WO2021253452A1

WO2021253452A1 - Method for transmitting control information

Info

Publication number: WO2021253452A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/097261
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yuxin Wang; Zhaohua Lu; Hao Wu; Chuangxin JIANG; Bo Gao
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2020-06-19
Filing date: 2020-06-19
Publication date: 2021-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 2022-12-19
Also published as: CN114788328A

Abstract

A wireless communication method for use in a wireless network node is disclosed. The wireless communication method comprises transmitting, to at least one wireless terminal, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Description

METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING CONTROL INFORMATION

This document is directed generally to new radio (NR) wireless communications.

The sounding reference signal (SRS) is a signal used for measuring channel state information (CSI) of a channel between a communication node (e.g. a base station (BS) ) and a communication terminal device (e.g. a user equipment (UE) ) . In the long term evolution (LTE) system, the communication terminal device regularly transmits an uplink (UL) SRS on the last data symbol of a sub-frame based on parameters (e.g. frequency band, frequency domain position, sequence cyclic shift, period, sub-frame offset, …, etc. ) indicated by the communication node. The communication node determines the CSI of UL channels of the UE based on the received SRS and performs operations (e.g. frequency selection scheduling and close-loop power control) according to the determined CSI.

In LTE, non-precoded SRS (s) is used in UL communications (i.e. antenna dedicated SRS) and a de-modulation reference signal (DMRS) of a physical UL shared channel (PUSCH) is precoded. By receiving the non-precoded SRS, the communication node is able to estimate the original CSI, which cannot be acquired based on the precoded DMRS. In such conditions, the communication terminal device may need more SRS resources when using multiple antennas to transmit the non-precoded SRSs, resulting in that the number of communication terminal devices simultaneously multiplexing in the communication system is decreased.

Via the aperiodic SRS, the utilization of the SRS resources and a flexibility of scheduling the SRS may be improved to some extent. More specifically, the communication terminal device may transmit the SRS configured by the higher layer signaling (type-0 trigger) or the downlink (DL) control information (DCI) (type-1 trigger) . The SRS configured by the higher layer signaling is transmitted periodically (i.e. periodic SRS) and the SRS configured by the DCI is transmitted aperiodically (i.e. aperiodic SRS) .

In NR, usages of the SRS are classified into 4 categories: beam management, codebook based, non-codebook-based, and antenna switching.

The NR supports beam indication by informing the UE that a certain physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical DL control channel (PDCCH) transmission uses the same transmission beam as a configured reference signal (e.g. CSI reference signal or synchronization signal block (SSB) ) . More specifically, the beam indication implicitly informs the UE that a certain PDSCH and/or PDCCH is transmitted by using the same spatial filter as the configured reference signal. In more detail, the beam indication is determined based on the configuration and downlink signaling of so-called transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, wherein each of TCI states includes, among other things, information about a reference signal (e.g. a CSI-RS or an SSB) . By associating a DL transmission (e.g. PDCCH or PDSCH) with a TCI state, the network informs the UE that the UE can assume that the DL transmission is performed by using the same spatial filter as the reference signal associated with the TCI state.

In the NR system, the number of UEs locating in a serving cell for receiving signals from the wireless network node or transmitting signals to the wireless network node keeps growing. In such conditions, the signaling overhead of triggering the aperiodic SRS becomes enormous. In addition, the signaling overhead of updating spatial filter information of transmitting/receiving beam also significantly increases with the number of UEs communicating with the wireless network node. Thus, how to reduce the signal overhead of triggering aperiodic SRS and/or updating spatial filter information becomes a topic to be discussed.

In addition, the UE may be configured with multiple antenna panels in the NR system. How the wireless network node dynamically indicates the UE the configured antenna panels may need to be considered.

This document relates to methods, systems, and devices for transmitting control information, and in particular to methods, systems, and devices for transmitting control information of triggering a reference signal and/or updating at least one TCI state.

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication method for use in a wireless network node. The wireless communication method comprises transmitting, to at least one wireless terminal, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features:

Preferably, the reference signal is an aperiodic sounding reference signal.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further comprises configuring, to each of the at least one wireless terminal, a parameter indicating a start position within the control information.

Preferably, the control information comprises at least one block, wherein each of the at least one block is configured for one of the at least one wireless terminal and comprises at least one of: a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or a plurality of fields of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Preferably, the control information comprises a plurality of blocks, wherein each of the plurality of blocks is configured for one of the at least one wireless terminal and comprises at least one of: a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or a field of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further comprises configuring, to each of the at least one wireless terminal, a parameter indicating the number of the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Preferably, the at least one transmission configuration indication state separately applies to at least one of a plurality of signals or a plurality of antenna panels.

Preferably, the plurality of signals comprises at least two of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.

Preferably, an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state is the time of transmitting the first symbol of the reference signal triggered by the control information.

Preferably, a time interval between the last symbol of the control information and an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state exceeds a time threshold.

Preferably, the time threshold is predefined, configured via a higher layer signaling or reported by each of the at least one wireless terminal.

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal. The wireless communication method comprises receiving, from a wireless network node, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features:

Preferably, the reference signal is an aperiodic sounding reference signal.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further comprises receiving, from the wireless network node, a parameter indicating a start position within the control information.

Preferably, the control information comprises at least one block, wherein at least one of the at least one block is configured for the wireless terminal and each of the at least one block comprises at least one of: a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or a plurality of fields of a transmission configuration indication, indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Preferably, the control information comprises at least one block, wherein at least one of the at least one block is configured for the wireless terminal and each of the at least one block comprises at least one of a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or a field of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further comprises receiving, from the wireless network node, a parameter indicating the number of the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Preferably, the time threshold is predefined, configured via a higher layer signaling or reported by the wireless terminal.

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication method for use in a wireless network node. The wireless communication method comprises transmitting, to a wireless terminal, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features:

Preferably, the at least one antenna panel is associated to at least one sounding reference signal resource set.

Preferably, the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for a non-codebook based transmission or a codebook based transmission.

Preferably, the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for at least one of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal. The wireless communication method comprises receiving, from a wireless network node, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features:

The present disclosure relates to a wireless network node. The wireless network node comprises a communication unit, configured to transmit, to at least one wireless terminal, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following feature:

Preferably, the wireless network node further comprises a processor configured to perform a wireless communication method of any of the foregoing described methods.

The present disclosure relates to a wireless terminal. The wireless terminal comprises a communication unit, configured to receive, from a wireless network node, control information, wherein, the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following feature:

Preferably, the wireless terminal further comprises a processor configured to perform a wireless communication method of any of the foregoing described methods.

The present disclosure relates to a wireless network node. The wireless network node comprises a communication unit, configured to transmit, to a wireless terminal, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following feature:

The present disclosure relates to a wireless terminal. The wireless terminal comprises a communication unit, configured to receive, from a wireless network node, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.

Various embodiments may preferably implement the following feature:

The present disclosure relates to a computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium code stored thereupon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a wireless communication method recited in any of foregoing methods.

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to providing features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order and/or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.

The above and other aspects and their implementations are described in greater detail in the drawings, the descriptions, and the claims.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a schematic diagram of a wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a schematic diagram of a wireless network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of blocks transmitted by a downlink control information format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 relates to a schematic diagram of a wireless terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The wireless terminal 10 may be a user equipment (UE) , a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet computer, an electronic book or a portable computer system and is not limited herein. The wireless terminal 10 may include a processor 100 such as a microprocessor or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) , a storage unit 110 and a communication unit 120. The storage unit 110 may be any data storage device that stores a program code 112, which is accessed and executed by the processor 100. Embodiments of the storage unit 112 include but are not limited to a subscriber identity module (SIM) , read-only memory (ROM) , flash memory, random-access memory (RAM) , hard-disk, and optical data storage device. The communication unit 120 may a transceiver and is used to transmit and receive signals (e.g. messages or packets) according to processing results of the processor 100. In an embodiment, the communication unit 120 transmits and receives the signals via at least one antenna 122 shown in FIG. 1.

In an embodiment, the storage unit 110 and the program code 112 may be omitted and the processor 100 may include a storage unit with stored program code.

The processor 100 may implement any one of the steps in exemplified embodiments on the wireless terminal 10, e.g., by executing the program code 112.

The communication unit 120 may be a transceiver. The communication unit 120 may as an alternative or in addition be combining a transmitting unit and a receiving unit configured to transmit and to receive, respectively, signals to and from a wireless network node (e.g. a base station) .

FIG. 2 relates to a schematic diagram of a wireless network node 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The wireless network node 20 may be a satellite, a base station (BS) , a network entity, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) , Serving Gateway (S-GW) , Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) , a radio access network (RAN) , a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) , a data network, a core network or a Radio Network Controller (RNC) , and is not limited herein. In addition, the wireless network node 20 may comprise (perform) at least one network function such as an access and mobility management function (AMF) , a session management function (SMF) , a user place function (UPF) , a policy control function (PCF) , an application function (AF) , etc. The wireless network node 20 may include a processor 200 such as a microprocessor or ASIC, a storage unit 210 and a communication unit 220. The storage unit 210 may be any data storage device that stores a program code 212, which is accessed and executed by the processor 200. Examples of the storage unit 212 include but are not limited to a SIM, ROM, flash memory, RAM, hard-disk, and optical data storage device. The communication unit 220 may be a transceiver and is used to transmit and receive signals (e.g. messages or packets) according to processing results of the processor 200. In an example, the communication unit 220 transmits and receives the signals via at least one antenna 222 shown in FIG. 2.

In an embodiment, the storage unit 210 and the program code 212 may be omitted. The processor 200 may include a storage unit with stored program code.

The processor 200 may implement any steps described in exemplified embodiments on the wireless network node 20, e.g., via executing the program code 212.

The communication unit 220 may be a transceiver. The communication unit 220 may as an alternative or in addition be combining a transmitting unit and a receiving unit configured to transmit and to receive, respectively, signals to and from a wireless terminal (e.g. UE) .

In the present disclosure, the wireless network node may be a BS of a micro cell, a BS or a transmission node of a small cell, a transmission node of a high frequency communication system, a transmission node of an internet-of-things (IoT) , a satellite, …, etc.

In the present disclosure, the UE may be a node within a communication system, such as a cell phone, a portable device, a vehicle, a satellite, …, etc.

In an embodiment, a new downlink (DL) control information format is introduced for triggering aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) and/or updating transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (s) of single UE or multiple UEs, so as to reduce the signal overhead of triggering the aperiodic SRS and/or updating the TCI states.

In an embodiment, the following information is transmitted by means of a DCI format X with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by an identifier (e.g. a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) , a TCI-SRS-RNTI, or an SRS-TCI-RNTI) :

1 ^st block, 2 ^nd block, …, N ^th block,

where N is an integer. In an embodiment, N is greater than 1. For example, the 1 ^st block may be a block with an index 1 (e.g. block 1) , the 2 ^nd block may be a block with an index 2, and so on. In an embodiment, a starting position of each of the blocks is determined based on a parameter (e.g. startingBitOfFormatX) which is provided by higher layers for the corresponding UE and configured with the blocks. In an embodiment, X is an index (e.g. 2_7, 2_8 or 2_9) . In an embodiment, N is equal to 1 and the DCI format X is transmitted to one UE.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of blocks transmitted by the means of DCI format X according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 3, at least one TCI and/or an SRS request for each of UE 1 to UE N is comprised in a corresponding block. In addition, each of blocks is configured for one of the UE 1 to UE N. In an embodiment, there are multiple blocks configured for the same UE (e.g. UE 1) . Note that information comprised in each block may be different based on different design concepts. In an embodiment, each of UE1 to UE N may be configured with the start position of the block configured for itself, e.g., via the higher layer signaling indicating the corresponding parameters. For example, the UE 1 may be configured with the start position of the 1 ^st block, the UE 2 may be configured with the start position of the 2 ^nd block, and so on.

In an embodiment, at least one block is configured for a certain UE by the higher layer parameter (s) and each of the at least one block comprises at least one of the following fields:

- A field of an SRS request (0 or 2 bits) : The field of the SRS request is utilized for (e.g. configured to) triggering the aperiodic SRS. In an embodiment, the presence of this field is determined according to the higher layer parameter (e.g. fieldTypeFormatX) . For example, the corresponding higher layer parameter with a value of 0/1 indicates the absence/presence of the field for the SRS request.

- Fields of M TCI (s) (e.g. 1 ^st TCI, 2 ^nd TCI, ..., M ^th TCI) : These fields indicate M TCI(s) (M is a positive integer) applying to separate transmitting/receiving points (Tx/Rx points (TRPs) , such as antenna arrays, antenna panels, antenna ports) and/or applying to separate signals. In an embodiment M is greater than 1.

In an embodiment, the signal corresponding to each of M TCIs may comprise at least one of a physical DL control channel (PDCCH) , a physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) , a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) , a physical UL control channel (PUCCH) , a physical UL shared channel (PUSCH) , and/or a sounding reference signal (SRS) .

In an embodiment of a single block comprising the fields of 3 TCIs, the 1 ^st TCI applies to the PDSCH, the 2 ^nd TCI applies to the PUSCH and PUCCH, and the 3 ^rd TCI applies to the SRS.

In an embodiment of a single block comprising the fields of 2 TCIs, the 1 ^st TCI applies to the PDCCH and the PDSCH and the 2 ^nd TCI applies to the PUSCH, the PUCCH and the SRS.

In an embodiment of a single block comprising the fields of 2 TCIs, the 1 ^st TCI applies to the PDSCH and CSI-RS and the 2 ^nd TCI applies to the PUSCH, the PUCCH and the SRS.

In an embodiment, single TCI may indicate one or more TCI states. In an embodiment, a single block comprises the fields of 2 TCIs and each TCI may indicate one or two TCI states. When the 1 ^st TCI in the block indicates two TCI states, a TCI state indicated by the 1 ^st TCI in the block applies to the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH, and/or the CSI-RS of a first TRP and another TCI state indicated by the 1 ^st TCI in the block applies to the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH and/or the CSI-RS of a second TRP. Similarly, when the 2 ^nd TCI in the block indicates two TCI states, a TCI state indicated by the 2 ^nd TCI in the block applies to the PUSCH, and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS of the first TRP and the another TCI state indicated by the 2 ^nd TCI in the block applies to the PUSCH, the PUCCH and/or the SRS of the second TRP. When the 1 ^st TCI in the block indicates only one TCI state, the TCI state indicated by the 1 ^st TCI in the block applies to the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH and/or the CSI-RS which from a serving TRP. When the 2 ^nd TCI in the block indicates only one TCI state, the TCI state indicated by the second TCI in the block applies to the PUSCH, and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS which targets to the serving TRP.

In an embodiment, at least one block is configured for a UE by the higher layer parameter (s) and each of the at least one block comprises at least one of the following fields:

- A field of an SRS request (0 or 2 bits) : The field of the SRS request is used for triggering the aperiodic SRS. In an embodiment, the presence of this field is determined based on the higher layer parameter (e.g. fieldTypeFormatX) . For example, the higher layer parameter configured with a value of 0/1 indicates the absence/presence of the field for the SRS request.

- A field of TCI (0 or 3 bits) : The field of TCI indicates at least one TCI state. In an embodiment, the presence of the field for TCI is determined according to the higher layer parameter. For example, the corresponding higher layer parameter configured with a value of 0/1 indicates the absence/presence of the field of TCI.

In an embodiment, the at least one TCI state indicated by the codepoint of the field of TCI may apply to separate TRPs and/or separate signals.

In an embodiment, the signals corresponding to the TCI states indicated by the field of TCI may comprise the PDCCH, the PDSCH, the CSI-RS, the PUCCH, the PUSCH and/or SRS.

In an embodiment, a single TCI may indicate one or more TCI states. In an embodiment of a single block comprising the field of 1 TCI indicating two TCI states, a TCI state applies to the PDSCH, and/or the PDCCH, and/or the CSI-RS, and/or the PUSCH, and/or the PUCCH, and/or the SRS of a first TRP and another TCI state applies to the PDSCH, and/or the PDCCH, and/or the CSI-RS, and/or the PUSCH, and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS of a second TRP.

In an embodiment of a single block comprising the field of 1 TCI indicating four TCI states, the first TCI state applies to the PDSCH, and/or the PDCCH and/or the CSI-RS of a first TRP, the second TCI state applies to the PUSCH, and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS of the first TRP, the third TCI state applies to the PDSCH, and/or the PDCCH and/or CSI-RS of a second TRP, and the fourth TCI state applies to the PUSCH and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS of the second TRP.

In an embodiment of a single block comprising the fields of 1 TCIs indicating four TCI states, the first TCI state applies to the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH and/or the CSI-RS of a first TRP, the second TCI state applies to the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH and/or the CSI-RS of a second TRP, the third TCI state applies to the PUSCH and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS of the first TRP, and the fourth TCI state applies to the PUSCH and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS of the second TRP.

In an embodiment, if the TCI indicates only one TCI state, the TCI state applies to the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH and/or the CSI-RS which from a serving TRP. As an alternative or in addition, the TCI state applies to the PUSCH and/or the PUCCH and/or the SRS which target to the serving TRP.

In an embodiment, an active time for the TCI state (s) updated by the DCI may be defined based on at least one of the following rules:

1) The first transmission symbol of the aperiodic SRS triggered by the DCI is the active time of the corresponding TCI state (e.g. the TCI states (indicated) in the same block) .

2) When a time interval between the last symbol of the PDCCH updating the TCI state and the current symbol is equal to or greater than a threshold K, the UE updates the TCI state; otherwise, the UE does not update the TCI. Note that the threshold K may be a predefined value, configured by at least one higher layer parameter and/or reported by the UE.

In an embodiment, the BS may dynamically indicate the antenna panel (s) configured for the UE via a field of an SRS resource indicator (SRI) in the DCI. For example, in a non-codebook/codebook based PUSCH transmission, the UE may be configured with SRS resource (s) which is corresponding to certain antenna panel (s) . In order to dynamically indicate the corresponding antenna panel (s) to the UE, the field of the SRI in the DCI may be configured to indicate the antenna panel (s) configured for the UE.

In an embodiment, the antenna panel (s) may be associated with (e.g. refer to) SRS resource set (s) .

In an embodiment, the SRS resource (s) configured to the UE may form (e.g. be grouped into or be divided into) at least one SRS resource set.

In an embodiment, the field of the SRI indicates the SRS resource (s) (e.g. the SRS resource set (s) ) and implicitly indicates the antenna panel (s) configured for the UE. For example, the field of SRI may indicate the SRS resource (s) and/or the SRS resource set (s) on the corresponding antenna panel (s) .

In an embodiment, the SRI indication and corresponding SRS resource for non-codebook based PUSCH transmission of single layer (i.e. L _max=1) are as shown as the Tables I and II:

Table I. SRI indication for non-codebook based PUSCH transmission (L _max=1)

Table II: SRI indication for non-codebook based PUSCH transmission (L _max=1)

In the Tables I and II, N _SRS is the number of SRS resources (e.g. the number of SRS resources sets) configured for the UE. As shown in tables I and II, the field of the SRI is configured to indicate the antenna panel (s) configured for the UE. For example, in the Table I (N _SRS = 2) , the field of the SRI having the index 0/1 (e.g. the codepoint 0 or 1 of the field of SRI) indicates the SRS resource (s) on an antenna panel 0 and the field of the SRI having the index 2/3 (e.g. the codepoint 2 or 3 of the field of SRI) indicates the SRS resource (s) on an antenna panel 1.

Note that, the UE may be configured with multiple antenna panels. For example, in the Table II (N _SRS = 2) , the field of the SRI having the index 4/5/6/7 (e.g. the codepoint 4, 5, 6 or 7 of the field of the SRI) indicates the SRS resources on the antenna panel 0 and 1.

In an embodiment of the codebook based PUSCH transmission, the SRI field indicating the SRS resource (s) on certain antenna panel (s) is exemplified as shown in table III and table IV. Similar to table I and II, the field of SRI dynamically indicates the SRS resource (s) on the antenna panel 0, the antenna panel 1 or both of the antenna panels 0 and panel 1.

Note that, the antenna panel configured for the UE may refer to the SRS resource set. For example, in Table III, the panel 0 may refer to an SRS resource set 0 and the pane 1 may refer to an SRS resource set 1.

Table III: SRI indication for codebook based PUSCH transmission

Table IV: SRI indication for codebook based PUSCH transmission

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in FIG. 4 may be used in a wireless network node (e.g. BS) and comprises the following step:

Step 400: Transmitting, to at least one wireless terminal, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

In FIG. 4, the wireless network node transmits the control information (e.g. DCI) to one wireless terminal (e.g. UE) or multiple wireless terminals. Note that the control information is used for triggering a reference signal and/or updating at least one TCI state.

In an embodiment, the reference signal is an aperiodic SRS.

In an embodiment, the wireless network node configures a parameter indicating a start position within the control information to each of the at least one wireless terminal, e.g., to indicate corresponding part of the control information configured to each of the at least one wireless terminal.

In an embodiment, the control comprises at least one block, wherein each of the at least one block is configured for one of the at least one wireless terminal and comprises at least one of:

a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or

a plurality of fields of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

In an embodiment, the control information comprises a plurality of blocks, wherein each of the plurality of blocks is configured for one of the at least one wireless terminal and comprises at least one of:

a field of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

In an embodiment, the wireless network node configures a parameter indicating the number of the at least one transmission configuration indication state to each of the at least one wireless terminal.

In an embodiment, the at least one transmission configuration indication state separately applies to at least one of a plurality of signals or a plurality of antenna panels.

In an embodiment, the plurality of signals comprises at least two of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.

In an embodiment, an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state is the time of transmitting the first symbol of the reference signal triggered by the control information.

In an embodiment, a time interval between the last symbol of the control information and an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state exceeds a time threshold.

In an embodiment, the time threshold is predefined, configured via a higher layer signaling and/or reported by each of the at least one wireless terminal.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in FIG. 5 may be used in a wireless terminal (e.g. UE) and comprise the following step:

Step 500: Receiving, from a wireless network node, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.

In FIG. 5, the wireless terminal receives control information (e.g. DCI) from a wireless network node (e.g. BS) , wherein the control information is used for triggering a reference signal and/or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state. Note that the control information may be configured for a single wireless terminal or multiple wireless terminals.

In an embodiment, the reference signal is an aperiodic sounding reference signal.

In an embodiment, the wireless terminal receives a parameter (e.g. higher layer signaling) indicating a start position within the control information. As a result, the wireless terminal is able to acquire the part of the control information configured for itself.

In an embodiment, the control information comprises at least one block, wherein at least one of the at least one block is configured for the wireless terminal. In this embodiment, each of the at least one block comprises at least one of:

a plurality of fields of a transmission configuration indication, indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.

In an embodiment, the wireless terminal receives a parameter indicating the number of the at least one transmission configuration indication state from the wireless network node.

In an embodiment, the time threshold is predefined, configured via a higher layer signaling and/or reported by the wireless terminal.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in FIG. 6 may be used in a wireless network node and comprise the following step:

Step 600: Transmitting, to a wireless terminal, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal (e.g. Tables I, II, III and IV) .

In FIG. 6, the wireless network node transmits control information (e.g. DCI) to a wireless terminal, wherein the control information comprises a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.

In an embodiment, the at least one antenna panel is associated with at least one sounding reference signal resource set.

In an embodiment, the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for a non-codebook based transmission or a codebook based transmission.

In an embodiment, the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for at least one of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in FIG. 7 may be used in a wireless terminal and comprise the following step:

Step 700: Receiving, from a wireless network node, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.

In FIG. 7, the wireless terminal receives control information from a wireless network node, wherein the control information comprises a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal (e.g. Tables I, II, III and IV) .

While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or configuration, which are provided to enable persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand exemplary features and functions of the present disclosure. Such persons would understand, however, that the present disclosure is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, as would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as "first, " "second, " and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations can be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits and symbols, for example, which may be referenced in the above description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

A skilled person would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, units, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two) , firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as "software" or a "software unit” ) , or any combination of these techniques.

To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, units, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. In accordance with various embodiments, a processor, device, component, circuit, structure, machine, unit, etc. can be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. The term “configured to” or “configured for” as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function refers to a processor, device, component, circuit, structure, machine, unit, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

Furthermore, a skilled person would understand that various illustrative logical blocks, units, devices, components and circuits described herein can be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, units, and circuits can further include antennas and/or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein. If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In this document, the term "unit" as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various units are described as discrete units; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more units may be combined to form a single unit that performs the associated functions according embodiments of the present disclosure.

Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present disclosure. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other implementations without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the claims below.

Claims

A wireless communication method for use in a wireless network node, the wireless communication method comprising:

transmitting, to at least one wireless terminal, control information, wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is an aperiodic sounding reference signal.
The wireless communication method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

configuring, to each of the at least one wireless terminal, a parameter indicating a start position within the control information.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control information comprises at least one block,

wherein each of the at least one block is configured for one of the at least one wireless terminal and comprises at least one of:

a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or

a plurality of fields of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control information comprises a plurality of blocks,

wherein each of the plurality of blocks is configured for one of the at least one wireless terminal and comprises at least one of:

a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or

a field of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

configuring, to each of the at least one wireless terminal, a parameter indicating the number of the at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one transmission configuration indication state separately applies to at least one of a plurality of signals or a plurality of antenna panels.
The wireless communication method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of signals comprises at least two of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state is the time of transmitting the first symbol of the reference signal triggered by the control information.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein a time interval between the last symbol of the control information and an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state exceeds a time threshold.
The wireless communication method of claim 10, wherein the time threshold is predefined, configured via a higher layer signaling or reported by each of the at least one wireless terminal.
A wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal, the wireless communication method comprising:

receiving, from a wireless network node, control information,

wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of claim 12, wherein the reference signal is an aperiodic sounding reference signal.
The wireless communication method of claim 12 or 13, further comprising:

receiving, from the wireless network node, a parameter indicating a start position within the control information.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the control information comprises at least one block,

wherein at least one of the at least one block is configured for the wireless terminal,

wherein each of the at least one block comprises at least one of:

a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or

a plurality of fields of a transmission configuration indication, indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of claims 12 to 14, wherein the control information comprises at least one block,

wherein at least one of the at least one block is configured for the wireless terminal,

wherein each of the at least one block comprises at least one of:

a field of a sounding reference signal request configured to trigger the reference signal, or

a field of a transmission configuration indication indicating the at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 12 to 16, further comprising:

receiving, from the wireless network node, a parameter indicating the number of the at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 12 to 17, wherein the at least one transmission configuration indication state separately applies to at least one of a plurality of signals or a plurality of antenna panels.
The wireless communication method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of signals comprises at least two of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 12 to 19, wherein an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state is the time of transmitting the first symbol of the reference signal triggered by the control information.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 12 to 20, wherein a time interval between the last symbol of the control information and an active time of applying the at least one transmission configuration indication state exceeds a time threshold.
The wireless communication method of claim 21, wherein the time threshold is predefined, configured via a higher layer signaling or reported by the wireless terminal.
A wireless communication method for use in a wireless network node, the wireless communication method comprising:

transmitting, to a wireless terminal, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.
The wireless communication method of claim 23, wherein the at least one antenna panel is associated with at least one sounding reference signal resource set.
The wireless communication method of claim 23 or 24, wherein the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for a non-codebook based transmission or a codebook based transmission.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 23 to 25, wherein the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for at least one of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.
A wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal, the wireless communication method comprising:

receiving, from a wireless network node, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.
The wireless communication method of claim 27, wherein the at least one antenna panel is associated with at least one sounding reference signal resource set.
The wireless communication method of claim 27 or 28, wherein the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for a non-codebook based transmission or a codebook based transmission.
The wireless communication method of any of claims 27 to 29, wherein the at least one sounding reference signal resource is configured for at least one of a physical downlink control channel, a physical downlink shared channel, a channel state information reference signal, a physical uplink control channel, a physical uplink shared channel or a sounding reference signal.
A wireless network node, comprising:

a communication unit, configured to transmit, to at least one wireless terminal, control information,

wherein the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless network node of claim 31, further comprising a processor configured to perform a wireless communication method of any of claims 2 to 11.
A wireless terminal, comprising:

a communication unit, configured to receive, from a wireless network node, control information,

wherein, the control information is used for at least one of triggering a reference signal or updating at least one transmission configuration indication state.
The wireless terminal of claim 35, further comprising a processor configured to perform a wireless communication method of any of claims 13 to 22.
A wireless network node, comprising:

a communication unit, configured to transmit, to a wireless terminal, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.
The wireless network node of claim 35, further comprising a processor configured to perform a wireless communication method of any of claims 24 to 26.
A wireless terminal, comprising:

a communication unit, configured to receive, from a wireless network node, control information comprising a field of a sounding reference signal resource indicator which indicates at least one sounding reference signal resource configured to the wireless terminal and at least one antenna panel of the wireless terminal.
The wireless terminal of claim 37, further comprising a processor configured to perform a wireless communication method of any of claims 27 to 30.
A computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium code stored thereupon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a wireless communication method recited in any of claims 1 to 30.