WO2025156431A1

WO2025156431A1 - Reference signal resource set handling in wireless communication

Info

Publication number: WO2025156431A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/085925
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wenfeng Liu; Xingguang WEI; Zhaohua Lu; Junfeng Zhang; Huahua Xiao
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2024-04-03
Filing date: 2024-04-03
Publication date: 2025-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 2026-10-03

Abstract

This document generally relates to wireless communication involving a user device that transmits a channel information report associated with at least one of a first reference signal (RS) resource set or a second RS resource set based on whether a condition is satisfied. Additionally, a network device determines whether or not to transmit a first RS resource set based on whether a first condition is satisfied, and whether to transmit an entirety or only part of a second RS resource set based on whether a second condition is satisfied. Additionally, a network device transmits a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report. The CSI report includes at least one CSI-RS resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

Description

REFERENCE SIGNAL RESOURCE SET HANDLING IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document is directed generally to reference signal resource set handling in wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

In wireless communication, artificial intelligence (AI) /machine learning (ML) model-based beam prediction may be utilized to directly predict an optimal narrow beam using measured results from an inference beam set that includes wide beams and/or narrow beams. This approach may significantly reduce the reference signal (RS) resource overhead required for beam sweeping. However, the performance of the AI/ML model may fluctuate over time due to limited generalization capabilities. To guard against fluctuation, it is crucial to monitor an AI/ML model’s performance by comparing the predicted optimal beam with a realistic optimal beam obtained through measurements on a dedicated monitoring beam set. As such, ways to optimally configure a monitoring beam set and/or perform beam reporting during a model monitoring window to, in turn, optimally guard against model fluctuation may be desirable.

SUMMARY

This document relates to methods, systems, apparatuses and devices for wireless communication. In some implementations, a method for wireless communication includes: receiving, by a user device, a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set, wherein the first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other; determining, by the user device, whether a condition is satisfied; and transmitting, by the user device, a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether the condition is satisfied.

In some other implementations, a method for wireless communication includes: transmitting, by the network device, a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set, wherein the first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other; and receiving, by the network device, a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether a condition is satisfied.

In some other implementations, a method for wireless communication includes: determining, by a network device, whether a first condition is satisfied; determining, by the network device, whether or not to transmit a first reference signal (RS) resource set based on whether the first condition is satisfied; determining, by the network device, whether a second condition is satisfied; and transmitting, by the network device, an entirety or only a part of a second RS resource set based on whether the second condition is satisfied.

In some other implementations, a method for wireless communication includes: transmitting, by a network device, a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero; and receiving, by the network device, the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI-RS resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

In some other implementations, a method for wireless communication includes: receiving, by a user device, a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero; and in response to the command, transmitting, by the user device, the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

In some other implementations, a device, such as a network device, is disclosed. The device may include one or more processors and one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to read computer code from the one or more memories to implement any of the methods above.

In yet some other implementations, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable program medium with computer code stored thereupon, the computer code, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to implement any of the methods above.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of a wireless communication system.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a method for wireless communication.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of another method for wireless communication.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of another method for wireless communication.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of another example method for wireless communication.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of another example method for wireless communication.

FIG. 7 shows a timing diagram of resource sets being received in multiple reception occasions.

FIG. 8 shows a timing diagram of occasions, illustrating reference signal (RS) resource reception and beam report occasions relative to a reference resource.

FIG. 9 shows a timing diagram illustrating multiple first RS resource set reception occasions received relative to a second RS resource set reception occasion within a model monitoring window.

FIG. 10 shows a timing diagram of measurement report transmissions by a user device to a network device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present description describes various implementations of systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods for wireless communications related to reference signal resource set handling. Such implementations include configuring a monitoring beam set and facilitating beam reporting within a designated monitoring window. Additionally, such implementations include establishing a pairing mechanism between an inference beam set and a monitoring beam set to streamline the model monitoring process. Additionally, such implementations include beam sweeping over a predicted Top K candidate optimal beams, leveraging their association with a latest measurement report. Additionally, such implementations may quickly identify a final optimal beam with minimized time and resources required for the entire beam sweeping process. Details of such implementations as well as other implementations are described in further detail below.

Fig. 1 shows a diagram of an example wireless communication system 100 including a plurality of communication nodes (or just nodes) that are configured to wirelessly communicate with each other. In general, the communication nodes include at least one user device 102 and at least one network device 104. The example wireless communication system 100 in Fig. 1 is shown as including two user devices 102, including a first user device 102 (1) and a second user device 102 (2) , and one network device 104. However, various other examples of the wireless communication system 100 that include any of various combinations of one or more user devices 102 and/or one or more network devices 104 may be possible.

In general, a user device as described herein, such as the user device 102, may include a single electronic device or apparatus, or multiple (e.g., a network of) electronic devices or apparatuses, capable of communicating wirelessly over a network. A user device may comprise or otherwise be referred to as a user terminal, a user terminal device, or a user equipment (UE) . Additionally, a user device may be or include, but not limited to, a mobile device (such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a smart watch, a tablet, a laptop computer, vehicle or other vessel (human, motor, or engine-powered, such as an automobile, a plane, a train, a ship, or a bicycle as non-limiting examples) or a fixed or stationary device, (such as a desktop computer or other computing device that is not ordinarily moved for long periods of time, such as appliances, other relatively heavy devices including Internet of things (IoT) , or computing devices used in commercial or industrial environments, as non-limiting examples) . In various embodiments, a user device 102 may include transceiver circuitry 106 coupled to an antenna 108 to effect wireless communication with the network device 104. The transceiver circuitry 106 may also be coupled to a processor 110, which may also be coupled to a memory 112 or other storage device. The memory 112 may store therein instructions or code that, when read and executed by the processor 110, cause the processor 110 to implement various ones of the methods described herein.

Additionally, in general, a network device as described herein, such as the network device 104, may include a single electronic device or apparatus, or multiple (e.g., a network of) electronic devices or apparatuses, and may comprise one or more wireless access nodes, base stations, or other wireless network access points capable of communicating wirelessly over a network with one or more user devices and/or with one or more other network devices 104. For example, the network device 104 may comprise a 4G LTE base station, a 5G NR base station, a 5G central-unit base station, a 5G distributed-unit base station, a next generation Node B (gNB) , an enhanced Node B (eNB) , or other similar or next-generation (e.g., 6G) base stations, in various embodiments. A network device 104 may include transceiver circuitry 114 coupled to an antenna 116, which may include an antenna tower 118 in various approaches, to effect wireless communication with the user device 102 or another network device 104. The transceiver circuitry 114 may also be coupled to one or more processors 120, which may also be coupled to a memory 122 or other storage device. The memory 122 may store therein instructions or code that, when read and executed by the processor 120, cause the processor 120 to implement one or more of the methods described herein.

In various embodiments, two communication nodes in the wireless system 100-such as a user device 102 and a network device 104, two user devices 102 without a network device 104, or two network devices 104 without a user device 102-may be configured to wirelessly communicate with each other in or over a mobile network and/or a wireless access network according to one or more standards and/or specifications. In general, the standards and/or specifications may define the rules or procedures under which the communication nodes can wirelessly communicate, which, in various embodiments, may include those for communicating in millimeter (mm) -Wave bands, and/or with multi-antenna schemes and beamforming functions. In addition or alternatively, the standards and/or specifications are those that define a radio access technology and/or a cellular technology, such as Fourth Generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) , Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) , or New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) , as non-limiting examples.

Additionally, in the wireless system 100, the communication nodes are configured to wirelessly communicate signals between each other. In general, a communication in the wireless system 100 between two communication nodes can be or include a transmission or a reception, and is generally both simultaneously, depending on the perspective of a particular node in the communication. For example, for a given communication between a first node and a second node where the first node is transmitting a signal to the second node and the second node is receiving the signal from the first node, the first node may be referred to as a source or transmitting node or device, the second node may be referred to as a destination or receiving node or device, and the communication may be considered a transmission for the first node and a reception for the second node. Of course, since communication nodes in a wireless system 100 can both send and receive signals, a single communication node may be both a transmitting/source node and a receiving/destination node simultaneously or switch between being a source/transmitting node and a destination/receiving node.

Also, particular signals can be characterized or defined as either an uplink (UL) signal, a downlink (DL) signal, or a sidelink (SL) signal. An uplink signal is a signal transmitted from a user device 102 to a network device 104. A downlink signal is a signal transmitted from a network device 104 to a user device 102. A sidelink signal is a signal transmitted from a one user device 102 to another user device 102, or a signal transmitted from one network device 104 to another network device 104. Also, for sidelink transmissions, a first/source user device 102 directly transmits a sidelink signal to a second/destination user device 102 without any forwarding of the sidelink signal to a network device 104.

Additionally, signals communicated between communication nodes in the system 100 may be characterized or defined as a data signal or a control signal. In general, a data signal is a signal that includes or carries data, such multimedia data (e.g., voice and/or image data) , and a control signal is a signal that carries control information that configures the communication nodes in certain ways in order to communicate with each other, or otherwise controls how the communication nodes communicate data signals with each other. Also, certain signals may be defined or characterized by combinations of data/control and uplink/downlink/sidelink, including uplink control signals, uplink data signals, downlink control signals, downlink data signals, sidelink control signals, and sidelink data signals.

For at least some specifications, such as 5G NR, data and control signals are transmitted and/or carried on physical channels. Generally, a physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmission of a signal. Different types of physical channels may be used to transmit different types of signals. For example, physical data channels (or just data channels) , also herein called traffic channels, are used to transmit data signals, and physical control channels (or just control channels) are used to transmit control signals. Example types of traffic channels (or physical data channels) include, but are not limited to, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) used to communicate downlink data signals, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) used to communicate uplink data signals, and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) used to communicate sidelink data signals. In addition, example types of physical control channels include, but are not limited to, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) used to communicate downlink control signals, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) used to communicate uplink control signals, and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) used to communicate sidelink control signals. As used herein for simplicity, unless specified otherwise, a particular type of physical channel is also used to refer to a signal that is transmitted on that particular type of physical channel, and/or a transmission on that particular type of transmission. As an example illustration, a PDSCH refers to the physical downlink shared channel itself, a downlink data signal transmitted on the PDSCH, or a downlink data transmission. Accordingly, a communication node transmitting or receiving a PDSCH means that the communication node is transmitting or receiving a signal on a PDSCH.

Additionally, for at least some specifications, such as 5G NR, and/or for at least some types of control signals, a control signal that a communication node transmits may include control information comprising the information necessary to enable transmission of one or more data signals between communication nodes, and/or to schedule one or more data channels (or one or more transmissions on data channels) . For example, such control information may include the information necessary for proper reception, decoding, and demodulation of a data signals received on physical data channels during a data transmission, and/or for uplink scheduling grants that inform the user device about the resources and transport format to use for uplink data transmissions. In some embodiments, the control information includes downlink control information (DCI) that is transmitted in the downlink direction from a network device 104 to a user device 102. In other embodiments, the control information includes uplink control information (UCI) that is transmitted in the uplink direction from a user device 102 to a network device 104, or sidelink control information (SCI) that is transmitted in the sidelink direction from one user device 102 (1) to another user device 102 (2) .

Additionally, as previously described, each user device 102 and the network device 104 may each include respective antennas 108, 116 to wireless communicate with each other. In order to achieve beam alignment and obtain sufficiently high antenna gain, the user and network devices 102, 104 may perform beam training, and their respective antennas 108, 116 may include antenna arrays with certain numbers of antenna elements (e.g., 1024 antenna elements in some embodiments) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) implementation. Such features of the user and network devices 102, 104 may help overcome the challenge of propagation loss induced by high frequencies at which the user and network devices 102, 104 may wirelessly communicate. In addition, the respective transceiver circuitry 106, 114 of the user and network device 102, 104 may include analog phase shifters for implementation of millimeter wave (mmWave) beam forming, which provides a finite number of controllable phases. Additionally, constant modulus constraints may be placed on the antenna elements. Given pre-specified beam patterns, variable-phase-shift-based beam-forming training targets may be used to identify the best pattern for subsequent data transmission generally, such as between one transmission reception point (TRP) and one UE panel for example. Correspondingly, communication nodes in the wireless communication system 100 may communicate (transmit and/or receive) using and/or according to one of a plurality of beams.

In some embodiments, a user device 102 and a network device 104 may implement a set of beam management procedures for adjusting the beam direction in the high frequency band and maintaining a suitable transmitting and receiving beam pair. The set of beam management procedures may include beam sweeping, beam measurement, beam reporting, and/or beam indication. In some of these embodiments, the user device 102 is configured with at least one resource setting for channel measurement and at least one reporting setting for channel state information (CSI) reporting. Each reporting setting may include the parameters for one CSI reporting band and the CSI related quantities to be reported by the user device 102.

Additionally, for beam management, the CSI related quantities to be reported by the user device 102 may be indicated by the higher layer parameter reportQuantity in the reporting setting and include a CSI-reference signal (RS) resource indicator (CRI) , synchronization signal (SS) /physical broadcast channel (PBCH) Block resource indicator (SSBRI) , Layer 1 (L1) -reference signal receiving power (RSRP) or L1-signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) . More specifically, the higher layer parameter reportQuantity can be set to 'cri-RSRP' , 'cri-SINR' , 'ssb-Index-RSRP' , and 'ssb-Index-SINR' . For example, in event that the higher layer parameter reportQuantity is set to 'cri-RSRP' , the user device 102 may report at least one CRI and associated L1-RSRP in a single report for each report setting. In some embodiments, the number of RS resources to be reported is configured by a higher layer (e.g., the second layer or higher) .

Also, in some embodiments, the user device 102 may report N transmit (Tx) beam identifications (IDs) (e.g., CRIs) as well as its corresponding beam quality (e.g., L1-RSRP) results. In turn, the network device 104 (e.g., gNB) may select one beam from a candidate set according to beam reporting and associated scheduling schemes.

Additionally, for some reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS, sounding reference signal (SRS) , or synchronization signal (SS) /physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB) , each reference signal (RS) resource may be configured with one RS resource index. Additionally, each RS resource may be associated with one quasi co-location (QCL) configuration. The QCL configuration may include transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state configuration, e.g., source reference signal and QCL type. In addition, each RS resource may be configured with the same or different time-domain and frequency-domain resource configurations. So that the user device 102 knows when and where to receive the RS resources according to the time-domain and frequency-domain resource configurations, and user device 102 may know how to receive the RS resource (e.g., reception beam direction) according to the QCL configuration.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “beam state” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a quasi-co-location (QCL) state, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a spatial relation (also called spatial relation information) , a reference signal (RS) , a RS resource, a spatial filter, and/or a precoding. Furthermore, as used herein, a “beam state” is also called a “beam” .

Additionally, as used herein, the term “transmit beam” or “Tx beam” mean the same as, are equivalent to, or include at least one of: a QCL state, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a spatial relation state, a downlink (DL) and/or uplink (UL) reference signal (such as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) ) , a synchronization signal block (SSB) (which is also called SS/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) ) , a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) , a sounding reference signal (SRS) , physical random access channel (PRACH) ) , or Tx spatial filter or Tx precoding.

Additionally, as used herein, the terms “receive beam” or “Rx beam” mean the same as, are equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a QCL state, TCI state, spatial relation state, spatial filter, Rx spatial filter, and/or Rx precoding.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “channel information” means, is, or refers to information that can be obtained by measurements or algorithms, such as channel measurements, performed by the user device 102 or is related to or can be used for an AI/ML model input or output. In addition or alternatively, channel information means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a beam ID or a beam quality.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “beam identification (ID) ” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a QCL state index, TCI state index, spatial relation state index, reference signal index, spatial filter index, a precoding index, a RS resource index, a CSI-RS resource index, a SSB resource index, a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) , a SSB resource indicator (SSBRI) , a CSI resource set ID, a CSI resource setting ID, a reporting setting ID, a bitmap, and/or a combination index.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “beam quality” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: channel state information (CSI) , reference signal received power (RSRP) , reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , channel quality indicator (CQI) , precoding matrix indicator (PMI) , rank indicator (RI) , layer indicator (LI) , signal to noise ratio (SNR) , block error rate (BLER) , channel phase information, channel impulse response information, timing information, confidence level information, probability information (e.g., a probability to be a best beam) , channel matrix (e.g., in spatial-frequency domain or in angular-delay domain) , precoding matrix, location, fingerprinting based on channel observation, new measurement and/or enhancement of existing measurement (e.g., line of sight (LOS) /non-line of sight (NLOS) identification, timing and/or angle of measurement, and/or likelihood of measurement) .

Additionally, as used herein, the term “time instance” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a slot (e.g., a first slot, a last slot, or another slot) , a sub-slot, a symbol (e.g., a first symbol, a last symbol, or another symbol) , a sub-symbol, a frame, a sub-frame, a transmission occasion, an occasion, or a unit of time (e.g., a millisecond a microsecond as non-limiting examples) .

Additionally, in some embodiments, a spatial filter may be either user device (UE) -side or network (gNB) -side, and/or the spatial filter is also called a spatial-domain filter.

Additionally, in some embodiments, a “spatial relation information” includes one or more reference RSs, which may be used to represent the same or quasi-co “spatial relation” between a targeted RS or channel and the one or more reference RSs.

Additionally, in some embodiments, “beam state” is associated with or comprised of, one or more reference RSs and/or their corresponding QCL type parameters, where QCL type parameters include at least one, including a combination of two or more, of: [1] Doppler spread, [2] Doppler shift, [3] delay spread, [4] average delay, [5] average gain, and [6] Spatial parameter.

Additionally, as used herein, the term a “TCI state” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes a “beam state” .

Additionally, as used herein, the term “spatial parameter” means the same as, is equivalent to, or is the same as spatial parameter, spatial Rx parameter, or spatial filter.

Additionally, as used herein, the terms ‘QCL-TypeA’ , ‘QCL-TypeB’ , ‘QCL-TypeC’ , and ‘QCL-TypeD’ have the following respective definitions:

- 'QCL-TypeA' : {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}

- 'QCL-TypeB' : {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}

- 'QCL-TypeC' : {Doppler shift, average delay}

- 'QCL-TypeD' : {Spatial Rx parameter}

Additionally, as used herein, an “UL channel” may include a PUCCH or a PUSCH.

Additionally, as used herein, an “DL channel” may include a PDCCH or a PDSCH.

Additionally, as used herein, an “UL RS” may be or include at least one of: a SRS, a PRACH, or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (e.g., a DMRS for a PUSCH or a PUCCH) .

Additionally, as used herein, a “DL RS” may be or include at least one of: a synchronization signal block (SSB) , a CSI-RS, or DMRS (e.g., a DMRS for a PDSCH or a PDCCH) .

Additionally, as used herein, an “UL signal” may be or include at least one of: an UL channel or a UL RS (e.g., a SRS, a physical random access channel (PRACH) , a DMRS, a PUSCH or a PUCCH) .

Additionally, as used herein, a “DL signal” may be or include at least one of: a DL channel or a DL RS (e.g., a SSB, a CSI-RS, a DMRS, a PDSCH, or a PDCCH) .

Additionally, as used herein, a power control parameter includes at least one of: a target power (also referred to as “P0” ) , a path loss RS, a scaling factor for path loss (also referred to as “alpha” ) , or a closed loop process. Also, as used herein, a path-loss may be or include a couple loss.

Additionally, as used herein, a “DCI” means the same as, or is equivalent to, a “PDCCH” .

Additionally, as used herein, the term “precoding information” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) , a transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) , precoding, or a beam.

Additionally, as used herein, the term transmission and reception point (TRP) means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: a RS port, a RS port group, a RS resource, or a RS resource set.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “port group” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: an antenna group or a user device (UE) port group.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “model” means the same as, is equivalent to, or includes at least one of: functionality, function, functionality module, function module, processing method, information processing method, implementation, feature, feature group, configuration, configuration set, dataset (e.g., for model training) or data-driven algorithms. In addition or alternatively, as used herein, the term “model” is used to refer to a capability of a user device 102 to perform a certain processing or have a certain functionality, a feature, and/or a feature group.

Additionally, for at least some embodiments, different models may be associated with different configurations (e.g., different radio resource control (RRC) configurations) . In addition or alternatively, model activation may refer to activation of a corresponding configuration for a given user device 102. Similarly, model deactivation may refer to deactivating the corresponding configuration, and/or switching and falling back may refer to switching back and falling back, respectively, to the configuration used without model activation.

Additionally, as used herein, the term “prediction” refers to and/or includes model processing. For example, a model or algorithm (e.g., a UE-side algorithm) is able to perform beam or CSI prediction to obtain the channel information for reporting, such as with low reference signal (RS) overhead. Additionally, as used herein, the term “prediction result” represents the channel information that is obtained by a model or algorithm processing procedure, such as model inference for example.

Additionally, aspects described herein may be used or implemented in any of various communication networks, including wireless communication networks, cellular communication networks, mobile communication networks, or the like, including future implementations of such networks, such as 6G mobile communication networks and beyond.

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of an example method 200 for wireless communication. At block 202, a user device 102 receives a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set. The first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other. At block 204, the user device 102 determines whether a condition is satisfied. At block 204, the user device 102 transmits a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether the condition is satisfied.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of an example method 300 for wireless communication. At block 302, a network device 104 transmits a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set. The first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other. At block 304, the network device 104 receives a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether a condition is satisfied.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, the channel information report is based on the second RS resource set in response to the condition being satisfied; and the channel information report is based on the first RS resource set in response to the condition not being satisfied.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, the condition comprises: a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource are transmitted on a same slot.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, the condition comprises: a time occupancy of a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource overlap in at least one symbol.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, the condition comprises: a time instance of a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that is no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource is within a time window centered on a time instance of the first RS resource set.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, the condition comprises: a time duration between a time instance of a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a time instance of a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource is not greater than a threshold.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, for each occasion of the first RS resource set, the user device 102 selects a corresponding occasion of the second RS resource set for the channel information report, the selection according to at least one selection rule.

In some implementations of the method 200 and/or the method 300, the at least one selection rule comprises: the selection is based on an occasion of the second RS resource set that is in a same slot or time instance as an occasion of the first RS resource set; the selection is based on a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that is no later than a channel state information (CSI) reference resource and/or an occasion of the first RS resource set; and/or the selection is based on an occasion of the second RS resource set that is within a time window centered on a time instance of an occasion of the first RS resource set.

Fig. 4 shows a method 400 for wireless communication. At block 402, a network device 104 determines whether a first condition is satisfied. At block 404, the network device 104 determines whether or not to transmit a first reference signal (RS) resource set based on whether the first condition is satisfied. At block 406, the network device 104 determines whether a second condition is satisfied. At block 408, the network device 104 transmits an entirety or only a part of a second RS resource set based on whether the second condition is satisfied.

In some implementations of the method 400, at least one of the first condition or the second condition comprises: a first time instance in which the first RS resource set is to be transmitted is the same as a second time instance in which the second RS resource set is to be transmitted; a time occupancy of the first RS resource set to be transmitted and the second RS resource set to be transmitted overlap in at least one symbol; and/or a time duration between a first time instance in which the first RS resource set is to be transmitted and a second time instance in which the second RS resource set is to be transmitted is not greater than a threshold.

In some implementations of the method 400, the part of the second RS resource set comprises: resources not included in the first RS resource set; or remaining resources that have no 1-to-1 association with resources in the first RS resource set.

Fig. 5 shows a method 500 for wireless communication. At block 502, a network device 104 transmits a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and where K is an integer greater than zero. At block 504, the network device 104 receives the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI-RS resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

Fig. 6 shows a method 600 for wireless communication. At block 602, a user device 102 receives a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report by the user device, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero. At block 604, in response to the command, the user device 102 transmits the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a first configuration index value corresponding to at least a K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the first configuration index value is one of a plurality of configuration index values, wherein a configuration provided by the network device indicates corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes for each of the plurality of configuration index values.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a second configuration index value indicating to the user device that the K-number of CSI-RS resources correspond to the K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes in a latest measurement report.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a third configuration index value corresponding to at least a K-number of quasi co-location (QCL) information indexes.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the third configuration index value is one of a plurality of configuration index values, and wherein a configuration provided by the network device indicates corresponding QCL information indexes for each of the plurality of configuration index values.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a fourth configuration index value indicating to the user device that a K-number of quasi co-location (QCL) information indexes corresponding to a K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes in a latest measurement report are being used.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the command comprises the identifier, wherein the identifier identifies the K-number of CSI-RS resources and/or a K-number of corresponding QCL indexes for the K-number of CSI-RS resources based on a latest measurement report that includes the identifier.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the user device 102 increases a value of the identifier index each time the user device transmits a new measurement report, wherein the value of the identifier index is equal to a remainder of the identifier index divided by an integer number M.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, the latest measurement report comprises a latest measurement report that the user device 102 reports during a validation time duration.

In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, an ending time of the validation time duration is a start of a first symbol or slot when the network device 104 sends the command to trigger the corresponding K-number of CSI-RS resources or the CSI report. In some implementations of the method 500 and/or the method 600, a starting time of the validation time duration comprises an offset before the ending time of the validation time duration.

In any of various other implementations may include any of various combination of two or more of the methods 200, 300, 400, 500, and/or 600. Further details of various actions performed by the communication nodes of the wireless communication system 100 related to RS resource sets and/or CSI-RS resources, any of which may be incorporated into the method 200, the method 300, the method 400, the method 500, and/or other methods are now described.

Embodiment #1: (Reporting rules during performance monitoring window)

In some implementations, transmit beams are selected from a predefined analog beam codebook. In such implementations, an exhaustive search among all possible beams in the codebook is an optimal beam training scheme. However, this may result in excessive training overhead, measurement power consumption and processing delay, especially when using narrow pencil beams. For artificial intelligence (AI) /machine learning (ML) model based spatial domain beam prediction, an optimal narrow beam may be directly predicted based on measured results of wide beams or at least one and less than all narrow beams. In this way, beam sweeping over all narrow beams is not needed and thus the RS overhead for beam management is reduced.

For simplicity, suppose two reference signal (RS) resource sets configured by the network device 104, including a RS resource Set A and a RS resource Set B. Further, suppose resources in RS resource Set B are for channel measurement and associated with different wide beams and/or one or more narrow beams, whose measurement results are used as an AI/ML model input. Additionally, suppose resources in RS resource Set A are for prediction and associated with different narrow beams, from which an optimal narrow beam is predicted by model inference. Generally, the number of resources in RS resource Set B is much lower than that in RS resource Set A.During model inference, only RS resource Set B may need to be transmitted to the user device 102, and the optimal beam from RS resource Set A may be predicted based on AI/ML model output. However, limited by the generalization capability of the AI/ML model, the deployed AI/ML model may not be able to always predict the optimal beam information. Therefore, to monitor the performance of the currently working AI/ML model, both RS resource Set A and RS resource Set B may be transmitted to the user device 102 in one or more transmission occasions. Otherwise stated, from the perspective of the user device, both RS resource Set A and RS resource Set B may be received by the user device 102 in one or more reception occasions. Fig. 7 shows RS resource Set A and RS resource Set B each being transmitted/received in multiple transmission/reception occasions. Upon receipt of a RS resource sets, the user device 102 may obtain the predicted optimal beam information based on model inference on RS resource Set B and realistic optimal beam information based on channel measurement on RS resource Set A, respectively. By comparing the predicted optimal beam information and realistic optimal beam information, the beam prediction accuracy of the currently working AI/ML model may be obtained, and thus model deactivation, switching, etc. can be performed if necessary.

Additionally, regarding a channel information report, the predicted optimal beam information based on model inference on RS resource Set B may be reported to the network device 104 during model inference. Additionally, during model monitoring, the realistic optimal beam information based on channel measurement on RS resource Set A may be reported due to its higher reliability, rather than the predicted optimal beam information. In other words, for a beam report associated with RS resource Set B and/or RS resource Set A, whether to report measurement results or prediction results depends on the transmission of RS resource Set A.

Additionally, in some implementations, for a certain beam report occasion associated with a first RS resource set (e.g., Set B) and/or a second RS resource set (e.g., Set A) , if at least one condition is met or satisfied (and/or the user device 102 determines that the at least one condition is met or satisfied) , then the user device 102 may perform beam reporting, or transmit a beam report, based on measurement on RS resource Set A. Otherwise, if at least one condition is not met or satisfied (and/or the user device 102 determines that the at least one condition is not met or satisfied) , then the user device 102 may perform beam reporting, or transmit a beam report, based on prediction on RS resource Set B. For at least some of these implementations, the first RS resource Set B resource set and the second RS resource Set A are associated with each other.

Additionally, in some implementations, RS resource set occasions may be transmitted and/or received relative in time to a reference resource (e.g., a CSI reference resource) . For example, an RS resource set occasion may be transmitted and/or received before or after a reference source. Similarly, a beam report may be reported relative in time to a reference resource.

Fig. 8 shows a timing diagram of occasions, illustrating a RS resource Set A reception occasion and a RS resource Set B reception occasion each received by a user device 102 before a CSI reference resource, and the user device 102 transmitting an associated beam report occasion after the CSI reference resource.

Additionally, in some implementations, a reference resource (e.g., a CSI reference resource) may indicate a downlink slot as a timing reference, which in turn may indicate that no later channel/interference measurements than the downlink slot is to be used as an input for a report (e.g., a CSI report) . Correspondingly, for any report, only the associated RS resources earlier than the corresponding reference resource is considered. In this context, the reference resource is an offset before the time instance of the report.

Additionally, in some implementations, the at least one condition includes at least one of the following conditions.

A first condition includes: a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion and a latest RS resource Set B reception occasion that are each no later than a corresponding CSI reference resource, are transmitted on the same slot.

A second condition includes: a time occupancy of a latest RS resource Set B reception occasion and a RS resource Set A reception occasion that are each no later than a corresponding CSI reference resource, overlap in at least one symbol (e.g., orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol) .

A third condition includes: a time instance of a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that is no later than a corresponding CSI reference resource, is within a time window centered on a time instance of a RS resource Set B reception occasion. In some implementations of the third condition, a length of the time window is a pre-determined value or configured and/or indicated by the network device 104. For example, assuming n is a downlink slot in which the RS resource Set B occasion is transmitted and T is the length of the time window, the time window ranges from slot n-T/2 to slot n+T/2.

A fourth condition includes: a time duration between the first or the last symbol of a latest RS resource Set B reception occasion and the first or the last symbol of a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that is no later than the corresponding CSI reference resource, is lower or not greater than a threshold. In some implementations of the fourth condition, the threshold is a pre-determined value or configured and/or indicated by the network device 104.

A fifth condition includes: a time duration between a slot (which may be the first slot, the last slot, or another slot) of a latest RS resource Set B reception occasion and a slot (which may be the first slot, the last slot, or another slot) of a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that are each no later than a corresponding CSI reference resource, is lower or not greater than a threshold. In some implementations of the fifth condition, the threshold is a pre-determined value or configured and/or indicated by the network device 104.

A sixth condition includes: a time duration between a first symbol (or a first slot) to carry a certain beam report and a last symbol (or first symbol or the last slot or the first slot) of a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that is no later than a corresponding CSI reference resource, is greater or not lower than (or in other implementations lower or not greater than) a threshold. In some implementations of the sixth condition, the threshold is a pre-determined value or configured and/or indicated by the network device 104.

A seventh condition includes: a time duration between a slot of a corresponding CSI reference resource and a slot (e.g., a first slot, a last slot, or another slot) of a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that is no later than the corresponding CSI reference resource, is greater or not lower than (or in other implementations lower or not greater than) a threshold. In some implementations of the seventh condition, the threshold is a pre-determined value or is configured and/or indicated by the network device.

An eighth condition includes: for an aperiodic beam report, a time instance of a latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that is no later than a corresponding CSI reference resource, is later than the first symbol or first slot after the PDCCH triggering the aperiodic beam report.

Embodiment #2: (Pairing between Set A and Set B during performance monitoring window)

As previously described, the user device 102 may compare the predicted optimal beam information and realistic optimal beam information during the model monitoring window, which are obtained based on prediction on RS resource Set B and measurement on RS resource Set A, respectively. Fig. 9 shows a timing diagram illustrating four RS resource Set A reception occasions received relative to a RS resource Set B reception occasion within a model monitoring window. As both RS resource Set B and RS resource Set A may be transmitted multiple times (i.e., in multiple transmission occasions) , the user device 102 may perform a selection of a certain RS resource Set A reception occasion and/or a certain RS resource Set B reception occasion for performance comparison, or for other subsequent operations such as model training or fine-tuning.

Additionally, in some implementations, the user device 102 may select a most recent RS resource Set A reception occasion to compare with each RS resource Set B reception occasion for one or more associated operations, such as performance monitoring or AI/ML model training. In some of these implementations, for each RS resource Set B reception occasion, the user device 102 may select a RS resource Set A reception occasion for comparison and/or pairing with the RS resource Set B reception occasion according to at least one of the following rules.

A first rule includes: for a given RS resource Set B reception occasion, the user device 102 is to derive a performance metric (e.g., a beam prediction accuracy, or a reference signal received power (RSRP) difference) to determine or compute report contents (e.g., monitoring results) and/or to perform RS resource Set A/B pairing based on the RS resource Set A reception occasion that is received in the same slot or time instance as the given RS resource Set B reception occasion.

The second rule includes: for a given RS resource Set B reception occasion, the user device 102 is to derive a performance metric (e.g., beam prediction accuracy, or RSRP difference) to determine or compute report contents (e.g., monitoring results) and/or to perform RS resource Set A/B pairing based on the latest RS resource Set A reception occasion that is no later than the CSI reference resource and/or the time instance of the given RS resource Set B reception occasion.

A third rule includes: for a given RS resource Set B reception occasion, the user device 102 is to derive a performance metric (e.g., beam prediction accuracy, or RSRP difference) to determine or compute report contents (e.g., monitoring results) and/or to perform RS resource Set A/B pairing based on the earliest RS resource Set A reception that is no earlier than the CSI reference resource and/or the time instance of the given RS resource Set B reception occasion.

A fourth rule includes: for a given RS resource Set B reception occasion, the user device 102 is to derive a performance metric (e.g., beam prediction accuracy, or RSRP difference) to determine or compute report contents (e.g., monitoring results) and/or perform RS resource Set A/B pairing based on a time instance of RS resource Set A reception occasion that is closest to the CSI reference resource and/or the time instance of the given RS resource Set B reception occasion.

A fifth rule includes: for a given RS resource set B reception occasion, the user device 102 is to derive a performance metric (e.g., beam prediction accuracy, or RSRP difference) to determine or compute report contents (e.g., monitoring results) and/or to perform RS resource Set A/B pairing based on a RS resource Set A reception occasion that is within a time window centered on the time instance of the given RS resource Set B reception occasion. In some implementations of the fifth rule, the length of the time window is a pre-determined value or is configured and/or indicated by the network device 104. For example, assuming n is the downlink slot in which the RS resource Set B occasion is transmitted and T is the length of the time window, the RS resource Set A reception occasion for performance comparison is within the time window from slot n-T/2 to slot n+T/2.

Embodiment #3: (Transmission rules for Set A/B)

Additionally, in some implementations for performance monitoring, both RS resource Set A and RS resource Set B may be transmitted to the user device 102, including when RS resource Set B conveys wide beam information and RS resource Set A conveys narrow beam information. However, in implementations where both RS resource Set B and RS resource Set A convey narrow beam information, it is possible that the beam set conveyed on RS resource Set B is a subset of the beam set conveyed on RS resource Set A. In such situations, only RS resource Set A may be transmitted-i.e., RS resource Set B is not transmitted, such as for performance monitoring, which in turn may avoid wasting resources.

As previously described, suppose a first RS resource Set B for channel measurement and a second RS resource Set A for prediction, and that they are associated with each other. Further, suppose a slot n1 is a downlink slot (e.g., a first downlink slot, a last downlink slot, or another downlink slot) in which the RS resource Set B is to be transmitted, and a slot n2 is a downlink slot (e.g., the first downlink slot, the last downlink slot, or another downlink slot) in which the RS resource Set A is to be transmitted.

In some implementations, the network device 104 may not transmit and/or determine not to transmit the first RS resource Set B in response to determining that at least one condition is met or satisfied. In at least some of these implementations, the at least one condition may include one or more of the following conditions.

A first condition includes: slot n1 is equal to slot n2.

A second condition includes: slot n2 is earlier than slot n1 (or in other implementations of the second condition, slot n2 is later than n1) .

A third condition includes: a time duration between slot n1 and slot n2 is lower or not greater than a threshold. In some implementations of the third condition, the threshold is a pre-determined value or is configured and/or indicated by the network device 104.

A fourth condition includes: a time duration between the first symbol (or the last symbol) of the RS resource Set B and the last symbol (or the first symbol) of the RS resource Set A is lower or not greater than a threshold. In some implementations of the fourth condition, the threshold is a pre-determined value or is configured and/or indicated by the network device 104.

In addition or alternatively, in some implementations, the network device 104 may transmit and/or determine to transmit only a portion (i.e., less than all) of the RS resource Set A in response to determining that at least one second condition is met or satisfied. In some of these implementations, the portion of the RS resource Set A that is transmitted may correspond to a set of one or more resource identifications (IDs) or indexes that are in RS resource Set A but not in RS resource Set B (e.g., Set A minus Set B) . In other of these implementations, the portion of the RS resource Set A that is transmitted is or includes remaining resources that have no one-to-one association with the resources in RS resource Set B. In some of these other implementations, the one-to-one association is based on a mapping relationship between the RS resource Set A and the RS resource Set B.

In some implementations, the network device 104 may transmit and/or determine to transmit only the portion of the second RS resource Set A in response to determining that at least one second condition is met or satisfied. In at least some of these implementations, the at least one second condition may include one or more of the following conditions.

A first condition includes: slot n1 is equal to slot n2.

Embodiment #4: (Beam indication for sweeping predicted Top-K beams without validation time duration)

Limited by the prediction capability, the UE-side AI/ML model may only be able to predict the Top K or K highest ranked candidate optimal beams. Therefore, a second stage beam sweeping over the predicted Top K (or K highest ranked) beams may be performed in order to obtain the final optimal beam information. The user device 102, but not the network device 104, may know which Rx beam is to be used for the reception of the Top K beams. Thus, the user device 102 and the network device 104 may not be able to perform, or at least optimally perform, beam indication to indicate the receive (Rx) reception beam when triggering the second stage beam sweeping procedure. The following implementations address this problem, which include, but are not necessarily limited to, linking the K beams or CSI-RS resources to be transmitted with a latest measurement report.

In some implementations, the network device 104 (e.g., a base station) may transmit multiple CSI-RS resources to a user device 102. The network device 104 may transmit different CSI-RS resources with the same or different beams. Based on the measurement of the multiple CSI-RS resources and performance of AI/ML model inference, the user device 102 may derive the K CSI-RS resources (i.e., K candidate beams selected from the second RS resource Set A) with best performance, such as the K CSI-RS resources with the largest RSRP values, for example. In at least some of these implementations, K is an integer number larger than one. Additionally, in at least some of these implementations, the user device 102 may send a measurement report to the network device (e.g., base station) 104, where the measurement report includes the recommended K CSI-RS resource indexes. For example, the K CSI-RS resource indexes may correspond to the K CSI-RS resources with best performance. In addition, the measurement report may also include the corresponding beam quality (e.g., RSRP) for each CSI-RS resource of the K CSI-RS resources with the best performance. The user device 102 may derive the measurement report according to the measurement of the CSI-RS resources and/or the AI/ML model inference.

Additionally, in some implementations, suppose that K CSI-RS resources are reported by the user device 102. At this stage, the network device (e.g., base station) 104 only knows the user device’s reception beam directions used for the K CSI-RS resources that provide good performance. However, the network device (base station) 104 may not know which reception beam direction from the perspective of the user device 102 performs the best among the reception beam directions used for the K CSI-RS resources. Meanwhile, the network device (base station) 104 only knows the transmission beam directions used for the K CSI-RS resources that provide good performance. However, the network device (base station) 104 does not know which transmission beam direction from the perspective of the network device 104 performs the best among the transmission beam directions used for the K CSI-RS resources. That is, the network device 104 may not know which beam in the predicted Top-K beams is optimal. Thus, the network device 104 may send one or more sets of CSI-RS resources to the user device 102, where each set of CSI-RS resources includes K CSI-RS resources. In other words, the network device 104 may trigger a beam sweeping over the predicted Top K beams to obtain the final optimal beam. Correspondingly, the network device 104 may indicate the corresponding QCL information for each CSI-RS so that the user device 102 knows how to receive these CSI-RS resources. In response, the user device 102 may report the measurement results to the network device 104, which in turn may help the network device 104 to identify the best transmission beam direction and/or the best reception beam direction.

In some implementations, the network device (e.g., base station) 104 may indicate a configuration index to the user device 102. In some of these implementations, each configuration index may correspond to at least K CSI-RS resource indexes. In addition or alternatively, in some of these implementations, the network device 104 may configure the corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes for each configuration index. Specifically, one configuration index may indicate to the user device 102 that the K CSI-RS resources corresponding to the K CSI-RS resource indexes reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report are transmitted by the network device 104. In other implementations, one configuration index by default may indicates to the user device 102 that the K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report are transmitted by the network device 104, and in turn, the network device 104 may not configure the corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes. In this case, the user device 102 may determine the QCL information by the CSI-RS resource index corresponding to the configuration index. In event that more than K CSI-RS resources are configured for the configuration index, only the K CSI-RS resources with the smaller indexes may be received by the user device 102.

To further illustrate using Table 1 below, the network device (e.g., base station) 104 may configure the following mapping between configuration indexes and CSI-RS resource indexes, such as by using a bit value for the configuration index having a number of bits to accommodate a number of different resource index scenarios. As shown in Table 1, if the network device 104 indicates a configuration index “00” to the user device 102, the user device 102, in response, may determine that K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 are transmitted by the network device 104 and in turn, the user device 102 may derive the QCL information accordingly. Additionally, if the network device 104 indicates a configuration index “01” to the user device 102, the user device 102, in response, may determine that CSI-RS resources with indexes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are transmitted and derives the QCL info for these four CSI-RS resources accordingly. In this example, K is equal to four.

Table 1

Of note, the number of bits used for the configuration index values in the first column of Table 1 and the corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes in the second column of Table 1 are just examples. In other implementations, the number of bits used for the configuration index may be other than two, such as one or three or more. In addition or alternatively, particular configuration index values may indicate different information other than what is shown in Table 1. For example, configuration index ‘01’ instead of ‘00’ may be used to indicate the K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102. As another example, the configuration indexes may be used to indicate CSI-RS resources indexes other than the particular sets of four indexes shown in Table 1. For example, bit value ‘11’ may be used to indicate CSI-RS resource indexes 3, 4, 5, 6 or 1, 2, 3, 4, or some other set of CSI-RS resource indexes. Various ways to implement configuration indexes to indicate CSI-RS resource index information are possible.

Additionally, in other implementations, the network device (e.g., base station) 104 may indicates one configuration index to the user device 102. In some of these implementations, each configuration index corresponds to at least K QCL information indexes (e.g., TCI state configuration indexes) . In addition or alternatively, the network device 104 may configure the corresponding QCL information indexes for each configuration index. Specifically, one configuration index may indicate to the user device 102 that the K QCL information indexes corresponding to the K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report are used. In other implementations, one configuration index by default may indicates to the user device 102 that the K QCL information indexes corresponding to the K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report are used, and in turn the network device 104 may not configure the corresponding QCL resource indexes. In this case, the user device 102 may determine the QCL information by the K QCL information indexes corresponding to the configuration index. In event that more than K QCL information indexes are configured for the configuration index, only the K QCL info indexes with smaller indexes are applied by the UE.

To further illustrate using Table 2 below, the network device (e.g., base station) 104 may configure the following mapping between the configuration indexes and QCL info indexes, such as by using a bit value for the configuration index having a number of bits to accommodate a number of different QCL information index scenarios. As shown in Table 2, if the network device 104 indicates a configuration index “00” to the user device 102, the user device 102, in response, may determine that K QCL information indexes corresponding to the CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 are transmitted by the network device 104. Additionally, if the network device 104 indicates a configuration index “01” to the user device 102, the user device 102, in response, may determine that a TCI state with index 1, 2, 3 and 4 are used for these four CSI-RS resources accordingly. In this example, K is equal to four.

Table 2

Similar to Table 1, the bit values and the information indicated by the configuration indexes in Table 2 are just examples. Other implementations may use different numbers of bits for the configuration indexes and/or the configuration indexes may indicate and/or correspond to QCL information index information different from what is shown in Table 2. Various ways of implementing configuration indexes to corresponding to QCL information indexes and/or TCI state indexes are possible.

Additionally, in some implementations, the user device 102 may send a measurement report to the network device 104. In some of these implementations, the measurement report may include a set of one or more recommended K CSI-RS resource indexes, e.g., the K CSI-RS resource indexes corresponding to the K CSI-RS resources with best performance. In some implementations, the measurement report may also include an identifier. For example, if the identifier has a size of two bits, then corresponding bit values of “00” , “01” , “10” and “11” can be used. In addition or alternatively, in some implementations, the user device 102 may increases an identifier index each time that the user device 102 transmits a new measurement report. The identifier value may be equal to a remainder of the identifier index divided by an integer number M, i.e., identifier value=identifer index mod M. For example, M may be 2^X, where X is the number of bits for the identifier field. When triggering a CSI-RS resource transmission and/or a CSI report, the network device 104 may indicate the identifier to the user device 102. In response, the user device 102 may determine corresponding CSI-RS resources and/or corresponding QCL information based on the latest measurement report with the same identifier. In particular of these implementations, the user device 102 may determine the corresponding CSI-RS resources and corresponding QCL information based on the latest measurement report with the identifier indicated by the network device 104.

To illustrate, Fig. 10 shows a timing diagram of three measurement report transmissions by a user device 102 to a network device (e.g., base station) 104 at respective times T1, T2, and T3. As shown in Fig. 10, the user device 102 may send the measurement report with identifier “01” to the network device 104 at time T1, and may send the measurement report with identifier “10” to the network device 104 at time T2. In response, the network device 104 may analyze the measurement reports and, in turn, choose to trigger the CSI-RS resource with index 5, 6, 7, and 8. Correspondingly, the network device 104 may indicate the corresponding identifier “10” to the user device 102. In response, the user device 102 may determine the corresponding CSI-RS resources by the identifier “10” . In some implementations, the identifier may be used to avoid potential misalignment between the network device 104 and the user device 102. For example, in event that the user device 102 sends a measurement report to the network device 104 but the network device 104 (e.g., base station) does not receive it successfully, the user device 102 and the network device 104 may have different understandings on the latest measurement report. However, use of the identifier may avoid such misalignment or misunderstanding. That is, through use of the identification, the network device 104 and the user device 102 can align their understanding as to the latest measurement report.

Embodiment #5: (Beam indication for sweeping predicted Top-K beams with validation time duration)

Additionally, in some embodiments when the network device (e.g., base station) 104 triggers a CSI-RS or a CSI report, the information associated with the triggering should be up to date to avoid the report being invalid through use of changed information. To illustrate, in event that the network device 104 triggers a CSI-RS resource with identifier “01” , however the measurement report with identifier “01” was sent to the base station ten seconds ago, then the channel has sufficiently changed such that the previous measurement report may not be valid. In some implementations, a validation time duration may be used to ensure up-to-date information.

In some implementations including a validation time duration, an ending time of the validation time duration is a start of the first symbol or slot when the network device (e.g., base station) 104 sends the command to trigger a CSI-RS resource or a CSI report indicating a configuration index (i.e., the first, second, third, or fourth configuration index) or identifier. In other implementations, the ending time of the validation time duration is an offset O1 to the start of the first symbol or slot when the network device 104 sends the command to trigger the CSI-RS resource or CSI report indicating a configuration index or identifier. In some of these implementations, the offset O1 may be one or more symbols to allow some time for the network device 104 to process the measurement report sent from the user device 102.

In addition or alternatively, in some implementations, the starting time of the validation time duration may be an offset O2 before the ending time of the validation time duration. In some of these implementations, the offset O2 may be one or more symbols, slots, or other time unit (e.g., seconds) .

Additionally, in some implementations, the network device (e.g., base station) 104 may indicate a configuration index to the user device 102, where each configuration index corresponds to at least K CSI-RS resource indexes. In some of these implementations, the network device 104 may configure the corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes for each configuration index. Specifically, one configuration index may indicates to the user device 102 that the K CSI-RS resources are transmitted by the network device 104, where the K CSI-RS resources correspond to the K CSI-RS resource indexes reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report during the validation time duration. In other of these implementations, one configuration index by default may indicate to the user device 102 that the K CSI-RS resources are transmitted by the network device 104, and correspondingly the network device 104 may not configure the corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes, where the K CSI-RS resources correspond to the K CSI-RS resource indexes reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report during the validation time duration.

In other implementations, the network device 104 (e.g., base station) may indicate a configuration index to the user device 102, where each configuration index corresponds to at least K QCL information indexes (e.g., TCI state configuration indexes) . In some of these implementations, the network device 104 may configure the corresponding QCL information indexes for each configuration index. Specifically, one configuration index may indicate to the user device 102 that the K QCL information indexes corresponding to the K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report during the validation time duration are used. In other of these implementations, one configuration index by default may indicates to the user device 102 that the K QCL information indexes corresponding to the K CSI-RS resources reported by the user device 102 in the latest measurement report during the validation time duration are used, and correspondingly the network device 104 may not configure the corresponding QCL information indexes. In this case, the user device 102 may determine the QCL information by the K QCL information indexes corresponding to the configuration index.

In still other implementations, the user device 102 may send a measurement report to the network device 104, where the measurement report includes K CSI-RS resource indexes corresponding to the K CSI-RS resources with the best performance and an identifier (e.g., an index) . For at least some of these embodiments, when triggering a CSI-RS resource transmission and/or a CSI report, the network device 104 may indicate the identifier to the user device 102. In response, the user device 102 determines the corresponding CSI-RS resources and/or corresponding QCL information according to the identifier. In particular of these implementations, the user device 102 may determine the corresponding CSI-RS resources and/or corresponding QCL information based on the latest measurement report during the validation time duration with the identifier indicated by the network device 104.

The description and accompanying drawings above provide specific example embodiments and implementations. The described subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein. A reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, systems, or non-transitory computer-readable media for storing computer codes. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware, storage media or any combination thereof. For example, the method embodiments described above may be implemented by components, devices, or systems including memory and processors by executing computer codes stored in the memory.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment/implementation” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment/implementation” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter includes combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage in context. For example, terms, such as “and” , “or” , or “and/or, ” as used herein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a, ” “an, ” or “the, ” may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at least in part on context.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present solution should be or are included in any single implementation thereof. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present solution. Thus, discussions of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout the specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages and characteristics of the present solution may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize, in light of the description herein, that the present solution can be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present solution.

The subject matter of the disclosure may also relate to or include, among others, the following aspects:

A first aspect includes a method for wireless communication that includes: receiving, by a user device, a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set, wherein the first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other; determining, by the user device, whether a condition is satisfied; and transmitting, by the user device, a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether the condition is satisfied.

A second aspect includes a method for wireless communication that includes: transmitting, by the network device, a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set, wherein the first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other; and receiving, by the network device, a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether a condition is satisfied.

A third aspect includes any of the first or second aspects, and further includes wherein the channel information report is based on the second RS resource set in response to the condition being satisfied; and the channel information report is based on the first RS resource set in response to the condition not being satisfied.

A fourth aspect includes any of the first through third aspects, and further includes wherein the condition comprises: a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource are transmitted on a same slot.

A fifth aspect includes any of the first through third aspects, and further includes wherein the condition comprises: a time occupancy of a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource overlap in at least one symbol.

A sixth aspect includes any of the first through third aspects, and further includes wherein the condition comprises: a time instance of a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that is no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource is within a time window centered on a time instance of the first RS resource set.

A seventh aspect includes any of the first through third aspects, and further includes wherein the condition comprises: a time duration between a time instance of a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a time instance of a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource is not greater than a threshold.

An eighth aspect includes any of the first through eighth aspects, and further includes: for each occasion of the first RS resource set, selecting, by the user device, a corresponding occasion of the second RS resource set for the channel information report, the selection according to at least one selection rule.

A ninth aspect includes the eighth aspect, and further includes wherein the at least one selection rule comprises: the selection is based on an occasion of the second RS resource set that is in a same slot or time instance as an occasion of the first RS resource set; the selection is based on a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that is no later than a channel state information (CSI) reference resource and/or an occasion of the first RS resource set; and/or the selection is based on an occasion of the second RS resource set that is within a time window centered on a time instance of an occasion of the first RS resource set.

A tenth aspect includes a method for wireless communication that includes: determining, by a network device, whether a first condition is satisfied; determining, by the network device, whether or not to transmit a first reference signal (RS) resource set based on whether the first condition is satisfied; determining, by the network device, whether a second condition is satisfied; and transmitting, by the network device, an entirety or only a part of a second RS resource set based on whether the second condition is satisfied.

An eleventh aspect includes the tenth aspect, and further includes wherein at least one of the first condition or the second condition comprises: a first time instance in which the first RS resource set is to be transmitted is the same as a second time instance in which the second RS resource set is to be transmitted; a time occupancy of the first RS resource set to be transmitted and the second RS resource set to be transmitted overlap in at least one symbol; and/or a time duration between a first time instance in which the first RS resource set is to be transmitted and a second time instance in which the second RS resource set is to be transmitted is not greater than a threshold.

A twelfth aspect includes any of the tenth or eleventh aspects, and further includes wherein the part of the second RS resource set comprises: resources not included in the first RS resource set; or remaining resources that have no 1-to-1 association with resources in the first RS resource set.

A thirteenth aspect includes a method for wireless communication that includes: transmitting, by a network device, a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero; and receiving, by the network device, the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI-RS resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

A fourteenth aspect includes a method for wireless communication that includes: receiving, by a user device, a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero; and in response to the command, transmitting, by the user device, the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.

A fifteenth aspect includes any of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspects, and further includes wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a first configuration index value corresponding to at least a K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes.

A sixteenth aspect includes the fifteenth aspect, and further includes wherein the first configuration index value is one of a plurality of configuration index values, wherein a configuration provided by the network device indicates corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes for each of the plurality of configuration index values.

An seventeenth aspect includes any of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspects, and further includes wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a second configuration index value indicating to the user device that the K-number of CSI-RS resources correspond to the K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes in a latest measurement report.

An eighteenth aspect includes any of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspects, and further includes wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a third configuration index value corresponding to at least a K-number of quasi co-location (QCL) information indexes.

A nineteenth aspect includes the eighteenth aspect, and further includes wherein the third configuration index value is one of a plurality of configuration index values, and wherein a configuration provided by the network device indicates corresponding QCL information indexes for each of the plurality of configuration index values.

A twentieth aspect includes any of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspects, and further includes wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a fourth configuration index value indicating to the user device that a K-number of quasi co-location (QCL) information indexes corresponding to a K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes in a latest measurement report are being used.

A twenty-first aspect includes any of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspects, and further includes wherein the command comprises the identifier, wherein the identifier identifies the K-number of CSI-RS resources and/or a K-number of corresponding QCL indexes for the K-number of CSI-RS resources based on a latest measurement report that includes the identifier.

A twenty-second aspect includes the thirteenth aspect, and further includes: increasing, by the user device, a value of the identifier index each time the user device transmits a new measurement report, wherein the value of the identifier index is equal to a remainder of the identifier index divided by an integer number M.

A twenty-third aspect includes any of the seventeenth, twentieth, or twenty-first aspects, and further includes wherein the latest measurement report comprises a latest measurement report that the user device reports during a validation time duration.

A twenty-fourth aspect includes the twenty-third aspect, and further includes wherein an ending time of the validation time duration is a start of a first symbol or slot when the network device sends the command to trigger the corresponding K-number of CSI-RS resources or the CSI report.

A twenty-fifth aspect includes the twenty-fourth aspect, and further includes wherein a starting time of the validation time duration comprises an offset before the ending time of the validation time duration.

A twenty-sixth aspect includes a wireless communications apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to read code from the memory to implement any of the first through twenty-fifth aspects.

A twenty-seventh aspect includes a computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium comprising code stored thereupon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement any of the first through twenty-fifth aspects.

In addition to the features mentioned in each of the independent aspects enumerated above, some examples may show, alone or in combination, the optional features mentioned in the dependent aspects and/or as disclosed in the description above and shown in the figures.

Claims

A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:

receiving, by a user device, a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set, wherein the first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other;

determining, by the user device, whether a condition is satisfied; and

transmitting, by the user device, a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether the condition is satisfied.
A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:

transmitting, by a network device, a first reference signal (RS) resource set and/or a second RS resource set, wherein the first RS resource set and the second RS resource set are associated with each other; and

receiving, by the network device, a channel information report associated with at least one of the first RS resource set or the second RS resource set based on whether a condition is satisfied.
The method of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein

the channel information report is based on the second RS resource set in response to the condition being satisfied; and

the channel information report is based on the first RS resource set in response to the condition not being satisfied.
The method of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the condition comprises: a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource are transmitted on a same slot.
The method of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the condition comprises: a time occupancy of a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource overlap in at least one symbol.
The method of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the condition comprises: a time instance of a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that is no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource is within a time window centered on a time instance of the first RS resource set.
The method of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the condition comprises: a time duration between a time instance of a latest occasion of the first RS resource set and a time instance of a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that are each no later than a corresponding channel state information (CSI) reference resource is not greater than a threshold.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each occasion of the first RS resource set, selecting, by the user device, a corresponding occasion of the second RS resource set for the channel information report, the selection according to at least one selection rule.
The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one selection rule comprises:

the selection is based on an occasion of the second RS resource set that is in a same slot or time instance as an occasion of the first RS resource set;

the selection is based on a latest occasion of the second RS resource set that is no later than a channel state information (CSI) reference resource and/or an occasion of the first RS resource set; and/or

the selection is based on an occasion of the second RS resource set that is within a time window centered on a time instance of an occasion of the first RS resource set.
A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:

determining, by a network device, whether a first condition is satisfied;

determining, by the network device, whether or not to transmit a first reference signal (RS) resource set based on whether the first condition is satisfied;

determining, by the network device, whether a second condition is satisfied; and

transmitting, by the network device, an entirety or only a part of a second RS resource set based on whether the second condition is satisfied.
The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of the first condition or the second condition comprises:

a first time instance in which the first RS resource set is to be transmitted is the same as a second time instance in which the second RS resource set is to be transmitted;

a time occupancy of the first RS resource set to be transmitted and the second RS resource set to be transmitted overlap in at least one symbol; and/or

a time duration between a first time instance in which the first RS resource set is to be transmitted and a second time instance in which the second RS resource set is to be transmitted is not greater than a threshold.
The method of claim 10, wherein the part of the second RS resource set comprises: resources not included in the first RS resource set; or remaining resources that have no 1-to-1 association with resources in the first RS resource set.
A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:

transmitting, by a network device, a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero; and

receiving, by the network device, the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI-RS resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.
A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:

receiving, by a user device, a command to trigger reception of a K-number of channel state information (CSI) -reference signal (RS) resources and transmission of a CSI report, wherein the command comprises a configuration index value or an identifier, and wherein K is an integer greater than zero; and

in response to the command, transmitting, by the user device, the CSI report, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one CSI resource indicator of the K-number of CSI-RS resources.
The method of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a first configuration index value corresponding to at least a K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes.
The method of claim 15, wherein the first configuration index value is one of a plurality of configuration index values, wherein a configuration provided by the network device indicates corresponding CSI-RS resource indexes for each of the plurality of configuration index values.
The method of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a second configuration index value indicating to the user device that the K-number of CSI-RS resources correspond to the K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes in a latest measurement report.
The method of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a third configuration index value corresponding to at least a K-number of quasi co-location (QCL) information indexes.
The method of claim 18, wherein the third configuration index value is one of a plurality of configuration index values, and wherein a configuration provided by the network device indicates corresponding QCL information indexes for each of the plurality of configuration index values.
The method of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the command comprises the configuration index value, and the configuration index value comprises a fourth configuration index value indicating to the user device that a K-number of quasi co-location (QCL) information indexes corresponding to a K-number of CSI-RS resource indexes in a latest measurement report are being used.
The method of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the command comprises the identifier, wherein the identifier identifies the K-number of CSI-RS resources and/or a K-number of corresponding QCL indexes for the K-number of CSI-RS resources based on a latest measurement report that includes the identifier.
The method of claim 13, further comprising:

increasing, by the user device, a value of the identifier index each time the user device transmits a new measurement report, wherein the value of the identifier index is equal to a remainder of the identifier index divided by an integer number M.
The method of any of claims 17, 20, or 21, wherein the latest measurement report comprises a latest measurement report that the user device reports during a validation time duration.
The method of claim 23, wherein an ending time of the validation time duration is a start of a first symbol or slot when the network device sends the command to trigger the corresponding K-number of CSI-RS resources and/or the CSI report.
The method of any of claims 24, wherein a starting time of the validation time duration comprises an offset before the ending time of the validation time duration.
A wireless communications apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to read code from the memory to implement a method of any of claims 1 to 25.
A computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium comprising code stored thereupon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a method of any of claims 1 to 25.