Method for signaling of higher layer mismatch with ueibm

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to method for signaling of higher layer mismatch with user equipment-initiated beam management (UEIBM). A method comprises receiving, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states; updating, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; and monitoring the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

Description

METHOD FOR SIGNALING OF HIGHER LAYER MISMATCH WITH UEIBMCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, India Patent Application No.202541009918, filed February 6, 2025, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for signaling of higher layer mismatch with user equipment-initiated beam management (UEIBM).BACKGROUND

[0003] With the development of communication technologies, beam management has become an essential aspect of optimizing network performance. In particular, UEIBM offers a promising solution where the UE takes an active role in managing beam selection and adaptation. However, mismatches between the signaling at the higher layers and the UE beam management actions may lead to suboptimal performance. Therefore, it is worth to study for signaling higher layer mismatches, as addressing these issues can enhance beam management efficiency and overall network performance.SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states; update, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; and monitor the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states; updating, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; and monitoring the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states; means for updating, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; and means for monitoring the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0010] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0012] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments ofthe present disclosure can be implemented;

[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates an example signaling flow of sequence of message exchange between the gNB and the UE in UEIBM operation;

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates an example signaling flow of communication between a first apparatus and a second apparatus for updating a list of indicator states according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates another example signaling flow of communication between a first apparatus and a second apparatus for updating a list of indicator states according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates an example signaling flow of the explicit signaling and the implicit signaling according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0024] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0025] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0027] 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.

[0028] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an exampleembodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0029] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0030] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0031] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0032] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0033] 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 signalp rocessor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0034] 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.

[0035] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-loT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0036] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (I AB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. AnIAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0037] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an 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. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0038] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices, including a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120, can communicate with each other. In the example of FIG. 1, the first apparatus 110 may be a UE and the second apparatus 120 may be a base station serving the UE. The serving area of the second apparatus 120 may be called a cell 102.

[0040] It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 areonly for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the second apparatus 120 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the first apparatus 110 may be another device than a terminal device.

[0041] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a UE and the second apparatus 120 operating as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0042] In some example embodiments, a transmission direction from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a transmission direction from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0043] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0044] In order to facilitate UE-initiated or event-driven beam management for reducing overhead and / or latency, the unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) while leveraging legacy channel state information (CSI) measurement and reporting configuration frameworks is assumed. One object is UL signaling content(s) (and procedure(s) as required) for UE-initiated / event-driven beam reporting facilitating fast beam switching, the other is UL signaling medium / container considering the UE-initiated / event-driven nature of the UL transmission, designed primarily for the purpose of beam reporting.

[0045] Currently, the following event 2, event 1 and event 7 may cause a UE to initiate a beam report. As for event 2, the quality of at least one new beam, such as layer 1 reference signal received power (L1 -RSRP), becomes a threshold value better than the current beam. As for event 1 , the quality of the current beam is worse than a certain threshold. In addition, for event 7, the quality of at least one new beam, such as L1-RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the reference signal (RS) derived from the activated TCI state with the Q-th best quality. In this case, Q is radio resource control (RRC) configured subject to UE capability signalling.

[0046] In some solutions, mode A and mode B are proposed for the actual beam report procedure. Mode A includes dynamically scheduling UCI by gNB. At step 1 of mode A, UE transmits a first physical UL control channel, PUCCH, (one-bit or multi-bit) to request a resource for a second UL channel to carry beam report. In addition, at step 2, UE detects the DCI format to indicate a resource for a second UL channel to carry beam report. At step 3, Beam report is transmitted in second UL channel. Mode A is basic UE capability, that is, all UE supporting UE-initiated / event-driven beam reporting should support this feature. Mode B includes UCI in pre-configured resource(s) for second UL channel. At step 1 of mode B, UE transmits a first PUCCH (one-bit / multi-bit) notifying a second UL channel to carry beam report. Moreover, at step 2, UE transmits the beam report in the second UL channel. In this case, the notification in step 1 is in a separate reporting instance from the beam report in step 2.

[0047] Furthermore, for both mode A and mode B, when the event condition is met, the UE transmits a first PUCCH. As for mode A, at the gNB, reception of the first PUCCH implies that the UE is asking for resources on the uplink to transmit the beam report. As for mode B, at the gNB, reception of the first PUCCH implies that the UE shall be transmitting the beam report on the uplink resources reserved for the beam report.

[0048] In the context of what to report, i.e. , the UL signal content of the UEIBM report with event 2 with L1-RSRP as quality metric, the UE reports N beams, for example the top N beams, with N>1 configured by the network via RRC, and at least one of those N beams satisfies the triggering event. Then, in addition to those N beams, the network may configure via RRC the UE to also report the current beam, where the current beam is associated to the indicated TCI state. Currently, event 2 design may be reused as much as possible, and probably just few modifications may be introduced for event 1 and event 7, for example, for event 1, the current beam is always reported; and for event 7, instead of reporting the current beam the UE reports the beam associated to the activated TCI state with the Q-th best quality.

[0049] With respect to the type of reference signals used in the event monitoring and triggering process, it is noted that events 1 and 2 are operating on the level of CSI-RS or synchronization signal block (SSB) indices, hence channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI) and synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), (after evaluating their L1 -RSRP revels) whenevent 7 operates on activated TCI states. This is important as the activated TCI states may be readily used in the physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) reception of the UE while the CRI and SSBRI are indicators of reference signals which can further be used for acquiring CSI feedback.

[0050] FIG. 2 illustrates an example signaling flow 200 of sequence of message exchange between the gNB and the UE in UEIBM operation. For the purpose

[0051] of discussion, the signaling flow 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In particular, in the example embodiments discussed with respect to FIG. 2, a gNB 210 is an example of the second apparatus 120 shown in FIG. 1 , and UE 220 is an example of the first apparatus 110 shown in FIG. 1.

[0052] At step 2010, the gNB 210 transmits CSI-RS / SSB or active TCI states indicated for event monitoring to the UE 220. In the event monitoring time window, when the event is triggered, at step 2020, the UE 220 transmits the first PUCCH indicating event trigger to the gNB 210. In mode A, at step 2030, the gNB 210 may transmit, to the UE 220, DCI indicating the second UL channel for UEIBM report. In addition, for both mode A and mode B, at step 2040, the UE 220 transmits PUSCH carrying the UEIBM report to the gNB 210. In other words, the UE 220 reports the UEIBM report in PUSCH, hence after this time the gNB 210 has information on the CSI / SSBRI / activated TCI states which triggered the configured event. Furthermore, at step 2050, the gNB 210 transmits, to the UE 220, RRC reconfiguration or medium access control control element (MAC-CE) command to update TCI states list. In this case, the gNB 210 updates via RRC or MAC-CE the configured reference signals / active TCI states to the UE 220. In case of reference signals updates, further CSI request is possible on the updated reference signals. In addition, at step 2060, the gNB 210 transmits PDSCH scheduling to the UE 220, and the PDSCH scheduling (or CSI request) may take into use the updated beams.

[0053] In some solutions, after the UEIBM report is transmitted, UE may take the following actions. In some examples, after confirmation / acknowledgement from network, UE may apply a new beam without RRC configuration signaling or MAC-CE signaling. After sending a UE-initiated beam report, the UE may store the Quasi CoLocation (QCL) properties of the SSB associated with the reference signal reported in the beam report. In addition, the UE may update TCI state(s) with the reported new beam(s) and activate new beam(s) without additional SSB reception. In some other examples, after receiving a TCI state activation command to activate a TCI state(s), if the new beam(s) associated with the TCI state(s) is reported as synchronized in the UEIBM beam report, the TCI state(s) may become applicable for DL reception without additional SSB reception. It is noted that a reported new beam is determined as synchronized by UE, if the UE stores the QCL properties associated with the reported new beam(s) after the UEIBM beam report is sent. Furthermore, how to inform a reported new beam in a UEIBM beam report needs to be studied (i.e., introducing one-bit indicator for each reported new beam or all the reported new beam are assumed to be synchronized). Alternatively, after sending a UE-initiated beam report, the UE may store the QCL properties of the SSB associated withthe reference signal reported in the beam report. In this case, at the reception of a subsequent reception of unified TCI states activation / deactivation MAC-CE, the UE activates new beam(s) without additional SSB reception.

[0054] The above examples are targeting the bypass of the signaling, which is not entirely possible, since the current signaling framework implies the RRC configuration of reference signals and / or the MAC-CE command to update the active TCI state list.

[0055] Furthermore, the problem is that the gNB may not fully use the UEIBM reported information in the updated RRC / MAC-CE messages. In addition, signaling is needed towards the UE in order to indicate howto proceed with the reference signals which were part of the UEIBM report but not utilized in the updated signaling.

[0056] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution by using a set of implicit and explicit signaling procedures which are needed when the UEIBM report is not entirely reflected in the RRC / MAC-CE signaling after the report. In operation, a first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states. In addition, the first apparatus updates, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report. Furthermore, the first apparatus monitors the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting. In this way, an implicit or explicit signaling solution can remove any potential ambiguity on the utilization of the UEIBM reported information. With the implicit solution moreover, a re-configuration of the beams to be monitored by the UE for UEIBM without the need of a dedicated RRC UEIBM re-configuration is allowed.

[0057] Regarding the situation when the MAC activated TCI states do not contain all the UEIBM reported TCI states, it may happen due to the following reasons. Some of the UEIBM reported TCI states may be in use by other users and hence not be available for serving the current UE, in this case those TCI states, even if reported as valid by the UE, may not be used in the MAC updated list of TCI states. A mismatch between the TCI states which were in the UEIBM report and the ones in the MAC updated list of TCI states is thus not an error case but a signaling situation the gNB may decide. Furthermore, the UEIBM functionality may work together with the gNB scheduling strategy and hence there may be other gNB scheduling decisions affecting the updated information transmitted to the UE.

[0058] It is noted that in the eventuality that such mismatch described above happens, the UE may need to know how to proceed with the UEIBM reported TCI states which were not part of the MAC update. An implicit or an explicit re-configuration from the gNB is possible in such situation, especially to have it clear to the UE that this is not an error case from the network side. In this case, the UE may be indicated to drop from the event monitoring the UEIBM reported TCI states which were not part ofthe latest MAC re-configuration. As described above, this may happen due to the case that those particular TCI states (beams) are in use by other users and should not be further monitored by the UE. Alternatively, the UE may continue considering in the event monitoring, the UEIBM reported TCI states which were not part of the latest MAC-CE. In this case the gNB may assume that the UEIBM reported TCI states, while not usable immediately because of gNB scheduling reasons, are worth monitoring further so that they may be considered in the very near future as the scheduling restriction for these TCI states may expire.

[0059] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0060] FIG. 3 illustrates an example signaling flow 300 of communication between a first apparatus and a second apparatus for updating a list of indicator states according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signaling flow 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, for example, some example embodiments are described by using the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may be a terminal device such as a UE, and the second apparatus 120 may be a network device a base station. As shown in FIG. 3, the second apparatus 120 explicitly signals to the first apparatus that the UEIBM report is not entirely utilized in the RRC / MAC-CE update.

[0061] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive (3010) a configuration for first apparatus 110 initiated CSI report from the second apparatus 120. Moreover, the first apparatus 110 may monitor (3020) a list of indicator states based on the configuration. In addition, if a condition is satisfied, the first apparatus 110 may transmit (3030), to the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 an initiated CSI report including the list of indicator states.

[0062] The second apparatus 120 transmits (3040), to the first apparatus 110, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus 110 in a channel state information (CSI) report. In other words, the first apparatus 110 receives (3040) first information from the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the first information may be transmitted in downlink control information (DCI). Alternatively, the first information may be transmitted in a radio resource control signaling (RRC). In some other example embodiments, the first information may be transmitted in a medium access control control element (MAC-CE). In some example embodiments, the first information may be transmitted in a DCI and MAC-CE.

[0063] In some example embodiments, the first information may indicate the first set of indicator states being not activated and / or the second set of indicator states being activated. For example, the second apparatus 120 may explicitly indicate to the first apparatus 110 which CRI / SSBRI / TCI states to drop from the event monitoring in the UEIBM. Alternatively, the second apparatus 120 may explicitlyindicate to the first apparatus 110 which CRI / SSBRI / TCI states to continue monitoring in the UEIBM. In some other example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may explicitly indicate to the first apparatus 110 some CRI / SSBRI / TCI states to continue monitoring and some other CRI / SSBRI / TCI states to drop from the event monitoring in the UEIBM. In this way, any potential ambiguity on the utilization of the UEIBM reported information can be removed.

[0064] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states may include at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs). Alternatively, or in addition, the second set of indicator states may include at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0065] Furthermore, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, the first apparatus 110 updates (3050) the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus 110 in a channel state information (CSI) report. In some example embodiments, if the first information indicates the first set of indicator states, the first apparatus 110 may remove the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states. In this case, indicator states included in the list of indicator states are previously indicated by higher layers. Alternatively, if the first information indicates the second set of indicator states, the first apparatus 110 may update the list of indicator states with the second set of indicator states. In addition, the first apparatus 110 monitors (3060) the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting. In this way, any potential ambiguity on the utilization of the UEIBM reported information can be removed.

[0066] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive a request related to at least one active indicator state from the second apparatus 120, and the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus 110. In addition, the first apparatus 110 may transmit a further CSI report for the at least one active indicator state to the second apparatus 120. In other words, the second apparatus 120 may request the report related to the active TCI states which are not part of the UEIBM report.

[0067] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may explicitly indicate to the first apparatus 110 that some of the CRI / SSBRI / TCI states may be dropped from the event monitoring in case for example the CRI / SSBRI / TCI states are not activated via MAC-CE, without explicitly indicating the indexes of such beams, leaving to the first apparatus 110 the option to decide which ones of those to continue monitoring or not. In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may inform the first apparatus 110 that it may drop some of the beams part of the UEIBM report but not activated via MAC-CE. In other words, the first set of indicator states may be included in the list of indicatorstates triggered and reported by the first apparatus 110 in the CSI report. In addition, the first set of indicator states is not activated via the first information.

[0068] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine which indicator state(s) to continue and which indicator state(s) to drop for UEIBM event monitoring. For example, based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, the first apparatus 110 may determine a third set of indicator states being not activated. In some examples, the first apparatus 110 may determine the third set of indicator states based on the measured and / or reported RSRP. For example, the first apparatus 110 may determine to drop the Z beams reported but not activated with lower RSRP. Alternatively, the first apparatus 110 may consider multiple reported RSRP for such beams, and determine to drop the Z beams reported but not activated with worst RSRP variation, i.e., the beams whose RSRP is mostly decreasing. In some other examples, the first apparatus 110 may determine the third set of indicator states based on the reported RSRP and CQI. In this case, the first apparatus 110 may decide to drop the Z beams reported but not activated associated to a lower CQI, and in case two beams have comparable RSRP, drop the one for which a lower CQI is reported. Alternatively, if two reference signals have RSRP with slight difference between them but the RS with the lower RSRP has a higher CQI in relation to the RS with the higher RSRP, the first apparatus 110 may drop the RS with the higher RSRP but lower CQI for further monitoring.

[0069] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, and the measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the second apparatus 120, a response to the first information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus 110 initiated CSI report. In other words, the first apparatus 110 may signal back to the second apparatus 120 which CRI / SSBRI / TCI states it dropped from the UEIBM event monitoring.

[0070] FIG. 4 illustrates an example signaling flow 400 of communication between a first apparatus and a second apparatus for updating a list of indicator states according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signaling flow 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, for example, some example embodiments are described by using the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may be a terminal device such as a UE, and the second apparatus 120 may be a network device a base station. As shown in FIG. 4, the mismatch between the UEIBM report and the RRC / MAC signaled information is implicitly interpreted by the first apparatus 110 that the second apparatus 120 did not take into account all the information. In addition, the first apparatus 110 may drop from the event monitoring the UEIBM reported CRI / SSBRI / TCI states which were not part of the latest RRC / MAC re-configuration for a configurable time, or may continue considering in the event monitoring the UEIBM reported CRI / SS BRI / TCI states which were not part of the latest RRC / MAC re-configuration.

[0071] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive (4010) a configuration for first apparatus 110 initiated CSI report from the second apparatus 120. Moreover, the first apparatus 110 may monitor (4020) a list of indicator states based on the configuration. In addition, if a condition is satisfied, the first apparatus 110 may transmit (4030), to the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 initiated CSI report including the list of indicator states.

[0072] The second apparatus 120 transmits (4040), to the first apparatus 110, first activation information for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus 110 in a channel state information (CSI) report. In other words, the first apparatus 110 receives (4040) the first activation information from the second apparatus 120. In this case, the first activation information excludes a first set of indicator states in the list of indicator states. In some example embodiments, the first activation information may indicate the first set of indicator states being activated. In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states may include at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0073] In some example embodiments, the first activation information may be transmitted in downlink control information (DCI). Alternatively, the first activation information may be transmitted in a radio resource control signaling. In some other example embodiments, the first activation information may be transmitted in a medium access control control element. In some example embodiments, the first activation information may be transmitted in a DCI and MAC-CE. In this way, a re-configuration of the beams to be monitored by the first apparatus 110 for UEIBM without the need of a dedicated RRC UEIBM re-configuration can be allowed.

[0074] Furthermore, the first apparatus 110 updates (4050) the list of indicator states based on the first activation information. Moreover, the first apparatus 110 monitors (4060) the updated list of indicator states. In some example embodiments, based on at least one of the first activation information or a set of further first activation information that excludes the first set of indicator states, the first apparatus 110 may remove the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states. In some examples, the set of further first activation information may include a predetermined number of activation information following the first activation information. For example, the first apparatus 110 may continue to monitor the CRI / SSBRI / TCI states which were not part of the latest RRC / MAC- CE re-configuration for Y number of UEIBM reports; if after Y UEIBM reports they are not included in an RRC / MAC re-configuration, then the first apparats 110 may drop from event monitoring such CRI / SSBRI / TCI states. In this way, any potential ambiguity on the utilization of the UEIBM reported information can be removed.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the implicit message to drop from the event monitoring some of the reported CRI / SSBRI / TCI states may further depend on how many beams N are reported and the maximum number of active TCI states L the first apparatus 110 may be configured with. In some example embodiments, if the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus 110 is smaller than a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, the first apparatus 110 may stop monitoring the first set of indicator states. In other words, if N<L, then the first apparatus 110 may drop monitoring the beams not activated by the network via MAC-CE; if N>= L, then the first apparatus 110 may not drop monitoring the beams not activated by the network via MAC-CE. For example, if the first apparatus 110 reports N=4 beams, but may have a maximum of L=2 activated TCI states, then clearly the second apparatus 120 may never activate all those 4 beams together, so the first apparatus 110 may keep monitoring. Vice versa, if the first apparatus 110 reports N=4 beams, but may have a maximum of L=8 activated TCI states, if the second apparatus 120 may not activate some of those 4 beams, then the first apparatus 110 may drop the monitor of such beams.

[0076] In some other example embodiments, if the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus 110 is smaller than a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, the first apparatus 110 may stop monitoring the first set of indicator states. In some other example embodiments, if the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus 110 is greater than or equal to a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, and activated indicator states are not included in the CSI report, the first apparatus 110 may stop monitoring the first set of indicator states. In other words, if N<L, then the first apparatus 110 may drop monitoring the beams not activated by the network via MAC-CE; if N> = L, then the first apparatus 110 may drop monitoring the beams not activated by the network via MAC-CE only in case not all the L activated beams are from the UEIBM report.

[0077] In some example embodiments, based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, the first apparatus 110 may determine a third set of indicator states being not activated. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, and the measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the second apparatus 120, a response to the first activation information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus 110 initiated CSI report.

[0078] FIG. 5 illustrates an example signaling flow 500 of the explicit signaling and the implicit signaling according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The example signaling flow 500 is an implementation of the example signaling flow 300 of FIG. 3 or the example signaling flow 400 of FIG. 4. In particular, in the example embodiments discussed with respect to FIG. 5, a gNB510 is an example of the second apparatus 120 shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, and a UE 520 is an example of the first apparatus 110 shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

[0079] The gNB 510 transmits (5010) a UEIBM configuration to the UE 520. In addition, the gNB 510 transmits (5020) RSs to the UE 520. After the UE 520 is configured for UEIBM by the gNB 510, the UE 520 measures RSs transmitted by the gNB 510. Moreover, the UE 520 may detect (5030) an event that triggers the procedure (either in Mode A or in Mode B) to send back to the network the UEIBM report. For example, the UE 520 has been configured to report N=4 beams, and reports back RS1, RS2, RS3, and RS4 if they trigger the configured event. In other words, the UE 520 transmits (5040) a UEIBM report including RS1, RS2, RS3, and RS4.

[0080] In some example embodiments, as shown in option 1 of FIG. 5, the gNB 510 may explicitly tell the UE 520 to drop some RSs from the set of new beams to be monitored for UEIBM. More specifically, the gNB 510 transmits (5050) a MAC-CE activation command to update the list of active TCI states including RS1 and RS2 (and potentially other beams, but not RS3 and RS4). In addition, as part of this MAC-CE or as a new MAC-CE, the gNB 510 explicitly tells the UE 520 to remove RS3 and RS4 from the set of new beams to be monitored for UEIBM. The UE 520 then updates (5060) the active TCI state list and updates (5065) set of RSs to be monitor for UEIBM excluding RS3 and RS4, that is, the UE 520 updates the set of new beams to be monitor for UEIBM by removing RS3 and RS4 accordingly. In this way, any potential mismatch on the utilization of the UEIBM reported information can be removed.

[0081] In some other example embodiments, as shown in option 2 of FIG. 5, the gNB 510 may implicitly tell the UE 520 to drop the RSs that were reported in the UEIBM report but not included in the MAC-CE activation command. More specifically, the gNB 510 transmits (5070) a MAC-CE activation command to update the list of active TCI states including RS1 and RS2 (and potentially other beams, but not RS3 and RS4). The UE 520 then updates (5080) the active TCI state list and updates (5085) set of RSs to be monitor for UEIBM excluding RS3 and RS4. In other words, the UE 520 updates the active TCI state list and removes RS3 and RS4 from the set of new beams to be monitor for UEIBM. In this way, any potential mismatch on the utilization of the UEIBM reported information can be removed.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the UE 510 may decide which beams that were part of the UEIBM report but not in the MAC-CE activation command to continue or drop from the event monitoring. In some example embodiments, the UE 510 may make the selection based on the measured and / or reported RSRP. For example, the UE 510 may decide to drop the Z beams reported but not activated with lower RSRP. Alternatively, the UE 510 may consider multiple reported RSRP for such beams, and decide to drop the Z beams reported but not activated with worst RSRP variation, i.e., the beams whose RSRP is mostly decreasing.

[0083] In some other example embodiments, the UE 510 may make the selection based on the reported RSRP and CQI. In this case, the UE 510 considers both RSRP of the reported beams and reported CQI. As the UE 510 has some flexibility in selecting the CQI, it may happen that for the same reported RSRP for two beams, for one beam a higher CQI may be reported than for the other. In such case, the UE 510 may decide to drop the Z beams reported but not activated associated to a lower CQI, and in case two beams have comparable RSRP, drop the one for which a lower CQI is reported. Alternatively, if two reference signals (RS) have RSRP with slight difference between them but the RS with the lower RSRP has a higher CQI in relation to the RS with the higher RSRP, the UE 510 may drop the RS with the higher RSRP but lower CQI for further monitoring. In such a reporting process, SINR may replace or be used along the CQI.

[0084] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0085] At block 610, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states.

[0086] At block 620, the first apparatus updates, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0087] At block 630, the first apparatus monitors the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

[0088] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the first information indicates the first set of indicator states, removing the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states, wherein indicator states included in the list of indicator states are previously indicated by higher layers.

[0089] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the first information indicates the second set of indicator states, updating the list of indicator states with the second set of indicator states.

[0090] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: receiving, from the second apparatus, a request related to at least one active indicator state, wherein the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus; and transmitting, to the second apparatus, a further CSI report for the at least one active indicator state.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states is included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in the CSI report, and the first set of indicator states is not activated via the first information.

[0092] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, determining a third set of indicator states being not activated.

[0093] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: determining, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, wherein measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, to the second apparatus, a response to the first information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: receiving, from the second apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report; monitoring the list of indicator states based on the configuration; and in accordance with a determination that a condition is satisfied, transmitting to the second apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

[0096] In some example embodiments, the first information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0097] In some example embodiments, the first information indicates the first set of indicator states being not activated, and / or wherein the first information indicates the second set of indicator states being activated.

[0098] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs), and the second set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0099] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0100] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 700 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0101] At block 710, the second apparatus transmits, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list ofindicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0102] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus, a request related to at least one active indicator state, wherein the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus; and receiving, from the first apparatus, a further CSI and report for the at least one active indicator state.

[0103] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states is included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in the CSI report, and the first set of indicator states is not activated via the first information.

[0104] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: receiving, from the first apparatus, a response to the first information indicating that a third set of indicator states being not activated is not included in an updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report; and receiving, from the first apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the first information is transmitted in at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0107] In some example embodiments, the first information indicates the first set of indicator states being not activated, and / or wherein the first information indicates the second set of indicator states being activated.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs), and the second set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0109] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0110] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 800 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0111] At block 810, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, first activation information for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in achannel state information (CSI) report, wherein the first activation information excludes a first set of indicator states in the list of indicator states.

[0112] At block 820, the first apparatus updates, based on the first activation information, the list of indicator states.

[0113] At block 830, the first apparatus monitors the updated list of indicator states.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: based on at least one of the first activation information or a set of further first activation information that excludes the first set of indicator states, removing the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the set of further first activation information comprises a predetermined number of activation information following the first activation information.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus is smaller than a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, stopping monitoring the first set of indicator states.

[0117] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus is greater than or equal to a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, and activated indicator states are not included in the CSI report, stopping monitoring the first set of indicator states.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, determining a third set of indicator states being not activated.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: determining, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, wherein measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: transmitting, to the second apparatus, a response to the first activation information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: receiving, from the second apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report; monitoring the list of indicator states based on the configuration; and in accordance with a determination that a condition is satisfied, transmitting to the second apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the first activation information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access controlcontrol element (MAC-CE).

[0123] In some example embodiments, the first activation information indicates the first set of indicator states being activated.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0125] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0126] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0127] At block 910, the second apparatus transmits, to a first apparatus, first activation information for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report, wherein the first activation information excludes a first set of indicator states in the list of indicator states.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: receiving, from the first apparatus, a response to the first activation information indicating that a third set of indicator states is not included in an updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report ; and receiving, from the first apparatus, a first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising a list of indicator states.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the first activation information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0131] In some example embodiments, the first activation information indicates the first set of indicator states being activated.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0133] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0134] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respectiveoperations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states; means for updating, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; and means for monitoring the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the first information indicates the first set of indicator states, removing the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states, wherein indicator states included in the list of indicator states are previously indicated by higher layers.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the first information indicates the second set of indicator states, updating the list of indicator states with the second set of indicator states.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a request related to at least one active indicator state, wherein the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus; and means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a further CSI report for the at least one active indicator state.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states is included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in the CSI report, and the first set of indicator states is not activated via the first information.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, determining a third set of indicator states being not activated.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, wherein measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a response to the first information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving,from the second apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report; means for monitoring the list of indicator states based on the configuration; and means for in accordance with a determination that a condition is satisfied, transmitting to the second apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the first information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0145] In some example embodiments, the first information indicates the first set of indicator states being not activated, and / or wherein the first information indicates the second set of indicator states being activated.

[0146] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs), and wherein the second set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0147] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0148] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 700 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0150] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a request related to at least one active indicator state, wherein the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a further CSI and report for the at least one active indicator state.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states is included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in the CSI report, and the first set ofindicator states is not activated via the first information.

[0152] I n some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a response to the first information indicating that a third set of indicator states being not activated is not included in an updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0153] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report ; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the first information is transmitted in at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0155] In some example embodiments, the first information indicates the first set of indicator states being not activated, and / or wherein the first information indicates the second set of indicator states being activated.

[0156] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs), and wherein the second set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0157] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0158] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 800 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 800. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0159] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, first activation information for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report, wherein the first activation information excludes a first set of indicator states in the list of indicator states; means for updating, based on the first activation information, the list of indicator states; and means for monitoring the updated list of indicator states.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on at least one of the first activation information or a set of further first activation information that excludes the first set of indicator states, removing the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states.

[0161] In some example embodiments, the set of further first activation information comprises a predetermined number of activation information following the first activation information.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus is smaller than a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, stopping monitoring the first set of indicator states.

[0163] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the number of indicator states to be reported by the first apparatus is greater than or equal to a maximum number of indicator states in the first activation information, and activated indicator states are not included in the CSI report, stopping monitoring the first set of indicator states.

[0164] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, determining a third set of indicator states being not activated.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, wherein measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold.

[0166] I n some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a response to the first activation information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0167] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report ; means for monitoring the list of indicator states based on the configuration; and means for in accordance with a determination that a condition is satisfied, transmitting to the second apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the first activation information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0169] In some example embodiments, the first activation information indicates the first set of indicator states being activated.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0171] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0172] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 900 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 900. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0173] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, first activation information for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report, wherein the first activation information excludes a first set of indicator states in the list of indicator states.

[0174] I n some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a response to the first activation information indicating that a third set of indicator states is not included in an updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

[0175] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report ; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising a list of indicator states.

[0176] In some example embodiments, the first activation information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

[0177] In some example embodiments, the first activation information indicates the first set of indicator states being activated.

[0178] In some example embodiments, the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

[0179] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0180] FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1000 that is suitable for implementingexample embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1000 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010, one or more memories 1020 coupled to the processor 1010, and one or more communication modules 1040 coupled to the processor 1010.

[0181] The communication module 1040 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1040 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1040 may include at least one antenna.

[0182] The processor 1010 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1000 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0183] The memory 1020 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1024, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 1022 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0184] A computer program 1030 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1010. The instructions of the program 1030 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1030 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1024. The processor 1010 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1030 into the RAM 1022.

[0185] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1030 so that the device 1000 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 9. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0186] In some example embodiments, the program 1030 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1000 (such as in the memory 1020) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1000. The device 1000 may load the program 1030from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1022 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e. , tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0187] FIG. 11 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1100 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1100 has the program 1030 stored thereon.

[0188] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0189] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machineexecutable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0190] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0191] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0192] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0193] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0194] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to:receive, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states;update, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; andmonitor the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to:in accordance with a determination that the first information indicates the first set of indicator states, remove the first set of indicator states from the list of indicator states, wherein indicator states included in the list of indicator states are previously indicated by higher layers.

3. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to:in accordance with a determination that the first information indicates the second set of indicator states, update the list of indicator states with the second set of indicator states.

4. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to:receive, from the second apparatus, a request related to at least one active indicator state, wherein the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus; andtransmit, to the second apparatus, a further CSI report for the at least one active indicator state.

5. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first set of indicator states is included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in the CSI report, and the first set of indicator states is not activated via the first information.

6. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to:based on measurement result of a plurality of reference signals measurements, determine a third set of indicator states being not activated.

7. The first apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:determine, from the plurality of reference signals measurements, a set of reference signals corresponding to the third set of indicator states, wherein measurement result of the set of reference signals is below a predetermined threshold.

8. The first apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:transmit, to the second apparatus, a response to the first information indicating that the third set of indicator states is not included in the updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

9. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to:receive, from the second apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report; monitor the list of indicator states based on the configuration; andin accordance with a determination that a condition is satisfied, transmit, to the second apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

10. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first information is transmitted in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

11. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first information indicates the first set of indicator states being not activated, and / orwherein the first information indicates the second set of indicator states being activated.

12. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs), andwherein the second set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

14. A second apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to:transmit, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

15. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:transmit, to the first apparatus, a request related to at least one active indicator state, wherein the at least one active indicator state is not included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus; andreceive, from the first apparatus, a further CSI and report for the at least one active indicator state.

16. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first set of indicator states is included in the list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in the CSI report, and the first set of indicator states is not activated via the first information.

17. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:receive, from the first apparatus, a response to the first information indicating that a third set of indicator states being not activated is not included in an updated list of indicator states for first apparatus-initiated CSI report.

18. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:transmit, to the first apparatus, a configuration for first apparatus-initiated CSI report ; and receive, from the first apparatus, first apparatus-initiated CSI report comprising the list of indicator states.

19. The second apparatus of any of claims 14 to 18, wherein the first information is transmitted in at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI), a radio resource control signaling or a medium access control control element (MAC-CE).

20. The second apparatus of any of claims 14 to 19, wherein the first information indicates the first set of indicator states being not activated, and / orwherein the first information indicates the second set of indicator states being activated.

21. The second apparatus of any of claims 14 to 20, wherein the first set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a first set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a first set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a first set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs), andwherein the second set of indicator states comprises at least one of: a second set of channel state information-reference signal resource indicator (CRI), a second set of synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), or a second set of transmission configuration indicators (TCIs).

22. A method comprising:receiving, at a first apparatus and from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states;updating, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; andmonitoring the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

23. A method comprising:transmitting, at a second apparatus and to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

24. A first apparatus comprising:means for receiving, from a second apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states;means for updating, based on the at least one of the first set of indicator states or the second set of indicator states, a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report; andmeans for monitoring the updated list of indicator states for performing CSI measurements and reporting.

25. A second apparatus comprising:means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, first information indicating at least one of a first set of indicator states or a second set of indicator states for updating a list of indicator states triggered and reported by the first apparatus in a channel state information (CSI) report.

26. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 22 or the method of claim 23.

Images