Patent Publication Number: US-2023156486-A1

Title: Method and appratus for beam group reporting in mobile communications

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/279,208, entitled “Beam group reporting configuration and format”, filed on Nov. 15, 2021, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosed embodiments relate generally to wireless communication, and, more particularly, to beam group reporting with respect to user equipment and network node in mobile communications. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The wireless communications network has grown exponentially over the years. A long-term evolution (LTE) system offers high peak data rates, low latency, improved system capacity, and low operating cost resulting from simplified network architecture. LTE systems, also known as the 4G system, also provide seamless integration to older wireless network, such as GSM, CDMA and universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). In LTE systems, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) includes a plurality of evolved Node-Bs (eNodeBs or eNBs) communicating with a plurality of mobile stations, referred to as user equipments (UEs). The 3 rd  generation partner project (3GPP) network normally includes a hybrid of 2G/3G/4G systems. The next generation. mobile network. (NGMN) board, has decided to focus the future NGMN activities on defining the end-to-end requirements for 5G new radio (NR) systems. 
     In conventional technology, for beam group reporting, the UE cannot differentiate reference signal (RS) resources transmitted from different transmission and reception points (TRPs). Therefore, the RS resources in the same reported group may come from the same TRP. When the RS resources in the same reported group come from the same TRP, the RS resources will not be used for simultaneous transmission and reception. 
     SUMMARY 
     A beam group reporting method is proposed. The network node may allocate a report configuration for the UE and transmit the allocated report configuration to the UE. The UE may perform the measurement based on the report configuration from the network node and determine at least one beam group based on a resource set associated with the report configuration and the measurement result. Each beam group may comprise two reference-signal (RS) resources respectively associating with different physical cell indexes (PCIs). Then, the UE may transmit a report comprising at least one beam group to the network node. Therefore, in the application, the UE can know that RS resources are transmitted from which TRP. The RS resources in the same reported group will not come from the same TRP. 
     In one embodiment, the UE may receive a report configuration from a network node, wherein the report configuration is associated with a resource set. The UE may determine at least one beam group based on the resource set, wherein each beam group comprises two reference-signal (RS) resources respectively associating with a first physical cell index (PCI) and a second PCI. In addition, the UE may transmit a report comprising the at least one beam group to the network node. 
     In another embodiment, the network node may transmit a report configuration to a user equipment (UE), wherein the report configuration is associated with a resource set. The network node may receive a report comprising at least one beam group from the UE, wherein each beam group comprises two reference-signal (RS) resources respectively associating with a first physical cell index (PCI) and a second PCI. 
     Other embodiments and advantages are described in the detailed description below. This summary does not purport to define the invention. The invention is defined by the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary 5G new radio (NR) network  100  in accordance with aspects of the current invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a simplified block diagram of a network node and a user equipment that carry out certain embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a procedure for beam group reporting in accordance with one novel aspect. 
         FIG.  4    is a flow chart of a beam group reporting method in accordance with one novel aspect. 
         FIG.  5    is a flow chart of a beam group reporting method in accordance with another novel aspect 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary 5G new radio (NR) network  100  in accordance with aspects of the current invention. The 5G NR network  100  comprises a network node  101  communicatively connected to a user equipment (UE)  102  operating in a licensed band (e.g., 30 GHz-300 GHz for mmWave) of an access network  110  which provides radio access using a Radio Access Technology (RAT) (e.g., the 5G NR technology). The access network  110  is connected to a 5G core network  120  by means of the NG interface, more specifically to a User Plane Function (UPF) by means of the NG user-plane part (NG-u), and to a Mobility Management Function (AMF) by means of the NG control-plane part (NG-c). One gNB can be connected to multiple UPFs/AMFs for the purpose of load sharing and redundancy. The network node  101  may be a base station (BS) or a gNB. The UE  102  may be a smart phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, and a tablet, etc. Alternatively, UE  102  may be a Notebook (NB) or Personal Computer (PC) inserted or installed with a data card which includes a modem and RF transceiver(s) to provide the functionality of wireless communication. 
     The network node  101  may provide communication coverage for a geographic coverage area in which communications with the UE  102  is supported via a communication link  103 . The communication link  103  between the network node  101  and the UE  102  may utilize one or more frequency carriers to form one or more cells (e.g., a PCell and one or more SCells). The communication link  103  shown in the 5G NR network  100  may include uplink transmissions from the UE  102  to the network node  101  (e.g., on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) or downlink transmissions from the network node  101  to the UE  102  (e.g., on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDCCH)). 
     In accordance with one novel aspect, the UE  102  may receive a report configuration from the network node  101 . The report configuration may be associated with a resource set. In an example, the UE  102  may receive the report configuration from the network node  101  through a higher layer signaling, e.g., radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling. 
     In accordance with one novel aspect, the resource set may comprise a set of reference-signal (RS) resources and a set of physical cell indexes (PCIs). Each PCI is one-to-one mapped to each RS resource. For example, if a resource set comprises a set of RS resources {RS#  1 , RS#  2 , RS#  3 , RS#  4 , RS#  5 , RS#  6 } and a set of PCIs {PCI#  1 , PCI#  1 , PCI#  1 , PCI#  2 , PCI#  2 , PCI#  2 }, the RS resource RS#  1  will be mapped to PCI#  1 , RS#  2  will be mapped to PCI#  1 , RS#  3  will be mapped to PCI#  1 , RS#  4  will be mapped to PCI#  2 , RS#  5  will be mapped to PCI#  2  and RS#  6  will be mapped to PCI#  2 . 
     In accordance with one novel aspect, the resource set may be associated with a group-based layer 1 (L1)-Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) report or a L1-Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) report. 
     In accordance with one novel aspect, the UE  102  may determine at least one beam group based on the resource set associated with the report configuration from the network node  101 . In each beam group, there are two RS resources and the two RS resources are respectively associated with a first PCI and a second PCI. That is to say, the RS resources in the same beam group are respectively corresponded to different PCIs. After the UE  102  determines at least one beam group based on the resource set associated with the report configuration from the network node  101 , the UE  102  may transmit a report comprising the at least one beam group to the network node  101 . For example, if a resource set comprises a set of RS resources {RS#  1 , RS#  2 , RS#  3 , RS#  4 , RS#  5 , RS#  6 } and a set of PCIs {PCI#  1 , PCI#  1 , PCI#  1 , PCI#  2 , PCI#  2 , PCI#  2 }, the UE  102  may report {RS#  1 , RS#  4 } as a beam group, report {RS#  1 , RS#  5 } as a beam group, report {RS#  1 , RS#  6 } as a beam group, report {RS#  2 , RS#  4 } as a beam group, report {RS#  2 , RS#  5 } as a beam group, report {RS#  2 , RS#  6 } as a beam group, report {RS#  3 , RS#  4 } as a beam group, report {RS#  3 , RS#  5 } as a beam group, or report {RS#  3 , RS#  6 } as a beam group. The PCI#  1  may be associated with a transmission and reception point (TRP) and the PCI#  2  may be associated with another TRP. 
     In accordance with one novel aspect, the UE  102  may comprise a capability of receiving the RS resources in the same beam group simultaneously. That is to say, in the application, because the RS resources in the same beam group do not come from the same TRP, the RS resources in the same beam group are able to be used for simultaneous transmission and reception. 
       FIG.  2    is a simplified block diagram of a network node and a user equipment (UE) that carry out certain embodiments of the present invention. The network node  201  may be a base station (BS) or a gNB, but the present invention should not be limited thereto. The UE  202  may be a smart phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, and a tablet, etc. Alternatively, UE  202  may be a Notebook (NB) or Personal Computer (PC) inserted or installed with a data card which includes a modem and RF transceiver(s) to provide the functionality of wireless communication. 
     Network node  201  has an antenna array  211  having multiple antenna elements that transmits and receives radio signals, one or more RF transceiver modules  212 , coupled with the antenna array  211 , receives RF signals from antenna array  211 , converts them to baseband signal, and sends them to processor  213 . RF transceiver  212  also converts received baseband signals from processor  213 , converts them to RF signals, and sends out to antenna array  211 . Processor  213  processes the received baseband signals and invokes different functional modules  220  to perform features in network node  201 . Memory  214  stores program instructions and data  215  to control the operations of network node  201 . Network node  201  also includes multiple function modules that carry out different tasks in accordance with embodiments of the current invention. 
     Similarly, UE  202  has an antenna array  231 , which transmits and receives radio signals. A RF transceiver  232 , coupled with the antenna, receives RF signals from antenna array  231 , converts them to baseband signals and sends them to processor  233 . RF transceiver  232  also converts received baseband signals from processor  233 , converts them to RF signals, and sends out to antenna array  231 . Processor  233  processes the received baseband signals and invokes different functional modules  240  to perform features in UE  202 . Memory  234  stores program instructions and data  235  to control the operations of UE  202 . UE  202  also includes multiple function modules and circuits that carry out different tasks in accordance with embodiments of the current invention. 
     The functional modules and circuits  220  and  240  can be implemented and configured by hardware, firmware, software, and any combination thereof. The function modules and circuits  220  and  240 , when executed by the processors  213  and  233  (e.g., via executing program codes  215  and  235 ), allow network node  201  and UE  202  to perform embodiments of the present invention. 
     In the example of  FIG.  2   , the network node  201  may comprise a resource allocation circuit  221  and a report circuit  222 . Resource allocation circuit  221  may allocate a report configuration for the UE  202 . Report circuit  222  may report the allocated report configuration to the UE  202 . 
     In the example of  FIG.  2   , the UE  202  may comprise a measurement circuit  241 , a determination circuit  242  and a report circuit  243 . Measurement circuit  241  may perform the measurement based on the report configuration from the network node  201 . Determination circuit  242  may determine at least one beam group based on a resource set associated with the report configuration and the measurement result of the measurement circuit  241 . Report circuit  243  may report a report comprising at least one beam group to the network node  201 . 
       FIG.  3    illustrates a procedure for beam group reporting in accordance with one novel aspect. In step  310 , the network node  301  transmits a report configuration to the UE  302 . 
     In step  320 , the UE  302  determines at least one beam group based on the resource set. Each beam group may comprise two reference-signal (RS) resources respectively associating with different physical cell indexes (PCIS). 
     In step  330 , the UE  302  transmits a report comprising the at least one beam group to the network node  301 . 
       FIG.  4    is a flow chart of a beam group reporting method in accordance with one novel aspect. In step  401 , the UE  102  receives a report configuration from a network node, wherein the report configuration is associated with a resource set. 
     In step  402 , the UE  102  determines at least one beam group based on the resource set, wherein each beam group comprises two reference-signal (RS) resources respectively associating with a first physical cell index (PCI) and a second PCI. In accordance with one novel aspect, the resource set comprises the first PCI and the second PCI. 
     In step  403 , the UE  102  transmits a report comprising the at least one beam group to the network node. 
       FIG.  5    is a flow chart of a beam group reporting method in accordance with another novel aspect. In step  501 , the network node  101  transmits a report configuration to the UE  102 , wherein the report configuration is associated with a resource set. In accordance with one novel aspect, the resource set may comprise a set of reference-signal (RS) resources and a set of physical cell indexes (PCIs). Each PCI is one-to-one mapped to each RS resource. 
     In step  502 , the network node  101  receives a report comprising at least one beam group from the UE  102 , wherein each beam group comprises two reference-signal (RS) resources respectively associating with a first physical cell index (PCI) and a second PCI. In accordance with one novel aspect, the resource set comprises the first PCI and the second PCI. 
     Although the present invention has been described in connection with certain specific embodiments for instructional purposes, the present invention is not limited thereto. Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.