WO2022087291A1

WO2022087291A1 - Uplink transmission with beam switching using gap symbols

Info

Publication number: WO2022087291A1
Application number: PCT/US2021/056085
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexei Davydov; Bishwarup Mondal; Avik SENGUPTA; Dong Han
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2020-10-23
Filing date: 2021-10-21
Publication date: 2022-04-28

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) configured for multi-transmission-reception point (TRP) communication in a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network may decode signalling from a generation Node B (gNB) to configure the UE with gap intervals for multi-beam uplink transmission with beam switching. The UE may encode a physical uplink channel (i.e., a PUCCH or a PUSCH) for beam-switched transmissions at symbol times within scheduled slots except symbol times corresponding to the gap intervals. The gap intervals may comprise gap symbols at symbol times within the scheduled slots at an end and/or a beginning of the beam-switched transmissions.

Description

UPLINK TRANSMISSION WITH BEAM SWITCHING USING GAP

SYMBOLS

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims priority to United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/104,961, filed October 23, 2020 [reference number AD3347-Z], and United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/104,969, filed October 23, 2020 [reference number AD3353-Z] both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to wireless networks including 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) and fifth-generation (5G) networks including 5Gnew radio (NR) (or 5G-NR) networks. Some embodiments relate to multiple transmissionreception point (mTRP) operation. Some embodiments relate uplink (UL) beam switching. Some embodiments provide relate to mTRP beam failure recovery (BFR).

BACKGROUND

[0003] Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today’s highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. With the increase in different types of devices communicating with various network devices, usage of 3GPP 5G NR systems has increased. The penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UEs) in modem society has continued to drive demand for a wide variety of networked devices in many disparate environments. 5G NR wireless systems are forthcoming and are expected to enable even greater speed, connectivity, and usability, and are expected to increase throughput, coverage, and robustness and reduce latency and operational and capital expenditures. 5G-NR networks will continue to evolve based on 3GPP LTE- Advanced with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people’s lives with seamless wireless connectivity solutions delivering fast, rich content and services. As current cellular network frequency is saturated, higher frequencies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency, can be beneficial due to their high bandwidth. [0004] One issue with UEs configured for multi-TRP operation is uplink beam switching.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIG. 1 A illustrates an architecture of a network, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0006] FIG. IB and FIG. 1C illustrate a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some embodiments.

[0007] FIG. 2A illustrates beam switching within an antenna panel in accordance with some embodiments.

[0008] FIG. 2B illustrates beam switching across antenna panels in accordance with some embodiments.

[0009] FIG. 2C illustrates table 1 for gap symbol options in accordance with some embodiments.

[0010] FIG. 3A illustrates beam switching with a gap symbol at the beginning of a transmission in accordance with some embodiments.

[0011] FIG. 3B illustrates beam switching with a gap symbol at the end of a transmission in accordance with some embodiments.

[0012] FIG. 3C illustrates beam switching with gap symbol at the beginning and end of a transmission in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates table 6.1.2.1-1 for valid S and L combinations in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 5A illustrates beam switching with gap symbols for Type-A mapping in accordance with some embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 5B illustrates beam switching with gap symbols for Type-B mapping in accordance with some embodiments. [0016] FIG. 6A illustrates the use of a spatial domain receive filter with small cross-beam interference in accordance with some embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 6B illustrates the use of a spatial domain receive filter with large cross-beam interference in accordance with some embodiments.

[0018] FIG. 7 A illustrates L-RSRP measurements based on a multiple TRP (mTRP) reception hypothesis in accordance with some embodiments.

[0019] FIG. 7B illustrates L-RSRP measurements based on a single TRP (sTRP) reception hypothesis in accordance with some embodiments.

[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates a function block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0022] Some embodiments are directed to a user equipment (UE) configured for multi-transmission-reception point (TRP) communication in a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network. In these embodiments, the UE may be configured to decode signalling from a generation Node B (gNB) to configure the UE with gap intervals for multi-beam uplink transmission with beam switching. In these embodiments, the UE may encode a physical uplink channel (i.e., a PUCCH or a PUSCH) for beam-switched transmissions at symbol times within scheduled slots except symbol times corresponding to the gap intervals. In these embodiments, the gap intervals may comprise gap symbols at symbol times within the scheduled slots at an end and/or a beginning of the beam-switched transmissions. These embodiments are illustrated in FIGs.

3 A, 3B and 3C, and are described in more detail below.

[0023] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to refrain from transmitting symbols of the physical uplink channel during the sy mbol times of the gap intervals. In these embodiments, the UE does not transmit during the gap intervals (i.e., gap symbols). These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0024] In some embodiments, when the UE is configured with inter-slot gap intervals between the switched beams, the beam-switched transmissions comprise a first beam-switched transmission of the physical uplink channel within a first antenna beam during a first scheduled slot and a second beam- switched transmission of the physical uplink channel within a second antenna beam during the first slot following the transmission of the physical uplink channel within the first antenna beam. In these embodiments, the UE may switch from the first antenna beam to the second antenna beam during a gap interval between the first and second beam-switched transmissions. These embodiments are illustrated in FIGs. 3A, 3B and 3C, and are described in more detail below.

These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0025] In some embodiments, gap intervals may comprise one of a gap symbol within the first slot prior to each beam-switched transmission (e.g., see FIG. 3A); a gap symbol within the first slot after each beam-switched transmission (e.g., see FIG. 3B); and two gap symbols within the first slot between each beam-switched transmission, one gap symbol at a beginning of the first slot prior to the first beam-switched transmission and one gap symbol at end of the first slot after to the second beam-switched transmission (e.g., see FIG. 3C). In some of these embodiments, the gNB may be able to receive an uplink transmission from another UE (i.e., UE2) during the gap intervals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect (see FIGs. 3 A, 3B and 3C). These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0026] In some embodiments, the first antenna beam may be configured for (i.e., optimized) transmission to or reception by a first of the TRPs (TRP1) and the second antenna beam may be configured for (i.e., optimized) transmission to or reception by a second of the TRPs (TRP2). In some embodiments, the UE has a plurality of antenna panels, and each antenna panel may be configurable to generate a plurality of switched beams. In these embodiments, the UE may be configurable for uplink beam switching of beams within a single one of the antenna panels and may also be configurable for uplink beam switching across two or more of the antenna panels. These embodiments are described in more detail below. [0027] In some embodiments, when the UE is configured to perform the beam-switching across two or more of the antenna panels (i.e., beam switching is performed together with antenna panel switching), the UE may refrain from transmitting symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals (i.e., no transmission during the gap symbols). In these embodiments, when the UE is configured to perform the beam-switching with a single one of the antenna panels (i.e., beams switching does not involve changing or switching antenna panels), the UE may transmit symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals. In these embodiments, there are no gap symbols. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0028] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to decode a DCI from the gNB. The DCI may either enable or disable use of the gap intervals for the beam-switched transmission across two or more of the antenna panels. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to enable use the gap intervals when antenna switching time is greater than a cy clic prefix duration of the physical uplink channel and configured to disable use of the gap intervals when the antenna switching time is less than or equal to the cyclic prefix duration. In these embodiments, beam-switching across two or more of the antenna panels may exceed the CP duration and therefore use of gap intervals may be enabled. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0029] In some embodiments, a number of the gap symbols during the beam switching time may' be based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS). In these embodiments, a greater number of gap symbols may' be configured for a higher SCS and a lesser number of gap symbols may be configured for a lower SCS. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0030] In some embodiments, the physical uplink channel for the beam- switched transmissions may be one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In these embodiments, the scheduled slot may be one of a plurality of scheduled slots scheduled by a physical downlink control channel from the gNB, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, when the UE is configured for 5G frequency' range 2 (FR2), the beam-switched transmissions comprise transmissions at millimeter-wave frequencies. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0031] Some embodiments are directed to a non-transitoiy computer- readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry' of a user equipment (UE). These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0032] Some embodiments are directed to a generation Node B (gNB), the gNB configured for multi-transmission-reception point (TRP) communications using a plurality of TRPs. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0033] FIG. 1 A illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The network 140A is shown to include user equipment (UE) 101 and UE 102. The UEs 101 and 102 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, drones, or any other computing device including a wired and/or wireless communications interface. The UEs 101 and 102 can be collectively referred to herein as UE 101, and UE 101 can be used to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0034] Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., as used in the network 140 A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to any exemplary radio communication technology and/or standard.

[0035] LTE and LTE-Advanced are standards for wireless communications of high-speed data for UE such as mobile telephones. In LTE- Advanced and various wireless systems, carrier aggregation is a technology' according to which multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies may be used to cany communications for a single UE, thus increasing the bandwidth available to a single device. In some embodiments, carrier aggregation may be used where one or more component carriers operate on unlicensed frequencies.

[0036] Embodiments described herein can be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and further frequencies and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and further frequencies).

[0037] Embodiments described herein can also be applied to different

Single Carrier or OFDM flavors (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.) and in particular 3GPP NR (New Radio) by allocating the OFDM carrier data bit vectors to the corresponding symbol resources.

[0038] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can comprise an Intemet-of-Things (loT) UE or a Cellular loT (CIoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power loT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can include a narrowband (NB) loT UE (e.g., such as an enhanced NB- loT (eNB-IoT) UE and Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). An loT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or loT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An loT network includes interconnecting loT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The loT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the loT network.

[0039] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can include enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs.

[0040] The UEs 101 and 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 110. The RAN 110 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), aNextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 101 and 102 utilize connections 103 and 104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an air interface to arable communicative coupling and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to- Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth-generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

[0041] In an aspect, the UEs 101 and 102 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0042] The UE 102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 106 via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as, for example, a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, according to which the AP 106 can comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0043] The RAN 110 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 103 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next Generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, and the like, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some embodiments, the communication nodes 111 and 112 can be transmission/reception points (TRPs). In instances when the communication nodes 111 and 112 are NodeBs (e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs can function within the communication cell of the NodeBs. The

RAN 110 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro-RAN node 111, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 112. [0044] Any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 101 and 102. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 110 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In an example, any of the nodes 111 and/or 112 can be a new generation Node-B (gNB), an evolved node-B (eNB), or another type of RAN node.

[0045] The RAN 110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 120 via an SI interface 113. In embodiments, the CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, aNextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as illustrated in reference to FIGS. 1B-1C). In this aspect, the SI interface 113 is split into two parts: the Sl-U interface 114, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and the Sl-mobility management entity (MME) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and MMEs 121.

[0046] In this aspect, the CN 120 comprises the MMEs 121, the S-GW 122, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 124. The MMEs 121 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 121 may manage mobility embodiments in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 120 may comprise one or several HSSs 124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 124 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0047] The S-GW 122 may terminate the SI interface 113 towards the RAN 110, and routes data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. In addition, the S-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of the S-GW 122 may include a lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0048] The P-GW 123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 123 may route data packets between the EPC network 120 and external networks such as a network including the application server 184 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. The P-GW 123 can also communicate data to other external networks 131 A, which can include the Internet, IP multimedia subsy stem (IPS) network, and other networks. Generally, the application server 184 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW 123 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 184 via an IP interface 125. The application server 184 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over- Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 101 and 102 via the CN 120.

[0049] The P-GW 123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roaming scenario, in some embodiments, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with a local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP- CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 184 via the P- GW 123.

[0050] In some embodiments, the communication network 140 A can be an loT network or a 5G network, including 5G new radio network using communications in the licensed (5G NR) and the unlicensed (5G NR-U) spectrum. One of the current enablers of loT is the narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT). [0051] An NG system architecture can include the RAN 110 and a 5G network core (5GC) 120. The NG-RAN 110 can include a plurality of nodes, such as gNBs and NG-eNBs. The core network 120 (e.g., a 5G core network or 5GC) can include an access and mobility function (AMF) and/or a user plane function (UPF). The AMF and the UPF can be communicatively coupled to the gNBs and the NG-eNBs via NG interfaces. More specifically, in some embodiments, the gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be connected to the AMF by NG- C interfaces, and to the UPF by NG-U interfaces. The gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be coupled to each other via Xn interfaces.

[0052] In some embodiments, the NG system architecture can use reference points between various nodes as provided by 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018-12). In some embodiments, each of the gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, and so forth. In some embodiments, a gNB can be a master node (MN) and NG-eNB can be a secondary' node (SN) in a 5G architecture.

[0053] FIG. IB illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some embodiments. Referring to FIG. IB, there is illustrated a 5G system architecture 140B in a reference point representation. More specifically, UE 102 can be in communication with RAN 110 as well as one or more other 5G core (5GC) network entities. The 5G system architecture 140B includes a plurality of network functions (NFs), such as access and mobility management function (AMF) 132, session management function (SMF) 136, policy control function (PCF) 148, application function (AF) 150, user plane function (UPF) 134, network slice selection function (NSSF) 142, authentication server function (AUSF) 144, and unified data management (UDM)/home subscriber server (HSS) 146. The UPF 134 can provide a connection to a data network (DN) 152, which can include, for example, operator services, Internet access, or third-party' services. The AMF 132 can be used to manage access control and mobility and can also include network slice selection functionality. The SMF 136 can be configured to set up and manage various sessions according to network policy. The UPF 134 can be deployed in one or more configurations according to the desired service type. The PCF 148 can be configured to provide a policy framework using network slicing, mobility management, and roaming (similar to PCRF in a 4G communication system). The UDM can be configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to an HSS in a 4G communication system).

[0054] In some embodiments, the 5G system architecture 140B includes an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 168B as w ell as a plurality of IP multimedia core network subsystem entities, such as call session control functions (CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS 168B includes a CSCF, which can act as a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162BE, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 164B, an emergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not illustrated in FIG. IB), or interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 166B. The P-CSCF 162B can be configured to be the first contact point for the UE 102 within the IM subsystem (IMS) 168B. The S-CSCF 164B can be configured to handle the session states in the network, and the E-CSCF can be configured to handle certain embodiments of emergency' sessions such as routing an emergency request to the correct emergency center or PSAP. The I-CSCF 166B can be configured to function as the contact point within an operator's network for all IMS connections destined to a subscriber of that netw ork operator, or a roaming subscriber currently located within that network operator's service area. In some embodiments, the I-CSCF 166B can be connected to another IP multimedia network 170E, e.g. an IMS operated by a different network operator. [0055] In some embodiments, the UDM/HSS 146 can be coupled to an application server 160E, which can include a telephony application server (TAS) or another application server (AS). The AS 160B can be coupled to the IMS 168B via the S-CSCF 164B or the I-CSCF 166B.

[0056] A reference point representation shows that interaction can exist between corresponding NF services. For example, FIG. IB illustrates the following reference points: N1 (between the UE 102 and the AMF 132), N2 (between the RAN 110 and the AMF 132), N3 (between the RAN 110 and the UPF 134), N4 (between the SMF 136 and the UPF 134), N5 (between the PCF 148 and the AF 150, not shown), N6 (between the UPF 134 and the DN 152), N7 (between the SMF 136 and the PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between the UDM 146 and the AMF 132, not shown), N9 (between two UPFs 134, not shown), N10 (between the UDM 146 and the SMF 136, not shown), N11 (between the AMF 132 and the SMF 136, not shown), N12 (between the AUSF 144 and the AMF 132, not shown), N13 (betw'een the AUSF 144 and the UDM 146, not shown), N14 (between two AMFs 132, not shown), N15 (between the PCF 148 and the AMF 132 in case of a non-roaming scenario, or between the PCF 148 and a visited network and AMF 132 in case of a roaming scenario, not shown), N16 (between two SMFs, not shown), and N22 (between AMF 132 and NSSF 142, not shown). Other reference point representations not shown in FIG. IB can also be used.

[0057] FIG. 1C illustrates a 5G system architecture 140C and a service- based representation. In addition to the network entities illustrated in FIG. IB, system architecture 140C can also include a network exposure function (NEF) 154 and a network repository function (NRF) 156. In some embodiments, 5G system architectures can be service-based and interaction between network functions can be represented by corresponding point-to-point reference points Ni or as service-based interfaces.

[0058] In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, service-based representations can be used to represent network functions within the control plane that enable other authorized network functions to access their services. In this regard, 5G system architecture 140C can include the following service-based interfaces: Namf 158H (a service-based interface exhibited by the AMF 132), Nsmf 1581 (a service-based interface exhibited by the SMF 136), Nnef 158B (a service-based interface exhibited by the NEF 154), Npcf 158D (a service-based interface exhibited by the PCF 148), aNudm 158E (a service-based interface exhibited by the UDM 146), Naf 158F (a service-based interface exhibited by the AF 150), Nnrf 158C (a service-based interface exhibited by the NRF 156), Nnssf 158A (a service-based interface exhibited by the NSSF 142), Nausf 158G (a service-based interface exhibited by the AUSF 144). Other service-based interfaces (e.g., Nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf) not shown in FIG. 1C can also be used.

[0059] In some embodiments, any of the UEs or base stations described in connection with FIGS. 1 A-1C can be configured to perform the functionalities described herein.

[0060] Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systems to today’s highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. The next generation wireless communication system, 5G, or new radio (NR) will provide access to information and sharing of data anywhere, anytime by various users and applications. NR is expected to be a unified network/system that targets to meet vastly different and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diverse multi-dimensional requirements are driven by different services and applications. In general, NR will evolve based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced with additional potential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives with better, simple, and seamless wireless connectivity solutions. NR will enable everything connected by wireless and deliver fast, rich content and services.

[0061] Rel-15 NR systems are designed to operate on the licensed spectrum. The NR-unlicensed (NR-U), a short-hand notation of the NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, is a technology that enables the operation of NR systems on the unlicensed spectrum.

[0062] Rel-175G NR system would support multi-TRP (transmission reception point) transmission schemes in UL. In particular, to increase robustness of the transmission to potential blockage of the channel, UE could transmit signal targeting two or more TRPs. In the context of FR2 operation (corresponding to mmWave bands), UE could transmit signal using two or more beams in time division multiplexing (TDM) manner, where each transmission beam is optimized for the reception of the corresponding TRP.

[0063] During such UL transmission, beam switching operation should be performed. Normally, the beam switching interval may be considered as negligible (within CP duration), if it is conducted within one antenna panel of the UE (see FIG. 2A). However, if beam switching is performed together with switching of UE antenna panel (see FIG. 2B), the beam switching interval may exceed cyclic prefix (CP) duration and may be even comparable to one or multiple OFDM symbol duration for some SCS. The larger beam switching time can be explained by the additional time required to connect baseband of the UE to the other antenna panel.

[0064] During beam switching operations at the UE across panels, the signal may be subject to substantial distortions. As the result, these parts signals could not be typically decoded at the gNB and therefore wasted from system perspective.

[0065] Some of the embodiments disclosed herein propose uplink transmission with gap symbols to avoid potential loss of uplink resources and to enable additional transmissions of other UEs. Depending on the embodiment, uplink transmission with gaps may correspond to PUSCH or PUCCH transmission. Depending on the used numerology (or subcarrier spacing (SCS)), the gap symbols reserved for beam switching can be different. Table 1 (see FIG. 2C) shows the possible choices depending on SCS.

[0066] For 1 gap symbol, it may be located at either the beginning or the end of a transmission corresponding to one beam, as shown in FIGs. 3 A and 3B, respectively.

[0067] For 2 gap symbols, there are three options of allocating time gap:

[0068] 1) two consecutive gap symbols are located at the beginning of a transmission,

[0069] 2) tw o consecutive gap symbols are located at the end of a transmission, and

[0070] 3) one gap symbol is located at the beginning of a transmission and the other gap symbol is located at the end of a transmission, as shown in FIG 3C.

[0071] The location of gap symbol(s) affects the mapping of PUSCH /

PUCCH. In particular, PUSCH / PUCCH mapping should performed by skipping the corresponding symbols allocated as gap.

[0072] A PUCCH can be transmitted using multiple slots and multiple beams (inter-slot multi-beam) Such inter-slot PUCCH repetition can be configured with “nrojSlots” as part of "‘PUCCH-FormatConfig ’ that can be defined for PUCCH formats 1, 3, or 4. To enable inter-slot PUCCH repetition with different beams using Rel. 15 PUCCH repetition mechanisms, one PUCCH resource can be configured / activated with two PUCCH-

SpatialRelationlnfoId’ s. A PUCCH transmission in each of the ^"nroJSlots” slots has a same first symbol, as provided by ^" startingSymbolIndex" in PUCCH formats 1, 3, or 4. Thus, by setting “nrojSlots" and “startingSymbolIndex" properly, the gap symbol(s) can be reserved.

[0073] As for PUSCH transmission, the main goal in Rel. 17 is to enhance the reliability and diversity, transmission of different PUSCH repetitions with different UL beams. In Rel. 16, PUSCH repetition type A and type B are specified. Particularly, the start symbol ( S) within a slot and the nominal length (the number of consecutive symbols L counting from the symbol S) of type- A and type-B repetitions are specified by Table 6.1.2.1-1 in Rel. 16 TS38.214, (see FIG. 4). Since the PUSCH mapping type A only starts from the first symbol of a slot, beam switching gap symbol(s) can only be configured at the end of a slot. On the other hand, PUSCH mapping type B can start from the first to the second last symbol of a slot, making it be configurable for all beam switching gap symbol(s) positions.

[0074] Next, since the beam switching can be conducted either within one antenna panel or between different panels, the gap symbol(s) should be configurable for both cases, i.e., can be disabled/enabled in beam switching within one panel/between different panels.

[0075] Moreover, the gap interval can be used for other UE transmission, as shown in FIGs. 3A, 3B and 3C for a second UE (UE 2). For PUSCH transmission, type A mapping (repetition) typically has relatively long transmission time interval, which helps to reduce the overhead from reference signals and control channel as well as to increase coverage. Type B mapping (repetition) supports mini-slot based transmission for time-critical data applications. Thus, if beam switching is conducted among the PUSCH repetitions, type B repetition can reserve more gap intervals than type A repetition for UE 2 transmission in general, as shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. [0076] Some embodiments provide procedures for multi-transmission reception point (TRP) beam failure recovery (BFR). In the current 3GPP Technical Specification 38.213, BFR can be achieved only when both TRPs have failed. In this disclosure, the following aspects related to multi-TRP operation are addressed. For TRP specific BFD consider the following:

[0077] consider two sets of BFD resources representing TRP-1 and TRP-

2

[0078] consider two sets of SCell CBD resources representing TRP-1 and TRP-2

[0079] if beam failure is observed in both TRP-1 and TRP-2 BFD resources, BFRQ can generally follow Rel-15/16 BFR procedure.

[0080] If beam failure is observed on any one of TRP-1 or TRP-2, BFRQ can generally follow Rel-16 SCell BFR procedure

[0081] Beam failure recovery response (BFRR) can also follow SCell BFR (Rel-16) procedure

[0082] Embodiments presented in this disclosure allow UE to monitor to perform TRP specific BFR. Some embodiments may be incorporated in future NR 3GPP technical specifications (TSs), such as: TS 38.214, TS 38.212, TS 38.213

[0083] Indicating mTRP beam grouping from NW

[0084] The motivation is to allow a UE to be aware that certain transmit beams are associated with the same panel/TRP and is not suitable for multi-TRP operation. This can be achieved by' grouping SSB indices into two mutually exclusive groups which can be sufficient to also partition the associated QCL-ed CSI-RS resources. When groupBasedBeamReporting is enabled in a CSI- ReportConfig, the associated CSI-ResourceConfig may comprise of two CSI- SSB-ResourceSets, each representing a TRP/panel. Note that a CSI-SSB- ResourceSet representing TRP-1 also acts as a resource for NZP-IM for the CSI- SSB-ResourceSet representing TRP-2.

[0085] When groupBasedBeamReporting is enabled in a CSI- ReportConfig, the associated CSI-ResourceConfig may comprise of two CSI- SSB-ResourceSets, each representing a TRP/panel [0086] Enabling mTRP beam grouping at UE

[0087] Consideration of inter-beam interference;

[0088] If groupBasedBeamReporting is enabled, UE should report CRI-1 and CRI-2 in a single reporting instance for both the cases of single Rx beam or 2 Rx beams as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B respectively. In both cases it is possible that high value of Ll-RSRP is observed for both CRI-1 and CRI-2. However, in FIG. 6B, significant cross-beam interference is expected compared to FIG. 6A and it may not be suitable for mTRP reception. Due to the lack of consideration of cross-beam interference, current groupBasedBeamReporting is not sufficient for the gNB to make determination of beam-pairs for mTRP scheduling.

[0089] As observed above, a UE needs to consider both Ll-RSRP and inter-beam interference for determining the simultaneous reception criteria and ranking the beam pairs for groupBasedBeamReporting. The exact details can be left to UE implementation but it should be clarified that enabling groupBasedBeamReporting implies mTRP reception hypothesis - in particular this impacts the following UE behaviors - Ll-RSRP reporting is based on reception from the selected best UE Rx panel (and not based on reception due to multiple panels), Ll-SINR reported includes interference due to the other reported beam-pair.

[0090] Specify that enabling groupBasedBeamReporting or by some other indication implies mTRP (simultaneous) reception hypothesis. This means a) Ll-RSRP reported is based on reception from the selected best UE Rx panel (and not based on reception due to multiple panels) and b) Ll-SINR reported includes interference due to the other reported beam-pair.

[0091] Similarly, it should be clarified that disabling groupBasedBeamReporting or by some other indication implies sTRP reception hypothesis - in particular this impacts the following UE behaviors - Ll-RSRP reported may be based on reception from one or more Rx panels, Ll-SINR reported includes interference due to other cells.

[0092] Specify that disabling groupBasedBeamReporting implies sTRP reception hypothesis. This means a) Ll-RSRP reported may be based on reception from one or more Rx panels and b) LI -SINK reported includes interference due to other cells.

[0093] Some example mTRP and sTRP hypotheses are illustrated in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B.

[0094] TRP-specific BFD

[0095] In order to enable TRP-specific BFD, we can consider identification of tw o sets of BFD resources representing TRP-1 and TRP-2 (in failureDetectionResources). If failureDetectionResources is not configured, the current default cell-specific BFD procedure may be used. The maximum number of BFD -RS per BWP can be increased.

[0096] TRP-SDecific new CBD

[0097] In order to enable TRP-specific CBD, we can consider identification of tw o sets of CBD resources representing TRP-1 and TRP-2 (candidal eBeamRSSCellList-r 16) as used for SCell BFR. CBD resources associated with dedicated PRACH can be also identified in a TRP specific manner.

[0098] TRP-specific BFRQ

[0099] In a given serving cell, if beam failure is observed in both TRP-1 and TRP-2 BFD resources, BFRQ can generally follow Rel-15/16 BFR procedure. If beam failure is observed on any one of TRP-1 or TRP-2, BFRQ can generally follow Rel-16 SCell BFR procedure comprising of the following steps:

[00100] link recovery request (LRR): LRR (reused from SCell BFR) can be transmitted over dedicated SR-like PUCCH resource (PUCCH-BFR). If a UE is able to identify an existing uplink grant for the non-failed TRP, this step can be skipped.

[00101] MAC-CE to report details: If at least one new' beam is identified for the failed TRP, the UE reports only 1 new beam with corresponding beam index, otherwise UE reports no new beam identified and failed TRP index [00102] gNB response [00103] This can also follow' SCell BFR (Rel-16). BFRR to step 2 MAC- CE of the BFRQ can be a normal uplink grant to schedule a new' transmission for the same HARQ process ID as the PUSCH carrying the step 2 MAC-CE. When UE receives this uplink grant, the BFR procedure can be considered to be completed.

[00104] EXAMPLES:

[00105] Example 1 may include a method of uplink transmission with beam switching, wherein the method includes: receiving, by a UE, a configuration for multi-beam transmission in the uplink for the physical channel including configuration of the gap interval between transmission corresponding to different beams; receiving, from a gNB, an indication of an uplink; and transmitting uplink signal from the UE taking into account gap intervals configured for the UE.

[00106] Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein different number of gap symbols are configured according to subcarrier spacing (SCS).

[00107] Example 3 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the gap symbol(s) is located at the beginning of the transmission with a beam.

[00108] Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the gap symbol(s) is located at the end of the transmission with a beam.

[00109] Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the gap symbol(s) is located at the both the beginning and the end of the transmission of two different beams.

[00110] Example 6 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-slot multi-beam PUCCH gap symbols can be configured by parameter “nrofSlots” and "startingSymbolIndex”.

[00111] Example 7 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein multi-beam PUSCH repetition gap symbols can be configured by start symbol (S) within a slot and the nominal length (the number of consecutive symbols L counting from the symbol S). [00112] Example 8 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein physical channel is PUSCH or PUCCH.

[00113] Example 9 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein multi-beam operation is configured within slot or across slots.

[00114] Example 10 may include the method of example 9 or some other example herein, wherein multi-beam operation is configured within slot is used together with frequency hopping.

[00115] Example 11 may include a method of a UE, the method comprising: receiving configuration information that indicates a gap interval between transmissions corresponding to different beams for multi-beam transmission; and encoding an uplink message for transmission based on the gap interval.

[00116] Example 12 may include the method of example 11 or some other example herein, wherein a number of gap symbols in the gap interval is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the multi-beam transmission.

[00117] Example 13 may include the method of example 11 -12 or some other example herein, wherein the gap interval includes gap symbol(s) located at the beginning of the transmission with a beam.

[00118] Example 14 may include the method of example 11-12 or some other example herein, wherein the gap interval includes gap symbol(s) located at the end of the transmission with a beam.

[00119] Example 15 may include the method of example 11 -12 or some other example herein, wherein the gap interval includes gap symbol(s) located at the end of the transmission on a first beam and the beginning of the transmission on a second beam.

[00120] Example 16 may include the method of example 11-15 or some other example herein, wherein the gap interval includes inter-slot multi-beam PUCCH gap symbols.

[00121] Example 17 may include the method of example 16 or some other example herein, wherein the configuration information to indicate the inter-slot multi-beam PUCCH gap symbols is included in parameter “nrofSlots” and/or ‘ ’ startingSymbolIndex’ ’ . [00122] Example 1 A may include a method of performing BFR that is

TRP specific comprising beam failure detection (BFD), candidate beam detection (CBD), beam failure recovery request (BFRQ), and/or gNB response.

[00123] Example 2A may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein BFD comprises identification of two sets of BFD resources representing TRP-1 and TRP-2, respectively.

[00124] Example 3A may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, where CBD comprises of identification of two sets of CBD resources representing TRP-1 and TRP-2, respectively.

[00125] Example 4A may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein BFRQ comprises of link recovery request and MAC- CE.

[00126] Example 5A may include the method of example 4 or some other example herein, wherein the link recovery request is transmitted over dedicated SR-like PUCCH resource to a TRP that is not failed.

[00127] Example 6A may include the method of example 4 or some other example herein, wherein the MAC-CE reports new beam information to a TRP that is not failed.

[00128] Example 7 may include a method comprising: performing beam failure detection (BFD) on a first transmission-reception point (TRP) using a first set of BFD resources; and performing BFD on a second TRP using a second set of BFD resources.

[00129] Example 8A may include the method of example 7 or some other example herein, further comprising: performing candidate beam detection (CBD) on the first TRP using a first set of CBD resources; and performing CBD on the second TRP using a second set of CBD resources.

[00130] Example 9 A may include the method of example 7-8 or some other example herein, further comprising encoding a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) for transmission based on the BFD on the first TRP and/or the second TRP.

[00131] Example 10A may include the method of example 9 or some other example herein, wherein the BFRQ includes a link recovery request and a MAC-CE. [00132] Example 11A may include the method of example 10 or some other example herein, wherein the link recovery request is transmitted over a dedicated PUCCH resource to a TRP that is not failed.

[00133] Example 12A may include the method of example 10 or some other example herein, wherein the MAC-CE reports new beam information to a TRP that is not failed.

[00134] The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE) configured for multi- transmission-reception point (TRP) communication in a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, the processing circuitry configured to: decode signalling from a generation Node B (gNB) to configure the UE with gap intervals for multi-beam uplink transmission with beam switching; and encode a physical uplink channel for beam-switched transmissions at symbol times within scheduled slots except symbol times corresponding to the gap intervals, wherein the gap intervals comprise gap symbols at symbol times within the scheduled slots at an end and/or a beginning of the beam-switched transmissions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to configure the UE to refrain from transmitting symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the UE is configured with inter-slot gap intervals between the switched beams, the beam-switched transmissions comprise: a first beam-switched transmission of the physical uplink channel within a first antenna beam during a first slot; a second beam-switched transmission of the physical uplink channel within a second antenna beam during the first slot following the transmission of the physical uplink channel within the first antenna beam; and switching from the first antenna beam to the second antenna beam during a gap interval between the first and second beam-switched transmissions.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the gap interval comprises one of: a gap symbol within the first slot prior to each beam-switched transmission; a gap symbol within the first slot after each beam-switched transmission; and two gap symbols within the first slot between each beam-switched transmission, one gap symbol at a beginning of the first slot prior to the first beam-switched transmission and one gap symbol at end of the first slot after to the second beam-switched transmission.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first antenna beam is configured for transmission to a first of the TRPs (TRP1), and wherein the second antenna beam is configured for transmission to a second of the TRPs (TRP2).

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the UE has a plurality of antenna panels, each antenna panel configurable to generate a plurality of switched beams, and wherein the UE is configurable for uplink beam switching of beams within a single one of the antenna panels and also configurable for uplink beam switching across two or more of the antenna panels.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein when the UE is configured to perform the beam-switching across two or more of the antenna panels, the processing circuitry is to configure UE to refrain from transmitting symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals , and wherein when the UE is configured to perform the beam-switching with a single one of the antenna panels, the processing circuity is to configure UE to transmit symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals.

8. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuity is configured to decode a DCI from the gNB, the DCI to either enable or disable use of the gap intervals for the beam-switched transmission across two or more of the antenna panels.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the UE is configured to enable use the gap intervals when antenna switching time is greater than a cyclic prefix duration of the physical uplink channel and configured to disable use of the gap intervals when the antenna switching time is less than or equal to the cyclic prefix duration.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a number of the gap symbols during the beam switching time is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), wherein a greater number of gap symbols are configured for a higher SCS and a lesser number of gap symbols are configured for a lower SCS.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the physical uplink channel comprises one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), wherein the scheduled slot is one of a plurality of scheduled slots scheduled by a physical downlink control channel from the gNB, wherein when the UE is configured for 5G frequency range 2 (FR2), the beam-switched transmissions comprise transmissions at millimeter-wave frequencies.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a baseband processor; and wherein the memory.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry' of a user equipment (UE) configured for multi-transmission-reception point (TRP) communication in a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network, the processing circuitry configured to: decode signalling from a generation Node B (gNB) to configure the UE with gap intervals for multi-beam uplink transmission with beam switching; and encode a physical uplink channel for beam-switched transmissions at symbol times within scheduled slots except symbol times corresponding to the gap intervals, wherein the gap intervals comprise gap symbols at symbol times within the scheduled slots at an end and/or a beginning of the beam-switched transmissions.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry is to configure the UE to refrain from transmitting symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of ttie gap intervals.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein when the UE is configured with inter-slot gap intervals between the switched beams, the beam-switched transmissions comprise: a first beam-switched transmission of the physical uplink channel within a first antenna beam during a first slot; a second beam-switched transmission of the physical uplink channel within a second antenna beam during the first slot following the transmission of the physical uplink channel within the first antenna beam; and switching from the first antenna beam to the second antenna beam during a gap interval between the first and second beam-switched transmissions.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the gap interval comprises one of: a gap symbol within the first slot prior to each beam-switched transmission; a gap symbol within the first slot after each beam-switched transmission; and two gap symbols within the first slot between each beam-switched transmission, one gap symbol at a beginning of the first slot prior to the first beam-switched transmission and one gap symbol at end of the first slot after to the second beam-switched transmission.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the first antenna beam is configured for transmission to a first of the TRPs (TRP1), and wherein the second antenna beam is configured for transmission to a second of the TRPs (TRP2).

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the UE has a plurality of antenna panels, each antenna panel configurable to generate a plurality of switched beams, and wherein the UE is configurable for uplink beam switching of beams within a single one of the antenna panels and also configurable for uplink beam switching across two or more of the antenna panels, wherein when the UE is configured to perform the beam-switching across two or more of the antenna panels, the processing circuitry is to configure UE to refrain from transmitting symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals , and wherein when the UE is configured to perform the beam-switching with a single one of the antenna panels, the processing circuity is to configure UE to transmit symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals.

19. An apparatus of a generation Node B (gNB), the gNB configured for multi-transmission-reception point (TRP) communications using a plurality of TRPs in a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode signalling to configure a user equipment (UE) with gap intervals for multi-beam uplink transmission with beam switching; and decode a physical uplink channel comprising beam-switched transmissions at symbol times within scheduled slots except symbol times corresponding to the gap intervals, wherein the gap intervals comprise gap symbols at symbol times within the scheduled slots at an end and/or a beginning of the beam-switched transmissions.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is to refrain from decoding symbols of the physical uplink channel during the symbol times of the gap intervals.