WO2024011394A1

WO2024011394A1 - BEAM APPLICATION TIME (BAT) FOR UNIFIED TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION INDICATOR (TCI) -BASED MULTIPLE TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION POINT (mTRP) OPERATION

Info

Publication number: WO2024011394A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/105064
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fang Yuan; Yan Zhou; Tao Luo
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2022-07-12
Filing date: 2022-07-12
Publication date: 2024-01-18

Abstract

A method of wireless communication, by a user equipment (UE), includes receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI). The method also includes receiving a configuration enabling operation with one or more transmit/receive point (TRPs). The method further includes determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the TRPs. The method includes delaying by a symbol offset, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI. The delay occurs after acknowledging the unified TCI. The symbol offset corresponds to the beam application time.

Description

BEAM APPLICATION TIME (BAT) FOR UNIFIED TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION INDICATOR (TCI) -BASED MULTIPLE TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION POINT (mTRP) OPERATION

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to determining a beam application time (BAT) for unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) -based multiple transmission and reception point (mTRP) operation.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunications services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communications systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communications with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like) . Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and long term evolution (LTE) . LTE/LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . Narrowband (NB) -Internet of things (IoT) and enhanced machine-type communications (eMTC) are a set of enhancements to LTE for machine type communications.

A wireless communications network may include a number of base stations (BSs) that can support communications for a number of user equipment (UEs) . A user equipment (UE) may communicate with a base station (BS) via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communications link from the BS to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communications link from the UE to the BS. As will be described in more detail, a BS may be referred to as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB) , a gNB, an access point (AP) , a radio head, a transmit and receive point (TRP) , a new radio (NR) BS, a 5G Node B, and/or the like.

The above multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different user equipment to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. New radio (NR) , which may also be referred to as 5G, is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) (CP-OFDM) on the downlink (DL) , using CP-OFDM and/or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) ) on the uplink (UL) , as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

SUMMARY

In aspects of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication, by a user equipment (UE) , includes receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) . The method also includes receiving a configuration enabling operation with one or more transmit/receive point (TRPs) . The method further includes determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the TRPs. The method also includes delaying by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI. The symbol offset corresponds to the beam application time.

Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to an apparatus. The apparatus has a memory and one or more processor (s) coupled to the memory. The processor (s) is configured to receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) . The processor (s) is also configured to receive a configuration enabling operation with multiple transmit/receive point (TRPs) . The processor (s) is further configured to determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the TRPs. The processor (s) is also configured to delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI. The symbol offset corresponds to the beam application time.

Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to an apparatus. The apparatus includes means for receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) . The apparatus also includes means for receiving a configuration enabling operation with multiple transmit/receive point (TRPs) . The apparatus further includes means for determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each TRP. The apparatus also includes means for delaying by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI. The symbol offset corresponds to the beam application time.

Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. The program code is executed by a processor and includes program code to receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) . The program code also includes program code to receive a configuration enabling operation with multiple transmit/receive point (TRPs) . The program code further includes program code to determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each TRP. The program code also includes program code to delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI. The symbol offset corresponds to the beam application time.

Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communications device, and processing system as substantially described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and specification.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of the concepts disclosed, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purposes of illustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a particular description may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

FIGURE 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a wireless communications network, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communications network, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station architecture, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 4 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of activating and applying a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process performed, for example, by a user equipment (UE) , in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings, one skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure, whether implemented independently of or combined with any other aspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method, which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

Several aspects of telecommunications systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatuses and techniques. These apparatuses and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, and/or the like (collectively referred to as “elements” ) . These elements may be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

It should be noted that while aspects may be described using terminology commonly associated with 5G and later wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communications systems, such as and including 3G and/or 4G technologies.

A base station and/or user equipment (UE) may be configured with multiple beams for both transmission and reception. For example, the base station may transmit on multiple transmit beams while the UE receives on multiple receive beams, and vice versa. Beam management helps determine suitable transmitter/receiver beam pairs. For example, beam indication is a beam management technique that informs a UE of which reference signals have a same spatial filter as a particular physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to improve reception of the PDSCH and/or PDCCH. Beam indication is based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, which include information about reference signals. A unified TCI is applicable to both downlink and uplink beam indications.

In existing technologies, the unified TCI framework works well for single beam applications. When extending unified TCIs to multiple beams, such as multiple transmission and reception point (mTRP) operation, different beam indications for different TRPs may have different beam application times (BATs) . Aspects of the present disclosure support per-TRP beam application times for unified TCI-based mTRP operation.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, a per-TRP beam application time is defined for unified TCI-based mTRP operations. These aspects are applicable when the UE is enabled with mTRP operation and is configured with unified TCIs.

In a first option for determining how to apply the beam application time (BAT) of the beam indication, the UE may be configured with a single radio resource control (RRC) beam application time parameter for multiple TRP IDs in a bandwidth part (BWP) of a single component carrier. In cases of carrier aggregation, the beam application time is determined based on the smallest subcarrier spacing (SCS) of active BWPs of all TRP IDs across all carrier components applying the TCI indication. In this option, the UE applies a single beam application time for all TRPs.

Another option is presented for determining how to apply the beam application time of the beam indication, when the UE is enabled with mTRP operation and is configured with unified TCIs. In this option, the UE may be configured with two beam application time parameters for two respective TRP IDs in a single BWP in a single carrier component. In cases of carrier aggregation, each beam application time may be determined based on the smallest SCS of active BWPs across all component carriers associated with the same TRP ID applying the TCI indication. In other words, different TRPs may have different beam application times.

FIGURE 1 is a diagram illustrating a network 100 in which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. The network 100 may be a 5G or NR network or some other wireless network, such as an LTE network. The wireless network 100 may include a number of BSs 110 (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and other network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with user equipment (UEs) and may also be referred to as a base station, an NR BS, a Node B, a gNB, a 5G Node B, an access point, a transmit and receive point (TRP) , a network node, a network entity, and/or the like. A base station can be implemented as an aggregated base station, as a disaggregated base station, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a sidelink node, etc. The base station can be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU) , a distributed unit (DU) , a radio unit (RU) , a near-real time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) , or a non-real time (non-RT) RIC.

Each BS may provide communications coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a BS and/or a BS subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS may provide communications coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) ) . A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIGURE 1, a BS 110a may be a macro BS for a macro cell 102a, a BS 110b may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102b, and a BS 110c may be a femto BS for a femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells. The terms “eNB, ” “base station, ” “NR BS, ” “gNB, ” “AP, ” “Node B, ” “5G NB, ” “TRP, ” and “cell” may be used interchangeably.

In some aspects, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile BS. In some aspects, the BSs may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, and/or the like using any suitable transport network.

The wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station is an entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send a transmission of the data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS) . A relay station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIGURE 1, a relay station 110d may communicate with macro BS 110a and a UE 120d in order to facilitate communications between the BS 110a and UE 120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, and/or the like.

The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs of different types (e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, and/or the like) . These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impact on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, macro BSs may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 watts) whereas pico BSs, femto BSs, and relay BSs may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts) .

As an example, the BSs 110 (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and the core network 130 may exchange communications via backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1, etc. ) . Base stations 110 may communicate with one another over other backhaul links (e.g., X2, etc. ) either directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network 130) .

The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) , which may include at least one mobility management entity (MME) , at least one serving gateway (S-GW) , and at least one packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) . The MME may be the control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 120 and the EPC. All user IP packets may be transferred through the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GW may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The P-GW may be connected to the network operator's IP services. The operator's IP services may include the Internet, the Intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) , and a packet-switched (PS) streaming service.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, IP connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. One or more of the base stations 110 or access node controllers (ANCs) may interface with the core network 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1, S2, etc. ) and may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communications with the UEs 120. In some configurations, various functions of each access network entity or base station 110 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., a base station 110) .

UEs 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c) may be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, and/or the like. A UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone) , a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a wireless communications device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, biometric sensors/devices, wearable devices (smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wrist bands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet) ) , an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satellite radio) , a vehicular component or sensor, smart meters/sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

One or more UEs 120 may establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session for a network slice. In some cases, the UE 120 may select a network slice based on an application or subscription service. By having different network slices serving different applications or subscriptions, the UE 120 may improve its resource utilization in the wireless network 100, while also satisfying performance specifications of individual applications of the UE 120. In some cases, the network slices used by UE 120 may be served by an AMF (not shown in FIGURE 1) associated with one or both of the base station 110 or core network 130. In addition, session management of the network slices may be performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF) .

The UEs 120 may include a BAT determining module 140. For brevity, only one UE 120d is shown as including the BAT determining module 140. The BAT determining module 140 may receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) . The BAT determining module 140 may also receive a configuration enabling operation with one or more transmit/receive point (TRPs) . The BAT determining module 140 may further determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the TRPs. The BAT determining module 140 may also delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI. The symbol offset corresponds to the beam application time.

Some UEs may be considered machine-type communications (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine-type communications (eMTC) UEs. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, and/or the like, that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., remote device) , or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communications link. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and/or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband internet of things) devices. Some UEs may be considered a customer premises equipment (CPE) . UE 120 may be included inside a housing that houses components of UE 120, such as processor components, memory components, and/or the like.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, and/or the like. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, and/or the like. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using a base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with one another) . For example, the UEs 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, device-to-device (D2D) communications, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol (e.g., which may include a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocol, a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocol, and/or the like) , a mesh network, and/or the like. In this case, the UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and/or other operations described elsewhere as being performed by the base station 110. For example, the base station 110 may configure a UE 120 via downlink control information (DCI) , radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a media access control-control element (MAC-CE) or via system information (e.g., a system information block (SIB) .

As indicated above, FIGURE 1 is provided merely as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2 shows a block diagram of a design 200 of the base station 110 and UE 120, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIGURE 1. The base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T ≥ 1 and R ≥ 1.

At the base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS (s) selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Decreasing the MCS lowers throughput but increases reliability of the transmission. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) and/or the like) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, and/or the like) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., the cell-specific reference signal (CRS) ) and synchronization signals (e.g., the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS) ) . A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and/or the like) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a through 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, the synchronization signals can be generated with location encoding to convey additional information.

At the UE 120, antennas 252a through 252r may receive the downlink signals from the base station 110 and/or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM and/or the like) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller/processor 280. A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , channel quality indicator (CQI) , and/or the like. In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 120 may be included in a housing.

On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, and/or the like) from the controller/processor 280. Transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, and/or the like) , and transmitted to the base station 110. At the base station 110, the uplink signals from the UE 120 and other UEs may be received by the antennas 234, processed by the demodulators 254, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller/processor 240. The base station 110 may include communications unit 244 and communicate to the core network 130 via the communications unit 244. The core network 130 may include a communications unit 294, a controller/processor 290, and a memory 292.

The controller/processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller/processor 280 of the UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of FIGURE 2 may perform one or more techniques associated with BAT determination, as described in more detail elsewhere. For example, the controller/processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller/processor 280 of the UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of FIGURE 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, the processes of FIGURES 5 and 6 and/or other processes as described.

Memories

242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

In some aspects, the UE 120 and/or base station 110 may include means for receiving, means for determining, and/or means for delaying. Such means may include one or more components of the UE 120 or base station 110 described in connection with FIGURE 2.

As indicated above, FIGURE 2 is provided merely as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to FIGURE 2.

Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G new radio (NR) systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station (BS) , or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB) , an evolved NB (eNB) , an NR BS, 5G NB, an access point (AP) , a transmit and receive point (TRP) , or a cell, etc. ) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone BS or a monolithic BS) or a disaggregated base station.

An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs) , one or more distributed units (DUs) , or one or more radio units (RUs) ) . In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU also can be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual central unit (VCU) , a virtual distributed unit (VDU) , or a virtual radio unit (VRU) ) .

Base station-type operations or network designs may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) ) , or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) ) . Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

FIGURE 3 shows a diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station 300 architecture. The disaggregated base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310 that can communicate directly with a core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a near-real time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real time (non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both) . A CU 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 340 may communicate with respective UEs 120 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 120 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 340.

Each of the units (e.g., the CUs 310, the DUs 330, the RUs 340, as well as the near-RT RICs 325, the non-RT RICs 315, and the SMO framework 305) may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) , configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

In some aspects, the CU 310 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include radio resource control (RRC) , packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) , service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) , or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (e.g., central unit –user plane (CU-UP) ) , control plane functionality (e.g., central unit –control Plane (CU-CP) ) , or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 310 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bi-directionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 310 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 330, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

The DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 340. In some aspects, the DU 330 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . In some aspects, the DU 330 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 330, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 310.

Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, an RU 340, controlled by a DU 330, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT) , inverse FFT (iFFT) , digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like) , or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU (s) 340 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 120. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU (s) 340 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU (s) 330 and the CU 310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

The SMO Framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface) . For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-cloud) 390) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface) . Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 310, DUs 330, RUs 340, and near-RT RICs 325. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 305 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O- eNB) 311, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 305 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 305 also may include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 305.

The non-RT RIC 315 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications/features in the near-RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an A1 interface) the near-RT RIC 325. The near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 310, one or more DUs 330, or both, as well as the O-eNB 311, with the near-RT RIC 325.

In some implementations, to generate AI/ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and may be received at the SMO Framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI/ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 305 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies) .

A base station and/or UE may be configured with multiple beams for both transmission and reception. For example, a base station may transmit on multiple transmit beams while the UE receives on multiple receive beams, and vice versa. Beam management helps determine suitable transmitter/receiver beam pairs. For example, beam indication is a beam management technique that informs a UE of which reference signals have a same spatial filter as a particular physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to improve reception of the PDSCH and/or PDCCH. Beam indication is based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, which include information about reference signals. A unified TCI is applicable to both downlink and uplink beam indications.

In some examples, the base station and the UE may use a unified TCI state framework for both downlink and uplink beam indications. In the unified TCI state framework, TCI state indications may indicate a joint downlink and uplink TCI state or indicate separate downlink and uplink TCI states. Such a TCI state indication that may be used to indicate a joint downlink and uplink beam, a separate downlink beam, or a separate uplink beam is referred to as a “unified TCI state indication. ” A unified TCI state indication (e.g., a joint downlink and uplink TCI state indication and/or separate downlink and uplink TCI state indications) may be applied to multiple channels. For example, the unified TCI state indication of a joint uplink and downlink TCI state may indicate a beam direction for one or more downlink channels (e.g., PDSCH and/or PDCCH) or reference signals (e.g., channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) ) and for one or more uplink channels (e.g., a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and/or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ) or reference signals (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS) ) . The unified TCI state indication of a separate downlink TCI state may indicate a beam direction for multiple downlink channels (e.g., PDSCH and PDCCH) or reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS) . The unified TCI state indication of a separate uplink TCI state may indicate a beam direction for multiple uplink channels (e.g., PUSCH and PUCCH) or reference signals (e.g., SRS) . In some examples, the unified TCI state indication may be “sticky, ” such that the indicated beam direction will be used for the channels and/or reference signals to which the TCI state indication applies until a further indication is received.

FIGURE 4 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of activating and applying a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In the example of FIGURE 4, a UE 120 receives downlink control information (DCI) , from a network node 400, at time t1. The network node 400 may be an example of a base station 110 described with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, a CU 310, DU 330, or RU 340 described with reference to FIGURE 3. The DCI may include a downlink (DL) assignment that schedules a downlink channel, such as a PDSCH. Alternatively, the DCI may not include a DL assignment. In the example of FIGURE 4, the TCI state indicated by the DCI is different from a previous TCI state. A time period for applying the new TCI state may be determined based on a beam application time (BAT) . At time t2, the UE acknowledges receiving the DCI in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission at slot n. The PUCCH may include hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information that acknowledges receiving the DCI. The UE applies the new TCI state based on when the UE transmits the last symbol of the PUCCH corresponding to the DCI received at time t1 when the DCI does not include the downlink assignment. Alternatively, when the DCI received at time t1 includes DL scheduling information, the UE applies the new TCI state based on when the UE transmits the last symbol of a PUCCH with a HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI carrying the TCI state indication.

When the indicated TCI state is different from the previously indicated TCI state, the UE 120 applies the indicated TCI state starting from a first slot that is at least a number of symbols (e.g., BeamAppTime_r17) after the last symbol of the PUCCH (e.g., transmitted at time t2) . The value of the BeamAppTime_r17 parameter is a configured offset value, more specifically, a number of symbols. The BeamAppTime_r17 parameter may be configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling. Each uplink and downlink bandwidth part (BWP) may have a different beam application time. In other words, the BeamAppTime_r17 parameter may be different for different uplink and downlink BWPs (for carrier aggregation and non-carrier aggregation deployments) .

In the example shown in FIGURE 4, the value of the BeamAppTime_r17 parameter is denoted as ‘Y. ’ Thus, as shown in FIGURE 4, the UE 120 applies the new TCI state in the first slot at time t3. The time t3 occurs at an absolute time (e.g., in ms) after the last PUCCH symbol, defined as Y symbols for the active BWP multiplied by the symbol duration for the subcarrier spacing configured for the BWP. FIGURE 4 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with respect to FIGURE 4.

In some implementations, a time for applying a beam indication time is considered in a carrier aggregation deployment, such as when a UE is configured with multiple carriers. In some aspects, the UE determines the first slot and the Y symbols based on the carrier with the smallest subcarrier spacing (SCS) among the carrier (s) applying the beam indication. A first slot for applying the new TCI state may be different for different carriers because the symbol length may be different in each carrier. Thus, the UE determines which carrier has the smallest SCS, determines the number of symbols, Y, and then calculates the first slot for applying the new TCI state.

For medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) -based beam indications (when only a single TCI code point is activated) and activation, the UE follows an existing application timeline of MAC-CE activation.

For DCI-based beam indication, when determining the application time of the beam indication, the UE can assume that one beam application time (BAT) for a given subcarrier spacing is configured for all the component carriers (CCs) configured with the common TCI state ID update. The BAT associated with the carrier (s) (hence bandwidth parts (BWP (s) ) /CC (s) ) on which the beam indication applies is determined based on the carrier with the smallest subcarrier spacing among the carrier (s) applying the beam indication.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, a per-TRP beam application time is defined for unified TCI-based mTRP operations. These aspects are applicable when the UE is enabled with mTRP operation and is configured with unified TCIs. The TRP ID may be associated with a control resource set (CORESET) group ID, a CORESET pool index, a SRS resource set ID, or any other identification configurations in mTRP operations.

In a first option for determining how to apply the beam application time (BAT) of the beam indication, the UE may be configured with a single RRC beam application time parameter for multiple TRP IDs in a BWP of a single component carrier. In cases of carrier aggregation, the beam application time is determined based on the smallest SCS of active BWPs of all TRP IDs across all carrier components applying the TCI indication. That is, the UE determines the set of component carriers applying the beam indication. The UE also determines the corresponding TRP IDs, and the BWPs related to these TRPs. Based on the smallest SCS, the UE determines the beam application time for all TRPs. In this option, the UE applies a single beam application time for all TRPs. This option may be applicable to single DCI-based mTRP operation. The UE may receive a single DCI message that schedules multiple TRPs.

Another option is presented for determining how to apply the beam application time of the beam indication, when the UE is enabled with mTRP operation and is configured with unified TCIs. In this option, the UE may be configured with two beam application time parameters for two respective TRP IDs in a single BWP in a single carrier component. In cases of carrier aggregation, each beam application time may be determined based on the smallest SCS of active BWPs across all component carriers associated with the same TRP ID applying the TCI indication. In other words, different TRPs may have different beam application times. For example, this option may be applicable to multiple DCI-based mTRP operations, such that different DCI messages schedule transmission associated with different TRPs. A first RRC parameter for a beam application time may be assigned to a first TRP schedule by one DCI message, and another RRC parameter for a beam application time parameter may be assigned to a second TRP scheduled by a different DCI message. Whether to select the first option or second option may be based on a UE capability. Some UEs may support a single beam application time for different TRPs, whereas other UEs may support multiple beam application times for multiple TRPs.

When the UE would transmit the last symbol of a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the downlink control information carrying the TCI state indication and without downlink assignment, or corresponding to the PDSCH scheduling by the downlink control information carrying the TCI state indication, and if the indicated TCI-State is different from the previously indicated one, the indicated TCI state with the unified TCI parameter, such as tci-StateId_r17, should be applied starting from the first slot that is at least a number of symbols (e.g., indicated by the parameter BeamAppTime_r17) after the last symbol of the PUCCH. The first slot and the number of symbols (e.g., indicated by the parameter BeamAppTime_r17) are both determined on the active bandwidth part with the smallest subcarrier spacing of all active bandwidth parts among the carrier (s) applying the beam indication.

In a first option, when the UE is enabled with mTRP operation, the first slot and the number of symbols (e.g., indicated by a parameter of BeamAppTime_r18) are both determined on the active BWP with the smallest SCS of all active BWP (s) among the carrier (s) associated with at least one of the TRPs applying the beam indication.

In a second option, when the UE is enabled with mTRP operation, the first slot and the number of symbols (e.g., indicated by a parameter of BeamAppTime_r18) for a TRP are both determined on the active BWP with the smallest SCS of all active bandwidth parts among the carrier (s) associated with only the TRP applying the beam indication.

By selecting one of the first option or the second option, the beam application time for unified TCI-based mTRP operations is clearly defined.

FIGURE 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process 500 performed, for example, by a user equipment (UE) , in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The example process 500 is an example of applying a beam application time (BAT) for unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) -based multiple transmission and reception point (mTRP) operation. The operations of the process 500 may be implemented by a UE 120.

At block 502, the user equipment (UE) receives a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) . For example, the UE (e.g., using the antenna 252, DEMOD/MOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, controller/processor 280, memory 282, and/or the like) may receive the unified TCI. At block 504, the user equipment (UE) receives a configuration enabling operation with one or more transmit/receive point (TRPs) . For example, the UE (e.g., using the antenna 252, DEMOD/MOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, controller/processor 280, memory 282, and/or the like) may receive the configuration.

At block 506, the user equipment (UE) determines a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the TRPs. For example, the UE (e.g., using the controller/processor 280, memory 282, and/or the like) may determine the BAT. In some aspects, the UE may receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the TRPs. The determining may be based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the TRPs applying the beam indication. In other aspects, the determining may be based on an active BWP having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the TRPs applying the beam indication.

At block 508, the user equipment (UE) delays by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time. For example, the UE (e.g., using the controller/processor 280, memory 282, and/or the like) may delay the application of the beam indication based on the beam application time. In some implementations, the beam application time is multiple beam application times and the UE receives multiple RRC parameters for the multiple beam application times corresponding to the TRPs. Each RRC parameter corresponds to a designated TRP of the TRPs. In some aspects, the UE may determine the beam application time based on an active BWP with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP applying a designated beam indication of the beam indications. The UE may receive the RRC parameters for the beam application times via multiple downlink control information (DCI) messages. In other aspects, the UE determines the beam application times based on an active BWP with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP applying a designated beam indication of the multiple beam indications.

Example Aspects

Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication, by a user equipment (UE) , comprising: receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ; receiving a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ; determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and delaying by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.

Aspect 2: The method of Aspect 1, further comprising receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 3: The method of Aspect 1, further comprising receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 4: The method of any of Aspect 1, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the method further comprises receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 5: The method of any of Aspects 1 or 4, further comprising receiving the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.

Aspect 6: The method of any of Aspect 1, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the method further comprises receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 7: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured: to receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ; to receive a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ; to determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and to delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.

Aspect 8: The apparatus of Aspect 7, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 9: The apparatus of Aspect 7, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 10: The apparatus of Aspect 7, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the at least one processor is further configured to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 11: The apparatus of any of the Aspects 7 or 10, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.

Aspect 12: The apparatus of Aspect 7, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the at least one processor is further configured to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 13: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ; means for receiving a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ; means for determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and means for delaying by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.

Aspect 14: The apparatus of Aspect 13, further comprising means for receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 15: The apparatus of Aspect 13, further comprising means for receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 16: The apparatus of Aspect 13, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the apparatus further comprises means for receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 17: The apparatus of any of the Aspects 13 or 16, further comprising means for receiving the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.

Aspect 18: The apparatus of Aspect 13, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the apparatus further comprises means for receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 19: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code executed by a processor and comprising: program code to receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ; program code to receive a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ; program code to determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and program code to delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.

Aspect 20: The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Aspect 19, in which the program code further comprises program code to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, such that the program code to determine the BAT is further based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 21: The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Aspect 19, in which the program code further comprises program code to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, such that the program code to determine the BAT is further based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.

Aspect 22: The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Aspect 19, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the program code further comprises program code to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, and the program code to determine the BAT further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

Aspect 23: The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of the Aspects 19 or 22, in which the program code further comprises program code to receive the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.

Aspect 24: The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Aspect 19, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the program code further comprises program code to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, and the program code to determine the BAT further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.

The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the aspects.

As used, the term “component” is intended to be broadly construed as hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software. As used, a processor is implemented in hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software.

Some aspects are described in connection with thresholds. As used, satisfying a threshold may, depending on the context, refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, and/or the like.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods described may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and/or methods is not limiting of the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and/or methods were described without reference to specific software code-it being understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and/or methods based, at least in part, on the description.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c) .

No element, act, or instruction used should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Furthermore, as used, the terms “set” and “group” are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, a combination of related and unrelated items, and/or the like) , and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Where only one item is intended, the phrase “only one” or similar language is used. Also, as used, the terms “has, ” “have, ” “having, ” and/or the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Claims

A method of wireless communication, by a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ;

receiving a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ;

determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and

delaying by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.
The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The method of claim 1, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the method further comprises receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.
The method of claim 1, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the method further comprises receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the determining further being based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured:

to receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ;

to receive a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ;

to determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and

to delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.
The apparatus of claim 7, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The apparatus of claim 7, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The apparatus of claim 7, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the at least one processor is further configured to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
The apparatus of claim 10, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.
The apparatus of claim 7, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the at least one processor is further configured to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, the beam application time determined based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ;

means for receiving a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ;

means for determining a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and

means for delaying by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.
The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for receiving a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The apparatus of claim 13, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the apparatus further comprises means for receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising means for receiving the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.
The apparatus of claim 13, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the apparatus further comprises means for receiving a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, wherein the means for determining further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code executed by a processor and comprising:

program code to receive a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) ;

program code to receive a configuration enabling operation with a plurality of transmit/receive point (TRPs) ;

program code to determine a beam application time (BAT) for a beam indication associated with the unified TCI based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of each of the plurality of TRPs; and

program code to delay by a symbol offset, after acknowledging the unified TCI, application of the beam indication associated with the unified TCI, the symbol offset corresponding to the beam application time.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, in which the program code further comprises program code to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, such that the program code to determine the BAT is further based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, in which the program code further comprises program code to receive a single radio resource control (RRC) parameter for the beam application time for the plurality of TRPs, such that the program code to determine the BAT is further based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) having a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with any of the plurality of TRPs applying the beam indication.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the program code further comprises program code to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, and the program code to determine the BAT further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of a component carrier associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, in which the program code further comprises program code to receive the plurality of RRC parameters for the plurality of beam application times via a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, in which the beam application time comprises a plurality of beam application times and the program code further comprises program code to receive a plurality of radio resource control (RRC) parameters for the plurality of beam application times corresponding to the plurality of TRPs, each RRC parameter corresponding to a designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs, and the program code to determine the BAT further determines based on an active bandwidth part (BWP) with a smallest SCS of all active BWPs of all component carriers associated with the designated TRP of the plurality of TRPs applying a designated beam indication of the plurality of beam indications.