Method and system for configuring multi-transmission reception points deployment within transmission reception point

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate.Disclosed herein is a method (1200) for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP). The method includes splitting (1202) each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups. Each antenna group may correspond to a subTRP. Further, the method includes selectively muting (1204) a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE). Furthermore, the method includes identifying (1206) a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting. Furthermore, the method includes forming (1208) the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURING MULTI-TRANSMISSION RECEPTION POINTS DEPLOYMENT WITHIN TRANSMISSION RECEPTION POINT

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication systems, and more particularly, relates to method and system for configuring multi-Transmission Reception Points deployment within transmission reception point.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in "Sub 6GHz" bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in "Above 6GHz" bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] In contemporary wireless communication systems, Advanced Antenna Systems (AAS) are increasingly employed to enhance network performance, spectral efficiency, and coverage in Fourth Generation (4G) and Fifth Generation (5G) mobile networks. AAS architectures typically utilise a plurality of antenna elements and antenna ports to support advanced spatial processing techniques, such as beamforming, for directing radio energy towards specific geographical regions or towards a particular User Equipment (UE). Beamforming is generally enabled through Transmission Reception Points (TRPs), which are infrastructural entities of the wireless network configured to transmit and receive radio signals via base stations or access points.

[0009] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, disclosed herein is a method for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP). The method includes splitting each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups. Each antenna group may correspond to a subTRP. Further, the method includes selectively muting a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE). Furthermore, the method includes identifying a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting. Furthermore, the method includes forming the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, disclosed herein is a network entity for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP). The network entity comprises at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the network entity to split each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups. Each antenna group may correspond to a subTRP; selectively mute a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE); identify a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting; and form the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.

[0012] To further clarify the advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawing. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

[0013] The foregoing and other features of embodiments will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements.

[0014] Figure 1 illustrates a pictorial depiction of uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the prior art;

[0015] Figure 2 illustrates a pictorial depiction of a Multiple Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) codebook structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the prior art;

[0016] Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart of the m-TRP codebook, in accordance with an embodiment of the prior art;

[0017] Figure 4 illustrates an example environment for configuring multi-Transmission Reception Points deployment within transmission reception point, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 5A and Figure 5B illustrate a block diagram of the network entity for configuring the multi-TRP deployment within the TRP, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 6 illustrates a pictorial depiction of aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs within TRP in uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 7 illustrates a pictorial depiction of the aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs within TRPs and across TRPs in uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 8 illustrates a pictorial depiction of the aggregation of subTRPs in uniform and non-uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 9 illustrates a pictorial depiction of aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs within TRP in non-uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 10 illustrates a pictorial depiction of aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs across TRPs in non-uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 11 depicts a CSI-driven subTRP sizing and selection sequence, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 12 illustrates a process flow of a method for configuring the multi-Transmission Reception Points deployment within the transmission reception point, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 13 illustrates an example user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0027] Figure 14 illustrates an example base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the circuit, one or more components of the circuit may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

[0029] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] In describing the embodiments, while numerous details are set forth for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that some aspects of the disclosure may be practiced with less than all of these details. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and are considered within the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art may be omitted so as to not obscure an understanding of the disclosure, and such omitted descriptions are understood to be within the scope of the disclosure.

[0031] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0032] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described herein in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but may be implemented in various different forms. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the disclosure. The following embodiments are merely examples to aid in an understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way, but on the contrary, the disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, terms which will be described herein are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0033] Herein, it will be understood that each block of flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0034] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0035] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a "~unit / module" may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word "~unit / module" does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The "~unit / module" may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the "~unit / module" includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the "~unit / module" may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a "~unit / module," or divided into additional components and a "~unit / module." Moreover, the components and "~units / modules" may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the "쪟unit / module" may include one or more processors.

[0036] The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0037] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital　signal processors, FPGA, ASIC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like. The one processor or the combination of processors executes instructions that can be stored in a memory, such as the　operating system, in order to control the overall operation of the device.　Also, the one processor or the combination of processors is also capable of executing other processes and programs　resident in the memory, such as processes for the disclosure.

[0038] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0039] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure. Additionally, or alternatively, such software may be a computer program [product] comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0040] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0041] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0042] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0043] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0044] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0045] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0046] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0047] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0048] Furthermore, "if condition A and condition B are satisfied," as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0049] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, elements or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0050] Furthermore, the terms "first ~", "second ~", etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0051] Furthermore, even if "first ~" and "second ~" are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by "first ~" and "second ~" may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0052] In addition, the terms "if ~" and "in case that ~" as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of "when (or upon) ~," "in response to ~," "based on ~," or "according to ~," and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure. If a method step (e.g. transmit a signal) is performed according to the disclosure of the application in connection with one of the above terms (such as "in case that ~" or the like), it may be interpreted to include the meanings (disclosure) of a prior determination that a feature has a specific state "~" (e.g. a bit length is above X), and then perform the method step in response to said determination.

[0053] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0054] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0055] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0056] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0057] In the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0058] The drawings or flowcharts described herein illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0059] The process of the flowchart may be performed by a device. One or more of the steps of the　flowchart can be implemented by one or more processors / computer programs executing　instructions to perform the noted functions.

[0060] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be disclosed in connection with drawings disclosing flowcharts to illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure. Such flowcharts may contain different branches and / or sub-branches. It is understood that the principles of the present disclosure do not only contain the combination of all branches / sub-branches disclosed in the embodiment, but the present disclosure also contains at least one isolated branch / isolated sub-branch, in particular to a single branch / single sub-branch.

[0061] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0062] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0063] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described herein, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project　(3GPP) technical specifications (TS) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from the European telecommunications standards institute (ETSI), where appropriate.

[0064] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0065] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5th generation (5G) base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0066] A terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing communication functions.

[0067] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a terminal, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a terminal transmits a signal to a BS.

[0068] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5G mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0069] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0070] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), RRC, or MAC control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0071] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), DCI, UE-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0072] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0073] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0074] It is an object of the disclosure to provide a method and a system that overcomes the limitations found in prior art related to the multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRPs) codebooks.

[0075] It is another object of the disclosure to provide a mechanism for dynamically adapting a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) into sub-Transmission Reception Points (subTRPs) to enable fine-granularity spatial control and improve network energy-efficiency.

[0076] It is yet another object of the disclosure to enable selective activation and muting of subTRPs based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback so as to jointly optimize achievable cell-sum capacity and energy consumption.

[0077] Figure 1 illustrates a pictorial depiction 100 of uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the prior art. In most conventional active antenna system designs, each antenna port is coupled with a power amplifier and, therefore, serves as a significant contributor to overall network energy consumption. As traffic distribution patterns and UE densities vary geographically, adaptation of antenna ports has been recognized as an important mechanism for network energy saving in wireless networks, particularly in the context of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Releas18 studies. A current codebook design in the 3GPP uses a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) matrix to select a Precoding Matrix Index (PMI), which is used for precoding data as a procedure to reverse a channel perturbation. Precoding vectors in the DFT matrix are chosen based on Linear Minimum Mean Square Error (LMMSE) or Zero forcing criteria at the UE for feedback and Next Generation Base Station (gNB) evaluates a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for scheduling based on a Signal to Leakage Criteria Ratio (SLNR) as preferred matrix to minimize interlayer and / or an inter UE interference.

[0078] Figure 2 illustrates a pictorial depiction 200 of a Multiple Transmission Reception Points (m-TRPs) codebook structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the prior art. As per the current 3GPP m-TRP 200 operation, Spatial domain and Frequency domain basis selection and relative co-phasing and co-amplitude (wideband and / or sideband) are computed on as per-TRP or per-TRP group (port-group or resource) basis. The computation may be as follows:

[0079]

[0080]

[0081] Further, N represents number of TRPs or TRP groups, represents co-amplitude, represents co-phase. As depicted in Figure 2, the plurality of antenna-port groups is arranged into N TRP-specific clusters, each cluster corresponding to an individual TRP or TRP-group used for codebook-based channel measurement. The reference numeral 202-1 denotes a first TRP-specific port group, comprising a predefined number of CSI-RS ports associated with a first Transmission Reception Point (TRP-1). Similarly, the reference numeral 202-N denotes an N-th TRP-specific port group, corresponding to an N-th Transmission Reception Point (TRP-N). Each of the port groups 202-1 ... 202-N represents the set of antenna ports used for Spatial-Domain (SD) basis selection and Frequency-Domain (FD) compression in the conventional m-TRP codebook operation. In typical 3GPP implementations, when only one Non-Zero-Power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP-CSI-RS) resource is available, the CSI-RS ports are equally partitioned across the N TRP-groups. When multiple NZP-CSI-RS resources are available, each resource corresponds to exactly one TRP or TRP-group, and each of the resources contains an equal number of CSI-RS ports.

[0082] Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart of the m-TRP codebook 300, in accordance with an embodiment of the prior art. The m-TRP includes a set of TRP-1 channels (H1, H2), a set of SD compression , a set of SD coefficients, a set of SD FD coefficients, and a joint precoder. The SD coefficient is determined using . Further, the SD compression may be determined using . Moreover, the FD compression may be determined using . Furthermore, the TRP-1 channel may be determined using . Additionally, the SD-FD coefficients may be determined using and Lastly, the Joint Precoder uses the below matrix:

[0083]

[0084] The joint precoder is further used to determine the different FD coefficients across TRPs and the same FD coefficients across TRPs. The different FD coefficients across TRPs are represented using:

[0085]

[0086] The same FD coefficients across TRPs are represented using:

[0087]

[0088] The codebook-based processing, although functional, remains limited in its ability to dynamically adapt antenna subsets at finer granularity for achieving improved energy-efficiency. Energy-efficiency continues to remain a significant Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for future wireless generations, including Sixth Generation (6G) networks. Adaptation of spatial elements, such as antenna elements, antenna ports, and TRPs, is expected to become one of the principal mechanisms for managing network-level energy consumption in 6G networks. Transmission of CSI-RS and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) signals from a large number of antenna ports has been identified as a major contributor to excessive energy consumption. Consequently, there exists a growing need to devise mechanisms for reducing the number of active ports without substantially degrading system throughput or channel measurement accuracy.

[0089] Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned problems, it is advantageous to provide an improved network entity and method that can overcome the above-mentioned problems and limitations associated with m-TRPs codebooks.

[0090] Figure 4 illustrates an example environment 400 for configuring multi-Transmission Reception Points deployment within transmission reception point, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the environment 400 includes a TRP402, a network entity404 disposed within the TRP402, a user equipment (UE)406, and a network408. The TRP402 comprises a plurality of antenna ports arranged into a plurality of antenna groups. Further, each antenna group may correspond to a sub-Transmission Reception Point (subTRP). The TRP402 is configured to communicate with the UE406 via the network408. Furthermore, the network entity404 may be configured to control operations associated with subTRP-based transmission and reception within the TRP402.

[0091] In an embodiment, the TRP402 may include one or more antenna panels that are partitioned into homogeneous or heterogeneous subTRPs. Each subTRP may include a subset of antenna ports that are selectively activated or muted based on the CSI feedback received from the UE406. The TRP402 may further be configured to transmit downlink signals and receive uplink measurements through selected subTRPs in accordance with the decisions made by the network entity404.

[0092] In an embodiment, the UE406 may include any suitable wireless communication device, such as a smartphone, tablet, machine-type communication device, or an Internet-of-Things (IoT) node. The UE406 may be configured to measure downlink reference signals transmitted from one or more subTRPs and to report CSI feedback, including, but not limited to, Precoding Matrix Indicators (PMIs), Rank Indicators (RIs), Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs), and CSI-RS measurements, via the network 408.

[0093] In an embodiment, the network 404 may represent any wireless communication network capable of facilitating bidirectional communication between the TRP 402 and the UE 406. The network 408 may be implemented using cellular technologies (e.g., 4G, 5G, 6G, pre-6G), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), satellite communication, or any other wired or wireless interface capable of carrying control and data traffic.

[0094] In another embodiment, the network entity 404 may be implemented as a distributed processing unit residing partially or entirely within the TRP 402, or as a centralized control entity within a gNB, depending on deployment architecture. Further, the network entity 404 may remain operatively coupled with the TRP 402 and the UE 406 through the network 408 for performing the functions associated with m-TRP and subTRP configuration in the environment 400.

[0095] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to split each panel of the TRP into the plurality of antenna groups. In a non-limiting example, each antenna group corresponds to the subTRP.

[0096] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to selectively mute a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from the UE. In a non-limiting example, the network entity 404 mutes low-contribution subTRPs while retaining high-contribution subTRPs identified from the CSI feedback.

[0097] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to identify a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting. In a non-limiting example, the identified subset forms an active subTRP set for subsequent precoding and transmission.

[0098] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to form the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs. In a non-limiting example, the m-TRP deployment aggregates the unmuted subTRPs for coherent transmission.

[0099] In an embodiment, let denote the number of UE receive antennas, and let each homogeneous subTRP comprise P antenna ports. For TRP and subTRP index g, the explicit channel matrix toward UE u is denoted

[0100]

[0101] In one embodiment, is represented using SD / FD components derived from CSI as:

[0102]

[0103] where and are respectively co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients for the n-th selected spatial coefficient, is an SD basis vector / matrix, is an SD combination operator, and is an FD compression basis. The SCI identifies the strongest n per layer / polarization, and phases of combination coefficients within a TRP are normalized with respect to the strongest coefficient per layer.

[0104] For two cooperating TRPs (generalizes to T>2), the stacked homogeneous-port representation can be written as

[0105]

[0106] The representation supports per-subTRP precoding followed by CJT precoding when forming the active m-TRP set after muting decisions.

[0107] Further, let subTRP (i,j) denote the i-th subTRP within TRP j, comprising ports. The corresponding channel toward UE u is and may be expressed via CSI-derived SD / FD parameters as:

[0108]

[0109] Further, capacity across heterogeneous subTRPs and multiple TRPs is then evaluated using the corresponding per-subTRP precoders and a CJT precoder over the selected active set.

[0110] In homogeneous subTRP energy saving, if each subTRP comprises P antenna ports, and each antenna port uses one power amplifier (PA) with average power , then muting X homogeneous subTRPs yields an estimated saving:

[0111]

[0112] If PA power is tracked at "per-subTRP" granularity (e.g., due to shared RF units), an equivalent expression may be used. Muting within and / or across TRPs saves energy in proportion to the number of muted ports (and associated RF chains).

[0113] In heterogeneous subTRP energy saving, for heterogeneous subTRPs, the saving by muting a selected set is:

[0114]

[0115] In Joint capacity-energy metric, let denote the active (unmuted) subTRP set chosen by the gNB. A convenient scalar objective is:

[0116]

[0117] where is a design weight (or, equivalently, maximize subject to ). The capacity term can be evaluated using standard MIMO expressions with the per-subTRP and CJT precoders applied to over scheduled UEs and resource blocks; the energy term follows or depending on the partitioning.

[0118] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine an explicit channel matrix for the TRP based on the CSI feedback. In a non-limiting example, the explicit channel matrix is computed per subTRP and per transmission layer.

[0119] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine a spatial domain (SD) matrix based on the explicit channel matrix. In a non-limiting example, the SD matrix captures spatial basis vectors used for compression.

[0120] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine SD coefficients based on the SD matrix and the explicit channel matrix. In a non-limiting example, the SD coefficients quantify the projection of the channel onto the SD basis.

[0121] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine frequency domain (FD) compression and SD-FD coefficients based on the SD coefficients. In a non-limiting example, the FD compression is performed per sub-band and combined with SD coefficients to yield SD-FD coefficients.

[0122] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine a per-subTRP precoder based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and the FD compression. In a non-limiting example, the per-subTRP precoder is applied to each active subTRP in the m-TRP deployment.

[0123] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine a Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) precoder for processing each TRP based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and frequency-domain compression. In a non-limiting example, the frequency-domain compression comprises per-subTRP compression and subTRP-aggregated compression, within and across the TRP. In a non-limiting example, the CJT precoder coherently combines multiple subTRPs for joint transmission.

[0124] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured such that the plurality of antenna groups includes homogeneous subTRPs of equal size with same configuration. In a non-limiting example, each panel is partitioned into equal-sized subTRPs sharing identical port configurations.

[0125] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured such that the plurality of antenna groups includes heterogeneous subTRPs of unequal sizes with same or different configurations. In a non-limiting example, subTRP sizes and configurations vary across panels to match deployment constraints.

[0126] In an embodiment, to selectively mute the subset of subTRPs, the network entity 404 may be configured to receive the CSI feedback. In a non-limiting example, the CSI feedback includes a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and one or more channel measurement results derived from one or more Non-Zero-Power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) resources associated with Channel Measurement Resources. In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine, at a Next Generation Base Station (gNB), an explicit channel matrix for each subTRP, and one or more channel processing parameters for each TRP and each subTRP, based on the CSI feedback. In a non-limiting example, the one or more channel processing parameters includes spatial domain (SD) matrix, SD coefficients, frequency-domain (FD) compression, and SD-FD coefficients. Further, the one or more channel processing parameters are updated per reporting interval.

[0127] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to identify, for each transmission layer and polarization, a Single Strong Coefficient Index (SCI) across the subTRPs based on the one or more channel processing parameters. In a non-limiting example, the SCI points to the strongest combination coefficient per layer.

[0128] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to normalize, for each transmission layer, phases of combination coefficients derived from the one or more channel processing parameters. In a non-limiting example, the normalization includes normalizing phases of co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients across at least one of the subTRP and the subTRP group within the TRP. In a non-limiting example, normalization references the strongest coefficient for that layer.

[0129] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to determine, for each subTRP, a capacity contribution based on the explicit channel matrix and the one or more channel processing parameters. In a non-limiting example, the capacity contribution is used as a ranking metric.

[0130] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to select the subset of subTRPs to be muted based on the capacity contribution and apply muting to the selected subset of subTRPs. In a non-limiting example, muting decisions are periodically re-evaluated to track channel dynamics.

[0131] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may be configured to apply co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients for grouping of the subTRPs into one or more subTRP groups. In a non-limiting example, the co-amplitude and the co-phase for the subTRP group are same within the TRP. In a non-limiting example, group-wise coefficients simplify the CJT precoder application within the TRP.

[0132] In an example scenario, the TRP 402 may include two panels, each of which may be split by the network entity 404 into four subTRPs (homogeneous configuration). The UE 406 may measure CSI-RS from all eight subTRPs and may report PMI / RI / CQI and CSI-RS measurements via the network 408. The network entity 404 may compute explicit channel matrices and SD / FD parameters, may identify an SCI per layer, may normalize phases, and may estimate capacity contribution for each subTRP. Upon observing that two subTRPs may contribute marginal gain, however, may consume additional power amplifiers, the network entity 404 may mute those two subTRPs and may retain six unmuted subTRPs to form the m-TRP within the site. The network entity 404 may then apply per-subTRP and aggregated FD compression and may derive CJT precoding to transmit data coherently across the six active subTRPs, thereby maintaining throughput while reducing energy consumption.

[0133] In another example scenario, the panels may be heterogeneous (unequal-size subTRPs). The network entity 404 may repeat the steps of CSI reception, parameter derivation, SCI identification, normalization, capacity scoring, muting, and CJT precoding, while honoring that the subTRPs may have different SD dimensions, thereby preserving flexibility and performance across diverse hardware layouts.

[0134] In another example, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) is composed of 16 sub-TRPs. For energy savings, one or more subTRPs will be turned OFF or muted. In an ongoing standardization for Release3 18, w1,w2, wf based codebook may be formalized for CJT. One case of the CJT is an intra-site mTRP CJT. The single TRP with many subgroups may be cast into the intra-site CJT for an mtrp-like problem, where each sub-TRP behaves as a single TRP in the CJT intra-site mTRP case, and all the standardization aspects of the CJT intra-site mTRP may be reused here accordingly.

[0135] Figure 5A and Figure 5B illustrates a block diagram of the network entity 404 for configuring the multi-TRP deployment within the TRP, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0136] In an embodiment, the network entity 404 may include, but is not limited to, at least one processor 502 (alternately referred hereinafter as a processing unit 502 or the processor 502), a memory 504, one or more modules 506, and a data unit 508. The one or more modules 506 and the memory 504 may be coupled to the processor 502.

[0137] The processor 502 can be a single processing unit or several units, all of which could include multiple computing units. The processor 502 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and / or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the processor 502 is adapted to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions and data stored in the memory 504. At this time, one or a plurality of processors may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP), or the like, a graphics-only processing unit such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), a visual processing unit (VPU), and / or an AI-dedicated processor such as a neural processing unit (NPU). One or a plurality of processors control the processing of the input data in accordance with a predefined operating rule or artificial intelligence (AI) model stored in the non-volatile memory and the volatile memory.

[0138] The memory 504 may include any non-transitory computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random-access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and / or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. The predefined configuration may be stored in the memory 504.

[0139] The one or more modules 506, amongst other things, include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks or implement data types. The one or more modules 506 may also be implemented as signal processor(s), state machine(s), logic circuitries, and / or any other device or component that manipulates signals based on operational instructions.

[0140] Further, the one or more modules 506 can be implemented in hardware, instructions executed by a processing unit, or by a combination thereof. The processing unit can comprise a computer, a processor, a state machine, a logic array, or any other suitable device capable of processing instructions. The processing unit can be a general-purpose processor that executes instructions to cause the general-purpose processor to perform the required tasks, or the processing unit can be dedicated to performing the required functions. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 502 via the one or more modules 506, is configured to execute machine-readable instructions (software) that perform the working of the network entity 404 within the scope of the present disclosure as described in forthcoming paragraphs.

[0141] In an embodiment, the data unit 508 serves, amongst other things, as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by the one or more modules 506.

[0142] Figure 5B is a block diagram of the network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0143] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with a network entity (for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), etc.) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0144] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0145] FIG. 5B is a block diagram of a network entity 404 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0146] The network entity 404 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 404.

[0147] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0148] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN), etc.

[0149] Referring to FIG. 5B, the network entity 404 may include at least one network interface 501, at least one processor 502 (hereinafter, "processor"), and at least one memory 504 (hereinafter, "memory"). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 404, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 5B. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0150] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 501, the processor 502, and the memory 504 of the network entity 404 may operate. However, components of the network entity 404 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 5B. In another embodiment, the network entity 404 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 501, the processor 502, or the memory 504 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0151] The network interface 501 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 404 and a receiver part of the network entity 404, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 501 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 501 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 501 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0152] The processor 502 may control general operations of the network entity 404 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 502 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 502 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 504, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 502 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0153] According to an embodiment, the processor 502 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the network interface 501 to control the network interface 501.

[0154] The processor 502 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 502 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 502 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 501 or the memory 504.

[0155] The processor 502 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 404 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 502 may control operations of the network entity 404 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 502 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 504, so as to control other components of the network entity 404 to enable execution of various operations.

[0156] The memory 504 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 504 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0157] The memory 504 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 502 and may be accessed by the processor 502.

[0158] The memory 504 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 502. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 502 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 504, the processor 502 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0159] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 404 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 504 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0160] A detailed working and explanation of the network entity 404 will be provided through various components of Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, and Figure 10 in the forthcoming paragraphs. The reference numerals are kept the same in the disclosure wherever applicable for ease of explanation.

[0161] Figure 6 illustrates a pictorial depiction 600 of the aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs within TRP in uniform inter-antenna spacing 600, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As depicted in image 602, each panel (in a single or multi panel environment) may be split into an equal size of the antenna group with the same configuration. As shown, each group may be referred to as subTRP. An unmuted subTRPs within the panel and / or across panels forms m-subTRP deployment within the TRP. For instance, and maybe considered the same for the subTRP or group of subTRP(s) in the panel or across panels within the TRP. The TRP may use an explicit channel matrix, which may include the SD matrix, the SD coefficients, the FD compression, the SD-FD compression, the per TRP precoder, and the CJT precoder. Further, the explicit channel matrix may be determined using an equation: = P x N3. The SD matrix may be determined using an equation: = P x 2L, where P is N1xN2 per polarization. Further, the SD coefficients may be determined using an equation . Moreover, the FD compression may be determined using an equation dimension is N3 x M. Furthermore, the SD-FD coefficients may be determined using an equation and matrix. Additionally, the per TRP precoder is determined using an equation .

[0162] Further, the CJT precoder is used to process each TRP with the subTRP and the sub-TRP specific FD compression is represented as:

[0163]

[0164] Furthermore, the CJT precoder is used to process each TRP with subTRP and sub-TRP specific FD compression conditions, and the output is represented as:

[0165]

[0166] Where, represents the co-amplitude, represents the co-phase for the subTRP group may remain the same. Further, a Single Strong Coefficient Index (SCI) for the subTRP / group of subTRP(s) within a TRP and all polarizations per layer is considered. The phase of combination coefficients in a layer may be normalized across the subTRP / group of subTRP(s) within the TRP with respect to the strongest coefficient for the specific layer. The amplitude references are defined per the subTRP across polarization, since there is no power imbalance among subTRPs due to different Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) levels within the TRP. The index ranges for group-wise phase and amplitude selections may be expressed as:

[0167]

[0168] where Nst denotes the number of selected spatial coefficients. Further, joint weighing may employ the frequency-domain basis together with the secondary weighting for subTRPs within the TRP, recognizing that the benefits of sharing the FD basis within a single TRP are limited.

[0169] Further, images 604 and 605 show the unmuted subTRP(s) within the panel or across the panels forming the m-subTRP deployment within the TRP. and may be considered the same for the subTRP / group of subTRP(s) in the panel or across the panel within the TRP, while the and the may be different across the TRP. The subTRP matrices may be represented as,

[0170]

[0171]

[0172] Where, represents co-amplitude, represents the co-phase for an ith subTRP in the panel or across the panels within the TRP may remain the same. Further, represents co-amplitude, and represents a co-phase that may be different across the r TRPs. The single SCI across subTRPs or a group of subTRP(s) within a TRP, for all polarizations per layer, is considered. The phase of combination coefficients in a layer may be normalized across the subTRP group within the TRP and across the TRPs with respect to the strongest coefficient for that layer. Amplitude references are defined per subTRP group across polarization, while the per TRP per polarization addresses the power imbalance due to the different RSRP levels across the TRP. The subTRP / group of subTRPs across the TRP:

[0173]

[0174] The index ranges for group-wise phase and amplitude selections may be expressed as:

[0175]

[0176] Further, the subTRP or group of subTRPs across TRPs may be expressed as:

[0177]

[0178] Where in, is co-phase across sub-TRP and is co-phase actoss sub-TRP within a panel or across the panel in a single TRP deployment.

[0179] Further, a joint determination of the coefficients Wf and W2 may be performed for the sub-TRP group within the TRP, since the benefits of sharing only the frequency-domain (FD) basis Wf across multiple TRPs are limited.

[0180] Figure 7 illustrates a pictorial depiction 700 of the aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs within TRPs and across TRPs in uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The subset of the unmuted subTRP group within the panel and / or across the panels forms the m-subTRP deployment within the TRP, as shown in images 702 and 704. While the subset of the unmuted subTRP group within the panel or across the panels forms the m-subTRP deployment across the TRP, the and the maybe considered the same (or different) for the subset of the subTRP group in the panel or across the panels within the TRP. The CJT operation within TRPs and across sub-TRPs may be represented using:

[0181]

[0182] Further, the CJT operation across TRPs may be represented using:

[0183]

[0184] Where, represents co-amplitude, represents the co-phase for the ith subTRP group in the panel or across the panels within the TRP. Further, represents co-amplitude, and represents a co-phase that may be different across the rth TRPs. In addition, a single SCI across all the subTRP groups, across all the TRP groups, and across all polarizations per layer may be considered. The phase of combination coefficients in the layer may be normalized across the subTRP group and across all the TRP groups with respect to the strongest coefficient for the layer. The amplitude references are defined per subTRP group across polarization, while per TRP per polarization to address the power imbalance due to the different RSRP levels.

[0185] The index ranges for group-wise phase and amplitude selections may be expressed as:

[0186]

[0187] Further, the subTRP or group of subTRPs across TRPs may be expressed as:

[0188]

[0189] Where in, is co-phase across sub-TRP and is co-phase across sub-TRP within a panel or across the panel in a single TRP deployment. Where in, is co-phase across TRP and is co-phase across TRP.

[0190] Further, a joint determination of the coefficients and may be performed for the sub-TRP group within the TRP, since the benefits of sharing only the FD basis ( ) across TRPs are limited.

[0191] Figure 8 illustrates a pictorial depiction 800 of the aggregation of subTRPs in uniform and non-uniform inter-antenna spacing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0192] As shown in Figure 8, image 802 represents a scenario in which antenna ports are arranged with uniform inter-antenna spacing, thereby allowing Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) basis vectors to provide near-optimal spatial representation for precoding. While DFT-based vectors may offer optimal performance under such uniform spacing conditions, in practical deployments, the channel eigenvectors may not be perfectly aligned with the DFT basis, and therefore oversampling of the DFT grid may be applied.

[0193] In contrast, image 804 of Figure strates an environment in which a subset of antenna ports is muted for network-level energy saving. Such selective muting inherently alters the physical antenna aperture and results in non-uniform inter-antenna spacing. As depicted in the configuration 804, the non-uniform spacing caused by muting one or more antenna ports disrupts the structural assumptions underlying DFT-matrix-based codebooks. Consequently, the use of the conventional DFT-based codebook under non-uniform spacing may lead to degradation in the selection of optimal precoding vectors. The degradation arises because the DFT basis ceases to accurately model the spatial distribution of non-uniformly spaced antenna ports, thereby affecting the achievable performance and necessitating alternative codebook or precoding strategies for efficient m-TRP operation.

[0194]

[0195] Figure 9 illustrates a pictorial depiction 900 of aggregation of muted and unmuted subTRPs within TRP in non-uniform inter-antenna spacing 900, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, each panel may be split into multiple unequal sizes of antenna groups (subTRPs) with the same or different configurations. The unmuted subTRP group within the panel or across the panels forms the m-subTRP deployment within the TRP. The group of unequal size subTRP's within the panel or across the panels in the TRP may be different, with the same and the , co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients. The SD ( ) dimensions may be different for unequal size subTRP(s), which may form the m-subTRP deployment. The single SCI across all the subTRP groups and all polarizations per each layer is considered. The phase of combination coefficients in the layer may be normalized across the subTRP group with respect to the strongest coefficient for that layer. The amplitude references are defined as per the subTRP group per polarization to address the power imbalance due to the different RSRP levels. The index ranges for group-wise phase and amplitude selections may be expressed as:

[0196]

[0197] where, is co-phase across sub-TRP and is co-phase actoss sub-TRP within a panel or across the panel in a single TRP deployment.

[0198] The joint and for the subTRP group within the TRP, as benefits of sharing only the FD basis ( ) across TRPs are limited.

[0199]

[0200] Figure 10 illustrates a pictorial depiction 1000 of the aggregation of muted and unmuted suburbs across TRPs in non-uniform inter-antenna spacing 1000, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in image 1002, each panel may be split into multiple unequal sizes of the antenna group (subTRP) with different configurations. The unmuted subTRP or group of subTRP across the TRP(s) forms the m-TRP deployment. The and the may be considered different for the subTRP / group of subTRPs within the TRP and across the TRP(s).

[0201]

[0202] Where, represents co-amplitude, represents the co-phase for the ith subTRP in the panel or across panels within the TRP, and across the rth TRPs may be different. The single SCI across all subTRP or groups of subTRP(s) and across TRP(s), all polarizations per layer are considered. The phase of combination coefficients in a layer may be normalized across the subTRP group and / or across all TRP(s) with respect to the strongest coefficient for the specific layer. The amplitude references are defined per subTRP group and the TRP group across polarization to address the power imbalance due to different RSRP levels.

[0203] The index ranges for group-wise phase and amplitude selections may be expressed as:

[0204]

[0205] The subTRP or group of subTRPs across TRPs may be expressed as:

[0206]

[0207] Additionally, the joint determination of the coefficients and may be performed for the sub-TRP group within the TRP.

[0208] Further, image 1004 depicts that each panel may be split into multiple unequal sizes of antenna groups (subTRP) with different configurations. The subset of the unmuted subTRP group within the panel or across panels forms the m-subTRP deployment within the TRP. Further, the and the may be considered different for the subset of the subTRP group in the panel, across panels within the TRP, and across TRP. The within TRPs may be represented using:

[0209]

[0210] Further, the across TRPs may be represented using:

[0211]

[0212] Where, represents co-amplitude, represents co-phase for the ith subTRP in the panel or across panels within the TRP, and across the r TRPs may be different. Further, the single SCI across all subTRP groups, across all TRP groups, and all polarizations per layer are considered. The phase of combination coefficients in the layer may be normalized across the subTRP group and / or across all the TRP groups with respect to the strongest coefficient for the specific layer. The amplitude references are defined per the subTRP group and the TRP group across polarization to address the power imbalance due to different RSRP levels.

[0213] The index ranges for group-wise phase and amplitude selections may be expressed as:

[0214]

[0215] The subTRP or group of subTRPs across TRPs may be expressed as:

[0216]

[0217] Further, the joint determination of the coefficients and may be performed for the sub-TRP group within the TRP, since the benefits of sharing only the FD basis across multiple TRPs are limited.

[0218] Figure 11 depicts a CSI-driven subTRP sizing and selection sequence, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, in step 1110, the UE 1102 reports CSI feedback with cooperative TRPs. At step 1120, at the gNB 1104, a joint objective is evaluated to maximize throughput (cell-sum capacity) and minimize energy consumption. At step 1130, the gNB 1104 determines subTRPs to be muted within and across TRPs. At step 1140, the gNB 1104 signals the chosen subTRP sizes and the selection of subTRPs to the UE 1102. At 1150, the UE 1102 provides CSI feedback focused on the selected TRPs or subTRPs for the subsequent interval. This loop iterates per reporting interval to track channel dynamics and sustain energy savings with minimal throughput impact.

[0219] Figure 12 illustrates a process flow of a method 1200 for configuring multi-Transmission Reception Points deployment within the transmission reception point, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 1200 may be a computer-implemented method executed, for example, by the network entity 404. For the sake of brevity, constructional and operational features of the network entity 404 that are already explained in the description of Figures 1-11 are not explained in detail in the description of Figure 12.

[0220] At step 1202, the method 1200 may include splitting each panel of the TRP into the plurality of antenna groups. In a non-limiting example, each antenna group corresponds to the subTRP.

[0221] At step 1204, the method 1200 may include selectively muting the subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on the CSI feedback from the UE.

[0222] At step 1206, the method 1200 may include identifying the subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across the one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting. In a non-limiting example, the identified subset forms an active subTRP set for subsequent precoding and transmission.

[0223] At step 1202, the method 1200 may include forming the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs. In a non-limiting example, the m-TRP deployment aggregates the unmuted subTRPs for coherent transmission.

[0224] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining the explicit channel matrix for the TRP based on the CSI feedback. In a non-limiting example, the explicit channel matrix is computed per subTRP and per transmission layer.

[0225] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining the SD matrix based on the explicit channel matrix. In a non-limiting example, the SD matrix captures spatial basis vectors used for compression.

[0226] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining the SD coefficients based on the SD matrix and the explicit channel matrix. In a non-limiting example, the SD coefficients quantify the projection of the channel onto the SD basis.

[0227] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining the frequency domain (FD) compression and the SD-FD coefficients based on the SD coefficients. In a non-limiting example, the FD compression is performed per sub-band and combined with SD coefficients to yield SD-FD coefficients.

[0228] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining the per-subTRP precoder based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and the FD compression. In a non-limiting example, the per-subTRP precoder is applied to each active subTRP in the m-TRP deployment.

[0229] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining the CJT precoder for processing each TRP based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and frequency-domain compression. In a non-limiting example, the frequency-domain compression comprises per-subTRP compression and subTRP-aggregated compression, within and across the TRP.

[0230] In an embodiment, the plurality of antenna groups may include homogeneous subTRPs of equal size with same configuration. In a non-limiting example, each panel is partitioned into equal-sized subTRPs sharing identical port configurations.

[0231] In an embodiment, the plurality of antenna groups includes heterogeneous subTRPs of unequal sizes with same or different configurations. In a non-limiting example, subTRP sizes and configurations vary across panels to match deployment constraints.

[0232] In an embodiment, for selectively muting the subset of subTRPs, the method 1200 may be configured to receive the CSI feedback. In a non-limiting example, the CSI feedback includes the PMI, the RI, the CQI, and the one or more channel measurement results derived from the one or more NZP CSI-RS resources associated with Channel Measurement Resources. In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining, at the Next Generation Base Station (gNB), the explicit channel matrix for each subTRP, and the one or more channel processing parameters for each TRP and each subTRP, based on the CSI feedback. In a non-limiting example, the one or more channel processing parameters includes spatial domain (SD) matrix, SD coefficients, frequency-domain (FD) compression, and SD-FD coefficients. Further, the one or more channel processing parameters are updated per reporting interval.

[0233] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include identifying, for each transmission layer and polarization, the SCI across the subTRPs based on the one or more channel processing parameters. In a non-limiting example, the SCI points to the strongest combination coefficient per layer.

[0234] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include normalizing, for each transmission layer, phases of combination coefficients derived from the one or more channel processing parameters. In a non-limiting example, the normalization includes normalizing phases of co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients across at least one of the subTRP and the subTRP group within the TRP. In a non-limiting example, normalization references the strongest coefficient for that layer.

[0235] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include determining, for each subTRP, the capacity contribution based on the explicit channel matrix and the one or more channel processing parameters. In a non-limiting example, the capacity contribution is used as a ranking metric.

[0236] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include selecting the subset of subTRPs to be muted based on the capacity contribution and apply muting to the selected subset of subTRPs. In a non-limiting example, muting decisions are periodically re-evaluated to track channel dynamics

[0237] In an embodiment, the method 1200 may include applying the co-amplitude and the co-phase coefficients for grouping of the subTRPs into the one or more subTRP groups. In a non-limiting example, the co-amplitude and the co-phase for the subTRP group are same within the TRP. In a non-limiting example, group-wise coefficients simplify CJT precoder application within the TRP.

[0238] The present disclosure provides the following advantages:

[0239] a) jointly maximize an achievable cell-sum capacity across cooperating TRPs.

[0240] b) jointly minimize energy consumption attributable to radio-frequency chains and power amplifiers, by appropriate choice of subTRP size and selection / muting of subTRPs within and across TRPs based on CSI feedback received from the UE.

[0241] Figure 13 illustrates an example user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0242] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0243] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication and having various form factors, examples of the terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing wireless communication with a base station (BS) and / or another terminal through a wireless channel.

[0244] Referring to FIG. 13, the UE 1300 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply "transceiver") 1301, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply "processor") 1302, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply "memory") 1303. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1301, the processor 1302, and the memory 1303 of the UE 1300 may operate. However, components of the UE 1300 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 13. In another embodiment, the UE 1300 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1301, the processor 1302, or the memory 1303 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0245] The transceiver 1301 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1300 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1301 may enable the UE 1300 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 1301 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1301) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0246] According to an embodiment, the UE 1300 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 1300 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 1300 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 1300 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0247] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1301 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1301 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1301 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1302 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1302.

[0248] The processor 1302 may control general operations of the UE 1300 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1302 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1302 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1303, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1302 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0249] The processor 1302 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1301 to control the transceiver 1301.

[0250] The processor 1302 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 1302 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1302 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1302 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1301 or the memory 1303.

[0251] The processor 1302 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1300 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1302 may control operations of the UE 1300 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1302 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1303, so as to control other components of the UE 1300 to enable execution of various operations.

[0252] The memory 1303 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1303 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0253] The memory 1303 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1302 and may be accessed by the processor 1302.

[0254] The memory 1303 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1303, the processor 1302 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0255] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1300 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1303 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0256] Figure 14 illustrates an example base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0257] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0258] The BS 1400 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1400 through a wireless channel. The BS 1400 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication.

[0259] Referring to FIG. 14, the BS 1400 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply "transceiver") 1401, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply "processor") 1402, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply "memory") 1403. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1401, the processor 1402, and the memory 1403 of the BS 1400 may operate. However, components of the BS 1400 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 14. In another embodiment, the BS 1400 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1401, the processor 1402, or the memory 1403 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0260] The transceiver 1401 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1400 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1401 may enable the BS 1400 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE 1300 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1401 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1401) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1401 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1401 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1401 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1402 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1402.

[0261] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1400 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1400 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 14, when the BS 1400 performs wired communication, the BS 1400 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1401. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0262] The processor 1402 may control general operations of the BS 1400 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1402 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1402 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1403, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1402 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0263] The processor 1402 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1401 to control the transceiver 1401.

[0264] The processor 1402 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1402 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1402 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1401 or the memory 1403.

[0265] The processor 1402 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1400 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1402 may control operations of the BS 1400 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1400 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1402 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1403, so as to control other components of the BS 1400 to enable execution of various operations.

[0266] The memory 1403 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1403 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0267] The memory 1403 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1402 and may be accessed by the processor 1402.

[0268] The memory 1403 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1402. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1402 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1403, the processor 1402 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0269] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1400 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1403 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0270] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, disclosed herein is a method for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP). The method includes splitting each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups. Each antenna group may correspond to a subTRP. Further, the method includes selectively muting a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE). Furthermore, the method includes identifying a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting. Furthermore, the method includes forming the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.

[0271] In an embodiment, the method further comprises determining an explicit channel matrix for the TRP based on the CSI feedback; determining a spatial domain (SD) matrix based on the explicit channel matrix; determining SD coefficients based on the SD matrix and the explicit channel matrix; determining frequency domain (FD) compression and SD-FD coefficients based on the SD coefficients; determining a per-subTRP precoder based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and the FD compression; and determining a Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) precoder for processing each TRP based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and frequency-domain compression, wherein the frequency-domain compression comprises per-subTRP compression and subTRP-aggregated compression, within and across the TRP.

[0272] In an embodiment, wherein the plurality of antenna groups comprises homogeneous subTRPs of equal size with same configuration.

[0273] In an embodiment, wherein the plurality of antenna groups comprises heterogeneous subTRPs of unequal sizes with same or different configurations.

[0274] In an embodiment, the method further comprises receiving the CSI feedback; identifying, for each transmission layer and polarization, a Single Strong Coefficient Index (SCI) across the subTRPs based on the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the one or more channel processing parameters are determine based on the CSI feedback and comprises spatial domain (SD) matrix, SD coefficients, frequency-domain (FD) compression, and SD-FD coefficients; normalizing, for each transmission layer, phases of combination coefficients derived from the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the normalization comprises normalizing phases of co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients across at least one of: the subTRP and the subTRP group within the TRP; determining, for each subTRP, a capacity contribution based on the explicit channel matrix and the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the explicit channel matrix is determined based on the CSI feedback; selecting the subset of subTRPs to be muted based on the capacity contribution; and applying muting to the selected subset of subTRPs.

[0275] In an embodiment, the CSI feedback comprises at least one of a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and one or more channel measurement results derived from one or more Non-Zero-Power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) resources associated with Channel Measurement Resources.

[0276] In an embodiment, the method further comprises applying co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients for grouping of the subTRPs into one or more subTRP groups, and wherein the co-amplitude and the co-phase for a subTRP group are same within the TRP.

[0277] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, disclosed herein is a network entity for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP). The network entity comprises at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the network entity to split each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups. Each antenna group may correspond to a subTRP; selectively mute a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE); identify a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting; and form the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.

[0278] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the elements. The elements can be at least one of a hardware device or a combination of hardware devices and software modules.

[0279] While specific language has been used to describe the disclosure, any limitations arising on account of the same are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein.

[0280] The drawings and the forgoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, orders of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein.

[0281] Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in the order shown; nor do all of the acts necessarily need to be performed. Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performed in parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no means limited by these specific examples. Numerous variations, whether explicitly given in the specification or not, such as differences in structure, dimension, and use of material, are possible. The scope of embodiments is at least as broad as given by the following claims.

[0282] Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any component(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or component of any or all the claims.

[0283] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and / or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of at least one embodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

[0284] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1.A method (1200) performed by a network entity for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), the method comprising:splitting (1202) each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups, wherein each antenna group corresponds to a subTRP;selectively (1204) muting a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE);identifying (1206) a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting; andforming (1208) the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.2.The method (1200) as claimed in claim 1, comprising:determining an explicit channel matrix for the TRP based on the CSI feedback;determining a spatial domain (SD) matrix based on the explicit channel matrix;determining SD coefficients based on the SD matrix and the explicit channel matrix;determining frequency domain (FD) compression and SD-FD coefficients based on the SD coefficients;determining a per-subTRP precoder based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and the FD compression; anddetermining a Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) precoder for processing each TRP based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and frequency-domain compression, wherein the frequency-domain compression comprises per-subTRP compression and subTRP-aggregated compression, within and across the TRP.3.The method (1200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of antenna groups comprises homogeneous subTRPs of equal size with same configuration.4.The method (1200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of antenna groups comprises heterogeneous subTRPs of unequal sizes with same or different configurations.5.The method (1200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selective muting of the subset of subTRPs comprises:receiving the CSI feedback;identifying, for each transmission layer and polarization, a Single Strong Coefficient Index (SCI) across the subTRPs based on the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the one or more channel processing parameters are determine based on the CSI feedback and comprises spatial domain (SD) matrix, SD coefficients, frequency-domain (FD) compression, and SD-FD coefficients;normalizing, for each transmission layer, phases of combination coefficients derived from the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the normalization comprises normalizing phases of co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients across at least one of: the subTRP and the subTRP group within the TRP;determining, for each subTRP, a capacity contribution based on the explicit channel matrix and the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the explicit channel matrix is determined based on the CSI feedback;selecting the subset of subTRPs to be muted based on the capacity contribution; andapplying muting to the selected subset of subTRPs.6.The method (1200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the CSI feedback comprises at least one of: a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and one or more channel measurement results derived from one or more Non-Zero-Power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) resources associated with Channel Measurement Resources.7.The method (1200) as claimed in claim 1, comprising:applying co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients for grouping of the subTRPs into one or more subTRP groups, and wherein the co-amplitude and the co-phase for a subTRP group are same within the TRP.8.A network entity (404) for configuring a multi-Transmission Reception Points (m-TRP) deployment within a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), the system comprising:at least one processor (502); andat least one memory (504), communicatively coupled to the at least one processor (502), storing instructions executable by at least one processor (502) individually or in any combination to cause the network entity to:split each panel of the TRP into a plurality of antenna groups, wherein each antenna group corresponds to a subTRP;selectively mute a subset of subTRPs of the plurality of antenna groups within and across the TRP based on Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from a User Equipment (UE);identify a subset of unmuted sub-TRPs within and across one or more panels of the TRP based on the selective muting; andform the m-TRP deployment within the TRP based on the identified unmuted subTRPs.9.The network entity (404) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one processor (502) is configured to:determine an explicit channel matrix for the TRP based on the CSI feedback;determine a spatial domain (SD) matrix based on the explicit channel matrix;determine SD coefficients based on the SD matrix and the explicit channel matrix;determine frequency domain (FD) compression and SD-FD coefficients based on the SD coefficients;determine a per-subTRP precoder based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and the FD compression; anddetermine a Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) precoder for processing each TRP based on the SD matrix, the SD-FD coefficients, and frequency-domain compression, wherein the frequency-domain compression comprises per-subTRP compression and subTRP-aggregated compression, within and across the TRP.10.The network entity (404) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the plurality of antenna groups comprises homogeneous subTRPs of equal size with same configuration.11.The network entity (404) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the plurality of antenna groups comprises heterogeneous subTRPs of unequal sizes with same or different configurations.12.The network entity (404) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one processor (502) is configured to:receive the CSI feedback;identify, for each transmission layer and polarization, a Single Strong Coefficient Index (SCI) across the subTRPs based on the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the one or more channel processing parameters are determine based on the CSI feedback and comprises spatial domain (SD) matrix, SD coefficients, frequency-domain (FD) compression, and SD-FD coefficients;normalize, for each transmission layer, phases of combination coefficients derived from the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the normalization comprises normalizing phases of co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients across at least one of: the subTRP and the subTRP group within the TRP;determine, for each subTRP, a capacity contribution based on the explicit channel matrix and the one or more channel processing parameters, wherein the explicit channel matrix is determined based on the CSI feedback;select the subset of subTRPs to be muted based on the capacity contribution; andapply muting to the selected subset of subTRPs.13.The network entity (404) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the CSI feedback comprises at least one of: a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and one or more channel measurement results derived from one or more Non-Zero-Power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) resources associated with Channel Measurement Resources.14.The network entity (404) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one processor (502) is configured to:apply co-amplitude and co-phase coefficients for grouping of the subTRPs into one or more subTRP groups, and wherein the co-amplitude and the co-phase for a subTRP group are same within the TRP.

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