TCI State Management for Intra-Band Carrier Aggregation Beam Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 3GPP specifications lack details on common beams for data and control information transmission/reception, particularly for intra-band carrier aggregation, and unclear on how to update and manage these beams efficiently, impacting latency and overhead in multi-beam operations.
Innovation Solution
The method involves receiving and transmitting downlink control information with transmission configuration indicators (TCI) states, and sending hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) codebooks to manage physical downlink control channels and shared channels based on TCI states, ensuring efficient beam management and quasi-co-location relationships between reference signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If common beams are supported for data and control information transmission in intra-band carrier aggregation, then beam management efficiency is improved, but specification complexity increases due to lack of detailed provisions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the beam management process by introducing separate TCI state indication mechanisms for PDCCH and PDSCH. The network can independently indicate TCI states for control channels and data channels, allowing flexible beam management without requiring complex overall specification redesign. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling efficient beam management through modular, independent control of different channel types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic beam management by allowing the network to update TCI states for PDCCH and PDSCH independently and at different times. The terminal device can adaptively switch between different TCI states based on network indications, enabling real-time beam optimization without fixed, complex specification constraints. This dynamic approach improves beam management efficiency while maintaining specification simplicity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If TCI states are indicated for both PDCCH and PDSCH, then beam management flexibility is improved, but processing time increases due to additional state management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the network pre-configure multiple TCI states for the terminal device before actual transmission. The terminal device stores these pre-configured states and can quickly switch between them based on simple network indications, avoiding the need for complex real-time calculations. This preliminary preparation reduces processing time while maintaining high beam management flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces TCI state codes as intermediaries between the network and terminal device. Instead of directly transmitting complex beam parameters, the network sends compact TCI state codepoints that the terminal device maps to pre-configured beam parameters. This intermediary mechanism reduces processing time by simplifying the indication signaling while maintaining full beam management flexibility through the pre-configured state mappings.
3Ease of operation
If unified TCI framework is implemented for DL and UL, then operational simplicity is improved, but implementation details become unclear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different TCI state application rules for different channel types (PDCCH vs. PDSCH) and different directions (DL vs. UL). While the overall framework is unified, the specific implementation details can be locally optimized for each channel type. The network can indicate whether a TCI state update applies to PDCCH, PDSCH, or both, providing operational simplicity through unified signaling while maintaining implementation clarity through channel-specific applicability rules.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer storage media for communication. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a first downlink control information (DCI) with an indication of a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second DCI with an indication of a second TCI state are received by a terminal device. A hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) codebook corresponding to the reception, is transmitted to the network device. At least one of a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) with one of the first TCI state and the second TCI state is received after a timing based on an information of the HARQ-ACK codebook.