WO2025236705A1

WO2025236705A1 - Method and apparatus of supporting beam reporting

Info

Publication number: WO2025236705A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/144270
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Ling; Chenxi Zhu; Bingchao LIU
Original assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Current assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Priority date: 2024-12-31
Filing date: 2024-12-31
Publication date: 2025-11-20
Anticipated expiration: 2027-06-30

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method and apparatus of supporting beam reporting. An exemplary method performed by a UE may include: receiving one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and transmitting a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS OF SUPPORTING BEAM REPORTING

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques of supporting beam reporting.

BACKGROUND

A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations, which may support wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE) , or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers, or the like) . Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G) ) .

SUMMARY

An article “a” before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to “at least one” of those elements or “one or more” of those elements. The terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” or “one or both of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a “set” may include one or more elements.

Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a UE for wireless communication, which may include: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and transmit a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple reference signals (RS) sselected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, the beam report configuration includes a parameter indicates that a configured beam report is for beam updating.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: receive a downlink control information (DCI) to trigger transmission of the beam report, wherein the DCI schedules a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to carry the beam report.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is UE initiated, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: before transmitting the beam report, send a first uplink (UL) channel to request a resource for a second UL channel for the beam report or notify that there will be a second UL channel for the beam report in the case that a condition associated with the beam report is triggered.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, M beam report configurations associated with the M indicated beams are received, the beam report configuration on which the beam report is based is associated with one indicated beam of the M indicated beams, and the beam report includes one report content associated with the one indicated beam.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, and the beam report configuration associated with the one indicated beam configures measurement times, K, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: perform measurements of a RS in the first RS set or the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam based on K occasions of the RS no later than a channel state information (CSI) reference resource.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, and the beam report configuration associated with the one indicated beam configures a time duration with an end being a CSI reference resource, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: perform measurements of a RS in the first RS set or the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam based on occasions of the RS within the time duration.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is UE initiated, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine whether to trigger the beam report based on a condition including one or more of following event instances: qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam are lower than a threshold; or a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam is lower than a threshold; or a quality of at least one RS in the first RS set associated with the one indicated beam is higher than a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam by a threshold, where a value of Q is predefined or configured.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine that the condition is satisfied in response to: a number of same event instances are satisfied; or a number of same event instances are satisfied within a time duration.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, one beam report configuration associated with the M indicated beams is received, and the beam report includes one or multiple report contents associated with partial or all of the M indicated beams.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, and the beam report configuration configures measurement times, K, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: perform measurements of a RS in the first RS set and the second RS set associated with the indicated beam based on K occasions of the RS no later than a CSI reference resource.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, the beam report configuration configures a time duration with an end being a CSI reference resource, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: perform measurements of a RS in the first RS set and the second RS set associated with the indicated beam based on occasions of the RS within the time duration.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a type of the beam report is UE initiated, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine whether to trigger the beam report based on a condition including one or more of following event instances: qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with anyone of the M indicated beams are lower than a threshold; or a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with anyone of the M indicated beams is lower than a threshold; or a quality of at least one RS in the first RS set associated with anyone of the M indicated beams is higher than a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with a same indicated beam by a threshold, where a value of Q is predefined or configured.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, the beam report configuration configures that the condition based on a same event instance is satisfied in response to: a number of the event instances are satisfied; or a number of the event instances are satisfied within a time duration.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: determine whether a message for confirming beam updating associated with a transmitted beam report is received within a time window; and update current activated beams associated with each indicated beam associated with a report content in the beam report to be new activated beams after a time duration from a last symbol of a reception of the message.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, the message is a PDCCH with a DCI format scheduling a PUSCH transmission with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number same as that for transmission of the beam report and having a toggled new data indicator (NDI) field value, or is a PDCCH received in a dedicated control resource set (CORESET) or search space set.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a number of reported RSs is same as a number of current activated beams, the new activated beams are beams associated with the reported RSs.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, in the case that a number of reported RSs, N is smaller than a number of current activated beams, L, updating the current activated beams of an indicated beam with the new activated beams includes: changing first N current activated beams to be beams associated with the reported RSs and remaining last (L-N) current activated beams; or retaining first (L-N) current activated beams and changing last N current activated beams to be beams associated with the reported RSs; or retaining J current activated beams associated with J reported RSs selected from the second RS set associated with the indicated beam, changing first (N-J) current activated beams of remaining (L-J) current activated beams to be beams associated with remaining (N-J) reported RSs, and retaining remaining (L-N) current activated beams; or retaining J current activated beams associated with J reported RSs selected from the second RS set associated with the indicated beam, changing last (N-J) current activated beams of remaining (L-J) current activated beams to be beams associated with remaining (N-J) reported RSs, and retaining remaining (L-N) current activated beams; or changing L current activated beams to be N beams associated with reported N RSs.

In some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: update the indicated beam to be a new indicated beam during updating the current activated beams, where the new indicated beam is a first new activated beam or a x^th new activated beam in the case that the indicated beam to be updated is a x^th current activated beam; or update the indicated beam to be a new indicated beam in response to a PDCCH transmitted in a time interval where the new activated beam is applicable to indicate the new indicated beam.

Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a processor for wireless communication, which may include: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and transmit a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a network equipment (NE) for wireless communication, which may include: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NE to: transmit one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and receive a beam report for beam updating based on a transmitted beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

Some implementations of the methods and apparatuses described herein may further include a method performed by a UE, which may include: receiving one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and transmitting a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of a processor in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a NE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of method performed by a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Figure 6 illustrates a flowchart of method performed by a NE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Beam management is an important topic in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) for new radio (NR) . Even for future 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) release (R) , e.g., R19 or higher, beam management is still to be studied and enhanced. A "beam" can be represented by or be associated with spatial relation information, transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, or RS etc.

One usage of beam management is to update beams for UE. Currently, for beam indication, up to 128 TCI states are configured for UE firstly, then a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) is sent to UE to activate some of the configured TCI states as activated beams, and then a DCI is sent to UE to indicate one or two TCI states for transmission. One transmission-reception point (TRP) is associated with one indicated TCI state, therefore, the number of indicated TCI states can identify the number of TRPs. Which TCI states should be activated by the MAC CE is based on beam management at gNB side and beam reporting from UE. The activated beam updating is also network side’s implementation via MAC CE according to the beam report. However, the timing of MAC CE based beam updating needs 3ms after the reception of acknowledge (ACK) of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying the MAC CE. Thus, the industry desires to update beams for UE faster to improve the beam updating efficiency.

Various aspects of the present disclosure propose that a NE or radio access network (RAN) node, e.g., a gNB may send to a UE one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, which means M TRPs. An exemplary beam report configuration may include a parameter, e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) parameter, indicating that a configured beam report is for beam updating. Each indicated beam of the UE is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with the same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations. Accordingly, UE may receive only one beam report configuration associated with the M indicated beams or M beam report configurations respectively associated with the M indicated beams. That is, in the case of M>1, UE may receive only one beam report configuration associated with the M indicated beams or M beam report configurations one to one associated with the M indicated beams.

For each indicated beam, the associated beam report configuration may configure a first RS set. UE may also determine a second RS set according to activated beams associated with the indicated beam. UE may perform measurements on RSs selected from the first and second RS set for beam reporting (but not limited to, hereafter the same) associated with the indicated beam according to the corresponding beam report configuration. Then, UE may transmit a beam report for beam updating (but not limited to, hereafter the same) based on the corresponding measurement results. Each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam, which means each report content in the beam report is associated with a TRP, and reports one or multiple RSs selected from the first and second RS set associated with the indicated beam, e.g., layer (L) 1-reference signal received power (RSRP) and/or L1-signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of each related RS. In the case of only one beam report configuration associated with the M indicated beams, the beam report may include one or multiple report contents associated with partial or all of the M indicated beams. In the case of M beam report configurations respectively associated with the M indicated beams, the beam report may include one report content associated with one of the M indicated beam based on the corresponding beam report configuration associated with the one indicated beam.

After receiving the beam report associated with one or multiple indicated beams, the NE, e.g., gNB may transmit a confirmation of beam updating to the UE to at least update the associated activated beams, which is carried in a PDCCH rather than a MAC CE. Accordingly, beam updating proposed in various aspects of the present disclosure could be implemented faster than the legacy technology. The present disclosure would be advantageous in improved beam updating efficiency of and reduced beam updating overhead, and further improve beam management and mobility management.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of a wireless communications system.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more NE 102, one or more UE 104, and a core network (CN) 106. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as an LTE network or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a NR network, such as a 5G network, a 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network, or a 5G ultrawideband (5G-UWB) network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G, for example, 6G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , or code division multiple access (CDMA) , etc.

The one or more NE 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the NE 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a network function, a network entity, a radio access network (RAN) , a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. An NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

An NE 102 may provide a geographic coverage area for which the NE 102 may support services for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. ) according to one or multiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, an NE 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) . In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas 112 associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas may be associated with different NE 102.

The one or more UE 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a subscriber device, a transmitter device, a receiver device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, an Internet-of-Everything (IoE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples.

A UE 104 may be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link 114 may be referred to as a sidelink. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a PC5 interface.

An NE 102 may support communications with the CN 106, or with another NE 102, or both. For example, an NE 102 may interface with other NE 102 or the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., S1, N2, N3, or network interface) . In some implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other directly. In some other implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106. In some implementations, one or more NE 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC) . An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs) .

The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) , or a 5G core (5GC) , which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management functions (AMF) ) and a user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc. ) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more NE 102 associated with the CN 106.

The CN 106 may communicate with a packet data network over one or more backhaul links (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or another network interface) . The packet data network may include an application server. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the CN 106 via an NE 102. The CN 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session) . The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the CN 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the CN 106) .

In the wireless communications system 100, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers) ) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications) . In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures) . The NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.

One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., μ=0) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., μ=1) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., μ=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., μ=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.

A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames) . Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.

Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., μ=0, μ=1, μ=2, μ=3, μ=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols) . In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on a numerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing) , a slot may include 12 symbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.

In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz –7.125 GHz) , FR2 (24.25 GHz –52.6 GHz) , FR3 (7.125 GHz –24.25 GHz) , FR4 (52.6 GHz –114.25 GHz) , FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz –71 GHz) , and FR5 (114.25 GHz –300 GHz) . In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data) . In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.

FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies) . For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) , which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., μ=1) , which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies) . For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) , which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.

A UE may be served by one or multiple TRPs. A TRP may be represented by or associated with a configured index, e.g., a CORESETPoolIndex value etc. Each TRP may be further identified by an identifier (or index) (ID) or not. For example, if the UE is served by multiple TRPs, e.g., in scenarios of multiple TRPs (M-TRP) , multiple TRP IDs, e.g., TRP#1, TRP#2 etc., may be configured for the UE; while if the UE is served by only one TRP, e.g., in scenarios of single TRP (S-TRP) , then TRP IDs may not be configured for the UE.

The UE may be configured with multiple beams, wherein one or multiple of the configured beams, e.g., a list of beams may be activated for each TRP, and one of the list of beams may be indicated for the corresponding TRP. That is, each TRP (e.g., a TRP ID) may be associated with a list of activated beams and a corresponding indicated beam (or current beam) of the list of activated beams.

UE may transmit a beam report for beam reporting based on a received beam report configuration, which may include one or multiple report contents associated with one or multiple TRPs. Each report content associated with a TRP or an indicated beam is based on measurements of multiple beams, e.g., based on RS measurements associated with the multiple beams. An exemplary type of a beam report for beam updating may be an aperiodic beam report or UE initiated (also referred to as UE triggered, or event-driven or the like) beam report.

If the beam report is configured as an aperiodic beam report, the beam report may be transmitted in a PUSCH, which is triggered by a CSI request field in the scheduling DCI of the PUSCH.

If the beam report is configured as UE initiated beam report, at least two modes may be supported for a UE-initiated beam report transmission procedure. In one mode (hereinafter, Mode A) , the network side will dynamically schedule resources (or channels) for uplink control information (UCI) transmissions, and there are three steps in Mode A. In step 1, UE will transmit a first UL channel, e.g., a PUCCH to request a resource for a second UL channel (or a second UL transmission) to carry a beam report; in step 2, UE will detect the DCI format to indicate a resource for the second UL channel, e.g., a second PUCCH or a second PUSCH to carry the beam report; and in step 3: UE will transmit the beam report in the second uplink channel. In the other mode (hereinafter Mode B) , the network side will pre-configure resources for UCI transmissions, and there are two steps in Mode B. In step 1, UE will transmit a first UL channel, e.g., a PUCCH resource notifying a second uplink channel (or a second UL transmission) , e.g., a second PUCCH or a second PUSCH to carry a beam report; and in step 2, UE will transmit the beam report in the second uplink channel.

In accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure (scheme 1) , a separate beam reporting mechanism for the M TRPs may be predefined or configured. M beam report configurations are configured for UE, wherein the M beam report configurations are one to one associated with the M TRPs or indicated beams. Each of the M beam report configuration may be configured with an ID. When there are multiple TRPs, the M beam report configuration IDs, e.g., Configuration#1, Configuration#2…Configuration#M, can be associated with M TRP IDs or M indicated beam indexes by an ascending ID order (e.g., Configuration#1 associated with TRP#1, Configuration#2 associated with TRP#2, and so on) , or any other order. If the beam report type is aperiodic or Mode A UE-initiated, the associated beam report configuration is associated with one CSI triggering state. Different beam report configurations of the M beam report configurations may be associated with the same or different CSI triggering states. If the beam report type is configured as UE-initiated, e.g., Mode A or Mode B, the corresponding beam report configuration may also configure the first UL channel, e.g., a PUCCH resource to request a resource for a second UL channel for the beam report or notify that there will be a second UL channel for the beam report. If the beam report type is configured as Mode B UE-initiated, the corresponding beam report configuration may also configure the second UL channel, e.g., a PUSCH resource.

In addition, each beam report configuration, e.g., the i^th (i=1, …, M) beam report configuration associated with the i^th TRP may configure a first RS set for beam reporting associated with the i^th TRP. The first RS set may include one or multiple RSs, e.g., periodic downlink (DL) RSs, wherein each DL RS is associated with a configured beam. UE may determine a second RS set for beam reporting associated with the i^th TRP, e.g., periodic DL RSs, wherein each DL RS is associated with an activated beam associated with the i^th TRP.

In the case that the beam report type is aperiodic, the network side, e.g., gNB may use a DCI to trigger a beam report for the i^th TRP and the corresponding beam report may be transmitted in a PUSCH scheduled by the DCI.

In some implementations of the present disclosure, the beam report configuration associated with the i^th TRP may configure a measurement times value, e.g., K (K>=1) for the measurement of RSs in the first and second RS sets associated with the i^th TRP. In some other cases, K may be predefined. For a RS in anyone of the first and second RS sets associated with the i^th TRP, UE may perform measurements of the RS based on K occasions of the RS which is no later than a CSI reference resource. Regarding the CSI reference resource, it can be determined by various manners, e.g., using a legacy manner specified in R15. The reported quality of the RS, e.g., L1-RSRP or L1-SINR or other metrics is based on a filter of average of the qualities of the K occasions of the RS. Regarding how to perform the filter of the average of the qualities of the K occasions, it may be dependent on UE implementation or according to network side configurations. For example, some filter related parameters may be configured in the beam report configuration associated with the i^th TRP.

In some other implementations of the present disclosure, the beam report configuration associated with the i^th TRP may configure a time duration for the measurement of RSs in the first and second sets associated with the i^th TRP. In some other cases, the time duration may be predefined. An exemplary time duration may be a number of slots or symbols or milliseconds etc. For a RS in anyone of the first and second RS sets associated with the i^th TRP, UE may perform the measurement of the RS based on occasions of the RS in a configured or predefined time duration with an end being a CSI reference resource. The reported quality of the RS is based on a filter of average of the qualities of occasions of the corresponding RS in the configured or predefined time duration with an end being a CSI reference resource. Similarly, regarding the CSI reference resource, it can be determined by various manners, e.g., using a legacy manner specified in R15. Regarding how to perform the filter of the average of qualities of the occasions of the corresponding RS in the configured or predefined time duration, it may be dependent on UE implementation or according to the network side configurations. For example, some filter related parameters may be configured in the beam report configuration associated with the i^th TRP.

In the case that the report type is UE initiated, conditions or events for triggering UE initiated beam reporting associated with each TRP, e.g., the i^th TRP (e.g., the i^th TRP ID) need to be configured or predefined for UE. When a configured or predefined condition or event is satisfied, a beam report will be triggered or initiated in the UE side.

An exemplary condition or event is (hereinafter, Event #1-1) : a beam report will be triggered to be reported if the qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the i^th TRP are lower than a configured or predefined threshold.

Another exemplary condition or event is (hereinafter, Event #1-2) : a beam report will be triggered to be reported if the quality of the Q^th largest qualities of RSs in the second RS set associated with the i^th TRP is lower than a configured or predefined threshold. The value of Q may be configured, e.g., by gNB in the associated beam report configuration or be predefined.

Yet another exemplary condition or event is (hereinafter, Event #1-3) : a beam report will be triggered to be reported if the quality of at least one RS in the first RS set associated with the i^th TRP is higher than the Q^th largest qualities of RSs in the second RS set associated with the i^th TRP with a configured or predefined threshold. Similarly, the value of Q may be configured, e.g., by gNB in the associated beam report configuration or be predefined.

Exemplary Event #1-1 to Event #1-3 are based on one shot measurement. In some implementations of the present disclosure, considering that the beam report based on one shot measurement may not be reliable, UE may perform multiple measurements and whether a beam report will be triggered based on the multiple measurements. Each measurement may correspond to an event instance, e.g., anyone of Event #1-1 to Event #1-3. UE may determine that the condition for triggering a beam report is satisfied in response to a number of event instances (same or not) , e.g., J, J>1 event instances are satisfied; or a number of event instances (same or not) , e.g., J event instances are satisfied within a time duration. The time duration and J value can be configured, e.g., configured in the associated beam report configuration or predefined.

For a beam report (regardless of the type) associated with a TRP or indicated beam, e.g., the i^th TRP (e.g., the i^th TRP ID) , the report content in the beam report may include N (N>=1) RSs selected from the first RS set and second RS set associated with the beam report configuration associated with the i^th TRP. The N RSs correspond to N beams that are reported in the beam report. The number of the reported RSs or reported beams in the beam report may be configured, e.g., in the associated beam report configuration or be predefined. For example, according to a predefined rule, the number of reported RSs or beams can be determined to be the same as the number of the activated beams, e.g., L, L>=1. How to select the reported RSs in the first and second RS set is up to UE, e.g., UE may determine that the RSs with larger qualities will be reported, which may be the same as or different from the legacy 5G specification.

In some cases, a beam report may be a differential report used for saving overhead. An exemplary differential beam report may be in the following format: the first reported beam quality value is the beam quality with the largest quality value and is fully or normally reported (anon-differential value) , while the remaining (N-1) beam quality values are differential values related to the first reported beam quality value.

After transmitting the beam report associated with a TRP or indicated beam, e.g., the i^th TRP, UE will be waiting for the confirmation from the network side to update the activated beams for the i^th TRP. For example, UE may determine whether a message for confirming activated beam updating associated with a transmitted beam report is received within a time window. The time window is configured or predefined.

An exemplary message for confirming activated beam updating associated with the i^th TRP may be a PDCCH. For example, a PDCCH for confirming beam updating is a PDCCH with a DCI format scheduling a PUSCH transmission with the same HARQ process number as that for the transmission of the PUSCH carrying the associated beam report and having a toggled NDI field value within a configured or predefined time window. Another exemplary PDCCH for confirming activated beam updating is a PDCCH received in a dedicated CORESET or search space set within a configured or predefined time window.

For clarity, the activated beams before beam updating may be referred to as current or old activated beams, and the activated beams after beam updating may be referred to as new or updated activated beams. If UE does not receive the confirmation within the time window, UE will not update the activated beams of the i^th TRP. If UE receives the confirmation within the time window, UE may update the current activated beams to be new activated beams after a configured or predefined time duration from a last symbol of a reception of the message carrying the confirmation. The configured or predefined time duration may be a number of symbols, slots or milliseconds etc. For example, UE may update the activated beams of the i^th TRP to be new activated beams after a number of symbols, slots or milliseconds from the last symbol of a PDCCH reception with a DCI format scheduling a PUSCH transmission with the same HARQ process number as that for the transmission of the PUSCH carrying the beam report and having a toggled NDI field value, or from the last symbol of a PDCCH reception in a dedicated CORESET or search space set.

For each TRP, the number of reported RSs or reported beams, N may be equal to or smaller than the number of activated beams, L. For example, 8 TCI states may be activated for a TRP, which means L=8, while 4 beams may be reported in a beam report for the TRP, which means N=4.

In the case that the number of reported RSs in a beam report is the same as the number of activated beams associated with the corresponding TRP or indicated beam, the configured beams associated with the reported RSs are new activated beams to replace the current or old activated beams. For example, the first one of the new activated beams is associated with the first one of the reported RSs, the second one of the new activated beam is associated with the second one of the reported RSs and so on.

In the case that the number of reported RSs, e.g., N=4 is smaller than the number of activated beams, e.g., L=8, the current or old activated beams cannot be updated by new activated beams with the same number. Considering that, various aspects of the present disclosure proposes several solutions to update the activated beams.

For example, In accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, the number of activated beam will not be changed. That is, the number of the activated beams after updating is still L, e.g., 8.

In some implementation of the present disclosure, the beams associated with the reported RSs will be used to replace N current activated beams, and the remaining (L-N) current activated beams will not be changed. That is, the updated activated beams include N reported beams and (L-N) old activated beams. For example, the first N current activated beams may be changed to be the beams associated with the reported RSs, and the last (L-N) current activated beams will not be changed. For another example, the last N current activated beams may be changed to be the beams associated with the reported RSs, and the first (L-N) current activated beams will not be changed.

In some other implementation of the present disclosure, the current activated beams associated with the reported RSs selected from the first RS set will be changed (if any) , while current activated beams associated with the reported RSs selected from the second RS set (if any) and the remaining current activated beams will not be changed. It is supposed that the reported RSs include J (J>=1) RSs from the second RS set and (N-J) RSs from the first RS set. Then, J current activated beams associated with the J reported RS from the second RS set may be retained. Regarding the remaining (L-J) current activated beams, UE may update them in various manners. For example, the first (N-J) current activated beams of the remaining (L-J) current activated beams may be changed to be the beams associated with the remaining (N-J) reported RSs from the first RS set, and the remaining (L-N) current activated beams will not be changed. For another example, the last (N-J) current activated beams of the remaining (L-J) current activated beams may be changed to be the beams associated with the remaining (N-J) reported RSs from the first RS set, and the remaining (L-N) current activated beams will not be changed.

In accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, the number of activated beams associated with a TRP may be changed to be the same as the number of the reported RSs. That is, the number of the activated beams after updating for a TRP is N, and the L current activated beams will be replaced by N beams associated with the reported N RSs.

Besides the activated beam updating, the indicated beam associated with the corresponding TRP may also be updated based on the beam reporting. Similarly, for clarity, the indicated beam (or current beam) before beam updating may be referred to as old current beam or old indicated beam or current indicated beam or the like, and the indicated beam (or current beam) after beam updating may be referred to as new indicated beam or new current beam or new current beam or the like. In some cases, UE may update the old indicated beam to be a new indicated beam during updating the current activated beams (or together with the activated beam updating or the like) . An exemplary new indicated beam may always be the first new activated beam (in some rules, the new indicated beam may be the same as the old one, e.g., in the case of the first activated beam is not changed) , or may be the x^th new activated beam in the case that the indicated beam to be updated is the x^th current activated beam, 1<=x<=N. In some cases, UE may not update the indicated beam together with the activated beam updating. After updating the activated beams, UE will wait for a PDCCH to indicate a new indicated beam for the corresponding TRP. Such a PDCCH may be transmitted in a time interval where the new activated beam is applicable, and then UE will update the indicated beam in response to the PDCCH indicating the new indicated beam.

Under scheme 1, since the beam report configuration, the beam reporting and updating for each TRP is separate, the illustrated information, parameters, and/or mechanism or solution etc., for beam reporting and updating for different TRPs can be separately configured and/or implemented, which may be the same or different. For example, N may be the same or different for different TRPs.

In accordance with some other aspects of the present disclosure (scheme 2) , a joint beam reporting mechanism for the M TRPs may be predefined or configured. One beam report configuration is configured for UE, which is associated with the M TRPs. Whether the M TRPs can be used for simultaneous DL and UL transmissions may be configured by RRC. If the beam report type is aperiodic or Mode A UE-initiated, the beam report configuration is associated with one CSI triggering state. If the beam report type is configured as UE-initiated, e.g., Mode A or Mode B, the beam report configuration may also configure the first UL channel, e.g., a PUCCH resource to request a resource for a second UL channel for the beam report or notify that there will be a second UL channel for the beam report. If the beam report type is configured as Mode B UE-initiated, the beam report configuration may also configure the second UL channel, e.g., a PUSCH resource.

For each TRP or indicated beam, e.g., the i^th (i=1, …, M) TRP or indicated beam, the beam report configuration may configure a first RS set for beam reporting associated with the i^th TRP. The first RS set may include one or multiple RSs, e.g., periodic DL RSs, wherein each DL RS is associated with a configured beam associated with the i^th TRP. UE may determine a second RS set for beam reporting associated with the i^th TRP, e.g., periodic DL RSs, wherein each DL RS is associated with an activated beam associated with the i^th TRP. If the M TRPs is configured for simultaneous DL and UL transmissions, any RSs from different RS sets including the first and second RS sets associated with different TRPs can be received simultaneously.

In the case that the beam report type is aperiodic, the network side, e.g., gNB may use a DCI to trigger a beam report for the M TRPs and the corresponding report content associated with each TRP may be transmitted in the beam report by a PUSCH scheduled by the DCI.

Similarly, in some implementations of the present disclosure, the beam report configuration may configure a measurement times value, e.g., K (K>=1) for the measurement of RSs in the first and second RS sets associated with a TRP (applicable for all TRPs, hereinafter the same) . In some other cases, K may be predefined. For a RS in anyone of the first and second RS sets associated with a TRP, UE may perform measurements of the RS based on K occasions of the RS which is no later than a CSI reference resource. Regarding the CSI reference resource, it can be determined by various manners, e.g., using a legacy manner specified in R15. The reported quality of the RS, e.g., L1-RSRP or L1-SINR or other metrics is based on a filter of average of the qualities of the K occasions of the RS. Regarding how to perform the filter of the average of the qualities of the K occasions, it may be dependent on UE implementation or according to network side configurations. For example, some filter related parameters may be configured in the beam report configuration.

In some other implementations of the present disclosure, the beam report configuration may configure a time duration for the measurement of RSs in the first and second sets associated with a TRP. In some other cases, the time duration may be predefined. An exemplary time duration may be a number of slots or symbols or milliseconds etc. For a RS in anyone of the first and second RS sets associated with a TRP, UE may perform the measurement of the RS based on occasions of the RS in a configured or predefined time duration with an end being a CSI reference resource. The reported quality of the RS is based on a filter of average of the qualities of occasions of the corresponding RS in the configured or predefined time duration with an end being a CSI reference resource. Similarly, regarding the CSI reference resource, it can be determined by various manners, e.g., using a legacy manner specified in R15. Regarding how to perform the filter of the average of qualities of the occasions of the corresponding RS in the configured or predefined time duration, it may be dependent on UE implementation or according to the network side configurations. For example, some filter related parameters may be configured in the beam report configuration.

In the case that the report type is UE initiated, conditions or events for triggering UE initiated beam reporting need to be configured or predefined for UE. When a configured or predefined condition or event is satisfied, a beam report will be triggered or initiated in the UE side.

An exemplary condition or event is (hereinafter, Event #2-1) : a beam report will be triggered to be reported if the qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with any TRP of the M TRP are lower than a configured or predefined threshold.

Another exemplary condition or event is (hereinafter, Event #2-2) : a beam report will be triggered to be reported if the quality of the Q^th largest qualities of RSs in the second RS set associated with any TRP of the M TRP is lower than a configured or predefined threshold. The value of Q may be configured, e.g., by gNB in the associated beam report configuration or be predefined.

Yet another exemplary condition or event is (hereinafter, Event #2-3) : a beam report will be triggered to be reported if the quality of at least one RS in the first RS set associated with any TRP of the M TRP is higher than the Q^th largest qualities of RSs in the second RS set associated with the corresponding TRP with a configured or predefined threshold. Similarly, the value of Q may be configured, e.g., by gNB in the associated beam report configuration or be predefined.

Exemplary Event #2-1 to Event #2-3 are based on one shot measurement. In some implementations of the present disclosure, considering that the beam report based on one shot measurement may not be reliable, UE may perform multiple measurements and whether a beam report will be triggered based on the multiple measurements. Each measurement may correspond to an event instance, e.g., anyone of Event #2-1 to Event #2-3. UE may determine that the condition for triggering a beam report is satisfied in response to a number of event instances (same or not) , e.g., J, J>1 event instances are satisfied; or a number of event instances (same or not) , e.g., J event instances are satisfied within a time duration. The time duration and J value can be configured, e.g., configured in the beam report configuration or predefined.

When the conditions or events of triggering a UE-initiated beam report associated with the M TRPs is satisfied, UE may transmit a first UL, e.g., a dedicated PUCCH resource configured in the beam report configuration to request a resource for a second UL channel for the beam report or notify that there will be a second UL channel for the beam report, and transmit the beam report contents associated with part or all of the M TRPs in the beam report carried by the requested or notified second UL channel, e.g., a PUSCH.

For a beam report (regardless of the type) , the report content associated with a TRP, e.g., the i^th TRP (e.g., the i^th TRP ID) may include N (N>=1) RSs selected from the first RS set and second RS set associated with the i^th TRP. The N RSs correspond to N beams that are reported. The number of the reported RSs or reported beams in the beam report may be configured, e.g., in the beam report configuration or be predefined. For example, according to a predefined rule, the number of reported RSs or beams of a TRP can be determined to be the same as the number of the activated beams, e.g., L, L>1. How to select the reported RSs in the first and second RS set is up to UE, e.g., UE may determine that the RSs with larger qualities will be reported, which may be the same as or different from the legacy 5G specification.

An exemplary format of report contents in a beam report under scheme 2 is shown in Table 1 below, wherein the associated indicated beam index may be replaced by the associated TRP index.
Table 1

Similarly, a beam report under scheme 2 may be a differential report used for saving overhead. The differential report can be performed per TRP or for all TRPs reported in the beam report.

If the differential report is per TRP, taken Table 1 as an example, the qualities of beam index #2-#N in Table 1 will be changed to be differential qualities of beam index #2-#N.If the differential report is for multiple TRPs, e.g., all M TRPs, the quality of the beam with the largest beam quality may be reported as a normal quality (non-differential value) , while the remaining beam qualities may be reported as differential quality values. The index of the TRP or indicated beam associated with the beam with the largest quality will be indicated in the beam report.

If the differential report is based on multiple reported TRPs, e.g., the M TRPs, an exemplary format of report contents associated with the multiple reported TRPs is shown in Table 2 below, wherein the associated indicated beam index may be replaced by the associated TRP index.
Table 2

Yet another exemplary beam report associated with part or all of the M TRPs under scheme 2 may include two parts of report contents. The first part may indicate a beam (e.g., a beam index) with the largest quality and the corresponding quality, and the associated TRP or indicated beam index, e.g., indicated beam #L. The quality of the indicated beam #L may also be reported, which depends on whether it is configured or predefined to be reported. The second part may indicate the reported beams and the corresponding qualities associated with each TRP indicated by the first part. The first part may also indicate the payload size of the second part, which may be variable. For example, in the case of a UE-initiated beam report under scheme, the number, e.g., N1 of beams satisfying the conditions of the triggered event per TRP or indicated beam in the second part may be indicated in the first part of beam report. The report contents in the second part may also be differential based on the largest one or not.

After transmitting the beam report associated with partial or all of the M TRPs, UE may be waiting for the confirmation from the network side to update the activated beams for the related TRPs. The updating of activated beam and even indicated beam for each related TRP is similar to or same as those illustrated under scheme 1, and thus will not repeat herein.

In addition, in the case of M=1, there is no difference in scheme 1 and scheme 2.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a UE 200 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 200 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, a controller 206, and a transceiver 208. The processor 202, the memory 204, the controller 206, or the transceiver 208, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

The processor 202, the memory 204, the controller 206, or the transceiver 208, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

The processor 202 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 202 may be configured to operate the memory 204. In some other implementations, the memory 204 may be integrated into the processor 202. The processor 202 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 204 to cause the UE 200 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 204 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 204 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 202 cause the UE 200 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such the memory 204 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

In some implementations, the processor 202 and the memory 204 coupled with the processor 202 may be configured to cause the UE 200 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 202, instructions stored in the memory 204) . For example, the processor 202 may support wireless communication at the UE 200 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The UE 200 may be configured to support a means for receiving one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and a means for transmitting a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

The controller 206 may manage input and output signals for the UE 200. The controller 206 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the UE 200. In some implementations, the controller 206 may utilize an operating system such as or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 206 may be implemented as part of the processor 202.

In some implementations, the UE 200 may include at least one transceiver 208. In some other implementations, the UE 200 may have more than one transceiver 208. The transceiver 208 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 208 may include one or more receiver chains 210, one or more transmitter chains 212, or a combination thereof.

A receiver chain 210 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 210 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 210 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 210 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 210 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

A transmitter chain 212 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmitter chain 212 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmitter chain 212 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 212 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of a processor 300 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The processor 300 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 300 may include a controller 302 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 300 may optionally include at least one memory 304, which may be, for example, an L1/L2/L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 300 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 306. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 300 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 300) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .

The controller 302 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 300 to cause the processor 300 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 302 may operate as a control unit of the processor 300, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 300. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 302 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 304 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 300 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 302 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 304. The controller 302 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 302 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 300 to cause the processor 300 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 302 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 300. The controller 302 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 300.

The memory 304 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 300 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 304 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 300) . In some other implementations, the memory 304 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 300) .

The memory 304 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 300, cause the processor 300 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 302 and/or the processor 300 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 304 to cause the processor 300 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 300 and/or the controller 302 may be coupled with or to the memory 304, the processor 300, the controller 302, and the memory 304 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 300 may include multiple processors and the memory 304 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

The one or more ALUs 306 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or more ALUs 306 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 300) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 306 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 300) . One or more ALUs 306 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 306 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 306 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 306 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 306 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 300 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 300 may be configured to or operable to support a means for receiving one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and a means for transmitting a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a NE 400 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The NE 400 may include a processor 402, a memory 404, a controller 406, and a transceiver 408. The processor 402, the memory 404, the controller 406, or the transceiver 408, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

The processor 402, the memory 404, the controller 406, or the transceiver 408, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

The processor 402 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 402 may be configured to operate the memory 404. In some other implementations, the memory 404 may be integrated into the processor 402. The processor 402 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 404 to cause the NE 400 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 404 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 404 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 402 cause the NE 400 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such the memory 404 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

In some implementations, the processor 402 and the memory 404 coupled with the processor 402 may be configured to cause the NE 400 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 402, instructions stored in the memory 404) . For example, the processor 402 may support wireless communication at the NE 400 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The NE 400 may be configured to support a means for transmitting one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and a means for receiving a beam report for beam updating based on a transmitted beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.

The controller 406 may manage input and output signals for the NE 400. The controller 406 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the NE 400. In some implementations, the controller 406 may utilize an operating system such as or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 406 may be implemented as part of the processor 402.

In some implementations, the NE 400 may include at least one transceiver 408. In some other implementations, the NE 400 may have more than one transceiver 408. The transceiver 408 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 408 may include one or more receiver chains 410, one or more transmitter chains 412, or a combination thereof.

A receiver chain 410 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 410 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 410 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 410 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 410 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

A transmitter chain 412 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmitter chain 412 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmitter chain 412 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 412 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method may be implemented by a UE as described herein. In some implementations, the UE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the UE to perform the described functions.

At step 501, the method may include receiving one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations. The operations of step 501 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 501 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 2.

At step 503, the method may include transmitting a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam. The operations of step 503 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of step 503 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 2.

It should be noted that the method described herein describes a possible implementation, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.

Figure 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method may be implemented by a NE as described herein. In some implementations, the NE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the NE to perform the described functions.

At step 601, the method may include transmitting one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations. The operations of step 601 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of step 601 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 4.

At step 603, the method may include receiving a beam report for beam updating based on a transmitted beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple RSs selected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam. The operations of step 603 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of step 603 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 4.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:

receive one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and

transmit a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple reference signals (RS) sselected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the beam report configuration comprises a parameter indicating that a configured beam report is for beam updating.
The UE of claim 1, wherein in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to:

receive a downlink control information (DCI) to trigger transmission of the beam report, wherein the DCI schedules a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to carry the beam report.
The UE of claim 1, wherein in the case that a type of the beam report is UE initiated, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to:

before transmitting the beam report, send a first uplink (UL) channel to request a resource for a second UL channel for the beam report or notify that there will be a second UL channel for the beam report in the case that a condition associated with the beam report is triggered.
The UE of claim 1, wherein M beam report configurations associated with the M indicated beams are received, the beam report configuration on which the beam report is based is associated with one indicated beam of the M indicated beams, and the beam report comprises one report content associated with the one indicated beam.
The UE of claim 5, wherein in the case that a type of the beam report is UE initiated, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine whether to trigger the beam report based on a condition including one or more of following event instances:

qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam are lower than a threshold; or

a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam is lower than a threshold; or

a quality of at least one RS in the first RS set associated with the one indicated beam is higher than a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with the one indicated beam by a threshold, where a value of Q is predefined or configured.
The UE of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine that the condition is satisfied in response to:

a number of same event instances are satisfied; or

a number of same event instances are satisfied within a time duration.
The UE of claim 1, wherein one beam report configuration associated with the M indicated beams is received, and the beam report comprises one or multiple report contents associated with partial or all of the M indicated beams.
The UE of claim 8, wherein in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, and the beam report configuration configures measurement times, K, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to:

perform measurements of a RS in the first RS set and the second RS set associated with the indicated beam based on K occasions of the RS no later than a channel state information (CSI) reference resource.
The UE of claim 8, wherein in the case that a type of the beam report is aperiodic, the beam report configuration configures a time duration with an end being a channel state information (CSI) reference resource, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to:

perform measurements of a RS in the first RS set and the second RS set associated with the indicated beam based on occasions of the RS within the time duration.
The UE of claim 8, wherein in the case that a type of the beam report is UE initiated, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine whether to trigger the beam report based on a condition including one or more of following event instances:

qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with anyone of the M indicated beams are lower than a threshold; or

a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with anyone of the M indicated beams is lower than a threshold; or

a quality of at least one RS in the first RS set associated with anyone of the M indicated beams is higher than a Q^th largest quality of qualities of all RSs in the second RS set associated with a same indicated beam by a threshold, where a value of Q is predefined or configured.
The UE of claim 11, wherein the beam report configuration configures that the condition based on a same event instance is satisfied in response to:

a number of the event instances are satisfied; or

a number of event instances are satisfied within a time duration.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to:

determine whether a message for confirming beam updating associated with a transmitted beam report is received within a time window; and

update the current activated beams associated with each indicated beam associated with a report content in the beam report to be new activated beams after a time duration from a last symbol of a reception of the message.
The UE of claim 13, wherein the message is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with a downlink control information (DCI) format scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number same as that for transmission of the beam report and having a toggled new data indicator (NDI) field value, or is a PDCCH received in a dedicated control resource set (CORESET) or search space set.
The UE of claim 13, wherein in the case that a number of the reported RSs is same as a number of the current activated beams, the new activated beams after updating the current activated beams are beams associated with the reported RSs.
The UE of claim 13, wherein in the case that a number of reported RSs, N is smaller than a number of the current activated beams, L, updating the current activated beams of an indicated beam to be the new activated beams comprises:

changing first N current activated beams to be beams associated with the reported RSs and remaining last (L-N) current activated beams; or

retaining first (L-N) current activated beams and changing last N current activated beams to be beams associated with the reported RSs; or

retaining J current activated beams associated with J reported RSs selected from the second RS set associated with the indicated beam, changing first (N-J) current activated beams of remaining (L-J) current activated beams to be beams associated with remaining (N-J) reported RSs, and retaining remaining (L-N) current activated beams; or

retaining J current activated beams associated with J reported RSs selected from the second RS set associated with the indicated beam, changing last (N-J) current activated beams of remaining (L-J) current activated beams to be beams associated with remaining (N-J) reported RSs, and retaining remaining (L-N) current activated beams; or

changing L current activated beams to be N beams associated with reported N RSs.
The UE of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to:

update the indicated beam to be a new indicated beam during updating the current activated beams, where the new indicated beam is a first new activated beam or a x^th new activated beam in the case that the indicated beam to be updated is a x^th current activated beam; or

update the indicated beam to be a new indicated beam in response to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmitted in a time interval where the new activated beam is applicable to indicate the new indicated beam.
A processor for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:

receive one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and

transmit a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple reference signals (RS) sselected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.
A network equipment (NE) for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NE to:

transmit one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and

receive a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple reference signals (RS) sselected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.
A method performed by a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

receiving one or multiple beam report configurations associated with M indicated beams, M>=1, wherein each indicated beam is associated with a beam report configuration, and different indicated beams are associated with a same beam report configuration or different beam report configurations; and

transmitting a beam report for beam updating based on a received beam report configuration, wherein each report content in the beam report is associated with an indicated beam and reports one or multiple reference signals (RS) sselected from a first RS set and a second RS set associated with the indicated beam, the first RS set is indicated in the beam report configuration, and the second RS set is determined according to current activated beams associated with the indicated beam.