User equipment-initiated beam management

Abstract

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: detect a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; send a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report, determine the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; and perform at least one of: send, to the network node, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; refrain from sending a beam report to the network node; or send, to the network node, a beam report comprising latest measurement result.

Description

USER EQUIPMENT-INITIATED BEAM MANAGEMENTRELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority to Indian Application No. 202541004512 filed January 20, 2025, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to wireless communications and, in particular, to methods, apparatuses and computer program products for user equipment-initiated beam management (UEIBM).BACKGROUND

[0003] In 5G New Radio, beam management is used for maintaining reliable communication within a network. A user equipment (UE) may be configured to support one or more beam management procedures to improve beam selection for communications with one or more network nodes. In accordance with a beam management procedure, the UE may perform measurements to assess a quality of one or more beams used for communications with the one or more network nodes. The UE may report information pertaining to the quality of the beam(s) to a network node, which may use the reported information for beam selection.SUMMARY

[0004] Various aspects of examples of the invention are set out in the claims.

[0005] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: detect a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, send a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determine the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; and based on the determination, perform at least one of: send, to the network node, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; refrain from sending a beam report to the network node; or send, to the network node, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured when waiting for the uplink resource from thenetwork node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource.

[0006] In accordance with one aspect, a method comprising: detecting a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; and based on the determination, performing at least one of: sending, to the network node, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; refraining from sending a beam report to the network node; or sending, to the network node, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource.

[0007] In accordance with one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: detecting a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; and based on the determination, performing at least one of: sending, to the network node, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; refraining from sending a beam report to the network node; or sending, to the network node, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource.

[0008] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising means for performing: detecting a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; and based on the determination, performing at least one of: sending, to the network node, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; refraining from sending a beam report to the network node; or sending, to the network node, a beam report comprising latestmeasurement result of the beam measured when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource.

[0009] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, at least one of: receive, from the user equipment, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; absent from receiving a beam report from the user equipment; or receive, from the user equipment, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured by the user equipment when waiting for the uplink resource for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0010] In accordance with one aspect, a method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, at least one of: receiving, from the user equipment, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; absent from receiving a beam report from the user equipment; or receiving, from the user equipment, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured by the user equipment when waiting for the uplink resource for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0011] In accordance with one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, at least one of: receiving, from the user equipment, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; absent from receiving a beam report from the user equipment; or receiving, from the user equipment, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured by the user equipment when waiting for the uplink resource for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0012] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, at least one of: receiving, from the user equipment, an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled; absent from receiving a beam report from the user equipment; or receiving, from the user equipment, a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured by the user equipment when waiting for the uplink resource for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0013] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: detect a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, send a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determine the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed; and based on the determination, send to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0014] In accordance with one aspect, a method comprising: detecting a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed; and based on the determination, sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0015] In accordance with one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: detecting a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed; and based on the determination, sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0016] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising means for performing: detecting a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node; when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed; and based on the determination, sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0017] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; and upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, receive information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0018] In accordance with one aspect, a method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; and upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, receiving information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0019] In accordance with one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; and upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, receiving information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

[0020] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associate with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; and upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, receiving information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a communication network to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates an example block diagram of an apparatus to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates an example sequence of events in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates an example sequence of events in event-2 in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0026] FIG. 5 illustrates an example sequence of events in event-2 in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0027] FIG. 6 illustrates an example flowchart of a method to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0028] FIG. 7 illustrates an example sequence of events in event-2 in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0029] FIG. 8 illustrates an example flowchart of a method to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0030] FIG. 9 illustrates an example flowchart of a method to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0031] FIG. 10 illustrates an example sequence of events in event-2 in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0032] FIG. 11 illustrates an example flowchart of a method to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and / or the drawing figures are defined as follows:3GPP third generation partnership projectDCI downlink control informationLl-RSRP layer 1 reference signal received powerPUCCH physical uplink control channelPUSCH physical uplink shared channelRAN radio access networkRSRP reference signal received powerRSRP reference signal received qualitySINR signal to interference and noise ratioTCI transmission configuration indicatorTRP transmission reception pointUCI uplink control informationUE user equipmentUEIBM user equipment-initiated beam management

[0034] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0035] Some embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the disclosure are shown. Indeed, various embodiments of the disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forth herein; rather, these example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information,” and similar terms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of being transmitted, received and / or stored in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit and scope of example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0036] Additionally, as used herein, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., implementations in analog circuitry and / or digital circuitry); (b) combinations of circuits and computer program product(s) comprising software and / or firmware instructions stored on one or more computer readable memories that work together to cause an apparatus to perform one or more functions described herein; and (c) circuits, such as, for example, a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor! s), that use software or firmware for operation even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term herein, including in any claims. As a further example, as used herein, the term ‘circuitry’ also includes an implementation comprising one or more processors and / or portion(s) thereof and accompanying softwareand / or firmware. As another example, the term ‘circuitry’ as used herein also includes, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, other network device (such as a core network apparatus), field programmable gate array, and / or other computing device.

[0037] For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “at least one of A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, and “A and / or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and / or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C).

[0038] As used herein, the term “network device” or “network node” refers to a node in a communication network via which user equipment may access the network and / or which is capable of controlling radio communication and managing radio resources within a cell. The network node or network device may be referred to as a base station (BS), an access point (AP) or an access node. The network device may be, depending on the applied technology, for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node, a nonterrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite, or an aircraft network device.

[0039] Moreover, in connection of split radio access network (RAN), the network device may refer to a centralized unit (CU) of a base station and / or a distributed unit (DU) of a base station. An interface between CU and DU may be referred to as an Fl interface in NR. In the split RAN architecture, node operations may be carried out, at least partly, in the central / centralized unit, CU, (e.g., server, host or node) operationally coupled to the DU, (e.g., a radio head / node). One CU may control one or more DUs, acting at least as transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) nodes. In at least one embodiment, the DUs may comprise e.g., a radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer, whereas the CU may comprise the layers above RLC layer, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio resource control (RRC) layer and an internet protocol (IP) layer. Other functional splits are possible too. In practice, any processing task may be performed in either the CU or the DU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the CU and the DU may depend on the applied implementation.

[0040] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, a terminal device may be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), or a Mobile Station (MS). The terminal device may include a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehiclemounted wireless terminal devices, USB dongles, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like.

[0041] A term “resource”, as used herein, may refer to radio resources in time domain, in frequency domain, in space domain, and / or in code domain. Some examples of resources include e.g., a physical resource block (PRB), a radio frame, a subframe, a time slot, a subband, a frequency region, a sub-carrier, a beam, etc. The term “transmission” and / or “reception” may refer to wirelessly transmitting and / or receiving via a wireless propagation channel on radio resources.

[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an example diagram of a communication network 100 to which examples disclosed herein may be applied. The communication network (also referred to herein as a cellular communication network or system) may comprise a network node 110 providing one or more cells, such as source cell 101, and a network node 112 providing one or more other cells, such as target cell 102. Each cell may be, e.g., a macro cell, a micro cell, femto, or a pico cell, for example. The cell may define a coverage area or a service area of the corresponding access node.

[0043] The network node 110 may provide a user equipment (UE) 120 (one or more UEs) with wireless access to the communication network. The wireless access may comprise downlink (DL) communication from the network node to the UE 120 and uplink (UL) communication from the UE 120 to the network node. Examples of uplink channels comprise physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for transmitting control information and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmitting data towards the network. Examples of downlink channels comprise physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for transmittingcontrol information and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for transmitting data towards the user equipment.

[0044] There may be a plurality of UEs 120, 122 in the system. Each of them may be served by the same or by different network nodes 110, 112. UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC), wherein the UE, e.g., UE 120, may be connected to multiple network nodes 110, 112. The UEs 120, 122 may communicate with each other, in case device-to-device (D2D) communication interface is established between them via a so-called sidelink (SL). Such D2D communications may be referred to as machine-to-machine, peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), for example.

[0045] In the case of multiple network nodes in the communication network, the network nodes may be connected to each other via an interface. LTE specifications call such an interface as X2 interface. An interface between an LTE node and a 5G node, or between two 5G nodes may be called Xn interface.

[0046] The network nodes 110 and 112 may be further connected via another interface to a core network 116 (also referred to herein as the core 116) of the communication network. The LTE specifications specify the core network as an evolved packet core (EPC), and the core network may comprise e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) and a gateway node. The MME may handle mobility of terminal devices in a tracking area encompassing a plurality of cells and handle signaling connections between the terminal devices and the core network. The gateway node may handle data routing in the core network and to / from the terminal devices. The 5G specifications specify the core network as a 5G core (5GC). The 5G core may comprise e.g., an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a user plane function / gateway (UPF) and other functions. The AMF may handle termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, NAS ciphering & integrity protection, registration management, connection management, mobility management, access authentication and authorization, security context management. The UPF node may support packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and quality of service (QoS) handling, for example.

[0047] FIG. 2 illustrates an example block diagram of an apparatus 10 to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. The apparatus 10 comprises, for example, at least one processor 12 and at least one memory 14 storing instructions 15 that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus 10 at least to perform the method or methods as disclosed herein, and one or more embodiments thereof. In an example, the at least one memory and the instructions (e.g., a computer program code, software), are configured, withthe at least one processor, to cause the apparatus 10 to perform the method or methods as disclosed herein, and one or more embodiments thereof.

[0048] A processor 12 may comprise circuitry, or be constituted as circuitry or circuitries, the circuitry or circuitries being configured to perform phases of methods in accordance with one or more example embodiments described herein. As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as, as applicable: (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a user equipment, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0049] The memory 14 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology. The memory may comprise a database for storing data. The memory 14 may be at least in part external to apparatus 10 but accessible to apparatus 10.

[0050] The instructions 15 may be comprised in a computer readable medium or a non-transitory computer readable medium. A term non-transitory, as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (e.g., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., random access memory, RAM, vs. read only memory, ROM).

[0051] For example, the apparatus 10 may be a terminal device, such as the UE 120 / 122 of FIG. 1. As another example, the apparatus may be comprised in such a terminal device, e.g., as a chipset configured to control the terminal device. The apparatus 10 may be caused or configured to perform one or more operations of the UE illustrated in the flow charts of FIGs 6 and 9 and / or one or more embodiments described herein.

[0052] As another example, the apparatus 10 is a network node (e.g., a RAN node) 110 / 112 of FIGs. 1. In another embodiment, the apparatus is comprised in such a network node, e.g., as a chipset configured to control the network node. The apparatus 10 may be caused or configured to perform one or more operations of the network node illustrated in the flow charts of FIGs 8 and 11 and / or one or more embodiments described herein.

[0053] The apparatus may comprise one or more entities of any of protocol layers, such as a MAC entity, an RRC entity, an RLC entity, a PDCP entity or a PHY entity.

[0054] In some examples, the apparatus 10 may include a radio interface 16. The radio interface 16 may provide the apparatus 10 with communication capabilities. The radio interface 16 may comprise a receiver configured to receive information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The radio interface 16 may comprise a transmitter configured to transmit information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The receiver may comprise more than one receiver. The transmitter may comprise more than one transmitter. The radio interface 16 may comprise a transceiver configured to receive and transmit information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The transceiver may comprise more than one transceiver.

[0055] In some examples, the apparatus 10 may include a user interface 18 comprising, for example, at least one of a keypad, a microphone, a touch display, a display, a speaker, etc. The user interface 18 may be used to control the apparatus by the user. The user interface 18 may be external to the apparatus 10. For example, the apparatus 10 may be connected to another device, such as a computer, either via wireless or wired connection, and the apparatus 10 is controlled by the user via the computer.

[0056] In at least one embodiment, at least some of the processes described herein may be carried out by an apparatus comprising means for carrying out at least some of the described processes. Means for performing methods as disclosed herein may include software and / or hardware components of the apparatus 10. For example, the at least one processor 12, the memory 14, and the computer program code form means for carrying out the method or methods as disclosed herein, and one or more embodiments thereof. The term “means” as used in the description and in the claims may refer to one or more individual elements configured to perform the corresponding recited functionality or functionalities, or it may refer to several elements that perform such functionality or functionalities. Furthermore, several functionalities recited in the claims may be performed by the same individual means or the same combination of means. For example, performing such functionality or functionalities may be caused in an apparatus by a processor that executes instructions stored in a memory of the apparatus.

[0057] In Rel-19, within the scope of multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) phase 5 work item, 3GPP has laid down the following objectives for a UE initiated beam management.Table 1

[0058] RANI has currently agreed on the following events which may cause a UE to initiate a beam report.• Event- 1, where the quality of the current beam is worse than a certain threshold • Event-2, where the quality of at least one new beam, such as Ll-RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the current beam.• Event-7, where the quality of at least one new beam, such as Ll-RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the reference signal (RS) derived from the activated TCI state with the Q-th best quality, where Q is configured by network via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0059] Two variants, i.e., mode A and mode B, have been defined for the actual beam report procedure.• Mode A (dynamically scheduling UCI by gNB):o Step 1 : UE transmits a first uplink control signal, for example via PUCCH, using one-bit or multi-bit, to request uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry beam report;o Step 2: UE detects DO format which indicates uplink resource for the second uplink channel to carry beam report;o Step 3: UE transmits beam report in the second uplink channel.o This mode is basic UE capability, for example, all UE supporting UE-initiated and event-driven beam reporting should support this feature.• Mode B (UCI in pre-configured resource for a second uplink channel):o Step 1 : UE transmits a first uplink control signal, for example via PUCCH, using one-bit or multi-bit, to notify a second uplink channel to carry beam reporto Step 2: UE transmits beam report in the second uplink channel.o The notification in Step 1 is in a separate reporting instance from the beam report in Step 2.

[0060] In both modes, when the event condition is fulfilled, the UE transmits a first uplink control signal, for example via a first PUCCH. In mode A, at the network node, for example at gNB, reception of the first PUCCH implies that the UE is requesting for uplink resources to transmit the beam report. In mode B, at the gNB, reception of the first PUCCH implies that the UE shall be transmitting the beam report on uplink resources preconfigured at the UE for the beam report.

[0061] FIG. 3 illustrates an example sequence of events in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In some example embodiments, the sequence of events is performed by UE 120 / 122 of FIG. 1 and / or apparatus 10 of FIG. 2. During a measurement period, UE measures quality of one or more beams. In some example embodiments, the measurement comprises at least one of reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurement, or signal to interference and noise (SINR) measurement. When the UE detects a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled, after a duration of measurement reporting delay, UE sends a first uplink control signal to network node via, for example, a first PUCCH. In mode A, the first uplink control signal indicates a request for uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry a beam report. In mode B, the first uplink control signal notifies a second uplink channel on preconfigured uplink resource to carry a beam report. After UE sends the first uplink control signal and is waiting for uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, UE may perform additional beam measurement before it receives the uplink resources for sending the beam report.

[0062] FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrate two examples sequence of events in event-2 in UEIBM to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In event-2, the condition for UE to trigger beam report is that the quality of at least one new beam, such as LI -RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than current beam.

[0063] In FIG. 4, UE detects the condition to trigger beam report is fulfilled and sends the first PUCCH. When UE is waiting for uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, UE may continue beam measurement and may detect that there are no other beams that are a threshold value better than the current beam, i.e., the condition to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled.

[0064] In FIG. 5, UE detects the condition to trigger beam report is fulfilled and sends the first PUCCH. When UE is waiting for uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, UE may continue beam measurement and may detect that the beam which had fulfilled the event triggering condition when UE sent the first PUCCH is no longer the best beam. Instead, the UE has measured and found another beam which is a threshold value better than the current beam.

[0065] The UE behavior in the scenarios illustrated in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 may lead to inconsistencies in the network as the UE behavior in such scenario would then be left to UE implementation. Besides event-2, this issue holds for any of the agreed events in 3GPP, for example, the issue also holds for event- 1 and event-7. In fact, the root of the issue is that the conditions that triggered the event has changed after the UE has sent the first PUCCH and before the UE has been allowed / able to send the beam report on the second uplink control channel, which may happen with all the events, for example,• Event- 1, it relates to quality measurement of only the current beam;• Event-2, it relates to quality measurement of the current and one or more new beams;• Event-7, it relates to quality measurement of one or more beams in the active TCI state list and one or more new beams.

[0066] FIG. 6 illustrates an example flowchart of a method 600 to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In some example embodiments, the method 600 is performed by UE 120 / 122 of FIG. 1 and / or apparatus 10 of FIG. 2.

[0067] At 610, UE detects a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled. In event- 1, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting quality of current beam is worse than a first threshold. In event-2, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting there is at least one new beam that becomes a second threshold value better than the current beam. In event-7, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting there is at least one new beam that becomes a third threshold value better than the activated TCI beam with the Q-th best quality, wherein Q is configured by a network node, for example, Q is configured by the network node through radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on UE capability. It is noted that the first, second and third thresholds may have same or different values.

[0068] At 612, in response to the detection, UE sends a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node. In mode A, sending the first controlsignal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises transmitting a first PUCCH requesting uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry the beam report. In mode B, sending the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises transmitting a first PUCCH notifying the network node a second uplink channel to carry the beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0069] At 614, when UE is waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource, UE may continue beam measurement and determine the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled. In some example embodiments, the beam measurement comprises at least one of: reference signal received power measurement, reference signal received quality measurement, or signal to interference and noise ratio measurement. In event- 1, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled comprises determining quality of current beam is no longer worse than the first threshold. In event-2, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled comprises determining there are no new beams that are the second threshold value better than the current beam. In event-7, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled comprises determining there are no new beams that are the third threshold value better than the activated TCI beam with the Q-th best quality.

[0070] At 616, in some example embodiments, based on the determination, UE sends to the network node an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled. The indication is sent on an uplink signaling, for example, on an uplink control information (UCI), a scheduling request (SR), a media access control control element (MAC CE), or a user equipment assistance information. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the implementation. Comparing with FIG. 4 where UE reports result measured during the measurement period, in FIG. 7, UE sends an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled.

[0071] At 616, in some example embodiments, based on the determination, UE refrains from sending a beam report to the network node, for example, UE does not send a beam report on the uplink resource configured by the network node. In some examples, if the condition becomes fulfilled later again, UE will request for new reporting resources through PUCCH.

[0072] At 616, in some example embodiments, based on the determination, UE sends to the network node a beam report comprising latest measurement result of the beam measured by the UE when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource. Comparing with FIG. 4where UE reports results measured during the measurement period, UE at 616 reports result measured when UE is waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource.

[0073] Sending the indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled or refraining from sending a beam report can avoid a UE initiated beam report in case the event condition is no longer fulfilled after the first PUCCH transmission. On the other hand, sending a beam report comprising latest measurement result provides a simplified overall design, where UE always sends a UE initiated beam report after sending the first PUCCH.

[0074] FIG. 8 illustrates an example flowchart of a method 800 to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In some example embodiments, the method 800 is performed by network node 110 / 112 of FIG. 1 and / or apparatus 10 of FIG. 2.

[0075] At 810, a network node receives from a user equipment a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled. In mode A, receiving the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises receiving a first PUCCH requesting uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry the beam report. In mode B, receiving the first control signal associate with uplink resource for beam report comprises receiving a first PUCCH notifying a second uplink channel to carry the beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0076] At 812, in some example embodiments, upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, the network node receives from the user equipment an indication indicating the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled. In some examples, the indication is received on at least one of: an uplink control information (UCI), a scheduling request (SR), a media access control control element (MAC CE), or a user equipment assistance information

[0077] At 812, in some example embodiments, upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, the network node is absent from receiving a beam report from the user equipment, for example, the network node does not receive a beam report from the user equipment.

[0078] At 812, in some example embodiments, upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report is no longer fulfilled, the network node receives from the user equipment a beam report comprising latest measurementresult of the beam measured by the user equipment when waiting for the uplink resource for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0079] FIG. 9 illustrates an example flowchart of a method 900 to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In some example embodiments, the method 900 is performed by UE 120 / 122 of FIG. 1 and / or apparatus 10 of FIG. 2.

[0080] At 910, UE detects a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled. In event- 1, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting quality of current beam is worse than a first threshold. In event-2, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting there is at least one new beam that becomes a second threshold value better than the current beam. In event-7, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting there is at least one new beam that becomes a third threshold value better than the activated TCI beam with the Q-th best quality, wherein Q is configured by a network node, for example, Q is configured by the network node through radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on UE capability. It is noted that the first, second and third thresholds may have same or different values.

[0081] At 912, in response to the detection, UE sends a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node. In mode A, sending the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises transmitting a first PUCCH requesting uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry the beam report. In mode B, sending the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises transmitting a first PUCCH notifying the network node a second uplink channel to carry the beam report on preconfigured uplink resource.

[0082] At 914, when UE is waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource, UE may continue beam measurement and determines the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed. In event-2, in some examples, detecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting a first new beam that becomes a threshold value better than the current beam. In a first example, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed comprises determining a second new beam becomes better than the first new beam and the second new beam is the threshold value better than current beam. In a second example, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed comprises determining the measurement result of the first new beam has changed when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam reporton the preconfigured uplink resource and the first new beam is still the threshold value better than current beam.

[0083] At 916, based on the determination, UE sends to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report. In the first example described at 914, sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprises sending to the network node measurement result of the second new beam which becomes better than the first new beam that triggers the beam report. In the second example described at 914, sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprises sending to the network node the latest measurement result of the first new beam that triggers the beam report.

[0084] FIG. 10 illustrates an example implementation of the method 900 to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In FIG. 10, during the measurement period, UE detects a new beam X which fulfills a condition to trigger beam report. After UE sends PUCCH and when UE is waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, UE detects a new beam Y becomes better than beam X and beam Y is a threshold value better than current beam. UE reports measurement result of beam Y which fulfills the condition as opposed to report measurement result of beam X measured during the measurement period.

[0085] FIG. 11 illustrates an example flowchart of a method to which one or more examples disclosed herein may be applied. In some example embodiments, the method 800 is performed by network node 110 / 112 of FIG. 1 and / or apparatus 10 of FIG. 2.

[0086] At 1110, the network node receives from a user equipment a first uplink control signal associate with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled.

[0087] At 1112, upon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, the network node receives information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report. The information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report are described at 916 of FIG. 9.

[0088] Without in any way limiting the scope, interpretation, or application of the claims appearing below, a technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein may include consistent UE behavior in case the measurement result has changed between the time an uplink request is sent until the time the UE has been allowed / able to sendthe beam report. The benefit may include more efficient utilization of network resources and / or better selection of optimal beam(s).

[0089] The subject matter described herein may be embodied in systems, apparatus, methods, and / or articles depending on the desired configuration. For example, the base stations and user equipment (or one or more components therein) and / or the processes described herein can be implemented using one or more of the following: a processor executing program code, an application- specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), an embedded processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and / or combinations thereof. These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and / or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications, applications, components, program code, or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and / or object-oriented programming language, and / or in assembly / machine language. As used herein, the term “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, machine-readable medium, computer-readable storage medium, apparatus and / or device (for example, magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor, including a machine -readable medium that receives machine instructions. Similarly, systems are also described herein that may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory may include one or more programs that cause the processor to perform one or more of the operations described herein.

[0090] If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and / or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the abovedescribed functions may be optional or may be combined.

[0091] Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and / or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

[0092] It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there areseveral variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims. The term “based on” includes “based at least in part on”. The use of the phase “such as” means “such as for example” unless otherwise indicated.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:detect a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; in response to the detection, send a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node;when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determine the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed; andbased on the determination, send to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the event to trigger beam report comprises at least one of:event- 1 : where quality of current beam is worse than a certain threshold;event-2: where quality of at least one new beam becomes a threshold value better than current beam; orevent-7: where quality of at least one new beam becomes a threshold value better than reference signal derived from activated transmission configuration indication (TCI) state with the Q-th best quality, where Q is configured by the network node.

3. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the event to trigger beam report comprises event-2, and whereindetecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting a first new beam becomes the threshold value better than the current beam, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed comprises determining a second new beam becomes better than the first new beam and the second new beam is a threshold value better than current beam, andsending to the network node information associated with the change of the conditioncomprises sending to the network node measurement result of the second new beam.

4. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the event to trigger beam report comprises event-2, and whereindetecting the condition for the event to trigger beam report is fulfilled comprises detecting a new beam becomes the threshold value better than the current beam, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed comprises determining the measurement result of new beam has changed and the new beam is still the threshold value better than current beam, andsending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprises sending to the network node the latest measurement result of the new beam.

5. The first apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of: reference signal received power measurement, reference signal received quality measurement, or signal to interference and noise ratio measurement.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein sending the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises transmitting a physical uplink control channel requesting uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry the beam report.

7. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein sending the first control signal associate with uplink resource for beam report comprises transmitting a physical uplink control channel notifying a second uplink channel to carry the beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-7, wherein the first apparatus is further caused to:continue beam measurement when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on the preconfigured uplink resource, wherein determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed is based on result of the beam measurement, and wherein sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprises sending the latest result of the beam measurement.

9. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-8, wherein the first apparatus comprises or is comprised in a user equipment.

10. A second apparatus comprising:at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:receive, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; andupon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, receive information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

11. The second apparatus of claim 10, wherein the event to trigger beam report comprises at least one of:event- 1 : where quality of current beam is worse than a certain threshold;event-2: where quality of at least one new beam becomes a threshold value better than current beam; orevent-7: where quality of at least one new beam becomes a threshold value better than reference signal derived from activated transmission configuration indication (TCI) state with the Q-th best quality, where Q is configured by the second apparatus.

12. The second apparatus of claim 10, wherein receiving the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises receiving a physical uplink control channel requesting uplink resource for a second uplink channel to carry the beam report.

13. The second apparatus of claim 10, wherein receiving the first control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report comprises receiving a physical uplink control channel notifying a second uplink channel to carry the beam report, wherein the uplink resource is preconfigured at the user equipment for the second uplink channel to carry the beam report.

14. The second apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second apparatus comprises or is comprised in a network node.

15. A method comprising:detecting, by a user equipment, a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled;in response to the detection, sending a first uplink control signal associated with uplink resource for beam report to a network node;when waiting for the uplink resource from the network node for beam report or waiting to send beam report on preconfigured uplink resource, determining the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed; andbased on the determination, sending to the network node information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

16. A method comprising:receiving, from a user equipment, a first uplink control signal associate with uplink resource for beam report when a condition for an event to trigger beam report is fulfilled; andupon receiving the first uplink control signal and when the condition for the event to trigger beam report has changed, receiving information associated with the change of the condition comprising a beam report.

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