WO2022205066A1

WO2022205066A1 - Methods, devices and computer storage media for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2022205066A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/084403
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yukai GAO; Gang Wang
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2021-03-31
Filing date: 2021-03-31
Publication date: 2022-10-06
Also published as: CN117413482A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer storage media for communication. A method comprises in response to a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets being configured to a terminal device, transmitting, from a network device to the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions, wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and receiving the PUSCH transmissions from the terminal device based on the DCI.

Description

METHODS, DEVICES AND COMPUTER STORAGE MEDIA FOR COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to methods, devices and computer storage media for communication.

BACKGROUND

Recently, enhancements on the support for multi-Transmission and Reception Point (multi-TRP) deployment have been discussed. For example, it has been proposed to identify and specify features to improve reliability and robustness for physical channels (such as, Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) , Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and/or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) ) other than Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) using multi-TRP and/or multi-panel with Release 16 reliability features as a baseline.

In order to improve reliability and robustness for PUSCH, single or same downlink control information (DCI) can be used to schedule PUSCH transmissions based on multi-TRP and/or multi-panel. It has been agreed that the maximum number of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets can be increased to two and two SRS resource indicator fields corresponding to two SRS resource sets can be introduced in downlink control information (DCI) which schedules PUSCH transmissions. It would be desirable to support dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission based on the two SRI fields.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage media for communication.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises in response to a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets being configured to a terminal device, transmitting, to the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions, wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and receiving the PUSCH transmissions from the terminal device based on the DCI.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises in response to being configured with a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets, receiving from a network device downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions, wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and performing the PUSCH transmissions to the network device based on the DCI.

In a third aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises circuitry configured to perform the method according to the above first aspect of the present disclosure.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises circuitry configured to perform the method according to the above second aspect of the present disclosure.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising machine-executable instructions. The machine-executable instructions, when being executed, cause a machine to perform the method according to the above first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to the above first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

FIG. 1A and 1B illustrate an example communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘some embodiments’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least some embodiments. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

As described above, in order to improve reliability and robustness for PUSCH, single or same DCI can be used to schedule PUSCH transmissions based on multi-TRP and/or multi-panel. It has been agreed that the maximum number of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets can be increased to two and two SRS resource indicator fields corresponding to two SRS resource sets can be introduced in DCI which schedules PUSCH transmissions. However, how to support dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission based on the two SRI fields is not specified yet.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution to solve the above problem and/or one or more of other potential problems. This solution can use at least one of SRI fields and TPC fields comprised in a DCI format to indicate information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets. In this way, this solution can support dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission without introducing additional signaling overhead.

In the following, the terms “PUSCH transmission” , “PUSCH repetition” , “PUSCH occasion” and “PUSCH reception” can be used interchangeably. The terms “DCI” and “DCI format” can be used interchangeably. The terms “transmission” , “transmission occasion” and “repetition” can be used interchangeably. The terms “precoder” , “precoding” , “precoding matrix” , “beam” , “spatial relation information” , “spatial relation info” , “TPMI” , “PMI” , “transmission precoding matrix indicator” , “precoding matrix indicator” , “transmission precoding matrix indication” , “precoding matrix indication” and “spatial relation” can be used interchangeably.

FIG. 1A shows an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The network 100 includes a network device 110 and a terminal device 120 served by the network device 110. The network 100 may provide one or more serving cells 102 to serve the terminal device 120. It is to be understood that the number of network devices, terminal devices and/or serving cells is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations to the present disclosure. The network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices, terminal devices and/or serving cells adapted for implementing implementations of the present disclosure.

As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, or image capture devices such as digital cameras, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, some embodiments will be described with reference to UE as an example of the terminal device 120.

As used herein, the term “network device” or “base station” (BS) refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an Evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, and the like.

In one embodiment, the terminal device 120 may be connected with a first network device and a second network device (not shown in FIG. 1A) . One of the first network device and the second network device may be in a master node and the other one may be in a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device may be an eNB and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information related to different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device 120 from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device 120 from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device 120 from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related to configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related to reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. The information may be transmitted via any of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) .

The communications in the network 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) , Machine Type Communication (MTC) and the like. Furthermore, the communications may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols.

The network device 110 (such as, gNB) may be equipped with one or more TRPs or antenna panels. As used herein, the term “TRP” refers to an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements) available to the network device located at a specific geographical location. For example, a network device may be coupled with multiple TRPs in different geographical locations to achieve better coverage. The one or more TRPs may be included in a same serving cell or different serving cells.

It is to be understood that the TRP can also be a panel, and the panel can also refer to an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements) . Although some embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to multiple TRPs for example, these embodiments are only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the present disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

FIG. 1B shows an example scenario of the network 100 as shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 1B, for example, the network device 110 may communicate with the terminal device 120 via TRPs 130-1 and 130-2. In the following text, the TRP 130-1 may be also referred to as the first TRP, while the TRP 130-2 may be also referred to as the second TRP. The first and second TRPs 130-1 and 130-2 may be included in a same serving cell (such as, the cell 102 as shown in FIG. 1A) or different serving cells provided by the network device 110. Although some embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the first and second TRPs 130-1 and 130-2 within a same serving cell provided by the network device 110, these embodiments are only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the present disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In some embodiments, there may be M TRPs serving the terminal device 120, where M is a positive integer. For example, 1 ≤ M ≤ 4. For another example, M = 2. In some embodiments, for each of the M TRPs, the terminal device 120 may be configured with at least one of the following: a control resource set (CORESET) , a SRS resource set, a set of spatial relation information, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, and a set of quasi-co-location (QCL) parameters. That is, the terminal device 120 may be configured with M CORESETs, M SRS resource sets, M sets of spatial relation information, M TCI states and/or M sets of QCL parameters associated with M TRPs respectively. One of the M TRPs can be represented by a corresponding one of the M CORESETs, the M SRS resource sets, the M sets of spatial relation information, the M TCI states and/or the M sets of QCL parameters. In some embodiments, the SRS resource sets are configured for codebook based uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the SRS resource sets are configured for non-codebook based uplink transmission. In the example as shown in FIG. 1B, M = 2. In this case, the first TRP 130-1 may be associated with a first CORESET, a first SRS resource set, first spatial relation information, a first TCI state and/or a first set of QCL parameters, while the second TRP 130-2 may be associated with a second CORESET, a second SRS resource set, second spatial relation information, a second TCI state and/or a second set of QCL parameters.

In some embodiments, two transmission schemes may be supported for PUSCH: codebook based transmission and non-codebook based transmission. The terminal device 120 may be configured with codebook based transmission if the higher layer parameter txConfig in pusch-Config is set to 'codebook' . The terminal device 120 may be configured with non-codebook based transmission if the higher layer parameter txConfig is set to 'nonCodebook' . If the higher layer parameter txConfig is not configured, the terminal device 120 may not expect PUSCH to be scheduled by DCI format 0_1 or 0_2. If PUSCH is scheduled by DCI format 0_0, the PUSCH transmission may be based on a single antenna port. Except if the higher layer parameter enableDefaultBeamPL-ForPUSCH0-0 is set 'enabled' , the terminal device 120 may not expect PUSCH to be scheduled by DCI format 0_0 in a bandwidth part (BWP) without PUCCH resources configured with PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo in frequency range 2 in a RRC connected mode.

In some embodiments, for codebook based transmission, PUSCH can be scheduled by DCI format 0_0, DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2 or semi-statically configured to operate according to Clause 6.1.2.3 of TS 38.214 of 3GPP specifications. If this PUSCH is scheduled by DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2, or semi-statically configured to operate according to Clause 6.1.2.3 of TS 38.214, the terminal device 120 may determine its PUSCH transmission precoder based on the SRI, the transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) and the transmission rank, where the SRI, the TPMI and the transmission rank are given by DCI fields of SRS resource indicator, precoding information and the number of layers (as defined in clause 7.3.1.1.2 and 7.3.1.1.3 of TS 38.212 of 3GPP specifications) in DCI format 0_1 and 0_2, or given by srs-ResourceIndicator and precodingAndNumberOfLayers according to clause 6.1.2.3 of TS 38.214 of 3GPP specifications. The SRS-ResourceSet (s) applicable for PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1 and DCI format 0_2 are defined by the entries of the higher layer parameter srs-ResourceSetToAddModList and srs-ResourceSetToAddModListDCI-0-2 in SRS-config, respectively. The TPMI is used to indicate the precoder to be applied over the layers {0…ν-1} and that corresponds to the SRS resource selected by the SRI when multiple SRS resources are configured. Alternatively, if a single SRS resource is configured, TPMI is used to indicate the precoder to be applied over the layers {0…ν-1} and that corresponds to the SRS resource. The transmission precoder is selected from the uplink codebook that has a number of antenna ports equal to the higher layer parameter nrofSRS-Ports in SRS-config, as defined in Clause 6.3.1.5 of TS 38.211 of 3GPP specifications. When the terminal device 120 is configured with the higher layer parameter txConfig set to 'codebook' , the terminal device 120 may be configured with at least one SRS resource. The indicated SRI in slot n may be associated with the most recent transmission of SRS resource identified by the SRI, where the SRS resource is prior to the PDCCH carrying the SRI.

In some embodiments, for non-codebook based transmission, PUSCH can be scheduled by DCI format 0_0, DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2 or semi-statically configured to operate according to Clause 6.1.2.3 of TS 38.214 of 3GPP specifications. If this PUSCH is scheduled by DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2, or semi-statically configured to operate according to Clause 6.1.2.3 of TS 38.214 of 3GPP specifications, the terminal device 120 may determine its PUSCH precoder and transmission rank based on the SRI when multiple SRS resources are configured, where the SRI is given by the SRS resource indicator (according to clause 7.3.1.1.2 and 7.3.1.1.3 of TS 38.212 of 3GPP specifications) in DCI format 0_1 and DCI format 0_2, or the SRI is given by srs-ResourceIndicator according to clause 6.1.2.3 of TS 38.214 of 3GPP specifications. The SRS-ResourceSet (s) applicable for PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_1 and DCI format 0_2 are defined by the entries of the higher layer parameter srs-ResourceSetToAddModList and srs-ResourceSetToAddModListDCI-0-2 in SRS-config, respectively. The terminal device 120 may use one or more SRS resources for SRS transmission, where the maximum number of SRS resources in a SRS resource set and the maximum number of SRS resources that can be configured to the terminal device 120 for simultaneous transmission in a same symbol depend on capabilities of terminal device 120. The SRS resources transmitted simultaneously occupy the same RBs. For each SRS resource, only one SRS port may be configured. Only one SRS resource set can be configured with the higher layer parameter usage in SRS-ResourceSet set to 'nonCodebook' . The maximum number of SRS resources that can be configured for non-codebook based uplink transmission may be 4. The indicated SRI in slot n may be associated with the most recent transmission of SRS resource (s) identified by the SRI, where the SRS transmission is prior to the PDCCH carrying the SRI.

In some embodiments, the network device 110 may configure a plurality of SRS resource sets to the terminal device 120. For example, the plurality of SRS resource sets may comprise a first SRS resource set to be applied for PUSCH transmissions via the first TRP and a second SRS resource set to be applied for PUSCH transmissions via the second TRP. The network device 110 may transmit DCI to the terminal device 120 for scheduling PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the DCI may comprise a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resources sets. For example, the plurality of SRI fields may comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field. Additionally, in some embodiments, the DCI may comprise a plurality of TPC fields. For example, the plurality of TPC fields may comprise a first TPC field and a second TPC field. In some embodiments, the DCI may comprise a plurality of transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) fields. For example, the plurality of TPMI fields may comprise a first TPC field and a second TPC field.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated/scheduled with a set of PUSCH transmissions. The set of PUSCH transmissions may comprise a first subset of PUSCH transmissions and a second subset of PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be determined based on at least one of the first SRI indicated by the first SRI field, the first TPMI/PMI field and the transmission rank. The precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be determined based on at least one of the second SRI indicated by the second SRI field, the second TPMI/PMI field and the transmission rank.

In some embodiments, at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the first subset of PUSCH transmissions and at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the second subset of PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the first subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set and the second subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, the initial PUSCH transmission or the first one of the first subset of PUSCH transmissions may start and/or end earlier than the initial PUSCH transmission or the first one of the second subset of PUSCH transmissions in time domain.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a configuration/indication for the association/application between the SRI field and the subset of PUSCH transmissions (or the precoder for the subset of PUSCH transmissions) . In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a first configuration/indication that the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be determined based on at least one of the first SRI indicated by the first SRI field, the first TPMI/PMI field and the transmission rank, and the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be determined based on at least one of the second SRI indicated by the second SRI field, the second TPMI/PMI field and the transmission rank. The terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a second configuration/indication that the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be determined based on at least one of the first SRI indicated by the first SRI field, the first TPMI/PMI field and the transmission rank, and the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be determined based on at least one of the second SRI indicated by the second SRI field, the second TPMI/PMI field and the transmission rank.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a configuration/indication for the association/application between the SRS resource set and the subset of PUSCH transmissions (or the precoder for the subset of PUSCH transmissions) . In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a first configuration/indication that at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the first subset of PUSCH transmissions and at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the second subset of PUSCH transmissions. The terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a second configuration/indication that at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource sets may be applied for or associated with the first subset of PUSCH transmissions and at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the second subset of PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a first configuration/indication that the first subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource sets and the second subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource set. The terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a second configuration/indication that the first subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource sets and the second subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, the configuration/indication may be configured/indicated explicitly or implicitly via at least one of RRC, MAC CE and DCI. In some embodiments, the first configuration/indication may be different from the second configuration/indication. For example, the configuration/indication may be explicitly transmitted via at least one of RRC, MAC CE and DCI. For another example, the configuration/indication may be implicitly indicated by some parameters. For example, the parameters may include, but being not limited to, at least one of the following: of the SRI indicated by the SRI field in DCI, the precoding information and the number of layers indicated in DCI, antenna ports indicated in DCI, DMRS configurations, the DMRS port index, the first DMRS port index and the code domain multiplexing (CDM) group index.

In some embodiments, at least one of the SRI fields and the TPC fields in the DCI can be used to indicate information about dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission. For example, if single-TRP transmission via the first TRP is dynamically indicated by DCI, the first SRS resource set may be applied for PUSCH transmissions. If single-TRP transmission via the second TRP is dynamically indicated by DCI, the second SRS resource set may be applied for PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, multi-TRP transmission may be associated with an order of the TRPs, that is, an order of multiple SRS resource sets to be applied for PUSCH transmission. For example, if multi-TRP transmission in a first order (also referred to as “Order 1” in the following) is dynamically indicated by DCI, the first SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions; while if multi-TRP transmission in a second order (also referred to as “Order 2” in the following) is dynamically indicated by DCI, the second SRS resource set may be applied for the initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions.

In some embodiments, for non-codebook based PUSCH transmissions, the first SRI field may be based on the legacy structure (such as, the structure as specified in Release 15/16) , and may be used to indicate the number of SRS resources and/to the number of transmission layers (also referred to as “transmission rank” ) . The second SRI field may only indicate SRS resources with the same number of transmission layers as the first SRI field. In some embodiments, the second SRI field may be used to indicate at least one of the following: single-TRP transmission (that is, PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set) or multi-TRP transmission (that is, PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets) ; which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission (that is, which SRS resource set is to be used for PUSCH transmissions) ; and which order is to be used for the multi-TRP transmission (that is, which order of SRS resource sets is to be used for PUSCH transmissions) . Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, if single-TRP transmission is dynamically indicated, the second TPC field may not be used or may be reused to indicate which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission (that is, which SRS resource set is to be used for PUSCH transmissions) .

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 illustrate examples of such embodiments. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, it is assumed that the number of SRS resources in the first SRS resource set is the same as the number of SRS resources in the second SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the number of SRS resources in each SRS resource set is configured as 1. In this event, for example, there may be 0 bit for the first SRI field in DCI.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the second SRI field 200 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, there may be 2 bits for the second SRI field 200 in DCI. The second SRI field 200 may indicate one of the following: single-TRP transmission via the 1 ^st TRP (that is, PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set) , single-TRP transmission via the 2 ^nd TRP (that is, PUSCH transmissions based on the second SRS resource set) , multi-TRP transmission in Order 1 (for example, the first SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions) , or multi-TRP transmission in Order 2 (for example, the second SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions) . In the example shown in FIG. 2, the second TPC field may not be applied for PUSCH transmissions. FIG. 3 shows examples of the second SRI field 310 and the second TPC field 320 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, there may be 1 bit for the second SRI field 310 in DCI. The second SRI field 310 may indicate single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission. The second TPC field 320 may indicate which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrate other examples of such embodiments. In FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, it is assumed that the number of SRS resources in the first SRS resource set is the same as the number of SRS resources in the second SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the number of SRS resources in each SRS resource set is configured as 2. In this event, for example, there may be 1 bit for the first SRI field in DCI if the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) is 1. For another example, there may be 2 bits for the first SRI field in DCI if the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) exceeds 1 (for example, 2/3/4) .

FIG. 4 shows an example of the second SRI field 400 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, there may be 2 bits for the second SRI field 400 in DCI. The second SRI field 400 may indicate single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission; and which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the second TPC field may not be applied for PUSCH transmissions. FIG. 5 shows examples of the second SRI field 510 and the second TPC field 520 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, there may be 2 bits for the second SRI field 510 in DCI. The second SRI field 510 may indicate single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission and the second TPC field 520 may indicate which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 illustrate other examples of such embodiments. In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, it is assumed that the number of SRS resources in the first SRS resource set is the same as the number of SRS resources in the second SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the number of SRS resources in each SRS resource set is configured as 3. In this event, for example, there may be 2 bits for the first SRI field in DCI if the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) is 1. For another example, there may be 3 bits for the first SRI field in DCI if the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) exceeds 1 (for example, 2/3/4) .

FIG. 6 shows an example of the second SRI field 600 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, there may be 3 bits for the second SRI field 600 in DCI. The second SRI field 600 may indicate single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission; and which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the second TPC field may not be applied for PUSCH transmissions. FIG. 7 shows examples of the second SRI field 710 and the second TPC field 720 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, there may be 2 bits for the second SRI field 710 in DCI. The second SRI field 710 may indicate single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission and the second TPC field 720 may indicate which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of such embodiments. In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the number of SRS resources in the first SRS resource set is the same as the number of SRS resources in the second SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the number of SRS resources in each SRS resource set is 4. In this event, for example, there may be 2 bits for the first SRI field in DCI if the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) is 1. For another example, there may be 4 bits for the first SRI field in DCI if the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) exceeds 1 (for example, 2/3/4) . FIG. 8 shows examples of the second SRI field 810 and the second TPC field 820 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, there may be 3 bits for the second SRI field 810 in DCI. The second SRI field 810 may indicate single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission and the second TPC field 820 may indicate which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission.

In some embodiments, the network device 110 may configure a plurality of SRS resource sets to the terminal device 120. For example, the plurality of SRS resource sets may comprise a first SRS resource set having a first number (also represented as “N_SBS_a” ) of SRS resources and a second SRS resource set having a second number (also represented as “N_SBS_b” ) of SRS resources, where the first number is different from the second number. The network device 110 may transmit DCI to the terminal device 120 for scheduling PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the DCI may comprise a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resources sets. For example, the plurality of SRI fields may comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field.

In some embodiments, for non-codebook based PUSCH transmissions, the first SRI field may be based on the legacy structure (such as, the structure as specified in Release 15/16) , and may be used to indicate the number of SRS resources and/to the number of transmission layers. The second SRI field may only indicate SRS resources with the same number of transmission layers as the first SRI field. In some embodiments, the first SRI field may be associated with one of the first and second SRS resource sets based on the first number (that is, N_SBS_a) and the second number (that is, N_SBS_b) , and/or the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) .

In some embodiments, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the one SRS resource set may lead to a less number of reserved codepoints in the SRI indication table. In some embodiments, if the first number equals to the second number, that is, N_SBS_a=N_SBS_b, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set. For example, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the number of SRS resources in the one SRS resource set is 1. Alternatively, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the number of SRS resources in the one SRS resource set is 2 and the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) is 1. Alternatively, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the number of SRS resources in the one SRS resource set is 4 and the maximum number of transmission layers (that is, L _max) is 1.

In some embodiments, if the first number is less than the second number, that is, N_SBS_a< N_SBS_b, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set. Alternatively, if the first number is greater than the second number, that is, N_SBS_a>N_SBS_b, the first SRI field may be associated with the second SRS resource set. Alternatively, in some embodiments, if the first number is less than the second number, that is, N_SBS_a< N_SBS_b, the first SRI field may be associated with the second SRS resource set. Alternatively, if the first number is greater than the second number, that is, N_SBS_a> N_SBS_b, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set. In some embodiments, if the first number equals to the second number, that is, N_SBS_a=N_SBS_b, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, if one of the first number and the second number is 1, that is, N_SBS_a= 1 or N_SBS_b = 1, the first SRI field may be associated with the SRS resource set with only one SRS resource. In this case, there may be 0 bit for the first SRI field in DCI and the second SRI field may be used to indicate at least one of the following: single-TRP transmission (that is, PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set) or multi-TRP transmission (that is, PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets) ; which TRP is to be used for the single-TRP transmission (that is, which SRS resource set is to be used for PUSCH transmissions) ; and which order is to be used for the multi-TRP transmission (that is, which order of SRS resource sets is to be used for PUSCH transmissions) .

In some embodiments, if the maximum number of transmission layers is 1, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 1 or 2 or 4 SRS resources if any. For example, if one of the first number and the second number is 3, that is, N_SBS_a= 3 or N_SBS_b = 3, the second SRI field may be associated with the SRS resource set one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 3 SRS resources.

In some embodiments, if the maximum number of transmission layers is 2, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 1 SRS resource if any. Otherwise, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 2 SRS resources if any. Otherwise, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, if the maximum number of transmission layers is 3, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 1 SRS resource if any. Otherwise, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 2 or 3 SRS resources if any. Otherwise, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, if the maximum number of transmission layers is 4, the first SRI field may be associated with one SRS resource set selected from the first and second SRS resource sets, where the SRS resource set has (or is configured to include) 1 SRS resource if any. Otherwise, the first SRI field may be associated with the first SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, for multi-TRP transmission, the order of TRPs may be indicated by demodulation reference signal (DMRS) information. For example, the information may be comprised/configured/indicated in DCI. For example, the DMRS information may comprise at least one of the following: the number of DMRS CDM group (s) without data, DMRS port (s) , the number of front-end symbols, the DMRS port index, the index of the first DMRS port, the index of CDM group, the index of CDM group with the first DMRS port, DMRS sequence initialization and the like.

In the following, the terms “DMRS port” , “first DMRS port” , “CDM group” and “CDM group with the first DMRS port” can be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a configuration/indication for the association/application between the SRS resource set and the subset of PUSCH transmissions (or the precoder for the subset of PUSCH transmissions) . In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a first configuration/indication that at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource sets may be applied for or associated with the first subset of PUSCH transmissions and at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the second subset of PUSCH transmissions. The terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a second configuration/indication that at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource sets may be applied for or associated with the first subset of PUSCH transmissions and at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set may be applied for or associated with the second subset of PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a first configuration/indication that the first subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource sets and the second subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource set. The terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with a second configuration/indication that the first subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the first subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the second SRS resource sets and the second subset of PUSCH transmissions or the precoder for the second subset of PUSCH transmissions may be based on or correspond to at least one SRS resource in the first SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured/indicated with G DMRS ports or H CDM groups, where G and H each are a positive integer. For example, G may be any of {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} . For another example, H may be any of {1, 2, 3} . In some embodiments, the index of the G DMRS ports may be any of {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} . In some embodiments, the index of the H CDM groups may be any of {1, 2, 3} . In some embodiments, the G DMRS ports and/or the indices of the G DMRS ports and/or the H CDM groups and/or the indices of the H CDM groups may be divided into two subsets (for example, subset 1 and subset 2) . In some embodiments, the first configuration/indication may be regarded as the index of DMRS port and/or the index of the first DMRS port and/or the index of CDM group and/or the index of the CDM group which includes the first DMRS port belonging to subset 1. The second configuration/indication may be regarded as the index of DMRS port and/or the index of the first DMRS port and/or the index of CDM group and/or the index of the CDM group which includes the first DMRS port belonging to subset 2. In some embodiments, the first configuration/indication may be regarded as the value of the DMRS sequence initialization, which is 0, for example, and the second configuration/indication may be regarded as the value of the DMRS sequence initialization, which is 1, for example. In some embodiments, subset 1 may include the indices of DMRS ports, for example, {0, 1, 2, 3} or {0, 1, 4, 5} or {0, 1, 6, 7} or {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} . Subset 2 may include the indices of DMRS ports, for example, {4, 5, 6, 7} or {2, 3, 6, 7} or {4, 5, 8, 9} or {6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} . In some embodiments, subset 1 may include the index of CDM group with value 0 and/or 2, and subset 2 may include the index of CDM group with value 1.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B illustrate examples of such embodiments. As shown in FIG. 9A, if an index of the DMRS port is even, the order of TRPs for PUSCH transmissions may be Order 1 (that is, the first SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions) . Otherwise, the order of TRPs for PUSCH transmissions may be Order 2 (that is, the second SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions) . As shown in FIG. 9B, if DMRS ports are selected from DMRS port group {0, 1, 4, 5} , {0, 1, 6, 7} or {4, 5, 10, 11} , the order of TRPs for PUSCH transmissions may be Order 1 (that is, the first SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions) . Otherwise, the order of TRPs for PUSCH transmissions may be Order 2 (that is, the second SRS resource set may be applied for an initial PUSCH transmission/repetition or the first one of the set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions) .

In some embodiments, additional indication (s) /value (s) (for example, represented as indi_2) may be introduced for DMRS configuration to indicate the order, where the index (es) of the DMRS port (s) and the number of DMRS CDM group (s) without data and the number of front-loaded symbols indicated by the additional indication/value are the same as those indicated by one of the indications/values (for example, represented as indi_1) in at least one of Tables 7.3.1.1.2-6A/7/7A/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23 in TS 38.212 of 3GPP specifications. The difference between the indi_1 and the indi_2 is that the order by indicated indi_1 is different from the order indicated by indi_2. For example, as shown in FIG. 9B, the order indicated by value 0 is different from the order indicated by value 10. The order indicated by value 3 is different from the order indicated by value 11.

In view of the above, it can be seen that embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for indicating dynamic switching between single-TRP based PUSCH transmissions and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmissions. This solution can use at least one of SRI fields and TPC fields comprised in a DCI format to indicate information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets. In this way, this solution can support dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission without introducing additional signaling overhead.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1000 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 1000 can be implemented at the network device 110 as shown in FIG. 1.

At block 1010, in response to a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets being configured to a terminal device (for example, the terminal device 120) , the network device 110 transmits, to the terminal device 120, DCI for scheduling PUSCH transmissions. The DCI may comprise a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of TPC fields. At least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets.

At block 1020, the network device 110 receives the PUSCH transmissions from the terminal device 120 based on the DCI.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may be configured with an SRS resource with s ports in a SRS resource set, where s is a positive integer. The usage of the SRS resource set may be configured as “codebook” . For example, s may be any of {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8} . If the SRS resource set is configured with the usage “antennaSwitching” with sTsR, the network device 110 may assume that the terminal device 120 transmits these SRS resources in the same way, for example, with same virtualization. For example, the SRS measurement for codebook based uplink transmission can be used for downlink CSI measurement/acquisition.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may support or may be configured with maxNumberMIMO-LayersCB-PUSCH = x, maxNumberMIMO-LayersPDSCH = x, and supportedSRS-TxPortSwitch = 't2r2' / 't4r4' / 't1r1-t2r2' / 't1r1-t2r2-t4r4' , where x is a positive integer. For example, x may be any of {1, 2, 3, 4} . In some embodiments, when the terminal device 120 is configured with only one x-port SRS resource in a set with the usage “codebook” , and if the set is configured with the usage “antennaSwitching” with xTxR, the network device 110 may assume that the terminal device transmits these SRS resources in the same way, for example, with same virtualization. For example, such SRS resource can be used for DL CSI measurement or acquisition. In some embodiments, a RRC parameter may be introduced to enable the configuration, and the parameter may be subjected to the capability of the terminal device 120.

In some embodiments, a RRC parameter may be introduced to enable the sharing of SRS resource for codebook and for antenna switching. For example, the SRS resource may be included in a SRS resource set configured with the usage “codebook” , and the SRS resource may be included in another SRS resource set configured with the usage “antennaSwitching” .

In some embodiments, the plurality of SRS resource sets may comprise a first SRS resource set and a second SRS resource set having the same number of SRS resources. The plurality of SRI fields may comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field. The plurality of TPC fields may comprise a first TPC field and a second TPC field.

In some embodiments, SRS resources indicated by the first SRI field and SRS resources indicated by the second SRI field may be associated with the same number of transmission layers.

In some embodiments, the second SRI field may indicate one of the following: PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set; PUSCH transmissions based on the second SRS resource set; PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a first order; or PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource set in a second order.

In some embodiments, the second SRI field may indicate PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets. In response to the second SRI field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set, the second TPC field may indicate PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set or the second SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, the plurality of SRS resource sets may comprise a first SRS resource set having a first number of SRS resources and a second SRS resource set having a second number of SRS resources, the second number being different from the first number. The plurality of SRI fields may comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field.

In some embodiments, the network device 110 may associate the first SRI field with one of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set based on at least one of the following: the first number and the second number; and the maximum number of transmission layers.

In some embodiments, the at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields may indicate PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets. DMRS information comprised in the DCI may indicate an order of the multiple SRS resource sets for PUSCH transmissions.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 1100 can be implemented at the terminal device 120 as shown in FIG. 1.

At block 1110, in response to being configured with a plurality of SRS resource sets, the terminal device 120 receives, from a network device (for example, the network device 110) , DCI for scheduling PUSCH transmissions. The DCI may comprise a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of TPC fields. At least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields may indicate information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets.

At block 1120, the terminal device 120 performs the PUSCH transmissions to the network device based on the DCI.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may associate the first SRI field with one of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set based on at least one of the following: the first number and the second number; and the maximum number of transmission layers.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to: in response to a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets being configured to a terminal device, transmit, to the terminal device, DCI for scheduling PUSCH transmission, wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and receive the PUSCH transmissions from the terminal device based on the DCI.

In some embodiments, the plurality of SRS resource sets comprise a first SRS resource set and a second SRS resource set having the same number of SRS resources, the plurality of SRI fields comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field, and the plurality of TPC fields comprise a first TPC field and a second TPC field.

In some embodiments, SRS resources indicated by the first SRI field and SRS resources indicated by the second SRI field are associated with the same number of transmission layers.

In some embodiments, the second SRI field indicates one of the following: PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set; PUSCH transmissions based on the second SRS resource set; PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a first order; or PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a second order.

In some embodiments, the second SRI field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and in response to the second SRI field indicating PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set, the second TPC field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set or the second SRS resource set.

In some embodiments, the plurality of SRS resource sets comprise a first SRS resource set having a first number of SRS resources and a second SRS resource set having a second number of SRS resources, the second number being different from the first number, and the plurality of SRI fields comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field.

In some embodiments, the network device comprises circuitry configured to associate the first SRI field with one of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set based on at least one of the following: the first number and the second number; and the maximum number of transmission layers.

In some embodiments, the at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets; and DMRS information comprised in the DCI indicates an order of the multiple SRS resource sets for PUSCH transmissions.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to: in response to being configured with a plurality of SRS resource sets, receive, from a network device, DCI for scheduling PUSCH transmissions, wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and perform the PUSCH transmissions to the network device based on the DCI.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises circuitry configured to associate the first SRI field with one of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set based on at least one of the following: the first number and the second number; and the maximum number of transmission layers.

FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1200 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1200 can be considered as a further example implementation of the network device 110 and/or the terminal device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the device 1200 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the network device 110 and/or the terminal device 120 as shown in FIG. 1.

As shown, the device 1200 includes a processor 1210, a memory 1220 coupled to the processor 1210, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1240 coupled to the processor 1210, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 1240. The memory 1210 stores at least a part of a program 1230. The TX/RX 1240 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 1240 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2 interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the eNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB and a terminal device.

The program 1230 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1210, enable the device 1200 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGs 1 to 11. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1210 of the device 1200, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1210 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1210 and memory 1220 may form processing means 1250 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1220 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 1220 is shown in the device 1200, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1200. The processor 1210 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1200 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to FIGs 10 and 11. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include 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) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A method of communication, comprising:

in response to a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets being configured to a terminal device, transmitting, to the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions,

wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and

wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and

receiving the PUSCH transmissions from the terminal device based on the DCI.
The method of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of SRS resource sets comprise a first SRS resource set and a second SRS resource set having the same number of SRS resources,

the plurality of SRI fields comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field, and

the plurality of TPC fields comprise a first TPC field and a second TPC field.
The method of claim 2, wherein SRS resources indicated by the first SRI field and SRS resources indicated by the second SRI field are associated with the same number of transmission layers.
The method of claim 3, wherein the second SRI field indicates one of the following:

PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set;

PUSCH transmissions based on the second SRS resource set;

PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a first order; or

PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a second order.
The method of claim 3, wherein:

the second SRI field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and

in response to the second SRI field indicating PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set, the second TPC field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set or the second SRS resource set.
The method of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of SRS resource sets comprise a first SRS resource set having a first number of SRS resources and a second SRS resource set having a second number of SRS resources, the second number being different from the first number, and

the plurality of SRI fields comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field.
The method of claim 6, wherein SRS resources indicated by the first SRI field and SRS resources indicated by the second SRI field are associated with the same number of transmission layers.
The method of claim 7, further comprising:

associating the first SRI field with one of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set based on at least one of the following:

the first number and the second number; and

the maximum number of transmission layers.
The method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets; and

demodulation reference signal (DMRS) information comprised in the DCI indicates an order of the multiple SRS resource sets for PUSCH transmissions.
A method of communication, comprising:

in response to being configured with a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets, receiving, from a network device, downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions,

wherein the DCI comprises a plurality of SRI fields corresponding to the plurality of SRS resource sets and a plurality of transmission power control (TPC) fields, and

wherein at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and

performing the PUSCH transmissions to the network device based on the DCI.
The method of claim 10, wherein:

the plurality of SRS resource sets comprise a first SRS resource set and a second SRS resource set having the same number of SRS resources,

the plurality of SRI fields comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field, and

the plurality of TPC fields comprise a first TPC field and a second TPC field.
The method of claim 11, wherein SRS resources indicated by the first SRI field and SRS resources indicated by the second SRI field are associated with the same number of transmission layers.
The method of claim 12, wherein the second SRI field indicates one of the following:

PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set;

PUSCH transmissions based on the second SRS resource set;

PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a first order; or

PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets in a second order.
The method of claim 12, wherein:

the second SRI field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets; and

in response to the second SRI field indicating PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set, the second TPC field indicates PUSCH transmissions based on the first SRS resource set or the second SRS resource set.
The method of claim 10, wherein:

the plurality of SRS resource sets comprise a first SRS resource set having a first number of SRS resources and a second SRS resource set having a second number of SRS resources, the second number being different from the first number, and

the plurality of SRI fields comprise a first SRI field and a second SRI field.
The method of claim 15, wherein SRS resources indicated by the first SRI field and SRS resources indicated by the second SRI field are associated with the same number of transmission layers.
The method of claim 16, further comprising:

associating the first SRI field with one of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set based on at least one of the following:

the first number and the second number; and

the maximum number of transmission layers.
The method of claim 10, wherein:

the at least one of the plurality of SRI fields and the plurality of TPC fields indicates PUSCH transmissions based on multiple SRS resource sets; and

demodulation reference signal (DMRS) information comprised in the DCI indicates an order of the multiple SRS resource sets for PUSCH transmissions.
A network device comprising circuitry configured to perform the method according to any of claims 1-9.
A terminal device comprising circuitry configured to perform the method according to any of claims 10-18.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1-9.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 10-18.