Patent Description:
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to indicating selection of a channel state information (CSI) report setting option by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern.

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (such as time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems.

For example, a fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless communications technology (which can be referred to as NR) is envisaged to expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications with respect to current mobile network generations. In some aspects, <NUM> communications technology can include: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) addressing human-centric use cases for access to multimedia content, services and data; ultra-reliable-low latency communications (URLLC) with certain specifications for latency and reliability; and massive machine type communications (mMTC), which can allow a very large number of connected devices and transmission of a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive information.

For example, for various communications technology such as, but not limited to NR, some aspects may increase transmission speed and flexibility but also transmission complexity. Thus, improvements in wireless communication operations may be desired.

Prior art techniques related to CSI reporting are known from the document: <CIT> (<NUM>-<NUM>-<NUM>).

The scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects include the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The described features generally relate to indicating selection of a channel state information (CSI) report setting option by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern. Specifically, the present disclosure includes a method, apparatus, and non-statutory computer readable medium for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) including obtaining at least one measurement of a communication channel associated with a network entity, such as a downlink reception quality indicator, a reference signal received power (RSRP), or a signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR). The aspects further include determining a CSI transmission setting corresponding to one of a repetitious CSI transmission setting or a non-repetitious CSI transmission setting based on the at least one measurement of the communication channel, the CSI transmission setting is associated with a distinct DMRS pattern, and transmitting a CSI report with the distinct DMRS pattern to the network entity in accordance with the CSI transmission setting.

The present disclosure further includes a method, apparatus, and non-statutory computer readable medium for wireless communications at a network entity including transmitting CSI setting configuration information to a UE, the CSI setting configuration information including at least one parameter corresponding to a channel measurement threshold that triggers selection of a distinct DMRS pattern based on a CSI transmission setting, and receiving a CSI report with the distinct DMRS pattern from the UE associated with the CSI transmission setting.

Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. For example, coverage of CSI report transmissions may be improved by indicating a selection of a CSI report setting option based on a DMRS pattern. As a result, the reliability of beam management for unicast channels may be increased.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system" and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such as but not limited to hardware, software, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate by way of local or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets, such as data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, or across a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" may often be used interchangeably. IS-<NUM> Releases <NUM> and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-<NUM> (TIA-<NUM>) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE <NUM> (Wi-Fi), IEEE <NUM> (WiMAX), IEEE <NUM>, Flash-OFDM™, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (such as LTE) communications over a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The description below, however, describes an LTE/LTE-A system for purposes of example, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below, although the techniques are applicable beyond LTE/LTE-A applications (such as to fifth generation (<NUM>) NR networks or other next generation communication systems).

It is to be understood and appreciated that the various systems can include additional devices, components, modules, etc. or may not include all of the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection with the figures. A combination of these approaches also can be used.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a wireless communication system. The wireless communications system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)), includes an access network <NUM>, base stations <NUM>, UEs <NUM>, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) <NUM>, or a <NUM> Core (5GC) <NUM>. The base stations <NUM>, which also may be referred to as network entities, may include macro cells (high power cellular base station) or small cells (low power cellular base station). The macro cells can include base stations. The small cells can include femtocells, picocells, and microcells. In an example, the base stations <NUM> also may include gNBs <NUM>, as described further herein.

In one example, some nodes such as base station <NUM>/gNB <NUM>, may have a modem <NUM> and communicating component <NUM> for determining and transmitting CSI setting configuration information to a UE and receiving a CSI report along with a distinct DMRS pattern indicating a repetitious or non-repetitious CSI report transmission setting, as described herein. Though a base station <NUM>/gNB <NUM> is shown as having the modem <NUM> and communicating component <NUM>, this is one illustrative example, and substantially any node may include a modem <NUM> and communicating component <NUM> for providing corresponding functionalities described herein.

In another example, some nodes such as UE <NUM> of the wireless communication system may have a modem <NUM> and communicating component <NUM> for indicating selection of a CSI report setting option (i.e., repetitious or non-repetitious CSI report transmission setting) by a distinct DMRS pattern, as described herein. Though a UE <NUM> is shown as having the modem <NUM> and communicating component <NUM>, this is one illustrative example, and substantially any node or type of node may include a modem <NUM> and communicating component <NUM> for providing corresponding functionalities described herein.

The base stations <NUM> configured for <NUM> LTE (which can collectively be referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC <NUM> through backhaul links <NUM> (such as using an S1 interface). The base stations <NUM> configured for <NUM> NR (which can collectively be referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with 5GC <NUM> through backhaul links <NUM>. In addition to other functions, the base stations <NUM> may perform one or more of the following functions: transfer of user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (such as handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations <NUM> may communicate directly or indirectly (such as through the EPC <NUM> or 5GC <NUM>) with each other over backhaul links <NUM> (such as using an X2 interface). The backhaul links <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> may be wired or wireless.

The base stations <NUM> may wirelessly communicate with one or more UEs <NUM>. A network that includes both small cell and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network also may include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group, which can be referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication links <NUM> between the base stations <NUM> and the UEs <NUM> may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE <NUM> to a base station <NUM> or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station <NUM> to a UE <NUM>. The communication links <NUM> may use multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, or transmit diversity. The base stations <NUM> / UEs <NUM> may use spectrum up to Y MHz (such as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc. MHz) bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of Yx MHz (such as for x component carriers) used for transmission in the DL or the UL direction. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (such as more or less carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL).

In another example, certain UEs <NUM> may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication link <NUM>.

The small cell <NUM>' may operate in a licensed or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. The small cell <NUM>', employing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to or increase capacity of the access network.

A base station <NUM>, whether a small cell <NUM>' or a large cell (such as macro base station), may include an eNB, gNodeB (gNB), or other type of base station. Some base stations, such as gNB <NUM> may operate in a traditional sub <NUM> spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, or near mmW frequencies in communication with the UE <NUM>. The mmW base station, which may correspond to gNB <NUM>, may utilize beamforming <NUM> with the UE <NUM> to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. A base station <NUM> referred to herein can include a gNB <NUM>.

The IP Services <NUM> may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, or other IP services.

The 5GC <NUM> may include a Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) <NUM>, other AMFs <NUM>, a Session Management Function (SMF) <NUM>, and a User Plane Function (UPF) <NUM>. The AMF <NUM> can be a control node that processes the signaling between the UEs <NUM> and the 5GC <NUM>. Generally, the AMF <NUM> can provide QoS flow and session management. User Internet protocol (IP) packets (such as from one or more UEs <NUM>) can be transferred through the UPF <NUM>. The UPF <NUM> can provide UE IP address allocation for one or more UEs, as well as other functions. The IP Services <NUM> may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, or other IP services.

The base station also may be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmit reception point (TRP), or some other suitable terminology. The base station <NUM> provides an access point to the EPC <NUM> or 5GC <NUM> for a UE <NUM>. Examples of UEs <NUM> include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a positioning system (such as satellite, terrestrial), a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (such as MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, robots, drones, an industrial/manufacturing device, a wearable device (such as a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, virtual reality goggles, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (such as a smart ring, a smart bracelet)), a vehicle/a vehicular device, a meter (such as parking meter, electric meter, gas meter, water meter, flow meter), a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a medical/healthcare device, an implant, a sensor/actuator, a display, or any other similar functioning device. Some of the UEs <NUM> may be referred to as IoT devices (such as meters, pumps, monitors, cameras, industrial/manufacturing devices, appliances, vehicles, robots, drones, etc.). IoT UEs may include MTC/enhanced MTC (eMTC, also referred to as CAT-M, Cat M1) UEs, NB-IoT (also referred to as CAT NB1) UEs, as well as other types of UEs. In the present disclosure, eMTC and NB-IoT may refer to future technologies that may evolve from or may be based on these technologies. For example, eMTC may include FeMTC (further eMTC), eFeMTC (enhanced further eMTC), mMTC (massive MTC), etc., and NB-IoT may include eNB-IoT (enhanced NB-IoT), FeNB-IoT (further enhanced NB-IoT), etc. The UE <NUM> also may be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

Turning now to <FIG>, aspects are depicted with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that may perform the actions or operations described herein, where aspects in dashed line may be optional. Although the operations described below in <FIG> and <FIG> are presented in a particular order or as being performed by an example component, it should be understood that the ordering of the actions and the components performing the actions may be varied, depending on the aspect. Moreover, it should be understood that the following actions, functions, or described components may be performed by a specially-programmed processor, a processor executing specially-programmed software or computer-readable media, or by any other combination of a hardware component or a software component capable of performing the described actions or functions.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example of a network entity (also referred to as a base station). The base station <NUM> (such as a base station <NUM> or gNB <NUM>, as described above) may include a variety of components, some of which have already been described above and are described further herein, including components such as one or more processors <NUM> and memory <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> in communication via one or more buses <NUM>, which may operate in conjunction with modem <NUM> or communicating component <NUM> for determining and transmitting CSI setting configuration information to a UE and receiving a CSI report along with a distinct DMRS pattern indicating a repetitious or non-repetitious CSI report transmission setting.

In some aspects, the one or more processors <NUM> can include a modem <NUM> or can be part of the modem <NUM> that uses one or more modem processors. Thus, the various functions related to communicating component <NUM> may be included in modem <NUM> or processors <NUM> and, in some aspects, can be executed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of the functions may be executed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in some aspects, the one or more processors <NUM> may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a receiver processor, or a transceiver processor associated with transceiver <NUM>. In other aspects, some of the features of the one or more processors <NUM> or modem <NUM> associated with communicating component <NUM> may be performed by transceiver <NUM>.

Also, memory <NUM> may be configured to store data used herein or local versions of applications <NUM> or communicating component <NUM> or one or more of its subcomponents being executed by at least one processor <NUM>. Memory <NUM> can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or at least one processor <NUM>, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In some aspects, for example, memory <NUM> may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining communicating component <NUM> or one or more of its subcomponents, or data associated therewith, when base station <NUM> is operating at least one processor <NUM> to execute communicating component <NUM> or one or more of its subcomponents.

Receiver <NUM> may include hardware or software executable by a processor for receiving data, the code including instructions and being stored in a memory (such as computer-readable medium). In some aspects, receiver <NUM> may receive signals transmitted by at least one base station <NUM>. Additionally, receiver <NUM> may process such received signals, and also may obtain measurements of the signals, such as, but not limited to, Ec/Io, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), etc. Transmitter <NUM> may include hardware or software executable by a processor for transmitting data, the code including instructions and being stored in a memory (such as computer-readable medium).

Moreover, in some aspects, base station <NUM> may include RF front end <NUM>, which may operate in communication with one or more antennas <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions, for example, wireless communications transmitted by at least one base station <NUM> or wireless transmissions transmitted by UE <NUM>. The antennas <NUM> may include one or more antennas, antenna elements, or antenna arrays.

In some aspects, LNA <NUM> can amplify a received signal at a desired output level. In some aspects, each LNA <NUM> may have a specified minimum and maximum gain values. In some aspects, RF front end <NUM> may use one or more switches <NUM> to select a particular LNA <NUM> and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.

In some aspects, each PA <NUM> may have specified minimum and maximum gain values. In some aspects, RF front end <NUM> may use one or more switches <NUM> to select a particular PA <NUM> and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.

Similarly, in some aspects, for example, a respective filter <NUM> can be used to filter an output from a respective PA <NUM> to produce an output signal for transmission. In some aspects, each filter <NUM> can be connected to a specific LNA <NUM> or PA <NUM>. In some aspects, RF front end <NUM> can use one or more switches <NUM> to select a transmit or receive path using a specified filter <NUM>, LNA <NUM>, or PA <NUM>, based on a configuration as specified by transceiver <NUM> or processor <NUM>.

In some aspects, transceiver may be tuned to operate at specified frequencies such that UE <NUM> can communicate with, for example, one or more base stations <NUM> or one or more cells associated with one or more base stations <NUM>. In some aspects, for example, modem <NUM> can configure transceiver <NUM> to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the UE configuration of the UE <NUM> and the communication protocol used by modem <NUM>.

In some aspects, modem <NUM> can be a multiband-multimode modem, which can process digital data and communicate with transceiver <NUM> such that the digital data is sent and received using transceiver <NUM>. In some aspects, modem <NUM> can be multiband and be configured to support multiple frequency bands for a specific communications protocol. In some aspects, modem <NUM> can be multimode and be configured to support multiple operating networks and communications protocols. In some aspects, modem <NUM> can control one or more components of UE <NUM> (such as RF front end <NUM>, transceiver <NUM>) to enable transmission or reception of signals from the network based on a specified modem configuration. In some aspects, the modem configuration can be based on the mode of the modem and the frequency band in use. In another aspect, the modem configuration can be based on UE configuration information associated with UE <NUM> as provided by the network during cell selection or cell reselection.

In some aspects, the processor(s) <NUM> may correspond to one or more of the processors described in connection with the UE in <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example of a UE <NUM>. The UE <NUM> may include a variety of components, some of which have already been described above and are described further herein, including components such as one or more processors <NUM> and memory <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> in communication via one or more buses <NUM>, which may operate in conjunction with modem <NUM> or communicating component <NUM> configured to indicate selection of a CSI report setting option (i.e., repetitious or non-repetitious CSI report transmission setting) by a distinct DMRS pattern.

The transceiver <NUM>, receiver <NUM>, transmitter <NUM>, one or more processors <NUM>, memory <NUM>, applications <NUM>, buses <NUM>, RF front end <NUM>, LNAs <NUM>, switches <NUM>, filters <NUM>, PAs <NUM>, and one or more antennas <NUM> may be the same as or similar to the corresponding components of base station <NUM>, as described above, but configured or otherwise programmed for base station operations as opposed to base station operations.

In some aspects, the processor(s) <NUM> may correspond to one or more of the processors described in connection with the base station in <FIG>.

<FIG> is an example representation of a CSI report <NUM>. Specifically, reliability of a CSI report (i.e., Layer <NUM> reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) and Layer <NUM> signal-to-noise ratio (L1-SINR)) may be important for beam reliability for unicast coverage in frequency range <NUM> (FR2). For example, CSI in NR may include a channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), strongest layer indication (SLI), rank indication (RI), L1-RSRP (i.e., for beam management), and/or L1-SINR (i.e., also for beam management). In some aspects, an L1-RSRP or L1-SINR report may be large (i.e., about <NUM> bits), which may result in poor coverage or transmission of the reports via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

Different types of CSI reporting may include periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic. Periodic CSI reporting may be carried or transmitted on a short PUCCH or long PUCCH. Semi-persistent (SP) CSI reporting may be carried or transmitted on a long PUCCH or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The resources and/or modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for SP-CSI on PUSCH may be allocated semi-persistently using downlink control information (DCI). Further, SP-CSI may support Type II CSI with minimum periodicity of <NUM>. Additionally, SP-CSI reporting may not be supported for aperiodic CSI-RS transmissions. In some aspects, one CSI report carried by or transmitted on multiple uplink reporting instances may not be precluded. Aperiodic CSI reporting may be carried or transmitted on a PUSCH multiplexed with or without uplink data. Periodic or SP-CSI reporting may support a number of periodicities (i.e., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> slots).

In some aspects, L1-SINR may be used for beam selection by taking into account interference (e.g., with similar format as L1-RSRP). For example, up to four beams may be reported per configured report. An absolute SINR value may be reported for the first reported beam, which has a highest SINR. A differential SINR value may be reported per remaining beam (i.e., differential SINR may be computed with respect to the highest SINR). As shown, the CSI report <NUM> may include a CSI report number <NUM> and a number of CSI fields <NUM>. The CSI fields <NUM> may include a CRI or synchronization signal block resource indicator (SSBRI), an SINR, and a differential SINR. However, transmissions of CSI reports may suffer from poor PUCCH transmissions when of a larger size. Further, the network may not be aware of a type of CSI reporting (e.g., periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic).

As such, to improve the reliability of beam management for unicast channels (i.e., PUCCH), an indication of a selection of a CSI report setting option by a DMRS pattern is disclosed herein.

Specifically, a selection of a CSI report by a UE may be indicated by a DMRS pattern. That is, two or more configured report settings e.g., with and without repetition, may be dynamically selected by a UE based on a number of measurements (e.g., RSRP or SINR), and indicated by a distinct DMRS pattern on a default (i.e., original) transmission of the CSI report (e.g., for blind detection by a gNB). The UE may determine whether coverage enhancement for configured CSI reporting is warranted by implementing a transmission periodicity for a CSI report and indicating such to the network entity as a DMRS pattern unique to the transmission periodicity (e.g., periodic or semi-persistent). That is, the coverage-enhanced CSI reporting may implement repetitious transmissions of a CSI report (e.g., as opposed to a default single CSI transmission). The specific repetitious transmissions, or reporting type, may be indicated using a DMRS pattern associated with the specific reporting type (e.g., periodic or semi-persistent). More specifically, the UE may select one set of parameters for the CSI report among two sets of parameters that may be already configured for the UE.

To aid the network, the UE may, as part of a first transmission of the CSI report, also transmit a distinct DMRS pattern associated with the determined periodic or semi-persistent transmission. For example, the UE may determine that due to channel conditions falling below a satisfactory threshold based on one or more measurements (e.g., SINR or RSRP), a periodic transmission of the CSI report may be warranted. To inform the network, the UE may transmit a first DMRS pattern associated with or otherwise indicating the periodic transmissions to the network entity. The network entity, having previously configured the UE for such DMRS pattern transmissions, and the specific DMRS pattern associations to the CSI reporting types (e.g., periodic or semi-persistent), may determine a type of CSI reporting in response to the receiving the DMRS pattern from the UE.

In some aspects, a configured gap may exist between the default transmission and an additional transmission as the network entity (e.g., gNB) may prepare a reservation of a spatial reception. Further, a set of multiple associated DMRS patterns for a CSI report and/or a correspondence of DMRS pattern to additional CSI report transmissions may be indicated in a configuration of a periodic CSI report or a semi-persistent CSI report. For a semi-persistent CSI report, correspondence of a DMRS pattern to an additional transmission of CSI report and/or the option of additional transmissions of CSI report (e.g., depending on DMRS pattern) may be determined by a the DCI that activates the CSI report. The criteria for selecting additional CSI report transmissions by UE may be configured by the network entity (e.g., gNB) in the CSI report setting configuration. For example, the criteria may include rules based on UE measurements (e.g. LLR quality, L1-RSRP or L1-SINR) or some statistics (e.g., means, median, or a function of previous measurement) based on UE measurements.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a method <NUM> of wireless communication at an apparatus of a UE configured to perform the functions described in method <NUM> using one or more of the components described in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> obtains at least one measurement of a communication channel associated with a network entity. The communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, is configured to obtain at least one measurement of a communication channel associated with a network entity. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents define the means for obtaining at least one measurement of a communication channel associated with a network entity. For example, the processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> may activate the transceiver <NUM> and associated RF front end <NUM> components to obtain at least one measurement of a communication channel.

In some aspects, the at least one measurement corresponds to a downlink reception quality indicator, an RSRP, or an SINR.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> determines a CSI transmission setting based on the at least one measurement of the communication channel, the CSI transmission setting is associated with a distinct DMRS pattern. The communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, is configured to determine a CSI transmission setting based on the at least one measurement of the communication channel, the CSI transmission setting is associated with a distinct DMRS pattern. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents define the means for determining a CSI transmission setting based on the at least one measurement of the communication channel, the CSI transmission setting is associated with a distinct DMRS pattern. For example, the processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> may, in conjunction with one or more applications <NUM> residing at the memory <NUM>, identify a CSI transmission setting based on the obtained measurement.

In some aspects, the CSI transmission setting may correspond to one of a repetitious CSI transmission setting or a non-repetitious CSI transmission setting.

In some aspects, the repetitious CSI transmission setting may correspond to a periodic CSI transmission and the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting corresponds to a semi-persistent CSI transmission.

In some aspects, the repetitious CSI transmission setting may be associated with a first DMRS pattern and the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting may be associated with a second DMRS pattern.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> transmits a CSI report with the distinct DMRS pattern to the network entity in accordance with the CSI transmission setting. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to transmit a CSI report with the distinct DMRS pattern to the network entity in accordance with the CSI transmission setting. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define the means for transmitting a CSI report with the distinct DMRS pattern to the network entity in accordance with the CSI transmission setting. For instance, to transmit the CSI report, the processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> may activate the transceiver <NUM> and associated RF front end <NUM> components.

In some aspects, the method <NUM> may further include receiving DCI that activates the CSI report associated with the semi-persistent CSI transmission, and determining one or both of an option for a subsequent transmission of the CSI report or a correspondence of the distinct DMRS pattern to the subsequent transmission of the CSI report based on the DCI. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to receive DCI that activates the CSI report associated with the semi-persistent CSI transmission, and determine one or both of an option for a subsequent transmission of the CSI report or a correspondence of the distinct DMRS pattern to the subsequent transmission of the CSI report based on the DCI. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define the means for receiving DCI that activates the CSI report associated with the semi-persistent CSI transmission, and means for determining one or both of an option for a subsequent transmission of the CSI report or a correspondence of the distinct DMRS pattern to the subsequent transmission of the CSI report based on the DCI.

In some aspects, transmitting the distinct DMRS pattern may include transmitting the first DMRS pattern based on determining that the CSI transmission setting corresponds to the repetitious CSI transmission setting, and transmitting the second DMRS pattern based on determining that the CSI transmission setting corresponds to the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting.

The method <NUM> further includes determining that a non-transmission period has elapsed after transmitting the CSI report, the non-transmission period permits reservation of spatial resources for reception by the network entity, and transmitting a subsequent CSI report based on determining that the non-transmission period has elapsed. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to determine that a non-transmission period has elapsed after transmitting the CSI report, the non-transmission period permits reservation of spatial resources for reception by the network entity, and transmit a subsequent CSI report based on determining that the non-transmission period has elapsed. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define the means for determining that a non-transmission period has elapsed after transmitting the CSI report, the non-transmission period permits reservation of spatial resources for reception by the network entity, and means for transmitting a subsequent CSI report based on determining that the non-transmission period has elapsed.

In some aspects, the method <NUM> may further include receiving CSI report configuration information from the network entity including at least one of a set of multiple associated DMRS patterns for the CSI report, or a correspondence of the DMRS pattern to a subsequent CSI report transmission. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to receive CSI report configuration information from the network entity including at least one of a set of multiple associated DMRS patterns for the CSI report, or a correspondence of the DMRS pattern to a subsequent CSI report transmission. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define the means for receiving CSI report configuration information from the network entity including at least one of a set of multiple associated DMRS patterns for the CSI report, or a correspondence of the DMRS pattern to a subsequent CSI report transmission.

In some aspects, the method <NUM> may further include receiving CSI report setting configuration information including criteria for selecting the CSI transmission setting, the criteria includes at least one parameter corresponding to a channel measurement threshold that triggers selection of the distinct DMRS pattern.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a method <NUM> of wireless communication at a network entity. A base station <NUM> is configured to perform the functions described in method <NUM> using one or more of the components described in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> transmits CSI setting configuration information to a UE, the CSI setting configuration information including at least one parameter corresponding to a channel measurement threshold that triggers selection of a distinct DMRS pattern based on a CSI transmission setting. The communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to transmit CSI setting configuration information to a UE, the CSI setting configuration information including at least one parameter corresponding to a channel measurement threshold that triggers selection of a distinct DMRS pattern based on a CSI transmission setting. Thus, the base station <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents define the means for transmitting CSI setting configuration information to a UE, the CSI setting configuration information including at least one parameter corresponding to a channel measurement threshold that triggers selection of a distinct DMRS pattern based on a CSI transmission setting. For example, to transmit the CSI setting configuration information to the UE <NUM>, the processor <NUM> of the base station <NUM> may activate the transceiver <NUM> and associated RF front end <NUM> components.

In some aspects, the repetitious CSI transmission setting corresponds to a periodic CSI transmission and the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting corresponds to a semi-persistent CSI transmission.

In some aspects, the repetitious CSI transmission setting may be associated with a first DMRS pattern and the non-repetitious CSI transmission may be associated with a second DMRS pattern.

In some aspects, the CSI report configuration information may further include at least one of a set of multiple associated DMRS patterns for the CSI report, or a correspondence of the DMRS pattern to a subsequent CSI report transmission.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> receives a CSI report and the distinct DMRS pattern from the UE associated with the CSI transmission setting. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, is configured to receive a CSI report and the distinct DMRS pattern from the UE associated with the CSI transmission setting. Thus, the base station <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents define the means for receiving a CSI report and the distinct DMRS pattern from the UE associated with the CSI transmission setting. For example, to receive the CSO report and DMRS pattern, the processor <NUM> of the base station <NUM> may activate the transceiver <NUM> and associated RF front end <NUM> components.

In some aspects,, the method <NUM> may further include transmitting DCI that activates the CSI report associated with the semi-persistent CSI transmission. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to transmit DCI that activates the CSI report associated with the semi-persistent CSI transmission. Thus, the base station <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define the means for transmitting DCI that activates the CSI report associated with the semi-persistent CSI transmission.

In some aspects, the method <NUM> may further include determining whether the distinct DMRS pattern corresponds to the DMRS pattern or the second DMRS pattern, identifying the repetitious CSI transmission setting based on determining that the distinct DMRS pattern as the first DMRS pattern, and identifying the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting based on determining that the distinct DMRS pattern as the second DMRS pattern. In some aspects, the communicating component <NUM>, such as in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or transceiver <NUM>, may be configured to determine whether the distinct DMRS pattern corresponds to the DMRS pattern or the second DMRS pattern, identify the repetitious CSI transmission setting based on determining that the distinct DMRS pattern as the first DMRS pattern, and identify the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting based on determining that the distinct DMRS pattern as the second DMRS pattern. Thus, the base station <NUM>, the processor(s) <NUM>, the communicating component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define the means for determining whether the distinct DMRS pattern corresponds to the DMRS pattern or the second DMRS pattern, means for identifying the repetitious CSI transmission setting based on determining that the distinct DMRS pattern as the first DMRS pattern, and means for identifying the non-repetitious CSI transmission setting based on determining that the distinct DMRS pattern as the second DMRS pattern.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a MIMO communication system <NUM> including a base station <NUM> and a UE <NUM>. The MIMO communication system <NUM> may be configured to indicate selection of a CSI report setting option (i.e., repetitious or non-repetitious CSI report transmission setting) by a distinct DMRS pattern, as described herein. The MIMO communication system <NUM> may illustrate aspects of the wireless communication access network <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>. The base station <NUM> may be an example of aspects of the base station <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>. The base station <NUM> may be equipped with antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, and the UE <NUM> may be equipped with antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. In the MIMO communication system <NUM>, the base station <NUM> may be able to send data over multiple communication links at the same time. Each communication link may be called a "layer" and the "rank" of the communication link may indicate the number of layers used for communication. For example, in a 2x2 MIMO communication system where base station <NUM> transmits two "layers," the rank of the communication link between the base station <NUM> and the UE <NUM> is two.

The transmit processor <NUM> also may generate control symbols or reference symbols. A transmit MIMO processor <NUM> may perform spatial processing (such as precoding) on data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the transmit modulator/demodulators <NUM> and <NUM>. Each modulator/demodulator <NUM> through <NUM> may process a respective output symbol stream (such as for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator/demodulator <NUM> through <NUM> may further process (such as convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a DL signal.

The UE <NUM> may be an example of aspects of the UEs <NUM> described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>. At the UE <NUM>, the UE antennas <NUM> and <NUM> may receive the DL signals from the base station <NUM> and may provide the received signals to the modulator/demodulators <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. Each modulator/demodulator <NUM> through <NUM> may condition (such as filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each modulator/demodulator <NUM> through <NUM> may further process the input samples (such as for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector <NUM> may obtain received symbols from the modulator/demodulators <NUM> and <NUM>, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive (Rx) processor <NUM> may process (such as demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providing decoded data for the UE <NUM> to a data output, and provide decoded control information to a processor <NUM>, or memory <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> may in some cases execute stored instructions to instantiate a communicating component <NUM> (see such as <FIG> and <FIG>).

The transmit processor <NUM> also may generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor <NUM> may be precoded by a transmit MIMO processor <NUM> if applicable, further processed by the modulator/demodulators <NUM> and <NUM> (such as for SC-FDMA, etc.), and be transmitted to the base station <NUM> in accordance with the communication parameters received from the base station <NUM>.

The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, circuits and algorithm processes described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.

The hardware and data processing apparatus used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose single- or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or, any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor also may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some aspects, particular processes and methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.

Aspects of the subject matter described in this specification also can be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions, encoded on a computer storage media for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.

Various modifications to the aspects described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and the novel features disclosed herein.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate aspects also can be implemented in combination in a single aspect. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single aspect also can be implemented in multiple aspects separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment, UE (<NUM>), comprising:
obtaining (<NUM>) at least one measurement of a communication channel associated with a network entity;
determining (<NUM>) a channel state information, CSI, transmission setting based on the at least one measurement of the communication channel, wherein the CSI transmission setting is associated with a distinct demodulation reference signal, DMRS, pattern;
transmitting (<NUM>) a CSI report with the distinct DMRS pattern to the network entity in accordance with the CSI transmission setting;
the method being characterized by:
determining that a non-transmission period has elapsed after transmitting the CSI report, wherein the non-transmission period permits reservation of spatial resources for reception by the network entity; and
transmitting a subsequent CSI report based on determining that the non-transmission period has elapsed.