CN116965135A - Configuration grant based small data transfer (CG-SDT) in multi-beam operation - Google Patents

Abstract

A User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation in a fifth generation new radio (5G-NR) system may decode a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). When a DCI format for a Configuration Grant (CG) -based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) is detected and a Transport Block (TB) is received in a corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the UE may assume that a PDCCH receives an associated demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna port and a PDSCH receives an associated DM-RS antenna port is synchronous signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) quasi-co-location (QCL) for the CG-SDT that is associated with a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource. During CG-SDT, the UE may encode the PUCCH for transmission using the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission.

Description

Configuration grant based small data transfer (CG-SDT) in multi-beam operation

Priority statement

The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/169,602, referenced AD5648-Z, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/181,067, referenced AD6212-Z, referenced 2021, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/250,161, referenced AD9164-Z, referenced 2021, 9 and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/284,561, referenced AE0625-Z, referenced 2021, 11 and 30, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments relate to wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to wireless networks, including 3GPP (third Generation partnership project) and fifth generation (5G) networks, including 5G New Radio (NR) (or 5G-NR) networks. Some embodiments relate to sixth generation (6G) networks. Some embodiments relate to small data transfer (small data transmission, SDT) based on a Configuration Grant (CG) (configured grant based small data transmission, CG-SDT).

Background

Mobile communications have evolved greatly from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platforms. With the increase of different types of devices communicating with various network devices, the use of the 3gpp 5g NR system has increased. Penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UEs) in contemporary society continues to drive the need for a wide variety of networking devices in many different environments. 5G NR wireless systems are coming out and are expected to achieve higher speeds, connectivity and usability, and are expected to improve throughput, coverage and robustness, and to reduce latency and operational and capital expenditure. The 5G-NR network will continue to evolve on the basis of 3GPP LTE advanced and there are additional potential new radio access technologies (radio access technology, RATs) to enrich people's lives by providing a fast, rich content and service seamless wireless connectivity solution. As current cellular network frequencies are saturated, higher frequencies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, may be beneficial due to their high bandwidth.

One problem with Configuration Grant (CG) based Small Data Transfer (SDT) (CG-SDT) is multi-beam operation.

Drawings

Fig. 1A illustrates an architecture of a network, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 1B and 1C illustrate a non-roaming 5G system architecture, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2A illustrates a four-step RACH procedure, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2B illustrates a two-step RACH procedure, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates beam operation in the case of PUSCH initial transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates beam operation in the case of PUSCH retransmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 5 illustrates beam operation in the case of PDCCH/PDSCH and PUCCH transmission, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates verification of PUSCH occasions for CG-SDT when repetition is configured for CG-PUSCH resources, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of an association between 2 SSBs and 4 DMRS resources, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example of an association between 4 SSBs and 4 DMRS APs, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates a functional block diagram of a wireless communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

Detailed Description

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 others. The embodiments recited in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

Some embodiments are directed to quasi co-located (QCL) assumptions for PDCCH/PDSCH transmissions during CG-SDT operations. These embodiments are described in more detail below. Two antenna ports are said to be quasi-co-located if the properties of the channel used to carry the symbols on one antenna port can be inferred from the channel used to carry the symbols on the other antenna port.

Some embodiments are directed to a User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation in a fifth generation new radio (fifth-generation new radio, 5G-NR) system. In these embodiments, the UE is configured to decode a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH). When a DCI format for a Configuration Grant (CG) based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) is detected and a Transport Block (TB) is received in a corresponding physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH), the UE may assume that a demodulation reference signal (demodulation reference signal, DM-RS) antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception are co-located (QCL) for the CG-SDT with a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel, SS/PBCH) level associated with physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH) resources. In these embodiments, during CG-SDT, the UE may encode the PUCCH for transmission using the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

In these embodiments, when a DCI format for CG-SDT is detected, a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship is assumed to exist between downlink reference signals (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, and SS/PBCH) and demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports. In these embodiments, for the QCL assumption, the same TX beam is applied at the gNB for SSB/PDCCH/PDSCH transmissions and PDSCH/PDCCH associated DM-RS. In some embodiments, the last PUSCH transmission may be scheduled by the DCI. In some other embodiments, the last PUSCH transmission is CG-PUSCH, which is not scheduled by DCI, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the detected DCI format includes DCI format 1_0 of CG-SDT. In some of these embodiments, when DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 of CG-SDT is detected, it is assumed that there is a QCL relationship between downlink reference signals (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, and SS/PBCH) and demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports. In some embodiments, the DCI format may include a cyclic redundancy check (cyclic redundancy check, CRC) scrambled by a Cell specific-radio network temporary identifier (Cell specific-Radio Network Temporary Identifier, C-RNTI) or scrambled by an RNTI, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, there is an association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources. In some embodiments, the UE may decode a CG-PUSCH configuration indicating one or more SS/PBCH block indexes to map to valid PUSCH occasions (occalaons) for PUSCH transmissions and associated DM-RS resources. The UE may also map the one or more SS/PBCH block indexes to valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources first in ascending order of DM-RS port indexes and second in ascending order of DM-RS sequence indexes, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the UE may refrain from further mapping the SS/PBCH block index to the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources when there is a set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources that are not mapped to the SS/PBCH block index after an integer number of SS/PBCH block indices to PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resource mapping periods within the association period. The UE may also refrain from using PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources in the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources for any further PUSCH transmissions, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the association period is determined such that the pattern between PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources and SS/PBCH block indexes repeats at most every 640 milliseconds, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the UE may also encode PUSCH for transmission during CG-SDT (CG-PUSCH). CG-PUSCH may be a direct data transmission performed by a UE when operating in rrc_inactive mode. In some embodiments, the transmission of PUSCH during CG-SDT is a direct data transmission, performed without an associated PRACH preamble transmission, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In these embodiments, it may not be necessary to perform a 4-step PRACH (type 2) or 2-step RACH (type 1) procedure, as the Timing Advance (TA) is located within the length of the Cyclic Prefix (CP) by deployment, or there is little variation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception are assumed to be QCL in terms of average gain and type D attributes including spatial Receiver (RX) parameters with the SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception is assumed to be QCL in terms of doppler shift, doppler spread, average delay, delay spread (i.e., type a attribute) for the SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the UE may apply the same Receive (RX) beam parameters for synchronization signal block (synchronization signal block, SSB) reception, PDCCH reception, and PDSCH reception based on the assumption that DM-RS antenna ports associated with PDCCH reception and DM-RS antenna ports associated with PDSCH reception are QCL for CG-SDT and SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH resources.

In some embodiments, to apply the same RX beam parameters, the UE may demodulate the PDSCH using DM-RS based on the assumption that the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception is QCL for CG-SDT and SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH resources. The UE may also demodulate the PDCCH using DM-RS based on the assumption that the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception is QCL for CG-SDT and SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH resources. In some of these embodiments, the same spatial reception filter (QCL type D attribute) may be applied for SSB reception, PDCCH reception, and PDSCH reception. In these embodiments, the UE will use the same Rx beam for SSB/PDCCH/PDSCH reception, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Some embodiments are directed to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation in a fifth generation new radio (5G-NR) system. In these embodiments, the processing circuitry may decode a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and, when a DCI format for a Configuration Grant (CG) -based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) is detected and a Transport Block (TB) is received in a corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the processing circuitry may assume that a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception are quasi-co-located (QCL) for the CG-SDT with a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) associated with Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources. In these embodiments, during CG-SDT, processing circuitry may encode the PUCCH for transmission using the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Some embodiments are directed to a gNodeB (gNB) configured for operation in a fifth generation new radio (fifth-generation new radio, 5G-NR) system. In these embodiments, for a User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation, the gNB may encode a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmission and may encode a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission including Transport Blocks (TBs) for transmission to the UE. In these embodiments, the PDCCH transmission may be encoded to carry a DCI format for a configuration grant (CG-based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) to be detected by the UE along with the TB. In these embodiments, the gNB may configure a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna port associated with PDCCH transmissions and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH transmissions to be co-located (QCL) for CG-SDT with a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) level associated with Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources. In these embodiments, the gNB may decode the PUCCH during CG-SDT transmitted by the UE. The UE may use the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission. In these embodiments, for decoding PUCCH during CG-SDT, the gNB may assume that the UE uses the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the gNB may encode a CG-PUSCH configuration indicating one or more SS/PBCH block indexes to map to valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources for PUSCH transmissions. The one or more SS/PBCH block indexes may be mapped to valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources first in ascending order of DM-RS port indexes and second in ascending order of DM-RS sequence indexes, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the gNB may determine the association period such that the PUSCH occasion and pattern between the associated DM-RS resource and the SS/PBCH block index is repeated at most every 640 milliseconds, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Fig. 1A illustrates an architecture of a network, according to some embodiments. Network 140A is shown to include User Equipment (UE) 101 and UE 102. The UEs 101 and 102 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen 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 (Personal Data Assistant, PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, drones, or any other computing device including wired and/or wireless communication interfaces. The UEs 101 and 102 may be collectively referred to herein as UE 101, and UE 101 may be configured to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein.

Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., for use in network 140A or any other illustrated network) may operate in accordance with any of the exemplary radio communication techniques and/or standards.

LTE and LTE advanced are standards for wireless communication of high-speed data for UEs such as mobile phones. In LTE-advanced and various wireless systems, carrier aggregation is one such technique: according to this technique, multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies may be used to carry communications for a single UE, thereby 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.

The embodiments described herein may be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme, including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (e.g., licensed shared access (Licensed Shared Access, LSA) in 2.3-2.4GHz, 3.4-3.6GHz, 3.6-3.8GHz, and more frequencies, and spectrum access systems (Spectrum Access System, SAS) in 3.55-3.7GHz and more frequencies).

The embodiments described herein can also be applied to different single carrier or OFDM formats (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-based multicarrier, FBMC), OFDMA, etc.) and especially 3GPP NR (New Radio) by allocating OFDM carrier data bit vectors to corresponding symbol resources.

In some embodiments, either of the UEs 101 and 102 may include an internet of things (Internet of Things, ioT) UE or a cellular IoT (CIoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. In some embodiments, either of the UEs 101 and 102 may include Narrowband (NB) IoT UEs (e.g., enhanced NB-IoT (eNB-IoT) UEs and further enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UEs). IoT UEs may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-to-Machine (MTC) communication to exchange data with MTC servers or devices via public land mobile networks (public land mobile network, PLMNs), proximity-Based services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be a machine initiated data exchange. IoT networks include interconnecting IoT UEs with short-term connections, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the internet infrastructure). The IoT UE may execute a background application (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connection of the IoT network.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 may include an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE or a further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UE.

The UEs 101 and 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) 110. RAN 110 may be, for example, an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, E-UTRAN), a next generation RAN (NextGen RAN, NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 101 and 102 utilize connections 103 and 104, respectively, each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in more detail below); in this example, connections 103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces to enable communicative coupling, and may conform to cellular communication protocols, such as the Global System for Mobile communications (Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM) protocol, code division multiple Access (code-division multiple access, CDMA) network protocol, push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, cellular PTT (PTT over Cellular, POC) protocol, universal mobile telecommunications system (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS) protocol, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, fifth generation (5G) protocol, new Radio (NR) protocol, and so forth.

In an aspect, the UEs 101 and 102 may also exchange communication data directly via the ProSe interface 105. ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a side link interface including one or more logical channels, including, but not limited to, a physical side link control channel (Physical Sidelink Control Channel, PSCCH), a physical side link shared channel (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel, PSSCH), a physical side link discovery channel (Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel, PSDCH), and a physical side link broadcast channel (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel, PSBCH).

UE 102 is shown configured to access an Access Point (AP) 106 via a connection 107. Connection 107 may comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, according to which AP 106 may comprise a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown connected to the internet, rather than to the core network of the wireless system (described in more detail below).

RAN 110 may include one or more access nodes that enable connections 103 and 104. These Access Nodes (ANs) may be referred to as Base Stations (BSs), nodebs, evolved nodebs (enbs), next generation nodebs (gnbs), RAN nodes, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., ground access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a certain geographic area (e.g., cell). In some embodiments, communication nodes 111 and 112 may be transmission/reception points (TRPs). In the case where the communication nodes 111 and 112 are nodebs (e.g., enbs or gnbs), one or more TRPs may operate within the communication cell of the NodeB. RAN 110 may include one or more RAN nodes, such as macro RAN node 111, for providing macro cells and one or more RAN nodes, such as Low Power (LP) RAN node 112, for providing femto cells or pico cells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidths than macro cells).

Either of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UEs 101 and 102. In some embodiments, any of RAN nodes 111 and 112 may perform various logic functions for RAN 110 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (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 one example, any of nodes 111 and/or 112 may be a new generation node B (gNB), an evolved node B (eNB), or another type of RAN node.

RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to a Core Network (CN) 120 via an S1 interface 113. In an embodiment, the CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (evolved packet core, EPC) network, a next generation packet core (NextGen Packet Core, NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as shown with reference to fig. 1B-1C). In this aspect, the S1 interface 113 is split into two parts: an S1-U interface 114 that carries traffic data between RAN nodes 111 and 112 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and an S1 mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME) interface 115 that is a signaling interface between RAN nodes 111 and 112 and MME 121.

In this aspect, the CN 120 includes an MME 121, an S-GW 122, a packet data network (Packet Data Network, PDN) gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriber server (home subscriber server, HSS) 124.MME 121 may be similar in function to the control plane of a legacy serving general packet radio service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS) support node (Serving GPRS Support Node, SGSN). MME 121 may manage mobility embodiments in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS124 may include a database for network users including subscription-related information to support the handling of communication sessions by network entities. The CN 120 may include one or several HSS124 depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the device, the organization of the network, etc. For example, HSS124 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location compliance, and so on.

S-GW 122 may terminate S1 interface 110 towards RAN 113 and route data packets between RAN 110 and CN 120. Furthermore, S-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handover and may also provide anchoring for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of S-GW 122 may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 123 may terminate the SGi interface towards the PDN. The P-GW 123 may route data packets between the EPC network 120 and external networks, such as a network that includes an application server 184 (alternatively referred to as an application function (application function, AF)), via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. The P-GW 123 may also communicate data to other external networks 131A, which may include the internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IP multimedia subsystem, IPs) networks, and others. In general, the application server 184 may be an element that provides an application (e.g., a UMTS Packet Service (PS) domain, an LTE PS data Service, etc.) that uses IP bearer resources with the core network. In this aspect, P-GW 123 is shown communicatively coupled to application server 184 via IP interface 125. The application server 184 may 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.

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

In some embodiments, the communication network 140A may be an IoT network or a 5G network, including a 5G new radio network that uses communication in licensed (5G NR) and unlicensed (5G NR-U) spectrum. One of the current contributors to IoT is the narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT).

The NG system architecture may include RAN 110 and 5G network core (5G network core,5GC) 120.NG-RAN 110 may include multiple nodes, such as a gNB and a NG-eNB. The core network 120 (e.g., a 5G core network or 5 GC) may include access and mobility functions (access and mobility function, AMF) and/or user plane functions (user plane function, UPF). The AMF and UPF may be communicatively coupled to the gNB and the NG-eNB via an NG interface. More specifically, in some embodiments, the gNB and NG-eNB may connect to the AMF over a NG-C interface and to the UPF over a NG-U interface. The gNB and NG-eNB may be coupled to each other via an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG system architecture may use reference points between various nodes as specified by 3GPP technical specifications (Technical Specification, TS) 23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018-12). In some embodiments, each of the gNB and NG-eNB may be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, and so on. In some embodiments, the gNB may be a Master Node (MN) in a 5G architecture, and the NG-eNB may be a Secondary Node (SN).

Fig. 1B illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture, according to some embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1B, a 5G system architecture 140B is illustrated in terms of reference points. More specifically, UE 102 may communicate with RAN 110 and one or more other 5G core (5 GC) network entities. The 5G system architecture 140B includes a plurality of Network Functions (NF), such as an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) 132, a session management function (session management function, SMF) 136, a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) 148, an application function (application function, AF) 150, a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) 134, a network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF) 142, an authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF) 144, and a Unified Data Management (UDM)/home subscriber server (home subscriber server, HSS) 146. The UPF 134 may provide a connection to a Data Network (DN) 152, which may include, for example, operator services, internet access, or third party services. The AMF 132 may be used to manage access control and mobility and may also include network slice selection functionality. The SMF 136 may be configured to set up and manage various sessions according to network policies. The UPF 134 can be deployed in one or more configurations depending on the type of service desired. PCF 148 may be configured to provide a policy framework (similar to PCRF in 4G communication systems) with network slicing, mobility management, and roaming. The UDM may be configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to HSS in a 4G communication system).

In some embodiments, 5G system architecture 140B includes an IP multimedia subsystem (IP multimedia subsystem, IMS) 168B and a plurality of IP multimedia core network subsystem entities, such as call session control functions (call session control function, CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS168B includes a CSCF that may act as a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162BE, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 164B, an emergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not shown in FIG. 1B), or an interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 166B. P-CSCF 162B may be configured as a first point of contact for UE 102 within IM Subsystem (IMs) 168B. S-CSCF 164B may be configured to handle session states in the network and E-CSCF may be configured to handle certain embodiments of emergency sessions, such as routing emergency requests to the correct emergency center or PSAP. I-CSCF 166B may be configured to act as a point of contact within an operator's network for all IMS connections intended for subscribers of the network operator or roaming subscribers currently located within the service area of the network operator. In some embodiments, I-CSCF 166B may be connected to another IP multimedia network 170E, such as an IMS operated by a different network operator.

In some embodiments, the UDM/HSS146 may be coupled to an application server 160E, which may include a telephony application server (telephony application server, TAS) or another application server (application server, AS). AS160B may be coupled to IMS168B via S-CSCF 164B or I-CSCF 166B.

The reference point representation indicates that interactions may exist between corresponding NF services. For example, fig. 1B illustrates the following reference points: n1 (between UE 102 and AMF 132), N2 (between RAN 110 and AMF 132), N3 (between RAN 110 and UPF 134), N4 (between SMF136 and UPF 134), N5 (between PCF 148 and AF 150, not shown), N6 (between UPF 134 and DN 152), N7 (between SMF136 and PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between UDM146 and AMF132, not shown), N9 (between two UPF 134, not shown), N10 (between UDM146 and SMF136, not shown), N11 (between AMF132 and SMF 136), N12 (between AUSF144 and AMF132, not shown), N13 (between AUSF144 and UDM146, not shown), N14 (between PCF 132, not shown), N15 (between PCF 148 and AMF132 in a non-roaming scenario, or between AMF132 and N16, and nsf 142 (between AMF 142, not shown), and N15 (between AMF132, not shown) in a non-roaming scenario. Other reference point representations not shown in fig. 1B may also be used.

FIG. 1C illustrates a 5G system architecture 140C and service-based representation. In addition to the network entities shown in fig. 1B, the system architecture 140C may also include a network exposure function (network exposure function, NEF) 154 and a network warehouse function (network repository function, NRF) 156. In some embodiments, the 5G system architecture may be service-based, and interactions between network functions may be represented by respective point-to-point reference points Ni or as service-based interfaces.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1C, the service-based representation may 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 may include the following service-based interfaces: namf158H (service-based interface presented by AMF 132), nspf 158I (service-based interface presented by SMF 136), nnef 158B (service-based interface presented by NEF 154), npcf 158D (service-based interface presented by PCF 148), nudm 158E (service-based interface presented by UDM 146), naf 158F (service-based interface presented by AF 150), nnrf 158C (service-based interface presented by NRF 156), nnssf 158A (service-based interface presented by NSSF 142), nausf 158G (service-based interface presented by AUSF 144). Other service-based interfaces not shown in fig. 1C (e.g., nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf) may also be used.

In some embodiments, any UE or base station described in connection with fig. 1A-1C may be configured to perform the functions described herein.

Mobile communications have evolved greatly from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platforms. The next generation wireless communication system, 5G or New Radio (NR), will provide access to information and sharing of data by various users and applications anywhere and at any time. NR is expected to be a unified network/system targeting performance dimensions and services that are very different and sometimes conflicting. This diverse multidimensional requirement is driven by different services and applications. Generally, NR will evolve based on 3GPP LTE-advanced and additional potential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives with better, simple and seamless wireless connectivity solutions. NR will enable everything and deliver fast, rich content and services over wireless connections.

The Rel-15 NR system is designed to operate on licensed spectrum. NR unlicensed (NR-U) is an abbreviation for NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, a technique that enables an NR system to operate on unlicensed spectrum.

In Rel-15 NR, a 4-step Random Access (RACH) procedure is defined. As shown in fig. 2A, in a first step, the UE transmits a physical random access channel (physical random access channel, PRACH) in the uplink by selecting one preamble signature. Subsequently, in a second step, the gNB feeds back a random access response (random access response, RAR) carrying Timing Advance (TA) command information and an uplink grant for the uplink transmission. In addition, in the third step, the UE transmits an Msg3 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) in which the contention resolution ID may be carried. In a fourth step, the gNB sends a contention resolution message in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

In Rel-16 NR, a 2-step RACH procedure is further defined, the motivation of which is to allow fast access and low-latency uplink transmission. As shown in fig. 2B, in a first step, the UE transmits the PRACH preamble and associated MsgA PUSCH on configured time and frequency resources, where the MsgA PUSCH may carry at least the equivalent of Msg3 in a 4-step RACH. In the second step, after successful detection of the PRACH preamble and decoding of the MsgA PUSCH, the gNB sends an MsgB that can carry the equivalent of Msg2 and Msg4 in the 4-step RACH.

Note that for certain scenarios, such as small cell networks or industrial wireless sensor networks (industrial wireless sensor network, IWSN), where most sensors are fixed, PRACH preamble transmission in a 4-step PRACH or 2-step RACH procedure may not be required, as the Timing Advance (TA) is either within the length of the Cyclic Prefix (CP) per deployment or varies little.

In this case, direct data transmission on PUSCH within a configuration grant may be considered without an associated PRACH preamble transmission, which may help reduce data transmission delay and save UE power consumption. Furthermore, for UEs in rrc_inactive mode, small data transmissions may be completed without entering rrc_connected mode, thereby saving state transition signaling overhead.

For configuration grant based small data transmissions (CG-SDT), in the case of multi-beam operation, a set of Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) may be configured for the UE such that the UE may select one of the SSBs having a reference signal received power (reference signal received power, RSRP) greater than a threshold and then transmit data on CG-PUSCH resources associated with the selected SSB in accordance with the association of the SSBs to CG resources. In addition, multiple DL and UL transmissions may be allowed during CG-SDT. In this case, certain mechanisms may need to be defined for beam management of the respective DL and UL transmissions in the case of multi-beam operation. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to, among other things, configuration grant-based small data transfer (CG-SDT) in multi-beam operation. Specifically, some embodiments are directed to:

Beam operation for multiple DL/UL transmissions during CG-SDT and RACH-based Small data Transmission (RACH based small datatransmission, RA-SDT)

Timing Advance (TA) verification for CG-SDT

Verification of PUSCH occasion in case of CG-PUSCH resource repetition for CG-SDT

Configuration of associations between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources

Beam operation for multiple DL/UL transmissions during CG-SDT and RA-SDT

As described above, for certain scenarios, such as small cell networks or Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSNs), where most sensors are fixed, PRACH preamble transmission in a 4-step PRACH or 2-step RACH procedure may not be required, as the Timing Advance (TA) is either within the length of the Cyclic Prefix (CP) per deployment or varies little.

In this case, direct data transmission on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) within a configuration grant may be considered without an associated Physical Random Access (PRACH) preamble transmission, which may help reduce data transmission delay and save UE power consumption. Furthermore, for UEs in rrc_inactive mode, small data transmissions may be completed without entering rrc_connected mode, thereby saving state transition signaling overhead.

For configuration grant based small data transmissions (CG-SDT), in the case of multi-beam operation, a set of Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) may be configured for the UE such that the UE may select one of the SSBs having a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) greater than a threshold and then transmit data on CG-PUSCH resources associated with the selected SSB in accordance with the association of the SSBs to the CG resources. In addition, multiple DL and UL transmissions may be allowed during CG-SDT. In this case, certain mechanisms may need to be defined for beam management of the respective DL and UL transmissions in the case of multi-beam operation.

Embodiments of beam operation for multiple DL/UL transmissions during CG-SDT and random access-SDT (RA-SDT) are provided below:

in some embodiments, during CG-SDT, the UE uses the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL bandwidth part (BWP) as the CG-PUSCH transmission to transmit PUSCH scheduled by downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) format 0_0 or 0_1, which DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 is scrambled by a cell-specific-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or RNTI configured for CG-SDT.

In some other embodiments, during CG-SDT, the UE uses the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission or PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for the corresponding or last PDSCH to transmit PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1, DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 being scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT.

Fig. 3 illustrates one example of beam operation in the case of PUSCH initial transmission. In this example, after CG-PUSCH transmission, the gNB may transmit a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) with UL grant to schedule PUSCH with initial transmission. In this case, the Tx beam for PUSCH with initial transmission may be the same as the Tx beam for CG-PUSCH transmission.

Fig. 4 illustrates one example of beam operation in the case of PUSCH retransmission. In this example, after CG-PUSCH transmission, the gNB may transmit a PDCCH with UL grant to schedule PUSCH with initial transmission. However, the gNB may not be able to successfully decode the PUSCH initial transmission. Subsequently, the gNB transmits PDCCH with UL grant to schedule PUSCH retransmission. In this case, the Tx beam for PUSCH with retransmission may be the same as the Tx beam of PUSCH initial transmission or PUSCH transmission last.

In another embodiment, during CG-SDT, if a UE detects DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, the DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 carries a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT and a transport block is received in a corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH); or detecting DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 with a CRC scrambled by a c_rnti or RNTI configured for CG-SDT, the UE may assume the same demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna port co-location attribute as the UE uses for the CG-PUSCH associated SSB block or channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS) resources, irrespective of the control resource set (control resource set, CORESET) for the UE to receive PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively, whether the UE is provided with a transmission configuration indicator (Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI) -state.

In addition, during CG-SDT, the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) carrying the hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) response of PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as CG-PUSCH transmission.

In some other embodiments, during CG-SDT, the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK response of the PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission.

Note that the UE can provide HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH transmissions on PUCCH during RA-SDT and CG-SDT only if the Timing Advance Timer (TAT) has not expired.

Fig. 5 illustrates one example of beam operation in the case of PDCCH/PDSCH and PUCCH transmissions. In this example, after CG-PUSCH transmission, the gNB may transmit PDCCH with DL grant and corresponding PDSCH. In this case, the UE may assume the same PDCCH and QCL assumption of the corresponding PDSCH as the SSB for CG-PUSCH association. In addition, after successfully decoding the PDSCH, the UE may transmit PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH. In this case, the PUCCH may be transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter as the CG-PUSCH transmission.

In another embodiment, during CG-SDT, a PDCCH having DCI format 1_0 and in which the CRC is scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT may be used to carry HARQ-ACK feedback for the corresponding CG-PUSCH transmission. In this case, the UE may assume the same DMRS antenna port level co-location attribute as the SSB block or CSI-RS resource the UE uses for CG-PUSCH association, regardless of whether the UE is provided with a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) -state for a control resource set (CORESET) for the UE to receive PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively.

In another embodiment, during RA-SDT, if the UE detects DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, the DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 carries a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT and a transport block is received in the corresponding PDSCH; or detecting a DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 with a CRC scrambled by a c_rnti or RNTI configured for RA-SDT, the UE may assume the same DM-RS antenna port co-location attribute as the SSB block or CSI-RS resource the UE uses for PRACH association, irrespective of CORESET for the UE to receive PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively, if the UE is provided with TCI-state.

In some other embodiments, if the UE detects DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, the DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 carries a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT and a transport block is received in the corresponding PDSCH; or detecting DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 with CRC scrambled by c_rnti or RNTI configured for RA-SDT, the UE may disregard CORESET for the UE to receive PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively, if the UE is provided with TCI-status, but assuming the same DM-RS antenna port co-location attribute as PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI or MsgB-RNTI.

In addition, during RA-SDT, the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK response of PDSCH transmission is transmitted in the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the PUSCH transmission scheduled by the RAR or the fallback RAR UL grant of the 4-step RACH and/or the MsgA PUSCH of the 2-step RACH or the PUCCH with the HARQ-ACK feedback of Msg4 or MsgB.

In some other embodiments, during RA-SDT, the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK response of the PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission.

In another embodiment, during RA-SDT, the UE uses the same spatial domain transmission filter to transmit PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 in the same active UL BWP as the Msg3 PUSCH transmission scheduled by the RAR or the fallback RAR UL grant of the 4-step RACH and/or the msa PUSCH of the 2-step RACH or the PUCCH with HARQ-ACK feedback of Msg4 or MsgB, the DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 being scrambled by the C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT.

In some other embodiments, the UE uses the same spatial domain transmission filter to transmit PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission or PUCCH transmission, the DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 being scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT.

In another embodiment, during CG-SDT or RA-SDT, when beam fault recovery (beamfailure recovery, BFR) is triggered by the UE, existing mechanisms may be applied for Tx beams for PUSCH and PUCCH transmissions for subsequent data transmissions. Specifically, the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK response of the PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission or the PRACH transmission triggered by BFR.

In addition, the UE transmits PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT using the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH or PUCCH transmission or PRACH transmission triggered by BFR.

Timing Advance (TA) verification for CG-SDT

An embodiment of TA verification for CG-SDT is provided below:

in some embodiments, a set of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) thresholds may be configured by higher layers via minimum system information (minimum systeminformation, MSI), remaining minimum system information (remaining minimumsysteminformation, RMSI), other system information (other systeminformation, OSI) or dedicated radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling. In particular, the set of RSRP thresholds may include an RSRP increase threshold and an RSRP decrease threshold, e.g., the UE may assume the TA is valid when the measured RSRP value increases by no more than the configured RSRP increase threshold or decreases by no more than the configured RSRP decrease threshold.

When a higher layer configures a set of SSBs to be associated with CG-PUSCH resources via RRC signaling for CG-PUSCH configuration, the UE may determine that TA is valid for CG-PUSCH configuration if the measured RSRP value increases by no more than a configured RSRP increase threshold or decreases by no more than a configured RSRP decrease threshold for SSBs within the set of SSBs; if the measured RSRP value increases beyond the configured RSRP increase threshold or decreases beyond the configured RSRP decrease threshold for any SSBs within the set of SSBs, the UE may determine that the TA is invalid for CG-PUSCH configuration.

In another embodiment, the two sets of RSRP thresholds may be configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI (SIB 1), OSI or RRC signaling. In particular, the set of RSRP thresholds may include an RSRP increase threshold and an RSRP decrease threshold, e.g., the UE may assume the TA is valid when the measured RSRP value increases by no more than the configured RSRP increase threshold or decreases by no more than the configured RSRP decrease threshold.

Further, assuming that the Tx beam used for transmission of the RRC release message is based on SSB with index a, if the newly detected SSB index is the same as SSB index a for CG-PUSCH transmission, a first set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine if TA is valid; and if the newly detected SSB index is different from SSB index a for CG-PUSCH transmissions, a second set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine if TA is valid.

In another embodiment, the two sets of RSRP thresholds may be configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI (SIB 1), OSI or RRC signaling. In addition, SSBs of two groups may be configured by higher layers. When a newly detected SSB index is in a first group for CG-PUSCH transmissions, a first set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine whether the TA is valid; and if the newly detected SSB index is in the second group for CG-PUSCH transmission, a second set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine if TA is valid.

Verification of PUSCH occasions in case of CG-PUSCH resource repetition for CG-SDT

The following provides embodiments of verification of PUSCH occasions in case of CG-PUSCH resource repetition for CG-SDT:

in some embodiments, the invalidation rules for PUSCH occasions for CG-SDT may be similar to those defined for PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, which are specified in section 8.1A in TS38.213[1 ]. In addition, the PUSCH occasion of the CG-SDT is valid if it does not overlap in time and frequency with any PUSCH occasion of the 2-step RACH or is associated with the type 2 random access procedure.

In another embodiment, when repetitions are configured for CG-PUSCH resources, all repetitions of CG-PUSCH transmissions are considered CG-PUSCH occasions. In this case, the same spatial domain transmission filter is used for all repetitions of CG-PUSCH.

In another embodiment, when the repetition is configured for the CG-PUSCH resource, the UE does not transmit the CG-PUSCH in the repetition if the repetition in the CG-PUSCH resource does not satisfy the validation rule of the CG-PUSCH occasion for the CG-SDT. Furthermore, the PUSCH occasion of CG-SDT is not valid only when all repetitions are invalid.

Fig. 6 illustrates one example of verification of PUSCH occasions for CG-SDT when repetition is configured for CG-PUSCH resources. In this example, 4 repetitions are configured for CG-PUSCH resources. In addition, CG-PUSCH repetition #1 is invalid due to the invalidation rule. In this case, the UE does not transmit the second CG-PUSCH repetition, but still considers the CG-PUSCH occasion valid.

In some other embodiments, the PUSCH occasion for CG-SDT is valid only if all repetitions are valid. In this case, if any repetition of CG-PUSCH does not satisfy the validation rule of CG-PUSCH occasions for CG-SDT, the UE does not transmit CG-PUSCH with repetition.

Configuration of associations between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources

An embodiment of configuration of association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources is provided below:

in some embodiments, a list of SSB indexes may be configured as part of CG-PUSCH configuration, and a list of DMRS resources including DMRS APs and/or sequences for the configured CG-PUSCH may be respectively associated with the list of SSB indexes. Specifically, each DMRS resource may be associated with an SSB from the configured set of SSB indexes. In this case, the association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources may be established by configuring a set of SSB indexes for CG-PUSCH. For CG-SDT operation, the UE selects one of the SSBs for which the SS-RSRP changes within a threshold, and then uses the associated CG-PUSCH resources for UL data transmission.

Note that when both DMRS AP and sequence are configured for DMRS resources, the ordering of DMRS resource indexes is determined first in ascending order of DMRS port indexes and second in ascending order of DMRS sequence indexes. The configuration of the DMRS sequence may be defined similarly to the DMRS sequence of the MsgA PUSCH of the 2-step RACH.

In addition, in configurations of associations between SSBs and CG-PUSCH resources, the same or different SSBs may be associated with different CG-PUSCH resources, and vice versa. When the same SSB is associated with more than one CG-PUSCH resource, this may be considered as a one-to-many mapping between SSBs and CG-PUSCH resources. When more than one SSB is associated with one CG-PUSCH resource, this may be considered a many-to-one mapping between SSBs and CG-PUSCH resources.

Table 1 illustrates one example of an association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources within a CG-PUSCH configuration. In this case, a list of SSB indexes and DMRS APs may be configured. In this table, maxNrofSSBIndex is the number of SSB indexes used for CG-SDT operations. Assuming that 2 SSB indexes are configured for CG-SDT operations, a first SSB index is associated with a first DMRS AP and a second SSB index is associated with a second DMRS AP.

Table 1. Association between ssb and CG-PUSCH resources: example 1

Table 2 illustrates one example of an association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources within a CG-PUSCH configuration. In this table, maxNrofSSBIndex is the number of SSB indexes used for CG-SDT operations. In addition, one SSB index is associated with one DMRS AP.

Table 2. Association between ssb and CG-PUSCH resources: example 2

Note that the above design principle can be extended directly to the case where more than one SSB is associated with CG-PUSCH resources, or one SSB is associated with more than one CG-PUSCH resource. In this case, the UE may derive a mapping ratio between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources based on the number of configured SSB indexes and the number of CG-PUCSH resources including DMRS AP or sequence.

In one example, assuming that 4 SSBs and 2 DMRS APs are configured for CG-PUSCH configuration, the mapping ratio is a 2-to-1 mapping. In this case, the first two SSB indexes are associated with the first DMRS AP, and the second two SSB indexes are associated with the second DMRS AP.

In another example, assuming that 1 SSB and 4 DMRS resources are configured for CG-PUSCH configuration, the mapping ratio is a 1-to-2 mapping. Fig. 7 illustrates one example of an association between 2 SSBs and 4 DMRS resources. In this example, a first SSB index is associated with the first two DMRS resources, and a second SSB index is associated with the second two DMRS resources.

In another embodiment, a mapping ratio is defined between SSB and CG-PUSCH occasions. In particular, one-to-one, and/or many-to-one, and/or one-to-many mapping between SSB and CG-PUSCH opportunities may be supported and configured as part of a CG-PUSCH configuration.

In one option, only 1 DMRS resource is configured as part of CG-PUSCH resources. In this case, the antanaport in CG-PUSCH configuration indicates the DMRS antenna port for CG-PUSCH transmission.

In some other embodiments, multiple DMRS resources may be configured for CG-PUSCH occasions. As described above, the DMRS resources may include one or more DMRS APs and/or DMRS sequences. The configuration for DMRS AP may be re-used or extended to be defined as the configuration of MsgA PUSCH. Specifically, if DMRS type 1 is configured, the index(s) of CDM group(s) are indicated using a 1-bit indication, e.g., bit 0 indicates a first CDM group, bit 1 indicates a second CDM group; if not configured, both CDM groups are used.

If DMRS type 1 is configured, a 2-bit indication of index(s) of CDM group(s) is used, e.g., bit 00 indicates a first CDM group, bit 01 indicates a second CDM group; and bit 10 indicates the third CDM group, bit 11 indicates the first and second CDM groups; if not configured, both CDM groups are used. Note that other options may be directly extended to indicate the combination of CDM groups of DMRS APs.

In addition, a 1-bit indication is used to indicate the number of ports, e.g., 0 indicates 1 port per CDM group, 1 indicates 2 ports per CDM group, and if not configured, 4 ports per CDM group;

further, if multiple DMRS APs are configured for CG-PUSCH occasions, the DMRS AP or the antanaport in the CG-PUSCH configuration may be used to indicate the starting DMRS AP for association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources. Alternatively, no antaport is configured in the CG-PUSCH configuration. In this case, the first DMRS AP of the indicated plurality of DMRS APs is the starting DMRS AP for association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources.

In one example, assuming that a 4-to-1 mapping is configured for the mapping of SSBs to CG-PUSCH occasions, this indicates that four SSBs are associated with one CG-PUSCH occasion. In addition, in CG-PUSCH configuration, DMRS type 1, 1 DMRS symbol, two DMRS CDM groups are configured, and in each CDM group, two ports are used for DMRS. In this case, DMRS APs with indexes 0, 1, 2, 3 are used for CG-SDT operation. Fig. 8 illustrates one example of an association between 4 SSBs and 4 DMRS APs.

In another embodiment, a mapping ratio is defined between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources. Similarly, one-to-one, and/or many-to-one, and/or one-to-many mapping between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources may be supported and configured as part of a CG-PUSCH configuration.

Configurations of one or more DMRS resources may be defined as described above. In addition, similarly, an antanaport may be configured to indicate the start of a DMRS AP for association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources.

In some embodiments, for RA-SDT, for PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for Msg4 of SDT based on 4-step RACH and MsgB of SDT based on 2-step RACH, a cell-specific PUCCH resource set may be employed. Note that separate pucch-resource com mon may be configured for SDT operation, as compared to conventional 4-step RACH and 2-step RACH procedures, which may help to minimize impact on conventional systems. The same pucch-ResourceCommon configured for the legacy RACH procedure may be applied to HARQ-ACK feedback for Msg4/MsgB of the RA-SDT procedure without configuring a separate pucch-ResourceCommon.

In another embodiment, for RA-SDT and/or CG-SDT, a cell-specific PUCCH resource set may be employed for PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for subsequent data transmission. In this case, separate pucch-ResourceCommon may be configured for SDT operation, as compared to the conventional 4-step RACH and 2-step RACH procedures. Without configuring separate resourcecommons, the same pucch-resourcecommons configured for the legacy RACH procedure may be applied for HARQ-ACK feedback for subsequent PDSCH transmissions during RA-SDT and CG-SDT procedures.

In some other embodiments, a UE-specific PUCCH resource set may be configured for a UE for PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for subsequent data transmissions. Specifically, during RA-SDT and CG-SDT procedures, only PUCCH resource sets with UCI size less than 3 bits may be configured for the UE in order to carry HARQ-ACK feedback for subsequent PDSCH transmissions.

In another embodiment, some or all of the parameters PDSCH-Config and/or PUSCH-Config may be configured for the UE during RRC release messages for subsequent data transmissions during RA-SDT and CG-SDT procedures. In this case, the UE should follow parameters configured for PDSCH and PUSCH transmissions scheduled by DCI during RA-SDT and CG-SDT operations by PDSCH-Config and/or PUSCH-Config. In the case that PDSCH-Config and/or PUSCH-Config are not configured, default values may be applied for respective PDSCH and PUSCH transmissions scheduled by DCI during RA-SDT and CG-SDT operations.

In another embodiment, if there is a set of PUSCH occasions after an integer number of SSB blocks to PUSCH occasions and the mapping period of the associated DM-RS resources within the association period And the associated DM-RS resources are not mapped toSS/PBCH block index, then no SS/PBCH block index is mapped to the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources.

In addition, the association pattern period includes one or more association periods, and is determined such that PUSCH occasions and patterns between associated DM-RS resources and SS/PBCH block indexes are repeated every 640 ms at most. PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources (if any) that are not associated with the SS/PBCH block index after an integer number of association periods are not used for PUSCH transmission.

If there is a set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources that are not mapped to after an integer number of mapping periods of SS/PBCH block indexes to PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources within the association periodSS/PBCH block index, then no SS/PBCH block index is mapped to the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources. The association pattern period includes one or more association periods and is determined such that PUSCH occasions and patterns between associated DM-RS resources and SS/PBCH block indexes are repeated every 640 ms at most. PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources (if any) that are not associated with the SS/PBCH block index after an integer number of association periods are not used for PUSCH transmission.

Fig. 9 illustrates a functional block diagram of a wireless communication device, in accordance with some embodiments. The wireless communication device 900 may be suitable for use as a UE or a gNB configured for operation in a 5G NR network.

Communication device 900 may include communication circuitry 902 and a transceiver 910 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication devices using one or more antennas 901. The communication circuit 902 may include circuitry such as: such circuitry may be operable for physical layer (PHY) communication and/or medium access control (medium access control, MAC) communication to control access to the wireless medium, and/or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication device 900 may further comprise a processing circuit 906 and a memory 908 arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuitry 902 and the processing circuitry 906 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in the figures, diagrams, and flowcharts described above.

According to some embodiments, the communication circuitry 902 may be arranged to compete for the wireless medium and configure frames or packets to communicate over the wireless medium. The communication circuit 902 may be arranged to transmit and receive signals. The communication circuitry 902 may also include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, up/down conversion, filtering, amplification, and so forth. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 906 of the communication device 900 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 901 may be coupled to a communication circuit 902 arranged for transmitting and receiving signals. The memory 908 may store information for configuring the processing circuitry 906 to perform operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing various operations described herein. Memory 908 may include any type of memory for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer), including non-transitory memory. For example, memory 908 may include a computer-readable storage device, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk storage medium, an optical storage medium, a flash memory device, and other storage devices and mediums.

In some embodiments, the communication device 900 may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smart phone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or another device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly.

In some embodiments, communication device 900 may include one or more antennas 901. Antenna 901 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, antennas may be effectively separated to obtain spatial diversity and may result in different channel characteristics between each antenna and the antennas of the transmitting device.

In some embodiments, the communication device 900 may include one or more of the following: a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

Although communication device 900 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, two or more of these functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (radio-frequency integrated circuit, RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of the communication device 900 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Examples:

example 1 may include a method for wireless communication of a fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) system:

detecting, by the UE, a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format 0_0 or 0_1 scrambled by a cell-specific-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or RNTI configured for configuration grant small data transmission (CG-SDT); and is also provided with

Transmitting, by the UE, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) using the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL bandwidth part (BWP) as the CG-Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission;

example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein during CG-SDT, the UE transmits PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT using the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as a last PUSCH or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a corresponding or last Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

Example 3 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein during CG-SDT, if the UE detects DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT and received a transport block in a corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or detects DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT, the UE may assume the same demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna port co-location attribute as the SSB block or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources used by the UE for CG-PUSCH, irrespective of whether the UE is provided with a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) -state for a control resource set (CORESET) in which the UE receives a PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein, during CG-SDT, a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) carrying a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) response of the PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the CG-PUSCH transmission.

Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein, during CG-SDT, a PUCCH carrying a HARQ-ACK response of a PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission.

Example 6 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the UE may provide HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH transmissions on PUCCH during RA-SDT and CG-SDT when a Timing Advance Timer (TAT) has not expired.

Example 7 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein during RA-SDT, if the UE detects DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT and receives a transport block in the corresponding PDSCH or detects DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT, the UE may assume the same DM-RS antenna port co-location attribute as the SSB block or CSI-RS resource used by the UE for PRACH regardless of whether the UE is provided a TCI-state for CORESET in which the UE receives PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively.

Example 8 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein if the UE detects DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT and receives a transport block in the corresponding PDSCH or detects DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT, the UE may assume the same DM-RS antenna port co-location attribute as PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI or MsgB-RNTI regardless of whether the UE is provided a TCI-state for CORESET in which the UE receives PDCCH with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1, respectively.

Example 9 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein during RA-SDT, the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK response of the PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the PUSCH transmission scheduled by the RAR or the fallback RAR UL grant of the 4-step RACH and/or the MsgA PUSCH of the 2-step RACH or the PUCCH with the HARQ-ACK feedback of Msg4 or MsgB.

Example 10 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein, during RA-SDT, the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK response of the PDSCH transmission is transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission.

Example 11 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein during RA-SDT, the UE transmits PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT using the same spatial domain transmission filter in the same active UL BWP as an Msg3 PUSCH transmission scheduled by a RAR or a fallback RAR UL grant of the 4-step RACH and/or an MsgA PUSCH of the 2-step RACH or PUCCH with HARQ-ACK feedback of Msg4 or MsgB.

Example 12 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the UE uses the same spatial domain transmission filter to transmit PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT in the same active UL BWP as the last PUSCH transmission or PUCCH transmission.

Example 13 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein when a set of SSBs is configured by an upper layer via RRC signaling for association with CG-PUSCH resources for CG-PUSCH configuration, the UE may determine that TA is valid for CG-PUSCH configuration if the measured RSRP value increases by no more than a configured RSRP increase threshold or decreases by no more than a configured RSRP decrease threshold for a certain SSB within the set of SSBs.

Example 14 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the UE may determine that the TA is invalid for the CG-PUSCH configuration if, for any SSB within the set of SSBs, the measured RSRP value increases beyond a configured RSRP increase threshold or decreases beyond a configured RSRP decrease threshold.

Example 15 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the two sets of RSRP thresholds may be configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI (SIB 1), OSI, or RRC signaling.

Example 16 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein, assuming that the Tx beam used for transmission of the RRC release message is based on SSB with index a, if the newly detected SSB index is the same as SSB index a for CG-PUSCH transmission, a first set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine whether TA is valid; and if the newly detected SSB index is different from SSB index a for CG-PUSCH transmissions, a second set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine if TA is valid.

Example 17 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein SSBs of two groups may be configured by higher layers. When a newly detected SSB index is in a first group for CG-PUSCH transmissions, a first set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine whether the TA is valid; and if the newly detected SSB index is in the second group for CG-PUSCH transmission, a second set of RSRP thresholds is used to determine if TA is valid.

Example 18 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the PUSCH occasion of the CG-SDT is valid if it does not overlap in time and frequency with any PUSCH occasion of the 2-step RACH or is associated with a type 2 random access procedure.

Example 19 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein when a repetition is configured for a CG-PUSCH resource, if the repetition in the CG-PUSCH resource does not satisfy a validation rule for a CG-PUSCH occasion for a CG-SDT, the UE does not transmit the CG-PUSCH in the repetition; wherein PUSCH timing for CG-SDT is invalid only when all repetitions are invalid.

Example 20 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the PUSCH occasion for the CG-SDT is valid only if all repetitions are valid; wherein if any repetition of CG-PUSCH does not satisfy the validation rule for CG-PUSCH occasions for CG-SDT, the UE does not transmit CG-PUSCH with repetition.

Example 21 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the list of SSB indexes may be configured as part of CG-PUSCH configuration, and the list of DMRS resources including DMRS APs and/or sequences for the configured CG-PUSCH may be respectively associated with the list of SSB indexes.

Example 22 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the UE may derive a mapping ratio between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources based on a number of configured SSB indexes and a number of CG-PUSCH resources including the DMRS AP or sequence.

Example 23 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein a mapping ratio is defined between SSB and CG-PUSCH occasions, wherein one-to-one, and/or many-to-one, and/or one-to-many mapping between SSB and CG-PUSCH occasions may be supported and configured as part of a CG-PUSCH configuration.

Example 24 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein only 1 DMRS resource is configured as part of a CG-PUSCH resource.

Example 25 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein a plurality of DMRS resources may be configured for CG-PUSCH occasions, wherein an antanaport in the CG-PUSCH configuration may be used to indicate a starting DMRS AP for association between the SSB and the CG-PUSCH resources.

Example 26 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein a mapping ratio is defined between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources, wherein one-to-one, and/or many-to-one, and/or one-to-many mapping between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources may be supported and configured as part of a CG-PUSCH configuration.

Example 27 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for RA-SDT, for PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for Msg4 of SDT based on 4-step RACH and MsgB of SDT based on 2-step RACH, a cell-specific PUCCH resource set may be employed; wherein separate pucch-resource common may be configured for SDT operations as compared to conventional 4-step RACH and 2-step RACH procedures.

Example 28 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for RA-SDT and/or CG-SDT, for PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for subsequent data transmission, a cell-specific PUCCH resource set may be employed.

Example 29 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the UE-specific PUCCH resource set may be configured for the UE for PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for subsequent data transmissions.

Example 30 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein, for subsequent data transmissions during RA-SDT and CG-SDT procedures, some or all of the parameters in PDSCH-Config and/or PUSCH-Config may be configured for the UE during the RRC release message.

Example 31 includes a method of a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:

Receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI) to schedule a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission by the UE, wherein the DCI is scrambled with a cell-specific radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or RNTI configured for a configuration grant based small data transmission (CG-SDT) using a spatial domain transmission filter; and is also provided with

And encoding the PUSCH message for transmission based on the DCI.

Example 32 includes the method of example 31 or some other example herein, wherein the spatial-domain transmission filter is shared with a spatial-domain transmission filter in an active UL bandwidth part (BWP) configured to grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmission.

Example 33 includes the method of example 31 or some other example herein, wherein the spatial-domain transmission filter is common with a spatial-domain transmission filter in an active UL BWP of a previous PUSCH or PUCCH transmission carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a corresponding or previous PDSCH.

Example 34 includes the method of example 31 or some other example herein, further comprising encoding a CG-PUSCH message for transmission prior to encoding the PUSCH message for transmission.

Example 35 includes the method of example 34 or some other example herein, further comprising receiving a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) with an Uplink (UL) grant to schedule the PUSCH transmission.

Example 36 includes the method of example 35 or some other example herein, wherein a transmit (Tx) beam for the PUSCH transmission is common with a Tx beam for the CG-PUSCH transmission.

Example 37 includes the method of example 31 or some other example herein, further comprising:

after the PUSCH transmission, receiving a PDCCH with a UL grant to schedule PUSCH retransmission; and is also provided with

And encoding the PUSCH message based on the PDCCH for retransmission.

Example 38 includes the method of example 37 or some other example herein, wherein the Tx beam used for the PUSCH retransmission is common with a Tx beam used for the PUSCH transmission or a previous PUSCH transmission.

Example 39 includes a method of a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:

encoding a CG-PUSCH message for transmission to a next generation node B (gNB);

receiving a PDCCH with a DL grant and a corresponding PDSCH from the gNB; and is also provided with

A PUCCH message carrying an indication of HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH is encoded for transmission to the gNB.

Example 40 includes the method of example 39 or some other example herein, wherein,

wherein the PUCCH is transmitted using a spatial domain transmission filter common to CG-PUSCH transmissions.

Example 41 includes the method of example 40 or some other example herein, wherein the PDCCH includes DCI with a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for CG-SDT to indicate HARQ-ACK feedback for a corresponding CG-PUSCH transmission.

Example 42 includes the method of example 41 or some other example herein, further comprising determining a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) antenna port quasi co-location attribute common to SSB blocks or CSI-RS resources used by the UE for CG-PUSCH association.

Example 43 includes the method of example 40 or some other example herein, wherein the DCI is DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 with a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI or RNTI configured for RA-SDT.

Example 44 includes a method of a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving CG-PUSCH configuration information including a list of SSB indexes and a list of DMRS resources associated with the list of SSB indexes; and is also provided with

And obtaining the mapping ratio between the SSB and the CG-PUSCH resource based on the CG-PUSCH configuration information.

Example 45 includes the method of example 44 or some other example herein, wherein the list of DMRS resources includes an indication of a DMRS AP or sequence of a configured CG-PUSCH.

Example 46 includes the method of example 44 or some other example herein, wherein the mapping ratio is defined between SSB and CG-PUSCH occasions.

Example 47 includes the method of example 46 or some other example herein, wherein the mapping ratio is a one-to-one, many-to-one, or one-to-many mapping between SSB and CG-PUSCH occasions.

Example 48 includes the method of example 44 or some other example herein, wherein a single DMRS resource is configured as part of the CG-PUSCH resource.

Example 49 includes the method of example 44 or some other example herein, wherein a plurality of DMRS resources are configured for one CG-PUSCH occasion.

Example 50 includes the method of example 46 or some other example herein, wherein an antenna port indicator in the CG-PUSCH configuration information is to indicate a starting DMRS AP for association between SSB and CG-PUSCH resources.

Example 51 may include the method of example 39 or some other example herein, wherein the RA-SDT is employed for the PUCCH transmission for a cell-specific PUCCH resource set.

Example 52 includes the method of example 51 or some other example herein, wherein the PUCCH transmission includes an indication of HARQ-ACK feedback for Msg4 of the SDT based on the 4-step RACH and MsgB of the SDT based on the 2-step RACH.

Example 53 includes the method of example 39 or some other example herein, wherein the cell-specific PUCCH resource set of RA-SDT or CG-SDT is employed for the PUCCH transmission, and the PUCCH transmission includes an indication of HARQ-ACK feedback for a subsequent data transmission.

Example 54 may include the method of example 39 or some other example herein, wherein the UE is configured with a UE-specific PUCCH resource set for the PUCCH transmission.

The abstract is provided to comply with section 37c.f.r.1.72 (b), which requires an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It was submitted under the following understanding: 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 (20)

1. An apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation in a fifth generation new radio (5G-NR) system, the apparatus comprising: a processing circuit; the memory is provided with a memory for storing the data,

the processing circuit is configured to:

decodes the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH),

wherein when a DCI format for a Configuration Grant (CG) -based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) is detected and a Transport Block (TB) is received in a corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the processing circuitry is configured to:

Assuming that for the CG-SDT, PDCCH reception associated demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna ports and PDSCH reception associated DM-RS antenna ports are quasi co-located (QCL) with a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) associated with Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources; and is also provided with

During the CG-SDT, PUCCH is encoded for transmission using the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission, and

wherein the memory is configured to store parameters of the spatial domain transmission filter.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detected DCI format comprises DCI format 1_0 for CG-SDT.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

decoding a CG-PUSCH configuration indicating one or more SS/PBCH block indexes to map to valid PUSCH occasions for transmitting PUSCH and associated DM-RS resources; and is also provided with

The one or more SS/PBCH block indexes are mapped to the valid PUSCH occasion and associated DM-RS resources first in ascending order of DM-RS port indexes and second in ascending order of DM-RS sequence indexes.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein when there is a set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources not mapped to SS/PBCH block indexes after an integer number of SS/PBCH block indexes to PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resource mapping periods within an association period, the processing circuitry is to: avoiding further mapping of SS/PBCH block indexes to the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources and avoiding using PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources of the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources for any further PUSCH transmissions.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the association period is determined such that PUSCH occasions and a pattern between associated DM-RS resources and SS/PBCH block indexes are repeated every 640 ms at most.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: PUSCH is encoded for transmission during the CG-SDT (CG-PUSCH), which is a direct data transmission performed by the UE when operating in rrc_inactive mode.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception are assumed to be QCL in terms of average gain and type D attributes including spatial Receiver (RX) parameters with an SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein based on an assumption that a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception are QCL for the SS/PBCH associated with CG-SDT and PUSCH resources, the processing circuitry is configured to: the same Receive (RX) beam parameters are applied for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) reception, PDCCH reception, and PDSCH reception.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein to apply the same RX beam parameters, the processing circuitry is configured to:

Demodulating the PDSCH by using the DM-RS based on the assumption that the associated DM-RS antenna port for PDSCH reception is QCL for the SS/PBCH associated with the CG-SDT and PUSCH resource; and is also provided with

The PDCCH is demodulated using the DM-RS based on the assumption that the associated DM-RS antenna port is QCL for the SS/PBCH associated with the CG-SDT and PUSCH resources.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit comprises a baseband processor.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation in a fifth generation new radio (5G-NR) system, the processing circuitry to:

decodes the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH),

wherein when a DCI format for a Configuration Grant (CG) -based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) is detected and a Transport Block (TB) is received in a corresponding Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the processing circuitry is configured to:

assuming that for the CG-SDT, PDCCH reception associated demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna ports and PDSCH reception associated DM-RS antenna ports are quasi co-located (QCL) with a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) associated with Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources; and is also provided with

During the CG-SDT, PUCCH is encoded for transmission using the same spatial domain transmission filter as the last PUSCH transmission.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the detected DCI format comprises DCI format 1_0 for CG-SDT.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

decoding a CG-PUSCH configuration indicating one or more SS/PBCH block indexes to map to valid PUSCH occasions for transmitting PUSCH and associated DM-RS resources; and is also provided with

The one or more SS/PBCH block indexes are mapped to the valid PUSCH occasion and associated DM-RS resources first in ascending order of DM-RS port indexes and second in ascending order of DM-RS sequence indexes.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein when there is a set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources not mapped to SS/PBCH block indexes after an integer number of SS/PBCH block indexes to PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resource mapping periods within an association period, the processing circuitry is to: avoiding further mapping of SS/PBCH block indexes to the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources and avoiding using PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources of the set of PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources for any further PUSCH transmissions.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the association period is determined such that PUSCH occasions and a pattern between the associated DM-RS resources and SS/PBCH block index are repeated every 640 milliseconds at most.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: PUSCH is encoded for transmission during the CG-SDT (CG-PUSCH), which is a direct data transmission performed by the UE when operating in rrc_inactive mode.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH reception are assumed to be QCL in terms of average gain and type D attributes including spatial Receiver (RX) parameters with an SS/PBCH associated with PUSCH.

18. An apparatus for a gnob (gNB) configured for operation in a fifth generation new radio (5G-NR) system, the apparatus comprising: a processing circuit; the memory is provided with a memory for storing the data,

wherein, for a User Equipment (UE) configured for multi-beam operation, the processing circuitry is configured to:

Encoding a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmission;

a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission including Transport Blocks (TBs) is encoded for transmission to the UE,

wherein the PDCCH transmission is encoded to carry a DCI format for a Configuration Grant (CG) based Small Data Transmission (SDT) (CG-SDT) to be detected by the UE along with the TB,

configuring a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) antenna port associated with PDCCH transmission and a DM-RS antenna port associated with PDSCH transmission as a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) quasi-co-location (QCL) for CG-SDT associated with Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources; and is also provided with

Decoding a PUCCH transmitted by the UE during the CG-SDT,

wherein the memory is configured to store parameters of the spatial domain transmission filter.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

encoding a CG-PUSCH configuration indicating one or more SS/PBCH block indexes to map to valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources for transmitting PUSCH, wherein the one or more SS/PBCH block indexes are mapped to the valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources, first in ascending order of DM-RS port indexes and second in ascending order of DM-RS sequence indexes.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: the association period is determined such that PUSCH occasions and the pattern between the associated DM-RS resources and SS/PBCH block indexes are repeated at most every 640 ms.