Patent Description:
The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following description: Third Generation Partnership Project ("3GPP"), Positive-Acknowledgment ("ACK"), Binary Phase Shift Keying ("BPSK"), Clear Channel Assessment ("CCA"), Cyclic Prefix ("CP"), Cyclical Redundancy Check ("CRC"), Channel State Information ("CSI"), Common Search Space ("CSS"), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread ("DFTS"), Downlink Control Information ("DCI"), Downlink ("DL"), Downlink Pilot Time Slot ("DwPTS"), Enhanced Clear Channel Assessment ("eCCA"), Enhanced Mobile Broadband ("eMBB"), Evolved Node B ("eNB"), European Telecommunications Standards Institute ("ETSI"), Frame Based Equipment ("FBE"), Frequency Division Duplex ("FDD"), Frequency Division Multiple Access ("FDMA"), Frequency Division Orthogonal Cover Code ("FD-OCC"), Guard Period ("GP"), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request ("HARQ"), Internet-of-Things ("IoT"), Licensed Assisted Access ("LAA"), Load Based Equipment ("LBE"), Listen-Before-Talk ("LBT"), Long Term Evolution ("LTE"), Multiple Access ("MA"), Modulation Coding Scheme ("MCS"), Machine Type Communication ("MTC"), Multiple Input Multiple Output ("MIMO"), Multi User Shared Access ("MUSA"), Narrowband ("NB"), Negative-Acknowledgment ("NACK") or ("NAK"), Next Generation Node B ("gNB"), Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access ("NOMA"), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ("OFDM"), Primary Cell ("PCell"), Physical Broadcast Channel ("PBCH"), Physical Downlink Control Channel ("PDCCH"), Physical Downlink Shared Channel ("PDSCH"), Pattern Division Multiple Access ("PDMA"), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel ("PHICH"), Physical Random Access Channel ("PRACH"), Physical Resource Block ("PRB"), Physical Uplink Control Channel ("PUCCH"), Physical Uplink Shared Channel ("PUSCH"), Quality of Service ("QoS"), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying ("QPSK"), Radio Resource Control ("RRC"), Random Access Procedure ("RACH"), Random Access Response ("RAR"), Radio Link Failure ("RLF"), Radio Network Temporary Identifier ("RNTI"), Reference Signal ("RS"), Remaining Minimum System Information ("RMSI"), Resource Spread Multiple Access ("RSMA"), Reference Signal Received Power ("RSRP"), Round Trip Time ("RTT"), Receive ("RX"), Sparse Code Multiple Access ("SCMA"), Scheduling Request ("SR"), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple.

Access ("SC-FDMA"), Secondary Cell ("SCell"), Shared Channel ("SCH"), Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio ("SINR"), System Information Block ("SIB"), Synchronization Signal ("SS"), Transport Block ("TB"), Transport Block Size ("TBS"), Time-Division Duplex ("TDD"), Time Division Multiplex ("TDM"), Time Division Orthogonal Cover Code ("TD-OCC"), Transmission Time Interval ("TTI"), Transmit ("TX"), Uplink Control Information ("UCI"), User Entity/Equipment (Mobile Terminal) ("UE"), Uplink ("UL"), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ("UMTS"), Uplink Pilot Time Slot ("UpPTS"), Ultra-reliability and Low-latency Communications ("URLLC"), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access ("WiMAX"). As used herein, "HARQ-ACK" may represent collectively the Positive Acknowledge ("ACK") and the Negative Acknowledge ("NACK"). ACK means that a TB is correctly received while NACK (or NAK) means a TB is erroneously received.

In certain wireless communications networks, RSRP may indicate a strength of a received signal. In such networks, reporting RSRP may consume a large amount of resources.

R1-<NUM> is a discussion document for 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 NR Ad-Hoc#<NUM>, titled "Differential RSRP report for beam management", which describes a differential RSRP report for beam management.

R1-<NUM> is a discussion document for 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 NR Ad-Hoc#<NUM>, titled "Discussion of RS for DL beam management", which describes use of SS-blocks in DL beam management.

<FIG> depicts an embodiment of a wireless communication system <NUM> for encoding reference signal received powers. In one embodiment, the wireless communication system <NUM> includes remote units <NUM> and base units <NUM>. Even though a specific number of remote units <NUM> and base units <NUM> are depicted in <FIG>, one of skill in the art will recognize that any number of remote units <NUM> and base units <NUM> may be included in the wireless communication system <NUM>.

In one embodiment, the remote units <NUM> may include computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants ("PDAs"), tablet computers, smart phones, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet), set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras), vehicle on-board computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, modems), aerial vehicles, drones, or the like.

The base units <NUM> may be distributed over a geographic region. In certain embodiments, a base unit <NUM> may also be referred to as an access point, an access terminal, a base, a base station, a Node-B, an eNB, a gNB, a Home Node-B, a relay node, a device, a core network, an aerial server, or by any other terminology used in the art. The base units <NUM> are generally part of a radio access network that includes one or more controllers communicably coupled to one or more corresponding base units <NUM>.

In one implementation, the wireless communication system <NUM> is compliant with the 3GPP protocol, wherein the base unit <NUM> transmits using an OFDM modulation scheme on the DL and the remote units <NUM> transmit on the UL using a SC-FDMA scheme or an OFDM scheme. More generally, however, the wireless communication system <NUM> may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol, for example, WiMAX, among other protocols.

In one embodiment, a remote unit <NUM> may determine a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of multiple beams to result in a set of determined reference signal received powers. In various embodiments, the remote unit <NUM> may order the set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order to result in an ordered list of reference signal received powers. In certain embodiments, the remote unit <NUM> may encode a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers to result in an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers. Accordingly, a remote unit <NUM> may be used for encoding reference signal received powers.

In one embodiment, a base unit <NUM> may receive an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers, wherein: the encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers is formed by encoding a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of an ordered list of reference signal received powers; the ordered list of reference signal received powers is formed by ordering a set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order; and the set of determined reference signal received powers is formed by determining a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of multiple beams. Accordingly, a base unit <NUM> may be used for receiving encoded reference signal received powers.

<FIG> depicts one embodiment of an apparatus <NUM> that may be used for encoding reference signal received powers. The apparatus <NUM> includes one embodiment of the remote unit <NUM>. Furthermore, the remote unit <NUM> may include a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, an input device <NUM>, a display <NUM>, a transmitter <NUM>, and a receiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, the input device <NUM> and the display <NUM> are combined into a single device, such as a touchscreen. In certain embodiments, the remote unit <NUM> may not include any input device <NUM> and/or display <NUM>. In various embodiments, the remote unit <NUM> may include one or more of the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM>, and the receiver <NUM>, and may not include the input device <NUM> and/or the display <NUM>.

In certain embodiments, the processor <NUM> may determine a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of multiple beams to result in a set of determined reference signal received powers. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may order the set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order to result in an ordered list of reference signal received powers. In various embodiments, the processor <NUM> may encode a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers to result in an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers.

The transmitter <NUM> is used to provide UL communication signals to the base unit <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> is used to receive DL communication signals from the base unit <NUM>.

In certain embodiments, the apparatus <NUM> may use various methods to report CSI-RS beams (or SS-block beams) to a base unit <NUM>. In one embodiment, instead of reporting an RSRP of each individual CSI-RS beam or SS-block beam, the apparatus <NUM>, by use of the processor <NUM>, may encode the differences between RSRPs of the CSI-RS beams (or SS-block beams) and report the differences using the transmitter <NUM>. In such an embodiment, a distribution of these differences between RSRPs may be within a small range and may be encoded with fewer bits than the actual RSRPs of the CSI-RS beams. For example, in some embodiments, a remote unit <NUM> may be configured with <NUM> CSI-RS beams, and the RSRP of a beam may be uniformly distributed in a range from -<NUM> decibel-milliwatts ("dBm") to -<NUM> dBm. In such an example, the top <NUM> beams may be reported. After ranking the CSI-RS beams with respect to their RSRP in descending order, most of the differential RSRP may be very small and may be encoded with just a few bits. As described herein, differential encoding schemes may take advantage of this and encode the differential RSRPs with less overhead (e.g., number of transmission bits) than reporting without differential encoding.

One embodiment of a differential encoding scheme that may be performed by the processor <NUM> may include the following three elements. In a first element, a minimum RSRP threshold ("RSRPmin") may be configured by a base unit <NUM>. The RSRPmin may be configured using signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) or may be preconfigured (e.g., defined in a specification). In certain embodiments, a CSI-RS beam may only be useful and/or reported if it has a RSRP greater than or equal to the RSRPmin. In such embodiments, the apparatus <NUM> may include a CSI-RS beam in its report to a base unit <NUM> only if the RSRP of the CSI-RS beam is greater than or equal to the RSRPmin. In response to a number of CSI-RS beams meeting this minimum threshold being larger than Q (a configured number of TX beams to report), the processor <NUM> may choose the Q strongest CSI-RS beams to report.

In a second element, the processor <NUM> may sort the Q strongest CSI-RS beams in descending order of their RSRPs (e.g., the highest RSRP is first in the list and the lowest RSRP is last in the list). In some embodiments, the Q strongest CSI-RS beams may be sorted in ascending order of their RSRPs (e.g., the lowest RSRP is first in the list and the highest RSRP is last in the list). In certain embodiments, this may generate a list L1, such as the following: L1 = {{ID_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, RSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>}, {ID_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, RSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>},. , {ID_CSI-RS_beamq, RSRP_CSI-RS_beamq}}, where RSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM> ≥ RSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM> ≥. ≥ RSRP_CSI-RS_beamq, and q ≤ Q. As may be appreciated, ID_CSI-RS is an identification corresponding to a particular CSI-RS, and RSRP_CSI-RS is an RSRP corresponding to a particular CSI-RS.

In a third element, the processor <NUM> may derive a list L2 of differential RSRPs from the list L1, such as the following: L2 = {{ID_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>}, {ID_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>} ,. , {ID_CSI-RS_beamq, ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beamq }}, where a differential RSRP may be defined as: ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM> = RSRPmax - RSRP_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beamk = RSRP_CSI-RS_beamk-<NUM> - RSRP_CSI-RS_beamk , ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beamk ≥ <NUM>, <NUM> ≤ k ≤ q, and RSRPmax is a maximum RSRP. The list L2 may stay in descending order. As may be appreciated, the above three elements may apply to SS-block beams in addition to the CSI-RS beams.

In certain embodiments, the range of differential RSRP may be smaller than <NUM> dBm and may use fewer bits to encode than a non-differential RSRP. For example, in one embodiment, non-differential RSRP may use <NUM> bits, while differential RSRP may use less than <NUM> bits. In some embodiments, variable length encoding may be used to encode the differential RSRP (e.g., ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beamk) in order to reduce the number of bits used.

In a first embodiment of variable length encoding, a unit ("vUnit") of NVC bits (e.g., each unit has a fixed length, each unit has a fixed number of bits) may be defined as a unit of encoding. The vUnit includes one or more value bits that indicate at least a portion of an encoded value and a last bit. In such an embodiment, the last bit of the vUnit is used as an "end-of-word" indicator to indicate whether it is the last vUnit. In response to the end-of-word indicator being <NUM>, there are no more vUnits used for the encoded value. In response to the end-of-word indicator being <NUM>, there will be at least one more vUnit after the current vUnit. Each vUnit has (NVC -<NUM>) bits that may be used as a portion of the encoded value. For a variable length structure with K vUnits, there are total of K * (NVC -<NUM>) bits used to encode the value ("v"). The binary representation of v is carried in these K * (NVC -<NUM>) bits as illustrated in Table <NUM>.

The examples of Table <NUM> use an NVC = <NUM>. In one example, if the value to be encoded is <NUM> and NVC = <NUM>, only one bit is needed to have a binary representation of <NUM> out of two value bits available for a binary representation of "<NUM>," so only one vUnit is used with the third bit being "<NUM>" to have a concatenated variable length structure of "<NUM>. " As another example, if the value to be encoded is <NUM> and NVC = <NUM>, four bits are needed to have a binary representation of <NUM>, so two vUnits are used with the third bit being "<NUM>" in the second vUnit to have a concatenated variable length structure of "<NUM>" in which the third and sixth bits are last bits of the two vUnits and the first, second, fourth, and fifth bits "<NUM>" are a binary representation of the value <NUM>. Other examples are also illustrated in Table <NUM>.

In a second embodiment of variable length encoding, length indication bits are concatenated with an encoded value. In such an embodiment, the length indication bits may be the first two ("Ni") bits ("b<NUM>b<NUM>") and are used to indicate a length of the encoded value that is a positive integer "v" defined as <NUM> ≤ v ≤ <NUM>. Table <NUM> illustrates one embodiment of the length of the encoded value based on the bits b<NUM>b<NUM>.

In this embodiment of variable length encoding, the encoded value bits following b<NUM>b<NUM> with the corresponding length are used to encode the value v. Table <NUM> illustrates various examples of this variable length encoding embodiment.

In certain embodiments, other values of Ni, or other encoded ranges of v (e.g., corresponding to different b<NUM>. bNi-<NUM>), may be used. Because the difference between two adjacent RSRP values in a sorted list is smaller than the full RSRP, differential encoding may reduce reporting overhead. As shown in Table <NUM>, differential reporting schemes with both the first and second embodiments of variable length encoding reduce reporting overhead significantly (<NUM>% and <NUM>% respectively) after <NUM>,<NUM> rounds of simulation.

In various embodiments, for the apparatus <NUM> in a connected state (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED), the apparatus <NUM> may measure RSRP of both SS-blocks and CSI-RS beams. In such embodiments, the apparatus <NUM> may use the processor <NUM> to compare the received RSRP of a SS-block and a CSI-RS beam and may choose to report one or both of them to a base unit <NUM>. Accordingly, in certain embodiments, a power offset between CSI-RS and SS-block may be signaled to the apparatus <NUM> in order for the apparatus <NUM> to compare and/or report the RSRP of CSI-RS and SS-blocks.

In some embodiments, when a CSI-RS resource configuration (possibly with multiple ports and including time, frequency, and/or sequence information) is transmitted to the apparatus <NUM> by signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) from a base unit <NUM>, the CSI-RS TX power per port may also be included. The CSI-RS TX power per port may be transmitted as a first power offset ("Pc") determined as a difference between the CSI-RS TX power and the TX power of PDSCH. The base unit <NUM> may also transmit a second power offset ("Pd") determined as a difference between the TX power of SS-blocks and the TX power of PDSCH. In such embodiments, the apparatus <NUM> may derive the power offset between a TX power of a CSI-RS and a TX power of an SS-block as Pc-Pd dB.

In certain embodiments, the base unit <NUM> may transmit a total power offset ("Pe") determined as a difference between a TX power of a CSI-RS port and a TX power of an SS-block directly using signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). In such embodiments, the power offset Pe may be separate from the power offset Pc between the CSI-RS TX power and the TX power of PDSCH.

In various embodiments, the apparatus <NUM> may report the RSRP of the selected SS-blocks without explicitly reporting the RSRP. In such embodiments, the RSRP of reported CSI-RS signals may be used as references to report the differential RSRPs of SS-blocks instead of reporting the absolute RSRP of the SS-blocks.

In one embodiment, based on a CSI-RS RSRP report, the apparatus <NUM> may report RSRP of SS-blocks explicitly or implicitly. In certain embodiments, in response to the power offset (e.g., either Pe or Pc-Pd) not being <NUM> dB, the RSRP of SS-blocks may be adjusted for Pe before being compared to CSI-RS RSRP and reported to a base unit <NUM>. As used herein, an RSRP measurement of an SS-block k ("RSRP_SS_blockk") refers to an RSRP after adjustment for the power offset. In various embodiments, a RSRPmax reported is -<NUM> dBm. In various embodiments, selected SS-blocks (e.g., SS-blocks greater than or equal to RSRPmin) may be sorted in descending order of RSRP (e.g., a first listed SS-block in the list has the highest RSRP and a last listed SS-block in the list has the lowest RSRP).

For example, suppose a number qss of SS-blocks are selected for reporting, and qss ≤ Qss (Qss is a maximum number of SS_blocks to report), the RSRPs of the SS-blocks may be reported relative to reported CSI-RS as follows: {{Index_SS_block<NUM>, Ref_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, RSRP_Indicator<NUM>}, {Index_SS_block<NUM>, Ref_CSI-RS_beam<NUM>, RSRP_Indicator<NUM>},. , {Index_SS_blockqss, Ref_CSI-RS_beamqss, RSRP_Indicatorqss}}. The index of an SS-block may be its time (e.g., slot) index in an SS burst set. For SS_blockk, Ref_CSI-RS_beamk is the CSI-RS beam with the closest RSRP. (RSRP(Ref_CSI-RS_beamk-<NUM>) + RSRP(Ref_CSI-RS_beamk)) / <NUM> ≥ RSRP_SS_blockk > (RSRP(Ref_CSI-RS_beamk) + RSRP(Ref_CSI-RS_beamk+<NUM>)) / <NUM>, and RSRP_Indicatork= <NUM> if RSRP_SS_blockk ≥ RSRP(Ref_CSI-RS_beamk), and RSRP_Indicatorqss = <NUM> if RSRP(Ref_CSI-RS_beamk)) > RSRP_SS_blockk. As used herein, the field RSRP_Indicatork uses <NUM> bit to indicate whether RSRP_SS_blockk is higher or lower than the RSRP of the reference CSI-RS beam. Certain embodiments may not use the field RSRP_Indicatork.

In some embodiments, Ref_CSI-RS_beam<NUM> indicates a maximum reported RSRP value with Ref_CSI-RS_beam<NUM> = -<NUM> dBm (or another value), and Ref_CSI-RS_beamqss+<NUM> indicates a threshold RSRP value RSRPmin. Accordingly, an SS-block beam with an RSRP higher than a strongest reported CSI-RS, or an RSRP weaker than a weakest reported CSI-RS may be reported. As described above, SS block RSRPs relative to reported CSI-RS beam RSRPs may be reported and sufficient information may be provided to a base unit <NUM> to determine which beam to use for DL transmissions to the apparatus <NUM>.

For example, if the list of reported CSI-RS has the following RSRP: {(CSI-RS1, - <NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS2, -<NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS3, -<NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS4, -<NUM> dBm)}, and the SS-blocks are {(SS-blk1, -<NUM> dBm), (SS-blk2, -<NUM> dBm)}, the SS-blocks may be reported as follows: {(SS-blk1, CSI-RS1, <NUM>), (SS-blk2, CSI-RS3, <NUM>)}.

Overhead used by the above embodiments for reporting RSRP of the SS-blocks is illustrated in the following formula description and in Table <NUM> as "Option <NUM>. " If <MAT> <NUM>), a number of bits used to indicate {Ref_CSI-RS_beamk, RSRP_Indicatork} is M + <NUM> (or M if RSRP_Indicatork is not used). Moreover, a total number of bits to indicate a relative RSRP of the Qss beams is (M+<NUM>) * Qss besides indices of the reported SS-blocks. For example, if Q = <NUM> (e.g., up to <NUM> CSI-RS ports are reported) and Qss = <NUM> (e.g., up to <NUM> SS blocks may be reported), a number of bits to indicate the relative RSRP of the SS blocks, in addition to the RSRP of CSI-RS and the beam ID/indices of the reported CSI-RS and SS-blocks, is <NUM> (e.g., <NUM> times <NUM>).

In certain embodiments, signaling the relative RSRP of reported SS-blocks may be performed by including and ranking all reported CSI-RS beams and SS-blocks together in the same list in descending (or equivalently ascending) order. In such embodiments, a bit may be used to indicate the type of RS (e.g., CSI-RS or SS-block), but there may be no need to indicate a Ref_CSI-RS_beam for SS-blocks because any references are already imbedded in the relative positions of the SS-blocks with respect to the reported CSI-RS beams. The combined list of CSI-RS and SS-block report may have the following format: {{RS_type<NUM>,{CSI-RS_report<NUM> or > SS-block_report<NUM> depending on the RS_type<NUM>}},. {RS_typeq+qss,{CSI-RS_reportq+qss or SS-block_reportq+qss depending on the RS_typeq+qss}}} where CSI-RS_reportk = {ID_CSI-RS_beamk, ΔRSRP_CSI-RS_beamk} as described above, and SS-block_reportk = {Index_SS_blockk, SS-block_RSRP_Indicatork} where SS-block_RSRP_Indicatork = <NUM> if SS_blockk is closer to the beam to its left, and SS-block_RSRP_Indicatork = <NUM> if SS_blockk closer to the beam to the right. The beam to the left or right of SS_blockk may be either CSI-RS beam or SS-block beam. In some embodiments, the RSRP_Indicator may not be used.

For example, if the list of reported CSI-RS has the following RSRP: {(CSI-RS1, - <NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS2, -<NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS3, -<NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS4, -<NUM> dBm)}, and the SS-blocks are {(SS-blk1, -<NUM> dBm), (SS-blk2, -<NUM> dBm)}, a combined list of CSI-RS and SS-block beams can be reported as follows: {(CSI-RS, CSI-RS1, -<NUM> dBm), ((SS, SS-blk1, <NUM>)), (CSI-RS2, -<NUM> dBm), (SS, SS-blk2, <NUM>), (CSI-RS3, -<NUM> dBm), (CSI-RS4, -<NUM> dBm)}.

Overhead used by the above embodiments for reporting RSRP of the SS-blocks is illustrated in the following formula description and in Table <NUM> as "Option <NUM>. " One bit is used to indicate the RS type for every CSI-RS or SS-block beam, and <NUM> bit is used to indicate the relative strength of a SS-block relative to its two nearest CSI-RS neighbors in the list. The total number of bits to indicate the relative RSRP of the Qss SS-blocks are: (Q + <NUM>*Qss). For example, if Q = <NUM> and Qss = <NUM>, <NUM> bits are used. As can be seen from Table <NUM>, Option <NUM> incurs less overhead than Option <NUM> when <MAT>.

<FIG> depicts one embodiment of an apparatus <NUM> that may be used for receiving encoded reference signal received powers. The apparatus <NUM> includes one embodiment of the base unit <NUM> and/or an aerial server. Furthermore, the base unit <NUM> may include a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, an input device <NUM>, a display <NUM>, a transmitter <NUM>, and a receiver <NUM>. As may be appreciated, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the input device <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM>, and the receiver <NUM> may be substantially similar to the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the input device <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM>, and the receiver <NUM> of the remote unit <NUM>, respectively.

In some embodiments, the receiver <NUM> may receive an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers, wherein: the encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers is formed by encoding a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of an ordered list of reference signal received powers; the ordered list of reference signal received powers is formed by ordering a set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order; and the set of determined reference signal received powers is formed by determining a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of multiple beams. Although only one transmitter <NUM> and one receiver <NUM> are illustrated, the base unit <NUM> may have any suitable number of transmitters <NUM> and receivers <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method <NUM> for encoding reference signal received powers. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> is performed by an apparatus, such as the remote unit <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the method <NUM> may be performed by a processor executing program code, for example, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, an auxiliary processing unit, a FPGA, or the like.

The method <NUM> may include determining <NUM> a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of multiple beams to result in a set of determined reference signal received powers. In certain embodiments, the method <NUM> includes reducing <NUM> the set of determined reference signal received powers to only include reference signal received powers greater than or equal to a minimum reference signal received power (e.g., RSRPmin). In various embodiments, the method <NUM> includes ordering <NUM> the set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order to result in an ordered list of reference signal received powers. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> includes encoding <NUM> a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers to result in an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers.

In one embodiment, method <NUM> includes using variable length encoding to encode the difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers. In a further embodiment, using the variable length encoding includes concatenating one or more fixed length units together to form a variable length structure, each unit of the one or more fixed length units includes one or more value bits and a last bit, the one or more value bits indicate at least a portion of an encoded value, and the last bit indicates whether an additional unit follows the respective unit.

In certain embodiments, using the variable length encoding includes concatenating length indication bits with an encoded value to form a variable length structure, the length indication bits indicate a length of the encoded value, and the encoded value is a binary value having a number of bits indicated by the length. In various embodiments, the method <NUM> includes reducing the ordered list of reference signal received powers to reference signal received powers greater than a predetermined threshold reference signal received power.

In some embodiments, method <NUM> includes receiving information indicating a relative transmission power between channel state information reference signal resources and synchronization signal blocks. In one embodiment, the information indicating the relative transmission power between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks includes a power offset between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks. In a further embodiment, the information indicating the relative transmission power between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks includes a first power offset between the channel state information reference signal resources and a shared data channel, and a second power offset between the synchronization signal blocks and the shared data channel. In certain embodiments, the relative transmission power between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks is used to compensate for reference signal received powers of the synchronization signal blocks before the reference signal received powers of the synchronization signal blocks are compared to reference signal received powers of the channel state information reference signal resources.

In various embodiments, the method <NUM> includes indicating a position of synchronization signal blocks with respect to channel state information reference signal resources in the encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> includes using a reference signal received power indicator to indicate a relative position of the synchronization signal blocks with respect to the channel state information reference signal resources in the encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers. In a further embodiment, the method <NUM> includes ordering reference signal received powers corresponding to channel state information reference signal resources and synchronization signal blocks together in a same list.

In certain embodiments, the method <NUM> includes using a reference signal received power indicator to indicate a relative position of adjacent reference signal received powers in the ordered list of reference signal received powers. In various embodiments, the method <NUM> includes transmitting the encoded set of reference signal received powers. In some embodiments, the multiple beams include channel state information reference signal beams, synchronization signal block beams, or a combination thereof.

<FIG> is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method <NUM> for receiving encoded reference signal received powers. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> is performed by an apparatus, such as the base unit <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the method <NUM> may be performed by a processor executing program code, for example, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, an auxiliary processing unit, a FPGA, or the like.

The method <NUM> may include receiving <NUM> an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers, wherein: the encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers is formed by encoding a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of an ordered list of reference signal received powers; the ordered list of reference signal received powers is formed by ordering a set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order; and the set of determined reference signal received powers is formed by determining a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of multiple beams.

In one embodiment, encoding the difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers includes using variable length encoding to encode the difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers. In a further embodiment, using the variable length encoding includes concatenating one or more fixed length units together to form a variable length structure, each unit of the one or more fixed length units includes one or more value bits and a last bit, the one or more value bits indicate at least a portion of an encoded value, and the last bit indicates whether an additional unit follows the respective unit.

In certain embodiments, using the variable length encoding includes concatenating length indication bits with an encoded value to form a variable length structure, the length indication bits indicate a length of the encoded value, and the encoded value is a binary value having a number of bits indicated by the length. In various embodiments, the method <NUM> includes transmitting information indicating a relative transmission power between channel state information reference signal resources and synchronization signal blocks.

In some embodiments, the information indicating the relative transmission power between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks includes a power offset between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks. In one embodiment, the information indicating the relative transmission power between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks includes a first power offset between the channel state information reference signal resources and a shared data channel, and a second power offset between the synchronization signal blocks and the shared data channel. In a further embodiment, the relative transmission power between the channel state information reference signal resources and the synchronization signal blocks is used to compensate for reference signal received powers of the synchronization signal blocks before the reference signal received powers of the synchronization signal blocks are compared to reference signal received powers of the channel state information reference signal resources. In certain embodiments, the multiple beams include channel state information reference signal beams, synchronization signal block beams, or a combination thereof.

Claim 1:
A remote unit (<NUM>) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (<NUM>); and
at least one processor (<NUM>) coupled with the at least one memory (<NUM>) and configured to cause the remote unit (<NUM>) to:
determine (<NUM>) a reference signal received power corresponding to each beam of a plurality of beams to result in a set of determined reference signal received powers;
order (<NUM>) the set of determined reference signal received powers in descending order to result in an ordered list of reference signal received powers; and
encode (<NUM>) a difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers to result in an encoded ordered list of reference signal received powers,
characterized in that
the at least one processor (<NUM>) coupled with the at least one memory (<NUM>) being configured to cause the remote unit (<NUM>) to encode the difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers comprises the at least one processor (<NUM>) coupled with the at least one memory (<NUM>) being further configured to cause the remote unit (<NUM>) to use variable length encoding to encode the difference between each two adjacent reference signal received powers of the ordered list of reference signal received powers,
wherein the at least one processor (<NUM>) coupled with the at least one memory (<NUM>) being configured to cause the remote unit (<NUM>) to use the variable length encoding comprises the at least one processor (<NUM>) coupled with the at least one memory (<NUM>) being further configured to cause the remote unit (<NUM>) to:
concatenate one or more fixed length units together to form a variable length structure, each unit of the one or more fixed length units comprises one or more value bits and a last bit, the one or more value bits indicate at least a portion of an encoded value, and the last bit indicates whether an additional unit follows the respective unit; or
concatenate length indication bits with an encoded value to form a variable length structure, the length indication bits indicate a length of the encoded value, and the encoded value is a binary value having a number of bits indicated by the length.