CN117480845A - Uplink Control Information (UCI) multiplexing for multiple transmit receive point (M-TRP) operation - Google Patents

Abstract

A User Equipment (UE) configured for multiple transmit receive point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network, wherein DCI activates PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling, the UE may multiplex UCI on scheduled PUSCH transmission to a first TRP, UCI on scheduled PUSCH transmission to a second TRP, and discard repetition of PUCCH when a first repetition of PUCCH overlaps scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP and a second repetition of PUCCH overlaps scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP. For multiplexing UCI and discarding PUCCH repetition, a timeline condition may also need to be met.

Description

Uplink Control Information (UCI) multiplexing for multiple transmit receive point (M-TRP) operation

Priority claim

The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/248,302, filed 24 at 9, 2021, reference AD9083-Z, and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/249,473, reference AD9084-Z, filed 28 at 9, 2021, 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 multi-transmission-reception point (M-TRP) operations.

Background

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 allow everything to be connected over wireless and deliver fast, rich content and services.

For 5G systems, high-band communications have attracted considerable attention in the industry because they can provide wider bandwidths to support future integrated communication systems. Beamforming is a key technique for implementing high-band communication because beamforming gain can compensate for severe path loss caused by atmospheric attenuation, improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and expand coverage. By aligning the transmission beam to the target UE, the radiated energy can be concentrated to improve energy efficiency and suppress mutual interference between UEs.

One problem with 5G NR communications, especially for high-band communications, is the efficient use of channel resources for multiple transmit receive point (M-TRP) operations. This is especially a problem of physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH) repetition and physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH) repetition.

Drawings

Fig. 1A illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 1B and 1C illustrate a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates a Transmit Receive Point (TRP) operation in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3A illustrates an overlap between a multislot PUCCH and a multislot PUSCH in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3B illustrates Uplink Control Information (UCI) multiplexing for M-TRP operation according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3C illustrates UCI and a-CSI multiplexing for M-TRP operation according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3D illustrates UCI multiplexing for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition for M-TRP operation in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3E illustrates UCI and aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI) multiplexing for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition for M-TRP operation according to some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device, such as an evolved node B (eNB), a new generation node B (gNB), or a User Equipment (UE), 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 a User Equipment (UE) configured for multiple Transmission-Reception Point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network, wherein downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) activates a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition with Transmit (TX) beam cycling. In these embodiments, when a first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps with a scheduled physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH) transmission to a first TRP and a second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps with a scheduled PUSCH transmission to a second TRP, the UE may multiplex uplink control information (uplink control information, UCI) on the scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP, may multiplex UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP, and may discard the repetition of the PUCCH. For multiplexing UCI and discarding PUCCH repetition, a timeline condition may also need to be met. These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.

Fig. 1A illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with 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, either 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 SMF 136 and UPF 134), N5 (between PCF 148 and AF 150, not shown), N6 (between UPF 134 and DN 152), N7 (between SMF 136 and PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between UDM 146 and AMF132, not shown), N9 (between two UPF 134, not shown), N10 (between UDM 146 and SMF 136, not shown), N11 (between AMF132 and SMF 136), N12 (between AUSF 144 and AMF132, not shown), N13 (between AUSF 144 and UDM 146, 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.

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.

Fig. 2 illustrates a Transmit Receive Point (TRP) operation in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 2 illustrates transmission of a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH) from more than one Transmission Receiving Point (TRP) in accordance with some embodiments. TRP may also be configured for transmission of PDCCH. The UE may also be configured for transmission of PUCCH and PUSCH to more than one TRP. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

Fig. 3A illustrates an overlap between a multislot PUCCH and a multislot PUSCH in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3B illustrates UCI multiplexing for M-TRP operations according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3C illustrates UCI and a-CSI multiplexing for M-TRP operation according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3D illustrates UCI multiplexing for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition for M-TRP operation in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3E illustrates UCI and a-CSI multiplexing for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition for M-TRP operation in accordance with some embodiments.

In NR, a short Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) (PUCCH formats 0 and 2) may span 1 or 2 symbols within one slot, and a long PUCCH (PUCCH formats 1, 3, and 4) may span 4 to 14 symbols within one slot. In addition, in Rel-15, the long PUCCH may span multiple slots to further enhance coverage. Note that Uplink Control Information (UCI) may be carried by PUCCH or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) according to the definition in NR. Specifically, UCI may include: scheduling request (scheduling request, SR), hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback, channel state information (channel state information, CSI) reporting (e.g., channel quality index (channel quality indicator, CQI), precoding matrix index (pre-coding matrix indicator, PMI), CSI resource index (CSI resource indicator, CRI) and Rank Index (RI)), and/or beam related information (e.g., L1-RSRP (layer 1-reference signal received power)).

In addition, when a single-slot PUCCH overlaps with a multi-slot PUSCH repeatedly in one slot, UCI is multiplexed on the PUSCH in the overlapping slot and the single-slot PUCCH is discarded if the timeline requirement is satisfied for the overlapping slot. Further, when the multi-slot PUCCH repetition overlaps in time with the single/multi-slot PUSCH repetition, if the timeline requirement within the overlapping slot is satisfied, the PUSCH is dropped without delay in the overlapping slot.

Fig. 3A illustrates one example of overlap between a multi-slot PUCCH and a multi-slot PUSCH. In this example, 4 and 2 repetitions are employed for PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions, respectively. Further, PUSCH repetition overlaps PUCCH repetition in slot #1 and slot # 2. If the timeline requirement is met, the PUSCH repetitions in slot #1 and slot #2 are discarded.

For M-TRP operation, different transmit beams may be repeatedly applied for PUCCH and PUSCH to take advantage of spatial diversity. In particular, the beam mapping pattern between repetition and TRP may be cyclic mapping or sequential mapping. Note that beam cycling may be applied for PUSCH repetition types a and B. For PUSCH repetition B, a different beam is applied for the nominal repetition.

Note that when beam cycling is applied for PUCCH and PUSCH repetition for M-TRP operation, and when PUCCH and PUSCH repetition overlap in time, PUSCH repetition may not be discarded to avoid resource waste, especially in view of TDD configuration with DL heavy mode. In this case, some mechanisms may need to be considered to allow UCI multiplexing on PUSCH repetition.

Embodiments disclosed herein propose mechanisms for UCI multiplexing for M-TRP operations. UCI multiplexing for M-TRP operation as described above, different transmission beams may be repeatedly applied for PUCCH and PUSCH for M-TRP operation to take advantage of spatial diversity. In particular, the beam mapping pattern between repetition and TRP may be cyclic mapping or sequential mapping.

Note that beam cycling may be applied for PUSCH repetition types a and B. For PUSCH repetition B, a different beam is applied for the nominal repetition. Note that when beam cycling is applied for PUCCH and PUSCH repetition for M-TRP operation, and when PUCCH and PUSCH repetition overlap in time, PUSCH repetition may not be discarded to avoid resource waste, especially in view of TDD configuration with DL heavy mode. In this case, some mechanisms may need to be considered to allow UCI multiplexing on PUSCH repetition.

Embodiments of UCI multiplexing for M-TRP operations are provided as follows: in one embodiment, for M-TRP operation, when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two PUCCHs and when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two or more PUSCHs, UCI carried by a PUCCH in an overlapping slot is multiplexed on a PUSCH and the PUCCH is discarded if PUCCH repetition for a certain TRP overlaps PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot and if the timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied.

Fig. 3B illustrates one example of UCI multiplexing for M-TRP operation. In this example, PUCCH repetition to TRP #0 overlaps PUSCH repetition to TRP #0 in slot #0, and PUCCH repetition to TRP #1 overlaps PUSCH repetition to TRP #1 in slot # 1. In this case, UCI carried by PUCCH is multiplexed on PUSCH de-to TRP #0 in slot #0, and UCI carried by PUCCH is multiplexed on PUSCH de-to TRP #1 in slot # 1. In addition, PUCCH repetition that is de-allocated to TRP #0 and TRP #1 is discarded.

In another embodiment, for M-TRP operation, when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two PUCCHs and when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two PUSCHs carrying aperiodic channel state information (aperiodic channel state information, a-CSI), UCI and a-CSI carried by the PUCCH in the overlapped slot are multiplexed on the PUSCH and the PUCCH is discarded if PUCCH repetition for a certain TRP overlaps with PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot and if a timeline requirement of the overlapped slot is satisfied. Note that the same mechanism can be applied also for the case when semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) on PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH in the case of M-TRP operation.

Fig. 3C illustrates one example of UCI and a-CSI multiplexing for M-TRP operation. In this example, PUCCH repetition to TRP #0 overlaps PUSCH repetition to TRP #0 in slot #0, and PUCCH repetition to TRP #1 overlaps PUSCH repetition to TRP #1 in slot # 1. In this case, UCI and a-CSI carried by PUCCH are multiplexed on PUSCH de-to TRP #0 in slot #0, and UCI and a-CSI carried by PUCCH are multiplexed on PUSCH de-to TRP #1 in slot # 1. In addition, PUCCH repetition that is de-allocated to TRP #0 and TRP #1 is discarded. Note that the same mechanism can also be applied for the case when semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) on PUSCH overlaps PUCCH in the case of M-TRP operation.

In another embodiment, for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition, when different Tx beams are applied for two PUCCH transmissions carrying different UCI, and when different Tx beams are applied for two or more PUSCH repetition, if PUCCH transmission for a certain TRP overlaps PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot, and if the timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied, UCI carried by PUCCH in the overlapping slot is multiplexed on PUSCH, and PUCCH is discarded.

Fig. 3D illustrates one example of multiplexing two different UCI (respectively in two single TRP PUCCHs) for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition. In this example, PUCCH #0 carrying UCI #0 and PUSCH repetition to TRP #0, which are to TRP #0, overlap in slot #0, and PUCCH #1 carrying UCI #1 and PUSCH repetition to TRP #1, which are to TRP #1, overlap in slot # 1. In this case, UCI #0 carried by PUCCH #0 is multiplexed on PUSCH that is de-TRP #0 in slot #0, and UCI #1 carried by PUCCH #1 is multiplexed on PUSCH that is de-TRP #1 in slot # 1. In addition, PUCCHs #0 and #1, which are respectively de-energized to TRP #0 and TRP #1, are discarded.

In another embodiment, for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition, when different Tx beams are applied for two PUCCH transmissions carrying different UCI, and when different Tx beams are applied for two PUSCH repetition carrying aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI), if PUCCH transmission for a certain TRP overlaps PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot, and if the timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied, UCI and a-CSI carried by PUCCH in the overlapping slot are multiplexed on PUSCH, and PUCCH is discarded.

Fig. 3E illustrates one example of two different UCI (respectively in two single TRP PUCCHs) and a-CSI multiplexing for single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition. In this example, PUCCH #0 carrying UCI #0 and PUSCH repetition to TRP #0, which are to TRP #0, overlap in slot #0, and PUCCH #1 carrying UCI #1 and PUSCH repetition to TRP #1, which are to TRP #1, overlap in slot # 1. In this case, uci#0 and a-CSI carried by pucch#0 are multiplexed on PUSCH to trp#0 in slot#0, and uci#0 and a-CSI carried by pucch#0 are multiplexed on PUSCH to trp#1 in slot#1. In addition, PUCCHs #0 and #1, which are respectively de-energized to TRP #0 and TRP #1, are discarded.

Note that the above embodiments can be directly extended to the case when single TRP PUSCH transmission overlaps with M-TRP PUCCH repetition. PUSCH may be used to carry a-CSI or SP-CSI. Note that the same mechanism can also be applied for the case when semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI) on PUSCH overlaps PUCCH in the case of single TRP PUCCH transmission and M-TRP PUSCH repetition. Note that the above-described embodiments can be applied to cases where PUSCH is repeated for types a and B or PUSCH (dynamic grant based PUSCH, DG-PUSCH) based on dynamic grant and PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) grant configured.

In another embodiment, the beam of PUSCH is indicated in a sounding reference signal (sounding reference signal, SRS) resource indicator (resource indicator, SRI) field in the DCI. For PUCCH, DCI indicates a PUCCH resource indicator, which corresponds to a PUCCH resource with a specific PUCCH-resource id. This PUCCH-resource id is associated with PUCCH-spacialrelation info via MAC CE. And this pucchhspartialrelation info may be SSB-index, CSI-RS-index or SRS indicated in RRC. In general, the UE may determine whether PUSCH and PUCCH are transmitted to the same TRP through spatial relationship between SRS and other reference signals such as CSI-RS and SSB, as shown in the SRS-spatialreactioninfo structure in SRS-Resource in the following RRC configuration.

In some embodiments, the timeline requirement may be a timeline condition described in 3gpp TS 38.213 section 9.2.5, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 3GPP TS 38.213 v16.6.0 (2021, 6, 30) is incorporated herein by reference. 3GPP TS 38.214 v16.6.0 (2021, 6, 30) is incorporated herein by reference.

For SP-CSI reporting on mTRP PUSCH repetition types a and B activated by DCI, a similar mechanism is supported using a-CSI multiplexing on M-TRP PUSCH without TB, including the following.

When SP-CSI is multiplexed on M-TRP PUSCH, SP-CSI is multiplexed on two repetitions associated with two TRPs, and the number of repetitions is always assumed to be 2 regardless of the indicated value.

For mTRP PUSCH repetition type a, or for the first PUSCH after activation of PUSCH repetition type B, re-use conditions similar to those defined in a-CSI multiplexing on M-TRP PUSCH to support SP-CSI multiplexing on M-TRP PUSCH, i.e.,

the UE would be expected to follow the above operation to transmit SP-CSI on two PUSCH repetitions only if:

■ For the first PUSCH after activation of PUSCH repetition type B, the first and second nominal repetitions are expected to be the same as the first and second actual repetitions, respectively (no segmentation).

■ For PUSCH repetition types a and B, UCI other than SP-CSI is not multiplexed on either of the two PUSCH repetitions.

When the UE does not follow the above operation, the UE transmits SP-CSI on the first PUSCH repetition only, similar to rel.15/16.

For the subsequent PUSCH (without corresponding PDCCH) following the activation of PUSCH repetition type B, the following criteria are used:

discarding the first/second nominal repetition if the first/second nominal repetition is not the same as the first/second actual repetition

■ Multiplexing the SP-CSI on one of the first or second nominal repetition if that repetition is not discarded

Otherwise (first and second nominal repetition are the same as first and second actual repetition)

■ If UCI other than SP-CSI is not multiplexed on either of two PUSCH repetitions, SP-CSI is multiplexed on both repetitions.

■ Otherwise, the UE transmits SP-CSI on the first PUSCH repetition only, similar to rel.15/16 (and the second repetition is discarded).

For s-DCI based multi-TRP PUSCH repetition types a and B, when no TB is carried in PUSCH, a-CSI is supported for transmission on a first PUSCH repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first PUSCH repetition corresponding to a second beam.

The UE assumes a repetition number of 2, regardless of the indicated repetition number.

● The UE would be expected to follow the above operation to transmit a-CSI on two PUSCH repetitions only if:

for PUSCH repetition type B, the first and second nominal repetitions are expected to be the same as the first and second actual repetitions, respectively (no segmentation).

For PUSCH repetition types a and B, UCI other than a-CSI is not multiplexed on either of the two PUSCH repetitions.

● When the UE does not follow the above operation, the UE transmits a-CSI on the first PUSCH repetition only, similar to rel.15/16.

● And (3) injection: the scheduling offset of the first a-CSI should meet the Z and Z' requirements.

Some embodiments are directed to a User Equipment (UE) configured for multiple transmission-reception point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) or 6G network. In these embodiments, the UE may be configured to decode Downlink Control Information (DCI) to activate Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition with Transmit (TX) beam cycling. As shown in fig. 3B, the PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling may include a first repetition 302 of the PUCCH for carrying Uplink Control Information (UCI) for transmission to the first TRP 202 (see fig. 2) in the first slot 322 (i.e., slot # 0) (see fig. 3B) using the first TX beam; and a second repetition 304 of the PUCCH for carrying UCI for transmission to the second TRP 204 (see fig. 2) in a second slot 324 (i.e., slot # 1) using a second TX beam.

In these embodiments, the UE may be configured to determine whether a first repetition 302 of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission 306 to a first TRP in a first slot 322 and a second repetition 304 of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission 308 to a second TRP in a second slot 324. In these embodiments, when the first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps the scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP in the first slot and when the second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps the scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP in the second slot, the UE may be configured to multiplex UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission 316 in the first slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam. The UE may also multiplex UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission 318 in a second slot for transmission to a second TRP using a second TX beam. In these embodiments, the UE may be further configured to discard the first and second repetitions of the PUCCH (i.e., not transmit the first repetition of the PUCCH in the first slot and not transmit the second repetition of the PUCCH in the second slot).

In some embodiments, when the first symbol S of one of the first repetition of the PUCCH in the first slot or the PUSCH transmission in the first slot ₀ The UE may determine to be a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) received after a last symbol not before a symbol with a Cyclic Prefix (CP)Whether the timeline condition is at least partially satisfied. In these embodiments, when the timeline condition is met, the UE may multiplex UCI on a scheduled PUSCH transmission in a first slot to be transmitted to a first TRP using a first TX beam, multiplex UCI on a scheduled PUSCH transmission in a second slot to be transmitted to a second TRP using a second TX beam, and discard the first and second repetitions of the PUCCH.

In some embodiments, the UCI includes a plurality of UCI types, which are indicated or activated by the DCI format. In these embodiments, multiple UCI types may be multiplexed on PUSCH.

In some embodiments, the UE may multiplex UCI and one of a-CSI and SP-CSI on a scheduled PUSCH transmission 336 in a first slot 322 to transmit to the first TRP using a first TX beam and multiplex UCI and one of a-CSI and SP-CSI on a scheduled PUSCH transmission 338 in a second slot 324 to transmit to the second TRP using a second beam TX when the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot and the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot include two PUSCH repetitions carrying one of aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI) and semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI), and when the first repetition 302 of the PUCCH overlaps with the scheduled PUSCH transmission 326 in the first slot 322 to the first TRP, and when the second repetition 304 of the PUCCH overlaps with the scheduled PUSCH transmission 328 to the second TRP in the second slot 324. In these embodiments, the UE may also discard the first and second repetitions of the PUCCH. An example of this is illustrated in fig. 3C.

In some embodiments, PUSCH repetition may be PUSCH repetition type a or PUSCH repetition type B. In these embodiments, the scheduled PUSCH transmission may be one of a configuration grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmission and a dynamic grant based PUSCH (DG-PUSCH) transmission. In these embodiments, for PUSCH repetition type a, each slot contains only one repetition, and the time domain of the repetition of the Transport Block (TB) in these slots is the same. In PUSCH repetition type B, the repetition occurs in consecutive minislots, so that one slot may contain more than one repetition of a TB. In DG transmission, the UE sends a scheduling request (scheduling request, SR) to the gNB and receives UL grants with resource allocation. In CG transmission, the UE transmits UL data in configured resources without transmission of SR and UL grants, so using CG transmission reduces latency.

In some embodiments, the UE may determine whether repeated and scheduled PUSCH transmissions of the PUCCH are to be directionally transmitted to the same TRP based on a spatial relationship between a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) and one or more other reference signals, wherein the one or more other reference signals include at least one of a channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS) and a synchronization signal/PBCH Block (Synchronization Signal/PBCH Block, SSB). In these embodiments, the TX beam of PUSCH may be indicated in a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) field in the DCI. For PUCCH, DCI may indicate a PUCCH resource indicator corresponding to a PUCCH resource having a specific PUCCH-resource id. This PUCCH-resource id is associated with PUCCH-spatial relation info via MAC CE, and PUCCHs spatial relation info may be SSB-index, CSI-RS-index or SRS indicated in RRC signaling.

In some embodiments, the UE may apply transmit beamforming to generate a first TX beam in the direction of a first TRP for a scheduled PUSCH transmission 316 in a first time slot. In these embodiments, the UE may also apply transmit beamforming to generate a second TX beam in the direction of the second TRP for the scheduled PUSCH transmission 318 in the second slot. In some embodiments, the UE may utilize two or more antennas for directional beamforming.

In some embodiments, when the first repetition of the PUCCH does not overlap with the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot and when the second repetition of the PUCCH does not overlap with the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot, the UE may transmit the first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH with UCI to the first and the second TRP, respectively, and the scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first and the second TRP, respectively, on which UCI is not multiplexed.

In some embodiments, when the timeline condition is not met, or when a first repetition of the PUCCH does not overlap with a scheduled PUSCH transmission in a first slot and when a second repetition of the PUCCH does not overlap with a scheduled PUSCH transmission in a second slot, the UE may refrain from multiplexing UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot to transmit to the first TRP using the first TX beam, refrain from multiplexing UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot to transmit to the second TRP using the second TX beam, and refrain from discarding the first and second repetitions of the PUCCH, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, for M-TRP operation, the processing circuitry configures the UE to communicate with a next generation radio access network (Next Generation Radio Access Network, NG-RAN) node (i.e., gndeb or gNB) that includes a plurality of spatially diverse Transmission Reception Points (TRP). In some embodiments, PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling may be activated by DCI. In some other embodiments, RRC signaling may repeatedly configure the UE for PUCCH with TX beam cycling.

In some embodiments, the UE may encode data for transmission on a scheduled PUSCH transmission. In some embodiments, the UE may decode data from PDSCH received from both the first and second TRPs. In some embodiments, the memory of the UE may be configured to store UCI.

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 multiple transmission reception point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) or 6G network.

Some embodiments are directed to a generating node B (gNB) configured for multiple transmit receive point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) or 6G network. In these embodiments, the gNB may include a plurality of spatially diverse transmit-receive points (TRPs). In these embodiments, the gNB may encode Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) to activate Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition with Transmit (TX) beam cycling by the UE. In these embodiments, the PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling may include a first repetition 302 of the PUCCH for carrying Uplink Control Information (UCI) for transmission to the first TRP 202 (see fig. 2) in a first slot 322 (i.e., slot # 0) (see fig. 3B) using the first TX beam; and a second repetition 304 of the PUCCH for carrying UCI for transmission to the second TRP 204 (see fig. 2) in a second slot 324 (i.e., slot # 1) using a second TX beam.

In these embodiments, the gNB may decode a scheduled Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission 316 received from the UE at the first TRP that multiplexes UCI in the first slot when a first repetition 302 of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission 306 to the first TRP in the first slot 322, and when a second repetition 304 of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission 308 to the second TRP in the second slot 324. The gNB may also decode a scheduled PUSCH transmission 318 received from the UE at the second TRP with UCI multiplexed in the second slot. In these embodiments, the gNB does not expect to receive UCI on the first and second repetitions of the PUCCH.

In some of these embodiments, the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot and the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot include two PUSCH repetitions, carrying one of aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI) and semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI). In some of these embodiments, the PUSCH repetition is one of PUSCH repetition type a and PUSCH repetition type B. In some of these embodiments, the scheduled PUSCH transmission is one of a configuration grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmission and a dynamic grant based PUSCH (DG-PUSCH) transmission.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device, such as an evolved node B (eNB), a new generation node B (gNB), or a User Equipment (UE), in accordance with some embodiments. In alternative aspects, the communication device 800 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices.

A circuit (e.g., a processing circuit) is a collection of circuits implemented in a tangible entity of device 800 comprising hardware (e.g., simple circuitry, gates, logic, etc.). Circuit membership may be flexible over time. The circuitry includes members that when operated on can perform specified operations, either alone or in combination. In an example, the hardware of the circuit may be permanently designed to perform a particular operation (e.g., hardwired). In an example, hardware of the circuit may include variably connected physical components (e.g., execution units, transistors, simple circuits, etc.), including a machine readable medium of instructions physically modified (e.g., magnetic modification, electrical modification, removable placement of unchanged aggregated particles, etc.) to encode a specific operation.

When the physical components are connected, the underlying electrical properties of the hardware components are changed, for example from an insulator to a conductor, or vice versa. The instructions enable embedded hardware (e.g., execution units or loading mechanisms) to create members of the circuit with hardware via variable connections to perform portions of certain operations when operated on. Thus, in an example, a machine-readable medium element is part of a circuit or other component communicatively coupled to the circuit when the device is operating. In an example, any physical component may be used in more than one member of more than one circuit. For example, in operation, an execution unit may be used in a first circuit of a first circuitry system at one point in time and reused by a second circuit in the first circuitry system or by a third circuit in the second circuitry system at a different time. Additional examples of these components for device 800 are as follows.

In some aspects, device 800 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device 800 may operate in the capacity of a server-client network environment, as a server communication device, a client communication device, or both. In an example, the communication device 800 may act as a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) communication device in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network environment. The communication device 800 may be UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, STB, PDA, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. In addition, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term "communication device" should also be understood to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (software as a service, saaS), and other computer cluster configurations.

Examples as described herein may include or may operate on logic or several components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and that can be configured or arranged in a manner. In an example, the circuitry may be arranged as modules in a specified manner (e.g., internally or to an external entity, such as other circuitry). In an example, all or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., stand-alone, client, or server computer systems) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, application portions, or applications) as modules that operate to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device readable medium. In one example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

Thus, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, whether physically constructed, specially configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily (e.g., transient) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform some or all of any of the operations described herein. Considering the example of temporarily configuring modules, it is not necessary to instantiate each module at any one time. For example, where a module includes a general-purpose hardware processor configured with software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as each of the different modules at different times. The software may accordingly configure the hardware processor to constitute a particular module at one time and to constitute a different module at a different time, for example.

The communication device (e.g., UE) 800 may include a hardware processor 802 (e.g., a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a graphics processing unit (graphics processing unit, GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination of these), a main memory 804, a static memory 806, and a mass storage 807 (e.g., a hard disk drive, a tape drive, a flash memory storage, or other block or storage device), some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interconnection link (e.g., bus) 808.

The communication device 800 may also include a display device 810, an alphanumeric input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), and a User Interface (UI) navigation device 814 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, display device 810, input device 812, and UI navigation device 814 may be touch screen displays. The communication device 800 may also include a signal generating device 818 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 820, and one or more sensors 821, such as a global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or another sensor. The communication device 800 may include an output controller 828, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (universal serial bus, USB)), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (near field communication, NFC), etc.) connection to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., printer, card reader, etc.).

The storage device 807 may include a communication device readable medium 822 upon which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 824 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In some aspects, the registers of the processor 802, the main memory 804, the static memory 806, and/or the mass storage 807 may be or may include (be wholly or at least partially) a device readable medium 822 having stored thereon one or more sets of data structures or instructions 824 embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 802, the main memory 804, the static memory 806, or the mass storage 816 may constitute a device-readable medium 822.

The term "device-readable medium" is used interchangeably with "computer-readable medium" or "machine-readable medium" as used herein. While the communication device-readable medium 822 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "communication device-readable medium" can include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 824. The term "communication device-readable medium" encompasses the term "machine-readable medium" or "computer-readable medium" and may include any medium capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions (e.g., instructions 824) for execution by communication device 800 and that cause communication device 800 to perform any one or more of the techniques of this disclosure, or capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting examples of communication device readable media may include solid state memory, as well as optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of a communication device readable medium may include non-volatile Memory, such as a semiconductor Memory device (e.g., an electrically programmable read-Only Memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-Only Memory (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and a flash Memory device; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disk; random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM); CD-ROM and DVD-ROM discs. In some examples, the communication device readable medium may include a non-transitory communication device readable medium. In some examples, the communication device readable medium may include a communication device readable medium that is not a transitory propagating signal.

The instructions 824 may also be transmitted or received over a communications network 826 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 820 using any of a number of transfer protocols. In an example, the network interface device 820 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., ethernet, coaxial, or telephone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 826. In an example, the network interface device 820 may include multiple antennas to communicate wirelessly using at least one of single-input-multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-input-single-output (MISO) technologies. In some examples, network interface device 820 may communicate wirelessly using multi-user MIMO technology.

Examples:

example 1 is a system and method for wireless communication for a fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) system: the method includes determining, by a UE, a same Tx beam for transmission of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for a certain Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), and determining, by the UE, that the PUCCH and the PUSCH overlap by at least one symbol in a certain slot. This example includes multiplexing Uplink Control Information (UCI) on PUSCH by the UE, and dropping PUCCH transmissions by the UE.

Example 2. The method of example 1, wherein, when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two PUCCHs and when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two or more PUSCHs, and if a PUCCH repetition for a certain TRP overlaps a PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot, and if a timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied, UCI carried by the PUCCH is multiplexed on the PUSCH in the overlapping slot, and the PUCCH is discarded.

Example 3. The method of example 1, wherein, for multi-TRP operation, when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two PUCCHs and when different Tx beams are repeatedly applied for two PUSCHs carrying aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI), and if PUCCH repetition for a certain TRP overlaps PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot, and if the timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied, UCI and a-CSI carried by the PUCCH are multiplexed on the PUSCH in the overlapping slot, and the PUCCH is discarded.

Example 4. The method of example 1, wherein, for single TRP PUCCH transmission and multi TRP PUSCH repetition, when different Tx beams are applied for two PUCCH transmissions carrying different UCI, and when different Tx beams are applied for two or more PUSCH repetition, and if PUCCH transmission for a certain TRP overlaps PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot, and if the timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied, UCI carried by PUCCH is multiplexed on PUSCH in the overlapping slot, and PUCCH is discarded.

Example 5. The method of example 1, wherein, for single TRP PUCCH transmission and multi TRP PUSCH repetition, when different Tx beams are applied for two PUCCH transmissions carrying different UCI, and when different Tx beams are applied for two PUSCH repetition carrying aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI), and if PUCCH transmission for a certain TRP overlaps PUSCH for the same TRP in a certain slot, and if the timeline requirement of the overlapping slot is satisfied, UCI and a-CSI carried by PUCCH are multiplexed on PUSCH in the overlapping slot, and PUCCH is discarded.

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 of a User Equipment (UE) configured for multiple transmission reception point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network, the apparatus comprising: a processing circuit; and a memory, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

Decoding Downlink Control Information (DCI) for activating a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition with a Transmit (TX) beam cycle,

wherein the PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling comprises:

a first repetition of a PUCCH for carrying Uplink Control Information (UCI) for transmission to a first TRP using a first TX beam in a first slot; and

a second repetition of PUCCH for carrying the UCI for transmission to a second TRP using a second TX beam in a second slot; and is also provided with

Determining whether a first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission to the first TRP in the first slot and a second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP in the second slot, and

when the first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps in the first slot with a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP in the first slot, and when the second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps in the second slot with a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP, the processing circuit is further configured to:

Multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first time slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam;

multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot for transmission to the second TRP using the second TX beam; and is also provided with

The first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH are discarded,

wherein the memory is configured to store the UCI.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: when a first symbol of one of a first repetition of the PUCCH in the first slot or a PUSCH transmission in the first slot is not preceded by a Cyclic Prefix (CP) symbol, wherein the CP-bearing symbol begins after a last symbol received by a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), determining whether a timeline condition is at least partially met, and

wherein when the timeline condition is satisfied, the processing circuitry is configured to:

multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first time slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam;

Multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot for transmission to the second TRP using the second TX beam; and is also provided with

The first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH are discarded.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the UCI comprises a plurality of UCI types indicated by DCI.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot and the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot comprise two PUSCH repetitions carrying one of aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI) and semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI), and

when a first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP in the first slot, and when a second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP in the second slot,

the processing circuit is further configured to:

multiplexing the UCI and one of the a-CSI and the SP-CSI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first time slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam;

multiplexing the UCI and one of the a-CSI and the SP-CSI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot for transmission to the second TRP using the second TX beam; and is also provided with

The first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH are discarded.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the PUSCH repetition is one of PUSCH repetition type a and PUSCH repetition type B, and

wherein the scheduled PUSCH transmission is one of a configuration grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmission and a dynamic grant based PUSCH (DG-PUSCH) transmission.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: whether repeated and scheduled PUSCH transmissions for a PUCCH are to be directionally transmitted to the same TRP is determined based on a spatial relationship between a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) and one or more other reference signals including at least one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) and a synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB).

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

applying transmit beamforming to generate the first TX beam in the direction of the first TRP for the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot; and is also provided with

Transmit beamforming is applied to generate the second TX beam in the direction of the second TRP for the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein when a first repetition of the PUCCH does not overlap the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot, and when a second repetition of the PUCCH does not overlap the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot, the processing circuitry is to configure the UE to:

transmitting a first repetition and a second repetition of the PUCCH with the UCI to the first TRP and the second TRP, respectively; and is also provided with

Transmitting the scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP and the second TRP, respectively, without multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission.

9. The apparatus of any of claims 1-8, wherein for the M-TRP operation, the processing circuitry is to configure the UE to communicate with a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node comprising a plurality of spatially diverse transmit-receive points (TRPs).

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is to:

encoding data for transmission on the scheduled PUSCH transmission; and is also provided with

Data is decoded from PDSCH received from both the first TRP and the second TRP.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a User Equipment (UE) configured for multiple transmission reception point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

Decoding Downlink Control Information (DCI) for activating a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition with a Transmit (TX) beam cycle,

wherein the PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling comprises:

a first repetition of a PUCCH for carrying Uplink Control Information (UCI) for transmission to a first TRP using a first TX beam in a first slot; and

a second repetition of PUCCH for carrying the UCI for transmission to a second TRP using a second TX beam in a second slot; and is also provided with

Determining whether a first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission to the first TRP in the first slot and a second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP in the second slot, and

when the first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps in the first slot with a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP in the first slot, and when the second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps in the second slot with a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP, the processing circuit is further configured to:

Multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first time slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam;

multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot for transmission to the second TRP using the second TX beam; and is also provided with

The first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH are discarded.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: determining whether a timeline condition is at least partially met when a first repetition of the PUCCH in the first slot or a first symbol of one of PUSCH transmissions in the first slot is not preceded by a Cyclic Prefix (CP) with a symbol beginning after a last symbol received by a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and

wherein when the timeline condition is satisfied, the processing circuitry is configured to:

multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first time slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam;

multiplexing the UCI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot for transmission to the second TRP using the second TX beam; and is also provided with

The first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH are discarded.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the UCI includes a plurality of UCI types, the plurality of UCI types indicated by DCI.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein when the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot and the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot include two PUSCH repetitions carrying one of aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI) and semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI), and

when a first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the first TRP in the first slot, and when a second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP in the second slot,

the processing circuit is further configured to:

multiplexing the UCI and one of the a-CSI and the SP-CSI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first time slot for transmission to the first TRP using the first TX beam;

multiplexing the UCI and one of the a-CSI and the SP-CSI on the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot for transmission to the second TRP using the second TX beam; and is also provided with

The first repetition and the second repetition of the PUCCH are discarded.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the PUSCH repetition is one of PUSCH repetition type a and PUSCH repetition type B, and

wherein the scheduled PUSCH transmission is one of a configuration grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmission and a dynamic grant based PUSCH (DG-PUSCH) transmission.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: whether repeated and scheduled PUSCH transmissions for a PUCCH are to be directionally transmitted to the same TRP is determined based on a spatial relationship between a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) and one or more other reference signals including at least one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) and a synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB).

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

applying transmit beamforming to generate the first TX beam in the direction of the first TRP for the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot; and is also provided with

Transmit beamforming is applied to generate the second TX beam in the direction of the second TRP for the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot.

18. An apparatus for generating a node B (gNB) configured for multiple transmission reception point (M-TRP) operation in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network, the gNB comprising a plurality of spatially diverse Transmission Reception Points (TRPs),

the device comprises: a processing circuit; and a memory, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

encoding Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to a User Equipment (UE), the DCI for activating Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition with Transmit (TX) beam cycling by the UE,

wherein the PUCCH repetition with TX beam cycling comprises:

a first repetition of a PUCCH for carrying Uplink Control Information (UCI) for transmission to a first TRP using a first TX beam in a first slot; and

a second repetition of PUCCH for carrying the UCI for transmission to a second TRP using a second TX beam in a second slot; and is also provided with

Wherein when a first repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission to the first TRP in the first slot and when a second repetition of the PUCCH overlaps a scheduled PUSCH transmission to the second TRP in the second slot in the first slot, and

The processing circuit is further configured to:

decoding a scheduled PUSCH transmission multiplexing the UCI in the first slot, the scheduled PUSCH transmission received from the UE at the first TRP; and is also provided with

Decoding a scheduled PUSCH transmission multiplexing the UCI in the second slot, the scheduled PUSCH transmission received from the UE at the second TRP,

wherein the memory is configured to store the UCI.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the first slot and the scheduled PUSCH transmission in the second slot comprise: two PUSCH repetitions carrying one of aperiodic channel state information (a-CSI) and semi-persistent CSI (SP-CSI).

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the PUSCH repetition is one of PUSCH repetition type a and PUSCH repetition type B, and

wherein the scheduled PUSCH transmission is one of a configuration grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmission and a dynamic grant based PUSCH (DG-PUSCH) transmission.