WO2025091324A1

WO2025091324A1 - Reception beam sweeping for multi-panel rx/tx user equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2025091324A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/129033
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiang Chen; Dawei Zhang; Haitong Sun; Jie Cui; Manasa RAGHAVAN; Qiming Li; Yang Tang
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2023-11-01
Filing date: 2023-11-01
Publication date: 2025-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-01

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) configured to activate one or more antenna panels of the UE to receive reference signals from a transmission and reception point (TRP), perform a beam sweeping operation using the one or more antenna panels to select a reception (Rx) beam to receive the reference signals, wherein the beam sweeping operation uses a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams to select the Rx beam and measure the reference signals using the selected Rx beam.

Description

Reception Beam Sweeping for Multi-Panel RX/TX User Equipment

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communication, and in particular, to reception beam sweeping for multi-panel Rx/Tx user equipment.

BACKGROUND

Cellular networks (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR, 6G, etc. ) are continuously evolving and add various features and functionality to improve operations on both the user side and the network side. For example, enhanced user equipment (UE) with multiple antenna panels have been introduced. This may allow for downlink (DL) reception (Rx) from different directions with different quasi-co-located (QCL) TypeD reference signals (RSs) on a single component carrier in frequency range 2 (FR2) .

However, utilizing such a capability may introduce various complexities into the operation of the UE and the network. For example, various issues such as the Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP) measurement delay, Layer 3 (L3) measurement delay (both cell detection delay and measurement period) , radio link monitoring (RLM) , beam failure detection (BFD) , candidate beam detection (CBD) , scheduling/measurement restrictions, Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state switching delay with dual TCI and receive timing difference between different directions (different QCL Type D RSs) need to be considered. These issues may also be considered in the context of an enhanced UE that is capable of simultaneous transmission (Tx) (e.g., multi-Tx) for FR2.

SUMMARY

Some example embodiments are related to an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) , the apparatus including processing circuitry configured to activate one or more antenna panels of the UE to receive reference signals from a transmission and reception point (TRP) , configure a transceiver to perform a beam sweeping operation using the one or more antenna panels to select a reception (Rx) beam to receive the reference signals, wherein the beam sweeping operation uses a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams to select the Rx beam and measure the reference signals using the selected Rx beam.

Other example embodiments are related to an apparatus of a base station, the apparatus including processing circuitry configured to determine a user equipment (UE) supports a capability to perform beam sweeping for reference signals using a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams, wherein the reference signals comprise different quasi-co-located (QCL) TypeD reference signals on a single component carrier and configure a transmission and reception point (TRP) of the base station to transmit the reference signals.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 shows an example network arrangement according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 2 shows an example UE according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 3 shows an example base station according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 4 shows an example arrangement comprising multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) transmitting RSs to a UE according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 5 shows a second example arrangement comprising multiple TRPs transmitting RSs to a UE according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 6 shows an example method for a UE to perform RS Rx/measurement with a reduced beam sweeping factor according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 7 shows an example method for a base station to configure one or more TRPs to transmit RSs to a UE having a capability for RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor according to various example embodiments.

Detailed Description

The example embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. The example embodiments relate to downlink (DL) reception (Rx) from different directions of different quasi-co-located (QCL) TypeD reference signals (RSs) on a single component carrier using a reduced beam sweeping factor.

The example embodiments are described with regard to a user equipment (UE) . However, reference to a UE is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The example embodiments may be utilized with any electronic component that may establish a connection to a network and is configured with the hardware, software, and/or firmware to exchange information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE as described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

The example embodiments are also described with reference to a 5G New Radio (NR) network. However, it should be understood that the example embodiments may also be implemented in other types of networks, including but not limited to legacy cellular networks (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) ) , future evolutions of the cellular protocol (e.g., 5G advanced, 6G, etc. ) , or any other type of network.

The example embodiments are also described with regard to a base station (e.g., next generation node B (gNB) ) that is configured with multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) . Throughout this description, a TRP generally refers to a set of components configured to transmit and/or receive a beam. In some embodiments, multiple TRPs may be deployed locally at the gNB. For example, the gNB may include multiple antenna arrays/panels that are each configured to generate a different beam. In other example embodiments, multiple TRPs may be deployed at various different locations and connected to the gNB via a backhaul connection. For example, multiple small cells may be deployed at different locations and connected to the gNB. However, these examples are merely provided for illustrative purposes. Those skilled in the art will understand that TRPs are configured to be adaptable to a wide variety of different conditions and deployment scenarios. Thus, any reference to a TRP being a particular network component or multiple TRPs being deployed in a particular arrangement is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The TRPs described herein may represent any type of network component configured to transmit and/or receive a beam.

The example embodiments are also described with reference to FR2-1. FR2-1 is typically defined as including frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The example embodiments are not limited to this frequency range and may be applied to other frequency ranges, e.g., FR1, FR2-2, non-terrestrial network frequency bands, etc.

As stated above, to implement DL reception from different directions with different QCL TypeD RSs on a single component carrier in FR2, various issues need to be solved. The example embodiments provide design details of a UE capability to accommodate different UE implementations. As will be described in greater detail below, in some example embodiments, the UE activates multiple antenna panels, e.g., two or more antenna panels, to perform beam sweeping with a reduced beam sweeping factor to select an Rx beam that may be used to receive/measure the RSs. In some example embodiments, the UE may inform the network as to whether the UE activates a single panel or multiple panels for RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor.

In other example embodiments, the UE may activate a single panel to perform beam sweeping with a reduced beam sweeping factor to select an Rx beam that may be used to receive/measure the RSs.

The reduced beam sweeping factor may include a reduced number of candidate beams that are used to select the Rx beam to receive/measure the RSs. This number of candidate beams for the reduced beam sweeping factor may be, for example, {2, 4, 6} for FR2-1. Thus, the example embodiments may further include conditions indicating if such a UE capability, e.g., a reduced beam sweeping factor, is applicable. For example, the network may infer or determine that the UE can measure with a reduced beam sweeping factor based on the conditions. Further example embodiments related to switching the reduced beam sweeping factor capability on/off by UE indication and linking the capability to the use of simultaneous UL transmission. These and other enhancements related to DL Rx are described in greater detail below.

Fig. 1 shows an example network arrangement 100 according to various example embodiments. The example network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE 110 may be any type of electronic component that is configured to communicate via a network, e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, desktop computers, smartphones, phablets, embedded devices, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) devices (including connected vehicles) , etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs being used by any number of users. Thus, the example of one UE 110 is merely provided for illustrative purposes.

The UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of the network configuration 100, the network with which the UE 110 may wirelessly communicate is a 5G NR radio access network (RAN) 120. However, it should be understood that the UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., 5G cloud RAN, a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) , a legacy cellular network, etc. ) and the UE 110 may also communicate with networks over a wired connection. With regard to the example embodiments, the UE 110 may establish a connection with the 5G NR RAN 120. Therefore, the UE 110 may have a 5G NR chipset to communicate with the NR RAN 120.

The 5G NR RAN 120 may be portions of a cellular network that may be deployed by a network carrier (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc. ) . The RAN 120 may include cells or base stations that are configured to send and receive traffic from UEs that are equipped with the appropriate cellular chip set. In this example, the 5G NR RAN 120 includes the gNB 120A. However, reference to a gNB is merely provided for illustrative purposes, any appropriate base station or cell may be deployed (e.g., Node Bs, eNodeBs, HeNBs, eNBs, gNBs, gNodeBs, macrocells, microcells, small cells, femtocells, etc. ) .

Those skilled in the art will understand that any association procedure may be performed for the UE 110 to connect to the 5G NR RAN 120. For example, as discussed above, the 5G NR RAN 120 may be associated with a particular network carrier where the UE 110 and/or the user thereof has a contract and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card) . Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR RAN 120, the UE 110 may transmit the corresponding credential information to associate with the 5G NR RAN 120. More specifically, the UE 110 may associate with a specific cell (e.g., gNB 120A) .

The network arrangement 100 also includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network services backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 manages the traffic that flows between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 may be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 may communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide the multimedia services to the UE 110. The network services backbone 160 is in communication either directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network services backbone 160 may be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc. ) that implement a suite of services that may be used to extend the functionalities of the UE 110 in communication with the various networks.

Fig. 2 shows an example UE 110 according to various example embodiments. The UE 110 will be described with regard to the network arrangement 100 of Fig. 1. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input/output (I/O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery that provides a limited power supply, a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect the UE 110 to other electronic devices, sensors to detect conditions of the UE 110, one or more antenna panels, etc.

The processor 205 may be configured to execute a plurality of engines for the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a multi-RX engine 235 for performing operations related to DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor using one or more antenna panels of the UE 110. The operations may include, but are not limited to, indicating the capability of DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor to the network, activating one or more antenna panels, indicating to the network that multiple antenna panels are activated, and toggling the capability of the reduced beam sweeping factor on or off with a corresponding indication to the network. These and other example operations are described in further detail below.

The above referenced engine being an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 205 is only example. The functionality associated with the engines may also be represented as a separate incorporated component of the UE 110 or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, e.g., an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry to receive signals and processing circuitry to process the signals and other information. The engines may also be embodied as one application or separate applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is split among two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an applications processor. The example embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of a UE.

The memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to show data to a user while the I/O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables the user to enter inputs. The display device 215 and the I/O device 220 may be separate components or integrated together such as a touchscreen.

The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G-NR RAN 120. Accordingly, the transceiver 225 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutive frequencies) . The transceiver 225 includes circuitry configured to transmit and/or receive signals (e.g., control signals, data signals) . Such signals may be encoded with information implementing any one of the methods described herein. The processor 205 may be operably coupled to the transceiver 225 and configured to receive from and/or transmit signals to the transceiver 225. The processor 205 may be configured to encode and/or decode signals (e.g., signaling from a base station of a network) for implementing any one of the methods described herein.

Fig. 3 shows an example base station 300 according to various example embodiments. The base station 300 may represent the gNB 120A or any other access node through which the UE 110 may establish a connection and manage network operations.

The base station 300 may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, an input/output (I/O) device 315, a transceiver 320, other components 325, and one or more transmission and reception points (TRPs) 330. The other components 325 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery, a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect the base station 300 to other electronic devices and/or power sources, etc.

The processor 305 may be configured to execute a plurality of engines for the base station 300. For example, the engines may include a multi-Rx engine 335 for performing operations related to configuring multiple TRPs to transmit RSs to UEs capable of performing DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor using one or more antenna panels. The operations may include, but are not limited to, receiving capability information from a UE indicating the UE supports DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor, determining a UE has activated multiple antenna panels for DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor, and receiving an indication that the capability of a reduced beam sweeping factor has been toggled on or off by the UE. These and other example operations are described in further detail below.

The above referenced engine being an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 305 is only example. The functionality associated with the engines may also be represented as a separate incorporated component of the base station 300 or may be a modular component coupled to the base station 300, e.g., an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry to receive signals and processing circuitry to process the signals and other information. The engines may also be embodied as one application or separate applications. In addition, in some base stations, the functionality described for the processor 305 is split among two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an applications processor. The example embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of a base station.

The memory arrangement 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the base station 300. The I/O device 315 may be a hardware component or ports that enable a user to interact with the base station 300.

The transceiver 320 may be a hardware component configured to exchange data with the UE 110 and any other UE in the network arrangement 100. The transceiver 320 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutive frequencies) . Therefore, the transceiver 320 may include one or more components (e.g., radios) to enable the data exchange with the various networks and UEs. The transceiver 320 includes circuitry configured to transmit and/or receive signals (e.g., control signals, data signals) . Such signals may be encoded with information implementing any one of the methods described herein. The processor 305 may be operably coupled to the transceiver 320 and configured to receive from and/or transmit signals to the transceiver 320. The processor 305 may be configured to encode and/or decode signals (e.g., signaling from a UE) for implementing any one of the methods described herein.

Fig. 4 shows an example arrangement 400 comprising multiple TRPs transmitting RSs to a UE according to various example embodiments. In this example, there are two TRPs 410 and 420, e.g., the TRPs 330 of the base station 300 described with reference to Fig. 3. The UE 110 includes two antenna panels 430 and 440, e.g., the antenna panels described as part of the other components 230 of the UE 110 with reference to Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 4, each TRP 410 and 420 is capable of transmitting using one or more Tx beams 415 and 425, respectively. The UE 110 is capable of receiving signals, e.g., RSs, transmitted using Tx beams 415 and 425 using Rx beam 435 (antenna panel 430) and Rx beam 445 (antenna panel 440) . Thus, the arrangement 400 shows the UE 110 activating two antenna panels 430 and 440 to perform RS Rx from the multiple TRPs 410 and 420.

However, as stated above and as will be described in greater below, the described above, the UE 110 may be capable of downlink (DL) reception (Rx) from different directions with different quasi-co-located (QCL) TypeD reference signals (RSs) on a single component carrier. This means that the UE 110 may receive the RSs transmitted by the TRP 410 using a beam of the antenna panel 430 or the antenna panel 440. By activating both antenna panels 430 and 440 to perform beam sweeping for the RSs transmitted by the TRP 410, the UE 110 may have the capability to implement a reduced beam sweeping factor.

However, as also stated above, there is no requirement that the UE 110 activate multiple antenna panels, e.g., antenna panels 430 and 440, to perform RS Rx with the reduced beam sweeping factor. As will be described in greater detail below, the UE 110 may report this capability, e.g., whether two or more antenna panels are activated to the network, for the purposes of the reduced beam sweeping factor capability.

It should be understood that the use of two antenna panels 430 and 440 is only an example. The UE 110 may have more than two antenna panels and the example embodiments may also be implemented in UEs that are capable of activating two or more antenna panels.

Furthermore, a UE 110 with multiple panels may also perform Tx using the multiple panels. The fact that the UE 110 may perform multi-Rx does not mean that the UE 110 may also perform multi-Tx. However, as will be described in greater detail below, when the UE 110 is multi-Tx capable, the network may understand that the UE 110 is multi-Rx capable and the network may use this information to infer operating modes of the UE 110.

Fig. 5 shows a second example arrangement 500 comprising multiple TRPs transmitting RSs to a UE according to various example embodiments. In this example, there are two TRPs 510 and 520, e.g., the TRPs 330 of the base station 300 described with reference to Fig. 3. The UE 110 includes two antenna panels 530 and 540, e.g., the antenna panels described as part of the other components 230 of the UE 110 with reference to Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 5, the TRP 510 transmits RSs using beams 512-518. Similarly, the TRP 520 transmits RSs using beams 522-528. The UE 110 is capable of receiving the RSs transmitted by the TRP 510 and 520.

As will be described in greater detail below, the UE 110 may use a rough beam, e.g., a rough beam 532 to make measurements on the signals transmitted by the TRP 510 or 520 and a rough beam 542 to make measurements on the signals transmitted by the TRP 510 or 520. The UE 110 may then perform beam sweeping using fine beams to determine thee Rx beam that should be used to receive/measure the RSs, e.g., fine beams 534-538 and fine beams 544-548. In the example embodiments it may be considered that the rough beams 532 and 542 correspond to L3 measurements made by the UE 110 and the fine beams 534-538 and 544-548 correspond to L1 measurements made by the UE 110. However, the rough beams and the beam sweeping of the fine beams are not required to be these specific types of measurements.

In the example above, to perform the L1 measurements for the TRPs 510 and 520, the UE 110 may or may not use L3 measurement results to down-select antenna panels. Thus, in some example embodiments, the UE 110 may use previous L3 measurements to down-select antenna panels. These example embodiments depend on the network L3 measurement configuration, e.g., the network (e.g., base station 300) will configure measurements performed by the UE 110.

To provide an example of using the L3 measurement results, the UE 110 may perform L3 measurements on the TRP 510 using the rough beam 532 and the rough beam 542. These L3 measurements may provide the UE 110 with general information, e.g., the L3 measurements may provide an indication of the directionality of the RSs from the TRP 510. Thus, when performing the L1 measurements, the UE 110 may perform beam sweeping using the fine beams 534-538 of the antenna panel 530 and the fine beams 544-548 of the antenna panel 540 to select the Rx beam to receive/measure the RSs of the TRP 510 based on the previous L3 measurements.

In other example embodiments, the UE 110 does not use previous L3 measurements to down-select antenna panels and thus, it does not depend on the network L3 measurement configuration. In these example embodiments, the UE may report two capabilities, e.g., RS Rx reception with or without L3 measurement.

To provide an example of not using the L3 measurement results, the UE 110 may use or test the fine beams 534-538 of the antenna panel 530 and the fine beams 544-548 of the antenna panel 540 to select the Rx beam to measure/receive the RSs of the TRP 510. However, the selection of these fine beams 534-538 and 544-548 is not based on the previous L3 measurements but may be based on other factors used to determine the beam sweeping for the TRP 510.

As described above, the UE 110 may or may not activate two or more antenna panels for DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor. In some example embodiments, the use of the reduced beam sweeping factor for the UE 110 may be based on whether the UE activates two or more antenna panels for DL RS Rx.The activation of two or more panels may allow the UE to reduce the measurement occasions to try out the candidate number of Rx beams during beam sweeping, namely, to reduce the Rx beam sweeping factor. Typically, the beam sweeping factor for a UE is 8. However, the activation of two or more antenna panels may allow the beam sweeping factor to be reduced for each antenna panel.

For example, if the UE 110 activates two or more panels and the UE 110 is using previous L3 measurements, the beam sweeping factor may be {N1, N2, N3, ... } , where Ni <= 8. If the UE 110 activates two or more panels and the UE 110 is not using previous L3 measurements, the beam sweeping factor may be {M1, M2, M3, ... } , where Mi <= 8. In these examples, where Ni and Mi may have the same value or may be a different value.

In these example embodiments, there may be multiple manners for the network to know the UE capability with respect to the activation of multiple panels. In a first option, the UE 110 may explicitly indicate to the network it has activated multiple panels. In a second option, if the network has configured dual TCI states with different QCL Type D RS within the past [X] seconds, or the network has configured Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) with different QCL Type D RS within the past [X] seconds, the network may infer or determine that the UE 110 has activated more than one panel. In this option, [X] may be one value or a range of values. The value (s) of [X] may be hard-coded in standards (e.g., 3GPP standards) , reported by the UE 110 and/or configured by the network via radio resource control (RRC) , Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling.

In a third option, if the UE 110 is configured by the network for UL transmission with different UL/joint TCIs indicating spatial directions of the two transmissions within the past [Y] seconds, the network may infer or determine that the UE 110 has activated more than one panel. Similar to [X] , [Y] may be one value or a range of values, hard-coded in standards, reported by the UE 110, or configured by the network via RRC, MAC-CE or DCI signaling.

In other example embodiments, the UE 110 capability, e.g., DL RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor, may be independent from the UE 110 activating multiple panels. As described above, the UE 110 may not need to activate multiple panels for the UE 110 to support the capability of reducing the beam sweeping factor.

In some example embodiments, the UE 110 may report to the network whether the UE 110 activates multiple panels to support the capability of a reduced beam sweeping factor. For example, a bit set to 1 may indicate the UE 110 activates multiple panels to support the capability of the reduced beam sweeping factor or the bit set to 0 indicates the UE 110 does not activate multiple panels to support the capability of the reduced beam sweeping factor. However, in the case of the UE 110 not activating multiple panels, the reduced beam sweeping factor may also be applied for the single panel, e.g., a beam sweeping factor of <= 8 for the single panel activation.

For power saving or other purposes, the UE 110 may toggle the capability of the reduced beam sweeping factor on/off and indicate this toggling of the capability to the network. For example, in UEs that activate multiple antenna panels for the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, an increased power may be associated with the activation of multiple antenna panels. Thus, under certain circumstances, e.g., when the UE 110 is power constrained, the UE 110 may toggle the capability off. Switching off the capability may mean switching to a single panel mode, e.g., only activating one panel rather than more than one panel. This on/off capability may be signaled by the UE 110 via Uplink Control Information (UCI) , MAC-CE or RRC signaling, including RRC UE assistance information (UAI) . Various examples of this signaling to provide the on/off indication will be described in greater detail below.

In some example embodiments, it may be considered that if the UE 110 supports multi-Tx, the UE 110 will typically support multi-Rx. Therefore, when the multi-RX capability is switched off, e.g., the UE 110 is using single panel mode, this may also indicate to the network that multi-Tx operation is suspended. In this manner signaling overhead associated with indicating whether the multi-Tx operation is off is not needed because the network infers that multi-Tx operation is suspended when multi-Rx operation is indicated as being off.

When the UE 110 indicates the reduced beam sweeping factor capability is on or off to the network via UCI, there are several manners in which the indication may be provided. In a first option, the indication may be considered as special Channel State Information (CSI) feedback. This indication may have the same priority as existing CSI, for example, L1-RSRP or L1 signal to interference noise ratio (L1-SINR) , or it may have a different priority, for example, a higher priority compared to L1-RSRP or L1-SINR.

In a second option, the indication may be considered as a new type of UCI, in addition to the existing scheduling request (SR) , Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) , CSI or configured grant UCI (CG-UCI) . In this option the indication may be encoded standalone using polar code or it may be jointly encoded with other types of UCI using polar code.

When the UE 110 indicates the reduced beam sweeping factor capability is on or off to the network via MAC-CE or RRC, there are also several manners in which the indication may be provided. For example, if the UE 110 already has an uplink (UL) grant for PUSCH transmission, the UE 110 may transmit the MAC-CE or RRC message containing the on/off indication using the existing UL grant.

In another example, if the UE 110 does not have a UL grant for PUSCH, in a first option, the UE 110 may request a UL grant via an SR to transmit the indication. The network may configure a specific SR resource dedicated for the purpose of the UE 110 indication of on/off of the capability. This SR may have different or the same priority compared to the existing SR, during UCI multiplexing and collision handling. In another example, the network or the UE 110 uses the existing SR for UE indication of on/off of the capability.

In a second option, the UE 110 may request a UL grant via a random access channel (RACH) procedure. The RACH procedure may be a Contention Free Random Access (CFRA) or a Contention Based Random Access (CBRA) .

Where the RRC message is a UAI message, a prohibit timer Z may also be introduced. For example, the UE 110 may not be allowed to indicate a change of capability state (on/off) within Z ms/slots after the previous indication. The value of Z may be configured by the network, and reconfigured depending on the need of reduced measurement delay.

Fig. 6 shows an example method 600 for a UE 110 to perform RS Rx/measurement with a reduced beam sweeping factor according to various example embodiments. The method 600 may be performed by the UE 110 when connected to the 5G NR RAN 120 via the gNB 120A or when connected to any other network that performs DL RS Rx/measurement with a reduced beam sweeping factor.

In 610, the UE 110 provides capability information to the network, e.g., the base station 300, indicating the UE 110 supports RS Rx/measurement with a reduced beam sweeping factor. As described above, in some example embodiments, the capability information may also include information indicating whether the UE 110 uses L3 measurements for the purpose of down selecting antennas during beam sweeping. As also described above, in some example embodiments, the capability information may also include information indicating whether the UE 110 activates multiple antenna panels to support the reduced beam sweeping factor capability.

In 620, it is determined whether the UE 110 activates multiple antenna panels to support the reduced beam sweeping factor capability. If the UE 110 activates multiple panels for the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, in 630, the UE 110 will activate the multiple panels, e.g., the panels 530 and 540 as described with reference to Fig. 5.

Whether the UE 110 activates multiple panels or is capable of RS Rx/measurement with the reduced beam sweeping factor using a single panel, in 640, the UE 110 performs beam sweeping to determine the Rx beam that should be used to receive the RSs from the TRP. As described above, the beam sweeping performed uses a reduced beam sweeping factor. For example, if a typical beam sweeping factor is 8, the reduced beam sweeping factor used by the example embodiments is 8 or less. Though not shown in Fig. 6, it is assumed that the beam sweeping is success ful and the UE 110 receives the RSs from the TRP (s) .

In 650, it is determined whether the UE 110 wants to toggle off the reduced beam sweeping factor capability. As described above, when the UE 110 is in power constrained operations, the UE 110 may want to toggle off the reduced beam sweeping factor capability. If the UE 110 decides to toggle off the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, the UE 110 will report this toggling off to the network and the method 600 may end. It should be understood that the UE 110 may toggle the reduced beam sweeping factor capability back on at a later time and the method 600 may continue as shown by the method 600 looping back to 620 when the reduced beam sweeping factor capability is not toggled off.

Fig. 7 shows an example method 700 for a base station 300 to configure one or more TRPs to transmit RSs to a UE 110 having a capability for RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor according to various example embodiments. As described above, the base station 300 may represent the gNB 120A of the 5G NR RAN 120 or a base station of any other type of wireless network.

In 710, the base station 300, e.g., the gNB 120A, receives capability information from the UE 110 indicating the UE 110 supports simultaneous RS Rx with a reduced beam sweeping factor. As described above, in some example embodiments, the capability information may also include information indicating whether the UE 110 uses L3 measurements for the purpose of down selecting antennas during beam sweeping. As also described above, in some example embodiments, the capability information may also include information indicating whether the UE 110 activates multiple antenna panels to support simultaneous RS Rx.

If the UE 110 supports the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, the network (e.g., base station 300) knows that the UE 110 will perform procedures such as L1 measurements including RLM/BFD/CBD, L3 measurements, and TCI state switching with less delay. This is because sweeping a reduced number of candidate beams will take less time than sweeping a full number of candidate beams. Thus, a UE that implements the reduced beam sweeping factor capability may be able to select an Rx beam faster and then perform the Rx/measurements faster than UEs using the full number of beam sweeping candidate beams. On the other hand, if the UE 110 does not support the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, the network (e.g., base station 300) knows that the UE 110 will perform the above described procedures with a normal delay, e.g., based on the normal beam sweeping factor.

In 720, the base station 300 configures the multiple TRPs, e.g., the TRPs 510 and 520, to transmit the RSs to the UE 110.

In 730, the base station 300 may determine whether the UE 110 has toggled off the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, e.g., through an explicit indication to the base station 300. If the UE 110 has toggled off the reduced beam sweeping factor capability, the method 700 may end. It should be understood that the UE 110 may toggle the reduced beam sweeping factor capability back on at a later time and the method 700 may continue as shown by the method 700 looping back when the reduced beam sweeping factor capability is not toggled off.

Examples

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) , comprising activating one or more antenna panels of the UE to receive reference signals from a transmission and reception point (TRP) , performing a beam sweeping operation using the one or more antenna panels to select a reception (Rx) beam to receive the reference signals, wherein the beam sweeping operation uses a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams to select the Rx beam and measuring the reference signals using the selected Rx beam.

In a second example, the method of the first example, further comprising transmitting to a base station an indication of whether the UE activates more than one antenna panel to perform the beam sweeping with the reduced set of candidate beams.

In a third example, the method of the first example, further comprising transmitting to a base station an indication that more than one antenna panels are activated.

In a fourth example, the method of the first example, further comprising transmitting to a base station an indication that the UE supports a capability to use the reduced set of candidate beams.

In a fifth example, the method of the first example, further comprising transmitting to the base station a second indication that the capability is turned off by the UE.

In a sixth example, the method of the fifth example, wherein the second indication is transmitted via uplink control information (UCI) .

In a seventh example, the method of the sixth example, wherein the second indication comprises Channel State Information (CSI) feedback.

In an eighth example, the method of the seventh example, wherein the second indication has a same priority as other CSI feedback.

In a ninth example, the method of the seventh example, wherein the second indication has a higher priority than other CSI feedback.

In a tenth example, the method of the sixth example, wherein the second indication comprises a new type of UCI, wherein the second indication is encoded standalone using polar code or jointly encoded with other types of UCI using polar code.

In an eleventh example, the method of the fifth example, wherein the second indication is transmitted via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling.

In a twelfth example, the method of the eleventh example, wherein the second indication is transmitted using an existing uplink (UL) grant for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission.

In a thirteenth example, the method of the eleventh example, further comprising determining the UE does not have an uplink (UL) grant for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission.

In a fourteenth example, the method of the thirteenth example, further comprising transmitting to the base station a scheduling request (SR) comprising a request for a UL grant to transmit the second indication.

In a fifteenth example, the method of the fourteenth example, wherein the SR comprises an SR resource dedicated for the second indication, wherein the SR has a same priority as other SR resources or a higher priority than other SR resources.

In a sixteenth example, the method of the fourteenth example, wherein the SR comprises an existing SR.

In a seventeenth example, the method of the thirteenth example, further comprising performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the base station comprising a request for a UL grant for the second indication, wherein the RACH procedure comprises a Contention Free Random Access (CFRA) procedure or a Contention Based Random Access (CBRA) procedure.

In an eighteenth example, the method of the eleventh example further comprising starting a prohibit timer when receiving RRC signaling comprising UE assistance information (UAI) that includes the second indication, wherein the UE is prevented from turning the capability on prior to expiration of the prohibit timer.

In nineteenth example, the method of the first example, wherein the reference signals are transmitted in cellular Frequency Range 2 (FR-2) .

In a twentieth example, a processor configured to perform any of the methods of the first through nineteenth examples.

In a twenty first example, a user equipment (UE) comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a base station and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform any of the methods of the first through nineteenth examples.

In a twenty second example, a method performed by a base station, comprising determining a user equipment (UE) supports a capability to perform beam sweeping for reference signals using a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams, wherein the reference signals comprise different quasi-co-located (QCL) TypeD reference signals on a single component carrier and configuring a transmission and reception point (TRP) of the base station to transmit the reference signals.

In a twenty third example, the method of the twenty second example, determining the UE supports the capability us based on a message received from the UE.

In a twenty fourth example, the method of the twenty second example, wherein determining the UE supports the capability is based on the base station having configured dual Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states with different QCL Type D RS simultaneous Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) with different QCL Type D reference signals for the UE within a predetermined period of time.

In a twenty fifth example, the method of the twenty fourth example, wherein the predetermined period of time is (i) hard coded in a standards document, (ii) reported by the UE or (iii) configured by a network of the base station.

In a twenty sixth example, the method of the twenty second example, wherein determining the UE supports the capability is based on the base station having configured the UE for simultaneous uplink (UL) transmission with different UL or joint Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states indicating spatial directions of two transmissions within a predetermined period of time.

In a twenty seventh example, the method of the twenty sixth example, wherein the predetermined period of time is (i) hard coded in a standards document, (ii) reported by the UE or (iii) configured by a network of the base station.

In a twenty eighth example, the method of the twenty second example, further comprising decoding, based on signals received from the UE, an indication of whether the UE activates more than one antenna panel to perform the beam sweeping using the reduced set of candidate beams.

In a twenty ninth example, the method of the twenty second example, further comprising decoding, based on signals received from the UE, an indication that the capability is turned off by the UE.

In a thirtieth example, the method of the twenty ninth example, wherein the indication is received via uplink control information (UCI) .

In a thirty first example, the method of the thirtieth example, wherein the indication comprises Channel State Information (CSI) feedback.

In a thirty second example, the method of the thirty first example, wherein the indication has a same priority as other CSI feedback.

In a thirty third example, the method of the thirty first example, wherein the indication has a higher priority than other CSI feedback.

In a thirty fourth example, the method of the thirtieth example, wherein the indication comprises a new type of UCI, wherein the indication is encoded standalone using polar code or jointly encoded with other types of UCI using polar code.

In a thirty fifth example, the method of the twenty ninth example, wherein the indication is received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling.

In a thirty sixth example, the method of the thirty fifth example, wherein the indication is transmitted using an existing uplink (UL) grant for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission.

In a thirty seventh example, the method of the twenty ninth example, further comprising decoding, based on signals received from the UE, a scheduling request (SR) comprising a request for a UL grant to transmit the indication.

In a thirty eighth example, the method of the thirty seventh example, wherein the SR comprises an SR resource dedicated for the indication, wherein the SR has a same priority as other SR resources or a higher priority than other SR resources.

In a thirty ninth example, the method of the thirty seventh example, wherein the SR comprises an existing SR.

In a fortieth example, the method of the twenty ninth example, further comprising performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the UE comprising a request for a UL grant for the indication, wherein the RACH procedure comprises a Contention Free Random Access (CFRA) procedure or a Contention Based Random Access (CBRA) procedure.

In a forty first example, the method of the twenty second example, wherein the reference signals are transmitted in cellular Frequency Range 2 (FR-2) .

In a forty second example, a processor configured to perform any of the methods of the twenty second through forty first examples.

In a forty third example, a base station comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform any of the methods of the twenty second through forty first examples.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described example embodiments may be implemented in any suitable software or hardware configuration or combination thereof. An example hardware platform for implementing the example embodiments may include, for example, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, a Windows OS, a Mac platform and MAC OS, a mobile device having an operating system such as iOS, Android, etc. The example embodiments of the above described method may be embodied as a program containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

Although this application described various embodiments each having different features in various combinations, those skilled in the art will understand that any of the features of one embodiment may be combined with the features of the other embodiments in any manner not specifically disclaimed or which is not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation of the device or the stated functions of the disclosed embodiments.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the present disclosure, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalent.

Claims

An apparatus of a user equipment (UE) , the apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:

activate one or more antenna panels of the UE to receive reference signals from a transmission and reception point (TRP) ;

configure a transceiver to perform a beam sweeping operation using the one or more antenna panels to select a reception (Rx) beam to receive the reference signals, wherein the beam sweeping operation uses a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams to select the Rx beam; and

measure the reference signals using the selected Rx beam.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

configure transceiver circuitry to transmit to a base station an indication of whether the UE activates more than one antenna panel to perform the beam sweeping with the reduced set of candidate beams.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

configure transceiver circuitry to transmit to a base station an indication that more than one antenna panels are activated.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

configure transceiver circuitry to transmit to a base station an indication that the UE supports a capability to use the reduced set of candidate beams.
The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

configure transceiver circuitry to transmit to the base station a second indication that the capability is turned off by the UE.
The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second indication is transmitted via uplink control information (UCI) .
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second indication comprises Channel State Information (CSI) feedback.
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second indication has a same priority as other CSI feedback.
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second indication has a higher priority than other CSI feedback.
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second indication comprises a new type of UCI, wherein the second indication is encoded standalone using polar code or jointly encoded with other types of UCI using polar code.
The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second indication is transmitted via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling.
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second indication is transmitted using an existing uplink (UL) grant for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission.
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine the UE does not have an uplink (UL) grant for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission.
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

configure transceiver circuitry to transmit to the base station a scheduling request (SR) comprising a request for a UL grant to transmit the second indication.
The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the SR comprises an SR resource dedicated for the second indication, wherein the SR has a same priority as other SR resources or a higher priority than other SR resources.
The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the SR comprises an existing SR.
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

perform a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the base station comprising a request for a UL grant for the second indication, wherein the RACH procedure comprises a Contention Free Random Access (CFRA) procedure or a Contention Based Random Access (CBRA) procedure.
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

start a prohibit timer when receiving RRC signaling comprising UE assistance information (UAI) that includes the second indication, wherein the UE is prevented from turning the capability on prior to expiration of the prohibit timer.
An apparatus of a base station, the apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:

determine a user equipment (UE) supports a capability to perform beam sweeping for reference signals using a reduced set of candidate beams, wherein the reduced set of candidate beams comprises less than eight (8) beams, wherein the reference signals comprise different quasi-co-located (QCL) TypeD reference signals on a single component carrier; and

configure a transmission and reception point (TRP) of the base station to transmit the reference signals.
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry determines the UE supports the capability based on a message received from the UE.