WO2023010295A1

WO2023010295A1 - Panel-specific uplink transmission method and user equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2023010295A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/110400
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tian LI; Jia SHENG
Original assignee: Huizhou Tcl Cloud Internet Corporation Technology Co. Ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-03
Filing date: 2021-08-03
Publication date: 2023-02-09
Also published as: CN117796091A

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) executes a panel-specific uplink transmission method. The UE determines association between UE panel entities and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for transmission of uplink control information (UCI). The association comprises panel resource allocation that indicates a selected panel entity associated with a PUCCH resource. The UE transmits the UCI according to the association.

Description

PANEL-SPECIFIC UPLINK TRANSMISSION METHOD AND USER EQUIPMENT

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to a panel-specific uplink transmission method and user equipment.

Background Art

Wireless communication systems, such as the third-generation (3G) of mobile telephone standards and technology are well known. Such 3G standards and technology have been developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . The 3rd generation of wireless communications has generally been developed to support macro-cell mobile phone communications. Communication systems and networks have developed towards being a broadband and mobile system. In cellular wireless communication systems, user equipment (UE) is connected by a wireless link to a radio access network (RAN) . The RAN comprises a set of base stations (BSs) that provide wireless links to the UEs located in cells covered by the base station, and an interface to a core network (CN) which provides overall network control. As will be appreciated, the RAN and CN each conduct respective functions in relation to the overall network. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project has developed the so-called Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, namely, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunication System Territorial Radio Access Network, (E-UTRAN) , for a mobile access network where one or more macro-cells are supported by a base station known as an eNodeB or eNB (evolved NodeB) . More recently, LTE is evolving further towards the so-called 5G or NR (new radio) systems where one or more cells are supported by a base station known as a gNB.

To exploit multiple path propagation, multi-input multi-output (MIMO) is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmitting antennas and multiple receiving antennas deployed at a transmitter and a receiver. MIMO is a practical technique that improves spectral efficiency by sending and receiving multiple data streams simultaneously over the same radio channel.

Technical Problem

Since a UE can be equipped with multiple panel entities (i.e., transmission/reception points, TRPs) of which one or multiple panel entities can be activated at a time. If one or multiple panel entities are used for transmitting PUCCH, which panel entity is to be used for transmitting the PUCCH from a UE to a gNB should be determined.

If multiple panel entities are used for PUCCH transmission, a UE can transmit more uplink control information (UCI) information bits and reduce collisions between different UCI transmissions. Therefore, when multiple panel entities are used for PUCCH transmission, PUCCH resource allocation should be determined.

PUCCH may comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, channel state information (CSI) , or scheduling request (SR) HARQ feedback is referred to as HARQ-ACK and may comprise acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK) . Channel state information (CSI) represents the channel properties of a communication link. SR is a special physical layer message sent from a UE to ask the network for uplink (UL) Grant (i.e., downlink control information (DCI) Format 0) so that the UE can transmit physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . For single-TRP/panel based PUCCH transmission, if the HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI report are transmitted in the same slot, and the total number of UCI information bits exceed a payload limit of PUCCH resources, a part of the UCI information bits is dropped.

Technical Solution

An object of the present disclosure is to propose a panel-specific uplink transmission method and user equipment.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the invention provides an uplink configuration method, executable in a user equipment (UE) , comprising: determining association between UE panel entities and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for transmission of uplink control information (UCI) , wherein the association comprises panel resource allocation that indicates a selected panel entity associated with a PUCCH resource; and transmitting the UCI according to the association.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the invention provides a user equipment (UE) comprising a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the disclosed method.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the invention provides uplink configuration method, executable in a user equipment (UE) , comprising: determining panel entity allocation for different uplink control information (UCI) information bits; and sending the UCI information bits according to the panel entity allocation.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the invention provides a UE comprising a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the disclosed method.

The disclosed method may be implemented in a chip. The chip may include a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the disclosed method.

The disclosed method may be programmed as computer-executable instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable medium, when loaded to a computer, directs a processor of the computer to execute the disclosed method.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may comprise at least one from a group consisting of: a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a Read-Only Memory, a Programmable Read Only Memory, an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory, EPROM, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory and a Flash memory.

The disclosed method may be programmed as a computer program product, that causes a computer to execute the disclosed method.

The disclosed method may be programmed as a computer program, that causes a computer to execute the disclosed method.

Advantageous Effects

Embodiments of this disclosure provide a new design for PUCCH transmission, through which the transmitter is allowed to apply the panel specific PUCCH transmission.

In this disclosure, several solutions are proposed to apply the panel specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, which include PUCCH resource allocation based on association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources. PUCCH resources may be allocated based on an uplink control information (UCI) type, dropping rules, and priority of PUCCH.

● Regarding the association, several embodiments of association method are provided to associate common or dedicated PUCCH resources with the panel entities.

● Regarding allocation based on an UCI type, PUCCH resources are allocated based on a number of UCI types and panel entities.

● Regarding allocation based on the dropping rules, PUCCH resources are allocated based on a number of information bits.

● PUCCH resources are allocated based on priority of the PUCCH.

Embodiments of this disclosure provide and enhances for panel specific PUCCH transmission.

Description of Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related art, the following figures will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, a person having ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view showing an example of multi-TRP/panel transmission and an example of single-TRP/panel based PUCCH transmission;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a telecommunication system.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic view showing an embodiment of the disclosed panel-specific uplink transmission method.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic view showing another embodiment of the disclosed panel-specific uplink transmission method.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic view showing three UCI types being transmitted from three panel entities.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic view showing HARQ-ACK and CSI report being transmitted from two panel entities.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic view showing an example of three UCI types being transmitted from two panel entities.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic view showing another example of three UCI types being transmitted from two panel entities.

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic view showing an example of a dropped CSI report being transmitted from another panel entity.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic view showing an example of a dropped CSI report being transmitted from another panel entity.

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic view showing an example of PUCCHs with different priorities being transmitted from two panel entities.

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic view showing an example of CSI reports with different priorities being transmitted from two panel entities.

FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic view showing a system for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail with the technical matters, structural features, achieved objects, and effects with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. Specifically, the terminologies in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for describing the purpose of the certain embodiment, but not to limit the disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 1 (a) , a UE 10 comprises

panel entities

41, 42, and 43, and operates multi-TRP/panel transmission in NR to transmit PUCCH in different transmission occasions toward different TRPs, such as TRPs 100_1 and 100_2. Additionally, multiple PUCCHs can be transmitted from multiple panel entities of the UE 10 simultaneously toward multiple TRPs. PUCCH transmission to different TRPs can avoid possible blockage between any TRP and the UE 10. As a result, PUCCH transmission towards multiple TRPs can enhance communication reliability and improve coverage.

As is shown in FIG. 1 (b) , each of UE 10 and UE 10_2 performs single-TRP/panel transmission in NR to transmit PUCCH a panel toward a TRP. In the operation of single-TRP/panel transmission, only one panel entity, such as one of the

panel entities

41, 42, and 43, is activated to save transmission power. Single-TRP/panel transmission can also simplify PUCCH detection in a gNB, such as one or more gNBs connected to the TRP 100_1 or the TRP100_2.

If the UE 10 does not have dedicated PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter PUCCH-Config) , a common PUCCH resource set (e.g., higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) is provided through an index to a row of Table 1 for transmission of UCI on PUCCH in an initial UL BWP.. Each entry (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) of a 16-row table (i.e., Table 1) provides a set of cell-specific PUCCH resources/parameters..

Table 1: PUCCH resource sets before dedicated PUCCH resource configuration

In Table 1, PRB is physical resources block, CS is cyclic shift,

is an offset for a bandwidth part (BWP) in units of PRBs.

In TS38.214 Rel-15/16, a CSI report is associated with a priority value Pri _iCSI (y, k, c, s) . If the value Pri _iCSI (y, k, c, s) for a first CSI report is lower than the value Pri _iCSI (y, k, c, s) for a second CSI report, the first CSI report has priority over the second CSI report. Here, the Pri _iCSI (y, k, c, s) is defined as:

Pri _iCSI (y, k, c, s) =2·N _cell·M _s·y+N _cell·M _s·k+M _s·c+s (1)

Where:

· y=0 for aperiodic CSI reports to be carried on PUSCH, y=1 for semi-persistent CSI reports to be carried on PUSCH, y=2 for semi-persistent CSI reports to be carried on PUCCH and y=3 for periodic CSI reports to be carried on PUCCH;

· k=0 for CSI reports carrying L1-RSRP or L1-SINR and k=1 for CSI reports not carrying L1-RSRP or L1-SINR;

· c is the serving cell index and N _cell is the value of the higher layer parameter maxNrofServingCells;

· s is the higher layer parameter reportConfigID and M _s is the value of the higher layer parameter maxNrofCSI-ReportConfigurations.

With reference to FIG. 2, an example of each of the UE 10 and UE 10_2 in the description may include the UE 10a. An example of the base station in the description may include the

base station

20a or 20b. A first TRP and a second TRP in the description may comprise two radio nodes. The two radio nodes may be connected to one base station or two different base stations. Uplink (UL) transmission of a control signal or data may be a transmission operation from a UE to a base station. Downlink (DL) transmission of a control signal or data may be a transmission operation from a base station to a UE.

With reference to FIG. 2, a telecommunication system including a UE 10a, a base station 20a, a base station 20b, and a network entity device 30 executes the disclosed method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is shown for illustrative not limiting, and the system may comprise more UEs, BSs, and CN entities. Connections between devices and device components are shown as lines and arrows in the FIGs. The UE 10a may include a processor 11a, a memory 12a, and a transceiver 13a. The base station 20a may include a processor 21a, a memory 22a, and a transceiver 23a. The base station 20b may include a processor 21b, a memory 22b, and a transceiver 23b. The network entity device 30 may include a processor 31, a memory 32, and a transceiver 33. Each of the

processors

11a, 21a, 21b, and 31 may be configured to implement proposed functions, procedures, and/or methods described in this description. Layers of radio interface protocol may be implemented in the

processors

11a, 21a, 21b, and 31. Each of the

memory

12a, 22a, 22b, and 32 operatively stores a variety of programs and information to operate a connected processor. Each of the

transceivers

13a, 23a, 23b, and 33 is operatively coupled with a connected processor, transmits and/or receives a radio signal. Each of the

base stations

20a and 20b may be an eNB, a gNB, or one of other radio nodes.

Each of the

processors

11a, 21a, 21b, and 31 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU) , application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) , other chipsets, logic circuits and/or data processing devices. Each of the

memory

12a, 22a, 22b, and 32 may include read-only memory (ROM) , a random access memory (RAM) , a flash memory, a memory card, a storage medium and/or other storage devices. Each of the

transceivers

13a, 23a, 23b, and 33 may include baseband circuitry and radio frequency (RF) circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules, procedures, functions, entities and so on, that perform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored in a memory and executed by the processors. The memory can be implemented within a processor or external to the processor, in which those can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means are known in the art.

The network entity device 30 may be a node in a CN. CN may include LTE CN or 5GC which may include user plane function (UPF) , session management function (SMF) , mobility management function (AMF) , unified data management (UDM) , policy control function (PCF) , control plane (CP) /user plane (UP) separation (CUPS) , authentication server (AUSF) , network slice selection function (NSSF) , and the network exposure function (NEF) .

Association between a UE panel entity and a set of PUCCH resources:

Since multiple panel entities, such as the panel entities 41-43, are contained the UE 10, and one or more of the panel entities can be activated by the UE 10 at a time, if one or more of the panel entities are used for transmitting PUCCH, the allocation of the panel entities used for transmitting the PUCCH from the UE 10 to the base station is determined. Embodiments of the disclosed method are proposed to define the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources.

With reference to FIG. 3, a base station 20 allocates physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources to uplink control information (UCI) of one or more UCI types of the UE (210) . The UCI types may comprise HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI report. The allocation of PUCCH resources can be performed through dynamic grant (DG) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The allocation of PUCCH resources can be referred to as PUCCH resource configuration and may be signaled from the base station 20 to the UE 10in one or more of the following higher layer parameters:

● higher layer parameter resource;

● pucch-CSI-ResourceList;

● PUCCH-ResourceSet in PUCCH-Config;

● pucch-ResourceCommon;

● PUCCH-Config;

● sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID;

● SPS-PUCCH-AN-r16;

● SchedulingRequestResourceConfig;

● SPS-PUCCH-AN-List;

● sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID; and

● multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList.

The UE 10 determines association between UE panel entities, such as panel entities 41-43, and PUCCH resources for transmission of UCI (212) . The association between the UE panel entities and the PUCCH resources comprises panel resource allocation that indicates a selected panel entity associated with a set of PUCCH resources. A set of PUCCH resources may be referred to as a PUCCH resource set in the following. The UE 10 transmits the UCI to the base station 20 according to the association (214) . The base station 20 receives the UCI from the UE 10 (216) .

Common PUCCH resource:

Before the base station 20 provides dedicated PUCCH configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Config) to the UE 10, the UE 10 uses common PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) to transmit HARQ ACK/NACK in an initial UL BWP (e.g., during initial access) to the base station 20, where the common PUCCH resource configuration comprises the index to a row of the table of PUCCH resource sets. Each entry (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) of the 16-row table (i.e., Table 1) of PUCCH resource sets provides a set of cell-specific PUCCH resources/parameters. Once the base station 20 provides a dedicated PUCCH configuration for the bandwidth part of the UE 10, the UE 10 applies the dedicated PUCCH resource configuration instead of the common PUCCH resource configuration. Since the UE 10 may have multiple active panel entities and multiple common PUCCH resource sets, the association between UE panel entities and common PUCCH resource sets should be defined.

(1) Associated with a dedicated panel entity:

In an embodiment, the UE 10 may associate all the common PUCCH resource sets with a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the panel entity with the lowest ID) among the panel entities, such as the panel entities 41-43. The embodiment can simplify the process of selecting by the UE 10 a panel entity for PUCCH transmission in an initial UL BWP.

In the embodiment, when the dedicated PUCCH configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Config) is not configured for the UE 10, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the common PUCCH resource sets of the UE 10 (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) are associated with a dedicated panel entity. For example, all the common PUCCH resource sets are associated with the panel entity with the lowest ID, where each common PUCCH resource set in the common PUCCH resource sets corresponds to an entry of a 16-row table (i.e., Table 1) of PUCCH resource sets. The UE 10 selects a panel entity as the dedicated panel entity and transmits UCI to the base station 20 through the dedicated panel entity and a PUCCH resource set associated with the dedicated panel entity.

(2) Associated with the same panel entity as PUSCH scheduled by a random access response (RAR) UL grant:

If the PUCCH transmission with a common PUCCH resource set is transmitted through the same panel entity as PUSCH scheduled by a RAR UL grant, a spatial relation for the PUCCH transmission can be the same as a spatial relation for the PUSCH scheduled by a RAR UL grant.

In an embodiment, when the dedicated PUCCH configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Config) is not configured for the UE 01, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the common PUCCH resource sets of the UE 10 (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) are associated with the same panel entity as PUSCH scheduled by a RAR UL grant for the UE 10. The UE 10 transmits PUCCH through the same panel entity as the PUSCH scheduled by a RAR UL grant for the UE 10.

(3) Fixed association:

To fully exploit the active panel entities for PUCCH transmission, different common PUCCH resource sets can be associated with different panel entities and the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources may comprise fixed mapping relationships between UE panel entities and groups of the PUCCH resource sets.

In an embodiment, when the dedicated PUCCH configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Config) is not configured for the UE 10, the common PUCCH resource sets (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-ResourceCommon) for the UE 10 are divided into multiple groups of common PUCCH resource sets, and the number of the groups is equal to the number of active panel entities in the UE panel entities. In the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, each of the groups of common PUCCH resource sets is associated with one of the UE panel entities. For example, if two of the panel entities 41-43 are activated by the UE 10, the number of the active panel entities is 2, the 16 common PUCCH resource sets can be divided into 2 groups, and the first half of the common PUCCH resource sets are associated with the first panel entity, and the second half of the common PUCCH resource sets are associated with the second panel.

Dedicated PUCCH resource:

Regarding the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter PUCCH-Config) carrying at least the HARQ-ACK information in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format, up to 4 PUCCH resource sets (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) can be configured for HARQ-ACK. The first PUCCH resource set in the 4 PUCCH resource sets has up to 32 PUCCH resources being configured. Each of the second to fourth PUCCH resource sets has up to 8 PUCCH resources being configured.

Regarding HARQ-ACK information in response to a PDSCH reception without a corresponding PDCCH, the PUCCH resource for carrying the HARQ-ACK information is provided by semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID) . Regarding the PUCCH carrying scheduling request (SR) , the PUCCH resource for carrying the SR is determined by the PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter resource) included in corresponding SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) . Regarding the PUCCH carrying a CSI report, the PUCCH resource for carrying the CSI report is determined by the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report or is selected from the resources provided by multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) .

Since the UE 10 may use various kinds of PUCCH resources carrying different UCI types through multiple panel entities, different PUCCH resources can be associated with different panel entities. Therefore, the UE 10 may determine association between a UE panel entity and a dedicated PUCCH resource.

Explicit signaling method:

(1) PUCCH resources:

Each of the panel entities may have a panel entity identifier (ID) . If a panel entity ID is included in the PUCCH resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Resource) , the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources can be explicitly determined. Thus, when transmitting UCI of a UCI type (e.g., one of HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI) , the UE 10 selects a panel entity for PUCCH transmission regardless of the UCI type. An embodiment of the invention provides a unified method to explicitly include a panel entity ID in the PUCCH resource configuration. In the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, a UE panel entity of a panel entity ID is included in a higher layer parameter PUCCH resource configured in one or more of the following higher layer parameters:

● a PUCCH resource parameter;

● a PUCCH resource set configuration;

● a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PUCCH resource parameter;

● a scheduling request (SR) resource configuration; and

● a PUCCH channel state information (CSI) resource parameter.

In an embodiment, a panel entity ID can be included in PUCCH resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Resource) to indicate the association between a UE panel entity of the panel entity ID and a PUCCH resource. That is, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the UE panel entity of the panel entity ID is associated with a PUCCH resource configured in the PUCCH resource parameter, and the PUCCH resource parameter includes the panel entity ID. When the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on the configured PUCCH resource, the UE 10 obtains the panel entity ID from the PUCCH resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-Resource) , and transmits the UCI on the configured PUCCH resource through the UE panel entity of the panel entity ID associated with the configured PUCCH resource.

(2) PUCCH carrying at least HARQ-ACK:

If a panel entity ID is included in the PUCCH resource set configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) , the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources can be explicitly determined. Thus, when the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on a PUCCH resource set configured by the PUCCH resource set configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) , the UE 10 selects a panel entity for PUCCH transmission according to the panel entity ID included in the corresponding PUCCH resource set configuration.

In an embodiment, for the PUCCH resource set configured by the higher layer parameter in the PUCCH resource set configuration, a panel entity ID can be included in the PUCCH resource set configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) to indicate the association between a UE panel entity of the panel entity ID and the configured PUCCH resources set. That is, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the UE panel entity of the panel entity ID is associated with a PUCCH resource set configured in the PUCCH resource set configuration, and the PUCCH resource set configuration includes the panel entity ID. When the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on the configured PUCCH resource set, the UE 10 obtains the panel entity ID from the PUCCH resource set configuration. With the panel entity ID, the UE 10 can select the panel entity of the panel entity ID for transmitting UCI on the PUCCH resource set.

(3) PUCCH carrying SPS HARQ-ACK:

If a panel entity ID is included in the SPS PUCCH resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter SPS-PUCCH-AN-r16) , the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources carrying SPS HARQ-ACK can be explicitly determined. Thus, when the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on a PUCCH resource configured by the SPS PUCCH resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter SPS-PUCCH-AN-r16) , the UE 10 selects the panel entity for PUCCH transmission according to the panel entity ID included in the corresponding PUCCH resource parameter.

In an embodiment, a panel entity ID can be included in SPS PUCCH resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter SPS-PUCCH-AN-r16) to indicate the association between a UE panel entity of the panel entity ID and the configured PUCCH resource. That is, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the UE panel entity of the panel entity ID is associated with a PUCCH resource configured in the SPS PUCCH resource parameter, and the SPS PUCCH resource parameter includes the panel entity ID. When the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on the configured PUCCH resource, the UE 10 obtains the panel entity ID from the SPS PUCCH resource parameter in the PUCCH resource configuration. With the panel entity ID, the UE 10 can select the panel entity of the panel entity ID for transmitting the UCI on the configured PUCCH resource carrying SPS HARQ-ACK.

(4) PUCCH carrying SR:

If a panel entity ID is included in the SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) , the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources carrying SR can be explicitly determined. Thus, when the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on a PUCCH resource configured by the SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) , the UE 10 selects a panel entity of the panel entity ID for PUCCH transmission according to the panel entity ID included in the corresponding SR resource configuration.

In an embodiment, a panel entity ID can be included in SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) to indicate the association between a UE panel entity of the panel entity ID and a PUCCH resource configured by the SR resource configuration. That is, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the UE panel entity of the panel entity ID is associated with a PUCCH resource configured in the SR resource configuration, and the SR resource configuration includes the panel entity ID. When the UE 10 is ready to transmit SR as UCI on the configured PUCCH resource, the UE 10 obtains the panel entity ID from the SR resource configuration. With the panel entity ID, the UE 10 can select the panel entity of the panel entity ID for transmitting the PUCCH carrying the SR on the configured PUCCH resource.

(5) PUCCH carrying CSI report:

If a panel entity ID is included in the PUCCH CSI resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-CSI-Resource) , the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources carrying CSI can be explicitly determined. Thus, when the UE 10 is ready to transmit CSI as UCI on a PUCCH resource configured by the PUCCH CSI resource parameter (e.g., higher layer parameter PUCCH-CSI-Resource) , the UE 10 selects a panel entity of the panel entity ID for PUCCH transmission according to the panel entity ID included in the corresponding CSI resource configuration.

In an embodiment, a panel entity ID can be included in PUCCH CSI resource parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-CSI-Resource) to indicate the association between a UE panel entity of the panel entity ID and a PUCCH resource configured by the PUCCH CSI resource parameter. That is, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, the UE panel entity of the panel entity ID is associated with a PUCCH resource configured in the PUCCH CSI resource parameter, and the PUCCH CSI resource parameter includes the panel entity ID.When the UE 10 is ready to transmit a given CSI report as UCI on the configured PUCCH resource, the UE 10 obtains the panel entity ID from the PUCCH CSI resource parameter in the PUCCH resource configuration. With the panel entity ID, the UE 10 can select the panel entity of the panel entity ID for transmitting the PUCCH carrying the CSI report on the configured PUCCH resource.

Based on UCI type:

In an embodiment where the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources is based on the UCI type, the UE 10 associates each UCI type with a dedicated panel. That is, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, of a UCI type is associated with one of the UE panel entities, or two or more UCI types are associated with one of the UE panel entities. In other words, if the UE 10 transmits UCI of a UCI type in PUCCH, the UE 10 determines a panel entity associated with the UCI type and transmits the UCI on PUCCH from the determined panel entity. Thus, the embodiment can simplify the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources.

In an embodiment, if multiple UCI types are transmitted in PUCCH from multiple panel entities, each UCI type corresponds to a dedicated panel. For example, when the UE 10 attempts to transmit UCIs of three UCI types, such as HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report, and the number of available panel entity is at least 3, the HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report can be transmitted in PUCCHs from the first, second, and third panel entity (e.g., panel entities 41-43) respectively. For example, when the UE 10 attempts to transmit UCIs of two UCI types, such as two of HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report, and the number of available panel entity is 2, the HARQ-ACK and SR may be multiplexed and transmitted from the first panel entity of the UE 10, and CSI report can be transmitted from the second panel of the UE 10. The detailed association between panel entity and UCI type is illustrated in Table 2.

Table 2: Association between panel entity and UCI type

Fixed association:

Since multiple PUCCH resource sets are configured by the higher layer parameter, different PUCCH resource sets can be associated with different panel entities and the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources set can be fixed or pre-defined. Thus, when the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on a given PUCCH resource, the panel entity for the PUCCH transmission can be determined according to the pre-defined association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resource sets. Therefore, without the additional signaling of panel entity ID, the radio resource control (RRC) signaling overhead can be reduced. In the embodiment, the PUCCH resource sets may be dedicated PUCCH resource sets.

In an embodiment, for the PUCCH resource sets configured by the higher layer parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) , the PUCCH resource sets are divided into multiple groups and each group is associated with an active panel entity, where the number of the group is equal to the number of the panel entities. The association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources sets is fixed and negotiated between the base station and the UE 10. That is, the UE 10 and the base station 20 keep the same copy of the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources sets is. The UE keeps a first copy of the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resource sets, and a base station keeps a second copy of the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resource sets, and the first copy is kept the same as the second copy. In detail, a first group of PUCCH resource sets is mapped to a first panel entity, and a second group of PUCCH resource sets is mapped to a second panel entity and so on, where a group of PUCCH resource sets may include one or more PUCCH resource sets (e.g., the higher layer parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) . For example, the PUCCH resource set#0 and PUCCH resource set#1 are associated with a panel entity#0, the PUCCH resource set#2 and PUCCH resource set#3 are associated with a panel entity#1. When the UE 10 is ready to transmit UCI on a PUCCH resource of a given PUCCH resource set, the UE 10 selects a panel entity based on the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources sets.

PUCCH resource allocation based on UCI type:

Since one or multiple panel entities can be activated at a time, one or multiple panel entities can be simultaneously used for the PUCCH transmission. If multiple panel entities are used for PUCCH transmission, the UE 10 can transmit more UCI information bits and the collisions between different UCI transmissions can be reduced. Therefore, when multiple panel entities are used for PUCCH transmission, the UE 10 determines PUCCH resource allocation.

With reference to FIG. 4, a base station 20 allocates PUCCH resources to UCI of one or more UCI types of the UE (220) . The allocation of PUCCH resources can be performed through dynamic grant (DG) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The UE 10 determines panel entity allocation for different, such as allocation of the panel entities 41-43, for different UCI information bits (222) . The UE 10 transmits the UCI information bits to the base station 20 according to the panel entity allocation (224) . The base station 20 receives the UCI information bits from the UE 10 (226) .

If the UE 10 has HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report in a same time domain unit, such as a slot, and transmits UCI of different UCI types from different panel entities, an embodiment of PUCCH resource allocation based on UCI type can simplify the process of determining the PUCCH resource. Various embodiments of the invention are provided according to the number of UCI types and panel entities.

The number of UCI types is no greater than the number of panel entities:

(1) Three UCI types of UCI information bits:

If the number of UCI types that the UE 10 transmit in the same slot is no greater than the number of panel entities of the UE 10, the UE 10 can transmit a UCI type of UCI information bits from one of the panel entities of the UE 10, so that each of the UCI types of the UCI information bits is transmitted from a separate panel entity among panel entities of the UE 10. Thus, the UE 10 can transmit as much UCI information bits as possible.

In an embodiment, if HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report are transmitted in a same slot by the UE 10 and the number of the panel entity is at least 3, the UE 10 may transmit each UCI type of UCI information bits from a separate panel. With reference to FIG. 5, the UE 10 transmits HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report from a first, second and third panel entity in slot n respectively.

In detail, regarding the PUCCH resource of PUCCH transmission for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , if the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH transmission are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format or in response to a SPS PDSCH release, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource set according to a number of the HARQ-ACK information bits and selects the PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission. The UE sends the HARQ-ACK information bits through the selected PUCCH resource. In an embodiment, if the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to SPS PDSCH reception and the UE 10 is provided a SPS PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter SPS-PUCCH-AN-List) , the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource provided by an SPS PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID) for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the SR information bits from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , the UE 10 may determine a PUCCH resource according to a PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter resource) configured in SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) , which is identified by an SR resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceId or schedulingRequestID-BFR-SCell) . The UE 10 sends the SR information bits through the determined PUCCH resource.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the CSI report from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the third panel entity) , if the UE 10 transmits only a single CSI report, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource provided by a PUCCH CSI resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) . The UE 10 transmits the CSI report through the PUCCH resource from a dedicated panel entity. When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the UE 10 is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH- ResourceList) or if the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE 10 uses a PUCCH resource (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report. When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the multiple CSI reports overlap in the slot and the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) , the UE 10 may select a PUCCH resource from PUCCH resources provided by the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list to multiplex all the CSI reports, where the UE 10 selects the PUCCH resource based on a number of bits of the CSI reports. The UE 10 transmits the CSI reports through the PUCCH resource from a dedicated panel entity.

(2) Two UCI types of UCI information bits:

If the UE 10 transmits two UCI types of UCI information bits in the same slot and the number of panel entities is at least 2, each UCI type of UCI information bits can be transmitted from a separate panel entity of the UE 10 to transmit the UCI information bits as soon as possible.

In an embodiment, if two UCI types of UCI information bits are transmitted in the same slot and the number of panel entity is at least 2, the UE 10 transmits each UCI type of UCI information bits from a separate panel entity with the corresponding PUCCH resource.

Considering that there are 3 potential UCI types of UCI information bits, and the number of panel entities is at least 2, the following Table 3 shows all the possible cases.

Table 3: Two UCI types of UCI with the corresponding panel

UCI types	The corresponding panel
HARQ-ACK, SR	HARQ-ACK: 1 ^st panel, SR: 2 ^nd panel
HARQ-ACK, CSI	HARQ-ACK: 1 ^st panel, CSI: 2 ^nd panel
SR, CSI	SR: 1 ^st panel, CSI: 2 ^nd panel

In detail, when transmitting HARQ-ACK and SR information bits in the same slot, the UE 10 transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) with the PUCCH resource corresponding to HARQ-ACK, and transmits the SR information bits from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) with the PUCCH resource corresponding to SR. When transmitting HARQ-ACK information bits and CSI report in the same slot, the UE 10 transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) with the PUCCH resource corresponding to HARQ-ACK and transmits the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) with the PUCCH resource corresponding to CSI report, as shown in the FIG. 6. When transmitting SR information bits and CSI report in the same slot, the UE 10 transmits the SR information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) with the PUCCH resource corresponding to SR and transmits the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) with the PUCCH resource corresponding to CSI report.

Regarding the PUCCH resource of PUCCH transmission for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information bits, if the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH transmission are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format or in response to a SPS PDSCH release, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource set according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits and selects the PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission. The UE sends the HARQ-ACK information bits through the selected PUCCH resource. In an embodiment, if the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to SPS PDSCH reception and the UE 10 is provided a SPS PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter SPS-PUCCH-AN-List) , the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource provided by an SPS PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID) for transmitting the HARQ-ACK from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the SR information bits, the UE 10 may determine a PUCCH resource according to a PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter resource) configured in SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) , which is identified by an SR resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceId or schedulingRequestID-BFR-SCell) . The UE 10 sends the SR information bits through the determined PUCCH resource.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the CSI report, if the UE 10 transmits only a single CSI report, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource provided by a PUCCH CSI resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) . The UE 10 transmits the CSI report through the PUCCH resource from a dedicated panel entity. When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the UE 10 is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) or if the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE 10 uses a PUCCH resource (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report. When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the multiple CSI reports overlap in the slot and the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) , the UE 10 may select a PUCCH resource from PUCCH resources provided by the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list to multiplex all the CSI reports, where the UE 10 selects the PUCCH resource based on a number of bits of the CSI reports. The UE 10 transmits the CSI reports through the PUCCH resource.

The number of UCI types is greater than the number of panel entities:

(1) HARQ-ACK multiplexing with SR:

If a number of the UCI types that the UE transmit in a time slot is greater than a number of panel entities of the UE. The UE may group the UCI types into a plurality of UCI groups, where a number of the groups in the plurality of UCI groups is no greater than the number of the panel entities of the UE. The UE transmits UCI information bits in a first group in the plurality of groups from a dedicated panel (e.g., the first panel) of the panel entities of the UE and transmits UCI information bits in a second group in the plurality of groups from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) of the panel entities of the UE, such that each group in the plurality of groups is transmitted from a separate panel entity among panel entities of the UE.

For example, if the UE 10 transmits three UCI types of UCI information bits in the same slot and the number of the panel entities is 2, the three UCI types of UCI can be separated into two parts (e.g., HARQ-ACK/SR and CSI) and transmitted from two panel entities. Since the bit number of SR may be small, multiplexing the HARQ-ACK and SR is more preferable. Thus, the CSI report can be transmitted as much as possible.

In an embodiment, when transmitting three UCI types of UCI information bits in the same slot and the number of panel entity is 2, the UE 10 multiplex and transmit HARQ-ACK and SR information bits from a same panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , and transmit CSI report from another panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . With reference to FIG. 7, for example, in slot n, HARQ-ACK and SR information bits is transmitted from the first panel entity of the UE 10, and CSI report is transmitted from the second panel entity of the UE 10.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for PUCCH transmission for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information bits and SR information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , if the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH transmission are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format or in response to a SPS PDSCH release, the UE 10 may determine a PUCCH resource set according to a number of bits in the HARQ-ACK information bits and SR information bits and the UE 10 may select a PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , if the UE 10 transmits only a single CSI report, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource provided by a PUCCH CSI resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) . The UE 10 transmits the CSI report through the PUCCH resource from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the UE 10 is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) or if the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE 10 uses a PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority (e.g., priority value Pri _iCSI (y, k, c, s) ) to transmit the CSI report. When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the multiple CSI reports overlap in the slot and the UE 10 is provided the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) , the UE 10 may select a PUCCH resource from the PUCCH resources provided by multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list to multiplex all the CSI reports, where the UE 10 selects the PUCCH resource based on a bit number of the CSI reports. The UE 10 transmits the CSI reports through the PUCCH resource from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) .

(2) SR multiplexing with CSI report:

For example, if the UE 10 transmits three UCI types of UCI information bits in the same slot and the number of the panel entities is 2, the three UCI types of UCI can be separated into two parts (e.g., HARQ-ACK/SR and CSI) and SR can be multiplexed with CSI report.

In an embodiment, when transmitting three UCI types of UCI information bits in the same slot and the number of panel entity is 2, the UE 10 transmits HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) and multiplexes and transmits SR and CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . With reference to FIG. 8, for example, in slot n, HARQ-ACK information bits is transmitted from the first panel entity of the UE 10, and SR and CSI report is multiplexed and transmitted from the second panel entity of the UE 10.

Regarding the PUCCH resource PUCCH transmission for transmitting the HARQ-ACK from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , if the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH transmission are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format or in response to a SPS PDSCH release, the UE 10 may determine a PUCCH resource set according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits and select a PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the CSI report and SR information bits from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , if the UE 10 transmits only a single CSI report, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource provided by a PUCCH CSI resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) . The UE 10 transmits the CSI report and the SR information bits through the PUCCH resource from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . When the UE 10 transmits multiple CSI reports, if the UE 10 is not provided multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH- ResourceList) or if the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE 10 uses a PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report. If the multiple CSI reports overlap in the slot and the UE 10 is provided multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) , the UE 10 may select a PUCCH resource from the PUCCH resources provided by multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list to multiplex all the CSI reports, where the UE 10 selects the PUCCH resource based on the bit number of the CSI reports.

PUCCH resource allocation based on the dropping rules:

The different UCI information bits comprising multiple CSI reports are transmitted by the UE 10 through a PUCCH resource in the same slot, if a total number of UCI information bits exceeds a payload limit of the PUCCH resource, the UE 10 transmits a first portion of the CSI reports from a first panel entity of the UE and a second portion of the CSI reports from a second panel entity of the UE.

For single-TRP/panel based PUCCH transmission on a PUCCH resource, if UCI information bits of the HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report are transmitted in a same slot and the total number of UCI information bits are beyond the payload limit of the PUCCH resource, the UE may drop a portion of the UCI information bits. Therefore, for multiple panel based PUCCH transmission, if the dropped UCI information bits are transmitted from a second panel entity, more UCI information bits can be transmitted in the same slot.

SPS HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report:

If UCI information bits of HARQ-ACK, SR and multiple CSI reports are transmitted by the UE 10 through a PUCCH resource in the same slot in the single-TRP/panel based PUCCH and the total number of UCI information bits exceeds a payload limit of the PUCCH resource, the UE 10 may drop a portion of the CSI reports, where the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to the PDSCH reception (e.g., SPS PDSCH reception) without the corresponding PDCCH. If the dropped CSI reports are transmitted from another panel entity of the UE 10in the multiple panel based PUCCH transmission, more CSI reports can be transmitted at the same time.

In an embodiment, if the UE 10 transmits UCI information bits of HARQ-ACK, SR and multiple CSI reports in a same slot, and the number of the panel entity is at least 2, and the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) , and the total number of UCI information bits exceeds the payload limit of a PUCCH resource in the PUCCH resource list, the HARQ-ACK information bits, the SR information bits, and a part (referred to as a first portion) of CSI reports can be multiplexed and transmitted from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) of the UE 10, while the remaining part (referred to as a second portion) of CSI reports can be transmitted from another panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) of the UE 10, where the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to the PDSCH reception without the corresponding PDCCH.

As is shown in the FIG. 9, for example, the UE 10 transmits HARQ-ACK, SR and the first portion of the CSI reports from the first panel entity and the second portion of the CSI reports from the second panel entity in slot n. CSI report#1 represents the first portion of the CSI reports, and CSI report#2 represents the second portion of the CSI reports.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK, SR and a part of CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , if the multiple CSI reports overlap in a slot and the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) with L PUCCH resources, where L≤2, the UE 10 selects a PUCCH resource with a highest index for transmitting the HARQ-ACK, SR and the first portion of CSI reports, where resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list are indexed according to an ascending order of payload limits of the resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, and, a payload limit of each resource among the resources is a product of a number of corresponding resource elements (REs) in a PUCCH resource, a modulation order Q _m, and a configured code rate r for the resources.

In detail, if the total number of the UCI information bits (O _ACK+O _SR+O _CSI+O _CRC) exceeds the payload limit

of the PUCCH resource, i.e., if

the UE 10 selects the

CSI reports from the CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of the CSI reports so that the total number of UCI information bits

does not exceed the payload limit

of the PUCCH resource, i.e.,

and the UE 10 uses the PUCCH resource with the index L-1 transmitting the HARQ-ACK, SR together with

CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , where:

· O _ACK is the total number of HARQ-ACK information bits in the UCI information bits,

· O _SR is the total number of SR information bits in the UCI information bits,

·

is the total number of CSI report bits, where O _{CSI-part1, n} is a number of Part 1 CSI report bits for CSI report with priority value n, O _{CSI-part2, n} is a number of Part 2 CSI report bits for CSI report with priority value n, and

is a number of CSI reports that include overlapping CSI reports;

is a number of

CSI report bits,

· O _CRC is a number of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits,

·

is a number of PRBs for a PUCCH resource,

·

is a parameter determined by a number of subcarriers per resource block and the length of orthogonal cover code, e.g., ,

for PUCCH format 2,

for PUCCH format 3 and

for PUCCH format 4, where

is a number of subcarriers per resource block and

is the length of orthogonal cover code for PUCCH format 4.

·

is equal to a number of PUCCH symbols,

· Q _m is the modulation order,

· r is the code rate.

· L is a number of PUCCH resources.

If any remaining resources in the resource list is available and the number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports in the same slot is at least 2, the UE 10 selects the

CSI reports according to the ascending priority in the remaining CSI reports so that the total number of information bits in the CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit, i.e.,

and uses the PUCCH resource with the index L-2 transmitting the

CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . Specially, if the total number of all the remaining CSI reports bits does not exceed the payload limit, all the CSI reports can be transmitted at the same time.

If at least one remaining resource in the resource list is available and the number of the remaining CSI reports in the same slot is 1, or if no remaining resource in the resource list is available for the remaining CSI reports in the same slot, the UE 10 selects the CSI report with the highest priority in the remaining CSI reports and uses the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . If there are remaining CSI reports in the same slot and there is available panel entity, the same mechanism can be applied until the CSI repots are transmitted.

HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI report:

If the HARQ-ACK, SR and multiple CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot in the single-TRP/panel based PUCCH and the total number of UCI information bits exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource, a part of the CSI reports are dropped, where the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format. If the dropped CSI reports are transmitted from another panel entity in the multiple panel based PUCCH transmission, more CSI report can be transmitted at the same time.

If HARQ-ACK, SR and CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot, the UE 10 determines a PUCCH resource set according to a number of these UCI information bits and selects the PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission, where the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format.

In an embodiment, if the different UCI information bits comprise HARQ-ACK information bits, SR information bits, and the multiple CSI reports transmitted in the same slot, and the number of the panel entity is at least 2, and the total number of UCI information bits exceed the payload limit of the determined PUCCH resource, HARQ-ACK, SR and a part (referred to a first portion) of CSI reports can be multiplexed and transmitted from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) of the UE 10, while the remaining part (referred to a second portion) of CSI reports can be transmitted from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , where the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to the PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK, SR and the first portion of CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , if the multiple CSI reports are transmitted in the same slot and the total number of the UCI information bits (O _ACK+O _SR+O _CSI-part1+O _{CRC, CSI-part1}) exceed the payload limit

of the selected PUCCH resource, i.e., if

the UE 10 selects the

CSI reports from the CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of the CSI reports so that the total number of UCI information bits does not exceed the payload limit

of the selected PUCCH resource, i.e.,

and

and the UE 10 uses the determined PUCCH resource to transmit the HARQ-ACK, the SR information bits, together with

CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , where O _{CRC, CSI-part1, N} is a number of CRC bits corresponding to

UCI information bits.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the second portion of the CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , if the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) with L PUCCH resources, and the number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports (e.g.,

) is at least 2 with overlapping in the same slot, the UE 10 selects a PUCCH resource based on a number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports and a payload limit of the PUCCH resource in the resource list, where resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list are indexed according to an ascending order of payload limits of the resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, and, a payload limit of each resources among the resources is a product of a number of corresponding resource elements (REs) in a PUCCH resource, a modulation order Q _m, and a configured code rate r for the resources.

In detail, if a total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource 0, i.e.,

where

is the number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports, the UE 10 uses the PUCCH resource 0 to transmit the second portion of the CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) ;

if the total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource j+1, i.e.,

and

the UE 10 uses the PUCCH resource j+1 to transmit all the second portion of the CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) ;

if the total number of the second portion of the CSI reports exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource L-1, the UE 10 selects the

CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of the second portion of the CSI reports so that the number of information bits of the

CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit, i.e.,

the UE 10 uses the PUCCH resource L-1 to transmit the

CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . If there are remaining CSI reports in the same slot, and there are remaining resources in the resource list, and there is available panel entity, the same mechanism can be applied until the CSI repots are transmitted.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the second portion of the CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , if the UE 10 is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) or if at least 2 CSI report in the second portion of CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE 10 selects a CSI report with the highest priority in the second portion of the CSI reports and uses the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . If there are remaining CSI reports in the same slot and there is available panel entity, the same mechanism can be applied until the CSI repots are transmitted.

Multiple CSI reports:

If multiple CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot in the single-TRP/panel based PUCCH and the total number of information bits in the CSI reports exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource, a part of the CSI reports are dropped. If the dropped CSI reports are transmitted from another panel entity in the multiple panel entity based PUCCH transmission, more CSI report can be transmitted at the same time.

In an embodiment, if multiple CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot, and the number of the panel entities is at least 2, and the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) with L PUCCH resources, and the total number of information bits in the CSI reports exceeds the payload limit of the PUCCH resource with the highest index in the resource list, a part (referred to as a first portion) of CSI reports can be transmitted from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , while the remaining (referred to as a second portion) of the CSI reports can be transmitted from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , where resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list are indexed according to an ascending order of payload limits of the resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, and, a payload limit of each resources among the resources is a product of a number of corresponding resource elements (REs) in a PUCCH resource, a modulation order Q _m, and a configured code rate r for the resource.

As is shown in the FIG. 10, the UE 10 transmits the first portion of CSI reports from the first panel entity and the second portion of the CSI reports from the second panel entity in slot n. CSI report#1 represents the first portion of the CSI reports, and CSI report#2 represents the second portion of the CSI reports.

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting a part of CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , if the multiple CSI reports overlap in the slot and the total number of information bits (O _CSI+O _CRC) in the CSI report exceed the payload limit

of a PUCCH resource with the highest index in the resource list, i.e.,

the UE 10 selects

CSI reports from the CSI reports according to ascending order of priorities of the CSI reports so that the total number of information bits in the CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource with the highest index, i.e.,

and the UE 10 uses the PUCCH resource L-1 to transmit the

CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) .

Regarding the PUCCH resource for transmitting the second portion of the CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) , if one or more remaining resources in the resource list are available and the number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports in the same slot is at least 2, the UE 10 selects the

CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports so that the total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed a payload limit of a PUCCH resource with the index L-2, i.e.,

and the UE 10 uses the PUCCH resource with the index L-2 to transmit the

CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . Specially, if the total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit, all the CSI reports can be transmitted at the same time.

If one or more remaining resources in the resource list are available to the second portion of the CSI reports, that consist of one CSI report in the same slot , or if no remaining resource in the resource list is available to the second portion of the CSI reports in the same slot, the UE 10 selects the CSI report with the highest priority in the second portion of the CSI reports and uses the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . If there are remaining CSI reports in the same slot and there is available panel entity, the same mechanism can be applied until the CSI repots are transmitted.

PUCCH resource allocation based on the priority:

A PUCCH transmission, including repetitions, can be configured with priority index 0 or priority index 1. For a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information in response to a SPS PDSCH reception or a SPS PDSCH release, the priority index for the PUCCH is determined by the higher layer parameter harq-CodebookID. For a PUCCH transmission with SR, the priority index for the PUCCH is determined by the higher layer parameter phy-PriorityIndex. If a priority index is not provided to the UE 10 for a PUCCH transmission, the priority index is 0.

Two PUCCHs with different priorities:

For single-TRP/panel based PUCCH transmission, if two PUCCHs with different priorities overlap in time, the PUCCH with a smaller priority index is dropped. For multiple panel-based PUCCH transmission, since multiple PUCCHs from different panel entities can be transmitted simultaneously, the dropped PUCCH can be transmitted from another panel entity and then more UCI information can be transmitted at the same time.

(1) SR and other UCI with different priorities:

In an embodiment, if a first PUCCH with a larger priority index carrying SR and a second PUCCH with smaller priority index overlap in time, the UE 10 transmits the first PUCCH with the larger priority index carrying the SR from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) through a corresponding PUCCH resource indicated by the PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter resource) included in the corresponding SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) and transmits the second PUCCH with smaller priority index from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) with the corresponding PUCCH resource.

Here, if the HARQ-ACK information bits in response to a PDSCH reception without a corresponding PDCCH are carried in the second PUCCH, a PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH is determined by an SPS PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID) according to a number of the HARQ-ACK information bits; if a CSI report is carried in the second PUCCH, the PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH is determined by the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report or a resource from the resources provided by a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) .

(2) SPS HARQ-ACK and other UCI with different priorities:

In an embodiment, if a first PUCCH with a larger priority index carrying HARQ-ACK information bits in response to a PDSCH reception without a corresponding PDCCH and a second PUCCH with a smaller priority index carrying SR and/or a CSI report overlap in time, the UE 10 transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) through a PUCCH resource provided by an SPS PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter sps-PUCCH-AN-ResourceID) according to a number of the HARQ-ACK information bits and transmits the second PUCCH with smaller priority index from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) through a corresponding PUCCH resource.

Here, if an SR is carried in the second PUCCH, the UE 10 determines the corresponding PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH indicated by a PUCCH resource index (e.g., higher layer parameter resource) included in corresponding SR resource configuration (e.g., higher layer parameter SchedulingRequestResourceConfig) ; if a CSI report is carried in the second PUCCH, the UE determines the corresponding PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH provided by PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report or determines the corresponding PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH from resources provided by a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) .

As is shown in the FIG. 11, the UE 10 transmits a first PUCCH with a larger priority index from the first panel entity and a second PUCCH with a smaller priority index from the second panel entity in slot n.

Multiple CSI reports with different priorities:

If multiple CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot in the single-TRP/panel based PUCCH, the CSI report with higher priority are transmitted and the CSI report with lower priority are dropped. If the dropped CSI reports are transmitted from another panel entity in the multiple panel based PUCCH transmission, more CSI report can be transmitted at the same time.

In an embodiment, when transmitting multiple CSI reports in the same slot, if the UE 10 is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) , or if the UE 10 is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list (e.g., higher layer parameter multi-CSI-PUCCH-ResourceList) and the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE 10 selects a CSI report with the highest priority and uses PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the selected CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the selected CSI report from a dedicated panel entity (e.g., the first panel entity) , while the UE 10 selects a CSI report with the second highest priority and uses the PUCCH resource configuration (e.g., the higher layer parameter pucch-CSI-ResourceList) corresponding to the CSI report with the second highest priority to transmit the CSI report from another dedicated panel entity (e.g., the second panel entity) . If there are remaining CSI reports in the same slot and there is available panel, the same mechanism can be applied until the CSI repots are transmitted.

As is shown in the Figure 12, the UE 10 transmits the CSI report with the highest priority from the first panel entity and the second highest priority from the second panel entity in slot n.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into the system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 13 illustrates the system 700 including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry 710, a baseband circuitry 720, a processing unit 730, a memory/storage 740, a display 750, a camera 760, a sensor 770, and an input/output (I/O) interface 780, coupled with each other as illustrated.

The processing unit 730 may include circuitry, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combinations of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors, such as graphics processors and application processors. The processors may be coupled with the memory/storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems running on the system.

The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may support communication with 5G NR, LTE, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN) , a wireless local area network (WLAN) , a wireless personal area network (WPAN) . Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. In various embodiments, the baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a baseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

In various embodiments, the system 700 may be a mobile computing device such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, etc. In various embodiments, the system may have more or less components, and/or different architectures. Where appropriate, the methods described herein may be implemented as a computer program. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium, such as a non-transitory storage medium.

The embodiment of the present disclosure is a combination of techniques/processes that can be adopted in 3GPP specification to create an end product.

If the software function unit is realized and used and sold as a product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium in a computer. Based on this understanding, the technical plan proposed by the present disclosure can be essentially or partially realized as the form of a software product. Or, one part of the technical plan beneficial to the conventional technology can be realized as the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of commands for a computational device (such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to run all or some of the steps disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM) , a random access memory (RAM) , a floppy disk, or other kinds of media capable of storing program codes.

A user equipment (UE) and a base station uplink execute a configuration method comprising negotiating coverage enhancement configuration for uplink transmission. The UE allocates coverage enhancement representations of at least one transport block (TB) into a set of the uplink radio resources for uplink transmission based on the coverage enhancement configuration. The coverage enhancement configuration comprises bundling configuration and frequency hopping configuration of the coverage enhancement representations. The coverage enhancement representations may comprise repetitions of a TB, or segments of a TB. Alternatively, the coverage enhancement representations may comprise TBs commonly share a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) message or an uplink grant that schedules the TBs. Embodiments of this disclosure are to provide methods to solve the problem of joint channel estimation (JCE) for PUSCH. The invention provides specific methods for how to define/indicate bundling for PUSCH transmission, and the JCE conditions can also be met even in non-back-to-back transmission scenarios. This can help get a joint channel estimation gain. These methods are also applicable for PUCCH, MSG3 PUSCH and MSGA PUSCH.

In the embodiments of the invention, a user equipment (UE) executes a panel-specific uplink transmission method. The UE determines association between UE panel entities and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for transmission of uplink control information (UCI) . The association comprises panel resource allocation that indicates a selected panel entity associated with a PUCCH resource. The UE transmits the UCI according to the association.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

A panel-specific uplink transmission method executable in a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

determining association between UE panel entities and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for transmission of uplink control information (UCI) , wherein the association comprises panel resource allocation that indicates a selected panel entity associated with a PUCCH resource; and

transmitting the UCI according to the association.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 1, wherein, when dedicated PUCCH configuration is not configured for the UE, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, common PUCCH resource sets of the UE are associated with a dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 1, wherein, when dedicated PUCCH configuration is not configured for the UE, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, common PUCCH resource sets of the UE are associated with the same panel entity as physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) scheduled by a random access response (RAR) uplink (UL) grant for the UE.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 1, wherein, when dedicated PUCCH configuration is not configured for the UE, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, common PUCCH resource sets of the UE are divided into multiple groups of common PUCCH resource sets, and the number of the groups is equal to the number of active panel entities in the UE panel entities, in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, each of the groups of common PUCCH resource sets is associated with one of the UE panel entities.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 1, wherein the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources comprises association between UE panel entities and dedicated PUCCH resource sets, the dedicated PUCCH resource sets of the UE are divided into multiple groups of dedicated PUCCH resource sets, and, in the association between UE panel entities and dedicated PUCCH resource sets, each of the groups of dedicated PUCCH resource sets is associated with one of the UE panel entities.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 5, wherein, the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resource sets is fixed, and the UE keeps a first copy of the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resource sets, and a base station keeps a second copy of the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resource sets, and the first copy is kept the same as the second copy.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 1, wherein in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, a UE panel entity of a panel entity ID is included in a higher layer parameter PUCCH resource configured in one or more of the following higher layer parameters:

a PUCCH resource parameter;

a PUCCH resource set configuration;

a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PUCCH resource parameter;

a scheduling request (SR) resource configuration; and

a PUCCH channel state information (CSI) resource parameter.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 1, wherein in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, a UCI type is associated with one of the UE panel entities; or

in the association between UE panel entities and PUCCH resources, two or more UCI types are associated with one of the UE panel entities.
A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute any of the methods of claims 1 to 8.
A chip, comprising:

a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute any of the methods of claims 1 to 8.
A computer readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute any of the methods of claims 1 to 8.
A computer program product, comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute any of the methods of claims 1 to 8.
A computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute any of the methods of claims 1 to 8.
A panel-specific uplink transmission method executable in a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

determining panel entity allocation for different uplink control information (UCI) information bits; and

sending the UCI information bits according to the panel entity allocation.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 14, wherein the different UCI information bits are UCI information bits of different UCI types.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 15, wherein if a number of the UCI types that the UE transmit in a time slot is no greater than a number of panel entities of the UE, the UE transmits a UCI type of UCI information bits from one of the panel entities of the UE, and each of the UCI types of the UCI information bits is transmitted from a separate panel entity among panel entities of the UE.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein if HARQ-ACK information bits in PUCCH transmission are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format or in response to a SPS PDSCH release, the UE determines a PUCCH resource set according to a number of the HARQ-ACK information bits and selects a PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating PUCCH transmission, and the UE sends the HARQ-ACK information bits through the selected PUCCH resource.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein if HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to SPS PDSCH reception and the UE is provided a SPS PUCCH resource list, the UE determines a PUCCH resource provided by an SPS PUCCH resource index for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein the UE determines a PUCCH resource according to a PUCCH resource index configured in SR resource configuration, which is identified by an SR resource index, and the UE sends SR information bits through the determined PUCCH resource from another dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein if the UE transmits a single CSI report, the UE determines a PUCCH resource provided by a PUCCH CSI resource list, and the UE transmits the CSI report through the PUCCH resource from a third dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein when the UE transmits multiple CSI reports, if the UE is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, or if the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in a time slot, the UE uses a PUCCH resource corresponding to a CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report from a third dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein when the UE transmits multiple CSI reports, if the multiple CSI reports overlap in the slot and the UE is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, the UE may select a PUCCH resource from PUCCH resources provided by the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list to multiplex all the CSI reports, wherein the UE selects the PUCCH resource based on a number of bits of the CSI reports.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein the UE has two panel entities, when transmitting HARQ-ACK and SR information bits in the same slot, the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits from one of the two panel entities with a PUCCH resource corresponding to HARQ-ACK, and transmits the SR information bits from another one of the two panel entities with a PUCCH resource corresponding to SR.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein the UE has two panel entities, when transmitting HARQ-ACK information bits and a CSI report in the same slot, the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits from one of the two panel entities with a PUCCH resource corresponding to HARQ-ACK and transmits the CSI report from another one of the two panel entities with a PUCCH resource corresponding to CSI report.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 16, wherein the UE has two panel entities, when transmitting SR information bits and CSI report in the same slot, the UE transmits the SR information bits from a one of the two panel entities with a PUCCH resource corresponding to SR and transmits the CSI report from another one of the two panel entities with a PUCCH resource corresponding to CSI report.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 15, wherein if a number of the UCI types that the UE transmit in a time slot is greater than a number of panel entities of the UE, the UCI types are grouped into a plurality of UCI groups, a number of the groups in the plurality of UCI groups is no greater than the number of the panel entities of the UE, the UE transmits UCI information bits in a first group in the plurality of groups from a dedicated panel entity of the panel entities of the UE, and transmits UCI information bits in a second group in the plurality of groups from another dedicated panel entity of the panel entities of the UE, each group in the plurality of groups is transmitted from a separate panel entity among panel entities of the UE.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 26, wherein when the UE transmits three UCI types of UCI information bits in the same slot from two panel entities, the UE multiplexes and transmits HARQ-ACK information bits and SR information bits from one of the two panel entities, and transmit CSI report from the other one of the two panel entities.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 27, wherein if the HARQ-ACK information bits in PUCCH transmission are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format or in response to a SPS PDSCH release, the UE determines a PUCCH resource set according to a number of bits in the HARQ-ACK information bits and SR information bits and selects a PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 15, wherein the different UCI information bits comprising multiple CSI reports are transmitted by the UE through a PUCCH resource in the same slot, if a total number of the UCI information bits exceeds a payload limit of the PUCCH resource, the UE transmits a first portion of the CSI reports from a dedicated panel entity of the UE and a second portion of the CSI reports from another dedicated panel entity of the UE.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 29, wherein the different UCI information bits comprise HARQ-ACK information bits, SR information bits, and the multiple CSI reports transmitted in the same slot, the UE comprise two panel entities, the HARQ-ACK information bits, the SR information bits, and the first portion of CSI reports are multiplexed and transmitted from the dedicated panel entity of the UE, while the second portion of CSI reports is transmitted from the another dedicated panel entity of the UE, and the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to PDSCH reception without corresponding PDCCH.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 30, wherein the CSI reports overlap in the slot and the UE is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list with L PUCCH resources, where L≤2, the UE selects a PUCCH resource with the highest index for transmitting the HARQ-ACK, SR and the first portion of CSI reports, wherein resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list are indexed according to an ascending order of payload limits of the resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, and, a payload limit of each resource among the resources is a product of a number of corresponding resource elements (REs) in a PUCCH resource, a modulation order Q _m, and a configured code rate r for the resource.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 31, wherein when the total number of the UCI information bits (O _ACK+O _SR+O _CSI+O _CRC) exceeds the payload limit
of the PUCCH resource, the UE selects the
CSI reports from the CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of the CSI reports so that the total number of UCI information bits
does not exceed the payload limit
of the PUCCH resource, and the UE uses the PUCCH resource with the index L-1 to transmit the HARQ-ACK information bits, SR information bits together with the
CSI reports from the dedicated panel entity, where:

O _ACK is a total number of the HARQ-ACK information bits in the UCI information bits,

O _SR is a total number of SR information bits in the UCI information bits,

is the total number of CSI report bits, where O _{CSI-part1, n} is a number of Part 1 CSI report bits for CSI report with priority value n, O _{CSI-part2, n} is a number of Part 2 CSI report bits for CSI report with priority value n, and
is a number of CSI reports that include overlapping CSI reports;
is a number of the
CSI report bits,

O _CRC is a number of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits,

is a number of PRBs for a PUCCH resource,

is a parameter determined by a number of subcarriers per resource block and a length of orthogonal cover code,

is equal to a number of PUCCH symbols,

Q _m is the modulation order,

r is the code rate, and

L is a number of PUCCH resources.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 31, wherein if at least one remaining resource in the resource list is available and the number of the remaining CSI reports in the same slot is 1, or if no remaining resource in the resource list is available for the remaining CSI reports in the same slot, the UE selects the CSI report with the highest priority in the remaining CSI reports and uses PUCCH resource configuration corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report from the another dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 29, wherein the different UCI information bits comprise HARQ-ACK information bits, SR information bits, and the multiple CSI reports transmitted in the same slot, the UE comprise two panel entities, the HARQ-ACK information bits, the SR information bits, and the first portion of CSI reports are multiplexed and transmitted from the dedicated panel entity of the UE, while the second portion of CSI reports is transmitted from the another dedicated panel entity of the UE, and the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 34, wherein HARQ-ACK information bits, SR information bits, and CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot, the UE determines a PUCCH resource set according to a number of these UCI information bits and select a PUCCH resource in the determined PUCCH resource set based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in a last DCI format indicating the PUCCH transmission, wherein the HARQ-ACK information bits are in response to PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 35, wherein if the multiple CSI reports are transmitted in the same slot and the total number of the UCI information bits (O _ACK+O _SR+O _CSI-part1+O _{CRC, CSI-part1}) exceed the payload limit
of the selected PUCCH resource, i.e., if

the UE selects the
CSI reports from the CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of the CSI reports so that the total number of UCI information bits does not exceed the payload limit
of a selected PUCCH resource, i.e.,

and

and the UE uses the selected PUCCH resource to transmit the HARQ-ACK information bits, the SR information bits, together with
CSI reports from the dedicated panel entity, wherein O _{CRC, CSI-part1, N} is a number of CRC bits corresponding to
UCI information bits.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 34, wherein the UE is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list with L PUCCH resources, and a number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports is at least 2 with overlapping in the same slot, the UE selects a PUCCH resource based on a number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports and a payload limit of the PUCCH resource in the resource list, where resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list are indexed according to an ascending order of payload limits of the resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, and, a payload limit of each resource among the resources is a product of a number of corresponding resource elements (REs) in a PUCCH resource, a modulation order Q _m, and a configured code rate r for the resources.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 37, wherein if a total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed a payload limit of the PUCCH resource 0, i.e.,
where
is a number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports, the UE uses the PUCCH resource 0 to transmit the second portion of the CSI reports from the another dedicated panel entity;

if the total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed the payload limit of the PUCCH resource j+1 , i.e.,
and
the UE uses the PUCCH resource j+1 to transmit all the second portion of the CSI reports from the another dedicated panel entity;

if the total number of information bits the second portion of the CSI reports exceed a payload limit of the PUCCH resource L-1, the UE selects the
CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of the second portion of the CSI reports so that the number of information bits of the
CSI reportsdoes not exceed the payload limit, i.e.,
the UE uses the PUCCH resource L-1 to transmit the
CSI reports from the another dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 37, wherein if the UE is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, or if at least two CSI report in the second portion of CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE selects a CSI report with the highest priority in the second portion of the CSI reports and uses PUCCH resource set configuration corresponding to the CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the CSI report from the another dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 29, wherein the different UCI information bits comprise multiple CSI reports transmitted in the same slot, the UE comprise two panel entities, the first portion of CSI reports are multiplexed and transmitted from the dedicated panel entity of the UE, while the second portion of CSI reports is transmitted from the another dedicated panel entity of the UE.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 40, wherein if the multiple CSI reports are transmitted in a same slot, and the number of the panel entities is at least two, and the UE is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list with L PUCCH resources, and a total number of information bits in the CSI reports exceeds a payload limit of a PUCCH resource with the highest index in the resource list, the first portion of CSI reports is transmitted from the dedicated panel entity, while the second portion of the CSI reports is transmitted from the another dedicated panel entity, where resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list are indexed according to an ascending order of payload limits of the resources in the multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, and, a payload limit of each resources among the resources is a product of a number of corresponding resource elements (REs) in a PUCCH resource, a modulation order Q _m, and a configured code rate r for the resource.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 41, wherein if one or more remaining resources in the resource list are available and the number of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports in the same slot is at least 2, the UE selects the
CSI reports according to an ascending order of priorities of CSI reports in the second portion of the CSI reports so that a total number of information bits in the second portion of the CSI reports does not exceed a payload limit of a PUCCH resource with the index L-2 , i.e.,

and the UE uses the PUCCH resource with the index L-2 to transmit the
CSI reports from the another dedicated panel entity.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 15, wherein if a first PUCCH with a larger priority index carrying SR and a second PUCCH with smaller priority index overlap in time, the UE transmits the first PUCCH with the larger priority index carrying the SR from a dedicated panel entity through a corresponding PUCCH resource indicated by a PUCCH resource index included in corresponding SR resource configuration and transmits the second PUCCH with smaller priority index from another dedicated panel entity using corresponding PUCCH resource.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 43, wherein if HARQ-ACK information bits in response to a PDSCH reception without a corresponding PDCCH are carried in the second PUCCH, a PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH is determined by an SPS PUCCH resource index according to a number of the HARQ-ACK information bits; or

if a CSI report is carried in the second PUCCH, the PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH is determined by PUCCH resource configuration corresponding to the CSI report or a resource from the resources provided by a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 15, wherein if a first PUCCH with a larger priority index carrying HARQ-ACK information bits in response to a PDSCH reception without a corresponding PDCCH and a second PUCCH with a smaller priority index carrying SR and/or a CSI report overlap in time, the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits from a dedicated panel entity through a PUCCH resource provided by an SPS PUCCH resource index according to a number of the HARQ-ACK information bits and transmits the second PUCCH with smaller priority index from the another dedicated panel entity through a corresponding PUCCH resource.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 45, wherein if an SR is carried in the second PUCCH, the UE determines the corresponding PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH indicated by a PUCCH resource index included in corresponding SR resource configuration; or

if a CSI report is carried in the second PUCCH, the UE determines the corresponding PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH provided by PUCCH resource configuration corresponding to the CSI report or determines the corresponding PUCCH resource for the second PUCCH from resources provided by a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list.
The panel-specific uplink transmission method of claim 15, wherein when transmitting multiple CSI reports in the same slot, if the UE is not provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list, or if the UE is provided a multiple-CSI PUCCH resource list and the multiple CSI reports do not overlap in the slot, the UE selects a CSI report with the highest priority and uses PUCCH resource configuration corresponding to the selected CSI report with the highest priority to transmit the selected CSI report from a dedicated panel entity, and the UE selects a CSI report with a second highest priority and uses PUCCH resource set configuration corresponding to the CSI report to transmit the CSI report from a another dedicated panel entity.
A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute any of the methods of claims 14 to 47.
A chip, comprising:

a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute any of the methods of claims 14 to 47.
A computer readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute any of the methods of claims 14 to 47.
A computer program product, comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute any of the methods of claims 14 to 47.
A computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute any of the methods of claims 14 to 47.