CN119678387A

CN119678387A - Use a pair list to select a unified send status for multipoint operation

Info

Publication number: CN119678387A
Application number: CN202380058521.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 何宏; 张大伟; 曾威; 孙海童; A·巴马里; 叶春璇; 叶思根; O·F·奥特莱; S·A·A·法科里安; 崔杰
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2022-08-08
Filing date: 2023-08-02
Publication date: 2025-03-21
Also published as: WO2024035586A1; WO2024035585A1; EP4544702A1; KR20250034467A

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to techniques for performing multiple transmit and receive point operations in a wireless communication system. The plurality of transmission control indication states may be indicated for future use, for example, using one or more pairing lists. A subset of the indicated states may be activated. One or more states in the subset may be used to perform multiple transmit and receive point operations in a single downlink control information mode.

Description

Selecting unified send state for multi-point operation using pairwise lists

Technical Field

The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to a system, apparatus, and method for communication with multiple transmission and reception point operations using a unified transmission control state in a wireless communication system.

Description of related Art

The use of wireless communication systems is rapidly growing. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functions. Additionally, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), bluetooth ^TM, and the like.

The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functionalities in wireless communication devices has also created a continuing need for improved wireless communication as well as improved wireless communication devices. In particular, it is important to ensure the accuracy of signals transmitted and received by User Equipment (UE) devices, for example by wireless devices such as cellular telephones, base stations and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications. Furthermore, increasing the functionality of the UE device may place a great strain on the battery life of the UE device. It is therefore also important to reduce power requirements in the design of the UE device while allowing the UE device to maintain good transmit and receive capabilities to improve communications. Accordingly, improvements in this area are desired.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method for communication with multiple transmission and reception point operation using unified transmission control states in a wireless communication system are presented herein.

One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a User Equipment (UE). The method may include receiving a configuration of a first list of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) from a cellular network, the first list of TCI states including at least four downlink or bidirectional TCI states, receiving a first message from the cellular network indicating a first plurality of TCI states in the first list of TCI states, the first message including a first plurality of fields, wherein respective fields in the first plurality of fields indicate respective ones of the first plurality of TCI states associated with respective TCI code points, receiving a second message from the cellular network indicating a value of a first TCI code point, determining a number of TCI states associated with the first TCI code point based on the first field, and selecting a first subset of TCI states for downlink communications, the TCI states including the TCI states in the first subset of TCI states, based on the value of the first TCI code point and the first field corresponding to the first TCI code point, and receiving a first subset of TCI states from the first subset of TCI states in the set using the first subset of TCI states.

It is noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented and/or used with a number of different types of devices including, but not limited to, base stations, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and/or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it should be understood that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of the various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example base station in communication with an example wireless User Equipment (UE) device, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 5 is a communication flow diagram illustrating aspects of an exemplary possible method for communication for multi-TRP operation using unified transmission control states in a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 6-25 illustrate exemplary aspects of various possible communication methods for multi-TRP operation using a unified transmission control state in a wireless communication system, according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

Detailed Description

Acronyms

Used throughout this disclosure various acronyms are presented. The definitions of the most commonly used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are provided below:

UE: user equipment

RF: radio frequency

BS base station

Global system for mobile communications (GSM)

UMTS: universal mobile telecommunications system

LTE: long term evolution

New radio

TX: transmit

RX: receiving

RAT radio Access technology

PDCCH physical downlink control channel

TRP: transmitting reception point

TCI: send control indicator

QCL quasi co-location

DCI downlink control information

CSI channel State information

CQI channel quality indicator

Terminology

The following is a glossary of terms that may appear in this disclosure:

Memory medium-any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include mounting media, e.g., CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices, computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, rambus RAM, etc., non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., hard disk drives or optical storage devices, registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing the program or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system through a network such as the internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems, e.g., connected by a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) executable by one or more processors.

Carrier medium-a memory medium as described above, and physical transmission media such as buses, networks, and/or other physical transmission media conveying signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Computer system (or computer) -any of a variety of types of computing systems or processing systems, including Personal Computer Systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet appliances, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor, which executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") -any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone ^TM, android ^TM based phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad ^TM、Samsung Galaxy^TM), portable gaming devices (e.g., nintendo DS ^TM、PlayStation Portable^TM、Gameboy Advance^TM、iPhone^TM), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptop computers, PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and/or motor vehicles, unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), and the like. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of such devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Wireless device-any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. The wireless device may be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A UE is one example of a wireless device.

Communication device-any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communications, where the communications may be wired or wireless. The communication device may be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

Base Station (BS) -the term "base station" has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

Processing element (or processor) -refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing functions in a device (e.g., a user equipment device or a cellular network device). The processing elements may include, for example, processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and any combinations of the above.

Wi-Fi-the term "Wi-Fi" has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by and provides connectivity to the internet through Wireless LAN (WLAN) access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and sold under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

Automatically-refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASIC, etc.) without the need to directly specify or perform the action or operation by user input. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to operations being performed or specified manually by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. The automated process may be initiated by user-provided input, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually", where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user fills in an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) to manually fill in the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to user actions. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system that (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user entering an answer to the specified fields. As indicated above, the user may refer to the automatic filling of the form, but not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers to the fields, but they do so automatically). The present description provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that a user has taken.

Configured-various components may be described as "configured to" perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, "configured to" is a broad expression generally meaning "having" structure "that" performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when a component is not currently performing a task, the component may be configured to perform the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad expression of structure generally meaning "having" circuitry "that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry forming the structure corresponding to "configured to" may comprise hardware circuitry.

For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be construed to include the phrase "configured to". The expression component configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not refer to the component for explanation of the sixth clause of the american code of law, volume 35, clause 112.

Fig. 1 and 2-exemplary communication systems

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented, in accordance with some embodiments. It is noted that the system of fig. 1 is only one example of a possible system, and that the embodiment may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number of) user devices 106A, 106B, etc. to 106N over a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or UE device. Thus, the user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

Base station 102 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware and/or software to enable wireless communications with UEs 106A-106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as "gNodeB" or "gNB". The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and/or the internet, as well as various possible networks). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and/or between a user device and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell. Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent a network taking into account Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) communications of the UE. Thus, a UE in communication with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood as a UE in communication with a network.

The base station 102 and user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), LAA/LTE-U, 5G NR, 3gpp2 cdma2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), wi-Fi, etc.

Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cellular networks that may provide continuous or near continuous overlapping services to UEs 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Note that the UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of a 3GPP cellular communication standard or a 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to perform techniques for communication using unified TCI state for multi-TRP operation in a wireless communication system, such as in accordance with the various methods described herein. The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using WLAN, bluetooth ^TM, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H), and/or the like. Other combinations of wireless communication standards, including more than two wireless communication standards, are also possible.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A-106N) in communication with a base station 102, in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, wearable device, computer or tablet, unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), unmanned flight controller (UAC), automobile, or almost any type of wireless device. The UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, the UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), integrated circuits, and/or any of a variety of other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method embodiments described herein or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. The UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE-a, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas to communicate using one or more wireless communication protocols in accordance with one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and/or the transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas (e.g., for a multiple-input, multiple-output, or "MIMO" antenna system) for performing wireless communications. In general, the radio may include any combination of baseband processors, analog RF signal processing circuits (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuits (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and/or the transmit chain among a variety of wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to transmit and/or receive directional wireless signals (e.g., beams) using the antennas. Similarly, BS102 can also include any number of antennas and can be configured to transmit and/or receive directional wireless signals (e.g., beams) using the antennas. To receive and/or transmit such directional signals, the antennas of UE 106 and/or BS102 may be configured to apply different "weights" to the different antennas. The process of applying these different weights may be referred to as "precoding".

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As yet another possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radios shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radios that are uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include a shared radio for communicating using any of LTE or CDMA20001xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and bluetooth ^TM. Other configurations are also possible.

In some implementations, the UE 106 may include a plurality of subscriber identity modules (SIMs, sometimes referred to as SIM cards). In other words, the UE 106 may be a multi-SIM (MUSIM) device, such as a dual SIM device. Any of the various SIMs may be a physical SIM (e.g., a SIM card) or an embedded (e.g., virtual) SIM. Any combination of physical and/or virtual SIMs may be included. Each SIM may provide various services (e.g., packet-switched services and/or circuit-switched services) to a subscriber. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may share a common receive (Rx) chain and/or transmit (Tx) chain for multiple SIMs (e.g., the UE 106 may have a dual SIM dual standby architecture). Other architectures are possible. For example, the UE 106 may be a dual SIM dual active architecture, may include separate Tx and/or Rx chains for various SIMs, may include more than two SIMs, and so on.

Different identities (e.g., different SIMs) may have different identifiers, such as different UE identities (UE IDs). For example, the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) may be an identity associated with a SIM (e.g., in MUSIM devices, each SIM may have its own IMSI). The IMSI may be unique. Similarly, each SIM may have its own unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). Thus, IMSI and/or IMEI may be examples of possible UE IDs, however other identifiers may be used as UE IDs.

The different identities may have the same or different relationships with various Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs). For example, the first identity may have a first home PLMN and the second identity may have a different home PLMN. In such cases, one identity may camp on the home network (e.g., on a cell provided by BS 102) while another identity may be roaming (e.g., while also camping on the same cell provided by BS102 or on a different cell provided by the same or a different BS 102). In other cases, multiple identities may be home at the same time (e.g., on the same or different cells of the same or different networks) or may be roaming at the same time (e.g., on the same or different cells of the same or different networks). It should be appreciated that a variety of combinations are possible. For example, two SIM subscriptions on MUSIM devices may belong to the same equivalent/carrier (e.g., AT & T/AT & T or CMCC/CMCC). asanotherexemplarypossibility,SIM-amayberoamingintoanetworkofSIM-b(SIM-acmccuserroamingtoat&tandSIM-bisalsoat&t).

FIG. 3-block diagram of an exemplary UE device

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary UE 106, according to some embodiments. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of a variety of possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit configured to detect motion of the UE 106, e.g., using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and/or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuit 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, e.g., for measuring the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and/or other components of the UE 106. Any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuits may also or alternatively be included in the UE 106, as desired. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read Only Memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and/or other circuits or devices, such as display circuitry 304, radio 330, connector I/F320, and/or display 360.MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuitry of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, docking station, charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, bluetooth ^TM, wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include or be coupled to at least one antenna (e.g., 335 a) and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., illustrated by antennas 335a and 335 b) for performing wireless communications with base stations and/or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example and UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Collectively, one or more antennas are referred to as antenna 335. For example, UE device 106 may perform wireless communications with radio circuitry 330 using antenna 335. The communication circuit may include multiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receiving and/or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration. As noted above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using a plurality of wireless communication standards.

The UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing methods for the UE 106 to perform techniques such as those described further herein below for communicating using unified TCI states for multi-TRP operation in a wireless communication system. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, such as by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). Further, processor 302 can be coupled to and/or interoperable with other components as shown in fig. 3 to perform techniques for communicating using unified TCI states for multi-TRP operation in a wireless communication system in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 may also implement various other applications and/or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

In some embodiments, the radio 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for various respective RAT standards. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., LTE and/or LTE-a controller) 354, and a bluetooth ^TM controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (simply referred to as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (and more particularly with the processor 302). For example, wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and/or bluetooth ^TM controller 356 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or the like. Although three separate controllers are shown within radio 330, other embodiments with fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs may be implemented in UE device 106.

Additionally, embodiments are also contemplated in which the controller may implement functionality associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to hardware and/or software components for performing cellular communications, cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and/or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and/or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

FIG. 4-block diagram of an exemplary base station

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102, according to some embodiments. Note that the base station of fig. 4 is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate the addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to a plurality of devices, such as UE device 106, that are entitled to the telephone network as described above in fig. 1 and 2. The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via a core network, and/or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G new radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB". In such embodiments, the base station 102 may be connected to a legacy Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network and/or to an NR core (NRC) network. Further, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more Transmission and Reception Points (TRP). Further, a UE capable of operating in accordance with a 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gnbs.

Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio 430. An antenna 434 communicates with the radio 430 via a communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. The radio 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards including, but not limited to, 5G NR SAT, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, wi-Fi, etc.

The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using a plurality of wireless communication standards. In some examples, base station 102 may include multiple radios that may enable base station 102 to communicate in accordance with multiple wireless communication techniques. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 may include LTE radio components for performing communication according to LTE and 5GNR radio components for performing communication according to 5G NR. In such cases, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multimode radio capable of performing communications in accordance with any of a variety of wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, 5G NR SAT and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

BS102 may include hardware components and software components for implementing or supporting the specific implementation of features described herein, as described further herein below. The processor 404 of the base station 102 can be configured to implement and/or support the implementation of some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., wi-Fi), base station 102 may be designed as an Access Point (AP), in which case network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and/or one or more local area networks, e.g., it may include at least one ethernet port, and radio 430 may be designed to communicate in accordance with the Wi-Fi standard.

Further, as described herein, the processor 404 may include one or more processing elements. Accordingly, the processor 404 may include one or more Integrated Circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor 404. Further, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 404.

Further, as described herein, radio 430 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more Integrated Circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio 430. Further, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio 430.

Reference signal

A wireless device, such as a user equipment, may be configured to perform various tasks including using Reference Signals (RSs) provided by one or more cellular base stations. For example, initial access and beam measurements of a wireless device may be performed based at least in part on Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) provided by one or more cells provided by one or more cellular base stations within communication range of the wireless device. Another type of reference signal commonly provided in cellular communication systems may include Channel State Information (CSI) RSs. Various types of CSI-RS may be provided for tracking (e.g., for time and frequency offset tracking), beam management (e.g., CSI-RS configured with repetition to help determine one or more beams for uplink and/or downlink communications), and/or channel measurements (e.g., CSI-RS configured in a resource set to measure the quality of a downlink channel and report information related to the quality measurement to a base station), as well as various possibilities. For example, in case that the CSI-RS is used for CSI acquisition, the UE may periodically perform channel measurement and transmit Channel State Information (CSI) to the BS. The base station may then receive and use the channel state information during communication with the wireless device to determine adjustments to various parameters. In particular, the BS may use the received channel state information to adjust the coding of its downlink transmissions to improve downlink channel quality.

In many cellular communication systems, a base station may periodically transmit some or all such reference signals (or pilot signals), such as SSBs and/or CSI-RSs. In some examples, aperiodic reference signals (e.g., aperiodic reference signals for aperiodic CSI reporting) may also or alternatively be provided.

As a detailed example, in at least some embodiments, in the 3GPP NR cellular communication standard, channel state information based on CSI-RS feedback for CSI acquisition from a UE may include one or more of a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), SSBRI (SS/PBCH resource block indicator, and a Layer Indicator (LI).

Channel quality information may be provided to the base station for link adaptation, e.g., to provide guidance as to which Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) the base station should use when transmitting data. For example, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be high, the UE may feedback a high CQI value, which may enable the base station to transmit data using a relatively high modulation order and/or a low channel coding rate. As another example, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be low, the UE may feedback a low CQI value, which may enable the base station to transmit data using a relatively low modulation order and/or a high channel coding rate.

PMI feedback may include preferred precoding matrix information and may be provided to the base station to indicate which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should use. In other words, the UE may measure the quality of the downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on the pilot signal received on the channel, and may recommend which MIMO precoding the base station is expected to apply by PMI feedback. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is represented in a matrix form, which provides linear MIMO precoding. The base station and the UE may share a codebook of multiple precoding matrices, where each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook may have a unique index. Thus, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI may include an index (or indices) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix (or matrices) in the codebook. This may enable the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Thus, at least in accordance with some embodiments, the PMI may indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

For example, when the base station and the UE have multiple antennas, rank indicator information (RI feedback) may indicate the number of transmission layers that the UE determines to be supportable by a channel, which may enable multi-layer transmission through spatial multiplexing. The RI and PMI may collectively allow the base station to know which precoding needs to be applied to which layer, e.g., depending on the number of transmission layers.

In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined according to the number of transmission layers. In other words, for R layer transmissions, N _t x R matrices may be defined (e.g., where R represents the number of layers, N _t represents the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N represents the size of the codebook). In such a scenario, the number of transmit layers (R) may conform to the rank value of the precoding matrix (N _t x R matrix), and thus R may be referred to as a "Rank Indicator (RI)" in this context.

Thus, the channel state information may include an assigned rank (e.g., rank indicator or RI). For example, a MIMO-enabled UE in communication with a BS may include four receiver chains, e.g., may include four antennas. The BS may also include four or more antennas to enable MIMO communication (e.g., 4×4 MIMO). Thus, the UE can simultaneously receive up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS. Layer-to-antenna mapping may be applied, e.g., each layer may be mapped to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port may transmit and/or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include a plurality of bits and may indicate a number of signals that the BS may transmit to the UE within an upcoming time period (e.g., during an upcoming transmission time interval or TTI). For example, the indication of rank 4 may indicate that the BS will transmit 4 signals to the UE. As one possibility, the RI may be two bits in length (e.g., since two bits are sufficient to distinguish between 4 different rank values). It is noted that other numbers and/or configurations of antennas (e.g., at either or both of the UE or BS) and/or other numbers of data layers are possible according to various embodiments.

FIG. 5-mapping TCI states for multiple TRP operations

According to some cellular communication techniques, a UE may communicate with multiple transmit-receive points (TRPs), including possibly simultaneously. Such communications may be scheduled using Downlink Control Information (DCI) that may be provided using control signaling, such as on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) that may be transmitted in one or more control resource sets (CORESET) and/or Search Space Sets (SSS). The DCI may be provided in a single DCI (sdi) mode in which communications between multiple TRPs (mTRP) and the wireless device/UE may be scheduled using a single DCI communication (e.g., from only one TRP) or in a multiple DCI mode in which each of the multiple TRPs may provide DCI communications that schedule their own communications with the wireless device.

The communications scheduled in such a multi-TRP scenario may include data communications (e.g., which may be transmitted using a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and/or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) and/or aperiodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmissions, as well as various possibilities. Further, aperiodic CSI-RS transmissions may include CSI-RS configured for multiple possible purposes, such as for beam management, tracking, or CSI acquisition.

Transmission from UE to TRP/from TRP to UE may be directed according to a Transmission Control Indication (TCI) state. For example, the TCI state may correspond to Uplink (UL) and/or Downlink (DL) beams at the UE and/or TRP. The UE may be configured to use one or more TCI states simultaneously. Several years after the first deployment of NR, it becomes clear that the TCI state framework in release 15 (Rel-15) may be considered excessively flexible, which may result in significant signaling overhead. A unified TCI framework is introduced in Rel-17, which may facilitate simplified multi-beam operation, e.g., for Frequency Range (FR) 2. According to the unified TCI framework, one TCI state indication may be applied to multiple channels (e.g., PDSCH, PUSCH, PDCCH and PUCCH may all be mapped to a single common TCI state).

The TCI state may be one of three types, uplink (e.g., uplink only), downlink, or joint (e.g., bi-directional, such as uplink and downlink).

One goal of various technical efforts may be to enhance the unified TCI framework to allow extension to mTRP use cases. The Rel-17 unified TCI framework may support the case where all uplink and downlink signals/channels use the same beam or TCI. Similarly, the Rel-17 unified TCI framework may support the case where all uplink signals/channels use one beam/TCI and all downlink signals/channels use a second beam/TCI. However, the Rel-17 unified TCI framework may not support mTRP cases, for example, where all uplink or downlink signals/channels do not use the same beam/TCI.

One potential problem to be solved by extending the unified TCI framework to mTRP is how to indicate multiple (e.g., possibly more than 2) TCI states to enable more flexible communication between the UE and multiple TRPs. Thus, it may be beneficial to specify techniques for activating and/or deactivating TCI states in a multi-TRP scenario. To illustrate such a set of possible techniques, fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for performing TCI status indication for multi-TRP operation in a wireless communication system in accordance with at least some embodiments. Aspects of the method of fig. 5 may allow the UE and the network to each determine the same TCI state and/or TCI code point for communication. Among the various possibilities, the method of fig. 5 may be useful in sDCI mTRP scenarios.

Aspects of the method of fig. 5 may be implemented by a wireless device, for example, in connection with one or more cellular base stations and/or TRPs, such as the UE 106 and BS102 shown and described with respect to the various figures herein, or more generally in connection with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, components, etc. shown in the above figures, as desired. For example, a processor (and/or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and/or other method elements.

It is noted that while at least some elements of the method of fig. 5 have been described using a manner that involves the use of communication techniques and/or features associated with 3GPP and/or NR specifications documents, such description is not intended to limit the present disclosure and aspects of the method of fig. 5 may be used in any suitable wireless communication system as desired. In various embodiments, some of the elements of the illustrated methods may be performed concurrently in a different order than illustrated, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. As shown, the method of fig. 5 may operate as follows.

According to some embodiments, a wireless device may establish a wireless link with a cellular network (502). According to some embodiments, the wireless link may comprise a cellular link according to 5G NR. For example, the UE may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellular network by providing one or more base stations (e.g., TRPs and/or gnbs) for radio access to the cellular network. As another possibility, the wireless link may comprise a cellular link according to LTE. Other types of cellular links are also possible according to various embodiments, and the cellular network may also or alternatively operate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.).

Establishing a wireless link may include establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with a serving cellular base station, at least in accordance with some embodiments. Establishing an RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the UE and a cellular base station, establishing environmental information for the UE, and/or any of a variety of other possible features, e.g., involving establishing an air interface for the UE in cellular communication with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing the RRC connection, the UE may operate in an RRC connected state. In some examples, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a certain period of inactivity relative to data communications), in which case the UE may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some examples, the UE may perform a handover (e.g., when in RRC connected mode) or cell reselection (e.g., when in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell, e.g., due to UE mobility, changing wireless medium conditions, and/or any of various other possible reasons.

In accordance with at least some embodiments, a UE may establish a plurality of wireless links, e.g., with a plurality of TRPs of a cellular network, according to a multi-TRP configuration.

In at least some examples, establishing the wireless link may include the UE providing capability information of the UE. Such capability information may include information related to any of a variety of types of UE capabilities. In at least some examples, establishing the wireless link may include the UE exchanging configuration information with the network. In various possibilities, the configuration information and/or capability information may include information related to an indication (e.g., activation, deactivation, and/or selection) of one or more TCI states for communication.

According to some embodiments, the network may generate one or more lists of TCI states and/or groups of TCI states (503). Such one or more lists may describe possible TCI states and/or groups of TCI states that the UE may use to communicate with the network, e.g., via any number of TRPs. Different TRPs may belong to the same or different serving cells. The TCI states may include UL-only TCI states, DL-only TCI states, and/or joint (e.g., UL and DL) TCI states. Any one of the TCI states may be a unified TCI state. The TCI states may be grouped in any of a variety of ways.

The TCI states in the list may be identified by an index value, such as by a TCI state Identifier (ID). For example, a list of 64 TCI states may be indexed from 0 to 63.

In some implementations, each list can be associated with a TCI list ID.

As one possibility, the network may generate one or more common TCI status lists for multiple TRPs. For example, one common list may be a DL/joint TCI status list. Such DL/joint list may consist of several DL and/or joint TCI states. Further, another common list may be a UL TCI status list consisting of several UL TCI-only statuses. The public list may include states associated with any number of different TRPs.

In some embodiments, one common list may be UL and/or joint TCI state, while another common list may be DL TCI state. Similarly, three different common lists (e.g., one for UL, DL, and joint each) may be used.

In some embodiments, the maximum number of DL/joint TCI states in the list may be extended from 128 in Rel-17 to 256 to support mTRP. Similarly, the maximum number of UL TCI states in the list can be extended from 64 to 128 in Rel-17. Other maximum numbers may be used as desired.

In some embodiments, the network may generate the TCI state set from the list. For example, one or more groups may be generated from the DL/joint public list and one or more groups may be generated from the UL public list. As a possibility, a group may comprise one TCI state for each of several TRPs. For example, in the case of having two TRPs, a group may include two TCI states, one TCI state for each TRP. In other words, each TCI state group may be composed of a plurality of DL/UL/joint TCI states selected from a DL/joint TCI state list and a UL TCI state list. Each group may be identified with a group index. The following table provides example TCI group types and explains the potential use cases for each group type. Note that in this example, groups are indexed with decimal numbers, however, each group may be indexed with binary numbers (e.g., in the case of up to 8 groups configured, the group ID is 3 digits; however, different ID sizes and maximum number of groups may be used as needed), which may match TCI code points in DCI. Table 1:

in some implementations, groups may be created without any limitation, e.g., groups may be created with states from any list or combination of lists.

In some embodiments, the status of each group may be taken from only one of the lists. For example, separate lists of DL/joint groups and UL groups may be created. In other words, up to a maximum of K _D DL TCI state sets may be generated by selecting one or two (or more) DL or joint TCI states selected from the DL or joint TCI state list and up to a maximum of K _U UL TCI state pairs, where each UL TCI state pair consists of one or more UL TCI states selected from the UL TCI state list. In other words, a group may be created under the constraint that the group may be limited to one direction (e.g., for one direction (e.g., DL), the joint TCI state is allowed in the group).

As another possibility, separate lists may be created for separate TRPs. Fig. 15 illustrates a DL/joint and UL TCI list of two TRPs according to some embodiments. For example, in the case of two TRPs, up to four TCI state lists may be generated as follows. A first DL/joint TCI status list and a first UL TCI status list may be generated for a first TRP (e.g., indicated by TRP ID 0). A second DL/joint TCI status list and a second UL TCI status list may be generated for a second TRP (e.g., TRP ID 1). Note that additional lists may be generated for additional TRPs as needed. TRP IDs may be assigned to each DL/joint TCI state and UL TCI state list.

As another possibility, separate lists may be created for separate sets or pools of sets of resources. For example, a first resource set pool may be associated with a first DL/joint TCI state list and a first UL TCI state list (e.g., using a resource set pool index or ID). Any number of resource sets or resource set pools (e.g., resource set groups) may be defined and corresponding lists may be generated for them. Thus, a list similar to that shown in FIG. 15 may be created and identified with a resource set or resource set pool ID (e.g., instead of the TRP ID shown in FIG. 15).

One type of resource set may be a control source set (CORESET). Fig. 21 illustrates three CORESET (1 to 3) grouped into two CORESET pools (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex 0 and 1) according to some embodiments. Another type of resource set may be a Search Space Set (SSS). Fig. 22 illustrates three SSSs (1-3) grouped into two SSS pools (e.g., SSSPoolIndex 0 and 1) according to some embodiments. Thus, a TCI status list may be generated for any number of CORESET, CORESET pools, SSS, and/or SSS pools. It should be appreciated that one CORESET may include any number of SSSs. Thus, if CORESET is associated with a list of TCI states, any SSS in that CORESET may be associated with that list.

According to some embodiments, the network may send a list of TCI states and/or TCI state groups to the UE (504). Further, the network may send an indication of any other information discussed with respect to 503. For example, the network may send an indication of TRP ID, TCI state group, how to group different resource sets into pools, etc. Such lists and other information may be provided via RRC, among other possibilities.

In some embodiments, some or all of this information may be sent via Medium Access Control (MAC) or other signaling (e.g., in place of, or in addition to, RRC).

According to some embodiments, the network may select one or more TCI states (e.g., including one or more TCI state groups) to activate and/or deactivate for the UE (505). For example, in various possibilities, one or more TCI states may be activated for each of a plurality of TRPs. Fig. 6 illustrates a possibility in which one DL TCI state is activated for TRP #1, a different DL TCI state is activated for TRP #2, and two different UL TCI states are activated (e.g., one for each of TRP 1 and TRP 2). It should be understood that additional TRPs may be used as desired. Similarly, a federated (e.g., bi-directional) TCI may be used as desired. Furthermore, only one (e.g., combined/bi-directional or uni-directional) TCI may be used for TRP.

The TCI state (e.g., group) selected may be a subset of any of the lists discussed above with respect to 503 and 504. For example, the network may select a subset of UL TCI states from a list of UL states of one TRP or a list of UL states common to multiple TRPs. As another example, the network may select multiple TCI state groups from a group list.

In some embodiments, the network may select one or more TCI states for any resource set or pool of resource sets.

The selected TCI state may be activated or deactivated based on any of a variety of factors including network load (e.g., at any relevant TRP), movement/location of the UE, channel conditions, etc. Different states may be activated/deactivated at different times.

It should be appreciated that the activated TCI state may not necessarily imply that the TCI state is used for communication between the UE and the network. In contrast, an active TCI state may be associated with one or more TCI code points. Thus, the network may select one or more active TCI states (e.g., as described further below) for communication with the UE at a particular time.

According to some embodiments, the network may send one or more messages to the UE to indicate activation and/or deactivation of the selected TCI state (506). Among the various possibilities, the message may be or include a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE). For example, a MAC-CE with modifications may be used (e.g., unified TCI state activation/deactivation with respect to rel.17, as discussed below). In some embodiments, the MAC-CE may be identified with a MAC sub-header and a dedicated Logical Channel ID (LCID).

As one possibility (e.g., in the case of a common TCI state list for multiple TRPs), the MAC-CE may be modified to allow more than two TCI states to indicate a single TCI code point. Fig. 7 illustrates an example of such a message, according to some embodiments. As shown, the MAC-CE may include an identifier of a serving cell ID, UL and/or DL bandwidth portion (BWP) (e.g., UL/DL BWP ID), and any number of reserved fields (R) (e.g., which may be set to 0). The serving cell ID/DL BWP ID/UL BWP ID may indicate the identity of the serving cell, DL BWP, UL BWP to which the MAC CE is applied. The indication of potentially more than two TCI states per code point may be achieved by extending each of a plurality of code point specific fields P from 1 bit to a "K" bit. A particular field Pi may indicate whether the corresponding TCI code point has up to 2 ^K TCI states. As a possibility, if k=2, the field Pi can be interpreted as shown in the following table (table 2).

As shown in the table, each TCI code point may include up to TCI 2 ^K TCI states. For example, in the case of k=2, as shown, the TCI code point may have a maximum of 4 TCI states. As one possibility, a TCI code point may indicate 2 DL TCI states (e.g., each corresponding to TRP) and 2 UL TCI states (e.g., each for TRP) by setting the Pi field for that code point to "11".

Note that up to four TCI state combinations according to the 2-bit field "Pi" (e.g., in the example of k=2) may support at least the following combinations:

<1 federated TCI state, 1 federated TCI state >;

<1 pair < DL and UL TCI status >,1 pair < DL and UL TCI status >;

<1 pair < DL and UL TCI status >,1 DL TCI status >;

<1 pair < DL and UL TCI status >,1 UL TCI status >;

<1 joint TCI state, 1 pair < DL and UL TCI state > >. Note that this combination may support TRP specific unified TCI mode configurations. For example, one TRP may be configured with a joint TCI mode, while another TRP may be configured with a separate DL/UL TCI status mode. For example, among various possibilities, the second TRP may be configured with different DL and UL TCI states due to maximum allowed exposure (MPE) issues.

<1 Joint TCI State, 1 DL TCI State >

<1 Joint TCI State, 1 UL TCI State >

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, each TCI state ID may be associated with a 1-bit D/U field. This field may indicate whether the TCI status ID in the same octet is for joint/DL or uplink. In other words, this field may indicate whether the TCI status ID listed in the octet corresponds to a UL list or a joint/DL list. As one possibility, the values "0" and "1" may indicate UL and joint/DL TCI status lists, respectively (however, these values may be reversed as desired).

As shown in fig. 7, the TCI state ID may be provided in an ordered list. The Pi field may indicate a number of TCI state IDs (e.g., beginning with the ith TCI state ID in the list) associated with the TCI code point (e.g., the ith TCI code point) corresponding to the Pi field. For example, P1 may be set to "11" and, correspondingly, a first TCI code point "000" may be associated with four TCI states indicated by TCI states ID 1, ID 2, ID 3, and ID 4. Similarly, if P5 is set to 01, TCI code point 011 can be associated with two TCI states indicated by TCI states ID 5 and ID 6.

As another possibility, for example, without any limitation on the type of group created (e.g., in 503, 505), a (e.g., variable size) MAC-CE may be used to activate/deactivate the TCI state group. Fig. 8 illustrates an example of such a MAC-CE for activating a TCI state group according to some embodiments. Similar to fig. 7, serving cell IDs, UL, and DL BWP IDs may be included, and MAC-CEs may be associated with LCIDs. The TCI state group ID field may indicate the TCI state group index of the group to be activated or remain active. The group index value may refer to any of the previously configured (e.g., in 503/504, e.g., by RRC signaling) groups, e.g., groups similar to those shown in table 1. The first TCI code point (e.g., "000") may be associated with the TCI state group indicated by the "TCI state group ID 1" field, and so on. In some embodiments, the maximum number (N) of active TCI state sets may be 8.

As another possibility, for example, in case there is a limit to the type of group created (e.g., in 503, 505), a (e.g., variable size) MAC-CE may be used to activate/deactivate the TCI state group. Fig. 9 illustrates an example of such a MAC-CE for activating a TCI state group under the restriction that the group is limited to one direction (e.g., for one direction (e.g., DL), allowing a joint TCI state in the group), in accordance with some embodiments. Similar to fig. 7, serving cell IDs, UL, and DL BWP IDs may be included, and MAC-CEs may be associated with LCIDs. The TCI state group ID field may indicate the TCI state group index of the group to be activated or remain active. The group index value may refer to any of the previously configured (e.g., in 503/504, such as by RRC signaling) groups. The first TCI code point (e.g., "000") may be associated with the TCI state group indicated by the "TCI state group ID 1" field, and so on. The Pi field may indicate whether the corresponding (e.g., ith) TCI code point has multiple TCI state groups or a single TCI state group. For example, the value of the P field may be configured as follows:

a value of 0 may indicate that the ith TCI code point includes both DL (e.g., possibly including joint) TCI state sets and UL TCI set pairs.

A value of 1 may indicate that the ith TCI code point includes only one TCI group (DL, UL, or joint).

As discussed above, the D/U field (e.g., 1 bit per row) may indicate whether the TCI state group ID in the same octet corresponds to a DL or UL list. Further, the TCI state group ID may indicate a TCI state group index, e.g., from a list corresponding to the D/U field.

The message illustrated in fig. 9 may provide enough flexibility to selectively associate the ith TCI code point with one or two TCI state groups as follows:

Case 1 only one DL TCI state group or UL TCI state group may be associated with the code point. The associated Pi field may be set to "1" and the "D/U" field may be "D" or "U". The exact DL or UL TCI state set index may be indicated by a corresponding "TCI state set ID" field.

Case 2 one DL TCI state set and one UL TCI state set may be associated with the code point. The associated Pi field may be set to "0". The exact DL and UL TCI state group index values may be indicated by corresponding "TCI state group ID" fields (e.g., the i-th field and the i+1th field).

As another possibility, the MAC-CE may be enhanced by increasing the number of "Pi" fields from 8 to 2 ^M (e.g., unified TCI activation/deactivation of MAC-CE relative to Rel-17). Fig. 14 illustrates an example of such a MAC-CE with m=4, according to some embodiments. As shown, in this example, the P field may range from P1 to P16. Each Pi field may correspond to a TCI code point, so this example may be used in association with increasing the number of TCI code points from 8 (e.g., as in Rel-17) to 16 (e.g., and correspondingly increasing the size of the TCI field in the DCI from 3 to 4 (e.g., M) bits).

As another possibility, a TRP-specific (or more generally, feature-specific) message may be introduced to activate the DL or UL TCI state of a particular TRP (or list associated with a feature). Fig. 16 illustrates an example of a TRP-specific MAC CE according to some embodiments. As shown, a new MAC-CE may be identified by a MAC sub-header with a dedicated LCID. The MAC CE may have a variable size including the following fields. The serving cell ID/DL BWP ID/UL BWP ID may be as discussed above with respect to other figures. The TRP ID may indicate the identity of the TRP ID to which the message applies. The Pi fields may each indicate whether the corresponding TCI code point has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. For example, a value of 0 may indicate that the ith TCI code point includes both DL (e.g., or joint) TCI state and UL TCI state. In some embodiments, the indicated TCI state may be the i-th TCI state and the i+1th TCI state listed in the MAC-CE. In some embodiments, the indicated TCI state may be an i-th DL TCI state listed in the MAC-CE and an i-th UL TCI state listed in the MAC-CE. A value of 1 may indicate that the ith TCI code point includes only one TCI state (e.g., DL, joint or UL). The D/U field may indicate whether the TCI status ID in the same octet is for a downlink or uplink TCI status list with the indicated TRP ID. The TCI state ID may indicate a TCI state index of a corresponding TCI state list associated with the indicated TRP ID.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that TRP-specific is one example of a characteristic-specific message for TCI state activation/deactivation. The MAC-CE of fig. 16 may be adjusted as needed to include identifiers of different characteristics (e.g., instead of TRP IDs). For example, the TRP ID may be replaced with the ID of the resource set or resource set pool (e.g., CORESET ID, CORESETPoolIndex, SSSID, SSSPoolIndex, etc.).

Thus, any number of feature-specific messages may be used to activate and/or deactivate the TCI state of a feature. For example, if the TCI state is disabled for a first value of a characteristic (e.g., first CORESET), it may remain active for a different value of the characteristic (e.g., second CORESET), and so on.

As another possibility, TCIs from one or more lists may be activated and/or deactivated using direction-specific messaging. For example, as noted above, a UE may be configured with zero or more common TCI state lists and/or zero or more characteristic-specific TCI state lists for multiple TCI states. Some, all, or none of these lists may be direction specific (e.g., may include only DL or UL TCI states, optionally with joint TCI states included in one direction (e.g., DL)). Some, all, or none of these lists may not be direction specific (e.g., TCI states for multiple directions may be included in any list). Thus, using messaging to activate/deactivate TCI states in one direction together may be efficient, e.g., using one message for UL state and a different message for DL state. Also, if desired, the joint state may be included in one direction (e.g., DL). Different lists of TCI states may be identified with directions and list IDs.

For example, MAC-CE may be used that correlates DL TCI status from one or more lists to a TCI code point (e.g., in a DL DCI format such as 1_1 or 1_2). Such MAC-CEs may be modified with a D/U field that indicates that the listed TCI states may refer to TCI states that can be used for DL (e.g., joint states may or may not be included in various embodiments) with respect to Rel-17 unified TCI states activation/deactivation MAC-CEs. Fig. 24 illustrates an example of a message for DL TCI state according to some embodiments. As shown, for example, 1 bit in the first octet may be used for the D/U field, e.g., to indicate DL. In the case of using two or more DL TCI status lists, the 1-bit "D/U" field in each row (e.g., in Rel-17 MAC-CE) may be reused to indicate the "list ID" of the TCI status ID indicated in that row, e.g., as a list ID field, as shown. In some embodiments, if more than two DL TCI status lists are used, the D/U field may be extended with one or more additional bits, e.g., bits to accommodate DL list IDs as needed. According to some embodiments, if only one DL list is used, the list ID field may be omitted. The MAC CE may include a DL BWP ID. Similar to some of the examples discussed above, a plurality of P fields may be included, e.g., indicating a number of listed TCI states associated with a corresponding code point in the DCI. In some embodiments, each Pi field may be 1 bit, e.g., indicating that a code point is associated with one or both of the listed TCI states (e.g., states are the i-th position and the i+1-th position). In some embodiments, each Pi field may be 2 bits or more.

Similarly, MAC-CE may be used that correlates UL TCI status from one or more lists to a TCI code point (e.g., in UL DCI format such as 0_1 or 0_2). Such MAC-CEs may be modified with a D/U field that indicates that the listed TCI states may refer to TCI states that can be used for the UL (e.g., joint states may or may not be included in various embodiments) with respect to Rel-17 unified TCI states activation/deactivation MAC-CEs. Fig. 25 illustrates an example of a message for UL TCI status according to some embodiments. As shown, for example, 1 bit in the first octet may be used for the D/U field, e.g., to indicate UL. In the case of using two or more UL TCI status lists, the 1-bit "D/U" field in each row (e.g., in Rel-17 MAC-CE) may be reused to indicate the "list ID" of the TCI status ID indicated in that row, e.g., as a list ID field, as shown. In some embodiments, if more than two UL TCI status lists are used, the list ID field may be extended with one or more additional bits, e.g., bits to accommodate UL list IDs as needed. According to some embodiments, the list ID field may be omitted if only one UL list is used. The MAC CE may include a UL BWP ID. Similar to some of the examples discussed above, a plurality of P fields may be included, e.g., indicating a number of listed TCI states associated with a corresponding code point in the DCI. In some embodiments, each Pi field may be 1 bit, e.g., indicating that a code point is associated with one or both of the listed TCI states (e.g., states are the i-th position and the i+1-th position). In some embodiments, each Pi field may be 2 bits or more. In the UL case, it should be appreciated that a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) field of the DCI may be used to indicate a TCI code point (e.g., as discussed further below).

In some embodiments, the TCI state (or group) may be activated (or remain active) based on being included in the relevant list included in such messages, and may be deactivated based on being excluded. For example, the MAC-CE may include a list of active or active TCI states or groups of TCI states. Any previously activated TCI state (or group) may be deactivated if it is not in the list. It should be appreciated that, as noted above, the list may be specific to a particular direction, TRP, resource set, or other characteristic. Thus, a state or group may be considered disabled only when it is excluded from the list of suitable characteristics. For example, if a DL state is excluded from the UL state list, the DL state may not be considered inactive, etc. Similarly, it should be appreciated that the various messages discussed above may be cell-specific and/or BWP-specific. Thus, such messages may activate or deactivate TCI states only for those cells and/or BWP indicated for the message. In some embodiments, a common cell ID and/or BWP ID may be used to indicate that the message applies to all cells and/or all BWP (e.g., potentially limited to any particular TRP, direction, characteristic, etc. otherwise indicated in the message). Further, any of the messages discussed above (e.g., MAC-CE) may be used to activate and/or deactivate the unified TCI state.

The UE may receive an indication of TCI state activation and/or deactivation.

According to some embodiments, the UE and the network may set (e.g., each separately) a TCI code point (508). For example, the UE may determine one or more TCI states (e.g., and/or groups of TCI states) to associate with each of a plurality of TCI code points. The determination may be based on activation/deactivation messaging in 505/506. Similarly, the network may determine a TCI state associated with each code point used to communicate with the UE. The code points for UL and DL communications may be determined. In other words, the UE and the network may each determine which TCI state or states to use for communication, the network indicating a particular code point for that communication, e.g., in a DL or UL DCI message. Thus, the UE and the network may each determine an association between various TCI code points (e.g., which may be subsequently indicated in control channel messaging such as DCI) and the active TCI state (or group thereof) as indicated in 505/506.

For example, according to some embodiments, the network and UE may set TCI states for up to 8 DL TCI code points and up to 8 UL TCI code points. In some embodiments, additional TCI code points may be set. For example, 2 ^M UL code points may be set, and 2 ^M DL code points may be set.

As noted above, in some embodiments, DL code points may include a joint TCI state. In other words, the DL code point may indicate a state that can be used for DL, and the UL code point may be a TCI state of UL only. In other embodiments, the inverse relationship may be used, e.g., UL code points may include joint TCI states, while DL code points include DL code points only.

The TCI code point may indicate various possible TCI states or state combinations that the UE and network may use to communicate in sDCI mTRP modes. For example, using the TCI code point, one DCI message may indicate the TCI state of each of the plurality of TRPs.

According to some embodiments, the network may schedule a first communication with the UE (510). The first communication may be UL and/or DL communication. The first communication may be or include data, control information, reference signals, and/or other forms of communication.

According to some embodiments, the network may select one or more TCI states for the first communication (512). For example, the network may select one or more DL or joint TCI states for any DL portion of the communication and/or one or more UL or joint TCI states for any UL portion of the communication. The TCI state may be associated with one or more TRP, BWP, resource set (or resource set pool), serving cell, etc.

According to some embodiments, the network may send one or more control channel messages to the UE (514). The control channel message may schedule the first communication and indicate a TCI state of the first communication. For example, the control channel message may be or include a DCI message indicating a TCI code point associated with a TCI state of the first communication. One or more DCI messages may be used as needed. For example, the same DCI message may be used to schedule communications and indicate the TCI code point, or a separate message may be used. DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 may be used to indicate a TCI code point (e.g., in a TCI field) for DL communication. Similarly, DCI formats 0_1 and/or 0_2 may be used to indicate a TCI code point (e.g., in the SRI field) for UL communication. In either direction, DCI may be sent according to mode 1 (e.g., with data scheduling in the same message as the TCI code point) or mode 2 (e.g., without data scheduling in the same message as the TCI code point). Other modes and/or DCI formats may be used as desired.

In some embodiments, the DCI format in rel.17 may be used. In other embodiments, the DCI format may be modified, as discussed below.

As one possibility, the size of the TCI or SRI field in the DCI may be increased from 3 bits to M bits, e.g., m=4. This change in DCI format may be used with a message that sets M code points (e.g., such as a MAC-CE similar to that illustrated in fig. 14 and discussed above).

For example, according to mode 1, for DL communication of DCI having format 1_1 or 1_2 of data scheduling, the TCI field may be directly increased from 3 bits to M bits and may result in a larger DCI size. Furthermore, such an increase in TCI field size may increase the number of possible TCI code points (e.g., which may be set as discussed above) and thus increase the flexibility of the network to schedule communications with different TCI states of different TRPs.

Fig. 10 illustrates DCI with a 3-bit TCI field according to some embodiments. As shown, the TCI field may be at the beginning of the message. The TCI field may indicate (e.g., 3 bits) a TCI code point. Thus, the TCI field may indicate one of 8 possible TCI code points. The TCI field may be followed by one or more other fields, for example, to schedule DL data transmissions using the TCI state indicated by the TCI code point in the TCI field. According to some embodiments, the DCI may further include a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC).

Fig. 11 illustrates DCI with a 4-bit TCI field according to some embodiments. The M-bit TCI field may indicate one of 2 ^M (e.g., 16 if m=4) possible TCI code points. The TCI field may be followed by one or more other fields, for example, to schedule DL data transmissions using the TCI state indicated by the TCI code point in the TCI field.

Similarly, according to mode 2, for DL communication of DCI of format 1_1 or 1_2 without data scheduling, the size of the TCI field may be increased.

Fig. 12 illustrates Rel-17 DCI format 1_1/1_2 for TCI indication without data scheduling according to some embodiments. As shown, one or more fields may be reserved. For example, the reserved field may include predefined values including "2 bits RV", "5 bits MCS", "1 bit NDI", FDRA fields, and the like.

To increase the size of the TCI field, one or more of the reserved bits (e.g., M-3 bits) may be reused and used (e.g., as the Most Significant Bit (MSB)) for the TCI field. Fig. 13 illustrates an example in which M-3=1 bits are subtracted from the reserved field and added to the TCI field to produce (e.g., m=4) a 4-bit TCI field, according to some embodiments. As shown, the 4-bit TCI field may be at the beginning of the message.

It should be appreciated that similar modifications may be made to the SRI field of DCI of format 0_1 or 0_2 (or other formats, as desired) to increase the number of TCI code points that may be used in association with UL communications.

As the size of the TCI and/or SRI fields increases, the network may be able to activate up to 4 TCI states (e.g., selected from the 16 code points in fig. 14) using 2 DCI messages. For example, one DCI may be used to indicate one UL code point (e.g., corresponding to up to 2 UL TCI states), and another DCI may be used to indicate a DL code point (e.g., corresponding to 1 to 2 DL TCI states).

As another possibility, one or more additional TCI fields may be added to the DCI, e.g., to indicate two or more TCI code points in a single message.

Fig. 17 illustrates a DCI message with an additional TCI field according to some embodiments (e.g., according to format 1_1 or 1_2, among various possibilities). As shown, TCI fields 1710 and 1720 may each include 3 bits and may each indicate a TCI code point. For example, field 1710 may indicate a code point for a first TRP (e.g., TRP id=0), and field 1720 may indicate a code point for a second TRP (e.g., TRP id=1). In various possibilities, this form of DCI may be used to indicate DL TCI status when configuring one or more DL TCI status lists (e.g., as in fig. 15) and/or activating TCI status from such lists (e.g., according to a message similar to fig. 16, in various possibilities). Fig. 17 illustrates DCI which may include data scheduling on PDSCH, for example, according to mode 1.

Fig. 18 illustrates a DCI message according to format 1_1 or 1_2 without data scheduling according to some embodiments. This may be an example of mode 2 DCI. As shown, a single TCI field 1810 may be included.

Fig. 19 illustrates a DCI message according to format 1_1 or 1_2 without data scheduling and modified to include a second TCI field, according to some embodiments. As shown, TCI fields 1910 and 1920 may each indicate a TCI code point (e.g., 3 bits each). For example, field 1910 may indicate a code point for a first TRP (e.g., TRP id=0) and field 1920 may indicate a code point for a second TRP (e.g., TRP id=1). In the illustrated example, the second TCI field 1920 may be placed after other fields of rel.17dci (e.g., as compared to fig. 18). However, it should be understood that additional TCI fields may be placed in different locations. For example, field 1920 may follow field 1910, and other fields may follow field 1920.

In the examples of fig. 17 and 19, it should be appreciated that more than two TCI fields may be included as desired. Depending on these formats, one or two TCI states may be provided for each of the plurality of TRPs. For example, a first TCI field may indicate one or two TCI states (e.g., one UL state and one DL state) of a first TRP, a second TCI field may indicate a TCI state of a second TRP, a third TCI field may indicate a TCI state of a third TRP, and so on.

As another possibility, a TRP ID field may be added to indicate the TRP to which the TCI code point should be applied. Fig. 20 illustrates DCI with a TRP ID field according to some embodiments. As shown, TCI field 2010 may be applied to communications with the TRPs indicated in TRP ID field 2012.

Further, it should be appreciated that although fig. 20 is illustrated as having a TRP ID field, alternative ID fields may be used as desired. For example, an identifier of any characteristic may be used, such as a resource set, a resource set pool, BWP, etc., may be used in DCI. According to some embodiments, a plurality of such fields may be added, for example, further specifying the resources/circumstances at which the TCI code point in the corresponding TCI field will be applied. For example, the resource set ID field may indicate CORESET, CORESETPoolIndex, SSS or SSSPoolIndex of the application TCI code point. In some embodiments, such a resource set ID field may be explicitly included in the DCI (e.g., instead of or in addition to a TRP ID field).

Although the various example DCI messages illustrated in the figures and discussed above are described in terms of DCI formats (e.g., 1_1 and/or 1_2) for DL communications, it should be understood that similar adjustments/modifications may be applied to DCI formats (e.g., 0_1 and/or 0_2) for UL communications, e.g., with or without scheduling data.

Further, it should be appreciated that aspects of the example DCI formats discussed above may be combined in various ways. For example, an increased TCI field size (e.g., one or more bits to indicate one of more than 8 code points) may be used in DCI including more than one TCI field and/or in DCI including TRP-ID and/or other characteristic ID fields. Similarly, TRP-ID and/or other property ID fields may be used in DCI with multiple TCI fields. For example, according to some embodiments, each TCI field may have a corresponding resource set ID field.

In various embodiments, different DCI messages may be sent on different component carriers or on the same Component Carrier (CC) at different occasions, among various possibilities. For example, one DCI for UL may be transmitted on one CC and another DCI for DL may be transmitted on another CC or at a different occasion.

It should be appreciated that any of the control channel messages may indicate both TCI and schedule UL and/or DL communications (e.g., may include UL and/or DL grants). Alternatively, separate control channel messages may be used to provide grant/schedule and TCI indications.

The UE may receive the control channel message.

According to some embodiments, the UE and the network may set a TCI state for the first communication (516). For example, the UE may determine the TCI state indicated by the network for communication from the control channel message received in 514. The UE may determine the TCI state based on a code point indicated in a control channel (e.g., DCI) message. For example, the UE may determine which TCI state or states are associated with the code point in the control channel message based on the association between the TCI state and the TCI code point (e.g., as determined in 508).

In some embodiments, the determination of the TCI state may include determining a starting point in a subset of the active TCI states (or groups) for selecting one or more TCI states (or groups). The starting point may be based on the value of the associated TCI code point. For example, if the value of the code point is i (e.g., represented as a decimal value instead of a binary value for convenience), the starting point may be the ith position in the list of active TCI states or groups determined in 508. Further, if multiple P fields are included in the activation message at 506, the number of TCI states or groups selected (e.g., starting from the starting point) may be determined based on the value of any Pi field (e.g., the ith field of the P fields) associated with the TCI code point.

In some implementations, the determination of the TCI state may be based on an explicit indication. For example, some DCI messages may explicitly indicate TRP IDs of application code points.

In some implementations, the determination of the TCI state may be based in part on an implicit indication. For example, the UE may determine to apply the TCI code point to a set of resources (e.g., or a pool of sets of resources) on which the control channel message was received. For example, if a resource set (or pool) is configured with a set of active TCI states or groups (e.g., in 505-508), the UE may determine that a DCI message received on the resource set (or pool) may include a TCI code point (or code points) to be applied to the resource set (or pool). Fig. 23 illustrates an example of implicit indication with SSS pools, according to some embodiments. As shown, SSS pool 0 can include SSS2310 and 2320.SSS pool 1 may include SSS2330. At a first time, a first DCI may be transmitted/received on SSS2310 and a second DCI may be transmitted/received on SSS2330. In response to these DCIs, the UE may update the TCI of SSS pool 0 (e.g., which may correspond to a first TRP) according to the first DCI, and may update the TCI of SSS pool 1 (e.g., which may correspond to a second TRP) according to the second DCI. At a second time, the UE may receive a third DCI on SSS2320 and, in response, may update the TCI of SSS pool 0 according to the third DCI. The first DCI and the third DCI may each cause the UE to update TCIs of all SSSs in SSS pool 0. For example, after the first DCI, the TCIs of both SSSs 910 and 920 may be updated according to the TCI code point of the first DCI. Then, after the third DCI, both may be updated again, e.g., according to the TCI code point of the third DCI. It should be appreciated that similar procedures can be applied to the CORESET pool. According to some embodiments, when the TCI of any CORESET in the CORESET pool is updated, the update may be applied to all CORESET in the pool and all SSSs of each CORESET in CORESET in the pool.

The UE may tune its antenna and/or other receive and/or transmit circuitry according to the TCI state indicated (implicitly and/or explicitly) by the network. Similarly, a network (e.g., TRP) may tune the corresponding antennas and circuits according to TCI status.

According to some embodiments, the UE and the network may perform a first communication (518). For example, the UE and the network may exchange data, control information, reference signals, etc., e.g., via one or more TRPs, according to the TCI state indicated in the control channel message. For example, the first communication may be mTRP communication using a combination of TCI states indicated in a single DCI.

The first communication may include UL and/or DL communication. The first communication may include simultaneously communicating with a plurality of TRPs (e.g., according to time and/or frequency division multiplexing). For example, referring to fig. 6, the ue and the network may communicate according to 4 or more TCI states simultaneously (e.g., UL and DL communicate with each of two or more TRPs). In other words, one or more TCI states may be used with each of the one or more TRPs.

Thus, at least in accordance with some embodiments, the method of fig. 5 may be used to provide a framework according to which a UE and a network may select a TCI state (e.g., of a plurality of active TCI states that may be associated with a plurality of TRPs) for control channel monitoring and reception, and thus to assist the network in effectively and efficiently scheduling and performing wireless communications with the UE, at least in some instances.

While in some embodiments discussed above, the joint TCI state may be listed with the DL TCI state (e.g., and in some aspects considered as DL TCI state), it should be understood that in other embodiments, the joint TCI state may be listed with the UL TCI state and considered as UL TCI state in a similar manner.

It should be appreciated that any of these steps may be repeated any number of times (e.g., as the UE moves, etc.). According to some embodiments, any or all of 503-504 may not repeat as frequently as 505-508. Similarly, according to some embodiments, any or all of 505-508 may not repeat as frequently as 510-518. In other words, according to some embodiments, the TCI state list may be updated (e.g., 503, 504) less frequently than the active TCI state set (e.g., 505-508) and/or the active TCI state set may be modified less frequently than the particular TCI state set selected and used for communication (e.g., 510-518).

Hereinafter, further exemplary embodiments are provided.

One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a User Equipment (UE). The method may include receiving, from a cellular network, a configuration of a first list of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs), the first list of TCI states including at least four downlink or bidirectional TCI states, receiving, from the cellular network, a first message indicating a first plurality of TCI states in the first list of TCI states, the first message including a first plurality of fields, wherein respective fields in the first plurality of fields indicate respective ones of the first plurality of TCI states associated with respective TCI code points, receiving, from the cellular network, a second message indicating a value of a first TCI code point, based on the value of the first TCI code point and a first field in the first plurality of fields corresponding to the first TCI code point, determining a number of TCI states associated with the value of the first TCI code point based on the first field, and selecting, from the cellular network, a second message in the first plurality of TCI states, a subset of TCI states including the first TCI code point and the first subset of TCI states for the first subset of TCI states.

In some embodiments, the configuration of the first list of TCI states is received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, the first message includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), and the second message includes a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

In some implementations, the number of TCI states associated with the first TCI code point is selected from the first plurality of TCI states in an order of TCI state Identifiers (IDs).

In some implementations, the method can also include determining a starting position for the selecting based on a value of the first TCI code point.

In some embodiments, the first message further includes a second plurality of fields including a TCI status Identifier (ID) and a third plurality of fields associated with the second plurality of fields, respective ones of the third plurality of fields including respective indicators of whether respective TCI status IDs of respective ones of the second plurality of fields are either 1) uplink-only or 2) downlink-only or joint downlink and uplink.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving, from the cellular network, a configuration of a second list of TCI states associated with the plurality of TRPs, the second list of TCI states including uplink-only TCI states.

In some embodiments, the number of TCI states associated with the first TCI code point is selected from the second list of the first plurality of TCI states and TCI states, wherein a TCI state having a respective TCI state ID for only uplink is selected from the second list of TCI states if a respective field of the third plurality of fields indicates a respective TCI state ID for only uplink, or a TCI state having a respective TCI state ID for only downlink or joint downlink and uplink is selected from the first plurality of TCI states if the respective field of the third plurality of fields indicates a respective TCI state ID for only downlink or joint downlink and uplink.

In some embodiments, the respective fields of the first plurality of fields comprise K bits, wherein K is greater than or equal to 2.

In some implementations, the first message further includes a first D/U field indicating that the respective TCI code point references the first list.

In some implementations, the method can also include receiving a third message from the cellular network indicating a second plurality of TCI states in the second list of TCI states, the third message including a fourth plurality of fields, wherein respective ones of the fourth plurality of fields indicate respective ones of the TCI states in the second list of TCI states associated with a second respective TCI code point, and a second D/U field indicating that the second respective TCI code point references the second list.

In some embodiments, the second message comprises a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message in format 0_1 or format 0_2.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving a fourth message from the cellular network indicating a second TCI code point, the fourth message including a DCI message having format 0_1 or format 0_2 of the second TCI code point indicated in a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) field.

In some implementations, the method can also include determining a number of TCI states associated with the second TCI code point based on the second TCI code point and a fourth field of the fourth plurality of fields corresponding to the second TCI code point based on the fourth field and selecting a second subset of TCI states for uplink communications, the second subset of TCI states including the number of TCI states associated with the second TCI code point.

In some embodiments, the method may further include transmitting the uplink communication to the cellular network according to the second message, the transmitting including transmitting to the first TRP using a third TCI state of the second subset of TCI states and transmitting to the second TRP using a fourth TCI state of the second subset of TCI states.

In some embodiments, the fourth message includes an uplink grant scheduling the uplink communication.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving a fifth message separate from the fourth message, the fifth message including an uplink grant scheduling the uplink communication.

In some embodiments, the first D/U field comprises 1 bit.

In some implementations, the second message includes a downlink grant that schedules the downlink communication.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving a third message separate from the second message, the third message including a downlink grant scheduling the downlink communication.

One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a User Equipment (UE). The method may include receiving a configuration of a plurality of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) from a cellular network, receiving a configuration of a plurality of TCI state groups from the cellular network, a respective TCI state group of the plurality of TCI state groups including a plurality of TCI states of the plurality of TCI state groups, receiving a first message from the cellular network indicating a subset of the plurality of TCI state groups, determining an association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state group of the subset of the plurality of TCI state groups based on the first message, receiving a second message from the cellular network indicating a first TCI code point, determining a first TCI state group based on the association between the first TCI code point and a respective TCI state group of the subset of the plurality of TCI state groups, and communicating with the TRP network via the plurality of cellular networks using the plurality of TCI states of the first TCI state groups.

In some embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of TCI states is received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

In some embodiments, the first message comprises a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) and the second message comprises a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

In some implementations, the configuration of the plurality of TCI state groups is received via RRC signaling.

In some embodiments, the first message includes a variable-size Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) that includes a variable number of TCI state groups.

In some embodiments, the variable number of TCI state groups is less than or equal to 8.

In some embodiments, the first message does not include a plurality of 1-bit fields P.

In some implementations, receiving the configuration of the plurality of TCI states includes receiving a first list of downlink-only and/or joint downlink and uplink TCI states and receiving a second list of uplink-only TCI states.

In some implementations, a respective TCI state group of the plurality of TCI state groups includes TCI states from either only the first list or only the second list.

In some embodiments, the first message includes a plurality of 1-bit fields P, wherein the respective 1-bit field Pi may be one of two values, and the first value of the 1-bit field Pi indicates that the ith TCI code point is associated with only one TCI state group.

In some implementations, the second value of the 1-bit field Pi indicates that the ith TCI code point is associated with both a first set of TCI states including TCI states from only the first list and a second set of TCI states including TCI states from only the second list.

In some embodiments, the first message includes a second plurality of 1-bit fields, wherein the ith TCI code point is associated with only one TCI state group according to the 1-bit field Pi and the corresponding 1-bit field of the second plurality of 1-bit fields according to one of a first value indicating that the ith TCI code point is associated with a TCI state group of the first list and a second value indicating that the ith TCI code point is associated with a TCI state group of the second list.

In some implementations, the first message indicates an order of the subset of the plurality of TCI state groups, the method further includes determining a first starting position in the order based on the first TCI code point, and the association between the first TCI code point and the first TCI state group includes one of the first TCI code point being associated with only the TCI state group at the first starting position if a value of a 1-bit field Pi associated with the first TCI code point is the first value, or the first TCI code point being associated with the TCI state group at the first starting position and a TCI state group in a position immediately following the first starting position if the value of the 1-bit field Pi is the second value.

In some embodiments, the second message includes a downlink grant scheduling downlink communications.

In some implementations, the communication with the cellular network includes receiving the downlink communication.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving a third message separate from the second message, the third message including a downlink grant scheduling downlink communications.

One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a User Equipment (UE). The method may include receiving a configuration of a plurality of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) from a cellular network, receiving a first message from the cellular network indicating a subset of the plurality of TCI states, and including a plurality of 1-bit fields P including 2M 1-bit fields, where M is greater than 3, determining an association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state of the subset of the plurality of TCI states based on the first message, receiving a second message from the cellular network indicating a first TCI code point, determining a first TCI state based on the first TCI code point and the association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state, and communicating with the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs using the first TCI state and the second TCI state.

In some implementations, the second message includes a first field indicating M bits of the first TCI code point.

In some embodiments, the second message includes second field scheduling data.

In some embodiments, the second message does not include second field scheduling data and includes at least one additional bit in the TCI field relative to a previous form of Downlink Control Information (DCI) message format 1_1 or 1_2 that does not include data scheduling.

In some embodiments, the second message includes at least one less reserved bit and includes the same total number of bits relative to the previous form of DCI message format 1_1 or 1_2 that does not include data scheduling.

In some embodiments, the at least one reserved bit comprises M-3 bits and is used as the most significant bit of the first field.

In some embodiments, a respective 1-bit field Pi of the plurality of 1-bit fields P may be one of a first value of a 1-bit field Pi indicating that an i-th TCI code point is associated with one TCI state and a second value of the 1-bit field Pi indicating that the i-th TCI code point is associated with two TCI states.

In some implementations, the first message indicates an order of the subset of the plurality of TCI states, and the method further includes determining a first starting location in the order based on a value of the first TCI code point.

In some implementations, a value of a first 1-bit field Pi of the plurality of 1-bit fields P associated with the first TCI code point is the second value, the first TCI state includes a TCI state in the starting position in the order, and the second TCI state includes a TCI state immediately following the starting position in the order.

In some embodiments, the first message includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).

In some embodiments, the second message comprises a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

In some implementations, the method may also include receiving a third message from the cellular network indicating a second TCI code point, determining a third TCI state based on the association between the second TCI code point and a respective TCI state, and a fourth TCI state, communicating with the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs using the third TCI state and the fourth TCI state while communicating with the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs using the first TCI state and the second TCI state.

In some embodiments, the first and second TCI states correspond to a first TRP and the third and fourth TCI states correspond to a second TRP.

In some embodiments, the first and third TCI states correspond to a first TRP and the second and fourth TCI states correspond to a second TRP.

In some embodiments, communicating with the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs using the third and fourth TCI states while communicating with the cellular network via the plurality of TRPs using the first and second TCI states includes communicating according to at least one of time division multiplexing or frequency division multiplexing.

One set of embodiments may include a method performed by a User Equipment (UE). The method may include receiving a configuration of a plurality of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) from a cellular network, the configuration including a first list pair including a first list of TCI states and a second list of TCI states, a second list pair including a third list of TCI states and a fourth list of TCI states, receiving a first message from the cellular network specific to the first list pair, the first message indicating a first subset of the plurality of TCI states, determining a first association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state from the first list pair based on the first message, receiving a second message from the cellular network indicating a first TCI code point, selecting a first TCI state from the first list based on the first TCI code point and the first association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state, communicating the TCI from the first list and the second TCI state via the first list and the first TCI state.

In some embodiments, the first list and the third list consist of downlink only and/or joint downlink and uplink TCI states, the second list and the fourth list consist of uplink only TCI states, the first list pair is for a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and identified with a TRP index of the first TRP, the second list pair is for a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs and identified with a TRP index of the second TRP, and the first message includes the TRP index of the first TRP.

In some embodiments, the second message is specific to the first TRP and includes the TRP index of the first TRP.

In some embodiments, the second message further indicates a second TCI code point, the method further comprising receiving a third message from the cellular network specific to the second list pair, the third message indicating a second subset of the plurality of TCI states and including an index of the second TRP, determining a second association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state from the second list pair based on the third message, selecting a third TCI state from the third list and a fourth TCI state from the fourth list based on the second TCI code point and the second association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state, and communicating with the cellular network via the second TRP using the third TCI state and the fourth TCI state.

In some implementations, the second message includes scheduling data, indicates the first TCI code point in a first TCI field, and indicates the second TCI code point in a second TCI field that immediately follows the first TCI field.

In some implementations, the second message does not schedule data, indicates the first TCI code point in a first TCI field, and indicates the second TCI code point in a second TCI field, with at least one field between the first TCI field and the second TCI field.

In some embodiments, the first list and the third list consist of downlink only and/or joint downlink and uplink TCI states, the second list and the fourth list consist of uplink only TCI states, the first list pair is identified with a resource set pool index of a first resource set pool of a plurality of resource set pools, the second list pair is identified with a resource set pool index of a second resource set pool of the plurality of resource set pools, and the first message includes the resource set pool index of the first resource set pool.

In some implementations, the method may also include receiving a third message from the cellular network specific to the second list pair, the third message indicating a second subset of the plurality of TCI states, and determining a second association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state from the second list pair based on the third message.

In some embodiments, a respective resource set pool of the plurality of resource set pools includes a control resource set (CORESET) pool and the first resource set pool includes a first CORESET pool, the second message is received on a resource associated with a first CORESET of the first CORESET pool, the method further includes determining that the first TCI code point is indicated for use with the first CORESET pool based on receiving the second message on the resource associated with the first CORESET pool, selecting the first TCI state from the first list is further based on determining that the first TCI code point is indicated for use with the first CORESET pool, and selecting the second TCI state from the second list is further based on determining that the first TCI code point is indicated for use with the first CORESET pool.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving a Search Space Set (SSS) configuration indicating an association of a first SSS with the first list pair and an association of a second SSS with the second list pair.

In some embodiments, the second message is received on a resource associated with the first SS.

In some implementations, the method can also include determining, based on receiving the second message on a resource associated with the first SSS, that the first TCI code point is indicated for use in accordance with the first association between the respective TCI code point and the respective TCI state.

In some implementations, selecting the first TCI state from the first list is further based on determining that the first TCI code point is indicated to be used according to the first association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state, and selecting the second TCI state from the second list is further based on determining that the first TCI code point is indicated to be used according to the first association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state.

In some implementations, the association of the first SSS with the first list pair and the association of the second SSS with the second list pair are indicated via one of a TRP index, an SSS pool index, or a control resource set (CORESET) pool index.

In some implementations, the method may also include receiving a third message from the cellular network that is specific to the second list pair, the third message indicating a second subset of the plurality of TCI states, determining a second association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state from the second list pair based on the third message, receiving a fourth message from the cellular network that indicates a second TCI code point on a resource associated with the second SSS, determining that the second TCI code point is used from the second list based on receiving the fourth message on a resource associated with the second SSS, selecting (a) the second TCI code point from the second list based on the second association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state, (b) determining that the second TCI code point is used from the second list and the fourth association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state, and (c) the third association between a respective TCI code point and a respective TCI state from the fourth list and the fourth list of TCIs used.

In some embodiments, the first and second lists are comprised of downlink-only and/or joint downlink-only and uplink-TCI states, the first and second lists are associated with first and second list identifiers (list IDs), respectively, the third and fourth lists are comprised of uplink-only TCI states, the first message includes a first field indicating that the first message is associated with downlink-only and/or joint downlink-only and uplink-TCI states, the first message includes a respective list ID field indicating a respective list ID of a respective TCI state in the first subset of the plurality of TCI states, and the first association is based on the first field and the respective list ID of the respective TCI state in the first subset of the plurality of TCI states.

In some implementations, the first message further includes a plurality of 1-bit fields indicating a respective number of TCI states associated with a respective TCI code point.

In some embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of TCI states is received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, the first message includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), and the second message includes a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

In some implementations, the selecting the first TCI state is based on a location of the first TCI state corresponding to the first TCI code point according to the first association between the respective TCI code point and the respective TCI state.

In some implementations, the selecting the second TCI state is based on a location that is immediately subsequent to the location of the first TCI state according to the first association between the respective TCI code point and the respective TCI state.

Yet another exemplary embodiment may include a method comprising performing any or all of the foregoing examples by a wireless device.

Another exemplary embodiment may include an apparatus comprising an antenna, a radio coupled to the antenna, and a processing element operably coupled to the radio, wherein the apparatus is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

Another example set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium including program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all portions of any of the preceding examples.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the preceding examples.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

A further example set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be specified to the user.

Any of the methods described herein for operating a UE may form the basis for a corresponding method for operating a base station by interpreting each message/signal X received by the User Equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message/signal X transmitted by the base station and interpreting each message/signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message/signal Y received by the base station.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in any of various forms. For example, in some embodiments, the present subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the present subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as an ASIC. In other embodiments, the present subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured to store program instructions and/or data that, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method, the method comprising:

Receiving a configuration of a first list of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) from a cellular network, the first list of TCI states comprising at least four downlink or bidirectional TCI states;

receiving a first message from the cellular network indicating a first plurality of TCI states in the first list of TCI states, the first message comprising a first plurality of fields, wherein respective ones of the first plurality of fields indicate respective ones of the first plurality of TCI states associated with respective TCI code points;

receiving a second message from the cellular network indicating a value of a first TCI code point;

Based on the value of a first TCI code point and a first field of the first plurality of fields corresponding to the first TCI code point:

Determining a number of TCI states associated with the value of the first TCI code point based on the first field, and

Selecting a first subset of TCI states for downlink communications, the first subset of TCI states including the number of TCI states associated with the value of the first TCI code point, and

Receiving the downlink communication from the cellular network according to the second message, the receiving comprising:

receiving from a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs using a first TCI state of the first subset of TCI states, and

A second TCI state in the first subset of TCI states is used to receive from a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the configuration of the first list of TCI states is received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling;

the first message includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), and

The second message includes a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of TCI states associated with the first TCI code point are selected from the first plurality of TCI states in an order of TCI state Identifiers (IDs).

4. A method according to claim 3, the method further comprising:

A starting position for the selection is determined based on the value of the first TCI code point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message further comprises a second plurality of fields including TCI state Identifiers (IDs) and a third plurality of fields associated with the second plurality of fields, respective ones of the third plurality of fields including respective indicators of whether respective TCI state IDs of respective ones of the second plurality of fields are:

1) Uplink only; or

2) Downlink only or joint downlink and uplink.

6. The method of claim 5, the method further comprising:

a configuration of a second list of TCI states associated with the plurality of TRPs is received from the cellular network, the second list of TCI states including uplink-only TCI states.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the number of TCI states associated with the first TCI code point is selected from the first plurality of TCI states and the second list of TCI states, wherein:

selecting a TCI state having a corresponding TCI state ID for uplink only from the second list of TCI states if the corresponding field in the third plurality of fields indicates that the corresponding field in the second plurality of fields is a corresponding TCI state ID for uplink only

If the respective field of the third plurality of fields indicates that the respective field of the second plurality of fields is a respective TCI state ID for only downlink or joint downlink and uplink, a TCI state having the respective TCI state ID for only downlink or joint downlink and uplink is selected from the first plurality of TCI states.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein a respective field of the first plurality of fields comprises a K bit, wherein K is greater than or equal to 2.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

The first message further includes a first D/U field indicating that the corresponding TCI code point references the first list;

The method further comprises the steps of:

receiving a configuration of a second list of TCI states associated with the plurality of TRPs from the cellular network, the second list of TCI states including uplink-only TCI states, and

Receiving a third message from the cellular network indicating a second plurality of TCI states in the second list of TCI states, the third message comprising:

a fourth plurality of fields, wherein respective fields in the fourth plurality of fields indicate respective ones of the TCI states in the second list of TCI states associated with a second respective TCI code point, and

A second D/U field indicating that the second respective TCI code point references the second list.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein:

the second message includes a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message of format 0_1 or format 0_2;

The message further includes:

Receiving a fourth message from the cellular network indicating a second TCI code point, the fourth message comprising a DCI message having format 0_1 or format 0_2 of the second TCI code point indicated in a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) field;

Based on the second TCI code point and a fourth field of the fourth plurality of fields corresponding to the second TCI code point:

determining a number of TCI states associated with the second TCI code point based on the fourth field, and

Selecting a second subset of TCI states for uplink communications, the second subset of TCI states including the number of TCI states associated with the second TCI code point, and

Transmitting the uplink communication to the cellular network according to the second message, the transmitting comprising:

Transmitting to the first TRP using a third TCI state of the second subset of TCI states, and

Transmitting to the second TRP using a fourth TCI state in the second subset of TCI states.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the fourth message comprises an uplink grant scheduling the uplink communication.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving a fifth message separate from the fourth message, the fifth message comprising an uplink grant scheduling the uplink communication.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first D/U field comprises 1 bit.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the second message comprises a downlink grant scheduling the downlink communication.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a third message separate from the second message, the third message comprising a downlink grant scheduling the downlink communication.

16. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

A processor configured to cause a User Equipment (UE) to:

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a radio, the radio is operably coupled to the processor.

18. A method, the method comprising:

Transmitting, to a User Equipment (UE), a configuration of a first list of Transmission Control Indication (TCI) states associated with a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRP), the first list of TCI states comprising at least four downlink or bidirectional TCI states;

transmitting, to the UE, a first message indicating a first plurality of TCI states in the first list of TCI states, the first message comprising a first plurality of fields, wherein respective ones of the first plurality of fields indicate respective ones of the first plurality of TCI states associated with respective TCI code points;

Transmitting a second message to the UE indicating a value of the first TCI code point;

Transmitting the downlink communication to the UE according to the second message, the transmitting comprising:

transmitting from a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs using a first TCI state of the first subset of TCI states, and

Transmitting from a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs using a second TCI state in the first subset of TCI states.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first message further comprises a second plurality of fields including TCI state Identifiers (IDs) and a third plurality of fields associated with the second plurality of fields, respective ones of the third plurality of fields including respective indicators of whether respective TCI state IDs of respective ones of the second plurality of fields are:

1) Uplink only; or

2) Downlink only or joint downlink and uplink.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first message further comprises a first D/U field indicating that the respective TCI code point references the first list;

The method further comprises the steps of:

Transmitting to the UE a configuration of a second list of TCI states associated with the plurality of TRPs, the second list of TCI states including an uplink-only TCI state, and

Transmitting a third message to the UE indicating a second plurality of TCI states in the second list of TCI states, the third message comprising: