WO2018145225A1

WO2018145225A1 - Semi-persistent transmission

Info

Publication number: WO2018145225A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/000150
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Ling; Chenxi Zhu
Original assignee: Motorola Mobility Llc
Priority date: 2017-02-13
Filing date: 2017-02-13
Publication date: 2018-08-16

Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for semi-persistent transmission. One apparatus (200) includes a receiver (212) that receives (802) configuration information, receives (804) information indicating a group identifier, and receives (806) a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. The apparatus (200) also includes a transmitter (210). In response to receiving the shared activation signal: the receiver (212) receives (808) a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information, the transmitter (210) transmits a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information, or some combination thereof.

Description

SEMI-PERSISTENT TRANSMISSION

FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly relates to semi-persistent transmission.

BACKGROUND

The following abbreviations are herewith defined， at least some of which are referred to within the following description： Third Generation Partnership Project ( “3GPP” ) ， Positive-Acknowledgment ( “ACK” ) ， Binary Phase Shift Keying ( “BPSK” ) ， Clear Channel Assessment ( “CCA” ) ， Cyclic Prefix ( “CP” ) ， Channel State Information ( “CSI” ) ， Common Search Space ( “CSS” ) ， Discrete Fourier Transform Spread ( “DFTS” ) ， Downlink Control Information ( “DCI” ) ， Downlink ( “DL” ) ， Downlink Pilot Time Slot ( “DwPTS” ) ， Enhanced Clear Channel Assessment ( “eCCA” ) ， Enhanced Mobile Broadband ( “eMBB” ) ， Evolved Node B ( “eNB” ) ， European Telecommunications Standards Institute ( “ETSI” ) ， Frame Based Equipment ( “FBE” ) ， Frequency Division Duplex ( “FDD” ) ， Frequency Division Multiple Access ( “FDMA” ) ， Guard Period ( “GP” ) ， Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request ( “HARQ” ) ， Internet-of-Things ( “IoT” ) ， Licensed Assisted Access ( “LAA” ) ， Load Based Equipment ( “LBE” ) ， Listen-Before-Talk ( “LBT” ) ， Long Term Evolution ( “LTE” ) ， Multiple Access ( “MA” ) ， Modulation Coding Scheme ( “MCS” ) ， Machine Type Communication ( “MTC” ) ， Multiple Input Multiple Output ( “MIMO” ) ， Multi User Shared Access ( “MUSA” ) ， Narrowband ( “NB” ) ， Negative-Acknowledgment ( “NACK” ) or ( “NAK” ) ， Next Generation Node B ( “gNB” ) ， Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access ( “NOMA” ) ， Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ( “OFDM” ) ， Primary Cell ( “PCell” ) ， Physical Broadcast Channel ( “PBCH” ) ， Physical Downlink Control Channel ( “PDCCH” ) ， Physical Downlink Shared Channel ( “PDSCH” ) ， Pattern Division Multiple Access ( “PDMA” ) ， Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel ( “PHICH” ) ， Physical Random Access Channel ( “PRACH” ) ， Physical Resource Block ( “PRB” ) ， Physical Uplink Control Channel ( “PUCCH” ) ， Physical Uplink Shared Channel ( “PUSCH” ) ， Quality of Service ( “QoS” ) ， Quadrature Phase Shift Keying ( “QPSK” ) ， Radio Resource Control ( “RRC” ) ， Random Access Procedure ( “RACH” ) ， Random Access Response ( “RAR” ) ， Reference Signal ( “RS” ) ， Resource Spread Multiple Access ( “RSMA” ) ， Round Trip Time ( “RTT” ) ， Receive ( “RX” ) ， Sparse Code Multiple Access ( “SCMA” ) . Scheduling Request ( “SR” ) ， Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access ( “SC-FDMA” ) ， Secondary Cell ( “SCell” ) ， Shared Channel ( “SCH” ) ， Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio ( “SINR” ) ， System Information Block ( “SIB” ) ， Transport Block ( “TB” ) ， Transport Block Size ( “TBS” ) ， Time-Division Duplex ( “TDD” ) ， Time Division Multiplex ( “TDM” ) ， Transmission Time Interval ( “TTI” ) ， Transmit ( “TX” ) ， Uplink Control Information ( “UCI” ) ， User Entity/Equipment (Mobile Terminal) ( “UE” ) ， Uplink ( “UL” ) ， Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ( “UMTS” ) ， Uplink Pilot Time Slot ( “UpPTS” ) ， Ultra-reliability and Low-latency Communications ( “URLLC” ) ， and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access ( “WiMAX” ) . As used herein， “HARQ-ACK” may represent collectively the Positive Acknowledge ( “ACK” ) and the Negative Acknowledge ( “NAK” ) . ACK means that a TB is correctly received while NAK means a TB is erroneously received.

In certain wireless communications networks， a high carrier frequency (e.g.，＞6GHz) may be used， such as millimeter wave. Propagation characteristics at higher frequencies (e.g.， 6GHz， 30GHz， 70GHz， etc. ) may be significantly different from those at lower frequencies (e.g.， 1.8GHz， 2.6GHz， etc. ) . For example， at higher frequencies path loss may be much higher than at lower frequencies. In various configurations， beamforming may be used at high frequencies to compensate for a large path loss.

In certain configurations， a beamforming technique based on multiple antennas may be used. In some configurations， due to an antenna size decreasing with an increasing carrier frequency， a number of antennas at a high carrier frequency may be much larger than a number of antennas at a low carrier frequency. The large number of antennas may facilitate a large beamforming gain to compensate for a large path loss.

In various configurations， three methods may be used to perform beamforming. For example， there may be digital beamforming， analog beamforming， and hybrid beamforming. In some configurations， for hybrid beamforming a transmitter beam and a receiver beam may be aligned to have beamforming gain.

Multiple digital beamforms may be transmitted or received in a same time in an FDM or a CDM manner. Unlike digital beamforming， different analog beamforming or the analog part of different hybrid beamforming may not be transmitted or received in the same time because of limitation of hardware implementation. Therefore， analog beamforming may only be used in a TDM manner.

In some configurations， an analog beamforming part in RF of hybrid beamforming may only implement one beam at the same time. In contrast， a digital beamforming part in baseband of hybrid beamforming may implement multiple beams at the same time. In certain configurations， a proper analog beamforming may be determined before transmission or reception.

In various configurations， a corresponding TX beam and RX beam may be determined or known before a transmission between a gNB and a UE. If a good linkage is maintained between a gNB and a UE， at least a pair of TX beam and RX beam may be maintained at the base station side and the UE side.

In certain configurations， a UE may determine its best RX beam by doing RX beam sweeping in the reception of downlink transmission and a gNB may determine its best TX beam by doing TX beam sweeping in the transmission of downlink transmission. In some configurations， a gNB may use a corresponding best TX beam to serve a UE， and the UE may use a corresponding best RX beam to receive a downlink signal. In various configurations， a gNB may only schedule UEs with a same best TX beam in the gNB at a time which may limit the scheduling of the gNB when only the best pair of TX beam and RX beam information is maintained in the gNB and UEs. In some configurations， beam grouping may mean that for a gNB or UE multiple Tx and/or Rx beam (s) and/or beam pair (s) may be grouped into one subset of beams.

In some configurations， periodic transmissions may be used for transmitting information such as by using channel state information reference signal ( “CSI-RS” ) transmissions， channel state information ( “CSI” ) reporting， and sounding reference signal ( “SRS” ) transmissions. Various configurations may use semi-persistent transmissions. Semi-persistent transmissions may include multiple transmissions with a preconfignred period. Semi-persistent transmissions may reduce occupied resources as compared to periodic transmissions. Unlike periodic transmissions which are RRC configured， semi-persistent transmissions may be activated by a downlink control channel carrying a DCI. If a number of semi-persistent transmissions is included in the DCI， then transmission will stop after the configured number of the transmissions are transmitted. If there is no indication of a number of semi-persistent transmissions， then a DCI carrying deactivation information may be transmitted to stop the semi-persistent transmission. Accordingly， if a semi-persistent configured transmission is activated or deactivated by a UE-specific DCI， overhead may be large， especially if a number of serving UEs in a system is large.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Apparatuses for semi-persistent transmission are disclosed. Methods and systems also perform the functions of the apparatus. In one embodiment， the apparatus includes a receiver that receives configuration information， receives information indicating a group identifier， and receives a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In various embodiments， the apparatus includes a transmitter. In certain embodiments， in response to receiving the shared activation signal： the receiver receives a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， the transmitter transmits a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.

In one embodiment， the configuration information indicates a period， an offset time， a time-frequency resource， or some combination thereof. In a further embodiment， the period for multiple remote units that share the group identifier is the same. In certain embodiments， resources for multiple remote units that share the group identifier are orthogonal， and the resources include a time-frequency resource， a preamble， a sequence， or some combination thereof. In various embodiments， the configuration information indicates preamble index information， sequence index information， or some combination thereof.

In some embodiments， the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by multiple remote units. In one embodiment， the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units. In certain embodiments， the multiple remote units share the group identifier. In various embodiments， in response to the transmitter transmitting the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the multiple remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the multiple remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the multiple remote units is the same. In some embodiments， the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units.

In one embodiment， the receiver receives a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier. In certain embodiments， in response to receiving the shared deactivation signal， stopping reception of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof. In various embodiments， the beam grouping information includes information identifying a group oftransmit and receive beam pairs.

A method for semi-persistent transmission， in one embodiment， includes receiving configuration information. In various embodiments， the method includes receiving information indicating a group identifier. In certain embodiments， the method includes receiving a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In some embodiments， in response to receiving the shared activation signal： the method includes receiving a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， transmitting a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.

In one embodiment， an apparatus includes a transmitter that transmits configuration information， transmits information indicating a group identifier， and transmits a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In various embodiments， the apparatus includes a receiver. In certain embodiments， in response to transmitting the shared activation signal： the transmitter transmits a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， the receiver receives a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.

In some embodiments， the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by multiple remote units. In one embodiment， the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units. In certain embodiments， the multiple remote units share the group identifier. In various embodiments， in response to the receiver receiving the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the multiple remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the multiple remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the multiple remote units is the same. In some embodiments， the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units.

In one embodiment， the transmitter transmits a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier. In certain embodiments， in response to transmitting the shared deactivation signal， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping reception of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof. In various embodiments， the beam grouping information includes information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.

A method for semi-persistent transmission， in one embodiment， includes transmitting configuration information. In various embodiments， the method includes transmitting information indicating a group identifier. In certain embodiments， the method includes transmitting a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In some embodiments， in response to transmitting the shared activation signal： the method includes transmitting a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， receiving a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description of the embodiments briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only some embodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of scope， the embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings， in which：

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a wireless communication system for semi-persistent transmission；

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an apparatus that may be used for semi-persistent transmission；

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an apparatus that may be used for semi-persistent transmission；

Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of communications for semi-persistent transmission；

Figures 5A-5C are schematic block diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a transmission configuration for semi-persistent transmission；

Figures 6A-6C are schematic block diagrams illustrating another embodiment of a transmission configuration for semi-persistent transmission；

Figures 7A-7C are schematic block diagrams illustrating a further embodiment of a transmission configuration for semi-persistent transmission；

Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for semi-persistent transmission； and

Figure 9 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method for semi-persistent transmission.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art， aspects of the embodiments may be embodied as a system， apparatus， method， or program product. Accordingly， embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment， an entirely software embodiment (including firmware， resident software， micro-code， etc. ) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit， ” “module” or “system. ” Furthermore， embodiments may take the form of a program product embodied in one or more computer readable storage devices storing machine readable code， computer readable code， and/or program code， referred hereafter as code. The storage devices may be tangible， non-transitory， and/or non-transmission. The storage devices may not embody signals. In a certain embodiment， the storage devices only employ signals for accessing code.

Certain of the functional units described in this specification may be labeled as modules， in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example， a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration ( “VLSI” ) circuits or gate arrays， off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips， transistors， or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays， programmable array logic， programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in code and/or software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of code may， for instance， include one or more physical or logical blocks of executable code which may， for instance， be organized as an object. procedure， or function. Nevertheless， the executables of an identified module need not be physically located together， but may include disparate instructions stored in different locations which， when joined logically together， include the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed， a module of code may be a single instruction， or many instructions， and may even be distributed over several different code segments， among different programs， and across several memory devices. Similarly， operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules， and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set， or may be distributed over different locations including over different computer readable storage devices. Where a module or portions of a module are implemented in software， the software portions are stored on one or more computer readable storage devices.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be a storage device storing the code. The storage device may be， for example， but not limited to， an electronic， magnetic， optical， electromagnetic， infrared， holographic， micromechanical， or semiconductor system， apparatus， or device， or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the storage device would include the following： an electrical connection having one or more wires， a portable computer diskette， a hard disk， a random access memory ( “RAM” ) ， a read-only memory ( “ROM” ) ， an erasable programmable read-only memory ( “EPROM” or Flash memory) ， a portable compact disc read-only memory ( “CD-ROM” ) ， an optical storage device， a magnetic storage device， or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document， a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain， or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system， apparatus， or device.

Code for carrying out operations for embodiments may be any number of lines and may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages including an object oriented programming language such as Python， Ruby， Java， Smalltalk， C++， or the like， and conventional procedural programming languages， such as the ″C″ programming language， or the like， and/or machine languages such as assembly languages. The code may execute entirely on the user′s computer， partly on the user′scomputer， as a stand-alone software package， partly on the user′s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario， the remote computer may be connected to the user′s computer through any type of network， including a local area network ( “LAN” ) or a wide area network ( “WAN” ) ， or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example， through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) .

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment， ” “an embodiment， ” or similar language means that a particular feature， structure， or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus， appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment， ” “in an embodiment， ” and similar language throughout this specification may， but do not necessarily， all refer to the same embodiment， but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “including， ” “comprising， ” “having， ” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to， ” unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive， unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a， ” “an， ” and “the” also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise.

Furthermore， the described features， structures， or characteristics of the embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. In the following description， numerous specific details are provided， such as examples of programming， software modules， user selections， network transactions， database queries， database structures， hardware modules， hardware circuits， hardware chips， etc.， to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize， however， that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details， or with other methods， components， materials， and so forth. In other instances， well-known structures， materials， or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of an embodiment.

Aspects of the embodiments are described below with reference to schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams of methods， apparatuses， systems， and program products according to embodiments. It will be understood that each block of the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams， and combinations of blocks in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams， can be implemented by code. The code may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer， special purpose computer， or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine， such that the instructions， which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus， create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be stored in a storage device that can direct a computer， other programmable data processing apparatus， or other devices to function in a particular manner， such that the instructions stored in the storage device produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be loaded onto a computer， other programmable data processing apparatus， or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer， other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the code which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture， functionality， and operation of possible implementations of apparatuses， systems， methods and program products according to various embodiments. In this regard， each block in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams may represent a module， segment， or portion of code， which includes one or more executable instructions of the code for implementing the specified logical function (s) .

It should also be noted that， in some alternative implementations， the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example， two blocks shown in succession may， in fact， be executed substantially concurrently， or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order， depending upon the functionality involved. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function， logic， or effect to one or more blocks， or portions thereof， of the illustrated Figures.

Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in the flowchart and/or block diagrams， they are understood not to limit the scope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed， some arrows or other connectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the depicted embodiment. For instance， an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoring period of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depicted embodiment. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams， and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams， can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts， or combinations of special purpose hardware and code.

The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements of proceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures， including alternate embodiments of like elements.

Figure 1 depicts an embodiment of a wireless communication system 100 for semi-persistent transmission. In one embodiment， the wireless communication system 100 includes remote units 102 and base units 104. Even though a specific number of remote units 102 and base units 104 are depicted in Figure 1， one of skill in the art will recognize that any number of remote units 102 and base units 104 may be included in the wireless communication system 100.

In one embodiment， the remote units 102 may include computing devices， such as desktop computers， laptop computers， personal digital assistants ( “PDAs” ) ， tablet computers， smart phones， smart televisions (e.g.， televisions connected to the Internet) ， set-top boxes， game consoles， security systems (including security cameras) ， vehicle on-board computers， network devices (e.g.， routers， switches， modems) ， or the like. In some embodiments， the remote units 102 include wearable devices， such as smart watches， fitness bands， optical head-mounted displays， or the like. Moreover， the remote units 102 may be referred to as subscriber units， mobiles， mobile stations， users， terminals， mobile terminals， fixed terminals， subscriber stations， UE， user terminals， a device， or by other terminology used in the art. The remote units 102 may communicate directly with one or more of the base units 104 via UL communication signals.

The base units 104 may be distributed over a geographic region. In certain embodiments， a base unit 104 may also be referred to as an access point， an access terminal， a base， a base station， a Node-B， an eNB， a gNB， a Home Node-B， a relay node， a device， or by any other terminology used in the art. The base units 104 are generally part of a radio access network that includes one or more controllers communicably coupled to one or more corresponding base units 104. The radio access network is generally communicably coupled to one or more core networks， which may be coupled to other networks， like the Internet and public switched telephone networks， among other networks. These and other elements of radio access and core networks are not illustrated but are well known generally by those having ordinary skill in the art.

In one implementation， the wireless communication system 100 is compliant with the LTE of the 3GPP protocol， wherein the base unit 104 transmits using an OFDM modulation scheme on the DL and the remote units 102 transmit on the UL using a SC-FDMA scheme or an OFDM scheme. More generally， however， the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol， for example， WiMAX， among other protocols. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementation of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol.

The base units 104 may serve a number of remote units 102 within a serving area， for example， a cell or a cell sector via a wireless communication link. The base units 104 transmit DL communication signals to serve the remote units 102 in the time， frequency， and/or spatial domain.

In one embodiment， a base unit 104 may transmit the configuration information to the remote unit 102. In certain embodiments， the base unit 104 may transmit information indicating a group identifier to the remote unit 102. In some embodiments， the base unit 104 may transmit a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier to the remote unit 102. In various embodiments， in response to transmitting the shared activation signal， the base unit 104 may transmit a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， receive a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof. Accordingly， a base unit 104 may be used for semi-persistent transmission.

In another embodiment， a remote unit 102 may receive configuration information. The remote unit 102 may receive information indicating a group identifier. In certain embodiments， the remote unit 102 may receive a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In various embodiments， in response to receiving the shared activation signal， the remote unit 102 may receive a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， transmit a semi- persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof. Accordingly， a remote unit 102 may be used for semi-persistent transmission.

Figure 2 depicts one embodiment of an apparatus 200 that may be used for semi-persistent transmission. The apparatus 200 includes one embodiment of the remote unit 102. Furthermore， the remote unit 102 may include a processor 202， a memory 204， an input device 206， a display 208， a transmitter 210， and a receiver 212. In some embodiments， the input device 206 and the display 208 are combined into a single device， such as a touchscreen. In certain embodiments， the remote unit 102 may not include any input device 206 and/or display 208. In various embodiments， the remote unit 102 may include one or more of the processor 202， the memory 204， the transmitter 210， and the receiver 212， and may not include the input device 206 and/or the display 208.

The processor 202， in one embodiment， may include any known controller capable of executing computer-readable instructions and/or capable of performing logical operations. For example， the processor 202 may be a microcontroller， a microprocessor， a central processing unit ( “CPU” ) ， a graphics processing unit ( “GPU” ) ， an auxiliary processing unit， a field programmable gate array ( “FPGA” ) ， or similar programmable controller. In some embodiments， the processor 202 executes instructions stored in the memory 204 to perform the methods and routines described herein. The processor 202 is communicatively coupled to the memory 204， the input device 206， the display 208， the transmitter 210， and the receiver 212.

The memory 204， in one embodiment， is a computer readable storage medium. In some embodiments， the memory 204 includes volatile computer storage media. For example， the memory 204 may include a RAM， including dynamic RAM ( “DRAM” ) ， synchronous dynamic RAM ( “SDRAM” ) ， and/or static RAM ( “SRAM” ) . In some embodiments， the memory 204 includes non-volatile computer storage media. For example， the memory 204 may include a hard disk drive， a flash memory， or any other suitable non-volatile computer storage device. In some embodiments， the memory 204 includes both volatile and non-volatile computer storage media. In some embodiments， the memory 204 stores data relating to semi-persistent transmission. In some embodiments， the memory 204 also stores program code and related data， such as an operating system or other controller algorithms operating on the remote unit 102.

The input device 206， in one embodiment， may include any known computer input device including a touch panel， a button， a keyboard， a stylus， a microphone， or the like. In some embodiments， the input device 206 may be integrated with the display 208， for example， as a touchscreen or similar touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments， the input device 206 includes a touchscreen such that text may be input using a virtual keyboard displayed on the touchscreen and/or by handwriting on the touchscreen. In some embodiments， the input device 206 includes two or more different devices， such as a keyboard and a touch panel.

The display 208， in one embodiment， may include any known electronically controllable display or display device. The display 208 may be designed to output visual， audible， and/or haptic signals. In some embodiments， the display 208 includes an electronic display capable of outputting visual data to a user. For example， the display 208 may include， but is not limited to， an LCD display， an LED display， an OLED display， a projector， or similar display device capable of outputting images， text， or the like to a user. As another， non-limiting， example， the display 208 may include a wearable display such as a smart watch， smart glasses， a heads-up display， or the like. Further， the display 208 may be a component of a smart phone， a personal digital assistant， a television， a table computer， a notebook (laptop) computer， a personal computer， a vehicle dashboard， or the like.

In certain embodiments， the display 208 includes one or more speakers for producing sound. For example， the display 208 may produce an audible alert or notification (e.g.， a beep or chime) . In some embodiments， the display 208 includes one or more haptic devices for producing vibrations， motion. or other haptic feedback. In some embodiments， all or portions of the display 208 may be integrated with the input device 206. For example， the input device 206 and display 208 may form a touchscreen or similar touch-sensitive display. In other embodiments， the display 208 may be located near the input device 206.

The transmitter 210 is used to provide UL communication signals to the base unit 104 and the receiver 212 is used to receive DL communication signals from the base unit 104. In various embodiments， the receiver 212 may be used to receive configuration information. In some embodiments， the receiver 212 may be used to receive information indicating a group identifier. In certain embodiments， the receiver 212 may be used to receive a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In one embodiment， in response to receiving the shared activation signal： the receiver 212 receives a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， the transmitter 210 transmits a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof. Although only one transmitter 210 and one receiver 212 are illusrtated， the remote unit 102 may have any suitable number of transmitters 210 and receivers 212. The transmitter 210 and the receiver 212 may be any suitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment， the transmitter 210 and the receiver 212 may be part of a transceiver.

Figure 3 depicts one embodiment of an apparatus 300 that may be used for semi-persistent transmission. The apparatus 300 includes one embodiment of the base unit 104. Furthermore， the base unit 104 may include a processor 302， a memory 304， an input device 306， a display 308， a transmitter 310， and a receiver 312. As may be appreciated， the processor 302， the memory 304， the input device 306， the display 308， the transmitter 310， and the receiver 312 may be substantially similar to the processor 202， the memory 204， the input device 206， the display 208， the transmitter 210， and the receiver 212 of the remote unit 102， respectively.

In various embodiments， the transmitter 310 is used to transmit the configuration information to the remote unit 102. In some embodiments， the transmitter 310 may be used to transmit information indicating a group identifier to the remote unit 102. In one embodiment， the transmitter 310 may be used to transmit a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier to the remote unit 102. In certain embodiments， in response to transmitting the shared activation signal： the transmitter 310 transmits a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， the receiver 312 receives a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof. Although only one transmitter 310 and one receiver 312 are illustrated， the base unit 104 may have any suitable number of transmitters 310 and receivers 312. The transmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be any suitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment， the transmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be part of a transceiver.

Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of communications 400 for semi-persistent transmission. Specifically， communications 400 between a UE 402 and a gNB 404 are illustrated. The communications 400 may facilitate semi-persistent transmission between the gNB 404 and the UE 402 based on beam grouping. The embodiment illustrated in Figure 4 has beam grouping applied. In one embodiment， the beam grouping information may be obtained in the gNB 404 and the UE 402 by the UE’s beam measurement and feedback. In certain embodiments， the beam grouping information may be obtained by uplink beam measurement based on channel reciprocity.

In certain embodiments， one TX beam may map to multiple RX beams or one RX beam may map to multiple TX beams according the pair information of TX beam and RX beam maintained in the gNB 404. Therefore， the number of TX beam available for a UE’s DL transmission may be one or more than one and the number of RX beam available for a UE’s UL transmission may be one or more than one which is determined by the pair information of TX beam and RX beam in DL and UL between the gNB 404 and the UE 402 respectively.

In some embodiments， the gNB 404 may group UEs for semi-persistent transmission based on configuration of the semi-persistent transmission and pair information of TX beam and RX beam (e.g.， beam grouping information) of each UE.

In various embodiments， the UEs grouped into a same subset may have a same period between semi-persistent transmissions and a same TX beam for downlink transmission but with orthogonal configured resources (e.g.， different time-frequency resource and/or different preamble (or sequence)) .

In certain embodiments， a semi-persistent transmission may be a DL transmission (e.g.， such as CSI-RS transmission) or an UL transmission (e.g.， such as CSI reporting and SRS transmission) .

In one embodiment， if the semi-persistent transmission is a DL transmission， because multiple UEs may be grouped into a subset to share a same TX beam for the DL transmission， the DL transmission for the multiple UEs may be multiplexed. In another embodiment， if the semi-persistent transmission is an UL transmission， because multiple UEs multiple UEs may be grouped into a subset， the multiple UEs may share a same RX beam in UL.

In embodiments in which multiple TX beams may be used to transmit messages to a UE in DL， multiple UEs that share a same TX beam out of multiple available TX beams of each UE may be considered as having a same TX beam in DL. Similarly， in embodiments in which multiple RX beams may be used to receive messages from a UE in UL， multiple UEs that share a same RX beam out of multiple available RX beams of each UE may be considered as having a same RX beam in UL.

A first communication 406 may include a message transmitted from the gNB 404 to the UE 402. The first communication 406 may include configuration information used to configure the UE 402 for semi-persistent transmissions. In certain embodiments， the configuration information is configured by RRC signaling to one or more UEs. In various embodiments， the configuration information includes information indicating a time-frequency resource， a frequency resource， a time resource， a period ( “T” ) ， an offset time， preamble index information， sequence index information， and/or a PRB index.

In some embodiments， the UE 402 may receive， in a second communication 408， information indicating a group identifier. The group identifier may identify a group of UEs using group specific DCI. The group identifier may distinguish between different groups formed by the gNB 404. As may be appreciated， the first communication 406 and the second communication 408 may be part of the same message. In one embodiment， the information indicating the group identifier may be part of the configuration information. In certain embodiments， if the RX beam in a UE’s side for the reception of downlink control channel transmission is not exclusive， the gNB 404 may indicate the RX beam for the UE to receive the downlink control channel which is used to activate or de-activate the semi-persistent transmission explicitly or implicitly. The group identifier and the RX beam index (if used) may be configured by the gNB 404 by RRC signaling. In embodiments in which the semi-persistent transmission is DL transmission， the RX beam for receiving the semi-persistent DL transmission of each UE may be the same as the RX beam for receiving the downlink control channel and/or may be indicated by the gNB 404 explicitly and/or implicitly. Similarly， in embodiments in which the semi-persistent transmission is UL transmission， the TX beam for transmitting the semi-persistent UL transmission of each UE may be indicated by the gNB 404 explicitly and/or implicitly.

In various embodiments， the UE 402 may receive， in a third communication 410， a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In one embodiment， the gNB 404 may transmit the shared activation signal by transmitting a downlink control channel carrying a group-specific DCI in it by using the group identifier and a TX beam which is shared by the UEs in a subset. In some embodiments， there may be several types of semi-persistent transmission (e.g. CSI-RS transmission， CSI reporting， SRS transmission) used. In such embodiments， the type of semi-persistent transmission may be indicated in the group-specific DCI to the UE 402. In certain embodiments， each UE grouped into a same subset which is configured with a same group identifier (e.g.， group identity) may use the group identifier and a corresponding RX beam configured by the gNB 404 to decode a downlink control channel blindly.

In some embodiments， the UE 402， in response to receiving the shared activation signal， may receive， in a fourth communication 412， a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information. As may be appreciated， the fourth communication 412 may be multiple downlink transmissions.

In certain embodiments， the UE 402， in response to receiving the shared activation signal， may transmit， in a fifth communication 414， a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information. As may be appreciated， the fifth communication 414 may be multiple uplink transmissions.

In various embodiments， the UE 402 may receive， in a sixth communication 416， a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier. In response to receiving the shared deactivation signal， the UE 402 may stop reception of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stop transmission of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof. In one embodiment， the gNB 404 may transmit the shared deactivation signal by transmitting a downlink control channel carrying a group-specific DCI in it by using the group identifier and a TX beam which is shared by the UEs in a subset.

Figures 5A-5C are schematic block diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a transmission configuration 500 for semi-persistent transmission. Specifically， as illustrated in Figure 5A， the transmission configuration 500 includes a frequency range 502 over time range 504. Transmissions between a gNB (e.g.， the gNB 404， the base unit 104) ， a first UE (e.g.， UE1， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) and a second UE (e.g.， UE2， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) are illustrated.

The gNB has 4 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0， TX B1， TX B2， and TX B3) for downlink transmission. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 5A-5C， only two UEs (e.g.， UE1 and UE2) are used. Moreover， in this embodiment， there are 2 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0 and RX B1) in UE1 in DL and there are 2 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0 and RX B1) in UE2 in DL.

The beam group information for UE1 may include a beam group having (TX B1， RX B0) and (TX B2， RX B1) in DL. The semi-persistent configuration for UE1 may include a period T， an offset from an activated time t1， and a frequency resource range f1. Moreover， the beam group information for UE2 may include a beam group having (TX B1， RX B1) and (TX B3， RX B0) in DL. The semi-persistent configuration for UE2 may include a period T， an offset from an activated time t1， and a frequency resource range f2. The beam grouping information for UE1 and UE2 may be know by the gNB， and the gNB may configure the semi-persistent configurations for UE1 and UE2.

From the beam group information of UE1 and UE2 in DL， it can be seen that UE1 and UE2 share a same TX beam in DL which is TX B1. Moreover， according to the configurations of the DL semi-persistent transmission of UE1 and UE2， UE1 and UE2 have a same period T and the resources of the DL semi-persistent transmission are orthogonal. Therefore， UE1 and UE2 may be grouped into a subset by the gNB. The gNB may configure a same group identity for UE1 and UE2 and configure a corresponding RX beam in the reception of downlink for UE1 and UE2 respectively which are RX B0 for UE1 and RX B1 for UE2 respectively according to the beam group information of UE1 and UE2.

In certain embodiments， the gNB may activate and/or deactivate DL semi-persistent transmission for both of UE1 and UE2 by transmitting one downlink control channel which carries a group-specific DCI with the configured group identify and use TX B1， as illustrated in Figure 5A. Specifically， Figure 5A illustrates transmissions from the gNB. Furthermore， as shown in Figure 5A， at a first time 506， the gNB transmits a shared activation signal 508 (e.g.， a downlink control channel) to activate the DL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2. Then after a time duration of t1， which is the offset of semi-persistent transmission of UE1 and UE2， the gNB starts to transmit a first semi-persistent transmission 510 for UE1 and a second semi-persistent transmission 512 for UE2. The first semi-persistent transmission 510 is transmitted in frequency range f1 with a period T as configured， and the second semi-persistent transmission 512 is transmitted in frequency range f2 with a period T as configured. After 6 times of the DL semi-persistent transmission， the gNB may want to stop the DL semi-persistent transmission. As may be appreciated， the gNB may stop the DL semi-persistent transmission after any number of transmissions. Accordingly， at a second time 514， the gNB transmits a shared deactivation signal 516 (e.g.， a downlink control channel) which carries a group-specific DCI with the configured group identify and transmitted using TX B1 to deactivate the DL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2.

For UE1， because it has a configured group identifier and a corresponding RX beam for the downlink control channel and a resource configuration of a DL semi-persistent transmission and the corresponding RX beam for the DL semi-persistent transmission by the gNB， it may detect the downlink control channel blindly by using the group identifier and the corresponding RX beam (RX B0) to see if there is activation of the DL semi-persistent transmission. As illustrated by reception information 518 of UE1 shown in Figure 5B， UE1 first detects the shared activation signal 508. Then the UE1 starts to receive the DL semi-persistent transmission with the configured RX beam (RX B0) after a time duration of ti with a period T in frequency range f1 according to the configuration of the DL semi-persistent transmission. After 6 times of the DL semi-persistent transmission being received， UE1 detects the shared deactivation signal 516 to deactivate the DL semi-persistent transmission， then UE1 will stop the reception of the DL semi-persistent transmission.

For UE2， because it also has the configured group identifier and a corresponding RX beam for the downlink control channel and a resource configuration of a DL semi-persistent transmission and the corresponding RX beam for the DL semi-persistent transmission by the gNB， it may detect the downlink control channel blindly by using the group identifier and the corresponding RX beam (RX B1) to see if there is activation of the DL semi-persistent transmission. As illustrated by reception information 520 of UE2 shown in Figure 5C， UE2 first detects the shared activation signal 508. Then the UE2 starts to receive the DL semi-persistent transmission with the configured RX beam (RX B1) after a time duration of ti with a period T in frequency range f2 according to the configuration of the DL semi-persistent transmission. After 6 times of the DL semi-persistent transmission being received， UE2 detects the shared deactivation signal 516 to deactivate the DL semi-persistent transmission， then UE2 will stop the reception of the DL semi-persistent transmission.

Figures 6A-6C are schematic block diagrams illustrating another embodiment of a transmission configuration 600 for semi-persistent transmission. Specifically， as illustrated in Figure 6A， the transmission configuration 600 includes a frequency range 602 over time range 604. Transmissions between a gNB (e.g.， the gNB 404， the base unit 104) ， a first UE (e.g.， UE1， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) and a second UE (e.g.， UE2， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) are illustrated.

The gNB has 4 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0， TX B1， TX B2， and TX B3) for downlink transmission. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 6A-6C， only two UEs (e.g.， UE1 and UE2) are used. Moreover， in this embodiment， there are 2 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0 and RX B1) in UE1 in DL and 2TX beams (e.g.， TX B0 andTX B1) in UE1 in UL. Further， there are 2 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0 and RX B1) in UE2 in DL and 2 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0 and TX B1) in UE2 in UL.

The beam group information for UE1 may include a beam group having (TX B0， RX B0) and (TX B2， RX B1) in DL and a beam group having (TX B0， RX B1) in UL. The semi-persistent configuration for UE1 may include a period T， an offset from an activated time t1， and a frequency resource range f1. Moreover， the beam group information for UE2 may include a beam group having (TX B1. RX B2) and (TX B2， RX B0) in DL and a beam group having (TX B1， RX B0) in UL. The semi-persistent configuration for UE2 may include a period T， an offset from an activated time t2， and a frequency resource range f2. The beam grouping information for UE1 and UE2 may be know by the gNB， and the gNB may configure the semi-persistent configurations for UE1 and UE2.

From the beam group information of UE1 and UE2 in DL， it can be seen that UE1 and UE2 share a same TX beam in DL which is TX B2. Moreover， according to the configurations of the UL semi-persistent transmission of UE1 and UE2， UE1 and UE2 have a same period T and the resources of the DL semi-persistent transmission are different (e.g.， different offsets are configured for UE1 and UE2) . Therefore， UE1 and UE2 may be grouped into a subset by the gNB. The gNB may configure a same group identity for UE1 and UE2 and configure a corresponding RX beam in the reception of downlink for UE1 and UE2 respectively which are RX B1 for UE1 and RX B0 for UE2 respectively according to the beam group information of UE1 and UE2. Further， because the semi-persistent transmission is an UL transmission， the gNB may configure the corresponding TX beam for the UL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2 respectively which are TX B0 for UE1 and TX B1 for UE2.

In certain embodiments， the gNB may activate and/or deactivate UL semi-persistent transmission for both of UE1 and UE2 by transmitting one downlink control channel which carries a group-specific DCI with the configured group identify and use TX B2， as illustrated in Figure 6A. Specifically， Figure 6A illustrates transmissions to and from the gNB. Furthermore， as shown in Figure 6A， at a first time 606， the gNB transmits a shared activation signal 608 (e.g.， a downlink control channel) to activate the UL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2. After a time duration of t1， which is the offset of semi-persistent transmission of UE1， the gNB starts to receive a first semi-persistent transmission 610 for UE1 using RX B1. The first semi-persistent transmission 610 is transmitted in frequency range f1 with a period T as configured. After a time duration of t2， which is the offset of semi-persistent transmission of UE2， the gNB starts to receive a second semi-persistent transmission 612 for UE2 using RX B0. The second semi-persistent transmission 612 is transmitted in frequency range f2 with a period T as configured. After 6 times of the UL semi-persistent transmission， the gNB may want to stop the UL semi-persistent transmission. As may be appreciated， the gNB may stop the UL semi-persistent transmission after any number of transmissions. Accordingly， at a second time 614， the gNB transmits a shared deactivation signal 616 (e.g.， a downlink control channel) which carries a group-specific DCI with the configured group identify and transmitted using TX B2 to deactivate the UL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2.

For UE1. because it has a configured group identifier and a corresponding RX beam for the downlink control channel and a resource configuration of an UL semi-persistent transmission and the corresponding TX beam for the UL semi-persistent transmission by the gNB， it may detect the downlink control channel blindly by using the group identifier and the corresponding RX beam (RX B1) to see if there is activation of the UL semi-persistent transmission. As illustrated by reception information 618 of UE1 shown in Figure 6B， UE1 first detects the shared activation signal 608. Then the UE1 starts to transmit the UL semi-persistent transmission with the configured TX beam (TX B0) after a time duration of t1 with a period T in frequency range f1 according to the configuration of the UL semi-persistent transmission. After 6 times of the UL semi-persistent transmission being transmitted， UE1 detects the shared deactivation signal 616 to deactivate the UL semi-persistent transmission， then UE1 will stop the transmission of the UL semi-persistent transmission.

For UE2， because it also has the configured group identifier and a corresponding RX beam for the downlink control channel and a resource configuration of an UL semi-persistent transmission and the corresponding TX beam for the UL semi-persistent transmission by the gNB， it may detect the downlink control channel blindly by using the group identifier and the corresponding RX beam (RX B0) to see if there is activation of the DL semi-persistent transmission. As illustrated by reception information 620 of UE2 shown in Figure 6C， UE2 first detects the shared activation signal 608. Then the UE2 starts to transmit the UL semi-persistent transmission with the configured TX beam (TX B1) after a time duration of t2 with a period T in frequency range f2 according to the configuration of the UL semi-persistent transmission. After 6 times of the UL semi-persistent transmission being transmitted， UE2 detects the shared deactivation signal 616 to deactivate the UL semi-persistent transmission， then UE2 will stop the transmission of the UL semi-persistent transmission.

Figures 7A-7C are schematic block diagrams illustrating a further embodiment of a transmission configuration 700 for semi-persistent transmission. Specifically， as illustrated in Figure 7A， the transmission configuration 700 includes a frequency range 702 over time range 704. Transmissions between a gNB (e.g.， the gNB 404， the base unit 104) ， a first UE (e.g.， UE1， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) and a second UE (e.g.， UE2， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) are illustrated.

The gNB has 4 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0， TX B1， TX B2， and TX B3) for DL transmission and 4 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0， RX B1， RX B2， and RX B3) for UL transmission. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 7A-7C， only two UEs (e.g.， UE1 and UE2) are used. Moreover， in this embodiment， there are 2 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0 and RX B1) in UE1 in DL and 2 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0 and TX B1) in UE1 in UL. Further， there are 2 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0 and RX B1) in UE2 in DL and 2 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0 and TX B1) in UE2 in UL.

The beam group information for UE1 may include a beam group having (TX B0， RX B0) and (TX B3， RX B1) in DL and a beam group having (TX B1， RX B1) and (TX B0， RX B2) in UL. The semi-persistent configuration for UE1 may include a period T， an offset from an activated time t1， and a frequency resource range f1. Moreover， the beam group information for UE2 may include a beam group having (TX B1， RX B1) and (TX B3， RX B0) in DL and a beam group having (TX B0， RX B0) and (TX B1， RX B2) in UL. The semi-persistent configuration for UE2 may include a period T， an offset from an activated time t1， and a frequency resource range f2. The beam grouping information for UE1 and UE2 may be know by the gNB， and the gNB may configure the semi-persistent configurations for UE 1 and UE2.

From the beam group information of UE1 and UE2 in DL， it can be seen that UE1 and UE2 share a same TX beam in DL which is TX B3. Moreover， according to the configurations of the UL semi-persistent transmission of UE1 and UE2， UE1 and UE2 have a same period T and share the same time resources for UL semi-persistent transmission. Furthermore， UE1 and UE2 share a same RX beam in UL which is RX B2 according to the pair beam information of UE1 and UE2 in UL. Therefore， UE1 and UE2 may be grouped into a subset by the gNB. The gNB may configure a same group identity for UE1 and UE2 and configure a corresponding RX beam in the reception of downlink for UE1 and UE2 respectively which are RX B1 for UE1 and RX B0 for UE2 respectively according to the beam group information of UE1 and UE2. Furtber， because the semi-persistent transmission is an UL transmission， the gNB may configure the corresponding TX beam for the UL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2 respectively which are TX B0 for UE1 and TX B1 for UE2.

In certain embodiments， the gNB may activate and/or deactivate UL semi-persistent transmission for both of UE1 and UE2 by transmitting one downlink control channel which carries a group-specific DCI with the configured group identify and use TX B3， as illustrated in Figure 7A. Specifically， Figure 7A illustrates transmissions to and from the gNB. Furthermore， as shown in Figure 7A， at a first time 706， the gNB transmits a shared activation signal 708 (e.g.， a downlink control channel) to activate the UL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2. After a time duration of t1， which is the offset of semi-persistent transmission of UE1 and semi-persistent transmission of UE2， the gNB starts to receive a first semi-persistent transmission 710 for UE1 using RX B2， and a second semi-persistent transmission 712 for UE2 also using RX B2. The first semi-persistent transmission 710 is transmitted in frequency range f1 with a period T as configured， and the second semi-persistent transmission 712 is transmitted in frequency range f2 with a period T as configured. After 6 times of the UL semi-persistent transmission， the gNB may want to stop the UL semi-persistent transmission. As may be appreciated， the gNB may stop the UL semi-persistent transmission after any number of transmissions. Accordingly， at a second time 714， the gNB transmits a shared deactivation signal 716 (e.g.， a downlink control channel) which carries a group-specific DCI with the configured group identify and transmitted using TX B3 to deactivate the UL semi-persistent transmission for UE1 and UE2.

For UE1， because it has a configured group identifier and a corresponding RX beam for the downlink control channel and a resource configuration of an UL semi-persistent transmission and the corresponding TX beam for the UL semi-persistent transmission by the gNB， it may detect the downlink control channel blindly by using the group identifier and the corresponding RX beam (RX B1) to see if there is activation of the UL semi-persistent transmission. As illustrated by reception information 718 of UE1 shown in Figure 7B， UE1 first detects the shared activation signal 708. Then the UE1 starts to transmit the UL semi-persistent transmission with the configured TX beam (TX B0) after a time duration of t1 with a period T in frequency range f1 according to the configuration of the UL semi-persistent transmission. After 6 times of the UL semi-persistent transmission being transmitted， UE1 detects the shared deactivation signal 716 to deactivate the UL semi-persistent transmission， then UE1 will stop the transmission of the UL semi-persistent transmission.

For UE2， because it also has the configured group identifier and a corresponding RX beam for the downlink control channel and a resource configuration of an UL semi-persistent transmission and the corresponding TX beam for the UL semi-persistent transmission by the gNB， it may detect the downlink control channel blindly by using the group identifier and the corresponding RX beam (RX B0) to see if there is activation of the DL semi-persistent transmission. As illustrated by reception information 720 of UE2 shown in Figure 7C， UE2 first detects the shared activation signal 708. Then the UE2 starts to transmit the UL semi-persistent transmission with the configured TX beam (TX B1) after a time duration of t1 with a period T in frequency range f2 according to the configuration of the UL semi-persistent transmission. After 6 times of the UL semi-persistent transmission being transmitted， UE2 detects the shared deactivation signal 716 to deactivate the UL semi-persistent transmission， then UE2 will stop the transmission of the UL semi-persistent transmission.

Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 800 for semi-persistent transmission. In some embodiments， the method 800 is performed by an apparatus， such as the remote unit 102. In certain embodiments， the method 800 may be performed by a processor executing program code， for example， a microcontroller， a microprocessor， a CPU， a GPU， an auxiliary processing unit， a FPGA， or the like.

The method 800 may include receiving 802 configuration information. The method 800 also includes receiving 804 information indicating a group identifier. The method 800 includes receiving 806 a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In various embodiments， the method 800 includes， in response to receiving the shared activation signal： receiving 808 a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， transmitting a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.

In some embodiments， the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by multiple remote units. In one embodiment， the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units. In certain embodiments， the multiple remote units share the group identifier. In various embodiments， in response to the transmitting the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the multiple remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the multiple remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the multiple remote units is the same. In some embodiments， the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units.

In one embodiment， method 800 includes receiving a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier. In certain embodiments， in response to receiving the shared deactivation signal， stopping reception of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof. In various embodiments， the beam grouping information includes information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.

Figure 9 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 900 for semi-persistent transmission. In some embodiments， the method 900 is performed by an apparatus， such as the base unit 104. In certain embodiments， the method 900 may be performed by a processor executing program code. for example， a microcontroller， a microprocessor， a CPU， a GPU， an auxiliary processing unit， a FPGA， or the like.

The method 900 may include transmitting 902 configuration information for a remote unit 102. The method 900 also includes transmitting 904 information indicating a group identifier. The method 900 includes transmitting 906 a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier. In various embodiments， the method 900 includes， in response to transmitting the shared activation signal： transmitting a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information， receiving a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.

In some embodiments， the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by multiple remote units. In one embodiment， the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units. In certain embodiments， the multiple remote units share the group identifier. In various embodiments， in response to receiving the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the multiple remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the multiple remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the multiple remote units is the same. In some embodiments， the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the multiple remote units.

In one embodiment， the method 900 includes transmitting a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier. In certain embodiments， in response to transmitting the shared deactivation signal， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping reception of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof. In various embodiments， the beam grouping information includes information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.

Embodiments may be practiced in other specific forms. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is， therefore， indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

An apparatus comprising：

a receiver that：

receives configuration information；

receives information indicating a group identifier； and

receives a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier； and

a transmitter；

wherein， in response to receiving the shared activation signal：

the receiver receives a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information，

the transmitter transmits a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 1， wherein the configuration information indicates a period， an offset time， a time-frequency resource， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 2， wherein the period for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier is the same.
The apparatus of claim 2， wherein resources for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier are orthogonal， and the resources comprise a time-frequency resource， a preamble， a sequence， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 2， wherein the configuration information indicates preamble index information， sequence index information， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 1， wherein the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by a plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 6， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 6， wherein the plurality of remote units share the group identifier.
The apparatus of claim 6， wherein， in response to the transmitter transmitting the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the plurality of remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the plurality of remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the plurality of remote units is the same.
The apparatus of claim 9， wherein the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 1， wherein the receiver receives a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier.
The apparatus of claim 11， wherein， in response to receiving the shared deactivation signal， stopping reception of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 1， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
A method comprising：

receiving configuration information；

receiving information indicating a group identifier；

receiving a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier； and

in response to receiving the shared activation signal：

receiving a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information，

transmitting a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 14， wherein the configuration information indicates a period， an offset time， a time-frequency resource， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 15， wherein the period for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier is the same.
The method of claim 15， wherein resources for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier are orthogonal， and the resources comprise a time-frequency resource， a preamble， a sequence， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 15， wherein the configuration information indicates preamble index information， sequence index information， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 14， wherein the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by a plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 19， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 19， wherein the plurality of remote units share the group identifier.
The method of claim 19， wherein in response to transmitting the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the plurality of remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the plurality of remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the plurality of remote units is the same.
The method of claim 22， wherein the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 14， further comprising receiving a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier.
The method of claim 24， further comprising， in response to receiving the shared deactivation signal， stopping reception of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 14， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
An apparatus comprising：

a transmitter that：

transmits configuration information；

transmits information indicating a group identifier； and

transmits a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier； and

a receiver；

wherein， in response to transmitting the shared activation signal：

the transmitter transmits a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information，

the receiver receives a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 27， wherein the configuration information indicates a period， an offset time， a time-frequency resource， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 28， wherein the period for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier is the same.
The apparatus of claim 28， wherein resources for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier are orthogonal， and the resources comprise a time-frequency resource， a preamble， a sequence， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 28， wherein the configuration information indicates preamble index information， sequence index information， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 27， wherein the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by a plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 32， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 32， wherein the plurality of remote units share the group identifier.
The apparatus of claim 32， wherein in response to the receiver receiving the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the plurality of remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the plurality of remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the plurality of remote units is the same.
The apparatus of claim 35， wherein the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 27， wherein the transmitter transmits a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier.
The apparatus of claim 37， wherein， in response to transmitting the shared deactivation signal， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping reception of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 27， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
A method comprising：

transmitting configuration information；

transmitting information indicating a group identifier；

transmitting a shared activation signal indicating the group identifier； and

in response to transmitting the shared activation signal：

transmitting a semi-persistent downlink transmission using a transmit beam corresponding to the configuration information and beam grouping information，

receiving a semi-persistent uplink transmission using a receive beam corresponding to the configuration information and the beam grouping information， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 40， wherein the configuration information indicates a period， an offset time， and a time-frequency resource， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 41， wherein the period for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier is the same.
The method of claim 41， wherein resources for a plurality of remote units that share the group identifier are orthogonal， and the resources comprise a time-frequency resource， a preamble， a sequence， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 41， wherein the configuration information indicates preamble index information， sequence index information， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 40， wherein the shared activation signal is transmitted from a shared transmit beam that is received by a plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 45， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 45， wherein the plurality of remote units share the group identifier.
The method of claim 45， wherein in response to receiving the semi-persistent uplink transmission， the plurality of remote units sharing the group identifier， and a time resource configuration of the plurality of remote units being the same， then a receive beam corresponding to semi-persistent uplink transmissions of the plurality of remote units is the same.
The method of claim 48， wherein the receive beam is determined based on the beam grouping information of the plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 40， further comprising transmitting a shared deactivation signal indicating the group identifier.
The method of claim 50， wherein， in response to transmitting the shared deactivation signal， stopping transmission of the semi-persistent downlink transmission， stopping reception of the semi-persistent uplink transmission， or some combination thereof.
The method of claim 40， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.