WO2025107122A1

WO2025107122A1 - Devices and methods for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2025107122A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/132717
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yukai GAO; Peng Guan; Gang Wang
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2023-11-20
Filing date: 2023-11-20
Publication date: 2025-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-20

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for uplink transmission. In a solution, a terminal device receives, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports. The set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports. The terminal device transmits, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration. The precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three. In this way, it can support transmissions on three antenna ports.

Description

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATION

FIELDS

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication techniques and in particular, to devices and methods for uplink transmission.

BACKGROUND

Several technologies have been proposed to improve communication performances. For example, multi-input multi-output (MIMO) has been proposed. MIMO includes features that facilitate utilization of a large number of antenna elements at base station for both sub-6GHz and over-6GHz frequency bands. In this situation, a plurality of antennas at a transmitter and/or receiver can be used to achieve array and diversity gain instead of capacity gain. In this case, a same symbol weighted by a complex-valued scale factor is sent from each transmit antenna so that the input covariance matrix has unit rank. This scheme is referred to as beamforming. When the receiver has multiple antennas, the single-layer beamforming cannot simultaneously maximize the signal power at every receive antenna, hence, precoding is used for multi-layer beamforming in order to maximize the throughput of a multi-antenna system. Precoding is a generalized beamforming scheme to support multi-layer transmission in a MIMO system. Using precoding, multiple streams are transmitted from the transmit antennas with independent and appropriate weighting per antenna such that the throughput is maximized at the receiver output.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution on uplink transmissions.

In a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device, comprising: a processor, configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and transmit, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three.

In a second aspect, there is provided a network device, comprising: a processor, configured to cause the network device to: transmit, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and receive, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports.

In a third aspect, there is provided a communication method performed by a terminal device. The method comprises: receiving, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and transmitting, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a communication method performed by a network device. The method comprises: transmitting, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and receiving, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the third, or fourth aspect.

Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some example embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, where in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 1A to FIG. 1B illustrate schematic diagrams of an example communication network 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow of uplink transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D illustrates schematic diagrams of polarization of antenna ports in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a network device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term ‘terminal device’ refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, devices on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device.

The term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , and the like.

The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information.

The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g., FR1 (e.g., 450 MHz to 6000 MHz) , FR2 (e.g., 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz) , frequency band larger than 100 GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connection with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g., signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator. In some embodiments, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In some embodiments, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In some embodiments, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device or the second network device. In some embodiments, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In some embodiments, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘one embodiment’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least one embodiment. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

As used herein, the term “resource, ” “transmission resource, ” “uplink resource, ” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

In the context of the present application, the terms “transmission occasions” , “reception occasions” , “repetitions” , “transmission” , “reception” , “PDSCH transmission occasions” , “PDSCH repetitions” , “PUSCH transmission occasions” , “PUSCH repetitions” , “PUCCH occasions” , “PUCCH repetitions” , “repeated transmissions” , “repeated receptions” , “PDSCH transmissions” , “PDSCH receptions” , “PUSCH transmissions” , “PUSCH receptions” , “PUCCH transmissions” , “PUCCH receptions” , “RS transmission” , “RS reception” , “communication” , “transmissions” and “receptions” can be used interchangeably. The terms “TCI state” , “set of QCL parameter (s) ” , “QCL parameter (s) ” , “QCL assumption” and “QCL configuration” can be used interchangeably. The terms “TCI field” , “TCI state field” , and “transmission configuration indication” can be used interchangeably. The terms “DCI” and “DCI format” can be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, the embodiments in this disclosure can be applied to PDSCH and PUSCH scheduling, and in the following, PDSCH scheduling is described as examples. For example, the embodiments in this disclosure can be applied to PUSCH by replacing “transmit” to “receive” and/or “receive” to “transmit” . The terms “PDSCH” and “PUSCH” can be used interchangeably. The terms “transmit” and “receive” can be used interchangeably. The terms “precoding matrix” , “precoding” , “beam” , “beamforming” and “precoder” may be used interchangeably. The terms “antenna” and “antenna port” may be used interchangeably. The terms “transmission” , “transmitting” , “Tx” and “TX” may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “signaling” , “message” , “configuration” , “request” , “response” , “information” and “signal” , “packet” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “node” , “device” , “apparatus” “function” and “function entity” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “chain” , “Tx chain” , “transmission chain” , “transmit chain” , “transmitting chain” , “Tx” , “transmission” , “transmitting” , “transmit” , “antenna port” , “port” and “antenna” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “precoder” , “precoding” , “precoding matrix” , “beam” , “beamforming” , “vector” , “basis” , “spatial-related vector” , “spatial-related basis” , “spatial-related basis vector” , “codebook” , “UL codebook” , “spatial domain vector” , “spatial domain-related information” , “SD-related information” , “spatial relation information” , “spatial relation info” , “spatial filter” , “transmission spatial filter” , “transmitting spatial filter” , “Tx spatial filter” , “uplink spatial filter” , “spatial domain filter” , “transmission filter” , “precoding information” , “precoding information and number of layers” , “precoding matrix indicator (PMI) ” , “precoding matrix indicator” , “transmission precoding matrix indication” , “precoding matrix indication” , “transmission configuration indication state (TCI state) ” , “DL TCI state” , “UL TCI state” , “joint TCI state” , “transmission configuration indicator” , “quasi co-location (QCL) ” , “quasi-co-location” , “QCL parameter” , “QCL assumption” , “QCL relationship” and “spatial relation” may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “transmission and reception point (TRP) ” , “TCI” , “panel” , “SRS resource set” , “antenna port group” , “TCI state” , “control-resource set, CORESET” , “CORESET pool” , “uplink TCI state” , “downlink TCI state” , “joint TCI state” , “separate TCI state” , “panel” , “SRS resource set” , “antenna port group” and other similar expressions may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “vector” , “vectors” , “bases” and “basis” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “uplink RS” , “sounding reference signal” and “SRS” may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “index” , “indicator” , “indication” , “field” , “bit field” and “bitmap” may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “element of indication field” , “parameter” and “indication” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “associated with” , “corresponding to” , “correspond to” and “comprise” may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “3 Tx chains” , “3 ports” , “3-port” , “3 Tx” , “3 antenna ports” and “3 antennas” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “identity” , “ID” and “index” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “comb offset” and “frequency domain position” may be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “antenna port” , “antenna” , “antenna element” and “port” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “number of layers” , “rank” , “rank indicator” , “transmission rank” , “RI” and “value of rank” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “number of layers = 1” , “rank = 1” , “rank indicator = 1” , “transmission rank = 1” , “RI = 1” , “one layer transmission” , “single layer transmission” and “value of rank = 1” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “number of layers = 2” , “rank = 2” , “rank indicator = 2” , “transmission rank = 2” , “RI = 2” , “two-layer transmission” , “two layers transmission” and “value of rank = 2” may be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “number of layers = 3” , “rank = 3” , “rank indicator = 3” , “transmission rank = 3” , “RI = 3” , “three-layer transmission” , “three layers transmission” and “value of rank = 3” may be used interchangeably.

In some solutions, due to the successful evolution of hardware, the advanced smartphone is capable of supporting 3 Tx chains in one same frequency band, which enables UE to boost the UL throughput through using one more chain than 2 Tx chains. Compared with the UE with 2 Tx chains, the UE with 3 Tx chains can provide significant gain in UL throughput (up to 50%gain in peak throughput) . That can provide much better user experience for UL-heavy services. However, it is not clear on coded book for 3Tx chains.

According to example embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution on uplink transmission is proposed. In particular, a terminal device receives, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports. The set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports. The terminal device transmits, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration. The precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three. In this way, it can support transmissions on three antenna ports.

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate schematic diagrams of an example communication network 100 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. The network device 120 may provide a cell 102 to serve one or more terminal devices. In this example, the terminal device 110 is located in the cell 102 and is served by the network device 120. In the example of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the terminal device 110 may be a UE and the network device 120 may be a base station serving the UE. The serving area of the network device 120 may be called a cell 102.

For example, the network device 120 may be configured with at least one of four TRPs/panels 130-1, 130-2, 130-3 and 130-4 (collectively referred to as TRPs 130 or individually referred to as TRP 130) . It is to be understood that the number of network devices, terminal devices and TRPs as shown in FIG. 1B is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations to the present disclosure. The network 100 may include any suitable number of devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the network device 120 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the terminal device 110 may be other device than a terminal device. The term “TRP” refers to an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements) available to the network device located at a specific geographical location. For example, a network device may be coupled with multiple TRPs in different geographical locations to achieve better coverage. For another example, a network device may be implemented with multiple panels or multiple groups of antenna ports/elements in same geographical location. It is to be understood that the TRP can also be referred to as a “panel” , which also refers to an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements) or a group of antennas.

In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the terminal device 110 operating as a UE and the network device 120 operating as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

In some example embodiments, if the terminal device 110 is a terminal device and the network device 120 is a network device, a link from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL) , while a link from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL) . In DL, the network device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the terminal device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver) . In UL, the terminal device 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the network device 120 is a RX device (or a receiver) . In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 may communicate with each other via a channel such as a wireless communication channel on an air interface (e.g., Uu interface) . The wireless communication channel may comprise a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) , a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , a physical random-access channel (PRACH) , a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) . Of course, any other suitable channels are also feasible.

The communications in the communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , New Radio (NR) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) , Machine Type Communication (MTC) and the like. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the network device 120 may communicate with the terminal device 110 via at least one of the TRPs/panels 130-1, 130-2, 130-3 and 130-4. In the following text, the TRP/panel 130-1 may be also referred to as the first TRP/panel, the TRP/panel 130-2 may be also referred to as the second TRP/panel, the TRP/panel 130-3 may be also referred to as the third TRP/panel and the TRP/panel 130-4 may be also referred to as the fourth TRP/panel. Each of the TRPs/panels 130 may provide a plurality of beams for communication with the terminal device 110. It is noted that the number of TRPs/panels shown in FIG. 1B is only an example not limitation.

In some embodiments, the first TRP/panel and/or the second TRP/panel and/or the third TRP/panel and/or the fourth TRP/panel may be explicitly associated with different higher-layer configured identities. For example, a higher-layer configured identity can be associated with a Control Resource Set (CORESET) , a reference signal (RS) , a reference signal resource, a group of ports of a reference signal resource or a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state, which is used to differentiate between transmissions between different TRPs/panels 130 and the terminal device 110.

In some embodiments, before transmitting data (such as, via the TRP/panel 130-1 and/or 130-2 and/or 130-3 and/or 130-4) to the terminal device 110, the network device 120 may transmit control information associated with the transmission of the data. For example, the control information can schedule a set of resources for the transmission of the data and indicate various transmission parameters related to the transmission of the data, such as, one or more TCI states, a Frequency Domain Resource Assignment (FDRA) , a Time Domain Resource Assignment (TDRA) which may include a slot offset and a start/length indicator value, a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) group, a Redundancy Version (RV) . It is to be understood that the transmission parameters indicated in the control information are not limited to the ones as listed above. Embodiments of the present disclosure may equally applicable to control information including any transmission parameters.

In the context of the present application, the terms “TCI” , “TCI state” , “uplink TCI state” , “downlink TCI state” , “joint TCI state” , “downlink or joint TCI state” , “spatial domain filter” , “spatial transmission filter” , “spatial relation information” , “spatial relation info” , “spatial domain information” , “spatial filter” , “spatial information” , “set of QCL parameter (s) ” , “QCL parameter (s) ” , “QCL assumption” , “beam” and “QCL configuration” can be used interchangeably. The terms “TCI field” , “TCI state field” , and “transmission configuration indication” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “precoding matrix” , “precoding” , “beam” , “beamforming” , “vector” , “first vector” , “first basis” , “first basis vector” , “codebook” and “precoder” may be used interchangeably. The terms “vector” , “bases” and “basis” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “single TRP” , “single TCI state” , “single TCI” , “S-TCI” , “single CORESET” , “single control resource set pool” , “single value of CORESET pool index” , “single CORESET pool index” , “no configuration of CORESET pool index” , “S-TRP” and “S-TCI state” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “multiple TRPs” , “multiple TCI states” , “multiple CORESETs” and “multiple control resource set pools” , “multi-TRP” , “multi-TCI state” , “multi-TCI” , “multi-CORESET” , “multiple values of CORESET Pool index” , “multiple CORESET Pool indexes” and “multi-control resource set pool” , “MTRP” and “M-TCI” , “M-TPR” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “synchronization signal (SS) and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block” , “SS/PBCH block” and “SSB” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “pool” , “set” , “subset” , “group” , “unit” and “subgroup” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “index” , “indicator” , “indication” , “field” , “bit field” and “bitmap” can be used interchangeably. The terms “physical resource block” , “resource block” , “PRB” and “RB” can be used interchangeably. The terms “bit size” , “size of bits” , “number of bits” , “size of field” , “bitwidth” and “field size” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “reporting” , “report” and “feedback” can be used interchangeably. In the context of the present application, the terms “based on” , “correspond to” , “corresponding to” and “associated with” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “reference signal” , “RS” , “channel state information reference signal” , “reference signal resource” , “reference signal ports” , “SRS resource” , “SRS ports” , “ports” , “antenna ports” , “PUSCH ports” and “SRS” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “ports” , “antenna ports” , “SRS ports” , “reference signal port” , “reference signal ports” , “port, “antenna port” and “SRS port” can be used interchangeably.

In the context of the present application, the terms “element of indication field” , “parameter” and “indication” can be used interchangeably.

In addition to normal data communications, the network device 120 may send a RS to the terminal device 110 in a downlink (DL) . Similarly, the terminal device 110 may transmit a RS to the network device 120 in an uplink (UL) . Generally speaking, a RS is a signal sequence (also referred to as “RS sequence” ) that is known by both the network device 120 and the terminal devices 110. For example, a RS sequence may be generated and transmitted by the network device 120 based on a certain rule and the terminal device 110 may deduce the RS sequence based on the same rule. For another example, a RS sequence may be generated and transmitted by the terminal device 110 based on a certain rule and the network device 120 may deduce the RS sequence based on the same rule. Examples of the RS may include but are not limited to downlink or uplink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , CSI-RS, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) , Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS) , Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) , fine time-frequency Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) , CSI-RS for tracking, Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and so on.

The network device 120 may communicate data and control information to the terminal device 110 via a plurality of beams (also referred to as “DL beams” ) or based on at least one TCI state. For example, the at least one TCI state may be downlink TCI state or joint TCI state or downlink-Or-Joint-TCI-State. The terminal device 110 may also communicate data and control information to the network device 120 via a plurality of beams (also referred to as “UL beams” ) or based on at least one spatial relation information or based on at least one TCI state. For example, the at least one TCI state may be uplink TCI state or joint TCI state or downlink-Or-Joint-TCI-State. In some example embodiments, a beam is also defined and indicated by parameters of a transmi ssion configuration indicator. For example, there may be a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field in DCI. A value of the TCI field may be referred to as a “TCI codepoint” . In some embodiments, a TCI codepoint may indicate one or more TCI states. For example, one TCI codepoint may indicate one or two downlink TCI states. For another example, one TCI codepoint may indicate one or two uplink TCI states. For another example, one TCI codepoint may indicate one or two joint TCI states. For another example, one TCI codepoint may indicate one or two downlink or joint TCI states. For another example, one TCI codepoint may indicate one or two downlink TCI states and one or two uplink TCI states. For another example, one TCI codepoint may indicate one or two downlink or joint TCI states and one or two uplink TCI states. Each TCI state contains parameters for configuring a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship between one or two DL and/or UL reference signals and the DMRS ports of the PDSCH, the DMRS ports of PDCCH, the DMRS ports of PUSCH, the DMRS ports of PUCCH, the SRS ports of a SRS resource or the CSI-RS ports of a CSI-RS resource.

In addition, in the following description, some interactions are performed among the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 (such as, exchanging configuration (s) and so on) . It is to be understood that the interactions may be implemented either in one single signaling/message/configuration or multiple signaling/messages/configurations, including at least one of system information, radio resource control (RRC) message, downlink control information (DCI) message, uplink control information (UCI) message, media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and so on. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

Reference is made to FIG. 2, which illustrates a signaling flow 200 of uplink transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 200 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B, for example, by using the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit (2010) at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the at least one configuration for uplink transmission with the set of antenna ports from the network device 120. For example, the uplink transmission may be a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission. In some embodiments, the set of antenna ports may include three antenna ports. In some embodiments, the set of antenna ports may include three antenna ports and at least one of one antenna port and two antenna ports. In some embodiments, the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports may be at least one of 1, 2 and 3. For example, the set of antenna ports may include a first antenna port, a second antenna port, and a third antenna port.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit (2040) the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration to the network device 120. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive the uplink transmission with the precoder based on the at least one configuration from the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the precoder may be a matrix including at least one vector. In some embodiments, a length of each of the at least one vector may be three.

In some example embodiments, the precoder may be selected or indicated or determined from a set of precoders. In some embodiments, the set of precoders may include at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different antenna ports in a vector. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the set of precoders may include at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different vectors. In some embodiments, the set of precoders may also include at least one precoder with vector including three values. In some embodiments, each value of the three values may be one of: {1, j, -1, -j} . In some embodiments, each value of the three values may be with one of phase of or {e^j*2π*0, e^j*2π/4, e^j*2π*2/4, e^j*2π*3/4} .

In some embodiments, the number of the at least one vector may be same as the number of layers or the value of rank for the uplink transmission. For example, the number of the at least one vector may be at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.

In some embodiments, the at least one configuration may include an indication of length of the at least one vector. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the at least one configuration may include an indication of number of antenna ports for the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the number of antenna ports may be at least one of: 1, 2, or 3. In some embodiments, the value of the number of antenna ports may be 3 and at least one of: 1 and 2.

In some embodiments, an index for a first antenna port in the set of antenna ports may be 0 or 1000. Alternatively, or in addition, an index for a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports may be 1 or 1001. In some other embodiments, an index for a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports may be 2 or 1002.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit (2020) at least one indication to the network device 120. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive (2020) the at least one indication from the terminal device 110. Alternatively, in some embodiments the network device 120 may transmit (2020’) the at least one indication to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive (2020’) the at least one indication from the network device 120. In some embodiments, the precoder may be based on the at least one indication. In some embodiments, the at least one indication may include at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, or an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.

In some embodiments, the antenna structure for the set of antenna ports may include single polarized for the set of antenna ports or same polarization for the set of the antenna ports. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the first antenna 310, the second antenna 320 and the third antenna 330 may be single polarized or with same polarization.

In some embodiments, the antenna structure for the set of antenna ports may include cross-polarized for a subset of antenna ports or for two antenna ports (e.g. the first antenna port and the third antenna port or the first antenna port and the second antenna port or the second antenna port and the third antenna port) . In some embodiments, at least one rest or one remaining antenna port (e.g. the second antenna port or the third antenna port or the first antenna port) in the set of antenna ports may be same polarized or coherent with one antenna port from the subset of antenna ports. In some embodiments, at least one rest or one remaining antenna port (e.g. the second antenna port or the third antenna port or the first antenna port) in the set of antenna ports may be independent or separate with the subset of antenna ports or the two antenna ports (e.g. the first antenna port and the third antenna port or the first antenna port and the second antenna port or the second antenna port and the third antenna port) . As an example, as shown in FIG. 3C, the first antenna 310 and the third antenna 330 may be cross-polarized, and the second antenna 320 may be same polarized with the first antenna 310. As another example, the first antenna 310 and the third antenna 330 may be cross-polarized, and the second antenna 320 may be same polarized with the third antenna 330. In some embodiments, the at least one rest antenna port (e.g. the second antenna port or the third antenna port or the first antenna port) may be coherent or not coherent with each of the subset of antenna ports (e.g. the first antenna port and the third antenna port or the first antenna port and the second antenna port or the second antenna port and the third antenna port) .

In some embodiments, a coherent type of the set of antenna ports may include full coherent. For example, the first antenna port, the second antenna port, and the third antenna port may be coherent.

Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the coherent type of the set of antenna ports may include partial coherent. For example, the first antenna port and the third antenna port may be coherent, and the second antenna port and either one of the first antenna port or the third antenna port may not be coherent.

Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the coherent type of the set of antenna ports may include non-coherent. For example, the first antenna port, the second antenna port, and the third antenna port may be non-coherent with each other.

In some embodiments, there may be a set of precoders. In some embodiments, the precoder may be selected or indicated or determined from the set of precoders. In some embodiments, the set of precoders may comprise at least one of: a set of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank=1, a set of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 and a set of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3. In some embodiments, the set of precoders may comprise at least one of: at least one precoder in the first group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the second group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the fifth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the sixth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the seventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the ninth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the twelfth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the fifteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the sixteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the seventeenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the eighteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 and at least one precoder in the nineteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3.

In some embodiments, the set of precoders may comprise at least one of: In some embodiments, the set of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 may comprise at least one of: In some embodiments, the set of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may comprise at least one of: In some embodiments, the set of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may comprise at least one of: In some embodiments, the set of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may comprise at least one of: In some embodiments, the set of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may comprise

In some embodiments, the set of precoders for single layer transmission or for 1 layer (or for rank = 1) may be full or subset of the followings. In some embodiments, the set of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank=1 may comprise at least one of: at least one precoder in the first group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the second group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 and at least one precoder in the fifth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1.

In some embodiments, a first group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 (For example, at least for single polarized 3 antenna ports) or full coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank = 1 may include at least one of: orwhere l may be non-negative integer, e.g. l∈ {0, 1, …3*O₁-1} . In some embodiments, O₁ may be positive integer, e.g. O₁∈ {1, 2, 4} .

In some embodiments, a second group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 (for example, at least for first and third antenna ports are cross-polarized, and 3 antenna ports are coherent) or full coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank = 1 may include at least one of: In some embodiments, the second group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or the full coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank = 1 may includewhere w1=1, w2=1, A=3. In some embodiments, In some embodiments, e1∈ {1, j, -1, -j} .

In some embodiments, a third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or partial coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 may include at least one of: or In some embodiments, a third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or partial coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 may include at least one of: or In some embodiments, A1=2 or 3. In some embodiments, the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or partial coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 may includewhere w1=1 , w2=0 , , e1=0 or e1∈ {1, j, -1, -j} .

In some embodiments, in case of partial coherent precoder or in case of the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or partial coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, 2Tx precoder may be applied or the PUSCH transmission may be based on 2 antenna ports, the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 may include at least one of:

In some embodiments, a fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 (for example, the first antenna port, the second antenna port and the third antenna port are non-coherent) or non-coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A2=1 or 2 or 3.

In some embodiments, , in case of non-coherent precoder or in case of the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or non-coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank = 1, 1Tx precoder may be applied and/or the PUSCH transmission may be based on 1 antenna port. In some embodiments, the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 may include 1.

In some embodiments, a fifth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or full coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank = 1 may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A3=2 or 3 or 4 . In some embodiments, the fifth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 or full coherent precoders for single layer transmission or for rank = 1 may includewhere

In some embodiments, if the precoder is selected or indicated or determined from a set of precoders, the set of precoders for two-layer transmission or for 2 layers (or for rank=2) may be full or subset of the followings. In some embodiments, the set of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may comprise at least one of: at least one precoder in the sixth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the seventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the ninth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the twelfth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 and at least one precoder in the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2.

In some embodiments, a sixth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 (for example, at least for single polarized 3 antenna ports) or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of: where l may be non-negative integer, e.g. l₁∈ {0, 1, 2} . In some embodiments, O₁ may be positive integer, e.g. O₁∈ {1, 2, 4} .

In some embodiments, a seventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A4=4 or 6 . In some embodiments, a seventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include wherewhere In some embodiments, N=2 or 4 or 8 . In some embodiments, n may be non-negative integer. For example, 0≤n≤N-1.

In some embodiments, an eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of: In some embodiments, the second column and the first column for at least one precoder in the eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, an eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of:

In some embodiments, a ninth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 (for example, at least for first and third antenna ports are cross-polarized, and 3 antenna ports are coherent) the full coherent precoders) may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A5=5 or 6 .

In some embodiments, a ninth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 (for example, at least for first and third antenna ports are cross-polarized, and 3 antenna ports are coherent) may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A5=5 or 6 .

In some embodiments, a tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or the partial coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of : In some embodiments, A6=4 or 5 or 6 . In some embodiments, the second column and the first column for at least one precoder in the tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or partial coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, an eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or partial coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A7=4 or 6 . In some embodiments, in case of partial coherent precoder for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or in case of the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, 2Tx precoder may be be applied and/or the PUSCH transmission may be based on 2 antenna ports, the tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of:

In some embodiments, a twelfth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or the partial coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of : In some embodiments, A8=3 or 4 or 6 . In some embodiments, the second column and the first column for at least one precoder in the twelfth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, a thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or partial coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of : In some embodiments, A9=2 or 3 or 4 or 6 . In some embodiments, the second column and the first column for at least one precoder in the thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, a fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or non-coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include at least one of : In some embodiments, A9=2 or 3 or 4 or 6 . For example, in case of the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or in case of non-coherent precoder for two-layer transmission or for rank=2, 2Tx precoder may be applied and/or the PUSCH transmission may be based on 2 antenna ports, the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may include :

In some embodiments, if the precoder is selected or indicated or determined from a set of precoders, the set of precoders for three-layer transmission or for 3 layers (or for rank =3) may be full or subset of the followings. In some embodiments, the set of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may comprise at least one of: at least one precoder in the fifteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the sixteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the seventeenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the eighteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 and at least one precoder in the nineteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3.

In some embodiments, a fifteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 or full coherent precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 (For example, at least for single polarized 3 antenna ports) may include at least one of : or where l may be non-negative integer, e.g. l₁∈ {0, 1, 2} . In some embodiments, O₁ may be positive integer, e.g. O₁∈ {1, 2, 4} .

In some embodiments, a sixteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 or full coherent precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may include at least one of: In some embodiments, A10=8 or 9 . In some embodiments, the third column and the first column for at least one precoder in the sixteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, a seventeenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 or partial coherent precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may include at least one of : In some embodiments, A11=5 or 6 or 8 or 9. In some embodiments, the third column and the first column for at least one precoder in the seventeenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, an eighteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 or partial coherent precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may include at least one of : In some embodiments, A12=3 or 5 or 6 or 8 or 9. In some embodiments, the third column and the first column for at least one precoder in the eighteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 or full coherent precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2 may be swapped.

In some embodiments, a nineteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 or non-coherent precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 may include: In some embodiments, A12=3 or 9.

In some embodiments, the second row of at least one precoder in the set of precoders may be swapped with the first row or the third row. In some embodiments, the second column of at least one precoder in the set of precoders may be swapped with the first column or the third column. In some embodiments, the third column of at least one precoder in the set of precoders may be swapped with the first column or the second column.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit (2030) at least one indication of full power transmission type to the network device 120. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive (2030) the at least one indication of full power transmission type from the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit (2030’) the at least one indication of full power transmission type to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the at least one indication of full power transmission type from the network device 120.

In some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include an indication of capability. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a subset of precoders for full power transmission based on the set of antenna ports (for example, based on three antenna ports) .

In some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated Power Amplifier (PA) or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the full power transmission type may include a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission.

In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 reports or is configured with capability of full power mode 0 (or the sixth indication of capability or sixth subset of precoders) , all precoders in the set of precoders may be applied for full power transmission, and the scaling factor for PUSCH transmission power may be s=1. For example, the sixth subset of precoders may be the full set of precoders for PUSCH transmission with 3 antenna ports. In some embodiments, the sixth indication of capability for full power transmission may be associated with the sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission. In some embodiments, the first subset of precoders may at least include: In some other embodiments, the second subset of precoders may at least include at least one of: (or at least one precoder in the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank=1) , and at least one of precoder in the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2.

In some embodiments, the third subset of precoders may at least include: (or at least one precoder in the tenth and/or twelfth and/or the thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank=2) , and at least one of precoder in the first subset of precoders and the second subset of precoders. In some embodiments, the third subset of precoders may include the first subset of precoders and the second subset of precoders and (or at least one precoder in the tenth and/or twelfth and/or the thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank=2) , andIn some embodiments, the fourth subset of precoders may at least include at least one of: (or at least one precoder in the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank=1) , and at least one of precoder in the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may report or be configured with capability of full power mode 1. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may report or be configured with the fifth indication of capability or fifth subset of precoders. For example, if the terminal device 110 reports or is configured with full coherent type, the fifth subset of precoders may include full set of full coherent precoders or may include at least one of: at least one precoder in the first group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the second group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the fifth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the sixth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the seventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the ninth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the fifteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 and at least one precoder in the sixteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3. For example, the fifth subset of precoders may further include full set of partial coherent precoders and/or full set of non-coherent precoders. For example, the fifth subset of precoders may further include at least one of: at least one precoder in the first group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the second group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the fifth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one precoder in the sixth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the seventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eighth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the ninth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the tenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the twelfth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the thirteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in the fifteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the sixteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the seventeenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3, at least one precoder in the eighteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3 and at least one precoder in the nineteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 reports or is configured with partial coherent type, the fifth subset of precoders may further include at least one of: for 1 layer, for 2 layers (e.g. already comprised in the eleventh group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2) andfor 3 layers. In some embodiments, the fifth subset of precoders may further include at least one precoder in at least one of: the third group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1 and the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, at least one of precoder in at least one of: the eleventh, the twelfth, the thirteenth and the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, at least one precoder in at least one of: the seventeenth, the eighteenth and the nineteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may report or may be configured with non-coherent type, the fifth subset of precoders may at least include at least: for 1 layer, for 2 layers andfor 3 layers. In some embodiments, the fifth subset of precoders may further include at least one precoder in at least one of: the fourth group of precoders for single layer transmission or for rank =1, the fourteenth group of precoders for two-layer transmission or for rank =2, the nineteenth group of precoders for three-layer transmission or for rank =3.

In some embodiments, when higher layer parameter ul-FullPowerTransmission is set to 'fullpowerMode2' and the higher layer parameter codebookSubset or the higher layer parameter codebookSubsetDCI-0-2 is set to 'partialAndNonCoherent' , and when the SRS-resourceSet with usage set to "codebook" includes at least one SRS resource with 3 ports and one SRS resource with 2 ports, the codebookSubset associated with the 2-port SRS resource may be 'nonCoherent’ and/or ‘partialCoherent’ and/or ‘partialAndNonCoherent’ .

In some embodiments, for PUSCH transmission with 3 ports (or configured with 3-port SRS for PUSCH) . for partial and/or non-coherent codebook based uplink transmission, if the terminal device 110 is configured with maximum number of PTRS ports to be 2, the actual number of uplink (UL) PT-RS port (s) may be determined based on TPMI (s) and/or number of layers.

In some embodiments, the first antenna port and the third antenna port may share a same PTRS port (e.g. a first PTRS port, PTRS port 0) , and the second antenna port may be associated with (or may share) a second PTRS port (e.g. PTRS port 1) . In some embodiments, the number of bits for PTRS-DMRS association may be 1. For example, a value 0 may indicate 1^st DMRS port which shares PTRS port 0, and value 1 may indicate 2^nd DMRS port which shares PTRS port 0. In some embodiments, PTRS port 1 may be associated with the DMRS port which shares PTRS port 1 (if any) .

In some embodiments, UL PT-RS port 0 may be associated with the UL layer 'x' of layers which are transmitted with PUSCH antenna port 1000 and PUSCH antenna port 1002 in indicated TPMI (s) , and UL PT-RS port 1 is associated with the UL layer 'y' of layer which is transmitted with PUSCH antenna port 1001 in indicated TPMI (s) .

In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 reports the capability of supporting full-coherent UL transmission, the terminal device 110 may expect the number of UL PT-RS ports to be configured as one if UL PT-RS is configured or if the terminal device is configured with maximum number of PTRS ports to be 1. In some embodiments, if maxRank =3, the number of bits for PTRS-DMRS association may be 2. In some embodiments, if maxRank =2, the number of bits for PTRS-DMRS association may be 1. In some embodiments, if maxRank = 1, the number of bits for PTRS-DMRS association may be 0.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method 400 implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B.

At block 410, the terminal device 110 receives, from a network device 120, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports. The set of antenna ports includes three antenna ports.

At block 420, the terminal device 110 transmits, to the network device 120, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration. The precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three.

In some example embodiments, the precoder may be selected or indicated or determined from a set of precoders, and wherein the set of precoders may comprise at least one of: at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different antenna ports in a vector, at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different vectors, or at least one precoder with vector comprising 3 values, and each value is one of {1, j, -1, -j} or each value is with one of phase of

In some example embodiments, the number of the at least one vector is same as the number of layers for the uplink transmission.

In some example embodiments, the number of the at least one vector is at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.

In some example embodiments, the at least one configuration comprises at least one of: an indication of length of the at least one vector, or an indication of number of antenna ports for the uplink transmission, wherein the number of antenna ports is at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.

In some example embodiments, an index for a first antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 0 or 1000, an index for a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 1 or 1001, and an index for a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 2 or 1002.

In some example embodiments, the method 400 includes transmitting at least one indication to the network device 120; or receiving the at least one indication from the network device 120. The precoder may be based on the at least one indication, and the at least one indication may include at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, or an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.

In some example embodiments, the antenna structure for the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of: single polarized for the set of antenna ports, or cross-polarized for a subset of antenna ports or for two antenna ports, wherein at least one rest antenna port in the set of antenna ports is same polarized with one antenna port from the subset of antenna ports, or the at least one rest antenna port is non-coherent with each of the subset of antenna ports.

In some example embodiments, a coherent type of the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of: full coherent, partial coherent, or non-coherent.

In some example embodiments, the method 400 may include transmitting, to the network device 120, at least one indication of full power transmission type; or receiving, form the network device 120, the at least one indication of full power transmission type.

In some example embodiments, the full power transmission type comprises at least one of: an indication of capability, or a subset of precoders for full power transmission based on the set of antenna ports.

In some example embodiments, the full power transmission type comprises at least one of: a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmi ssion, a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated Power Amplifier (PA) or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission, or a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method 500 implemented at a network device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the network device 120 in FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B.

At block 510, the network device 120 transmits, to a terminal device 110, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports. The set of antenna ports includes three antenna ports.

At block 520, the network device 120 receives, from the terminal device 110, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration. The precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 may include receiving at least one indication from the terminal device 110; or transmitting the at least one indication to the terminal device 110. The precoder may be based on the at least one indication, and the at least one indication may include at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 may include receiving, from the terminal device 110, at least one indication of full power transmission type; or transmitting, to the terminal device 110, the at least one indication of full power transmission type.

In some example embodiments, the full power transmission type comprises at least one of: a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmi ssion, a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated PA or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission, or a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subs et of precoders for full power transmission.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 can be considered as a further example implementation of any of the devices as shown in FIG. 1 A and/or FIG. 1B. Accordingly, the device 600 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the terminal device 110 or the network device 120.

As shown, the device 600 includes a processor 610, a memory 620 coupled to the processor 610, a suitable transceiver 640 coupled to the processor 610, and a communication interface coupled to the transceiver 640. The memory 620 stores at least a part of a program 630. The transceiver 640 may be for bidirectional communications or a unidirectional communication based on requirements. The transceiver 640 may include at least one of a transmitter 642 and a receiver 644. The transmitter 642 and the receiver 644 may be functional modules or physical entities. The transceiver 640 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2/Xn interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs/gNBs, S1/NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) /SGW/UPF and the eNB/gNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a terminal device.

The program 630 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 610, enable the device 600 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 610 of the device 600, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 610 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 610 and memory 620 may form processing means 650 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 620 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 620 is shown in the device 600, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 600. The processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device, comprising a circuitry is provided. The circuitry is configured to: receive, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and transmit, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the circuitry may be configured to perform any method implemented by the terminal device, as discussed above.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a network device, comprising a circuitry is provided. The circuitry is configured to: transmit, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and receive, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the circuitry may be configured to perform any method implemented by the network device, as discussed above.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal apparatus, is provided. The terminal apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and means for transmitting, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three. In some embodiments, the first apparatus may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 400. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may further comprise means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a network apparatus, is provided. The network apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and means for receiving, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports. In some embodiments, the second apparatus may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 500. In some example embodiments, the second apparatus may further comprise means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In summary, embodiments of the present disclosure provide the following aspects.

In an aspect, it is proposed a terminal device, comprising: a processor, configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and transmit, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three.

In some embodiments, the precoder is select from a set of precoders, and wherein the set of precoders comprises at least one of: at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different antenna ports in a vector, at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different vectors, or at least one precoder with vector comprising 3 values, and each value is one of {1, j, -1, -j} or each value is with one of phase of

In some embodiments, the number of the at least one vector is same as the number of layers for the uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the number of the at least one vector is at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.

In some embodiments, the at least one configuration comprises at least one of: an indication of length of the at least one vector, or an indication of number of antenna ports for the uplink transmission, wherein the number of antenna ports is at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.

In some embodiments, an index for a first antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 0 or 1000, an index for a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 1 or 1001, and an index for a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 2 or 1002.

In some embodiments, the terminal device is caused to: transmit at least one indication to the network device; or receive the at least one indication from the network device, and wherein the precoder is based on the at least one indication, and the at least one indication comprises at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, or an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.

In some embodiments, the antenna structure for the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of: single polarized for the set of antenna ports, or cross-polarized for a subset of antenna ports or for two antenna ports, wherein at least one rest antenna port in the set of antenna ports is same polarized with one antenna port from the subset of antenna ports, or the at least one rest antenna port is non-coherent with each of the subset of antenna ports.

In some embodiments, a coherent type of the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of: full coherent, partial coherent, or non-coherent.

In some embodiments, the terminal device is caused to: transmit, to the network device, at least one indication of full power transmission type; or receive, form the network device, the at least one indication of full power transmission type.

In some embodiments, the full power transmission type comprises at least one of: an indication of capability, or a subset of precoders for full power transmission based on the set of antenna ports.

In some embodiments, the full power transmission type comprises at least one of: a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated Power Amplifier (PA) or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission, or a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission.

In an aspect, it is proposed a network device, comprising: a processor, configured to cause the network device to: transmit, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and receive, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports.

In some embodiments, the network device is caused to: receive at least one indication from the terminal device; or transmit the at least one indication to the terminal device, and wherein the precoder is based on the at least one indication, and the at least one indication comprises at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.

In some embodiments, the network device is caused to: receive, from the terminal device, at least one indication of full power transmission type; or transmit, to the terminal device, the at least one indication of full power transmission type.

In some embodiments, the full power transmission type comprises at least one of: a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission, a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated PA or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission, or a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission.

In an aspect, a terminal device, comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to perform the method implemented by the terminal device, discussed above.

In an aspect, a network device, comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to perform the method implemented by the network device, discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the terminal device, discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the network device, discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer program comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the terminal device, discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer program comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the network device, discussed above.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve des irable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A terminal device, comprising:

a processor, configured to cause the terminal device to:

receive, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and

transmit, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the precoder is select from a set of precoders, and

wherein the set of precoders comprises at least one of:

at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different antenna ports in a vector,

at least one precoder with different non-zero amplitude coefficients corresponding to different vectors, or

at least one precoder with vector comprising 3 values, and each value is one of {1, j, -1, -j} or each value is with one of phase of
The terminal device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the number of the at least one vector is same as the number of layers for the uplink transmission.
The terminal device of claim 3, wherein the number of the at least one vector is at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-4, wherein the at least one configuration comprises at least one of:

an indication of length of the at least one vector, or

an indication of number of antenna ports for the uplink transmission, wherein the number of antenna ports is at least one of: 1, 2, or 3.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-5, wherein an index for a first antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 0 or 1000, an index for a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 1 or 1001, and an index for a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports is 2 or 1002.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-6, wherein the terminal device is caused to:

transmit at least one indication to the network device; or

receive the at least one indication from the network device, and

wherein the precoder is based on the at least one indication, and the at least one indication comprises at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, or an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.
The terminal device of claim 7, wherein the antenna structure for the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of:

single polarized for the set of antenna ports, or

cross-polarized for a subset of antenna ports or for two antenna ports, wherein at least one rest antenna port in the set of antenna ports is same polarized with one antenna port from the subset of antenna ports, or the at least one rest antenna port non-coherent with each of the subset of antenna ports.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-8, wherein a coherent type of the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of:

full coherent,

partial coherent, or

non coherent.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-9, wherein the terminal device is caused to:

transmit, to the network device, at least one indication of full power transmission type; or

receive, form the network device, the at least one indication of full power transmission type.
The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the full power transmission type comprises at least one of:

an indication of capability, or

a subset of precoders for full power transmission based on the set of antenna ports.
The terminal device of claim 10 or 11, wherein the full power transmission type comprises at least one of:

a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated Power Amplifier (PA) or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission, or

a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission.
A network device, comprising:

a processor, configured to cause the network device to:

transmit, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and

receive, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports.
The network device of claim 13, wherein the network device is caused to:

receive at least one indication from the terminal device; or

transmit the at least one indication to the terminal device, and

wherein the precoder is based on the at least one indication, and the at least one indication comprises at least one of: an indication of full power transmission type, an indication of coherent type, an indication of subset of precoders, an antenna structure for the set of antenna ports.
The network device of any of claims 13-14, wherein a coherent type of the set of antenna ports comprises at least one of:

full coherent,

partial coherent, or

non coherent.
The network device of any of claims 13-15, wherein the network device is caused to:

receive, from the terminal device, at least one indication of full power transmission type; or

transmit, to the terminal device, the at least one indication of full power transmission type.
The network device of claim 16, wherein the full power transmission type comprises at least one of:

an indication of capability, or

a subset of precoders for full power transmission based on the set of antenna ports.
The network device of claim 16 or 17, wherein the full power transmission type comprises at least one of:

a full power only based on a second antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a first indication of capability or a first subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power only based on combination of a first antenna port and a third antenna port in the set of antenna ports, or a second indication of capability or a second subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power either based on the second antenna port or based on combination of the first antenna port and the third antenna port, or a third indication of capability or a third subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power based on one of the first and third antenna port, or a fourth indication of capability or a fourth subset of precoders for full power transmission,

a full power only based on a combination of the first, second and third antenna ports, or a fifth indication of capability or full power mode 1 or no full rated PA or a fifth subset of precoders for full power transmission, or

a full power based on any one of the three antenna ports, or a sixth indication of capability or full power mode 0 or all full rated PAs or a sixth subset of precoders for full power transmission.
A communication method implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

receiving, from a network device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and

transmitting, to the network device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is three.
A communication method implemented at a network device, comprising:

transmitting, to a terminal device, at least one configuration for uplink transmission with a set of antenna ports, wherein the set of antenna ports comprises three antenna ports; and

receiving, from the terminal device, the uplink transmission with a precoder based on the at least one configuration, wherein the precoder is a matrix comprising at least one vector, and a length of each of the at least one vector is equal to the number of antenna ports in the set of antenna ports.