EP4681341A1

EP4681341A1 - Codebook with adjustable beam shape and width

Info

Publication number: EP4681341A1
Application number: EP24713746.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Xinlin ZHANG; Mattias Frenne; Siva Muruganathan; Fredrik Athley
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2023-03-15
Filing date: 2024-03-15
Publication date: 2026-01-21
Also published as: WO2024189605A1; CN120814182A

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed that relate to a codebook for codebook based precoding in a wireless communication system that enables an increased number of ports while keeping a desired beam width. In one embodiment, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) comprises calculating a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N' ports, where N=MN' and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1. The method further comprises reporting the derived precoding vector. In this manner, a large antenna array can be fully exploited by using all the power amplifiers when designing a codebook while keeping a desired beam shape/width.

Description

CODEBOOK WITH ADJUSTABLE BEAM SHAPE AND WIDTH

Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63/490,372, filed March 15, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure related to codebook based precoding in a wireless communications system.

Background

Codebook based Precoding

[0003] Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. The performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple- Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO.

[0004] A core component of the 5th Generation (5G) wireless network or New Radio (NR) is the support of MIMO antenna deployments and MIMO related techniques such as spatial multiplexing. Spatial multiplexing can be used to increase data rates in favorable channel conditions. Figure 1 shows an example of spatial multiplexing in NR. An information carrying symbol vector s is multiplied by an N_T X r precoding matrix or precoder W, which serves to distribute the transmit energy in a subspace of the N_T dimensional vector space. The precoding matrix is typically selected from a codebook of possible precoding matrices, and typically indicated by means of a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), which specifies a unique precoding matrix in the codebook for a given number of symbol streams. The r symbols in s each correspond to a MIMO layer and r is referred to as the transmission rank, which equals to the number of columns of the precoder W. In this way, spatial multiplexing is achieved since multiple symbols can be transmitted simultaneously over the same time/frequency Resource Element (RE). The number of symbols r is typically adapted to suit the current channel properties.

[0005] NR uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) in downlink. The received N_R X 1 vector y_n at a UE on a certain RE can be expressed as where e_n is a receiver noise/interference vector. The precoder W can be constant over frequency (i.e., wideband), or frequency selective (i.e., per subband).

[0006] The precoder W is chosen to match the characteristics of the N_R X N_T MIMO channel matrix H_n, resulting in so-called channel dependent precoding. This is also commonly referred to as closed-loop precoding.

[0007] In closed-loop precoding, the User Equipment (UE) feeds back recommendations on a suitable precoder to the NR base station (gNB) in the form of a PMI based on downlink channel measurements. For that purpose, the UE is configured with a Channel State Information (CSI) report configuration including CSI Reference Signals (CSI- RS) for channel measurements and a codebook of candidate precoders. In addition to precoders, the feedback may also include a Rank Indicator (RI) and one or two Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs). RI, PMI, and CQI are part of a CSI feedback. In NR, CSI feedback can be either wideband, where one CSI is reported for the entire channel bandwidth, or frequency-selective, where one CSI is reported for each subband, which is defined as a number of contiguous Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) ranging between 4-32 PRBs depending on the Bandwidth Part (BWP) size.

[0008] Given the CSI feedback from the UE, the gNB determines the transmission parameters it wishes to use to transmit to the UE, including the precoding matrix, transmission rank, and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS).

2D Antenna Arrays

[0009] Two-dimensional antenna arrays are widely used, and such antenna arrays can be described by a number of antenna ports, N_lt in a first dimension (e.g., the horizontal dimension), a number of antenna ports, N₂, in a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension (e.g., the vertical dimension), and a number of polarizations N_p. The total number of antenna ports is thus N = N₁N₂N_p. The concept of an antenna port is non-limiting in the sense that it can refer to any virtualization (e.g., linear mapping) to the physical antenna elements. For example, pairs of physical antenna elements could be fed the same signal, and hence share the same virtualized antenna port.

[0010] An example of a 4 X 4 (i.e., N₁ X N_2l) array with dual-polarized antenna elements (i.e., N_p = 2) is illustrated in Figure 2.

[0011] Precoding may be interpreted as multiplying the signal to be transmitted by a set of beamforming weights on the antenna ports prior to transmission. A typical approach is to tailor the precoder to the antenna form factor, i.e. taking into account N_lt N₂ and N_p when designing the precoder codebook. Channel State Information Reference Signals ( CSI-RS )

[0012] For CSI measurement and feedback, CSI-RS are defined. A CSI-RS is transmitted on an antenna port at the gNB and is used by a UE to measure downlink channel between the antenna port and each of the UE’s receive antenna ports. The transmit antenna ports are also referred to as CSI-RS ports. The supported number of CSI-RS ports in NR are { 1,2,4,8,12,16,24,32}. By measuring the received CSI-RS, a UE can estimate the channel that the CSI-RS is traversing, including the radio propagation channel and antenna gains. The CSI-RS for the above purpose is also referred to as Non-Zero Power (NZP) CSI-RS.

[0013] CSI-RS can be configured to be transmitted in certain REs in a slot and certain slots. Figure 3 shows an example of CSI-RS REs for 12 antenna ports, where 1 RE per RB per port is shown.

[0014] In addition, Interference Measurement Resource (IMR) is also defined in NR for a UE to measure interference. An IMR resource contains 4 REs, either 4 adjacent REs in frequency in the same OFDM symbol or 2 by 2 adjacent REs in both time and frequency in a slot. By measuring both the channel based on NZP CSI-RS and the interference based on an IMR, a UE can estimate the effective channel and noise plus interference to determine the CSI. Furthermore, a UE in NR may be configured to measure interference based on one or multiple NZP CSI-RS resource.

CSI Framework in NR

[0015] In NR, a UE can be configured with multiple CSI reporting settings and multiple CSI- RS resource settings. Each resource setting can contain multiple resource sets, and each resource set can contain up to 8 CSI-RS resources. For each CSI reporting setting, a UE feeds back a CSI report.

[0016] Each CSI reporting setting contains at least the following information:

• A CSI-RS resource setting for channel measurement

• An IMR resource set for interference measurement

• Optionally, a CSI-RS resource set for interference measurement

• Time-domain behavior, i.e. periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic reporting

• Frequency granularity, i.e. wideband or subband

• CSI parameters to be reported such as RI, PMI, CQI, and CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI) in case of multiple CSI-RS resources in a resource set

• Codebook types, i.e. type I or II, and codebook subset restriction • Measurement restriction

• Subband size. One out of two possible subband sizes is indicated, the value range depends on the bandwidth of the BWP. One CQI/PMI (if configured for subband reporting) is fed back per subband).

DFT -Based Pre coders

[0017] A common type of precoding is to use a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) -precoder, where the precoder vector used to precode a single-layer transmission using a single-polarized Uniform Linear Array (ULA) with N antennas is defined as where k = 0,1, ... ON — 1 is the precoder index and 0 is an integer oversampling factor. u_k is also referred to as a one-dimension (1-D) DFT beam with beam index k. If ULA is along the horizontal dimension, each DFT beam points to an azimuth direction. If ULA is along the vertical dimension, each DFT beam points to an elevation direction. Each precoder corresponds to a DFT beam.

[0018] A corresponding precoder vector for a two-dimensional Uniform Planar Array (UP A) with N antenna ports in one dimension and N₂ antenna ports in another dimension can be created by taking the Kronecker product of two precoder vectors as of the two dimensions, and and 0₂ are the over sampling factors in the two dimensions associated with ^ and N₂. respectively. v_{k i} is also referred to a two-dimensional (2-D) DFT beam characterized by two beam indices (k, Z), one in each dimension. Each precoder corresponds to a 2D DFT beam.

[0019] Extending the DFT precoder for a dual-polarized UPA may then be done as where e¹^ is a co-phasing factor that may be selected from M-Phase Shift Keying (PSK) alphabet such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) with <p G {0, 7T,

[0020] A precoder matrix W_{2D DP} for multi-layer transmission may be created by appending columns of DFT precoder vectors as

^2D,DP ⁼ [^W2D,DP ^1> 1) ^W2D,Dp (^2> > ^<p2) ^W2D,Dp ( -r’ l_r> r)L where r is the number of transmission layers. Such DFT-based precoders are used for instance in NR Type I CSI feedback, where each layer is associated with 2D DFT beam.

Array-Size Invariant Beamforming

[0021] Beamforming with large arrays can provide narrow beams which can improve the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). For very large arrays, however, the beams may in some cases become more narrow than desired. For example, broadcast information that should be transmitted to all UEs in a cell will only reach a few UEs in the cell if the beam is very narrow. Therefore, one may need to resort to time-consuming beam sweeping to reach all UEs in the cell. Another approach to alleviate this problem is to broaden the beam my means of tapering, i.e., applying a weighting window on the beamforming weight vector. With amplitude-only tapering, it is easy to broaden the beam to a desired beam width. The problem with this approach is that amplitude tapering implies that some Power Amplifiers (PAs) in the array will not transmit with full power, leading to a loss in SNR. This problem can be overcome by using phase-only tapering, but this instead leads to significant main beam ripple in the resulting beam pattern.

[0022] Recently, a novel technique to overcome the above shortcomings has been proposed, referred to as Array-Size Invariant (ASI) beamforming (see S. O. Petersson and M. A. Girnyk, “Energy-Efficient Design of Broad Beams for Massive MIMO Systems,” in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 71, no. 11, pp. 11772-11785, Nov. 2022, which is hereinafter referred to as “the Petersson Paper”). The technique is based on using orthogonal polarizations to achieve beam broadening without any loss of PA output power or any induced main beam ripple. Essentially all base stations and UEs use antenna elements with different polarizations in order not to suffer from polarization mismatch. The polarization domain adds another degree of freedom when synthesizing a desired beam pattern. Considering only one polarization at a time, it is not possible to achieve beam broadening without power loss or beam ripple. However, when considering the total power pattern over two orthogonal polarizations, this is possible. This is a relevant pattern to consider since a UE can do Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) of receiver antennas with different polarizations in order to capture the total power in both polarizations. [0023] In the ASI beamforming technique, the first step is to start with an array that has the size that corresponds to the desired beam width/shape. This is referred to as the protoarray. The next step is to expand the protoarray with a companion array that is identical to the protoarray but having different beamforming weights, see Figure 4 which illustrates an example of a protoarray, a companion array, and an expanded array. By a judicious choice of beamforming weights, the total power pattern of the expanded array will have the same shape as the total power pattern of the protoarray. In this way, a doubling of the array size without any change in beam width can be achieved. This is possible using phase-only tapering so that all PAs can run with full power. The procedure above can be repeated so that an arbitrarily large array having a beam shape that is identical to the small protoarray can be constructed.

[0024] The procedure for determining the beamforming weights for the companion array is now briefly described for a ULA. The procedure is easily generalized to a UPA, see the Petersson Paper for more details. Let w_{1 A} and w_{1 B} be the beamforming vectors of the protoarray for polarization A and B, respectively, that gives the desired beam shape. Furthermore, let w_{2 A} and w_{2 B} be the beamforming vectors for the companion array that is appended to the protoarray. In order for the beam pattern of the expanded array to have the same shape as the beam pattern of the protoarray, the beamforming vectors for the companion array should be as follows: 2.B = J i,_A (2) where J is the exchange matrix, i.e., a square matrix with ones on the anti-diagonal and zeros elsewhere. It is shown in the Petersson Paper that, if the total power pattern of the protoarray is then the total power pattern of the expanded array is G_e(cp') = 2G_p(<p). Hence, the total power pattern of the expanded array has the same shape as the total power pattern of the protoarray.

[0025] In the following simple example, we show how the ASI beamforming technique can be used to determine phase-only beamforming weights for an 8-element ULA that gives the same normalized total power pattern as that of a single antenna element. The protoarray in this case is a single element. By expanding the protoarray three times, we obtain an expanded array with 2³ = 8 elements. By using equation (1) and (2) above, we obtain the following beamforming vectors for polarization A and B, of the expanded array as w_A = [1 -1 -1 -1 -1 1 -1 -1]^T w_B = [1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 -1 1]^T

[0026] Assuming an element half-power beam width of 90° and the ASI beamforming weights above, Figure 5 shows the power patterns of each individual polarization A and B, the total power pattern summed over the two polarizations and the power pattern of a single antenna element. Power pattern is here defined as the beam pattern multiplied by the total output power from all PAs assuming each PA outputs 1 Watt (W). It can be seen that the total power pattern with ASI beamforming has no ripple despite the patterns of the individual polarizations exhibiting significant ripple. It can also be seen that the total power pattern has identical shape as the beam pattern of a single antenna element but with 101og₁₀(8 ■ 2) = 12 dB higher maximum power. The total power pattern can be interpreted as the beam pattern seen at the output of an MRC receiver that combines the two polarizations. It is equivalent to seeing a single beam whose polarization state varies with angle. It should be noted that it is also possible to create a second beam with the same pattern as the first beam that in each direction has orthogonal polarization relative to the first beam.

Summary

[0027] Systems and methods are disclosed that relate to a codebook for codebook based precoding in a wireless communication system that enables an increased number of ports while keeping a desired beam width. In one embodiment, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) comprises calculating a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1. The method further comprises reporting the derived precoding vector. In this manner, a large antenna array can be fully exploited by using all the power amplifiers when designing a codebook while keeping a desired beam shape/width.

[0028] In one embodiment, calculating the precoding vector with N ports comprises calculating the precoding vector with N ports based on the base precoding vector with N’ ports. [0029] In one embodiment, the base precoding vector with N’ ports is a precoding vector in a single panel codebook.

[0030] In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from a network node, a codebook configuration In one embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N of the calculated precoding vector, the number N’ of the base precoder, and the expansion factor M , and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration information comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly indicates the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector; wherein the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector are prespecified in specifications. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the expansion factor M. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and the expansion factor M. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0031] In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that identifies the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vectors— In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M, or any combination of two or more thereof, and reporting the determined information to the network node.

[0032] In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector in a subset of dimensions of an antenna array of the network node. In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M for at least one other dimension of the antenna array of the network node, or any combination of two or more thereof, and reporting the determined information to the network node.

[0033] In one embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises one or more parameters that are jointly configured with one or more other codebook parameters.

[0034] In one embodiment, the receiving the codebook configuration comprises receiving the codebook configuration via: (a) higher layer signaling, (b) a combination of higher layer signaling and lower layer signaling, or (c) lower layering signaling.

[0035] In one embodiment, the number of ports N’ of the base precoding vector, the number of ports N of the calculated precoding vector, and/or the expansion factor M’ are selected from a respective set of pre-defined values. In one embodiment, a subset of candidate values from the respective sets of pre-defined values are configured to the UE.

[0036] Corresponding embodiments of a UE are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a UE is adapted to calculate a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1. The UE is further adapted to report the derived precoding vector.

[0037] In another embodiment, a UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the UE to calculate a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1 , and report the calculated precoding vector.

[0038] Embodiments of a method performed by a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a network node comprises sending, to a UE, a codebook configuration comprising information related to calculation, by the UE, of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

[0039] Corresponding embodiments of a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a network node is adapted to send, to a UE, a codebook configuration comprising information related to calculation, by the UE, of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

[0040] In another embodiment, a network node comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to send, to a UE, a codebook configuration comprising information related to calculation, by the UE, of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0041] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0042] Figure 1 shows an example of spatial multiplexing in 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR); [0043] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a 4 X 4 (i.e., X N₂, where N₁ = N₂ = 4) array with dual-polarized antenna elements (i.e., N_p = 2);

[0044] Figure 3 shows an example of Channel State Information (CSI) Reference Signal (CSI-RS) Resource Elements (REs) for 12 antenna ports, where 1 RE per Resource Block (RB) per port is shown;

[0045] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a protoarray, a companion array, and an expanded array for an example of Array-Size Invariant (ASI) beamforming;

[0046] Figure 5 illustrates a power patterns of each individual polarization A and B, the total power pattern summed over the two polarizations, and the power pattern of a single antenna element, assuming an element half-power beam width of 90° and certain ASI beamforming weights;

[0047] Figure 6 gives a more concrete example for the case with M = 2 and N = 16 by comparing the beam patterns of a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) in the legacy Type I single panel codebook and the corresponding PMI in the proposed codebook, in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] Figure 7 illustrates the operation of a User Equipment (UE) and a network, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0049] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0050] Figure 9 shows a UE, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0051] Figure 10 shows a network node, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0052] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host, which may be an embodiment of the host of Figure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0053] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0054] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

[0055] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0056] There currently exist certain challenge(s). Beamwidth (e.g., defined by half-power beam width (HPBW)) is inversely proportional to the number of antenna ports, assuming the spacing between adjacent antenna ports is constant. Hence, the beamwidth becomes narrower and narrower when the number of antenna ports increases. In some propagation conditions, the system performance may drop if the beam becomes too narrow since the system becomes much more sensitive to User Equipment (UE) movement and it is more difficult to select a suitable beam. Furthermore, in a multipath channel, a single narrow beam may not be able to capture all energy from a scattering cluster if the beamwidth is smaller than the angular spread of the cluster. This would result in that the increase in antenna gain when increasing the antenna size would not translate to corresponding increase in Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) (see, e.g., 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) contributions Rl-164430 and Rl-164776).

[0057] In legacy New Radio (NR) Type I codebook, when the number of antenna ports is larger than or equal to 16, for rank 3 and rank 4 Channel State Information (CSI) reporting, only half of the array size is used to select a beam in a dimension (i.e., vertical or horizontal dimension) in order to avoid the narrow beamwidth problem. Using half of the antenna elements increases the beamwidth but worsens the coverage. The selected beam direction is also used for the second half of the antenna array in the same dimension.

[0058] When increasing the number of ports even further, e.g., to 64, 96, or 128 ports, the above problem becomes more and more severe, since the beamwidth becomes even narrower (assuming the antenna spacing is constant). If the described NR Type I codebook-based method of using an even smaller part of the antenna array (i.e., 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8 respectively) to maintain the beamwidth is used again for these cases, the loss in coverage will be severe as the power gain compared to using the full antenna array will become even worse.

[0059] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Systems and methods are disclosed for enhancing the NR Type I codebook to more than the existing 32 CSI Reference Signal (CSI-RS) ports by using the whole antenna array while keeping the desired beam width when the number of antenna ports is large and avoiding the coverage loss associated with existing solutions described above. This is achieved by expanding a small codebook to a large codebook using the Array Size Invariant (ASI) beamforming technique as described in the Petersson Paper. [0060] Systems and methods for configuring the proposed codebook are also proposed.

[0061] Note the proposed systems and methods for codebook design and configuration are not to be viewed as only applied to enhancing the NR Type I codebook. The same systems and methods can also be applied for designing a new codebook, e.g., in 6^th Generation (6G).

[0062] Systems and methods are disclosed for deriving a codebook, or in other words, systems and methods are disclosed for calculating the precoding vectors in a codebook, see Section 1 below.

[0063] Systems and methods for configuring the proposed codebook are also disclosed. See Sections 2.1 and 2.2 below.

[0064] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Embodiments disclosed herein may fully exploit the antenna array by using all the power amplifiers when designing a codebook while keeping a desired beam shape/width.

1 Design Principle of the Codebook

[0065] In a preferred embodiment, for a given frequency band and a given layer, each Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) with N ports, i.e., a precoding vector with N ports, in the proposed codebook is derived or expanded based on a PMI with N' ports, where N = MN' with M > 1 being an integer.

[0066] In a dependent embodiment, a PMI with N ports in the proposed codebook is derived by expanding a PMI with IV'ports, where N = MN'with M > 1 being an integer using the ASI beamforming technique as described in the subsection of the Background entitled “Array-Size Invariant Beamforming”.

[0067] In a dependent embodiment, a PMI with N ports in the proposed codebook is derived by expanding a PMI in the NR Type I single panel codebook with N' ports, where N = MN' with M > 1 being an integer.

[0068] Take a 1-D codebook as an example, which can be applied on a Uniform Linear Array (ULA) with N ports (hence N/2 ports per polarization). Then, the precoding vectors in the proposed codebook with N ports (N/2 ports per polarization) can be derived based on precoding vectors from a legacy codebook, wherein each precoding vector contains N' ports, where N = MN' with M > 1 being an integer, so that the beam pattern of the precoding vectors in the proposed codebook with N ports per polarization has the same shape as the beam pattern of the corresponding precoding vector in the legacy codebook with N/M ports, but the resulting power gain of the precoding vectors in the proposed codebook is M times larger than that for the legacy codebook. [0069] Figure 6 gives a more concrete example for the case with M = 2 and N = 16 by comparing the beam patterns of a PMI in the legacy Type I single panel codebook and the corresponding PMI in the proposed codebook. The proposed codebook has N/2 = 8 ports per polarization and is designed based on expanding the legacy Type I codebook with N' = N /M = 8 ports (4 ports per polarization). For the legacy Type I single panel codebook with 4 ports per polarization, the beam patterns for each polarization and for both polarizations combined of an example PMI are illustrated. It can be seen that both polarizations (the lines with “+” and “x” markers) have the same beam pattern, and by combining them there is additional 3dB gain (the line with “o” marker). For the proposed codebook with N/2 = 8 ports per polarization, the beam patterns for the two polarizations (the dotted and dashed lines) are different (note that the beam pattern for one of the polarization (the dotted line) overlaps with the line with triangle marker in this figure). However, by combining the two polarizations in power, the total beam pattern (solid line) is the same as the beam pattern corresponding to the legacy Type I codebook with 4 ports, but the power gain with the proposed codebook is 3dB higher, since all the power amplifiers (PAs) are fully utilized. As comparison, if we directly use the legacy Type I codebook with 8 ports per polarization, the beam pattern (the line with triangle marker) will only have half of the beam width as with 4 ports.

[0070] Note also that the above example just shows one Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)- based 1-D Type I precoder from the Type I codebook, the same principle can be easily applied to more than one dimensions and with oversampling, etc.

[0071] Note that the new codebook can also be obtained/expanded iteratively based on the precoding vectors from the legacy codebook. For example, based on a precoding vector in the legacy codebook with N' ports, a precoding vector with N'M' ports is derived for the proposed codebook. Then, based on the obtained precoding vector with N'M' ports, a precoding vector with N'M'M" ports for the proposed codebook can be derived.

2 Configuration of the Codebook

[0072] Based on the above discussion, each PMI in the proposed codebook, for a given frequency band and given layer, can be determined by the following factors:

- A base o where w_{base A} and w_{base B} are the precoding vectors for polarization A and B, respectively. o Note that the UE may use the same basis vector for both polarizations, then Wbase, A and _base g can be obtained by applying different co-phasing factors and/or amplitude-scaling for the two polarizations.

The number of ports of a base PMI, N , where each polarization contains — ports

O o Note that N' may alternatively be determined via the number of ports in different dimensions, e.g., N₁ and N₂ in legacy Type I/II codebook so N' = 2 /V_t /V₂. Hence, in the present disclosure, configuring N' also refers to configuring N_lt N₂, etc.

An expansion factor M o So, the final PMI, w_final, in the proposed codebook contains N = N'M ports, N/2 per polarization. o Note that M may alternatively be determined via the expansion factor in different dimensions, e.g., and M₂ in the vertical and horizontal dimension respectively, then M = M₁M₂. Hence, in the present disclosure, configuring M also refers to configuring , etc.

[0073] Hence, to be able to calculate a PMI according to the new proposed codebook, the UE needs to know the following information:

• the number of ports of the base PMI w_base, i.e., IV';

• the candidate precoding vectors (e.g., entries in a codebook) for the base PMI;

• the total number of ports for the final PMI in the proposed codebook, i.e., IV;

2.1 Alternative 1: The Number of Ports for the Base PMI Determined/Configured by the gNB

[0074] The above information can be completely configured to the UE by a network node (e.g., gNB) via codebook configuration for the proposed codebook, and the UE reports according to the configuration.

[0075] In one embodiment, the codebook configuration for the proposed codebook includes: the number of ports of the base PMI, the codebook for calculating the base PMI, and the expansion factor. For example, to configure the UE to report PMI according to the proposed codebook with N = MN' ports, N/2 ports for each of the orthogonal polarizations, the gNB could configure N/2 ports per polarization for the base PMI, and the base PMI is configured to be selected from the 3GPP NR Type I codebook with N/2 port per polarization, and an expansion factor M is also configured to the UE. [0076] In another embodiment, the codebook configuration for the proposed codebook includes: the number of ports of the base PMI, the codebook for calculating the base PMI, and the total number of ports for the final PMI. In this case, the UE can identify the expansion factor by dividing the total number of ports of the final PMI by the number of ports of the base PMI. [0077] In another embodiment, the codebook configuration for the proposed codebook includes: the codebook for calculating the base PMI, the total number of ports for the final PMI, and the expansion factor. In this case, the UE can identify the number of ports for the base PMI by dividing the total number of ports of the final PMI by the expansion factor.

[0078] In yet another embodiment, the codebook configuration for the proposed codebook includes: the number of ports of the base PMI, the codebook for calculating the base PMI, the total number of ports for the final PMI, and the expansion factor.

2.1.1 Implementation Embodiments on gNB Determining the Number of Ports for the Base PMI/the Expansion Factor

[0079] The number of ports for the base PMI, or equivalently the expansion factor, can be determined by the network node (e.g., gNB in these examples) with proprietary implementation. A few examples are listed below.

[0080] In one embodiment, the gNB first determines the angular spread seen from the gNB. Then, the expansion factor is determined based on the obtained angular spread. For example, if the angular spread is large, the expansion factor can also be large to capture more channel energy/information.

[0081] In one embodiment, the gNB first determines the UE speed (or channel variability). Then, the expansion factor is determined based on the obtained UE speed. For example, if the UE moves fast (or channel varies fast), a wider beam is needed to be more robust against mobility, then a large expansion factor can be used.

[0082] In one embodiment, for Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) transmission, a small expansion factor can be used to allow better separation between coscheduled UEs.

[0083] In one embodiment, if a UE is experiencing high path loss and/or the angular spread is not large, a small expansion factor can be used to get higher beamforming gain.

[0084] In some embodiments, the angular spread and UE speed (or channel variability) can be estimated based on uplink (UL) measurements through UL reference signals.

[0085] In some embodiments, UE speed (or channel variability), can be obtained/inferred from a CSI report, e.g., Time Domain Channel Property (TDCP) report. 2.2 Alternative 2: The Number of Ports for the Base PMI (Partially) Determined/Reported by the UE

[0086] In this case, the best number of ports for the base precoder can be determined, or partially determined, by the UE and reported to the network node (e.g., gNB for the following example embodiments) as part of the CSI report.

[0087] In one embodiment, the codebook configuration for the proposed codebook includes: the codebook for calculating the base PMI, and the total number of ports for the final PMI. Then, the UE determines the best number of ports for the base PMI, the best base PMI, and the best expansion factor. The UE reports this information, or a subset of this information, to the gNB via CSI report. For example, the gNB may configure N ports (/V/2 ports per polarization) for the final PMI to the UE, then it is up to the UE to determine the values of N' (or N_lt N₂ etc) and M (or M₂ etc), and the best base PMI associated with the best N and M. Then the UE may report the value of N' (or N_lt N₂ etc) and the corresponding best base PMI to the gNB. The gNB can determine the corresponding M value via N/N'.

[0088] In another embodiment, the codebook configuration for the proposed codebook includes: the codebook for calculating the base PMI, and the number of ports for the final PMI in a subset of dimensions. For example, in a 2D port layout, the gNB may configure N ports for the final PMI to the UE. In addition, the gNB may also configure the expansion factor for the first dimension, to the UE. Then it is up to the UE to determine the value of M₂. The UE may then report the value of M₂ and the best base PMI to the gNB.

2.3 More Embodiments for both Alternative 1 and Alternative 2

[0089] In a dependent embodiment, for both alternatives, the configured parameters can be jointly configured with other codebook parameters. For example, the dimension/number of ports for the base precoder can be jointly configured with codebook subset restriction, where certain entries of the codebook are not allowed to be selected by the UE.

[0090] In some embodiments, the number of ports of the base precoder, and/or the number of ports of the final precoder, and/or the expansion factor can only be selected from a pre-defined set of values. In this case, the selected number of ports for the base precoder, the selected number of ports for the final precoder, and the expansion factor, if reported, are reported by an index.

[0091] In a dependent embodiment, the gNB configures a subset of candidate values from the said pre-defined set of values for the number of ports of the base precoder, and/or the number of ports of the final precoder, and/or the expansion factor, to the UE.

[0092] In a dependent embodiment, the above codebook configuration is configured via higher layer signaling, e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. [0093] In some embodiments, the candidate values of the needed codebook parameter(s) for the proposed codebook can be configured in RRC/Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), and Downlink Control Information (DO) is used to indicate to the UE which parameter to use for calculating a CSI report. In some cases, if a DO indication is missing, the UE uses a default value for the above needed codebook parameter(s).

3 Further Description

[0094] Figure 7 illustrates the operation of a UE 700 and a network node702 in accordance with at least some of the embodiments described above. Note that optional steps are represented by dashed lines/boxes. Further, not all of the details of the embodiments above are repeated here; nevertheless, it is to be understood that all of the details above are equally applicable to the respective steps of Figure 7.

[0095] As illustrated, the network node 702 optionally (i.e., in some embodiments) determines a number N’ of ports for a base PMI and/or an expansion factor M, as described above (step 704).

[0096] The network node 702 optionally (i.e., in some embodiments) sends a codebook configuration to the UE 700, where the codebook configuration includes information related to derivation, by the UE 700, of an expanded PMI(s) (e.g., an expanded precoding vector(s)) with N ports based on the base PMI(s) (e.g., a base precoding vector(s)) with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is the expansion factor that is an integer value greater than 1 (step 706). As discussed above, in one embodiment, information is related to derivation, by the UE 700, of the expanded PMI(s) using an ASI technique, as described above.

[0097] In one embodiment, the codebook configuration includes information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N of the derived precoding vector, the number N’ of the based precoder, and the expansion factor M , and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the based precoding vector.

[0098] As discussed above, in Alternative 1, the codebook configuration includes, in one embodiment, information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration includes information that explicitly indicates the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector; wherein the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector are prespecified in specifications. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the expansion factor M. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and the expansion factor M. In another embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0099] As discussed above, in Alternative 2, the codebook configuration information includes, in one embodiment, information that identifies the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the based precoding vectors. In one embodiment, the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector. In either of these two cases, in one embodiment, the UE 700 determines the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’, or any combination of two or more thereof (step 708) and reports the determined information to the network node 702 (step 710). In another embodiment, the codebook configuration includes information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector in a subset of dimensions of an antenna array of the UE 700. In this case, the UE 700 determines the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’ for at least one other dimension of the antenna array of the UE 700, or any combination of two or more thereof (step 708) and reports the determined information to the network node 702 (step 710).

[0100] In one embodiment, the codebook configuration includes one or more parameters that are jointly configured with one or more other codebook parameters.

[0101] In one embodiment, the network node 702 sends, and the UE 700 receives, the codebook configuration via: (a) higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), (b) a combination of higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO), or (c) lower layering signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO). [0102] The UE 700 derives the expanded PMI(s) based on the codebook configuration information using, e.g., the ASI technique (step 712). The UE 700 reports the expanded PMI(s) (step 714).

[0103] In one embodiment, the base PMI(s) with N’ ports is a PMI in a single panel codebook (e.g., a NR Type I single panel codebook).

[0104] In one embodiment, the number of ports N’ of the base PMI, the number of ports N of the derived PMI, and/or the expansion factor M’ are selected from a respective set of pre-defined values. In one embodiment, a subset of candidate values from the respective sets of pre-defined values are configured to the UE 700 (e.g., by the network node 702).

[0105] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 800 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0106] In the example, the communication system 800 includes a telecommunication network 802 that includes an access network 804, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 806, which includes one or more core network nodes 808. The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 810A and 810B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 810), or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP Access Points (APs). Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 802 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 802 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 802, including one or more network nodes 810 and/or core network nodes 808.

[0107] Examples of an ORAN network node include an Open Radio Unit (O-RU), an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), including an O-CU Control Plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU User Plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non- real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 812A, 812B, 812C, and 812D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 812) to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections.

[0108] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 800 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 800 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

[0109] The UEs 812 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 810 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 810 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 812 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 802 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 802.

[0110] In the depicted example, the core network 806 connects the network nodes 810 to one or more hosts, such as host 816. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 806 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 808. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-Concealing Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0111] The host 816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 804 and/or the telecommunication network 802, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 816 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0112] As a whole, the communication system 800 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 800 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Fong Term Evolution (ETE), and/or other suitable Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)); Wireless Focal Area Network (WEAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0113] In some examples, the telecommunication network 802 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 802 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 802. For example, the telecommunication network 802 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/massive Internet of Things (loT) services to yet further UEs. [0114] In some examples, the UEs 812 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 804 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 804. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e. being configured for Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0115] In the example, a hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812C and/or 812D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 810B). In some examples, the hub 814 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 814 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 806 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 814 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 810, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 814. As another example, the hub 814 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 814 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 814 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0116] The hub 814 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 810B. The hub 814 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub 814 and UEs (e.g., UE 812C and/or 812D), and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 814 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 804 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 810 while still connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node 81 OB. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and the network node 81 OB, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

[0117] Figure 9 shows a UE 900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), smart device, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0118] A UE may support Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Vehicle-to- Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), or Vehicle- to-Everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller).

Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0119] The UE 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input/output interface 906, a power source 908, memory 910, a communication interface 912, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc. [0120] The processing circuitry 902 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 910. The processing circuitry 902 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 902 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0121] In the example, the input/output interface 906 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 900. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device. [0122] In some embodiments, the power source 908 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 908 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 908 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 900 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 908.

Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 908 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 900 to which power is supplied.

[0123] The memory 910 may be or be configured to include memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 910 includes one or more application programs 914, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 916. The memory 910 may store, for use by the UE 900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0124] The memory 910 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, High Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, Holographic Digital Data Storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM), Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a tamper resistant module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) including one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and/or Internet Protocol Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as a ‘SIM card.’ The memory 910 may allow the UE 900 to access instructions, application programs, and the like stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 910, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0125] The processing circuitry 902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 912. The communication interface 912 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 922. The communication interface 912 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 918 and/or a receiver 920 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 918 and receiver 920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 922) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0126] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 912 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, NFC, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0127] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 912, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0128] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0129] A UE, when in the form of an loT device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or VR, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or itemtracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 900 shown in Figure 9.

[0130] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0131] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0132] Figure 10 shows a network node 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O- CU).

[0133] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node), and/or Remote Radio Units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such RRUs may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS).

[0134] Other examples of network nodes include multiple Transmission Point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or BS Controllers (BSCs), Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, Multi-Cell/Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0135] The network node 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002, memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power source 1008. The network node 1000 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1000 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1004 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1000 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1000, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z- wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within the network node 1000.

[0136] The processing circuitry 1002 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1000 components, such as the memory 1004, to provide network node 1000 functionality.

[0137] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0138] The memory 1004 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD), or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable, and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1002. The memory 1004 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1002 and utilized by the network node 1000. The memory 1004 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1002 and/or any data received via the communication interface 1006. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 and the memory 1004 are integrated.

[0139] The communication interface 1006 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1006 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1016 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1006 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1018 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1010. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 comprises filters 1020 and amplifiers 1022. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be connected to the antenna 1010 and the processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 1010 and the processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 1020 and/or the amplifiers 1022. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1010. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1010 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1018. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1002. In other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

[0140] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1000 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1018; instead, the processing circuitry 1002 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 is part of the communication interface 1006. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 includes the one or more ports or terminals 1016, the radio front-end circuitry 1018, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1006 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1014, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0141] The antenna 1010 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1010 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1018 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1010 is separate from the network node 1000 and connectable to the network node 1000 through an interface or port.

[0142] The antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and/or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1000. Any information, data, and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and/or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1000. Any information, data, and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and/or any other network equipment.

[0143] The power source 1008 provides power to the various components of the network node 1000 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1008 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1000 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid or an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1008. As a further example, the power source 1008 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. [0144] Embodiments of the network node 1000 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1000 and to allow output of information from the network node 1000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1000.

[0145] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host 1100, which may be an embodiment of the host 816 of Figure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1100 may be or comprise various combinations of hardware and/or software including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1100 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0146] The host 1100 includes processing circuitry 1102 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1104 to an input/output interface 1106, a network interface 1108, a power source 1110, and memory 1112. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 9 and 10, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 1100.

[0147] The memory 1112 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1114 and data 1116, which may include user data, e.g. data generated by a UE for the host 1100 or data generated by the host 1100 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1100 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1114 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, and heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1114 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1100 may select and/or indicate a different host for Over-The-Top (OTT) services for a UE. The host application programs 1114 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0148] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1200 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more Virtual Machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1200 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1200 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0149] Applications 1202 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1200 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0150] Hardware 1204 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1206 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1208A and 1208B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1208), and/or perform any of the functions, features, and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1206 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1208.

[0151] The VMs 1208 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1206. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1202 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 1208, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as Network Function Virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0152] In the context of NFV, a VM 1208 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non- virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1208, and that part of the hardware 1204 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs 1208, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1208 on top of the hardware 1204 and corresponds to the application 1202.

[0153] The hardware 1204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 1204 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 1204 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1210, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 1202. In some embodiments, the hardware 1204 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a RAN or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1212 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0154] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host 1302 communicating via a network node 1304 with a UE 1306 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as the UE 812A of Figure 8 and/or the UE 900 of Figure 9), the network node (such as the network node 810A of Figure 8 and/or the network node 1000 of Figure 10), and the host (such as the host 816 of Figure 8 and/or the host 1100 of Figure 11) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 13.

[0155] Like the host 1100, embodiments of the host 1302 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1302 also includes software, which is stored in or is accessible by the host 1302 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1306 connecting via an OTT connection 1350 extending between the UE 1306 and the host 1302. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1350.

[0156] The network node 1304 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1302 and the UE 1306. The connection 1360 may be direct or pass through a core network (like the core network 806 of Figure 8) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0157] The UE 1306 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1306 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 1306 with the support of the host 1302. In the host 1302, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1350 terminating at the UE 1306 and the host 1302. In providing the service to the user, the UE’s client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE’s client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1350.

[0158] The OTT connection 1350 may extend via the connection 1360 between the host 1302 and the network node 1304 and via a wireless connection 1370 between the network node 1304 and the UE 1306 to provide the connection between the host 1302 and the UE 1306. The connection 1360 and the wireless connection 1370, over which the OTT connection 1350 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 via the network node 1304, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0159] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1350, in step 1308, the host 1302 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1306. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1306 that shares data with the host 1302 without explicit human interaction. In step 1310, the host 1302 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1306. The host 1302 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1306. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1306 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1306. The transmission may pass via the network node 1304 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1312, the network node 1304 transmits to the UE 1306 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1302 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1314, the UE 1306 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1306 associated with the host application executed by the host 1302.

[0160] In some examples, the UE 1306 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1302. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1302. Accordingly, in step 1316, the UE 1306 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE 1306. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1306 initiates, in step 1318, transmission of the user data towards the host 1302 via the network node 1304. In step 1320, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1304 receives user data from the UE 1306 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1302. In step 1322, the host 1302 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1306.

[0161] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1306 using the OTT connection 1350, in which the wireless connection 1370 forms the last segment.

[0162] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1302. As another example, the host 1302 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1302 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1302 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1302 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR which it can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1302 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and/or transmitting data.

[0163] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1302 and/or the UE 1306. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1304. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like by the host 1302. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1350 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0164] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0165] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and/or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0166] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure are as follows:

Group A Embodiments

[0167] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (700), the method comprising any one or more of the following: deriving (712) a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1; and reporting (714) the derived precoding vector.

[0168] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1 wherein deriving (712) the precoding vector with N ports comprises deriving (712) the precoding vector with N ports based on the base precoding vector with N’ ports using an Array Size Invariant, ASI, beamforming technique.

[0169] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 1 or 2 wherein the base precoding vector with N’ ports is a precoding vector in a single panel codebook (e.g., a NR Type I single panel codebook).

[0470} Embodiment 4: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 3 further comprising receiving (706), from a network node (702), a codebook configuration.

[0171] Embodiment 5: The method of embodiment 4, wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N of the derived precoding vector, the number N’ of the based precoder, and the expansion factor M , and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the based precoding vector. [0172] Embodiment 6: The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration information comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector.

[0173] Embodiment 7 : The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly indicates the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector; wherein the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector are prespecified in specifications.

[0174] Embodiment 8: The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0175] Embodiment 9: The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector.

[0176] Embodiment 10: The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0177] Embodiment 11 : The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0178] Embodiment 12: The method of embodiment 4, wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that identifies the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the based precoding vectors.

[0179] Embodiment 13: The method of embodiment 12 further comprising: determining (708) the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’, or any combination of two or more thereof; and reporting (710) the determined information to the network node (702).

[0180] Embodiment 14: The method of embodiment 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector in a subset of dimensions of an antenna array of the UE (700).

[0181] Embodiment 15: The method of embodiment 14 further comprising: determining (708) the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’ for at least one other dimension of the antenna array of the UE (700), or any combination of two or more thereof; and reporting (710) the determined information to the network node (702).

[0182] Embodiment 16: The method of any of embodiments 4 to 15 wherein the codebook configuration comprises one or more parameters that are jointly configured with one or more other codebook parameters.

[0183] Embodiment 17: The method of any of embodiments 4 to 16 wherein the receiving the codebook configuration comprises receiving the codebook configuration via: (a) higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), (b) a combination of higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO), or (c) lower layering signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO).

[0184] Embodiment 18: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 17 wherein the number of ports N’ of the base precoding vector, the number of ports N of the derived precoding vector, and/or the expansion factor M’ are selected from a respective set of pre-defined values.

[0185] Embodiment 19: The method of embodiment 18 wherein a subset of candidate values from the respective sets of pre-defined values are configured to the UE (700).

[0186] Embodiment 20: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

Group B Embodiments

[0187] Embodiment 21: A method performed by a network node (702), the method comprising sending (706), to a User Equipment, UE, (700), a codebook configuration comprising information related to derivation, by the UE (700), of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

[0188] Embodiment 22: The method of embodiment 21 wherein the information comprised in the codebook configuration is related to derivation, by the UE (700), of the precoding vector with N ports based on the base precoding vector with N’ ports using an Array Size Invariant, ASI, beamforming technique. [0189] Embodiment 23: The method of embodiment 21 or 22 wherein the base precoding vector with N’ ports is a precoding vector in a single panel codebook (e.g., a NR Type I single panel codebook).

[0190] Embodiment 24: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N of the derived precoding vector, the number N’ of the based precoder, and the expansion factor M , and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the based precoding vector.

[0191] Embodiment 25: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector.

[0192] Embodiment 26: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly indicates the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector; wherein the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector are prespecified in specifications.

[0193] Embodiment 27: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0194] Embodiment 28: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector.

[0195] Embodiment 29: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0196] Embodiment 30: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

[0197] Embodiment 31: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that identifies the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector, and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the based precoding vectors. [0198] Embodiment 32: The method of embodiment 31 further comprising: receiving (710), from the UE (700), a report of the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’, or any combination of two or more thereof.

[0199] Embodiment 33: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the derived precoding vector in a subset of dimensions of an antenna array of the UE (700).

[0200] Embodiment 34: The method of embodiment 31 further comprising: receiving (710), from the UE (700), a report of the number of ports N’ for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’ for at least one other dimension of the antenna array of the UE (700), or any combination of two or more thereof.

[0201] Embodiment 35: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 32 wherein the codebook configuration comprises one or more parameters that are jointly configured with one or more other codebook parameters.

[0202] Embodiment 36: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 33wherein the sending the codebook configuration comprises sending the codebook configuration information via: (a) higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), (b) a combination of higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO), or (c) lower layering signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO).

[0203] Embodiment 37: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 34 wherein the number of ports N’ of the base precoding vector, the number of ports N of the derived precoding vector, and/or the expansion factor M’ are selected from a respective set of pre-defined values.

[0204] Embodiment 38: The method of embodiment 35 wherein a subset of candidate values from the respective sets of pre-defined values are configured to the UE (700).

[0205] Embodiment 39: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.

Group C Embodiments

[0206] Embodiment 40: A user equipment comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0207] Embodiment 41: A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry. [0208] Embodiment 42: A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0209] Embodiment 43: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0210] Embodiment 44: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

[0211] Embodiment 45: A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0212] Embodiment 46: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

[0213] Embodiment 47: The method of any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0214] Embodiment 48: A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the communication system comprising a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0215] Embodiment 49: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and/or the UE.

[0216] Embodiment 50: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0217] Embodiment 51: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that receives the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0218] Embodiment 52: The host of the any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

[0219] Embodiment 53: A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

[0220] Embodiment 54: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.

[0221] Embodiment 55: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0222] Embodiment 56: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host.

[0223] Embodiment 57: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0224] Embodiment 58: A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0225] Embodiment 59: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the host application.

[0226] Embodiment 60: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0227] Embodiment 61: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0228] Embodiment 62: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host.

[0229] Embodiment 63: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0230] Embodiment 64: A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0231] Embodiment 65: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0232] Embodiment 66: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0233] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (700), the method comprising: calculating (712) a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1 ; and reporting (714) the derived precoding vector.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating (712) the precoding vector with N ports comprises calculating (712) the precoding vector with N ports based on the base precoding vector with N’ ports.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the base precoding vector with N’ ports is a precoding vector in a single panel codebook.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3 further comprising receiving (706), from a network node (702), a codebook configuration

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N of the calculated precoding vector, the number N’ of the base precoder, and the expansion factor M , and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vcctoi'r

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration information comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly indicates the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector; wherein the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector are prespecified in specifications.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector.

10. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

11. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that identifies the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vectors^

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising: determining (708) the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M, or any combination of two or more thereof; and reporting (710) the determined information to the network node (702).

14. The method of claim 4 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector in a subset of dimensions of an antenna array of the network node (700).

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: determining (708) the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M for at least one other dimension of the antenna array of the network node (700), or any combination of two or more thereof; and reporting (710) the determined information to the network node (702).

16. The method of any of claims 4 to 15 wherein the codebook configuration comprises one or more parameters that are jointly configured with one or more other codebook parameters.

17. The method of any of claims 4 to 16 wherein the receiving the codebook configuration comprises receiving the codebook configuration via: (a) higher layer signaling, (b) a combination of higher layer signaling and lower layer signaling, or (c) lower layering signaling.

18. The method of any of claims 1 to 17 wherein the number of ports N’ of the base precoding vector, the number of ports N of the calculated precoding vector, and/or the expansion factor M’ are selected from a respective set of pre-defined values.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein a subset of candidate values from the respective sets of pre-defined values are configured to the UE (700).

20. A User Equipment, UE, (700) adapted to: calculate (712) a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1; and report (714) the calculated precoding vector.

21. The UE of claim 20, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 19.

22. A User Equipment, UE, (700; 900) comprising: a communication interface (912); and processing circuitry (902) associated with the communication interface (912), the processing circuitry (902) configured to cause the UE (700; 900) to: calculate (712) a precoding vector with N ports for a codebook based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1 ; and report (714) the calculated precoding vector.

23. The UE of claim 22, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the UE to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 19.

24. A method performed by a network node (702), the method comprising: sending (706), to a User Equipment, UE, (700), a codebook configuration comprising information related to calculation, by the UE (700), of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the information comprised in the codebook configuration is related to calculation, by the UE (700), of the precoding vector with N ports based on the base precoding vector with N’ ports using an Array Size Invariant, ASI, beamforming technique.

26. The method of claim 24 or 25 wherein the base precoding vector with N’ ports is a precoding vector in a single panel codebook (e.g., a NR Type I single panel codebook).

27. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N of the calculated precoding vector, the number N’ of the base precoder, and the expansion factor M , and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector?

28. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly or implicitly indicates the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector.

29. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that explicitly indicates the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector; wherein the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vector are prespecified in specifications.

30. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

31. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector.

32. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

33. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) the number N’ of ports of the base precoding vector, a codebook for determining the base precoding vector, the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and the expansion factor M.

34. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that identifies the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector, and a set of candidate precoding vectors for the base precoding vectors.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising: receiving (710), from the UE (700), a report of the number N’ of ports for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’, or any combination of two or more thereof.

36. The method of any of claims 24 to 26 wherein the codebook configuration comprises information that indicates (e.g., explicitly) a codebook for determining the base precoding vector and the number N of ports for the calculated precoding vector in a subset of dimensions of an antenna array of the UE (700).

37. The method of claim 34 further comprising: receiving (710), from the UE (700), a report of the number of ports N’ for the base precoding vector, the base precoding vector, the expansion factor M’ for at least one other dimension of the antenna array of the UE (700), or any combination of two or more thereof.

38. The method of any of claims 24 to 35 wherein the codebook configuration comprises one or more parameters that are jointly configured with one or more other codebook parameters.

39. The method of any of claims 24 to 36 wherein the sending the codebook configuration comprises sending the codebook configuration information via: (a) higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), (b) a combination of higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO), or (c) lower layering signaling (e.g., MAC CE and/or DO).

40. The method of any of claims 24 to 37 wherein the number of ports N’ of the base precoding vector, the number of ports N of the calculated precoding vector, and/or the expansion factor M’ are selected from a respective set of pre-defined values.

41. The method of claims 38 wherein a subset of candidate values from the respective sets of pre-defined values are configured to the UE (700).

42. A network node (702) adapted to: send (706), to a User Equipment, UE, (700), a codebook configuration comprising information related to calculation, by the UE (700), of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

43. The network node of claim 42, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 25 to 41.

44. A network node (702; 1000) comprising: a communication interface (1006); processing circuitry (1002) associated with the communication interface (1006), the processing circuitry (1006) configured to cause the network node (702; 1000) to send (706), to a User Equipment, UE, (700), a codebook configuration comprising information related to calculation, by the UE (700), of a precoding vector with N ports based on a base precoding vector with N’ ports, where N=MN’ and M is an expansion factor that is an integer greater than 1.

45. The network node of claim 44, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the network node to perform the method of any of claims 25 to 41.