Method and apparatus for performing uplink power control for asymmetric transmission-reception points mode in a wireless communication system
By configuring and updating PL offsets for UL transmissions in asymmetric TRPs mode, the UE selects appropriate offsets for single-occasion and multiple-occasion transmissions, resolving ambiguity and improving power control and PRACH procedures in wireless communication systems.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- GOOGLE LLC
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-08
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-15
AI Technical Summary
In wireless communication systems with asymmetric transmission-reception points (TRPs) mode, there is ambiguity regarding which path loss (PL) offset to use for uplink (UL) transmissions due to updates or changes in PL offsets between scheduling/triggering signals and corresponding UL transmissions, impacting single-occasion and multiple-occasion UL transmissions and PRACH power ramping.
The UE is configured with a first PL offset for UL transmissions, which is updated to a second PL offset before the transmission, and provided with mechanisms to select the appropriate PL offset for various scenarios, including single-occasion, multiple-occasion, and PRACH transmissions, with the NW entity specifying the PL reference signal (RS) and SRS closed-loop power control (CLPC) adjustment states.
Resolves the ambiguity in PL offset selection for UL transmissions in asymmetric TRPs mode, ensuring optimal power control for UL transmissions and PRACH procedures, enhancing communication efficiency and reliability.
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Figure CN2024130992_15052026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING UPLINK POWER CONTROL FOR ASYMMETRIC TRANSMISSION-RECEPTION POINTS MODE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
[0001] FIELD OF THE DOCUMENT
[0002] This document describes methods and apparatuses operating in wireless communication systems such as (but not limited to) the ones described in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technical specifications (TSs) , for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE) , or Fifth Generation (5G) , or future 6G communication systems. The methods and apparatuses disclosed in this document are related to performing uplink (UL) power control under various scenarios of an asymmetric transmission-reception points mode.BACKGROUND
[0003] This background description is provided for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the document. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present document.
[0004] To meet the increasing data rate requirements in 5G and beyond, the deployment of heterogeneous networks (hetnets) has been proposed. A hetnet may include first and second transmission-reception points (TRPs) and the user equipment (UE) may simultaneously exchange data, in a different manner, with the network using both the first and second TRPs (thus the name “heterogenous” ) . Hetnets may increase network capacity by adding more cell sites, e.g., radio access networks, macro sites, in-building wireless, and small cell deployments. Thus, hetnets use a combination of macro, pico, and femto cells to offer network densification. Hetnets may incorporate different access technologies like LTG, 5G, sixth generation (6G) , and Wi-Fi.
[0005] In new radio (NR) Release-19 (Rel-19) , a working item (WI) targeting Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) scenarios extends and enhances MIMO performance built on legacy releases. One objective of Rel-19 MIMO WI is to facilitate the hetnet configuration discussed above. A hetnet configuration envisioned by the WI may include two TRPs, where one of them only serves UL transmissions. The other TRP in such hetnet configuration may serve mostly (if not only) downlink (DL) transmissions or serve both DL transmissions and UL transmissions including a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . The hetnet configuration with two or more TRPs provides certain benefits, for example, the potential of boosting UL throughput, while saving power consumption of one TRP by shutting down or reducing its DL transmission.
[0006] The New Radio (NR) technical specification specifies that a joint / uplink (joint / UL) TCI state may be configured / associated with a pathloss (PL) offset (i.e., a power loss associated with a given path from a network (NW) entity to a UE) . Then, the NW entity may transmit a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to update (a value of) the PL offset configured in or associated with the joint / UL TCI state. When the UE, which is wirelessly connected to the NW entity, transmits a UL transmission using an indicated joint / UL TCI state, the UE uses the PL offset configured in or associated with the indicated joint / UL TCI state for determining a transmission (TX) power.
[0007] However, the UE may receive an updated PL offset (for example, with the MAC-CE sent by the NW to the UE) , between (1) a scheduling / triggering signal arriving at the UE from the NW, and (2) a corresponding UL transmission from the UE to the NW, for a PL offset associated with the indicated joint / UL TCI state. Then, it is unclear for the UE whether or which PL offset should be used for determining the TX power for the UL transmission. In this regard, there is an PL offset associated with a slot where the scheduling / triggering signal is received and another PL offset associated with a slot where the corresponding UL transmission is transmitted. This ambiguity of which PL offset to use may occur in various transmission cases in the NR system.SUMMARY
[0008] The embodiments discussed herein address a PL offset selection for various scenarios with asymmetric transmission reception points (TRPs) mode. The asymmetric TRPs mode includes uplink operation in a multiple transmission reception mode and downlink operation in a single transmission reception mode. According to an embodiment, the UE is configured with a first PL offset to be used for single-occasion UL transmission. The UE is then configured to update the PL offset to a second PL offset, before the single-occasion UL transmission. The UE is provided with a mechanism for selecting a PL offset (first, second, or default) for the single-occasion UL transmission.
[0009] According to another embodiment, the UE is configured with a PL offset to be used for a multiple-occasions UL transmission. The UE is then configured to update the first PL offset to a second PL offset, either before any occasion UL transmission or between two adjacent occasions UL transmission. The UE is provided with a mechanism for selecting a PL offset (first, second, or default) for the multiple-occasions UL transmission either before a first occasion UL transmission or between the two adjacent occasions of the UL transmission.
[0010] According to yet another embodiment, the UE is configured with a first PL offset to be used for a PRACH transmission. The UE is then configured to update the first PL offset to a second PL offset, either before or between PRACH transmissions or between a PRACH transmission and a PRACH retransmission. The UE is provided with a mechanism for selecting a PL offset for any of these cases.
[0011] According to still another embodiment, the NW entity configures the UE with a PL reference signal, RS, for measuring the PL offset. However, the PL RS may be updated before the measurement. Thus, the NW entity configures the UE for selecting a PL RS. According to yet another embodiment, the NW entity configures the UE to select one of plural sounding reference signal (SRS) closed-loop power control (CLPC) adjustment states when plural states are available due to the asymmetric TRPs mode.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments and, together with the description, explain these embodiments.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system in which a base station (BS) and / or a UE may implement the techniques of this document.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a distributed BS including a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) that may operate in the system of FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an asymmetric TRPs mode with first and second TRPs, the first TRP performing DL transmission and restricted UL transmission and the second TRP performing only UL transmission.
[0016] FIG. 4A schematically illustrates a UE operating in an asymmetric TRPs mode and selecting a PL offset for single-occasion UL transmission according to an embodiment.
[0017] FIG. 4B is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for the scenario of FIG. 4A, according to an embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 5A schematically illustrates a UE operating in an asymmetric TRPs mode and selecting a PL offset for multiple-occasions UL transmission, before any occasion, according to an embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 5B is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for the scenario of FIG. 5A, according to an embodiment.
[0020] FIG. 6A schematically illustrates a UE operating in an asymmetric TRPs mode and selecting a PL offset for multiple-occasions UL transmission, after one or more occasions, according to an embodiment.
[0021] FIG. 6B is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for the scenario of FIG. 6A, according to an embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a UE method for selecting a PL offset for a single-occasion or multiple-occasions UL transmission according to any of the scenarios of FIGs. 4A, 5A, and 6A, according to an embodiment.
[0023] FIG. 8A schematically illustrates a UE operating in an asymmetric TRPs mode and selecting a PL offset with power ramping for a PRACH transmission, according to an embodiment.
[0024] FIG. 8B is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for the scenario of FIG. 8A, according to an embodiment.
[0025] FIG. 9A schematically illustrates a UE operating in an asymmetric TRPs mode and selecting a PL offset for a PRACH retransmission, according to an embodiment.
[0026] FIG. 9B is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for the scenario of FIG. 9A, according to an embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 10 is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for selecting a PL offset for a subsequent PRACH transmission as in FIG. 8A or a PRACH retransmission as in FIG. 9A, according to an embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 11A schematically illustrates a UE operating in an asymmetric TRPs mode and selecting a PL RS for a PRACH transmission, according to an embodiment.
[0029] FIG. 11B is a signal diagram illustrating signals exchanged between the UE and the NW entity for the scenario of FIG. 11A, according to an embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a UE method for selecting a power related parameter for an UL transmission for the scenarios of FIGs. 4A, 5A, 6A, 8A, 9A, or 11A, according to an embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an NW entity method for indicating a PL RS or an SRS CLPC adjustment state according to an embodiment.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] Methods and apparatuses described in this section embody techniques related to performing PL offset selection in a wireless communication system having two TRPs, where one of the two TRPs is configured to support only UL transmissions while the other TRP is configured to support both UL and DL transmissions. This scenario may be described from UE perspective. This configuration is referred to in this document as an asymmetric TRPs mode or scenario. In other words, the asymmetric TRPs mode includes uplink operation in a multiple transmission reception mode and downlink operation in a single transmission reception mode. One skilled in the art would understand that this mode may also be applied to more than two TRPs, as long as one TRP is configured to support only UL transmissions from the UEs. One possible wireless system configuration that supports the asymmetric TRPs mode is when a radio access network (RAN) node (positioned upstream from the UE and downstream from the NW) supports UL transmissions from a UE but not DL transmissions to the UE. Note that an asymmetric TRPs mode is considered in this document to support uplink operation in a multiple transmission reception mode and downlink operation in a single transmission reception mode.
[0033] The embodiment descriptions in this section refer to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. The detailed descriptions do not preclude other embodiments within the scope of the appended claims. The embodiments are not limited to the described configurations but may be extended to other arrangements. For example, although the embodiments discussed in this document refer to a 2 TRP system, they could be applied for systems with more than 2 TRPs, having issue (s) or procedure (s) with similar consideration (s) or regard (s) in LTE or NR or 6G or other radio access technologies (RATs) .
[0034] Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this document are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0035] This document provides solutions for resolving the ambiguity of applying a PL offset for a UL transmission with one or multiple transmission occasion (s) , especially if the PL offset is changed / updated before the first UL transmission occasion or in the middle of the multiple transmission occasion (s) . Without the benefit of the techniques described in this document, UL power control for the existing wireless communication systems under the asymmetric TRPs mode may not work optimally. Note that in one embodiment, the TX power is calculated by the UE based on (1) a PL measured based on a DL reference signal (RS) , and (2) a PL offset, if any is available, associated with the indicated TCI state applied for transmitting the UL transmission.
[0036] The ambiguity of which PL offset to use for various scenarios for an asymmetric TRPs mode may impact a single-occasion UL transmission and multiple-occasions UL transmission. For the multiple-occasions UL transmission, the PL offset may be changed or updated before the first occasion or between adjacent occasions among the multiple occasions. This ambiguity may also impact physical random access channel (PRACH) power ramping, i.e., the PL offset may be changed or updated between the performance of two power ramping during the random access (RA) procedure. This ambiguity may also impact PRACH transmission triggered by physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order, i.e., the PL offset may be changed or updated between an initial transmission of the PRACH transmission and a retransmission of the PRACH transmission.
[0037] Therefore, the following embodiments provide solutions to these problems by establishing:
[0038] ● how to determine which PL offset to use if the PL offset is changed / updated between a scheduling / triggering signal and corresponding single-occasion UL transmission, and / or
[0039] ● how to determine which PL offset to use if the PL offset is changed / updated between a scheduling / triggering signal and a first occasion of a multiple-occasions UL transmission, or if the PL offset is changed / updated in the middle of the multiple-occasions UL transmission, and / or
[0040] ● how to determine which PL offset to use if the PL offset is changed / updated between consecutive UE initiated PRACH transmissions during a power ramping procedure, and / or
[0041] ● how to determine which PL offset to use if the PL offset is changed / updated between a UE PRACH transmission and PRACH retransmission when the RA procedure is NW entity initiated.
[0042] Another problem facing the UE for the asymmetric TRPs mode is related to the case in which there is PDCCH order sent by the NW entity to the UE for a PRACH transmission and the PDCCH order includes a field that indicates which PL RS to be used for the PL offset measurements. One or more embodiments address this problem by the NW entity specifying which PL RS to be used by the UE for the various scenarios. Yet another problem facing the asymmetric TRPs mode is related to the case in which a downlink control information (DCI) is used to indicate a specific command for an SRS CLPC adjustment state, which may be different from an adjustment state associated with a triggered aperiodic (AP) SRS. To overcome these problems, one or more embodiments discussed later configure the UE to select an SRS CLPC adjustment state depending on the situation.
[0043] All these solutions may also be applied for issue (s) or procedure (s) with similar consideration (s) or regard (s) in LTE / NR / 6G or other RATs. Prior to discussing these solutions, a wireless communication system in which such methods and solutions may be implemented is discussed first with regard to FIG. 1.
[0044] Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless communication system 100 includes a UE 102, a first base station (BS) 104, a second BS 106, and a core network (CN) 110. The term “base station” is understood in this document to be an evolved Node B (eNodeB) in LTE, or gNodeB (gNB) in 5G or any other device that serves for transmitting data between the CN and the UE. The first and second BSs 104 and 106 may operate in a radio access network (RAN) 105 connected to the CN 110. The CN 110 may be implemented as an evolved packet core (EPC) 111 or a 5G core (5GC) 160, for example. The CN 110 may also be implemented as a 6G core in another example.
[0045] The first BS 104 may cover one or more cells (e.g., cells 124 and 125) with one or more TRPs 107-i, (with i being an integer between 1 and 3 in the figure) and the second BS 106 may similarly cover one or more cells (e.g., cell 126) with one or more TRPs 108-i (with i being an integer between 1 and 2 in the figure) . For example, the first BS 104 operates cell 124 with TRPs 107-1 and 107-2 and operates cell 125 with TRP 107-3, and the second BS 106 operates cell 126 with TRPs 108-1 and 108-2. Note that the plural TRPs at a single BS may be implemented with different panels of the same antenna, or with different antennas.
[0046] Cells 124 and 125 may be operated on the same carrier frequency / frequencies. Cell 126 may be operated on the same carrier frequency / frequencies as cells 124 and 125. Alternatively, cell 126 may be operated on different carrier frequency / frequencies from cells 124 and 125. In some embodiments, the first BS 104 connects each of the TRPs 107-1, 107-2, and 107-3 via a fiber connection or an Ethernet connection. If the first BS 104 is a gNB, the cells 124 and 125 are NR cells. If the first BS 104 is an (ng-) eNB, the cells 124 and 125 are evolved universal terrestrial radio access (EUTRA) cells. Similarly, if the second BS 106 is a gNB, the cell 126 is an NR cell, and if the second BS 106 is an (ng-) eNB, the cell 126 is an EUTRA cell. Cells 124, 125, and 126 may be in the same RAN Notification Areas (RNA) or different RNAs. In general, the RAN 105 may include any number of BSs, and each of the BSs may cover one, two, three, or any other suitable number of cells.
[0047] The UE 102 may support at least a 5G NR (or simply, “NR” ) or an E-UTRA air interface to communicate with the first BS 104 via the TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, and / or TRP 107-3. Similarly, the UE 102 may support at least a 5G NR or an E-UTRA air interface to communicate with the second BS 106 via the TRP 108-1 and / or TRP 108-2. Each of the first and second BS 104, 106 may connect to the CN 110 via an interface (e.g., S1 or NG interface) . The first and second BSs 104 and 106 may also be interconnected via an interface (e.g., X2 or Xn interface) for interconnecting NG RAN nodes.
[0048] When a BS (e.g., 104 or 106) transmits DL data via a TRP (e.g., the TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, TRP 107-3, TRP 108-1, or TRP 108-2 in FIG. 1) , the first BS 104 may generate a packet including the data to be transmitted to the TRP 107-1. For example, the packet may be a fronthaul transport protocol data unit. The TRP extracts the data from the packet and transmits the data. In some embodiments, the first BS 104 may include control information for time-critical control and management information directly related to the data in the packet, and the TRP may transmit the data in accordance with the control information. In some embodiments, the data includes In-phase and Quadrature (IQ) data, a physical layer bit sequence, or a MAC packet data network (PDU) . When the TRP receives data from a UE (e.g., UE 102) , the TRP generates a packet including the data and transmits the packet to the first BS 104.
[0049] Among other components, the EPC 111 may include a Serving Gateway (SGW) 112, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 114, and a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) 116. SGW 112 in general is configured to transfer user-plane packets related to audio calls, video calls, Internet traffic, etc. MME 114 is configured to manage authentication, registration, paging, and other related functions. PGW 116 provides connectivity from the UE 102 to one or more external packet data networks, e.g., an Internet network and / or an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network. The 5GC 160 includes a User Plane Function (UPF) 162, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 164, and / or Session Management Function (SMF) 166. Generally, the UPF 162 is configured to transfer user-plane packets related to audio calls, video calls, Internet traffic, etc., the AMF 164 is configured to manage authentication, registration, paging, and other related functions, and the SMF 166 is configured to manage PDU sessions.
[0050] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first BS 104 supports cells 124 and 125, and the second BS 106 supports a cell 126. Cells 124, 125, and 126 may partially overlap, so that the UE 102 may select, reselect, or hand over from one of the cells 124, 125, and 126 to another. To directly exchange messages or information, the first BS 104 and second BS 106 may support an X2 or Xn interface. In general, the CN 110 may connect to any suitable number of BSs supporting NR cells and / or EUTRA cells.
[0051] The first BS 104 is equipped with processing hardware 130 that may include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., CPUs 132) and a non-transitory computer-readable memory 134 storing instructions that the one or more general-purpose processors execute. Additionally, or alternatively, the processing hardware 130 may include special-purpose processing units. Additionally or alternatively, the processing hardware 130 may include special-purpose processing units. The processing hardware 130 may include a PHY controller 136 configured to transmit data and control signals on physical DL channels and exchange DL reference signals with one or more user devices (e.g., UE 102) via one or more TRPs (e.g., TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, and / or TRP 107-3) . The PHY controller 136 is also configured to receive data and control signal on physical UL channels and / or UL reference signals with the one or more user devices via the one or more TRPs (e.g., TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, and / or TRP 107-3) . The processing hardware 130 may also include a MAC controller 137 configured to perform a RA procedure with one or more user devices, manage UL timing advance for the one or more user devices, receive UL MAC PDUs from the one or more user devices, and transmit DL MAC PDUs to the one or more user devices. The processing hardware 130 may further include an RRC controller 138 to implement procedures and messaging at the RRC sublayer of the protocol communication stack. and one or more transceivers 149 for supporting the data exchange with the TRPs. The processing hardware 130 also includes one or more transceivers 139 for supporting the data exchange with the UEs. The second BS 106 may include processing hardware that is similar to processing hardware 130.
[0052] The UE 102 is equipped with processing hardware 140 that may include one or more general-purpose processors 142 such as CPUs and non-transitory computer-readable memory 144 storing machine-readable instructions executable on the one or more general-purpose processors, and / or special-purpose processing units. The UE 102 also includes a PHY controller 146 (which may be implemented in the processor 142) which is configured to receive data and control signal on physical DL channels and / or exchange DL reference signals with the BS 104 or 106 via one or more TRPs (e.g., TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, TRP 107-3, TRP 108-1 and / or TRP 108-2) . The PHY controller 146 is also configured to transmit data and control signal on physical UL channels and / or UL reference signals with the BS 104 or 106 via the one or more TRPs (e.g., TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, TRP 107-3, TRP 108-1 and / or TRP 108-2) . The processing hardware 140 may also include a MAC controller 147 (which may also be implemented in the processor 142) configured to perform a RA procedure with the BS 104 or 106, manage UL timing advance for the one or more user devices, transmit UL MAC PDUs to the BS 104 or 106, and receive DL MAC PDUs from the BS 104 or 106. The processing hardware 140 may further include an RRC controller 148 (which may also be implemented in the processor 142) configured to implement procedures and messaging at the RRC sublayer of the protocol communication stack. The processing hardware 140 also includes one or more transceivers 149 for supporting the data exchange with the TRPs.
[0053] The 5G 160 may include processing hardware 150 that has one or more processors 152, storage media 154, PHY controller 156, MAC controller 157, RRC controller 158, and transceiver 159, that are similar to the corresponding elements of the UE and / or BS discussed above. Thus, their description is omitted.
[0054] FIG. 2 illustrates a distributed or disaggregated structure of a BS 170, which may be any of the BSs 104, 106. In this embodiment, the BS 170 includes a central unit (CU) 172 and one or more distributed units (DUs) 174. The CU 172 includes processing hardware, such as one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., CPUs) and a computer-readable memory storing machine-readable instructions executable on the general-purpose processor (s) , and / or special-purpose processing units. For example, the CU 172 may include a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) controller (not shown) , and an RRC controller (e.g., RRC controller 138 shown in FIG. 1) . In some embodiments, the CU 172 may include a radio link control (RLC) controller configured to manage or control one or more RLC operations or procedures. In other embodiments, the CU 172 does not include an RLC controller.
[0055] Each of the DUs 174 also includes processing hardware that may include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., CPUs) and computer-readable memory storing machine-readable instructions executable on the one or more general-purpose processors, and / or special-purpose processing units. For example, the processing hardware may include a MAC controller (element 137 in FIG. 1) configured to manage or control one or more MAC operations or procedures (e.g., a random access procedure) , and / or an RLC controller (not shown) configured to manage or control one or more RLC operations or procedures. The processing hardware may also include a physical layer controller (element PHY controller 136 in FIG. 1) configured to manage or control one or more physical layer operations or procedures. In some embodiments, RAN 105 supports Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) functionality. In some embodiments, the DU 174 operates as an (IAB) -node, and the CU 172 operates as an IAB-donor.
[0056] In some embodiments, the CU 172 may include a logical node CU-CP 172A that hosts the control plane part of the PDCP protocol of the CU 172. The CU 172 may also include logical node (s) CU-UP 172B that hosts the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and / or SDAP protocol of the CU 172. The CU-CP 172A may transmit control information (e.g., RRC messages, F1 application protocol messages) , and the CU-UP 172B may transmit data packets (e.g., SDAP PDUs or IP packets) .
[0057] The CU-CP 172A may be connected to multiple CU-UPs 172B through the E1 interface. The CU-CP 172A selects the appropriate CU-UP 172B for the requested services for the UE 102. In some embodiments, a single CU-UP 172B may be connected to multiple CU-CPs 172A through the E1 interface. If the CU-CP 172A and DU (s) 174 belong to a gNB, the CU-CP 172A may be connected to one or more DU 174s through an F1-C interface and / or an F1-U interface. If the CU-CP 172A and DU (s) 174 belong to an ng-eNB, the CU-CP 172A may be connected to DU (s) 174 through a W1-C interface and / or a W1-U interface. In some embodiments, one DU 174 may be connected to multiple CU-UPs 172B under the control of the same CU-CP 172A. In such embodiments, the connectivity between a CU-UP 172B and a DU 174 is established by the CU-CP 172A using Bearer Context Management functions.
[0058] Having introduced one possible configuration of the wireless communication system 100, various descriptions for the methods and embodiments discussed in this document are provided. In some embodiments, a TRP (e.g., TRP 107-1, TRP 107-2, TRP 107-3, TRP 108-1, and / or TRP 108-2) may be associated with or identified by a TRP identifier. In some embodiments, an NW entity (e.g., the BS 104 or 106) includes or configures a TRP identifier in UL configuration (s) that the NW entity transmits to a UE (e.g., the UE 102) for UL transmission (s) via a TRP identified by the TRP identifier. In some embodiments, the UL configuration (s) includes a DCI transmitted on a PDCCH, and / or PUSCH configuration, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configuration, and / or sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration included in an RRC message (e.g., RRC reconfiguration message or an RRC resume message) that the NW entity transmits to the UE. In some embodiments, the UL transmission (s) include PUSCH transmission (s) , PUCCH transmission (s) , and / or SRS transmission (s) . In some embodiments, the NW entity includes a TRP identifier in DL configuration (s) that the NW entity transmits to the UE 102 for DL transmission (s) via a TRP identified by the TRP identifier. In one embodiment, the DL configuration (s) includes DCI transmitted on a PDCCH, and / or channel state information (CSI) resource configuration, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration (s) , and / or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration (s) included in an RRC message (e.g., RRC reconfiguration message or an RRC resume message) that the NW entity transmits to the UE. In some embodiments, the DL transmission (s) includes CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission (s) , synchronization signal block (SSB) transmission (s) , PDSCH transmission (s) , and / or PDCCH transmission (s) .
[0059] In other embodiments, the NW entity does not transmit / configure a TRP identifier for the UE and uses an implicit indication to indicate the TRP to the UE. In one embodiment, the implicit indication may be one of the following configuration parameters: a coresetPoolIndex, a value (candidate) of a coresetPoolIndex, dataScramblingIdentityPDSCH, dataScramblingIdentityPDSCH2-r16, or PUCCH-ResourceGroup-r16. In such embodiments, the UE derives the TRP (identifier) from the implicit indication received from the NW entity. In some embodiments, the NW entity transmits an RRC message (e.g., RRC reconfiguration message or an RRC resume message) including the configuration parameters to the UE.
[0060] In some embodiments, the NW entity configures or indicates a first TRP identifier for the UE. In some embodiments, the UE derives the first TRP identifier (value) . In some embodiments, the NW entity configures or indicates a second TRP identifier (value) for the UE. In some embodiments, the UE derives the second TRP identifier (value) . In some embodiments, the first TRP identifier may be associated with the first TRP. In some embodiments, the second TRP identifier may be associated with the second TRP.
[0061] In some embodiments, the NW entity configures a serving cell to be associated with the first TRP or the first TRP identifier (value) . In some embodiments, the NW entity configures a first control resource set (CORESET) to be associated with the serving cell or the first TRP. The NW entity may configure coresetPoolIndex #0 to identify the first CORESET. In one embodiment, the NW entity may transmit, to the UE, an RRC message (e.g., an RRC setup message, an RRC reconfiguration message, or an RRC resume message) configuring the first CORESET and / or including the coresetPoolIndex #0. Thus, the UE monitors a PDCCH on the first CORESET to receive DCIs from the NW entity, which implies that the UE monitors a PDCCH or receives DCIs via the first TRP from the NW entity (i.e., from the first TRP) . In such a case, the UE determines that coresetPoolIndex #0 indicates a TRP (i.e., the first TRP) of the NW entity. In some embodiments, the first TRP identifier (value) may be coresetPoolIndex #0.
[0062] In one embodiment, the NW entity configures that the serving cell is associated with the second TRP or the second TRP identifier (value) . In another embodiment, the second TRP is associated with a non-serving cell, and the NW entity indicates or configures the association in an RRC message. In one embodiment, the NW entity configures the non-serving cell associated with the second TRP or the second TRP identifier (value) . In some embodiments, the NW entity configures a second CORESET to be associated with the serving cell, non-serving cell, or second TRP. The NW entity may configure coresetPoolIndex #1 to identify the second CORESET. In one embodiment, the NW entity may transmit, to the UE, an RRC message (e.g., an RRC setup message, an RRC reconfiguration message, or an RRC resume message) configuring the second CORESET and / or including the coresetPoolIndex #1. Thus, the UE monitors a PDCCH on the second CORESET to receive DCIs from the NW entity, which implies that the UE monitors a PDCCH or receives DCIs via the second TRP from the NW entity (i.e., from the second TRP) . In such a case, the UE determines that coresetPoolIndex #1 indicates a TRP (i.e., the second TRP) . In some embodiments, the second TRP identifier (value) may be coresetPoolIndex #1.
[0063] A beam indication procedure may be indicated or performed by the NW entity and / or the UE under unified TCI framework, including RRC, MAC-CE, and DCI. The RRC configuration for such a procedure is first discussed. In some embodiments, the NW entity may configure the UE with one or more TCI state lists for a component carrier (CC) of a serving cell. Note that a serving cell may use plural CCs, and the UE may simultaneously use (carrier aggregation (CA) a subset of the plural CCs for communication with the BS. The CC may be associated with a primary cell (PCell) or a secondary cell (SCell) , which is another serving cell for the UE. For example, the NW entity may configure a joint TCI state list for a CC of a serving cell. For example, the NW entity may configure a DL TCI state list and / or a UL TCI state list for a CC of a serving cell. One joint TCI state list may include one or more joint TCI states. One DL TCI state list may include one or more DL TCI states. One UL TCI state list may include one or more UL TCI states.
[0064] In some embodiments, the NW entity may configure the UE with a first RRC parameter, e.g., unifiedTCI-StateType. The first RRC parameter unifiedTCI-StateType may be a per-serving-cell configuration. The first RRC parameter unifiedTCI-StateType may indicate which type of TCI state list (s) is used for the serving cell. For example, the first RRC parameter unifiedTCI-StateType may indicate “joint” or “separate” . The first RRC parameter unifiedTCI-StateType may provide one or more of the following indications:
[0065] - if the first RRC parameter for a CC of the serving cell indicates “joint” , the NW entity may explicitly or implicitly configure the UE with one or more joint TCI state list (s) for the CC of the serving cell of the UE;
[0066] - if the first RRC parameter for a CC of the serving cell indicates “separate” , the NW entity may explicitly or implicitly configure the UE with one or more DL TCI state list (s) for the CC of the serving cell;
[0067] - if the first RRC parameter for a CC of the serving cell indicates “separate” , the NW entity may explicitly or implicitly configure the UE with one or more UL TCI state list (s) for the CC of the serving cell.
[0068] In some embodiments, when the NW entity explicitly configures the UE with one or more TCI state list (s) for a CC of the serving cell, the NW entity configures the one or more TCI state list (s) (explicitly) under the RRC configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfig) for a CC of the serving cell.
[0069] In some embodiments, when the NW entity implicitly configures the UE with one or more TCI state list (s) for a CC of the serving cell, at least one of the following scenario is assumed:
[0070] - the NW entity configures the one or more TCI state list (s) under RRC configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfig) for other serving cell (s) / CCs or a reference serving cell / CC;
[0071] - the UE refers to the one or more TCI state list (s) for other serving cell (s) / CCs or a reference serving cell / CC; or
[0072] - the UE determines that the one or more TCI state list (s) , which is for other serving cell / CCs or a reference serving cell / CC, is also for the CC of the serving cell.
[0073] Next, the MAC-CE activation of the TCI states is discussed. A first MAC-CE may be used to activate one or more of the configured, unified, TCI states. In some embodiments, the NW entity may transmit the first MAC-CE to the UE when or after:
[0074] - the NW entity configures the UE with one or more TCI state list (s) for the CC of serving cell; and / or
[0075] - the UE refers or determines one or more TCI state list (s) for the CC of the serving cell.
[0076] In some embodiments, the first MAC-CE may activate or indicate one or more TCI states from the one or more TCI state list (s) . The activated / indicated one or more TCI states may map to one or more TCI codepoints in a TCI field. In some cases, the UE may (directly) apply or use the activated / indicated one or more TCI states for performing (subsequent) DL and / or UL transmission. In some cases, the first MAC-CE may be Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE without CORESET Pool ID field present. In some cases, if the UE is operating in single TRP (S-TRP) mode, the first MAC-CE may be Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE without CORESET Pool ID field present.
[0077] In some embodiments, if the number of activated / indicated TCI states (by the first MAC-CE) is larger than one, those activated / indicated TCI states may map to one or more TCI codepoints in a TCI field in a DCI. In some embodiments, if the number of activated / indicated TCI states (by the first MAC-CE) is one, the UE may (directly) apply or use the activated / indicated TCI state for (subsequent) performing DL and / or UL transmission. In some embodiments (1) if the number of TCI states activated / indicated by the first MAC-CE is two, and / or (2) if the two activated / indicated TCI states are associated with different TRP identifiers or applicable for different TRPs, then the UE may (directly) apply or use these two activated / indicated TCI states for (subsequent) performing corresponding DL and / or UL transmission.
[0078] In some embodiments, one TCI state may be mapped to one TCI codepoint, based on the first MAC-CE. In some cases, more than one TCI states may be mapped to one TCI codepoint, based on the first MAC-CE. In some cases, the TCI codepoint may indicate one of the following:
[0079] - one or more joint TCI states,
[0080] ○ some may be TCI states associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the others may be TCI states associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0081] - one or more DL TCI states,
[0082] ○ some could be TCI states associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the other could be TCI states associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0083] - one or more UL TCI states,
[0084] ○ some may be TCI states associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the others may be TCI states associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0085] - one or more DL TCI states and one or more UL TCI states,
[0086] ○ some may be TCI states associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the others may be TCI states associated with the second TRP (identifier) .
[0087] In some cases, the number of joint TCI states indicated in a TCI codepoint by the NW entity may be up to 4. In some cases, the number of DL TCI states indicated in a TCI codepoint by the NW entity may be up to 4. In some cases, the number of UL TCI states indicated in a TCI codepoint by the NW entity may be up to 4.
[0088] For example, one of the following options may be mapped to a TCI codepoint:
[0089] - one joint TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the other one joint TCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0090] - one DL TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , one UL TCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0091] - one DL TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the other one DL TCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0092] - one UL TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , the other one UL TCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0093] - one DL TCI state and one UL TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , o ne joint TCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) ,
[0094] - one DL TCI state and one UL TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , one DL TCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) , or
[0095] - one DL TCI state and one UL TCI state associated with the first TRP (identifier) , one ULTCI state associated with the second TRP (identifier) .
[0096] Beam indication may be achieved by DCI signaling. For example, the first DCI may be used to indicate one or more activated unified TCI states. In one embodiment, a first acknowledgement signal may be used for indicating hybrid ARQ (HARQ) -ACK for legacy beam indication by DCI signaling. More specifically, in some embodiments, the UE may receive a first DCI indicating one or more TCI states. The first DCI may indicate one or more TCI states by the TCI field in the first DCI. In response to receiving the first DCI, the UE may transmit, to the NW entity, a first acknowledgement signal via a PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. In response to transmitting the first acknowledgement signal, the UE may apply or use the one or more TCI states activated / indicated by the first DCI for performing DL and / or UL transmission. In some cases, in response to transmitting the first acknowledgement signal, the UE may apply or use the one or more TCI states activated / indicated by the first DCI for performing DL and / or UL transmission, after a first application time period. In some cases, the UE may apply or use the one or more TCI states activated / indicated by the first DCI for performing DL and / or UL transmission, starting from a first slot.
[0097] The terms “first application time period” and the “first slot” are used in these embodiments to establish when the activated / indicated TCI states are applied using DCI signaling. Note that there is a time lag between receiving an activation / indication message for the TCI state (s) and applying the TCI state (s) . In some cases, the first slot may be the earliest slot that is at least the first application time period after the last symbol of the PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. In some cases, the earliest slot (for determining the first slot) and / or the first application time period may be determined based on the active bandwidth part (BWP) with the smallest subcarrier spacing (SCS) among the active BWP (s) of the carrier / serving cell (s) applying the one or more TCI states. In some cases, the first application time period may be in unit of one of the following: symbol, sub-slot, slot, sub-frame, frame, millisecond (ms) , or second. In some cases, the first application time period may be the beamAppTime.
[0098] The beam indication may also be achieved by MAC-CE. For example, a second acknowledgement signal may be used for indicating HARQ-ACK for traditional beam indication by MAC-CE. More specifically, the UE may receive the first MAC-CE indicating one or more TCI states. For example, the first MAC-CE may indicate one TCI state. Alternatively, the first MAC-CE may indicate more than one TCI states, each of them associated with different TRPs or TRP identifiers. In one example, the first MAC-CE may indicate two TCI states, where one is associated with the first TRP (identifier) and the other is associated with the second TRP (identifier) . In such cases, the UE may not receive a DCI indicating one or more TCI states for applying for performing subsequent DL and / or UL transmission. In response to receiving the first MAC-CE, the UE may transmit, to the NW entity, a second acknowledgement signal via a PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. In response to transmitting the second acknowledgement signal, the UE may apply or use the one or more TCI states activated / indicated by the first MAC-CE for performing DL and / or UL transmission. In some cases, in response to transmitting the second acknowledgement signal, the UE may apply or use the one or more TCI states activated / indicated by the first MAC-CE for performing DL and / or UL transmission, after a second application time period. In some cases, the UE may apply or use the one or more TCI states activated / indicated by the first MAC-CE for performing DL and / or UL transmission, starting from a second slot.
[0099] The terms “second application time period” and the “second slot” are used in these embodiments to establish when the activated / indicated TCI states are applied when using MAC-CE signaling.
[0100] In some cases, the second slot may be the earliest slot that is at least the second application time period after the (last) slot of the PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. In some cases, the second application time period may be In some cases, μ may be the SCS configuration for the PUCCH or PUSCH transmission; may be the subcarrier spacing configuration for kmac with a value of 0 for frequency range 1, and kmac is provided by K-Mac or kmac=0 if K-Mac is not provided.
[0101] For the multiple-TRS (M-TRP) single-DCI (S-DCI) mode, the NW entity indicates the first and second joint / DL / UL TCI states to the UE. More specifically, in some embodiments, the NW entity may transmit a DCI (e.g., the first DCI) to the UE to indicate a first joint / DL / UL TCI state and / or a second joint / DL / UL TCI state, e.g., by TCI field in the DCI. In some cases, the first joint / DL / UL TCI state and / or the second joint / DL / UL TCI state may be from the one or more TCI states activated by the first MAC-CE. In some other embodiments, the NW entity may transmit a MAC-CE (e.g., the first MAC-CE) to the UE to indicate a first joint / DL / UL TCI state and / or a second joint / DL / UL TCI state. This means that the NW activates only one TCI field codepoint including a joint / DL / UL TCI state and / or another one joint / DL / UL TCI state. In some cases, the first MAC-CE may be one of Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Joint TCI States or Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Separate TCI States. In some cases, if the UE is operating in the M-TRP S-DCI mode, the first MAC-CE may be one of Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Joint TCI States or Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Separate TCI States.
[0102] For the M-TRP multiple-DCI (M-DCI) mode, the NW entity indicates the first and second joint / DL / UL TCI states to the UE. More specifically, in some embodiments, the NW entity may transmit a second DCI to indicate a first joint / DL / UL TCI state, e.g., by TCI field in the DCI. In some embodiments, the NW entity may transmit a third DCI to indicate a second joint / DL / UL TCI state, e.g., by TCI field in the DCI. In some cases, the first joint / DL / UL TCI state may be from the one or more TCI states activated by a second MAC-CE. In some cases, the second joint / DL / UL TCI state may be from the one or more TCI states activated by a third MAC-CE. In some other embodiments, the NW entity may transmit a MAC-CE (e.g., the second MAC-CE) to the UE to indicate a first joint / DL / UL TCI state. For this situation, the NW activates only a joint / DL / UL TCI state. In some other embodiments, the NW entity may transmit a MAC-CE (e.g., the third MAC-CE) to the UE to indicate a second joint / DL / UL TCI state. Thus, for this case, the NW entity activates only a joint / DL / UL TCI state. In some cases, the second MAC-CE may indicate a TRP identifier (value) , e.g., coresetPoolIndex #0. In some other cases, the third MAC-CE may indicate a TRP identifier (value) , e.g., coresetPoolIndex #1. In yet other cases, the second MAC-CE and the third MAC-CE may be the same type of MAC-CE, e.g., Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE with CORESET Pool ID field present. In some cases, the second MAC-CE may be a Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE with CORESET Pool ID field indicating that the activated TCI states are specified to CORESET pool ID equal to 0. In some cases, the third MAC-CE may be a Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE with CORESET Pool ID field indicating that the activated TCI states are specified to CORESET pool ID equal to 1. In some cases, the UE may receive or detect the second DCI on a CORESET associated with or specific to the first TRP identifier (value) , e.g., coresetPoolIndex #0. In some cases, the UE may receive or detect the third DCI on a CORESET associated with or specific to the second TRP identifier (value) , e.g., coresetPoolIndex #1.
[0103] In some embodiments, the TCI activation procedure performed via the second MAC-CE and / or the third MAC-CE may be the same as that of the first MAC-CE. In some embodiments, the TCI indication procedure performed via the second DCI and / or the third DCI may be the same as that of the first DCI. In some embodiments, the MAC-CE format of the second MAC-CE and / or the third MAC-CE may be the same as that of the first MAC-CE. In some embodiments, the DCI format of the second DCI and / or the third DCI may be the same as that of the first DCI.
[0104] In some embodiments, the first joint / DL TCI state may be associated with or specific to a first TRP or a first TRP identifier (value) , e.g., coresetPoolIndex #0. In some embodiments, the second joint / DL TCI state may be associated with or specific to a second TRP or a second TRP identifier (value) , e.g., coresetPoolIndex #1.
[0105] The various methods for selecting the PL offset, to be discussed with regard to the figures, are assumed in the following embodiments to be for a scenario in which the UE is operating under an asymmetric TRPs mode. One example of UE operating under an asymmetric TRPs mode is the UE communicating with one TRP with at least a DL transmission and another TRP has only a UL transmission, no DL transmission. The UE is operating under the asymmetric TRPs mode, in a serving cell or BWP, if at least one or a combination of the following conditions occurs or is achieved:
[0106] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, configuration (s) of the asymmetric TRPs mode for the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0107] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, an activation / deactivation MAC-CE based on Rel-17 unified TCI framework for the serving cell or BWP (e.g., Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE without CORESET Pool ID field present, e.g., MAC-CE based on extended logical channel identifier (eLCID) equals to 297) ,
[0108] ○ Under such condition, the first MAC-CE may be an activation / deactivation MAC-CE based on Rel-17 unified TCI framework (e.g., Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE without CORESET Pool ID field present) , and / or
[0109] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, an activation / deactivation MAC-CE based on Rel-18 unified TCI framework (e.g., Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE with CORESET Pool ID field present, Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Joint TCI States, or Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Separate TCI States) ,
[0110] ○ Under such condition, the first MAC-CE may be an activation / deactivation MAC-CE based on Rel-18 unified TCI framework (e.g., Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE with CORESET Pool ID field present, Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Joint TCI States or Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Separate TCI States) , and / or
[0111] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, a configuration (s) of CORESET (s) such that coresetPoolIndex is not configured for any CORESET or only one coresetPoolIndex (value) is configured for any CORESET, and / or
[0112] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, configuration (s) for configuring one or more PL offset and / or configuration (s) for indicating one PL offset, and / or
[0113] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, configuration (s) of two or more than two power control (PC) adjustment states for SRS (e.g., twoSRS-PC-AdjustmentStates)
[0114] ○ Under such condition, the two or more than two PC adjustment states for SRS may be separate from the PC adjustment state (s) for PUSCH, and / or
[0115] - the UE receives, from the NW entity, a configuration (s) indicating that PC adjustment state (s) for SRS is separate from those for PUSCH, e.g., srs-PowerControlAdjustmentStates.
[0116] An asymmetric TRPs mode that is considered for various scenarios in the following embodiments is now described. FIG. 3 graphically illustrates the asymmetric TRPs mode. This figure shows two TRPs 107-i and 107-j (with i and j being positive integers) through which the first BS 104 (or any other BS) communicates with the UE 102. In this scenario, the DL transmission 310 (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS) and optional UL transmission 320 (e.g., only SRS transmission for antenna switching (AS) ) are supported from / toward the first TRP 107-i, and only an UL transmission 330 (e.g., PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS for codebook (CB) , non-codebook (NCB) , beam management (BM) , and / or AS) is supported toward the second TRP 107-j. Note that in this embodiment, the UL transmission 320 is restricted, i.e., no PUCCH or PUSCH is allowed. Also note that the two TRPs may belong to different BSs, i.e., the two TRPs may be TRP 107-i and TRP 108-j based on the notations of FIG. 1. In other words, the first scenario is applicable to any two TRPs that are simultaneously accessible by a single UE. Regarding an RA procedure, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the UE may transmit PRACH to the first TRP and / or the second TRP. Thus, the only UL transmission 320 to the first TRP 107-i may be SRS transmission for AS and / or PRACH. The second TRP 107-j may only serve UL transmission 330 from the UE to the NW entity. In another embodiment, the UL transmission 320 may be fully suppressed.
[0117] Having introduced the terminology and conditions for performing UL power control under an asymmetric TRPs mode, various scenarios are now described. According to a first scenario, the UE is configured / indicated to perform a single-occasion UL transmission and the NW entity and / or UE changes / updates the PL offset between the scheduling / triggering signal for the PL offset change / update and the UL transmission occasion corresponding to the scheduling / triggering signal.
[0118] A brief introduction of a unified TCI state and a PL offset is now presented. In some embodiments, the UE may receive, from the NW entity, configuration (s) of one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some cases, the UE may receive an indication / activation of one indicated TCI state, which is selected from the one or more configured joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some cases, if the unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the UE may receive an indication / activation of one indicated TCI state, which is selected from the one or more configured joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some cases, the UE may receive an indication / activation of a first and / or a second indicated TCI state, which is selected from the one or more configured joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some cases, if a unified TCI state for M-TRPs is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the UE may receive an indication / activation of a first and / or a second indicated TCI state, which is selected from the one or more configured joint / UL TCI state (s) .
[0119] In some embodiments, the NW entity may configure a respective DL PL reference signal (RS) to be associated with or included in each of or some of the one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some embodiments, the NW entity may configure a respective PL offset to be associated with or included in each of or some of the one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some cases, different PL offsets (values) may be configured to different joint / UL TCI states.
[0120] In some embodiments, if the UE is configured / instructed to apply an indicated TCI state for an UL transmission, for performing UL PC (e.g., determining TX power of the UL transmission) , the UE may apply or utilize the PL offset and / or DL PL RS associated with or included in the indicated joint / UL TCI state. In some cases, for performing UL PC (e.g., determining TX power of the UL transmission) , if the indicated joint / UL TCI state does not include or have an associated PL offset, the UE may determine / assume that the PL offset is 0 or apply / utilize a default PL offset. In some cases, the default PL offset may be configured / indicated by the NW entity per BWP, per serving cell, per cell group (CG) , or per set of serving cells (e.g., serving cells indicated / configured by simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3, or simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4) . If the unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the indicated joint / UL TCI state may be referred to as at least one of the first or second indicated joint / UL TCI state.
[0121] In some embodiments, when the MAC-CE is used to update the PL offset, the UE may receive, from the NW entity, a fourth MAC-CE to change or update the PL offset (value) associated with or included in a joint / UL TCI state. In some cases, the fourth MAC-CE may comprise / include a TCI state ID of one or more joint / UL TCI states. For example, the fourth MAC-CE may comprise / include one or more bytes. Each of the one or more bytes may correspond to a TCI state ID. In some cases, the fourth MAC-CE may comprise / include a bit map. Each bit of the bitmap may correspond to a TCI state ID. In some cases, the fourth MAC-CE may change or update one PL offset (value) for a single one joint / UL TCI state. In some other cases, the fourth MAC-CE may change or update one or more PL offsets (values) for one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some other cases, the fourth MAC-CE may change or update one PL offset (value) for one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) . In some other cases, the fourth MAC-CE may change or update a PL offset (value) only for activated TCI state (s) . In some other cases, the fourth MAC-CE may change or update a PL offset (value) only for the indicated TCI state (s) . In some cases, if the fourth MAC-CE may change or update the PL offset (value) only for the indicated TCI states, the fourth MAC-CE may not comprise / include TCI state ID (s) . In some embodiments, the NW entity may configure a common TCI state list for multiple serving cells. In one example, the NW entity may configure the common TCI state list by simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3 or simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4. In one example, the NW entity may configure a TCI state list in a first serving cell. The NW entity may configure the TCI state list in the first serving cell as a reference TCI state list for a second serving cell. The NW entity may transmit a MAC-CE, to the UE, to update the PL offset for the TCI state (s) in one or multiple serving cells or all the serving cells that share the common reference TCI state list. The one or multiple serving cells may be configured by RRC signaling or indicated by the MAC-CE or determined based on the serving cell where the MAC-CE is transmitted / applied or determined based on the serving cell whose serving index is indicated in the MAC CE.
[0122] In some embodiments, the NW entity may use the first / second / third MAC-CEs to change or update the PL offset associated with or included in a joint / UL TCI state (e.g., Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE, Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Joint TCI States, or Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Separate TCI States) . In some embodiments, the NW entity may also use the fourth MAC-CE to (de-) activate joint / UL TCI states. In some cases, at least a field or a byte, for indicating PL offset, may be included in the first / second / third / fourth MAC-CE. In some cases, the at least a field or a byte for indicating the PL offset is included in the first / second / third / fourth MAC-CE, if the UE is operating in the asymmetric TRPs mode.
[0123] A first scenario 400A, which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 4A, and a corresponding method 400B, which is shown in FIG. 4B, are discussed for selecting a PL offset (also called “power related parameter” in this disclosure) when the UE is provided with TCI state associated PL offset (also called a first PL offset in this document) and an instruction to update the TCI state associated PL offset to an updated PL offset (also called a second PL offset) . The method is related to a single-occasion UL transmission when the PL offset is changed / updated 408 between a time of receiving a scheduling / triggering signal 404 and a time of the single-occasion transmission 406. FIG. 4B is a signal diagram illustrating the signal exchanges between the UE 102 and NW entity 104 for the asymmetric TRPs mode illustrated in FIG. 3.
[0124] According to the method 400B, the UE 102 optionally transmits or reports 410 a UE capability (s) for supporting the first scenario (e.g., one of the two TRPs only serves a UL transmission and no DL transmission) . The NW entity 104 then transmits 420 an RRC configuration to the UE for configuring one or more joint / UL TCI states with associated / included PL offset, and / or the asymmetric TRPs mode. The NW entity 104 further transmits 430 a DCI or MAC-CE 401 (see FIG. 4A) , for example, the first, second, or third MAC-CE discussed above, also called a first message, to the UE 102 indicating a joint / UL TCI state with an associated / included PL offset (first PL offset) . The NW entity 104 then transmits 440 to the UE 102 a MAC-CE 402 (illustrated in FIG. 4A, for example, the fourth MAC-CE discussed above, also called a second message) for updating the PL offset associated with / indicated in the joint / UL TCI state indicated in step 430.
[0125] In one embodiment, the first message 401 and the second message 402 and even the scheduling / triggering signal 404 or 405 are transmitted by the NW entity to the UE with the DL transmission 310, from the first TRP 107-I, and the UL transmission 406 is transmitted by the UE to the NW entity with the UL transmission 330 (see FIG. 3) . The same is true for the other embodiments discussed herein. Later, the NW entity 104 transmits 450, to the UE 102, the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 (see FIG. 4A) for the single-occasion UL transmission 406. Note that the second message 402 may not necessarily be transmitted before the scheduling / triggering signal 404 or 405. In one example, the second message 402 is transmitted after the scheduling / triggering signal 404 or 405. The same is true for all the following embodimens.
[0126] The first PL offset received in step 430 is updated 460 to the second PL offset received in step 440 after the steps 430 and 440, as schematically illustrated by reference number 408 in FIG. 4A. Before transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406, the UE 102 selects / determines 470 (see event 409 in FIG. 4A) which PL offset to apply for the TX power. The various possibilities and factors considered in this decision are discussed next in more detail. After making this decision, the UE 102 transmits 480 the single-occasion UL transmission 406 based on the joint / UL TCI state indicated in step 430 and the PL offset selected in step 470. Note that the step 440 may not necessarily occur before the step 450. One example is that the step 440 occurs after the step 450. The same is true for all the other embodiments, i.e., the message updating the TL offset may arrive at the UE after the scheduling / triggering signal.
[0127] The scheduling / triggering signal 404 for scheduling / triggering the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a DCI, MAC-CE, MAC PDU, or random access response (RAR) . In some cases, the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a UL channel or an UL RS. In some cases, the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a PUSCH without time division multiplexing (TDM) repetitions, a PUSCH applied with space division multiplexing (SDM) / single frequency network (SFN) scheme, a PUCCH without TDM repetitions, a PUCCH applied with SFN scheme, or single aperiodic SRS resource triggered by a triggering DCI. In some cases, the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a PRACH transmission initiated by a PDCCH order. In such cases, the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 may be the PDCCH order. In some cases, the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a PRACH transmission spanned over / across one slot or multiple slots.
[0128] In some embodiments, the UE may receive a first beam selection signal 405 (instead of the first scheduling / triggering signal 404) for indicating the indicated TCI state is applied for transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406. In some cases, if a unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the first beam selection signal 405 for the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 with a TCI field. In some cases, if the unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the first beam selection signal 405 for the single-occasion UL transmission 406 may be a DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 with a TCI field, or a DCI format 0_1 / 0_2 with an SRS resource set field.
[0129] Possible PL offset change / update cases that cause confusion in a traditional system are now described and solutions for overcoming these problems are provided. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the fourth MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 402 for updating / changing the first PL offset 409A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state, which takes effect (or is applicable) at a time between (1) the time the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 is received at the UE and (2) the time the single-occasion UL transmission 406 is implemented. In some embodiments, the UE may receive the fourth MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 402 for updating / changing the PL offset associated with or included in the indicated TCI state, which is applicable (or takes effect) between the time of receiving a first beam selection signal 405 and the time of performing the single-occasion UL transmission 406.
[0130] In some embodiments, the UE may receive the first / second / third MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 402 for updating / changing the activated or indicated TCI states, and / or updating / changing a mapping between a joint / UL TCI state and a TCI field codepoint, where the first / second / third MAC-CE is applicable (or takes effect) between the time of receiving the first scheduling / triggering signal and the time of implementing the single-occasion UL transmission. In some embodiments, the UE may receive the first / second / third MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 402 for updating / changing the activated or indicated TCI states, and / or updating / changing a mapping between a joint / UL TCI state and a TCI field codepoint, where the first / second / third MAC-CE is applicable (or takes affect) between the time of receiving the first beam selection signal 405 and the time of implementing the single-occasion UL transmission 406. In some embodiments, the PL offset applied for the single-occasion UL transmission may be updated / changed due to receiving the first / second / third MAC-CE.
[0131] In some embodiments, for the first scenario illustrated in FIG. 4A,
[0132] (1) if the PL offset (first PL offset) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state applied for transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406 is updated / changed 408 between the receiving time of the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 and the transmission time of the single-occasion UL transmission 406, or
[0133] (2) if the PL offset (first PL offset) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state applied for transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406 is updated / changed 408 between the receiving time of the first beam selection signal 405 and the transmission time of the single-occasion UL transmission 406,
[0134] then the UE may perform at least one of the following options:
[0135] - according to option 1, the UE may determine that a first PL offset 409A is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406, in which case the first PL offset may be one of the followings:
[0136] ○ the first PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 409A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state (received with DCI or MAC-CE 401) before being updated / changed, or
[0137] ○ the first PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 409A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 or the first beam selection signal 405 is received, or
[0138] ○ the first PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first / last slot or symbol of the first scheduling / triggering signal 404, or
[0139] ● This may imply that the UE may determine the PL offset for the single-occasion UL transmission 406 based on the PL offset applied in the first / last slot or symbol of the first scheduling / triggering signal 404
[0140] ○ the first PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first / last slot or symbol of the first beam selection signal 405.
[0141] ● This may imply that the UE may determine the PL offset for the single-occasion UL transmission 406 based on the PL offset applied in the first / last slot or symbol of the first beam selection signal 405
[0142] - according to option 2, the UE may determine that a second PL offset 409B is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406, in which case the second PL offset may be one of the followings:
[0143] ○ the second PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 409B associated with or included in the indicated TCI state upon or after being updated / changed, or
[0144] ○ the second PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the single-occasion UL transmission 406 is transmitted, or
[0145] ○ the second PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the single-occasion UL transmission 406.
[0146] ● This may imply that the UE may determine the PL offset for the single-occasion UL transmission 406 based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the single-occasion UL transmission 406.
[0147] - according to option 3, the UE may determine that a default PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406.
[0148] - according to option 4, the UE may refrain from transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission 406 or skip the single-occasion UL transmission 406.
[0149] - according to option 5, the UE may determine whether to use one of the above options 1 to 4 (e.g., the first, second, or default PL offsets) based on a preparation delay PR for the single-occasion UL transmission 406, in which case
[0150] ○ the UE may determine the PL offset for the single-occasion UL transmission 406 based on the PL offset applied X slots / symbols before the first slot / symbol of the single-occasion UL transmission 406, where X may be: pre-defined, a minimum processing delay PR for the single-occasion UL transmission 404, or configured by the NW entity, e.g., a minimum value of configured K2 (which indicates the number of time slot between PDCCH / DCI and UP data (PUSCH) transmission) , or reported by the UE, e.g., via UE capability or UE assistance information (UAI) .
[0151] The UE may use any of the above options when calculating a power headroom (e.g., the actual power headroom or reference power headroom) .
[0152] The above embodiments (associated with FIGs. 4A and 4B) discussed the first scenario for asymmetric TRPs mode when there is a single-occasion UL transmission 406 from the UE to the NW entity. A second scenario 500A is now discussed with regard to FIGs. 5A and 5B and this scenario, while still applicable to the asymmetric TRPs mode, is for the case of multiple-occasions UL transmission 506. For this second scenario 500A, the PL offset is changed / updated between a time corresponding to receiving the scheduling / triggering signal 504 and a time corresponding to a first transmission occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506.
[0153] For the second scenario 500A mentioned above, which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 5A, a method 500B for selecting a PL offset is illustrated in FIG. 5B and this method is related to multiple-occasions UL transmission when the PL offset is changed / updated between the time of receiving the scheduling / triggering signal and the time of the first transmission occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission. FIG. 5B is a signal diagram illustrating the signal exchanges between the UE 102 and NW entity 104 corresponding to the asymmetric TRPs mode illustrated in FIG. 3. According to method 500B, the UE 102 optionally transmits or reports 510 a UE capability (s) for supporting the second scenario (e.g., one TRP only serves an UL transmission and no DL transmission) . The NW entity then transmits 520 an RRC configuration to the UE for configuring one or more joint / UL TCI states with associated / included PL offset, and / or the asymmetric TRPs mode. The NW entity 104 further transmits 530 a DCI or MAC-CE 501 (for example, the first, second, or third MAC-CE discussed above) to the UE 102 indicating a joint / UL TCI state with an associated / included PL offset.
[0154] Later, the NW entity 104 transmits 540 to the UE 102 a MAC-CE 502 (illustrated in FIG. 5A, for example, the fourth MAC-CE discussed above) for updating the PL offset associated with / indicated in the joint / UL TCI state indicated in step 530. Then, the NW entity 104 transmits 550, to the UE 102, a second scheduling / triggering signal 504 (see FIG. 5A) for a multiple-occasions UL transmission 506. The scheduling / triggering signal 504 is called “second” in this embodiment to distinguish it from the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 used for the single-occasion UL transmission of the first scenario illustrated in FIGs. 4A and 4B. Thus, the term “second” is not used in this embodiment to imply that a first scheduling / triggering signal is required prior to the second scheduling / triggering signal 504. This convention is used in this document, starting with this embodiment, for all the scheduling / triggering signals and beam selection signals.
[0155] The PL offset (first PL offset) received in step 530 is updated 560 to the updated PL offset (second PL offset) received in step 540 later than the steps 530 and 540, as schematically illustrated by event 508 in FIG. 5A. Before transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, the UE 102 selects / determines 570 which PL offset to apply (see event 509 in FIG. 5A) for the TX power. The various possibilities and factors considered in this decision are discussed next in more detail. After making this decision, the UE 102 transmits 580 the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 based on the joint / UL TCI state indicated in step 530 and the PL offset selected in step 570.
[0156] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive from the NW entity 104, the second scheduling / triggering signal 504 (e.g., a DCI) for scheduling / triggering the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506. In some cases, the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 may be an UL channel or an UL RS. In some cases, the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 may be a PUSCH with TDM repetitions, a PUCCH with TDM repetitions, one or more aperiodic SRS resources triggered by the same triggering DCI, PRACH transmission configured with repetitions, or PUSCH configured with repetitions, which is scheduled by random access response, RAR, grant or UL grant scrambled by temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI) .
[0157] In some cases, the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 may be a PRACH transmission configured with repetitions (e.g., Msg1 configured with repetitions) or a PUSCH configured with repetitions, which is scheduled by RAR grant or UL grant scrambled by TC-RNTI (e.g., Msg3 configured with repetitions) .
[0158] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a second beam selection signal 505 for indicating which configured TCI state is applied for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506. In some cases, if a unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity 104, the second beam selection signal 505 for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 may be a DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 with a TCI field. In some cases, if the unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity 104, the second beam selection signal 505 for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 may be a DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 with a TCI field, or a DCI format 0_1 / 0_2 with an SRS resource set field.
[0159] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the fourth MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 502 for updating / changing the PL offset 509A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state 504, which is applicable (or takes affect) between a time corresponding to receiving the second scheduling / triggering signal 504 and a time corresponding to the first occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the fourth MAC-CE 502 for updating / changing the PL offset 509A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state, which is applicable (or takes affect) between the time of receiving the second beam selection signal 505 and the time of the first occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 5A.
[0160] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the first / second / third MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 502 for updating / changing the activated or indicated TCI states, and / or updating / changing a mapping between a joint / UL TCI state and a TCI field codepoint, where the first / second / third MAC-CE 502 is applicable (or takes affect) between the time of receiving the second scheduling / triggering signal 504 and the time of the first occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506.
[0161] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the first / second / third MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 501 for updating / changing the activated or indicated TCI states, and / or updating / changing the mapping between a joint / UL TCI state and a TCI field codepoint, where the first / second / third MAC-CE 501 is applicable (or takes affect) between the time of receiving the second beam selection signal 505 and the time of the first occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506. In some embodiments, the PL offset 509A applied for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 may be updated / changed due to receiving of the first / second / third MAC-CE 501.
[0162] In some embodiments, for the second scenario illustrated in FIG. 5A,
[0163] - if the PL offset 509A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state (first PL offset) applied for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 is updated / changed between the time of receiving the second beam selection signal 505 and the time of the first occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, or
[0164] - if the PL offset 509A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state (first PL offset) applied for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 is updated / changed between the time of receiving the second beam selection signal 505 and the first occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, then the UE 102 may perform at least one of the following options:
[0165] - according to option 1, the UE may determine that a third PL offset (note that the term “third” is used in this embodiment to distinguish the PL offset from the first scenario, which is illustrated in FIGs. 4A and 4B, and not to imply that first and second PL offsets are required prior to the third PL offset; this means that the third PL offset may be the associated PL offset with the indicated TCI state, in this embodiment; the same is true for the other PL offsets discussed in this document) is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, in which case the third PL offset may be one of the followings:
[0166] ○ the third PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 509A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state 501 before being updated / changed with MAC-CE 502, or
[0167] ○ the third PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on a slot or timing, where the second scheduling / triggering signal 504 or the second beam selection signal 505 is received, or
[0168] ○ the third PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second scheduling / triggering signal 504, in which case
[0169] ● the UE may determine the PL offset for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second scheduling / triggering signal 504, or
[0170] ○ the third PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second beam selection signal 505, in which case
[0171] ● the UE may determine the PL offset for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second beam selection signal 505.
[0172] - according to option 2, the UE may determine that a fourth PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, in which case the fourth PL offset may be one of the followings:
[0173] ○ the fourth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 509B associated with or included in the indicated TCI state upon or after being updated / changed, or
[0174] ○ the fourth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on a slot or timing, where the first or the earliest occasion 506-1 of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 is transmitted, or
[0175] ○ the fourth PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, in which case
[0176] ● the UE may determine the PL offset for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506.
[0177] - according to option 3, the UE may determine that a default PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506.
[0178] - according to option 4, the UE may determine to refrain from transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506-1 or to discard the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506.
[0179] - according to option 5, the UE may determine whether to use one of the options above (e.g., the third, fourth, or default PL offsets) based on a preparation delay PR for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, for which case
[0180] ○ the UE may determine the PL offset for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 based on the PL offset applied X slots / symbols before the first slot / symbol of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 506, where X may be: pre-defined, a minimum processing delay PR for the multiple-occasions UL transmission, or configured by the NW entity, e.g., minimum value of configured K2, or reported by the UE, e.g., via UE capability or UE assistance information (UAI) .
[0181] The UE may use any of the above options when calculating the power headroom (e.g., the actual power headroom or reference power headroom) .
[0182] The above embodiments, associated with FIGs. 5A and 5B, discussed the second scenario for asymmetric TRPs mode when there is a multiple-occasions UL transmission 506 from the UE to the NW entity, i.e., there are plural occasions 506-I associated with the UL transmission 506. A third scenario is now discussed with regard to FIGs. 6A and 6B and this scenario, while still applicable to the asymmetric TRPs mode, is for the case of multiple-occasions UL transmissions 606, where the PL offset is changed / updated between a time corresponding to transmitting one of the occasions 606-I (I is a positive integer equal to or larger than 1) and a next (or adjacent) occasion 606- (I+1) , as schematically illustrated in FIG. 6A.
[0183] For the third scenario 600A mentioned above, which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 6A, a method 600B for selecting a PL offset is illustrated in FIG. 6B and this method is related to multiple-occasions UL transmission when the PL offset is changed / updated at a time between transmitting two occasions of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606. FIG. 6B is a signal diagram illustrating the signal exchanges between the UE 102 and NW entity 104 corresponding to the asymmetric TRPs mode illustrated in FIG. 3. According to method 600B, the UE 102 optionally transmits or reports 610 a UE capability (s) for supporting the third scenario (i.e., one TRP only supports UL transmissions and no DL transmissions) . The NW entity 104 then transmits 620 an RRC configuration to the UE for configuring one or more joint / UL TCI states with associated / included PL offset, and / or the asymmetric TRPs mode. The NW entity 104 further transmits 630 a DCI or MAC-CE 601 (for example, the first, second, or third MAC-CE discussed above) to the UE 102 indicating a joint / UL TCI state with an associated / included PL offset 606A.
[0184] Later, the NW entity 104 transmits 640, to the UE 102, a MAC-CE 602 (illustrated in FIG. 6A, for example, the fourth MAC-CE discussed above) for updating the PL offset 609A associated with / indicated in the joint / UL TCI state indicated in step 630. Even later, the NW entity 104 transmits 650, to the UE 102, a third scheduling / triggering signal 604 (see FIG. 6A) for a multiple-occasions UL transmission 606. The scheduling / triggering signal 604 is called “third” in this embodiment to distinguish it from the first scheduling / triggering signal 404 used for the single-occasion UL transmission of the first scenario illustrated in FIGs. 4A and 4B and also to distinguish it from the second scheduling / triggering signal 504 used for the multi-occasion UL transmission of the second scenario illustrated in FIGs. 5A and 5B. Thus, the term “third” is not used in this embodiment to imply that first and second scheduling / triggering signals are required prior to the third scheduling / triggering signal 604. The same convention is used in this document for the beam selection signals.
[0185] The UE transmits 652 the first occasions 604-1 to 604-I of the UL transmission 604 based on the PL offset 609A received in step 630, where I may be 1 or another integer less than the number that characterizes the last occasion of the transmission 604. Then, the MAC-CE 602 takes effect 608, i.e., the PL offset 609A received in step 630 is updated 660 to the updated PL offset 609B received in step 640. Thus, the associated PL offset 609A is updated 660 to the updated PL offset 609B later than the steps 630 and 640, as schematically illustrated by reference number 608 in FIG. 6A. Before transmitting the remaining occasions 606- (I+1) of the UL transmission 606, the UE 102 selects / determines 670 which PL offset to apply (see event 609 in FIG. 6A) for the TX power. The various possibilities and factors considered in this decision are discussed next in more detail. After making this decision, the UE 102 transmits 680 the remaining multiple-occasions UL transmission 606 based on the joint / UL TCI state indicated in step 630 and the PL offset selected in step 670.
[0186] In some embodiments, the UE may receive the fourth MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 602 for updating / changing the PL offset 609A, associated with or included in the indicated TCI state, with the updated PL offset 609B, which is applicable (or takes affect) after one occasion 606-I of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606.
[0187] In some embodiments, the UE may receive the first / second / third MAC-CE as the MAC-CE 602 for updating / changing the activated or indicated TCI states, and / or updating / changing the mapping between a joint / UL TCI state and a TCI field codepoint, where the first / second / third MAC-CE is applicable (or takes affect) after one occasion 606-I of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606. In some embodiments, the PL offset applied for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606 may be updated / changed due to receiving the first / second / third MAC-CE.
[0188] In some embodiments, for the third scenario illustrated in FIG. 6A,
[0189] - if the PL offset 609A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state applied for transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606 is updated / changed between two occasions 606-I and 606- (I+1) of the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606, then the UE may perform at least one of the following options:
[0190] - according to option 1, the UE may determine that a fifth PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting a next occasion 606- (I+1) , in which case the fifth PL offset may be one of the followings:
[0191] ○ the fifth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 609A associated with or included in the indicated TCI state before being updated / changed, or
[0192] ○ the fifth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the second scheduling / triggering signal or the second beam selection signal is received, or
[0193] ○ the fifth PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second scheduling / triggering signal 504, in which case
[0194] ● the UE may determine the PL offset for the next occasion 606- (I+1) and / or remaining occasion (s) based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second scheduling / triggering signal 504.
[0195] ○ the fifth PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second beam selection signal 505, in which case
[0196] ● This may imply that the UE may determine the PL offset for the next occasion 606- (I+1) and / or remaining occasion (s) based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the second beam selection signal 505.
[0197] - according to option 2, the UE may determine that a sixth PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting a next occasion 606- (I+1) , in which case the sixth PL offset may be one of the followings
[0198] ○ the sixth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 609B associated with or included in the indicated TCI state upon or after being updated / changed, or
[0199] ○ the sixth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the next occasion is transmitted, or
[0200] ○ the sixth PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the next occasion, in which case
[0201] ● the UE may determine the PL offset for each occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the each occasion.
[0202] - according to option 3, the UE may determine that a seventh PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the next occasion 606- (I+1) , in which case the seventh PL offset may be one of the following:
[0203] ○ the seventh PL offset may be the PL offset (value) for transmitting the first or the earliest occasion of the multiple-occasions transmission, or
[0204] ○ the seventh PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the first or the earliest occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission is transmitted, or
[0205] ○ the seventh PL offset may be the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the first or the earliest occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission, in which case
[0206] ● the UE may determine the PL offset for the multiple-occasions UL transmission based on the PL offset applied in the first slot / symbol of the multiple-occasions UL transmission.
[0207] - according to option 4, the UE may determine that a default PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the next occasion.
[0208] - according to option 5, the UE may refrain from transmitting the next occasion and / or the remaining occasion (s) or skip transmission of the occasion and / or the remaining occasion (s) .
[0209] - according to option 6, the UE may determine the PL offset based on the preparation delay PR for the multiple-occasions UL transmission, in which case
[0210] ○ the UE may determine the PL offset for each occasion or all the occasions for the multiple-occasions UL transmission 606 based on the PL offset applied X slots / symbols before the first slot / symbol of each occasion or the first occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission, where X may be:pre-defined, a minimum processing delay PR for the multiple-occasions UL transmission, or configured by the NW entity, e.g., a minimum value of configured K2, or reported by the UE, e.g., via UE capability or UE assistance information (UAI) .
[0211] The UE may use any of the above options when calculating the power headroom (e.g., the actual power headroom or reference power headroom) .
[0212] The embodiments related to FIGs. 4A to 6B present various methods for selecting a PL offset, at the UE, when a PL offset is updated / changed before or during a UL transmission, for an asymmetric TRPs mode. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method 700 that is applicable to all the embodiments of FIGs. 4A to 6B. According to the method 700, the UE optionally transmits 710 to the NW entity 104, the UE’s capability (s) for supporting an asymmetric TRPs mode, and / or pathloss offset configuration / indication. The UE optionally receives 720 an RRC configuration (s) for configuring one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) with the associated / included pathloss offset, and / or the asymmetric TRPs mode, received in step 710.
[0213] The UE then receives 730 a first message (e.g., DCI or MAC-CE) indicating a joint / UL TCI state with an associated / included pathloss offset (also called a first pathloss offset) . Later, the UE receives 740 a second message for updating the pathloss offset of the indicated joint / UL TCI state, to an updated pathloss offset (also called a second pathloss offset) . However, updating the first pathloss offset to the second pathloss offset may take place later (not instantaneously) , i.e., after the occurrence of one or more other events. One such event is the receiving 750 at the UE, of a scheduling / triggering signal, from the NW entity, for a UL transmission with the first pathloss offset. The UL transmission may be a single-occasion or multiple-occasion UL transmission (may be referred to as multi-occasion transmission) . The UE determines / selects 770 which pathloss offset to apply, the pathloss offset received in step 730 or the updated pathloss offset received in step 740. In one embodiment, the step of selecting 770 happens any time after a time associated with events 408, 508, or 608 when the MAC-CE takes effect and before of or at a time associated with events 406, 506-1, or 606- (I+1) , when a corresponding UL transmission takes place. The UE then selectively transmits 780 the UL transmission based on the selected pathloss offset of step 770 and the indicated TCI state. The updating of the first pathloss offset may happen before the single-occasion transmission, at a first occasion transmission of the multi-occasion transmission, or between two adjacent occasion transmissions of the multi-occasion transmission. The appropriate procedure for selecting the pathloss offset based on each of these scenarios has been discussed above with regard to FIGs. 4A to 6B, and thus, those descriptions are omitted for FIG. 7.
[0214] A similar, but different situation (e.g., updating the associated pathloss offset to an updated pathloss offset and having to decide which pathloss offset to use, the one indicated by a TCI state or the updated one or a default one) may be encountered, for an asymmetric TRPs mode, when an RA procedure is performed by the UE. Thus, the next embodiments address the various scenarios for dealing with the RA procedure. Two RA related scenarios are discussed next: (1) a first scenario (described in FIGs. 8A and 8B) relates to the UE deciding to initiate the RA procedure and transmit a PRACH and the UE performing power ramping if not receiving a response message from the NW entity, and (2) a second scenario (described in FIGs. 9A and 9B) relates to a NW entity initiated RA procedure, when a UE PRACH transmission is triggered by PDCCH order from the NW entity, and the UE performs a retransmission of a message associated with the PRACH transmission if the original transmission is unsuccessful. Each of these scenarios are now discussed.
[0215] According to the first scenario, which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 8A, the UE performs a PRACH transmission 806 which is initiated by the UE. It is possible that no order or instruction 804 is received from the NW entity 10 to initiate the RA procedure. The UE performs power ramping for the PRACH transmissions. Note that the steps of receiving a first message 801 with a TCI state and an associated PL offset and receiving a second message 802 that updates the indicated PL offset to the updated PL offset are similar to steps 501 and 502 (or 601 and 602) , and thus, their description is omitted. The UE may perform a first PRACH transmission 806-1 to the NW entity based on the associated PL offset indicated in the first message 801. In some cases, the PRACH transmission may be one of the following:
[0216] - a PRACH transmission (e.g., Msg1 transmission) for a contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure,
[0217] - a PRACH transmission (e.g., Msg1 transmission) for a contention-free random access (CFRA) procedure triggered / initiated by the UE or a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure,
[0218] - a PRACH transmission (e.g., Msg1 transmission) triggered by a PDCCH order, or
[0219] - a PRACH transmission (e.g., MsgA transmission) for a 2-step RA procedure.
[0220] In some embodiments, the UE may perform power ramping for the subsequent PRACH transmission 806-2. In some cases, the UE may perform power ramping for the subsequent PRACH transmission, if the UE does not receive a RAR response (or Msg2) or a MsgB corresponding to the PRACH transmission 806-1 within a corresponding time window. In some cases, if the UE performs power ramping for a Msg1 transmission, the UE may set or update the preamble received target power 809A to a value 809B equal to previous / current preamble received target power + DELTA_PREAMBLE + (PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER –1) × PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP + POWER_OFFSET_2STEP_RA. In some cases, if the UE performs power ramping for a MsgA transmission, the UE may set or update the MsgA preamble received target power to a value equal to previous / current MsgA preamble received target power + DELTA_PREAMBLE + (PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER –1) × PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP.
[0221] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the TX power of the PRACH transmission 806-I based on
[0222] - the number of power ramping performed, and / or
[0223] - a PL offset associated with or included in an indicated joint / UL TCI state or one of the first or second indicated joint / UL TCI state.
[0224] In some embodiments,
[0225] - if the PL offset applied for transmitting the PRACH transmission is updated / changed 808 between the N-th power ramping and the N+1-th power ramping, or before a power ramping, or before a response of PRACH transmission is received, the UE may perform at least one of the following options:
[0226] - according to option 1, the UE may determine / select 809 that an eighth PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the PRACH transmission, in which case
[0227] ○ the eighth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) before being updated / changed, or
[0228] ○ the eighth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the N-th power ramping is performed.
[0229] - according to option 2, the UE may determine / select 809 that a ninth PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the PRACH transmission, in which case
[0230] ○ the ninth PL offset is the PL offset (value) upon or after being updated / changed, or
[0231] ○ the ninth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the N+1-th power ramping is performed.
[0232] - according to option 3, the UE may determine that a default PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the PRACH transmission or for performing power ramping.
[0233] - according to option 4, the UE may reset the power ramping counter or suspend the power ramping for the PRACH transmission.
[0234] - according to option 5, the UE may refrain from transmitting the PRACH transmission or cancel the PRACH transmission.
[0235] A method 800B for using a selected PL offset for a subsequent PRACH transmission (as schematically illustrated in FIG. 8A) is now discussed with regard to FIG. 8B. The method 800B includes steps 810, 820, 830, and 840 that are similar to steps 710, 720, 730, and 740 previously discussed, and thus, their description is omitted. The NE 102 transmits 842 a first PRACH transmission with a first PL offset (for example, the indicated / associated / configured PL offset) . When the UE determines 844 that a response to the first PRACH transmission has not been received from the NW entity, and an updated pathloss offset takes place 860, the UE selects 870 a pathloss offset from the pathloss offset associated with the indicated TCI state, or the updated pathloss offset, or a default pathloss. In one variation of this step, the UE may select to reset or suspend the power ramping or to cancel the PRACH transmissions. Then, the UE transmits 880 the second PRACH transmission based on the selected pathloss offset from step 870 and based on the indicated TCI state.
[0236] The second scenario (2) is related to a retransmission of a PRACH transmission triggered by a PDCCH order received from the NW entity. This scenario is illustrated in FIGs. 9A and 9B. In some embodiments, the UE may perform a retransmission 906-1’ of a PRACH transmission 906-1 (in this example, the PRACH transmission is shown to be the first transmission 906-1, but the same principles may be applied a subsequent transmission 906-M) triggered by a PDCCH order 904, if the UE does not receive a RAR response (or Msg2) corresponding to the PRACH transmission 906-1 within a corresponding time window.
[0237] In some embodiments, for the second scenario of FIG. 9A,
[0238] - if the PL offset 909A applied for transmitting the PRACH transmission 906-1 triggered by PDCCH order 904 is updated / changed 908 between the initial transmission 906-1 and a subsequent retransmission 906-1’ of the PRACH transmission 906-1, or
[0239] - if the PL offset applied for transmitting the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order is updated / changed between an M-th retransmission of the PRACH transmission and M+1-th retransmission of the PRACH transmission, then the UE may perform at least one of the following options:
[0240] - according to option 1, the UE may determine / select 909 that a tenth PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting retransmission of the PRACH transmission, in which case
[0241] ○ the tenth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 909A before being updated / changed, or
[0242] ○ the tenth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the initial PRACH transmission is transmitted, or
[0243] ○ the tenth PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the M-th retransmission of the PRACH transmission is transmitted.
[0244] - according to option 2, the UE may determine / select 909 that an eleventh PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting retransmission of the PRACH transmission, in which case
[0245] ○ the eleventh PL offset may be the PL offset (value) 909B upon or after being updated / changed, or
[0246] ○ the eleventh PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the subsequent retransmission of the PRACH transmission is transmitted, or
[0247] ○ the eleventh PL offset may be the PL offset (value) associated with or included in the indicated TCI state on the slot or timing, where the M+1-th retransmission of the PRACH transmission is transmitted.
[0248] - according to option 3, the UE may determine that a default PL offset is applied for determining the TX power for transmitting the PRACH retransmission.
[0249] - according to option 4, the UE may refrain from transmitting the PRACH retransmission or cancel the PRACH retransmission.
[0250] A method 900B for using a selected PL offset for a PRACH retransmission (as schematically illustrated in FIG. 9A) is now discussed with regard to FIG. 9B. The method 900B includes steps 910, 920, 930, and 940 that are similar to steps 710, 720, 730, and 740 of FIG. 7, or steps 810, 820, 830, and 840 of FIG. 8, and thus their description is omitted. The NW entity 104 transmits 950 to the UE a PDCCH order triggering a PRACH transmission and indicating the PL offset of the indicated TCI state. The UE transmits 942 a PRACH transmission in response to the PDCCH order and uses the PL offset associated with the indicated TCI state. When the UE determines 944 that a response to the PRACH transmission has not been received from the NW entity, and an updated pathloss offset takes place 960 and is available, the UE selects 970 a pathloss offset from the pathloss offset associated with the indicated TCI state, or the updated pathloss offset, or a default pathloss. In one variation of this step, the UE may select to cancel the PRACH transmissions. Then, the UE transmits 980 the PRACH retransmission based on the selected pathloss offset from step 970 and based on the indicated TCI state.
[0251] The embodiments related to FIGs. 8A to 9B present various methods for selecting a PL offset, at the UE, when an PL offset is updated / changed before or during a PRACH transmission, for an asymmetric TRPs mode. FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method 1000 that is applicable to all the embodiments of FIGs. 8A to 9B. According to the method 1000, the UE optionally transmits 1010, to the NW entity 104, the UE’s capability (s) for supporting an asymmetric TRPs mode, and / or pathloss offset configuration / indication. The UE optionally receives 1020 an RRC configuration (s) for configuring one or more joint / UL TCI state (s) with the associated / included pathloss offset, and / or the asymmetric TRPs mode, received in step 1010.
[0252] The UE then receives 1030 a first message (e.g., DCI or MAC-CE) indicating a joint / UL TCI state with an associated / included pathloss offset (also called a pathloss offset) . Later, the UE receives 1040 a second message for updating the pathloss offset of the indicated joint / UL TCI state to an updated pathloss offset. However, updating the pathloss offset to the updated pathloss offset may take place later (not instantaneously) , i.e., after one or more other events may happen. One such event is the receiving 1050 at the UE, of a PDCCH order, from the NW entity, for a PRACH transmission. The PRACH transmission may be a first, a repeat, or a later PRACH transmission. Using the indicated pathloss offset, the UE transmits 1062 the PRACH transmission. The UE determines 1064 that a power ramping procedure is used, or a response for the PRACH transmission has not been received from the NW entity. Then, the UE selects 1070 which pathloss offset to apply, the pathloss offset received in step 1030, or the updated pathloss offset received in step 1040, or another pathloss offset. The UE then transmits 780 the PRACH (re) transmission based on the selected pathloss offset of step 1070.
[0253] A third scenario 1100A is related to the NW entity explicitly or implicitly indicating a PL-RS (also called a “power related parameter” in this document) of a PRACH triggered by a PDCCH order 1104, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 11A. In some embodiments, the NW entity 104 may indicate or include a first DCI field in a PDCCH order triggering the PRACH transmission. In some cases, the first DCI field may have a one-bit length. In some cases, the first DCI field may be used to indicate whether and / or which PL offset is applied for the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order 1104. The NW entity 104 sends a first message 1101 to the UE to indicate a TCI state and an associated PL offset. Later, the NW entity 104 sends a second message 1102 for updating the associated PL offset to an updated PL offset. After receiving the PDCCH order 1104 triggering the PRACH transmission, the UE determines 1105 that the indicated PL offset may not be applicable for a PL measured from a quasi-colocation-RS (QCL-RS) of the PDCCH beam as PL-RS. For this situation, the UE selects 1107 a PL-RS for the triggered PRACH as discussed below.
[0254] In some embodiments, if a unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the NW entity may, using the first DCI field, indicate to the UE one of the following:
[0255] - a PL offset is not applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order, and / or
[0256] - a PL offset associated with or included in the indicated joint / UL TCI state is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order.
[0257] In some embodiments, if a unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, the NW entity may, using the first DCI field, instruct the UE to use one of the following:
[0258] - a PL offset associated with or included in a first indicated joint / UL TCI state (associated with the first TRP of the asymmetric TRPs mode) is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order, and / or
[0259] - a PL offset associated with or included in a second indicated joint / UL TCI state (associated with the second TRP of the asymmetric TRPs mode) is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order.
[0260] In some embodiments, for the third scenario illustrated in FIG. 11A,
[0261] - if a unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0262] - if the UE is operating an asymmetric TRPs mode,
[0263] the NW entity may instruct the UE to use one of the following signals as PL-RS applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order:
[0264] - a DL RS that the DM-RS of the PDCCH order is quasi-collocated with, and / or
[0265] - an SS / PBCH (may also be referred to as SSB) indicated by the SS / PBCH index field in the PDCCH order, and / or
[0266] - a PL-RS associated with or included in the indicated joint / UL TCI state.
[0267] In some embodiments,
[0268] - if a unified TCI state for multiple-TRP (M-TRP) is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0269] - if the UE is operating an asymmetric TRPs mode, the NW entity may indicate the UE that one of the following signals is used as PL-RS applied for determining TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order:
[0270] - a DL RS that is quasi-located with a demodulation (DM) -RS of the PDCCH order, and / or
[0271] - a synchronized signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) indicated by the SS / PBCH index field in the PDCCH order, and / or
[0272] - a PL-RS associated with or included in the first indicated joint / UL TCI state, and / or
[0273] - a PL-RS associated with or included in the second indicated joint / UL TCI state.
[0274] In some embodiments, the NW may indicate to the UE, a PL-RS applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order, based on one of the following:
[0275] - the first DCI field, and / or
[0276] - a PRACH association indicator field, and / or
[0277] - a new DCI field, different from the first DCI field or the PRACH association indicator field.
[0278] In some embodiments, the NW entity may reuse the first DCI field to implicitly indicate the PL-RS. For example, the UE may determine that the PL-RS applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order is a DL RS that the DM-RS of the PDCCH order is quasi-collocated with, if one or a combination of the following occurs:
[0279] - if unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0280] - if the first DCI field indicates that PL offset is not applied for determining TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order.
[0281] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the PL-RS applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order is a PL-RS associated with or included in the indicated joint / UL TCI state, if one or a combination of the following occurs:
[0282] - if unified TCI state for S-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0283] - if the first DCI field indicates that PL offset associated with or included in the indicated joint / UL TCI state is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order.
[0284] In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the applied PL-RS for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order is a DL RS that the DM-RS of the PDCCH order is quasi-collocated with, if one or a combination of the following occurs:
[0285] - if a unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0286] - if the first DCI field indicates that a PL offset associated with or included in the first indicated joint / UL TCI state is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by PDCCH order, and / or
[0287] - if (value of) PL offset associated with or included in the first indicated joint / UL TCI state is zero.
[0288] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the PL-RS applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order is a PL-RS associated with or included in the first indicated joint / UL TCI state, if one or a combination of the following occurs:
[0289] - if unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0290] - if the first DCI field indicates that PL offset associated with or included in the first indicated joint / UL TCI state is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order, and / or
[0291] - if (value of) PL offset associated with or included in the first indicated joint / UL TCI state is non-zero.
[0292] In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the applied PL-RS for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order is a SS / PBCH indicated by the SS / PBCH index field in the PDCCH order, if one or a combination of the following occurs:
[0293] - if a unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0294] - if the first DCI field indicates that a PL offset associated with or included in the second indicated joint / UL TCI state is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order.
[0295] In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the applied PL-RS for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order is a PL-RS associated with or included in the second indicated joint / UL TCI state, if one or a combination of the following occurs:
[0296] - if a unified TCI state for M-TRP is configured or indicated by the NW entity, and / or
[0297] - if the first DCI field indicates that a PL offset associated with or included in the second indicated joint / UL TCI state is applied for determining the TX power of the PRACH transmission triggered by the PDCCH order.
[0298] In some embodiments, the PRACH association field may be absent or reserved in a PDCCH order, if the UE is operating an asymmetric TRPs mode.
[0299] FIG. 11B is a flow chart of a method 1100 for selecting the PL-RS of the triggered PRACH. Steps 1110, 1120, 1130, 1140, and 1150 are similar to steps 1010, 1020, 1030, 1040, and 1050 of method 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10, and thus, their description is omitted. As discussed above, the NW entity may configure the UE to use a given PL RS for measuring the pathloss offset to be used. For this case, the PL RS may be one of a DL RS that is quasi-collocated with demodulation (DM) RS of the PDCCH order, synchronized signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) indicated by a SS / PBCH index field in the PDCCH order, PL RS associated or included in a first joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with one TRP of the asymmetric TRPs, or PL RS associated or included in a second joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with another TRP of the asymmetric TRPs. Thus, the UE selects 1174 one of the PL-RS for the triggered PRACH and measures 1176 the PL based on the selected PL-RS. Then, the UE transmits 1180 the PRACH transmission based on the measured PL offset.
[0300] According to another scenario (4) , how to select the PL offset is also relevant to SRS close-loop indicator in a DCI format 1_1 and AP-SRS triggered by the DCI formation 1_1. This scenario is also related to power headroom (PHR) triggering due to PL offset change. The various options discussed below may be incorporated in one or more of the methods discussed in this document. In some embodiments, the UE may receive, from the NW entity, a third DCI. In some cases, the NW entity may indicate or include a second DCI field and / or a third DCI field in the third DCI. In some cases, the DCI format of the third DCI may be DCI format 1_1. In some other cases, the DCI format of the third DCI may be at least one of DCI formats 1_2 / 1_3 / 0_1 / 0_2 / 0_3.
[0301] In some embodiments, the NW entity may use the second DCI field to indicate to the UE one of the two SRS CLPC adjustment states (also called “power related parameter” in this document) , for which a transmit power control (TPC) command indicated by the third DCI field is applied. In some cases, the second DCI field may be one-bit length. In some embodiments, the NW entity may use the third DCI field to indicate to the UE a TPC command for SRS (s) associated with the SRS CLPC adjustment state indicated by the second DCI field. In some cases, the third DCI field may have a two-bit length.
[0302] In some embodiments, the NW entity may trigger the UE with the third DCI to transmit the AP-SRS. In some embodiments, the NW entity may use the second DCI field to indicate to the UE an SRS CLPC adjustment state, which is different from the SRS CLPC adjustment state associated with the triggered AP-SRS. In one example, the SRS CLPC adjustment state and the TPC command in the third DCI may be applied to the corresponding SRS CLPC adjustment state that is separate from the PUSCH CLPC adjustment state. In some embodiments, if the second DCI field is reserved or not present, the NW entity and / or the UE may determine the TPC command (e.g., indicated by the third DCI field) is applied to a default or pre-configured SRS CLPC adjustment state, e.g., the first SRS CLPC adjustment, that is separate from the PUSCH CLPC adjustment state. Alternatively, or additionally, if the second DCI field is reserved or not present, the NW entity and / or the UE may determine the TPC command is applied to the SRS CLPC adjustment state for the triggered AP-SRS. Alternatively, or additionally, if the second DCI field is reserved or not present, the NW entity and / or the UE may determine the TPC command is applied to the PUSCH CLPC adjustment state.
[0303] In some embodiments, the NW entity may refrain from indicating to the UE, using the second DCI field, an SRS CLPC adjustment state, which is different from the SRS CLPC adjustment state associated with the triggered AP-SRS. In some embodiments, the UE may expect or consider that an SRS CLPC adjustment state indicated by the second DCI field is the same as the SRS CLPC adjustment state associated with the triggered AP-SRS. In some embodiments, if the third DCI triggers the UE to transmit an AP-SRS, the second DCI field may be reserved or absent. In some embodiments, if the third DCI triggers the UE to transmit an AP-SRS, the UE may determine that a TPC command indicated by the third DCI field is applied for the SRS CLPC adjustment state associated with the triggered AP-SRS.
[0304] In some embodiments, a PHR triggered by a pathloss offset update / change is possible, in which case,
[0305] - if a variation of the measured PL for determining the TX power for transmitting an UL transmission is above a threshold, and / or
[0306] - if a prohibit timer for PHR expires, and / or
[0307] - if the pathloss offset applied for the UL transmission is updated / changed due to the UE receiving the first / second / third / fourth MAC-CE,
[0308] then,
[0309] - the UE may trigger a PHR transmission procedure, where the threshold may be pre-defined or configured by the NW entity, or
[0310] - the UE may refrain from triggering / performing a PHR transmission procedure.
[0311] The methods 400B, 500B, 600B, 800B, 900B, and 1100B (and also the features of the scenario (4) ) discussed above may be described in a unified manner by the UE method 1200 presented in FIG. 12, by using the “power related parameter” as corresponding to: the pathloss offset of methods 400B, 500B, 600B, 800B, and 900B, or the PL-RS of the method 1100B, or the SRS CLPC adjustment state discussed in the scenario (4) . For the method 1200, the UE 102 receives 1230 a first message (e.g., DCI or MAC-CE) for configuring / indicating a joint / UL TCI state a first power related parameter associated with the joint / UL TCI state, for uplink operation in a multiple transmission reception mode and for downlink operation in a single transmission reception mode. Later, the UE receives 1240 a second message (e.g., MAC-CE) for updating the first power related parameter associated with the indicated joint / UL TCI state to a second power related parameter. However, updating the power related parameter to the updated pathloss offset may take place later in time (not instantaneously) , i.e., after one or more other events may take place. One such event is the optional receiving 1250 at the UE, of a triggering signal (e.g., triggering signal for UL transmission, or PDCCH order, or TPC command) , from the NW entity, for a UL transmission, or a PRACH transmission, or PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. The PRACH transmission may include power ramping. The UE selects 1270 a power related parameter (related to the pathloss offset, or PL RS, or the SRS CLPC adjustment state) and selectively transmits 1280 an UL transmission or PRACH transmission or other transmissions based on the selected power related parameter, after the first power related parameter has been updated to the second power related parameter.
[0312] The scenario (3) discussed above presented various NW entity-based solutions for using at the UE a PL-RS as configured by the NW entity for an asymmetric TRPs mode. The scenario (4) discussed above, in which a field in the DCI format 1_1 is used to indicate the TPC command for one of the two SRS CLPC adjustments, presented various NW entity-based solutions for selecting an adjustment state closed-loop power control. Both these NW entity-based scenarios may be described in a unified way with regard to FIG. 13 by using the power related parameter, which is the PL-RS or the SRS CLPC adjustment state in this case. FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a NW entity method 1300 that is applicable to scenarios (3) to (4) .
[0313] According to the NW entity method 1300, the NW entity 104 transmits 1330 a first message (e.g., DCI or MAC-CE) configuring a joint / UL TCI state and a first power related parameter. Later, the NW entity transmits 1340 a second message (e.g., MAC-CE) for updating the first power related parameter to a second power related parameter. However, updating the first power related parameter to the second power related parameter may take place later in time (not instantaneously) , i.e., after one or more other events take place. One such event is the transmitting 1344, by the NW entity, to the UE, of a configuration for configuring the UE to select a power related parameter based on the first power related parameter and the second power related parameter. The NW entity may also transmit to the UE an instruction (e.g., PDCCH order or TPC command) , for a PRACH transmission or PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. The PRACH transmission may include power ramping.
[0314] The PDCCH order may indicate which power related parameter is applied to a triggered PRACH transmission. In one embodiment, the power related parameter is the PL RS configured by the NW entity and used by the UE for measuring the PL offset. For this embodiment, the PL RS may be one of: DL RS that is quasi-collocated with DM RS of the PDCCH order; SS / PBCH indicated by a SS / PBCH index field in the PDCCH order; a first PL RS associated or included in a first joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with a first TRP of the asymmetric TRPs mode; or a second PL RS associated or included in a second joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with a second TRP of the asymmetric TRPs mode.
[0315] In one embodiment, the configuration transmitted in step 1344 includes a DCI format and the power related parameter is an SRS CLPC adjustment state. The DCI format includes a field associated with a TPC command for one of the SRS CLPC adjustment states. The step of selecting the adjustment state includes: selecting an SRS CLPC adjustment state different from an SRS CLPC adjustment state associated with the TPC command for an AP SRS; or selecting the SRS CLPC adjustment state indicated by the TPC command.
[0316] It is noted that throughout this document, the UE may have one or more of the following attributes or behaviors (the following attributes or behaviors of the UE may also imply associated attributes or behaviors of a NW entity) :
[0317] ● The UE may be configured with and / or served by the NW entity in a serving cell.
[0318] ● The UE may (be configured to) communicate with the NW entity in the serving cell.
[0319] ● The UE may be configured with one or more serving cells by the NW entity, which may include the serving cell.
[0320] ● The UE may be activated or be indicated, by the NW entity, to activate one or more serving cells, which may include the serving cell.
[0321] ● The UE may be configured and / or indicated, by the NW entity, with one or more BWP. The UE may be indicated and / or configured, by the NW entity, with a BWP (in the serving cell) .
[0322] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be activated as an active BWP.
[0323] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be referred to an active BWP
[0324] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be an active DL BWP.
[0325] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be an active UL BWP.
[0326] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be an initial BWP.
[0327] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be a default BWP.
[0328] ■ In some cases, the BWP may be a dormant BWP.
[0329] ● The UE may be in one of RRC_CONNECTED state, RRC_INACTIVE state, or RRC_IDLE state.
[0330] It is noted that throughout this document, when a procedure or description is related to a serving cell, it may mean the procedure or description is related to an active (DL / UL) BWP in the serving cell. When / if the NW entity configures / indicates the UE to perform a behavior or procedure, it may be referred to as or replaced with that the NW entity transmits, to the UE, configuration (s) / indication (s) of indicating the UE to perform the behavior or procedure. When / if the UE is configured / indicated to perform a act or procedure, it may be referred to as or replaced with that the UE receives, from the NW entity, configuration (s) / indication (s) of indicating the UE to perform the act or procedure.
[0331] It is noted that throughout this document, when / if the NW entity configures / indicates the UE with an object, it may be referred to as or replaced with that the NW entity transmits, to the UE, configuration (s) / indication (s) of the object. When / if the UE is configured / indicated with an object, it may be referred to as or replaced with that the UE receives, from the NW entity, configuration (s) / indication (s) of the object.
[0332] It is noted that throughout this document, a first joint / DL / UL TCI state indicated by a DCI or a MAC-CE may be referred to as or replaced by a first indicated joint / DL / UL TCI state. A second joint / DL / UL TCI state indicated by a DCI or a MAC-CE may be referred to as or replaced by a second indicated joint / DL / UL TCI state. The first joint / DL / UL TCI state may be referred to as one of, or a combination of a first joint TCI state, a first DL TCI state, and a first UL TCI state. The second joint / DL / UL TCI state may be referred to as one of, or a combination of a second joint TCI state, a second DL TCI state, and a second UL TCI state.
[0333] It is noted that throughout this document, a Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE may be a MAC-CE identified by the extended Logical Channel ID field (eLCID) codepoint 233 or eLCID index 297. It is noted that throughout this document, an Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Joint TCI States may a MAC-CE identified by eLCID codepoint 225 or eLCID index 289. An Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Separate TCI States may be a MAC-CE identified by eLCID codepoint 226 or eLCID index 290.
[0334] The action time of a TCI state or beam indication could mean the actual timing when the TCI state or beam indication is applicable or takes effect, which could be later than the timing of receiving this TCI state or beam indication.
[0335] It is noted that throughout this document, for case (s) in which an NW entity configures or indicates to the UE to operate in the S-TRP mode in a serving cell or a BWP, or for case (s) that a serving cell or a BWP is operated with S-TRP mode, it may imply or be referred to be one of the following:
[0336] - No TRP identifier or no TRP-related index is configured or indicated, by the NW entity, to any channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0337] - (only) One TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated, by the NW entity, to any channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0338] - When the UE or the NW entity transmits / receives a transmission, (only) one TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated or involved to the transmission or the beam / TCI state applied for the transmission.
[0339] It is noted that throughout this document, for case (s) in which an NW entity configures or indicates to the UE to operate in an M-TRP mode in a serving cell or a BWP, or for a case (s) in which a serving cell or a BWP is operated with the M-TRP mode, it may imply or be referred to be one of the following:
[0340] - More than one TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated, by the NW entity, to at least one channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0341] - One TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated, by the NW entity, to one channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP; and the UE derives or determines another one TRP identifier or TRP-related index applied for or associated with at least one channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0342] - When the UE or the NW entity transmits / receives a transmission, more than one TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated or involved to the transmission or the beam / TCI state applied for the transmission, and / or
[0343] - The NW entity configures for the UE, a higher layer parameter PDCCH-Config that contains two different values of coresetPoolIndex in ControlResourceSet in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0344] - The UE receives, from the NW entity, a MAC-CE (e.g., PDSCH TCI activation MAC-CE) in the serving cell or BWP, which indicates that at least one TCI codepoint is mapped to two TCI states.
[0345] It is noted that throughout this document, for case (s) in which an NW entity configures or indicates to the UE to operate in (M-TRP) M-DCI mode in a serving cell or a BWP, or for case (s) that a serving cell or a BWP is operated in the (M-TRP) M-DCI mode, it may imply or be referred to be one of the following:
[0346] - More than one TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated, by the NW entity, to at least one channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0347] - One TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated, by the NW entity, to one channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP; and the UE derives or determines another one TRP identifier or TRP-related index applied for or associated with at least one channel or RS in the serving cell or BWP, and / or
[0348] - The NW entity configures for the UE, a higher layer parameter PDCCH-Config that contains two different values of coresetPoolIndex in ControlResourceSet in the serving cell or BWP.
[0349] It is noted that throughout this document, for a case (s) in which an NW entity configures or indicates to the UE to operate in an (M-TRP) S-DCI mode in a serving cell or a BWP, or for case (s) that a serving cell or a BWP is operated with the (M-TRP) S-DCI mode, it may imply or be referred to be one of the following:
[0350] - When the UE or the NW entity transmits / receives a transmission, more than one TRP identifier or TRP-related index is configured or indicated or involved to the transmission or the beam / TCI state applied for the transmission, and / or
[0351] - The UE receives, from the NW entity, a MAC-CE (e.g., PDSCH TCI activation MAC-CE) in the serving cell or BWP, which indicates that at least one TCI codepoint is mapped to two TCI states, each of which is associated with or specific to different TRP or different TRP identifier (value) , and / or
[0352] ■ For example, at least one TCI codepoint is mapped to two joint TCI states, each of which is associated with different TRP or different TRP identifier (value) . For another example, at least one TCI codepoint is mapped to two DL TCI states or two UL TCI states, each of which is associated with different TRP or different TRP identifiers (values) . For another example, at least one TCI codepoint is mapped to a DL TCI state and a pair of DL TCI state and UL TCI state, where the DL TCI state and the pair is associated with different TRP or different TRP identifiers (values) .
[0353] - The UE receives, from the NW entity, a DCI with TCI field in the serving cell or BWP, which indicates a TCI codepoint mapped to two TCI states, each of which is associated with different TRP or different TRP identifier (value) , and / or
[0354] - The UE receives, from the NW entity, a DCI with TCI selection field in the serving cell or BWP, which indicates to the UE to apply or use both the first and the second indicated joint / DL TCI state (s) .
[0355] It is noted that throughout this document, a TRP identifier could mean or be referred to a (candidate) value of a TRP identifier. The first TRP identifier could be a first candidate value of a TRP identifier or a first TRP identifier value. The second TRP identifier could be a second candidate value of a TRP identifier or a second TRP identifier value.
[0356] It is noted that throughout this document, an expression of “X / Y” may include the meaning of “X or Y” . It is noted that throughout this document, an expression of “X / Y” may include meaning of “X and Y” . It is noted that throughout this document, an expression of “X / Y” may include meaning of “X and / or Y” . It is noted that throughout this document, an expression of “ (A) B” or “B (A) ” may include the concept of “only B” . It is noted that throughout this document, an expression of “ (A) B” or “B (A) ” may include the concept of “A+B” or “B+A” .
[0357] It is noted that some or all of the foregoing or the following embodiments could be jointly combined or formed to be a new or another one embodiment. Also, the foregoing or the following embodiments may be used to solve at least (but not limited to) the issue (s) or scenario (s) mentioned in this document. The following additional considerations may apply to the foregoing and the following discussions. Any two or more than two of the foregoing or the following paragraphs, (sub) -bullets, points, actions, or claims described in each method / embodiment / embodiment may be combined logically, reasonably, and properly to form a specific method. Any sentence, paragraph, (sub) -bullet, point, action, or claim described in each of the foregoing or the following embodiment (s) / embodiment (s) / concept (s) may be implemented independently and separately to form a specific method. Dependency, e.g., “based on” , “more specifically” , “where” or etc., in embodiment (s) / embodiment (s) / concept (s) mentioned in this document is just one possible embodiment which would not restrict the specific method.
[0358] Some or all of the following terminology and assumption may be used in this document:
[0359] ● BS: a network central unit or a network node in NR which is used to control one or multiple TRPs which are associated with one or multiple cells. Communication between BS and TRP (s) is via fronthaul. BS may be referred to as central unit (CU) , eNB, gNB, or NodeB.
[0360] ● TRP: a transmission and reception point that provides network coverage and directly communicates with UEs. TRP may be referred to as distributed unit (DU) or network node.
[0361] ● Cell: a cell is composed of one or multiple associated TRPs, i.e., coverage of the cell is composed of coverage of all associated TRP (s) . One cell is controlled by one BS or a NW entity. Cell may be referred to as TRP group (TRPG) .
[0362] ● Serving beam: serving beam for a UE is a beam generated by a network node, e.g., TRP, which is configured to be used to communicate with the UE, e.g., for transmission and / or reception.
[0363] ● Candidate beam: candidate beam for a UE is a candidate of a serving beam. Serving beam may or may not be candidate beam.
[0364] A user device in which the techniques of this document may be implemented (e.g., the UE 102) may be any suitable device capable of wireless communications such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a mobile gaming console, a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, a health monitoring device, a drone, a camera, a media-streaming dongle or another personal media device, a wearable device such as a smartwatch, a wireless hotspot, a femtocell, or a broadband router. Further, the user device in some cases may be embedded in an electronic system such as the head unit of a vehicle or an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) . Still further, the user device may operate as an internet-of-things (IoT) device or a mobile-internet device (MID) . Depending on the type, the user device may include one or more general-purpose processors, a computer-readable memory, a user interface, one or more network interfaces, one or more sensors, etc.
[0365] Certain embodiments are described in this document as including logic or a number of components or modules. Modules may be software modules (e.g., code stored on non-transitory machine-readable medium) or hardware modules. A hardware module is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. A hardware module may include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) ) to perform certain operations. A hardware module may also include programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. The decision to implement a hardware module in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.
[0366] When implemented in software, the techniques may be provided as part of the operating system, a library used by multiple applications, a particular software application, etc. The software may be executed by one or more general-purpose processors or one or more special-purpose processors.
[0367] Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0368] Numerical adjectives “first” , “second” , and “third” do not imply any order (are not ordinals) but are markers to distinguish separate instances of similar elements. References to the singular (e.g., “a” or “an” , “the” ) should include the plural unless clearly indicated otherwise.
[0369] As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” or “one or more of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover the possibilities of: a only, b only, c only, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a and b and c.
[0370] Although the features and elements of the present embodiments are described in the embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements disclosed herein. The methods or flowcharts may be implemented in a computer program, software or firmware tangibly embodied in a computer-readable storage medium for execution by a specifically programmed computer or processor.
Claims
1.A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment, UE, (102) , the method comprising:receiving (1230) , from a network entity (104) , a first message for indicating a joint or uplink, joint / UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and a first power related parameter associated with the joint / UL TCI state, for uplink operation in a multiple transmission reception mode and for downlink operation in a single transmission reception mode;receiving (1240) , from the network entity (104) , a second message for updating the first power related parameter associated with the joint / UL TCI state to a second power related parameter; andselectively transmitting (1280) an UL transmission based on a selected power related parameter, after the first power related parameter has been updated to the second power related parameter.2.The method of Claim 1, further comprising:receiving (1250) , before the first power related parameter has been updated to the second power related parameter, a scheduling signal for scheduling the UL transmission,wherein the first power related parameter includes a first pathloss, PL, offset, and the second power related parameter includes a second PL offset, different from the first PL offset.3.The method of Claim 2, wherein the UL transmission is a single-occasion UL transmission, and the method further comprises:performing at least one of:selecting the selected power related parameter to be one of:the first PL offset,the second PL offset,a default PL offset, orone of the first PL offset, the second PL offset, or the default PL offset based on a preparation delay for the single-occasion UL transmission, wherein the selectively transmitting the UL transmission includes transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission based on the selected power related parameter; orrefraining from transmitting the single-occasion UL transmission.4.The method of Claim 3, wherein the single-occasion UL transmission includes one of:a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, with time division multiplexing, TDM, repetition;a PUSCH with a space division multiplexing, SDM, or a single frequency network, SFN, scheme;a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, without TDM repetition;a PUCCH with an SFN scheme;a single aperiodic sounding reference signal, SRS, resource triggered by a triggering downlink control information, DCI; orphysical random access channel, PRACH, scheduled by physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, order.5.The method of Claim 2, wherein the UL transmission is a multiple-occasions UL transmission, and the method further comprises:performing at least one of:selecting, before a first-occasion UL transmission of the multiple-occasions UL transmission, the selected power related parameter to be one of:the first PL offset,the second PL offset,a default PL offset, orone of the first PL offset, the second PL offset, or the default PL offset based on a preparation delay for the multiple-occasions UL transmission, wherein the selectively transmitting the UL transmission includes transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission based on the selected power related parameter; orrefraining from transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission.6.The method of Claim 2, wherein the UL transmission is a multiple-occasions UL transmission, and the method further comprises:performing at least one of:selecting, between adjacent occasions of the multiple-occasions UL transmission, the selected power related parameter to be one of:the first PL offset,the second PL offset,a third PL offset for transmitting a first occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission,a default PL offset, orone of the first PL offset, the second PL offset, the third PL offset, or the default PL offset based on a preparation delay for the multiple-occasions UL transmission, wherein the selectively transmitting the UL transmission includes transmitting one of the adjacent occasions and a remaining occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission based on the selected power related parameter;refraining from transmitting the one of the adjacent occasions and the remaining occasion of the multiple-occasions UL transmission; orrefraining from transmitting the multiple-occasions UL transmission.7.The method of Claim 5 or 6, wherein the multiple-occasions UL transmission includes one of:a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, with time division multiplexing, TDM, repetition;a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, without TDM repetition;one or more aperiodic sounding reference signal, SRS, resources triggered by a same triggering downlink control information, DCI;a physical random access channel, PRACH, transmission configured with repetitions; ora PUSCH configured with repetitions scheduled by a random access response, RAR, grant or UL grant scrambled by temporary cell radio network temporary identifier, TC-RNTI.8.The method of Claim 2, wherein the UL transmission is associated with a physical random access channel, PRACH, transmission, and the method further comprises:performing at least one of:selecting, after a first PRACH transmission and before a second PRACH transmission, the selected power related parameter to be one of:the first PL offset,the second PL offset, ora default PL offset, wherein the selectively transmitting the UL transmission includes transmitting the second PRACH transmission based on the selected power related parameter; orrefraining from transmitting the second PRACH transmission.9.The method of Claim 2, wherein the UL transmission is associated with a physical random access channel, PRACH, transmission, the PRACH transmission is triggered by a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, order, and the method further comprises:performing at least one of:selecting, after the PRACH transmission and before a PRACH retransmission, the selected power related parameter to be one of:the first PL offset;the second PL offset; ora default PL offset, wherein the selectively transmitting the UL transmission includes transmitting the PRACH retransmission based on the selected power related parameter; orrefraining from transmitting the PRACH retransmission.10.The method of Claim 1, wherein the first power related parameter includes a PL reference signal, RS, associated with the joint / UL TCI state, the second power related parameter includes a second PL RS associated with the joint / UL TCI state, the UL transmission is a physical random access channel, PRACH, transmission, and a triggering signal for the UL transmission is a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, order having a field that indicates a PL offset to be applied to the PRACH transmission.11.The method of Claim 10, wherein a PL RS used by the UE for measuring the PL offset is one of:a downlink reference signal, DL RS, that is quasi-collocated with a demodulation reference signal, DM RS, of the PDCCH order;a synchronized signal block (SSB) indicated by a SSB index field in the PDCCH order;a first PL RS associated or included in a first joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) ; ora second PL RS associated or included in a second joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with a second TRP.12.The method of Claim 1, wherein the first power related parameter associated with the joint / UL TCI state is a first sounding reference signal, SRS, closed-loop power control, CLPC, adjustment state, the second power related parameter is a second SRS CLPC adjustment state, a scheduling signal of the UL transmission is associated with a downlink control information, DCI, format, and the UL transmission is associated with a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, or a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH.13.The method of Claim 12, wherein the DCI format includes a field associated with a transmit power control, TPC, command for one of the first or second SRS CLPC adjustment states, and the method further comprises:selecting the second SRS CLPC adjustment state, which is different from the first SRS CLPC adjustment state, for a triggered aperiodic SRS; orselecting the first SRS CLPC adjustment state indicated by the TPC command.14.The method of any of Claims 1 to 13, wherein the joint / UL TCI state is associated with a downlink, DL, transmission for a first transmission reception point, TRP of the single transmission reception mode, and an UL transmission for a second TRP of the multiple transmission reception mode.15.A wireless communication method performed by a network entity (104) , the method comprising:transmitting (1330) , to a user equipment, UE, (102) , a first message for indicating a joint or uplink, joint / UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and a first power related parameter associated with the joint / UL TCI state, for uplink operation in a multiple transmission reception mode and for downlink operation in a single transmission reception mode;transmitting (1340) , to the UE (102) , a second message for updating the first power related parameter to a second power related parameter; andtransmitting (1344) , to the UE (102) , a configuration for configuring the UE (102) to select a power related parameter based on one of the first power related parameter and the second power related parameter.16.The method of Claim 15, wherein the first power related parameter includes a pathloss reference signal, PL RS, for measuring a PL offset, and the method further comprises:transmitting a physical downlink control channel PDCCH order indicating which PL offset is to be applied to a physical random access channel, PRACH, transmission.17.The method of Claim 16, wherein the PL-RS is one of:a downlink reference signal, DL RS, that is quasi-collocated with a demodulation reference signal, DM RS, of the PDCCH order;a synchronized signal block, SSB, indicated by a SSB index field in the PDCCH order;a first PL RS associated or included in a first joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with a first transmission reception point, TRP; ora second PL RS associated or included in a second joint / UL TCI state of the received joint / UL TCI state, which is associated with a second TRP.18.The method of Claim 15, wherein the first power related parameter includes a sounding reference signal, SRS, closed-loop power control, CLPC, adjustment state, and the method further comprises:transmitting a downlink control information, DCI, format indicative of the SRS CLPC adjustment state.19.A wireless communication device (102, 104) comprising a transceiver (149, 139) , a processor (142, 132) , and computer-readable storage media (144, 134) storing executable instructions for the processor to perform any one of methods recited in claims 1-18, using the transceiver.