N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s), wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the IV x K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the (IV x K) - 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

5. The base station according to the claim 4: wherein the N x K reference signal resource indicators includes N sets of K reference signal resource indicators wherein each set of K reference signal resource indicators corresponds to a time instance of the N time instances, a set of K reference signal resource indicators corresponding to a time instance indicated by the time instance is arranged firstly in the report, followed by remaining N — 1 set(s) of K reference signal resource indicators wherein the remaining N - 1 set(s) of K reference signal resource indicators are arranged in the report according to an ascending order of their corresponding time instances in time domain.

6. The base station according to the claim 4: wherein a reference signal resource indicator refers to one of the CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) and SSB resource indicator (SSBRI).

7. A communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a base station, a CSI report configuration that includes a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates a number of time instances, N , and the second parameterindicates a number of predicted reference signal resources, K, to be reported per time instance; and determining a report to include a time instance indicator, N x K reference signal resource indicators, a predicted RSRP, and ( N x K) - 1 differential predicted RSRP(s), wherein the report is generated in an order: the time instance indicator, the N x K reference signal resource indicators, the predicted RSRP, and the ( N x K) — 1 differential predicted RSRP(s).

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