WO2021223180A1

WO2021223180A1 - Activating multiple transmission configuration indicator states for a single coreset carrying downlink control channel repetitions

Info

Publication number: WO2021223180A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/089039
Authority: WO
Inventors: Qiaoyu Li; Chao Wei; Ruiming Zheng; Hao Xu
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2020-05-07
Filing date: 2020-05-07
Publication date: 2021-11-11

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to improving diversity in wireless networks. A base station in a wireless communication network has a wireless transceiver a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to transmit a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). The downlink MAC-CE message may be configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET at a user equipment (UE). The processor may be configured to repetitively transmit a PDCCH in the CORESET. A first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.

Description

ACTIVATING MULTIPLE TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION INDICATOR STATES FOR A SINGLE CORESET CARRYING DOWNLINK CONTROL CHANNEL REPETITIONS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology discussed below relates generally to wireless communication networks, and more particularly, to activating multiple transmission configuration indicators for control channel repetitions.

INTRODUCTION

In wireless communication systems, such as those specified under standards for 5G New Radio (NR) , a base station and user equipment (UE) may utilize beamforming to compensate for high path loss and short range. Beamforming is a signal processing technique used with an antenna array module for directional signal transmission and/or reception. Each antenna in the antenna array module transmits a signal that is combined with other signals of other antennas of the same array in such a way that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference.

In 5G NR beamforming networks, various reference signals may be transmitted, including reference signals that include information related to beam configuration and power control parameters defined for the UE. For example, one or more reference signals may carry a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state that may provide certain beam configuration parameters.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to improve communication technologies. For example, technologies for increasing diversity of communication may be useful, particularly when opportunities for spatial diversity are limited.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following presents a summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Various aspects of the disclosure relate to techniques and processes for improving diversity for a UE that has a reduced number of antennas or other reduced capability. Diversity can be improved by enabling multiple TCI states to be activated for a single control resource set (CORESET) . In one aspect a method for wireless communication at a base station in a wireless communication network may include transmitting a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message to activate TCI states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) , where the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET at a UE, and repetitively transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) in the first CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.

In one aspect, a base station in a wireless communication network has a wireless transceiver a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to transmit a downlink MAC-CE message to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs. The downlink MAC-CE message may be configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with first CORESET at a UE. The processor may be configured to repetitively transmit a PDCCH in the first CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.

In one aspect, a computer-readable medium stores computer executable code. The code when executed by a processor may cause the processor to transmit a downlink MAC-CE message to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs. The downlink MAC-CE message may be configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with first CORESET at a UE. The code may cause the processor to repetitively transmit a PDCCH in the first CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.

In one aspect, a base station in a wireless communication network includes means for transmitting a downlink MAC-CE message to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs, where the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET at a UE. The base station further includes means for repetitively transmitting a PDCCH in the first CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.

In certain examples, the PDCCH may be repetitively transmitted by transmitting a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a first search space, and transmitting a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a second search space. The PDCCH may be repetitively transmitted by transmitting each PDCCH repetition within a single search space. The PDCCH may be repetitively transmitted by transmitting the first repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the first TCI state, and transmitting the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state. In one example, the TCI state may indicate a QCL-Type that corresponds to an associated additional reference signal waveform from which various radio channel properties of a received reference signal waveform may be inferred. In another example, the TCI state may indicate a QCL-Type that corresponds to a spatial property of the beam on which the reference signal waveform is transmitted.

In certain examples, repetitively transmitting the PDCCH may include transmitting the first repetition of the PDCCH through a first transmitter, and causing the second repetition of the PDCCH to be transmitted through a second transmitter. In one example, the base station may use multiple antennas that can be configured to provide a propagation path for the transmission of the first PCCH repetition that is physically different from the propagation path for the transmission of the second PCCH repetition, thereby providing first and second transmitters. In another example the base station serves as the first transmitter and another base station or a side link device operates as a second transmitter.

In certain examples, repetitively transmitting the PDCCH includes transmitting a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated. Repetitively transmitting the PDCCH may include transmitting a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.

In certain examples, a TCI state may be selected for transmitting each repetition of the PDCCH in accordance with a preconfigured sequence defined for the first CORESET. In one example, the preconfigured sequence may be defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH. In another example, the preconfigured sequence define an order in which TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled. The TCI states in the plurality of TCI states may be cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.

In some examples, the PDCCH may be transmitted without repetition. The plurality of TCI states may include a default TCI state that is used when the PDCCH is transmitted without repetition.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method for wireless communication at a UE in a wireless communication network includes receiving a downlink MAC-CE message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs, activating two or more TCI states for a first CORESET in response to the downlink MAC-CE message, and receiving a plurality of repetitions of a PDCCH carried by the CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is received.

In one aspect, a UE in a wireless communication network has a wireless transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to receive a downlink MAC-CE message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESET, activate two or more TCI states for a first CORESET in response to the downlink MAC-CE message, and receive a plurality of repetitions of a PDCCH carried by the CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is received.

In one aspect, a computer-readable medium stores computer executable code. The code when executed by a processor may cause the processor to receive a downlink MAC-CE message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESET, activate two or more TCI states for a first CORESET in response to the downlink MAC-CE message, and receive a plurality of repetitions of a PDCCH carried by the CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is received

In one aspect, a UE in a wireless communication network includes means for receiving a downlink MAC-CE message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs, means for activating two or more TCI states for a first CORESET in response to the downlink MAC-CE message, and means for receiving a plurality of repetitions of a PDCCH carried by the CORESET. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state may be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is received

In certain examples, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a first search space defined for the CORESET, and receiving a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a second search space defined for the CORESET. The plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH from a single search space defined for the CORESET. The plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location information indicated by the first TCI state, and receiving the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state. In certain examples, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving the first repetition of the PDCCH from a first transmitter, and receiving the second repetition of the PDCCH from a second transmitter. The first transmitter may include a first access point or a first side link device, and the second transmitter may include a second access point or a second side link device.

In certain examples, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving a first group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated. The plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.

In certain examples, a TCI state identified for each repetition of the PDCCH may be activated in a preconfigured sequence defined for the CORESET. The preconfigured sequence may be defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH. The preconfigured sequence may define an order in which TCI states in a plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled. The TCI states in the plurality of TCI states may be cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a wireless communication system according to some aspects.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual illustration of an example of a radio access network according to some aspects.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a frame structure for use in a radio access network according to some aspects.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system supporting beamforming and/or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication according to some aspects.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between a base station and a UE using beamforming according to some aspects.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration that provides for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetitions using a single CORESET.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration that provides for PDCCH repetitions using multiple CORESETs.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the use of multiple transmitters to transmit PDCCH repetitions.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration that supports for PDCCH repetitions using a single CORESET that can be activated by multiple TCI states in accordance with certain aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a base station employing a processing system according to some aspects.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a UE employing a processing system according to some aspects.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for wireless communication at a base station according to some aspects.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for wireless communication at a UE according to some aspects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided by various authors or entities into different classes, bands, channels, or the like, based on frequency/wavelength. For example, in 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7125 MHz) and FR2 (24250 MHz –52600 MHz) . Even though a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz (> 6000 MHz) , FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a Sub-6 GHz band in various documents and articles regarding 5G NR topics. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2 in various documents and articles regarding 5G NR topics. While a portion of FR2 is less than 30 GHz (< 30000 MHz) , FR2 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a millimeter wave band. However, some authors/entities tend to define wireless signals with wavelengths between 1-10 millimeters as falling within a millimeter wave band (30 GHz –300 GHz) .

With the above examples in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” if used herein by way of example may represent all or part of FR1 for 5G NR. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” as used herein by way of example may represent all or part of FR2 for 5G NR and/or all or part of a 30 GHz-300 GHz waveband. It should also be understood that the terms “sub-6 GHz” and “millimeter wave, ” are intended to represent modifications to such example frequency bands that may occur do to author/entity decisions regarding wireless communications, e.g., as presented by example herein.

It should be understood that the above examples are not necessarily intended to limit claimed subject matter. For example, unless specifically recited, claimed subject matter relating to wireless communications is not necessarily intended to be limited to any particular author/entity defined frequency band, or the like.

While aspects and embodiments are described in this application by illustration to some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may come about in many different arrangements and scenarios. Innovations described herein may be implemented across many differing platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and/or uses may come about via integrated chip embodiments and other non-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc. ) . While some examples may or may not be specifically directed to use cases or applications, a wide assortment of applicability of described innovations may occur. Implementations may range a spectrum from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations and further to aggregate, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementation and practice of claimed and described embodiments. For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily includes a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antenna, RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffer, processor (s) , interleaver, adders/summers, etc. ) . It is intended that innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc. of varying sizes, shapes and constitution.

The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Referring now to FIG. 1, as an illustrative example without limitation, various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated with reference to a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. By virtue of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 may be enabled to carry out data communication with an external data network 110, such as (but not limited to) the Internet.

The RAN 104 may implement any suitable wireless communication technology or technologies to provide radio access to the UE 106. As one example, the RAN 104 may operate according to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specifications, often referred to as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under a hybrid of 5G NR and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standards, often referred to as LTE. The 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as a next-generation RAN, or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples may be utilized within the scope of the present disclosure.

As illustrated, the RAN 104 includes a plurality of base stations 108. Broadly, a base station is a network element in a radio access network responsible for radio transmission and reception in one or more cells to or from a UE. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a base station may variously be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS) , a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS) , an extended service set (ESS) , an access point (AP) , a Node B (NB) , an eNode B (eNB) , a gNode B (gNB) , or some other suitable terminology.

The radio access network 104 is further illustrated supporting wireless communication for multiple mobile apparatuses. A mobile apparatus may be referred to as user equipment (UE) in 3GPP standards, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station (MS) , a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT) , a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE may be an apparatus that provides a user with access to network services.

Within the present document, a “mobile” apparatus need not necessarily have a capability to move, and may be stationary. The term mobile apparatus or mobile device broadly refers to a diverse array of devices and technologies. UEs may include a number of hardware structural components sized, shaped, and arranged to help in communication; such components can include antennas, antenna array modules, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc. electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of a mobile apparatus include a mobile, a cellular (cell) phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal computer (PC) , a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , and a broad array of embedded systems, e.g., corresponding to an “Internet of Things” (IoT) . A mobile apparatus may additionally be an automotive or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotics device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, a remote control device, a consumer and/or wearable device, such as eyewear, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player) , a camera, a game console, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a digital home or smart home device such as a home audio, video, and/or multimedia device, an appliance, a vending machine, intelligent lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device controlling electric power (e.g., a smart grid) , lighting, water, etc.; an industrial automation and enterprise device; a logistics controller; agricultural equipment; military defense equipment, vehicles, aircraft, ships, and weaponry, etc. Still further, a mobile apparatus may provide for connected medicine or telemedicine support, i.e., health care at a distance. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth administration devices, whose communication may be given preferential treatment or prioritized access over other types of information, e.g., in terms of prioritized access for transport of critical service data, and/or relevant QoS for transport of critical service data.

Wireless communication between a RAN 104 and a UE 106 may be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) may be referred to as downlink (DL) transmission. In accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure, the term downlink may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission originating at a scheduling entity (described further below; e.g., base station 108) . Another way to describe this scheme may be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) may be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, the term uplink may refer to a point-to-point transmission originating at a scheduled entity (described further below; e.g., UE 106) .

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, wherein a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communication, UEs 106, which may be scheduled entities, may utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity 108.

Base stations 108 are not the only entities that may function as scheduling entities. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs) . And as discussed more below, UEs may communicate directly with other UEs in peer-to-peer fashion and/or in relay configuration.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a scheduling entity 108 may broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. Broadly, the scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic in a wireless communication network, including the downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to the scheduling entity 108. On the other hand, the scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114, including but not limited to scheduling information (e.g., a grant) , synchronization or timing information, or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network such as the scheduling entity 108.

In addition, the uplink and/or downlink control information and/or traffic information may be time-divided into frames, subframes, slots, and/or symbols. As used herein, a symbol may refer to a unit of time that, in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) waveform, carries one resource element (RE) per sub-carrier. A slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe may refer to a duration of 1ms. Multiple subframes or slots may be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Of course, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme for organizing waveforms may be utilized, and various time divisions of the waveform may have any suitable duration.

In general, base stations 108 may include a backhaul interface for communication with a backhaul portion 120 of the wireless communication system. The backhaul 120 may provide a link between a base station 108 and the core network 102. Further, in some examples, a backhaul network may provide interconnection between the respective base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

The core network 102 may be a part of the wireless communication system 100, and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC) . In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to a 4G evolved packet core (EPC) , or any other suitable standard or configuration.

Referring now to FIG. 2, by way of example and without limitation, a schematic illustration of a RAN 200 is provided. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be the same as the RAN 104 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1. The geographic area covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into cellular regions (cells) that can be uniquely identified by a user equipment (UE) based on an identification broadcasted from one access point or base station. FIG. 2 illustrates

macrocells

202, 204, and 206, and a small cell 208, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown) . A sector is a sub-area of a cell. All sectors within one cell are served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identification belonging to that sector. In a cell that is divided into sectors, the multiple sectors within a cell can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

Various base station arrangements can be utilized. For example, in FIG. 2, two

base stations

210 and 212 are shown in

cells

202 and 204; and a third base station 214 is shown controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, a base station can have an integrated antenna or can be connected to an antenna or RRH by feeder cables. In the illustrated example, the

cells

202, 204, and 126 may be referred to as macrocells, as the

base stations

210, 212, and 214 support cells having a large size. Further, a base station 218 is shown in the small cell 208 (e.g., a microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home Node B, home eNode B, etc. ) which may overlap with one or more macrocells. In this example, the cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell, as the base station 218 supports a cell having a relatively small size. Cell sizing can be done according to system design as well as component constraints.

It is to be understood that the radio access network 200 may include any number of wireless base stations and cells. Further, a relay node may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of a given cell. The

base stations

210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to a core network for any number of mobile apparatuses. In some examples, the

base stations

210, 212, 214, and/or 218 may be the same as the base station/scheduling entity 108 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

Within the RAN 200, the cells may include UEs that may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. Further, each

base station

210, 212, 214, and 218 may be configured to provide an access point to a core network 102 (see FIG. 1) for all the UEs in the respective cells. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may be in communication with base station 210;

UEs

226 and 228 may be in communication with base station 212;

UEs

230 and 232 may be in communication with base station 214 by way of RRH 216; and UE 234 may be in communication with base station 218. In some examples, the

UEs

222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 238, 240, and/or 242 may be the same as the UE/scheduled entity 106 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

In some examples, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220, which may be a drone or quadcopter, can be a mobile network node and may be configured to function as a UE. For example, the UAV 220 may operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

In a further aspect of the RAN 200, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals 227 without relaying that communication through a base station (e.g., base station 212) . In some examples, the sidelink signals 227 include sidelink traffic and sidelink control. In a further example, UE 238 is illustrated communicating with

UEs

240 and 242. Here, the UE 238 may function as a scheduling entity or a primary/transmitting sidelink device, and

UEs

240 and 242 may each function as a scheduled entity or a non-primary (e.g., secondary/receiving) sidelink device. For example, a UE may function as a scheduling entity or scheduled entity in a device-to-device (D2D) , peer-to-peer (P2P) , vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example,

UEs

240 and 242 may optionally communicate directly with one another in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity. Thus, in a wireless communication system with scheduled access to time–frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2P/D2D configuration, or a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one or more scheduled entities may communicate utilizing the scheduled resources.

The air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of the various devices. For example, 5G NR specifications provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210, and for multiplexing for DL transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224, utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) . In addition, for UL transmissions, 5G NR specifications provide support for discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with a CP (also referred to as single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) ) . However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes, and may be provided utilizing time division multiple access (TDMA) , code division multiple access (CDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , sparse code multiple access (SCMA) , resource spread multiple access (RSMA) , or other suitable multiple access schemes. Further, multiplexing DL transmissions from the base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be provided utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM) , code division multiplexing (CDM) , frequency division multiplexing (FDM) , orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) , sparse code multiplexing (SCM) , or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

The air interface in the radio access network 200 may further utilize one or more duplexing algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where both endpoints can communicate with one another in both directions. Full duplex means both endpoints can simultaneously communicate with one another. Half duplex means only one endpoint can send information to the other at a time. In a wireless link, a full duplex channel generally relies on physical isolation of a transmitter and receiver, and suitable interference cancellation technologies. Full duplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links by utilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or time division duplex (TDD) . In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at different carrier frequencies. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from one another using time division multiplexing. That is, at some times the channel is dedicated for transmissions in one direction, while at other times the channel is dedicated for transmissions in the other direction, where the direction may change very rapidly, e.g., several times per slot.

Various aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to an OFDM waveform, schematically illustrated in FIG. 3. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to an SC-FDMA waveform in substantially the same way as described herein below. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on an OFDM link for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles may be applied as well to SC-FDMA waveforms.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an expanded view 300 of an exemplary DL subframe 302 is illustrated, showing an OFDM resource grid. However, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the PHY transmission structure for any particular application may vary from the example described here, depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction with units of OFDM symbols; and frequency is in the vertical direction with units of subcarriers.

The resource grid 304 may be used to schematically represent time–frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple antenna ports available, a corresponding multiple number of resource grids 304 may be available for communication. The resource grid 304 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 306. An RE, which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol, is the smallest discrete part of the time–frequency grid, and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation utilized in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or a resource block (RB) 308, which contains any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, a number independent of the numerology used. In some examples, depending on the numerology, an RB may include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within the present disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB such as the RB 308 entirely corresponds to a single direction of communication (either transmission or reception for a given device) .

Scheduling of UEs (e.g., scheduled entities) for downlink or uplink transmissions typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 306 within one or more sub-bands. Thus, a UE generally utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 304. In some examples, an RB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE, and the higher the modulation scheme chosen for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE.

In this illustration, the RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of the subframe 302, with some subcarriers illustrated above and below the RB 308. In a given implementation, the subframe 302 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. Further, in this illustration, the RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of the subframe 302, although this is merely one possible example.

Each 1 ms subframe 302 may consist of one or multiple adjacent slots. In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Additional examples may include mini-slots, sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) , having a shorter duration (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols) . These mini-slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) may in some cases be transmitted occupying resources scheduled for ongoing slot transmissions for the same or for different UEs. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or slot.

An expanded view of one of the slots 310 illustrates the slot 310 including a control region 312 and a data region 314. In general, the control region 312 may carry control channels, and the data region 314 may carry data channels. Of course, a slot may contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. The structure illustrated in FIG. 3 is merely exemplary in nature, and different slot structures may be utilized, and may include one or more of each of the control region (s) and data region (s) .

Although not illustrated in FIG. 3, the various REs 306 within an RB 308 may be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 306 within the RB 308 may also carry pilots or reference signals, including but not limited to a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) a control reference signal (CRS) , or a sounding reference signal (SRS) . These pilots or reference signals may provide for a receiving device to perform channel estimation of the corresponding channel, which may enable coherent demodulation/detection of the control and/or data channels within the RB 308.

In a DL transmission, the base station may allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., within a control region 312) to carry DL control information including one or more DL control channels, such as a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) ; a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH) ; and/or a PDCCH, etc., to one or more scheduled entities. The PCFICH provides information to assist a receiving device in receiving and decoding the PDCCH. The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) including but not limited to power control commands, scheduling information, a grant, and/or an assignment of REs for DL and UL transmissions. The PHICH carries HARQ feedback transmissions such as an acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK) . HARQ is a technique well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, wherein the integrity of packet transmissions may be checked at the receiving side for accuracy, e.g., utilizing any suitable integrity checking mechanism, such as a checksum or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) . If the integrity of the transmission confirmed, an ACK may be transmitted, whereas if not confirmed, a NACK may be transmitted. In response to a NACK, the transmitting device may send a HARQ retransmission, which may implement chase combining, incremental redundancy, etc.

In an UL transmission, the UE may utilize one or more REs 306 to carry UL control information including one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) , to the scheduling entity. UL control information may include a variety of packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. In some examples, the control information may include a scheduling request (SR) , i.e., request for the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmissions. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the control channel, the scheduling entity may transmit downlink control information that may schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. UL control information may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) , or any other suitable UL control information.

In addition to control information, one or more REs 306 (e.g., within the data region 314) may be allocated for user data traffic. Such traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as, for a DL transmission, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; or for an UL transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . In some examples, one or more REs 306 within the data region 314 may be configured to carry system information blocks (SIBs) , carrying information that may enable access to a given cell.

These physical channels described above are generally multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for handling at the medium access control (MAC) layer. Transport channels carry blocks of information called transport blocks (TB) . The transport block size (TBS) , which may correspond to a number of bits of information, may be a controlled parameter, based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission. The MAC layer can also insert a MAC control element (MAC-CE) into the transport blocks that are carried over the transport channels. MAC-CEs enable exchange of MAC layer control, command and other messages between a UE and the network.

The channels or carriers described above in connection with FIGs. 1–3 are not necessarily all of the channels or carriers that may be utilized between a scheduling entity and scheduled entities, and those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to those illustrated, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels.

5G NR networks may support very large operating bandwidths relative to previous generations of cellular networks (e.g., LTE) . However, requiring a UE to operate across the entire bandwidth of a 5G NR network may introduce unnecessary complexities to the operation of the UE and may significantly increase a UE’s power consumption. Therefore, to avoid the need for the operating bandwidth of a UE to match the full bandwidth (also referred to as a carrier bandwidth or a component carrier bandwidth) of a cell in a 5G NR network, 5G NR permits certain UEs to use a bandwidth part (BWP) . For example, a BWP (e.g., a configured frequency band) may allow a UE to operate with a narrower bandwidth (e.g., for wireless transmission and/or reception) than the full bandwidth of a cell. In some examples, BWPs may allow UEs with different bandwidth capabilities to operate in a cell with smaller instantaneous bandwidths relative to the full bandwidth configured for the cell. In some examples, a UE may not be required to transmit and or receive outside of the BWP assigned to the UE (also referred to as an active BWP of the UE) .

In some examples, for a paired spectrum, a serving cell may configure a maximum of four DL BWPs and four UL BWPs. For an unpaired spectrum, a serving cell may configure a maximum of four DL/UL BWP pairs. For a supplementary uplink (SUL) , a serving cell may configure a maximum of 4 UL BWPs.

In some examples, for FDD, a serving cell may support separate sets of BWP configurations for DL and UL per component carrier (CC) . DL and UL BWPs may be configured separately and independently for each UE-specific serving cell. The numerology of a DL BWP configuration may apply to PDCCH and PDSCH. The numerology of an UL BWP configuration may apply to PUCCH and PUSCH.

In some examples, for TDD, a serving cell may support a joint set of BWP configurations for DL and UL per CC. DL and UL BWPs may be jointly configured as a pair, with the restriction that the DL/UL BWP pair shares the same center frequency but may be of different bandwidths for each UE-specific serving cell for a UE. The numerology of the DL/UL BWP configuration may apply to PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, and PUSCH. For a UE, if different active DL and UL BWPs are configured, the UE is not expected to retune the center frequency of the channel bandwidth between DL and UL. Supporting the ability to switch a BWP among multiple BWPs is memory consuming, since each BWP requires a whole set of RRC configurations.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the scheduling entity and/or scheduled entity may be configured for beamforming and/or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 400 supporting beamforming and/or MIMO. In a MIMO system, a transmitter 402 includes multiple transmit antennas 404 (e.g., N transmit antennas) and a receiver 406 includes multiple receive antennas 408 (e.g., M receive antennas) . Thus, there are N × M signal paths 410 from the transmit antennas 404 to the receive antennas 408. Each of the transmitter 402 and the receiver 406 may be implemented, for example, within a scheduling entity or base station, as illustrated in FIGs. 1 and/or 2, a scheduled entity or UE, as illustrated in FIGs. 1 and/or 2, or any other suitable wireless communication device.

The use of such multiple antenna technology enables the wireless communication system to exploit the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity. Spatial multiplexing may be used to transmit different streams of data, also referred to as layers, simultaneously on the same time-frequency resource. The data streams may be transmitted to a single UE to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs to increase the overall system capacity, the latter being referred to as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) . This is achieved by spatially precoding each data stream (i.e., multiplying the data streams with different weighting and phase shifting) and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream through multiple transmit antennas on the downlink. The spatially precoded data streams arrive at the UE (s) with different spatial signatures, which enables each of the UE (s) to recover the one or more data streams destined for that UE. On the uplink, each UE transmits a spatially precoded data stream, which enables the base station to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

The number of data streams or layers corresponds to the rank of the transmission. In general, the rank of the MIMO in the wireless communication system 400 is limited by the number of transmit or receive

antennas

404 or 408, whichever is lower. In addition, the channel conditions at the UE, as well as other considerations, such as the available resources at the base station, may also affect the transmission rank. For example, the rank (and therefore, the number of data streams) assigned to a particular UE on the downlink may be determined based on the rank indicator (RI) transmitted from the UE to the base station. The RI may be determined based on the antenna configuration (e.g., the number of transmit and receive antennas) and a measured signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) on each of the receive antennas. The RI may indicate, for example, the number of layers that may be supported under the current channel conditions. The base station may use the RI, along with resource information (e.g., the available resources and amount of data to be scheduled for the UE) , to assign a transmission rank to the UE.

In one example, as shown in FIG. 4, a rank-2 spatial multiplexing transmission on a 2x2 MIMO antenna configuration will transmit one data stream from each transmit antenna 404. Each data stream reaches each receive antenna 408 along a different signal path 410. The receiver 406 may then reconstruct the data streams using the received signals from each receive antenna 408.

Beamforming is a signal processing technique that may be used at the transmitter 402 or receiver 406 to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit/receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitter 402 and the receiver 406. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via a panel that includes a set of antennas 404 or 408 (e.g., antenna elements of an antenna array module module) such that some of the signals experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. To create the desired constructive/destructive interference, the transmitter 402 or receiver 406 may apply amplitude and/or phase offsets to signals transmitted or received from each of the

antennas

404 or 408 associated with the transmitter 402 or receiver 406.

In some examples, to select one or more serving beams for communication with a UE, the base station may transmit a reference signal, such as a synchronization signal block (SSB) , a tracking reference signal (TRS) , or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) , on each of a plurality of beams in a beam-sweeping manner. The UE may measure the reference signal received power (RSRP) on each of the beams and transmit a beam measurement report to the base station indicating the RSRP of each of the measured beams. The base station may then select the serving beam (s) for communication with the UE based on the beam measurement report. In other examples, when the channel is reciprocal, the base station may derive the particular beam (s) to communicate with the UE based on uplink measurements of one or more uplink reference signals, such as a sounding reference signal (SRS) .

In 5G New Radio (NR) systems, particularly for above 6 GHz or millimeter wave (mmWave) systems, beamformed signals may be utilized for downlink channels, including the PDCCH and PDSCH. In addition, for UEs configured with beamforming antenna array modules, beamformed signals may also be utilized for uplink channels, including the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . However, it should be understood that beamformed signals may also be utilized by enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) gNBs for sub 6 GHz systems.

In addition, reference signals, such as the SSB, TRS, and CSI-RS, may be broadcast in a beam-sweeping manner to enable each UE to receive the reference signals on the corresponding serving beams for use in performing time/frequency synchronization and/or channel estimation. For example, the TRS may be utilized by a UE to adjust the time/frequency synchronization loop and automatic gain control (AGC) loop, perform Doppler estimation and/or estimate channel parameters for channel estimation of a serving beam. The CSI-RS may assist a UE in estimating the channel between the base station and the UE. After channel estimation, the UE may return channel state feedback (CSF) , such as a channel state information (CSI) report, indicating the quality of the channel. The CSF may include, for example, a channel quality indicator (CQI) , the rank indicator (RI) , and a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) . The base station may use the CSF to update the rank associated with the UE and to assign resources for future transmissions to the UE. For example, the CQI may indicate an MCS to use for the future transmissions.

The SSB may include a primary synchronization signal (PSS) , a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) and a physical broadcast control channel (PBCH) . A UE may utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell. The PBCH may include a master information block (MIB) that includes various system information, along with parameters for decoding a system information block (SIB) . The SIB may include, for example, a SystemInformationType1 (SIB1) that may include various additional system information. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, a subcarrier spacing, system frame number, a configuration of a PDCCH CORESET (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0) , and a search space for SIB1. Examples of additional system information transmitted in the SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, a random access search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The MIB and SIB1 together provide the minimum system information (SI) for initial access in a cell.

A search space may refer to a portion of a downlink resource grid 304 (see FIG. 3) in which PDCCH may be carried. A search space may be configured for an individual UE (UE-specific search space) or for all UEs (common search space) . The UE-specific search space may be used by PDCCH that includes UE-specific scheduling information, and the common search space may be used by PDCCH that includes common message scheduling. Search spaces are used by UE for blind decoding whereby the UE determines the parameters necessary to decode PDCCH knowing only the location of the search space identified in preconfigured information or by signaling.

5G NR networks may provide various services associated with eMBB that can satisfy advanced and diverse system requirements, and that can support communication with premium UEs, including UEs configured for eMBB, URLLC, V2X, etc. In many use cases or applications of 5G NR, peak capabilities are not required and/or UEs need not be as capable as premium UEs. 5G NR can be scaled to enable efficient and cost-effective deployment in applications where peak throughput, latency, reliability, and/or other requirements can be relaxed. In some instances, a scalable 5G NR implementation can optimize cost and efficiency in terms of power consumption and system overhead, for example.

5G NR networks may implement a set of features, which may be referred to as NR-Light, that supports reduced complexity and/or reduced capability (RedCap) UEs. In some examples, reduced complexity UEs may include smart wearable devices, industrial sensors, video surveillance devices (e.g., stationary cameras) , and/or other suitable devices. As compared to standard UEs (e.g., smartphones) , reduced complexity UEs may have a lower wireless transmission power, fewer antennas (e.g., antennas for transmitting and/or receiving) , a reduced bandwidth for wireless transmission and/or reception, reduced computational complexity/memory, and/or longer battery life.

A UE may support a reduced maximum bandwidth (BW) . Certain conventional 5G NR protocols or standards may require the UE to support a maximum channel BW defined for the bands in which it operates. In one example the UE may be required to support a 50MHz for 15kHz SCS and 100MHz for 30/60kHz SCS (for Band n78, which may be 3300 MHz –3800 MHz) . A 5G NR-Light UE may support a bandwidth in the range of 5.0 MHz to 20 MHz.

In various implementations, a 5G NR-Light UE may be equipped with a single antenna for receiving signals. The limitation to a single receiving antenna reduces diversity in DL signaling. Diversity can improve reliability of the system when, for example, data-encoded signals propagate over multiple paths. DL spatial diversity can be obtained when multiple receive antennas are used to receive DL signals from multiple different propagation paths.

FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating communication between a base station (BS) 504, such as an eNB or gNB, and a UE 502 using millimeter wave (mmWave) beamformed signals according to some aspects of the disclosure. The BS 504 may correspond to any of the base stations or scheduling entities illustrated in FIGs. 1 and/or 2, and the UE 502 may correspond to any of the UEs or scheduled entities illustrated in FIGs. 1 and/or 2. It should be noted that while some beams are illustrated as adjacent to one another, such an arrangement may be different in different aspects. In some examples, beams transmitted during a same symbol may not be adjacent to one another. In some examples, the BS 504 may transmit more or less beams radially distributed in all directions (e.g., 360 degrees) within a coverage area of the BS 504.

The BS 504 may generally be capable of communicating with the UE 502 using beams of varying beam widths. For example, the BS 504 may be configured to utilize a wide beam 506a for communication with the UE 502 when the UE 502 is in motion and a narrow beam 506b for communication with the UE 502 when the UE 502 is stationary. Here, each wide beam 506a has a beam width greater than the beam width of each narrow beam 506b. The BS 504 may further be configured to broadcast reference signals 508 on each of the beams 506 (e.g., wide beams 506a and narrow beams 506b) in a beam-sweeping manner for initial access, time/frequency synchronization, channel estimation by the UE 502 and/or beam management. For example, the BS 504 may transmit a SSB, TRS, and/or CSI-RS over each of the beams 506.

The reference signal 508 utilizes a different reference signal waveform for transmission on each beam 506. Here, a reference signal waveform refers to a set of configuration parameters, including, for example, a reference signal identifier (RS ID) , a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state that indicates quasi co-location (QCL) information (e.g., QCL-Type) of the reference signal waveform, and other suitable configuration parameters. For the TRS and CSI-RS, the RS ID may be a logical indexing of the RS, where each RS ID may be defined by a non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource set including a unique list of two or four NZP CSI-RS resource IDs, each including a different mapping (e.g., using different REs/symbols) and different scrambling ID, thus producing a unique RS (e.g., TRS or CSI-RS) waveform.

An example of a QCL-Type includes QCL-TypeA, which indicates an associated additional reference signal waveform from which various radio channel properties (e.g., the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and/or delay spread) of the received reference signal waveform may be inferred. For example, for a CSI-RS waveform, the QCL-TypeA may indicate an associated TRS waveform from which the channel properties of the CSI-RS waveform may be inferred. Another QCL-Type includes QCL-TypeD, which indicates a spatial RX parameter (e.g., spatial property of the beam on which the reference signal waveform is transmitted) . The spatial property of the beam may be inferred from an associated additional reference signal waveform and may indicate, for example, at least one of a beam direction or a beam width. For example, for a CSI-RS waveform, the QCL-TypeD may indicate an associated SSB, CSI-RS, or TRS waveform from which the spatial property of the CSI-RS beam may be inferred. Other QCL-Types (e.g., QCL-TypeB and QCL-TypeC) may also indicate associated additional reference signal waveforms from which specific channel properties (e.g., Doppler shift and/or Doppler spread for QCL-TypeB and average delay and/or delay spread for QCL-TypeC) may be inferred.

Certain aspects of this disclosure relate to compensating for coverage losses in DL transmissions involving a 5G NR-Light UE that has a reduced or limited number of available antennas. Certain UEs may experience poor channel conditions for a variety of reasons, including interference, features of the physical geography between a base station and the UEs, other barriers such as walls, buildings etc. and/or motion of the UE. In one aspect of this disclosure, PDCCH/PDSCH repetitions may compensate for coverage loss in DL transmissions, while promoting co-existence of 5G NR-Light UEs with 5G NR premium UEs in a network. In some implementations, one or more CORESETs may be used to carry PDCCH repetitions.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration 600 that provides for PDCCH repetitions carried in a single CORESET. In this example, all PDCCH repetitions are carried by the same CORESET. A search space 604 may be associated with the CORESET. Certain starting symbols may be defined for the search space 604, where each starting symbol is associated with a PDCCH. The UE can look for the CORESET using the starting symbols.

In the illustrated example, starting symbols are defined for CORESET-based PDCCH repetitions 608 ₁-608 ₄ within the search space 604. The search space 604 repeats with a periodicity 602 of 20 slots, and is provided in 4 slots at the beginning of a frame (0-slot offset) . Four CORESET-based PDCCH repetitions 608 ₁-608 ₄ are configured for each slot 606 in the search space 604. The set of RBs and the set of OFDM symbols used for the CORESET are configurable within the search space 604. In one example, different PDCCH repetitions can be configured to be carried by the CORESET in different search spaces. In other examples, different PDCCH repetitions can be configured with different starting symbol indexes within a single search space 604. In some implementations, multiple search spaces may be provided, where each search space corresponds to a single CORESET that may be repeated in each of the multiple search spaces.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration 700 that provides for PDCCH repetitions 716 ₁-716 ₂, 718 ₁-718 ₂ using multiple

different CORESETs

706, 708. In this example, different PDCCH repetitions 716 ₁-716 ₂, 718 ₁-718 ₂ are carried by

different CORESETs

706, 708 in different search spaces 714 ₁-714 ₂. Each

CORESET

706, 708 may be associated with one or more TCI candidate states, where different TCI states can be associated with different QCL reference signals. Accordingly, the different PDCCH repetitions 716 ₁-716 ₂, 718 ₁-718 ₂ can be associated with different TCI states 710, 712. A base station may transmit a downlink MAC-CE message to activate TCI states associated with multiple CORESETs. In conventional systems, a MAC-

CE message

702, 704 transmitted by a base station to the UE may activate one

TCI state

710, 712 associated with each

CORESET

706, 708, and may cause the UE to monitor the

CORESET

706, 708. Conventional systems do not permit a

CORESET

706, 708 used for PDCCH repetition to be activated with multiple TCI states.

In some implementations, different data can be transmitted from different transmitters to increase data rate when spatial multiplexing is used, or the same data can be transmitted by multiple transmitters to improve diversity, transmission reliability and/or robustness. In one example, spatial diversity can be obtained through the use of different antennas of a base station for different repetitions of the PDCCH. In another example, spatial diversity can be obtained by transmitting some PDCCH repetitions from a first base station and causing other PDCCH repetitions to be transmitted through a different base station and/or through a side link device. A multiple-repetition PDCCH scheduling scheme may be implemented to independently schedule PDSCHs through two or more transmitters. The improvement in spatial diversity through the repetitions of the different PDCCH using different transmitters can reduce the number of PDCCH repetitions needed to compensate for the reduction in antennas in a 5G NR-Light UE. TCI state may be used to indicate certain aspects of the transmissions associated with PDCCH repetitions.

In accordance with certain aspects of this disclosure, a MAC-CE message transmitted to a UE may be configured to activate two or more TCI states associated with each of one or more CORESETs. The UE may be configured with list of TCI state candidates associated with a CORESET selected for PDCCH repetition. The MAC-CE may indicate the TCI states to be activated for the selected CORESET by transmitting a MAC-CE message configured in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. In the event that the MAC-CE message is not received, the UE may follow preconfigured rules to determine and activate a default TCI-state (SSBs, for example) .

FIG. 8 illustrates an example 800 of the use of

multiple transmitters

802, 804 to transmit

PDCCH repetitions

806, 808 810, 812. Spatial diversity can be increased or improved when different PDCCH/PDSCH repetitions are transmitted using different beams and/or by

different transmitters

802, 804. In some instances,

multiple transmitters

802, 804 can be jointly used with frequency-hopping and/or time-domain DMRS (TD-DMRS) bundling for the repetitions transmitted by the beam and/or

transmitter

802, 804. TD-DMRS bundling may include bundling additional DMRS in the time domain.

The TCI states associated with the different PDCCH/PDSCH repetition-instances may be different for different beams or for

different transmitters

802, 804. Certain aspects of the disclosure enable single CORESET activation using multiple TCI states including when the CORESET is used for PDCCH repetitions.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration 900 that supports PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂, 914 ₁-914 ₂ using a single CORESET 904 that can be activated using multiple TCI states. In this example, a first set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ and a second set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂, are carried by the single CORESET 904 in different search spaces 910 ₁, 910 ₂. The single CORESET 904 can be associated with multiple TCI states 906, 908, where each of the TCI states 906, 908 may be associated with different QCL reference signals. Accordingly, the first set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ and the second set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ may be transmitted using different beams and/or different transmitters. In one example, the first set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ and the second set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ can be provided within a single search space 910 ₁ or 910 ₂. In another example, the first set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ and the second set of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂ may be provided within multiple search spaces 910 ₁, 910 ₂.

In one aspect, certain TCI-states activated in the UE can be changed within one slot to accommodate PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂, 914 ₁-914 ₂. In some examples, activated TCI states corresponding to QCL-Type A/B/C may be changed within a single slot. A MAC-CE message 902 may be defined and/or configured to activate multiple TCI-states for a single CORESET 904. The MAC-CE message 902 may be transmitted to the UE for PDCCH repetition purposes. In one example, multiple activated TCI-states may include a default TCI state that is used for PDCCH without repetition. The UE may determine whether to use a single-TCI or multi-TCIs based on whether the PDCCH is repeated.

In some implementations, the configuration of multiple activated TCI-states 906, 908 for the single CORESET 904 may include information defining the sequence or order in which the activated TCI-states 906, 908 are cycled when PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂, 914 ₁-914 ₂ are carried in the CORESET 904. The sequence or order in which the activated TCI-states 906, 908 are cycled may be used to support certain network requirements. In one example, the sequence or order may be based on TCI state. For example, the TCI state may indicate a QCL-Type that corresponds to a spatial property of the beam on which the reference signal waveform is transmitted. QCL-TypeD may impose certain timing requirements or restrictions on the UE to enable the UE to reliably decode information from the beam. These timing requirements or restrictions may be met by the configured sequence or order in which the activated TCI-states 906, 908 are cycled. In another example, the sequence or order may be defined by protocol or standard. In another example, the sequence or order may be configured by an application.

In some implementations, the MAC-CE in a base station may send a MAC-CE message to activate two TCI-states 906, 908 in a UE, and may configure a sequence whereby first PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁, 914 ₁ are transmitted using a first TCI-state 906, and second PDCCH repetitions 912 ₂, 914 ₂ are transmitted using a second TCI-state 908. In some implementations, the sequence or order in which the activated TCI-states 906, 908 are cycled when receiving PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂, 914 ₁-914 ₂ carried by the CORESET 904 may be further dependent on which PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁-912 ₂, 914 ₁-914 ₂ are TD-DMRS bundled. In a first example, the PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁, 912 ₂, 914 ₁ or 914 ₂ that are TD-DMRS bundled are transmitted using the first TCI-state 906, where PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁, 912 ₂, 914 ₁ or 914 ₂ that are not TD-DMRS bundled are transmitted using the second TCI-state 908. In a second example, the PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁, 912 ₂, 914 ₁ or 914 ₂ that are TD-DMRS bundled are transmitted using the second TCI-state 908. In a third example, two or more groups of PDCCH repetitions 912 ₁, 912 ₂, 914 ₁ or 914 ₂ may be included in different TD-DMRS bundles, where the bundles are transmitted using different TCI-states 906, 908.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an exemplary base station employing a processing system 1014. For example, the base station 1000 may be a gNB, eNB, or scheduling entity as illustrated in any one or more of FIGs. 1, 2, 4 and/or 5.

The base station 1000 may be implemented with a processing system 1014 that includes one or more processors 1004. Examples of processors 1004 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs) , field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , programmable logic devices (PLDs) , state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, the base station 1000 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 1004, as utilized in a base station 1000, may be used to implement any one or more of the processes described below. The processor 1004 may in some instances be implemented via a baseband or modem chip and in other implementations, the processor 1004 may itself comprise a number of devices distinct and different from a baseband or modem chip (e.g., in such scenarios is may work in concert to achieve embodiments discussed herein) . And as mentioned above, various hardware arrangements and components outside of a baseband modem processor can be used in implementations, including RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, interleavers, adders/summers, etc.

In this example, the processing system 1014 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 1002. The bus 1002 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system 1014 and the overall design constraints. The bus 1002 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (represented generally by the processor 1004) , a memory 1016, and computer-readable media (represented generally by the computer-readable medium 1006) . The bus 1002 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. A bus interface 1008 provides an interface between the bus 1002 and a transceiver 1010. The transceiver 1010 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium (e.g., air interface) . A user interface 1012 (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided. Of course, in some examples, the user interface 1012 is optional, and may be omitted.

The processor 1004 is responsible for managing the bus 1002 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 1006. The software, when executed by the processor 1004, causes the processing system 1014 to perform the various functions described below for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium 1006 and the memory 1016 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 1004 when executing software.

One or more processors 1004 in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium 1006.

The computer-readable medium 1006 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip) , an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD) ) , a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, or a key drive) , a random access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM) , a programmable ROM (PROM) , an erasable PROM (EPROM) , an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) , a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may also include, by way of example, a carrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium 1006 may reside in the processing system 1014, external to the processing system 1014, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system 1014. The computer-readable medium 1006 may be embodied in a computer program product. In some examples, the computer-readable medium 1006 may be part of the memory 1016. By way of example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1004 may include circuitry configured for various functions. For example, the processor 1004 may include TCI States configuring circuitry 1042 that may be configured to generate, maintain, modify, distribute and/or use information that defines multiple active TCI states for a single CORESET. In some examples, the information may be used to repetitively transmit a PDCCH in the CORESET where a first TCI state is configured to be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is configured to be activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted. The information may include a listing of TCI states 1022 and/or a list of search spaces 1024 stored in the memory 1016.

The TCI States configuring circuitry 1042 may further be configured to execute TCI States activating software 1062 stored in the computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

The processor 1004 may further include communication and processing circuitry 1044, configured to communicate with one or more user equipment (UEs) or scheduled entities located within a coverage area of the base station 1000. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1044 may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and/or signal transmission) and signal processing (e.g., processing a received signal and/or processing a signal for transmission) .

In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1044 may be configured to generate and transmit downlink beamformed signals at, for example, a mmWave frequency via the transceiver 1010 and antenna array module 1020. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1044 may be configured to transmit a downlink MAC-CE message. The communication and processing circuitry 1044 may further be configured to transmit repetitions of a PDCCH in a single CORESET. The PDCCH repetitions may be transmitted when different TCI states are activated. For example, a first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted. The communication and processing circuitry 1044 may further be configured to transmit the PDCCH repetitions within one or more search spaces defined for the CORESET. The communication and processing circuitry 1044 may further be configured to transmit the PDCCH repetitions through multiple transmitters or on different beams. The communication and processing circuitry 1044 may further be configured to transmit certain PDCCH repetitions in a TD-DMRS bundle. The communication and processing circuitry 1044 may further be configured to execute communication and processing software 1064 stored in the computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

The processor 1004 may further include MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1046. The MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1046 may be configured to generate a downlink MAC-CE message to a UE, where the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a single CORESET. The MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1046 may further be configured to execute MAC-CE message handling software 1066 stored in the computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

In one configuration, the base station 1000 includes means for performing the various functions and processes described in relation to FIG. 12. In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be the processor 1004 shown in FIG. 10 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any apparatus configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in the processor 1004 is merely provided as an example, and other means for carrying out the described functions may be included within various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium 1006, or any other suitable apparatus or means described in any one of the FIGs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and/or 11, and utilizing, for example, the processes and/or algorithms described herein in relation to FIG. 12.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an exemplary UE 1100 employing a processing system 1114. In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system 1114 that includes one or more processors 1102. For example, the UE 1100 may be a user equipment (UE) , integrated access backhaul (IAB) network node, or other type of scheduled entity as illustrated in FIGs. 1, 2, 4 and/or 5.

The processing system 1114 may be substantially the same as the processing system 1014 illustrated in FIG. 10, including a bus interface 1108, a bus 1106, memory 1116, a processor 1102, and a computer-readable medium 1104. Furthermore, the UE 1100 may include an optional user interface 1112 and a transceiver 1110 substantially similar to those described above in FIG. 10. That is, the processor 1102, as utilized in a UE 1100, may be used to implement any one or more of the processes described below and illustrated in the various figures.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1102 may include circuitry configured for various functions. For example, the processor 1102 may include TCI States activating circuitry 1122 that may be configured to generate, maintain, modify, update and/or use

information

1128, 1130, 1132 stored in the memory 1116. For example, the memory 1116 may store TCI state information 1128 indicating states that can be activated for a single CORESET, TCI state activation sequence information 1130 and/or a search space information 1132. In some examples, the

information

1128, 1130, 1132 may be used to receive a plurality of repetitions of a PDCCH carried by the CORESET where, for example, a first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is received.

The TCI States activating circuitry 1122 may further be configured to execute TCI States activating software 1142 stored in the computer-readable medium 1104 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

The processor 1102 may further include communication and processing circuitry 1124, configured to communicate with a base station or scheduling entity. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1124 may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and/or signal transmission) and signal processing (e.g., processing a received signal and/or processing a signal for transmission) .

In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1124 may be configured to generate and transmit uplink beamformed signals at, for example, a mmWave frequency via the transceiver 1110 and antenna array module 1120. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1124 may be configured to transmit uplink MAC-CE messages. The communication and processing circuitry 1124 may further be configured to receive downlink beamformed signals at, for example, a mmWave frequency. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1124 may further be configured to receive downlink MAC-CE messages. The communication and processing circuitry 1124 may further be configured to execute communication and processing software 1144 stored in the computer-readable medium 1104 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

The processor 1102 may further include MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1126. The MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1126 may be configured to process a downlink MAC-CE message from a base station. In one example, MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1126 may activate or configure an activation sequence for two or more TCI states for a single CORESET in response to the downlink MAC-CE message. The MAC-CE message handling circuitry 1126 may further be configured to execute MAC-CE message handling software 1146 stored in the computer-readable medium 1104 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

In one configuration, the UE 1100 includes means for performing the various functions and processes described in relation to FIG. 13. In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be the processor 1102 shown in FIG. 11 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any apparatus configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in the processor 1102 is merely provided as an example, and other means for carrying out the described functions may be included within various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium 1104, or any other suitable apparatus or means described in any one of the FIGs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and/or 11, and utilizing, for example, the processes and/or algorithms described herein in relation to FIG. 13.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart 1200 of a method for wireless communication at a base station in a wireless communication network according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, the method may be performed by the base station 1000, as described above and illustrated in FIG. 10, by a processor or processing system, or by any suitable means for carrying out the described functions.

At block 1202, the base station 1000 may transmit a downlink MAC-CE message to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs. The downlink MAC-CE message may be configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs at a UE. At block 1204, the base station 1000 may repetitively transmitting a PDCCH in the first CORESET. Repetitively transmitting the PDCCH may include transmitting a first repetition of the PDCCH and transmitting a second repetition of the PDCCH. A first TCI state may be activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.

In certain implementations, the PDCCH may be repetitively transmitted by transmitting a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a first search space, and transmitting a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a second search space. The PDCCH may be repetitively transmitted by transmitting each PDCCH repetition within a single search space. The PDCCH may be repetitively transmitted by transmitting the first repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the first TCI state, and transmitting the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state. In one example, the TCI state may indicate a QCL-Type that corresponds to an associated additional reference signal waveform from which various radio channel properties of a received reference signal waveform may be inferred. In another example, the TCI state may indicate a QCL-Type that corresponds to a spatial property of the beam on which the reference signal waveform is transmitted.

In certain implementations, repetitively transmitting the PDCCH may include transmitting the first repetition of the PDCCH through a first transmitter, and causing the second repetition of the PDCCH to be transmitted through a second transmitter. In one example, the base station may use multiple antennas that can be configured to provide a propagation path for the transmission of the first PCCH repetition that is physically different from the propagation path for the transmission of the second PCCH repetition, thereby providing first and second transmitters. In another example the base station serves as the first transmitter and another base station or a side link device operates as a second transmitter.

In certain implementations, repetitively transmitting the PDCCH includes transmitting a first group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated. Repetitively transmitting the PDCCH may include transmitting a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.

In certain implementations, a TCI state may be selected for transmitting each repetition of the PDCCH in accordance with a preconfigured sequence defined for the first CORESET. In one example, the preconfigured sequence may be defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH. In another example, the preconfigured sequence define an order in which TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled. The TCI states in the plurality of TCI states may be cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.

In some implementations, the PDCCH may be transmitted without repetition. The plurality of TCI states may include a default TCI state that is used when the PDCCH is transmitted without repetition.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating a process 1300 operable at a user equipment (UE) to communicate with a base station within a wireless communication network according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, the process 1300 may be carried out by the UE 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11.In some examples, the process 1300 may be carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out the functions or algorithm described below.

At block 1302, the UE 1100 may receive a downlink MAC-CE message from a base station. The MAC-CE message may be configured to activate TCI states associated with one or more CORESETs. At block 1304, the UE 1100 may activate two or more TCI states for a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs in response to the downlink MAC-CE message. At block 1306, the UE 1100 may receive a plurality of repetitions of a PDCCH carried by the CORESET. A first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received.

In certain implementations, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a first search space defined for the CORESET, and receiving a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a second search space defined for the CORESET. The plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH from a single search space defined for the CORESET.

In some examples, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location information indicated by the first TCI state, and receiving the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.

In certain implementations, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving the first repetition of the PDCCH from a first transmitter, and receiving the second repetition of the PDCCH from a second transmitter. The first transmitter may be a first access point or a first side link device, and the second transmitter may be a second access point or a second side link device.

In certain implementations, the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH may be received by receiving a first group of time TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated. A second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions may be received based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.

In certain implementations, a TCI state identified for each repetition of the PDCCH may be activated in a preconfigured sequence defined for the CORESET. The preconfigured sequence may be defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH. The preconfigured sequence may define an order in which TCI states in a plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled. The TCI states in the plurality of TCI states may be cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.

Several aspects of a wireless communication network have been presented with reference to an exemplary implementation. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards.

By way of example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , the Evolved Packet System (EPS) , the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) , and/or the Global System for Mobile (GSM) . Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) , such as CDMA2000 and/or Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) . Other examples may be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) , Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

Within the present disclosure, the word “exemplary” is used to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration. ” Any implementation or aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of the disclosure. Likewise, the term “aspects” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation. The term “coupled” is used herein to refer to the direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically touches object B, and object B touches object C, then objects A and C may still be considered coupled to one another-even if they do not directly physically touch each other. For instance, a first object may be coupled to a second object even though the first object is never directly physically in contact with the second object. The terms “circuit” and “circuitry” are used broadly, and intended to include both hardware implementations of electrical devices and conductors that, when connected and configured, enable the performance of the functions described in the present disclosure, without limitation as to the type of electronic circuits, as well as software implementations of information and instructions that, when executed by a processor, enable the performance of the functions described in the present disclosure.

One or more of the components, steps, features and/or functions illustrated in FIGs. 1–13 may be rearranged and/or combined into a single component, step, feature or function or embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and/or functions may also be added without departing from novel features disclosed herein. The apparatus, devices, and/or components illustrated in FIGs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 11 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and/or embedded in hardware.

It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more. ” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.

Claims

A method for wireless communication at a base station in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

transmitting a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) , wherein the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs at a user equipment (UE) ; and

repetitively transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) in the first CORESET, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH includes transmitting a first repetition of the PDCCH and transmitting a second repetition of the PDCCH, and wherein a first TCI state is activated when the first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when the second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.
The method of claim 1, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH comprises:

transmitting a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a first search space; and

transmitting a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a second search space.
The method of claim 1, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH comprises:

transmitting each PDCCH repetition within a single search space.
The method of claim 1, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH comprises:

transmitting the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location (QCL) information indicated by the first TCI state; and

transmitting the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.
The method of claim 1, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH comprises:

transmitting the first repetition of the PDCCH through a first transmitter; and

causing the second repetition of the PDCCH to be transmitted through a second transmitter.
The method of claim 5, wherein the first transmitter comprises a first antenna and the second transmitter comprises a second antenna.
The method of claim 5, wherein the second transmitter comprises another base station or a side link device.
The method of claim 1, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH comprises:

transmitting a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated.
The method of claim 8, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH comprises:

transmitting a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a TCI state for transmitting each repetition of the PDCCH in accordance with a preconfigured sequence defined for the first CORESET.
The method of claim 10, wherein the preconfigured sequence is defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH.
The method of claim 10, wherein the preconfigured sequence define an order in which TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled, wherein the TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the PDCCH without repetition,

wherein the plurality of TCI states includes a default TCI state that is used when the PDCCH is transmitted without repetition.
A base station in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a wireless transceiver;

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) , wherein the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs at a user equipment (UE) ; and

repetitively transmit a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) in the first CORESET, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH includes transmitting a first repetition of the PDCCH and transmitting a second repetition of the PDCCH, and wherein a first TCI state is activated when the first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when the second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a first search space; and

transmit a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a second search space.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit each PDCCH repetition within a single search space.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location (QCL) information indicated by the first TCI state; and

transmit the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit the first repetition of the PDCCH through a first transmitter; and

cause the second repetition of the PDCCH to be transmitted through a second transmitter.
The base station of claim 18, wherein the first transmitter comprises a first antenna and the second transmitter comprises a second antenna.
The base station of claim 18, wherein the second transmitter comprises another base station or a side link device.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmitting a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated.
The base station of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmitting a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

select a TCI state for transmitting each repetition of the PDCCH in accordance with a preconfigured sequence defined for the first CORESET.
The base station of claim 23, wherein the preconfigured sequence is defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH.
The base station of claim 23, wherein the preconfigured sequence defines an order in which TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled, wherein the TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.
The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit the PDCCH without repetition,

wherein the plurality of TCI states includes a default TCI state that is used when the PDCCH is transmitted without repetition.
A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, the code when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

transmit a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) , wherein the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs at a user equipment (UE) ; and

repetitively transmit a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) in the first CORESET, wherein repetitively transmitting the PDCCH includes transmitting a first repetition of the PDCCH and transmitting a second repetition of the PDCCH, and wherein a first TCI state is activated when the first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when the second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a first search space; and

transmit a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH within a second search space.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit each PDCCH repetition within a single search space.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location information indicated by the first TCI state; and

transmit the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit the first repetition of the PDCCH through a first transmitter; and

cause the second repetition of the PDCCH to be transmitted through a second transmitter.
The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the first transmitter comprises a first antenna and the second transmitter comprises a second antenna.
The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the second transmitter comprises another base station or a side link device.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated.
The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

select a TCI state for transmitting each repetition of the PDCCH in accordance with a preconfigured sequence defined for the first CORESET.
The computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the preconfigured sequence is defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH.
The computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the preconfigured sequence define an order in which TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled, wherein the TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.
The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

transmit the PDCCH without repetition,

wherein the plurality of TCI states includes a default TCI state that is used when the PDCCH is transmitted without repetition.
A base station in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for transmitting a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) , wherein the downlink MAC-CE message is configured to activate a plurality of TCI states associated with a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs at a user equipment (UE) ; and

means for repetitively transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) in the first CORESET, wherein the means for repetitively transmitting the PDCCH is configured to transmit at least a first repetition of the PDCCH and to transmit a second repetition of the PDCCH, and wherein a first TCI state is activated when the first repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted and a second TCI state is activated when the second repetition of the PDCCH is transmitted.
A method for wireless communication at a UE in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

receiving a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) ;

activating two or more TCI states for a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs in response to the downlink MAC-CE message; and

receiving a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) carried by the CORESET, wherein a first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received.
The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH comprises:

receiving a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a first search space defined for the CORESET; and

receiving a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a second search space defined for the CORESET.
The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH comprises:

receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH from a single search space defined for the CORESET.
The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH comprises:

receiving the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location information indicated by the first TCI state; and

receiving the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.
The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH comprises:

receiving the first repetition of the PDCCH from a first transmitter; and

receiving the second repetition of the PDCCH from a second transmitter.
The method of claim 45, wherein the first transmitter comprises a first access point or a first side link device, and the second transmitter comprises a second access point or a second side link device.
The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH comprises:

receiving a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated.
The method of claim 47, wherein receiving the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH comprises:

receiving a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.
The method of claim 41, further comprising:

activating a TCI state identified for each repetition of the PDCCH in a preconfigured sequence defined for the CORESET.
The method of claim 49, wherein the preconfigured sequence is defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH.
The method of claim 49, wherein the preconfigured sequence defines an order in which TCI states in a plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled, wherein the TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.
A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a wireless transceiver;

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) ;

activate two or more TCI states for a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs in response to the downlink MAC-CE message; and

receive a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) carried by the CORESET, wherein a first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received.
The UE of claim 52, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a first search space defined for the CORESET; and

receive a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a second search space defined for the CORESET.
The UE of claim 52, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH from a single search space defined for the CORESET.
The UE of claim 52, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location information indicated by the first TCI state; and

receive the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.
The UE of claim 52, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the first repetition of the PDCCH from a first transmitter; and

receive the second repetition of the PDCCH from a second transmitter.
The UE of claim 56, wherein the first transmitter comprises a first access point or a first side link device, and the second transmitter comprises a second access point or a second side link device.
The UE of claim 52, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated.
The UE of claim 58, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.
The UE of claim 52, further comprising:

activate a TCI state identified for each repetition of the PDCCH in a preconfigured sequence defined for the CORESET.
The UE of claim 60, wherein the preconfigured sequence is defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH.
The UE of claim 60, wherein the preconfigured sequence define an order in which TCI states in a plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled, wherein the TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.
A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, the code when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

receive a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) ;

activate two or more TCI states for a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs in response to the downlink MAC-CE message; and

receive a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) carried by the CORESET, wherein a first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received.
The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

receive a first group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a first search space defined for the CORESET; and

receive a second group of repetitions of the PDCCH from a second search space defined for the CORESET.
The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

receive the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH from a single search space defined for the CORESET.
The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

receive the first repetition of the PDCCH based on quasi co-location information indicated by the first TCI state; and

receive the second repetition of the PDCCH based on QCL information indicated by the second TCI state.
The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

receive the first repetition of the PDCCH from a first transmitter; and

receive the second repetition of the PDCCH from a second transmitter.
The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the first transmitter comprises a first access point or a first side link device, and the second transmitter comprises a second access point or a second side link device.
The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

receive a first group of time-domain demodulation reference signal (TD-DMRS) bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the first TCI state when the first TCI state is activated.
The computer-readable medium of claim 69, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

receive a second group of TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetitions based on the second TCI state when the second TCI state is activated.
The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein the code further causes the processor to:

activate a TCI state identified for each repetition of the PDCCH in a preconfigured sequence defined for the CORESET.
The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the preconfigured sequence is defined to accommodate TCI states that indicate a QCL type associated with a spatial property of a transmission that carries at least one repetition of the PDCCH.
The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the preconfigured sequence define an order in which TCI states in a plurality of TCI states are cycled when PDCCH repetitions are time-domain demodulation reference signal bundled, wherein the TCI states in the plurality of TCI states are cycled among different TD-DMRS bundled PDCCH repetition subsets.
A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for receiving a downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message from a base station, the MAC-CE message being configured to activate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) ;

means for activating two or more TCI states for a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs in response to the downlink MAC-CE message; and

means for receiving a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) carried by the CORESET, wherein a first TCI state is activated when a first repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received and a second TCI state is activated when a second repetition of the PDCCH in the plurality of repetitions of the PDCCH is received.