Patent Description:
Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) (also known as "<NUM>") uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in both the downlink (i.e., from a network node such as a gNB or base station, to a wireless device such as a user equipment or UE) and the uplink (i.e., from wireless device to network node). Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) spread Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is also supported in the uplink. In the time domain, NR downlink and uplink are organized into equally-sized subframes of <NUM> each. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration. The slot length depends on subcarrier spacing. For subcarrier spacing of Δf=<NUM>, there is only one slot per subframe and each slot consists of <NUM> OFDM symbols.

Data scheduling in NR is typically performed on a slot basis. An example is shown in <FIG> with a <NUM>-symbol slot, where the first two symbols contain physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the rest contains physical shared data channel, either PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel) or PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel).

Different subcarrier spacing values are supported in NR. The supported subcarrier spacing values (also referred to as different numerologies) are given by Δf = (<NUM> × <NUM>µ) kHz where µ ∈ {<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>}. Δf = <NUM>kHz is the basic subcarrier spacing. The slot durations at different subcarrier spacings is given by <MAT> ms.

In the frequency domain, a system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs), each corresponds to <NUM> contiguous subcarriers. The RBs are numbered starting with <NUM> from one end of the system bandwidth. The basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid is illustrated in <FIG>, where only one resource block (RB) within a <NUM>-symbol slot is shown. One OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval forms one resource element (RE).

Downlink transmissions are dynamically scheduled, i.e., in each slot the network node transmits downlink control information (DCI) over PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) as to which wireless device data is to be transmitted to, and which RBs in the current downlink slot the data is transmitted on. The wireless device data are carried on PDSCH.

There are two DCI formats defined for scheduling PDSCH in NR, i.e., DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> and DCI format <NUM>-<NUM>. DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> has a smaller size than DCI <NUM>-<NUM> and can be used when a wireless device is not fully connected to the network while DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> can be used for scheduling MIMO (Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output) transmissions with multiple MIMO layers.

Several signals can be transmitted from the same network node antenna from different antenna ports. These signals can have the same large-scale properties, for instance in terms of Doppler shift/spread, average delay spread, or average delay. These antenna ports may be referred to as being quasi co-located (QCL).

The network node can then signal to the wireless device that two antenna ports are QCL. If the wireless device knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the wireless device can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and use that estimate when receiving the other antenna port. Typically, the first antenna port is represented by a measurement reference signal such as CSI-RS (known as source RS) and the second antenna port is a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (known as target RS).

For instance, if antenna ports A and B are QCL with respect to average delay, the wireless device can estimate the average delay from the signal received from antenna port A (known as the source reference signal (RS)) and assume that the signal received from antenna port B (target RS) has the same average delay. This is useful for demodulation since the wireless device can know beforehand the properties of the channel when trying to measure the channel utilizing the DMRS, which may help the wireless device in for instance selecting an appropriate channel estimation filter.

Information about what assumptions can be made regarding QCL is signaled to the wireless device from the network node. In NR, four types of QCL relations between a transmitted source RS and transmitted target RS were defined:.

QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management with analog beamforming and is known as spatial QCL. There is currently no strict definition of spatial QCL, but it may refer to the situation where if two transmitted antenna ports are spatially QCL, the wireless device can use the same Rx beam to receive them. Note that for beam management, the discussion may revolve around QCL Type D, but it may also be necessary to convey a Type A QCL relation for the RSs to the wireless device, so that it can estimate all the relevant large-scale parameters.

Typically, this is achieved by configuring the wireless device with a CSI-RS for tracking (TRS) for time/frequency offset estimation. To be able to use any QCL reference, the wireless device would have to receive it with a sufficiently good SINR. In many cases, this means that the TRS has to be transmitted in a suitable beam to a certain wireless device.

To introduce dynamics in beam and transmission point (TRP or transmission reception point) selection, the wireless device can be configured through RRC signalling with N TCI states, where N is up to <NUM> in frequency range <NUM> (FR2) and up to <NUM> in frequency range <NUM> (FR1), depending on wireless device capability.

Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source DL RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type. For example, a TCI state contains a pair of reference signals, each associated with a QCL type, e.g., two different CSI-RSs {CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2} are configured in the TCI state as {qcl-Typel,qcl-Type2} = {Type A, Type D}. It means the wireless device can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2.

Each of the N states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of N possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of N possible TRPs used by the network node to communicate with the wireless device.

A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list for PDCCH contains pointers, known as TCI State IDs, to a subset of the TCI states configured for PDSCH. The network node then activates one TCI state for PDCCH (i.e., provides a TCI for PDCCH) and up to eight active TCI states for PDSCH. The number of active TCI states the wireless device supports is based on the wireless device capability, but the maximum is <NUM>.

Each configured TCI state contains parameters for the quasi co-location associations between source reference signals (CSI-RS or SSB) and target reference signals (e.g., PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS ports). TCI states are also used to convey QCL information for the reception of CSI-RS.

A UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more Control Resource Sets (CORESETs) on an active DL bandwidth part (BWP) on each activated serving cell configured with PDCCH monitoring according to corresponding search space sets where monitoring implies decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI formats. A PDCCH candidate includes one or more control-channel elements (CCEs) as indicated in Table <NUM> below. A CCE consists of <NUM> resource-element groups (REGs) where a REG equals one RB during one OFDM symbol.

A set of PDCCH candidates for a wireless device to monitor is defined in terms of PDCCH search space sets. A search space set can be a Common Search Space (CSS) set or a wireless device Specific Search Space (USS) set. A wireless device can be configured with up to <NUM> sets of search spaces for monitoring PDCCH candidates. A search space set is defined over a Control Resource Set (CORESET). A CORESET consists of <MAT> resource blocks in the frequency domain and <MAT> consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. A wireless device can be configured with up to <NUM> CORESETs. For each CORESET, a wireless device may be configured by RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling with CORESET information element (IE), which may include the following:.

For each search space set, a wireless device may be configured with the following:.

For search space set s, the wireless device determines that a PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) exists in a slot with slot number <MAT> in a frame with frame number nf if <MAT>. The wireless device monitors PDCCH for search space set s for Ts consecutive slots, starting from slot <MAT>, and does not monitor PDCCH for search space set s for the next ks - Ts consecutive slots.

A wireless device first detects and decodes PDCCH and if the decoding is successful, it then decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the decoded control information in the PDCCH. When a PDSCH is successfully decoded, the HARQ (Hybrid ARQ) ACK is sent to the network node over PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel). Otherwise, a HARQ NACK is sent to the network node over PUCCH so that data can be retransmitted to the wireless device. In particular, in one or more examples, the general procedure for receiving downlink transmission may include that the wireless device first monitors and decodes a PDDCH in slot n which points to a DL data in PDSCH scheduled in slot n+K0 slots (K0 is larger than or equal to <NUM>). The wireless device then decodes the data in the corresponding PDSCH. Based on the outcome of the decoding, the wireless device sends an acknowledgement of the correct decoding (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK)) for failed/incorrect decoding to the network node at time slot n+K1. Both of K0 and K1 may be indicated in the downlink DCI.

Uplink data transmissions are also dynamically scheduled using PDCCH. Similar to downlink, a wireless device first decodes uplink grants in PDCCH and then transmits data over PUSCH based the decoded control information in the uplink grant such as modulation order, coding rate, uplink resource allocation, and etc..

Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. The performance can be improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication channel. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO.

A component in NR is the support of MIMO antenna deployments and MIMO related techniques. Spatial multiplexing is one of the MIMO techniques used to achieve high data rates in favorable channel conditions. An illustration of the spatial multiplexing operation is provided in <FIG>, as an example.

The information carrying symbol vector s = [s<NUM>, s<NUM>,. , sr]T is multiplied by an NT x r precoder matrix W, which serves to distribute the transmit energy in a subspace of the NT (corresponding to NT antenna ports) dimensional vector space. The precoder matrix is typically selected from a codebook of possible precoder matrices, and typically indicated by means of a precoder matrix indicator (PMI), which specifies a unique precoder matrix in the codebook for a given number of symbol streams. The r symbols in s each correspond to a MIMO layer and r is referred to as the transmission rank. In this way, spatial multiplexing is achieved since multiple symbols can be transmitted simultaneously over the same time and frequency resource element (RE). The number of symbols r is typically adapted to suit the current channel properties.

The received signal at a wireless device with NR receive antennas at a certain RE n is given by <MAT> where yn is a NR × <NUM> received signal vector, Hn a NR × NT channel matrix at the RE, en is a NR × <NUM> noise and interference vector received at the RE by the wireless device. The precoder W can be a wideband precoder, which is constant over frequency, or frequency selective, i.e. different over ferequency.

The precoder matrix is often chosen to match the characteristics of the NR x NT MIMO channel matrix Hn, resulting in so-called channel dependent precoding. This is also commonly referred to as closed-loop precoding and essentially strives for focusing the transmit energy into a subspace which is strong in the sense of conveying much of the transmitted energy to the wireless device. In addition, the precoder matrix may also be selected to strive for orthogonalizing the channel, meaning that after proper linear equalization at the wireless device, the inter-layer interference is reduced.

The transmission rank, and thus the number of spatially multiplexed layers, is reflected in the number of columns of the precoder. The transmission rank is also dependent on the Signal to noise plus interference ratio (SINR) observed at the wireless device. Typically, a higher SINR is required for transmissions with higher ranks. For efficient performance, it may be important that a transmission rank that matches the channel properties as well as the interference is selected. The precoding matrix, the transmission rank, and the channel quality are part of channel state information (CSI), which is typically measured by a wireless device and fed back to a network node, e.g., gNB.

An example of NR data transmission over multiple MIMO layers is shown in <FIG>. Depending on the total number of MIMO layers or the rank, either one code word (CW) or two codewords is used. In NR Release-<NUM>, one code word is used when the total number of layers is equal to or less than <NUM>, two codewords are used when the number of layers is more than <NUM>. Each codeword contains the encoded data bits of a transport block (TB). After bit level scrambling, the scrambled bits are mapped to complex-valued modulation symbols <MAT> for codeword q. The complex-valued modulation symbols are then mapped onto the layersx(i)=[x(<NUM>)(i). x(υ-<NUM>)(i)]T, <MAT>, according to Table <NUM>. <NUM>-<NUM> of Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) <NUM> v15.

For demodulation purposes, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), also referred to as a DMRS port is transmitted along each data layer. The block of vectors [x(<NUM>)(i). x(υ-<NUM>)(i)]T, <MAT> shall be mapped to DMRS antenna ports according to <MAT> where <MAT>. The set of DMRS antenna ports {p<NUM>,. ,pv-<NUM>} and port to layer mapping are dynamically indicated in DCI according to Tables <NUM>. <NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> in 3GPP TS <NUM> v15.

When receiving a PDSCH in the downlink from a serving network node at slot n, a wireless device feeds back a HARQ ACK at slot n+k over a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) resource in the uplink to the network node if the PDSCH is decoded successfully, otherwise, the wireless device sends a HARQ NACK at slot n+k to the network node to indicate that the PDSCH is not decoded successfully. If two TBs are carried by the PDSCH, then a HARQ ACK/NACK is reported for each TB so that if one TB is not decoded successfully, only that TB needs to be retransmitted by the network node.

For DCI format <NUM>-<NUM>, k is indicated by a <NUM>-bit PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field. For DCI format <NUM>-<NUM>, k is indicated either by a <NUM>-bit PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field, if present, or by higher layer through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

If code block group (CBG) transmission is configured, a HARQ ACK/NACK for each CBG in a TB is reported instead.

In case of carrier aggregation (CA) with multiple carriers and/or TDD operation, multiple aggregated HARQ ACK/NACK bits need to be sent in a single PUCCH.

In NR, up to four PUCCH resource sets can be configured to a UE. A PUCCH resource set with pucch-ResourceSetId=<NUM> can have up to <NUM> PUCCH resources while for PUCCH resource sets with pucch-ResourceSetId=<NUM> to <NUM>, each set can have up to <NUM> PUCCH resources. A wireless device determines the PUCCH resource set in a slot based on the number of aggregated UCI (Uplink Control Information) bits to be sent in the slot. The UCI bits consists of HARQ ACK/NACK, scheduling request (SR), and channel state information (CSI) bits.

If the wireless device transmits OUCI UCI information bits, the wireless device determines a PUCCH resource set to be.

where N<NUM> < N<NUM> < N<NUM> are provided by higher layers.

For a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, a wireless device determines a PUCCH resource after determining a PUCCH resource set. The PUCCH resource determination is based on a <NUM>-bit PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) field in DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1.

If more than one DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 are received in the case of CA and/or TDD, the PUCCH resource determination is based on a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) field in the last DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 among the multiple received DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 that the wireless device detects. The multiple received DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 have a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field indicating a same slot for the PUCCH transmission. For PUCCH resource determination, detected DCI formats are first indexed in an ascending order across serving cells indexes for a same PDCCH monitoring occasion and are then indexed in an ascending order across PDCCH monitoring occasion indexes.

The <NUM> bits PRI field maps to a PUCCH resource in a set of PUCCH resources with a maximum of eight PUCCH resources. For the first set of PUCCH resources with pucch-ResourceSetId = <NUM> and when the number of PUCCH resources, RPUCCH, in the set is larger than eight, the wireless device determines a PUCCH resource with index rPUCCH, <NUM> ≤ rPUCCH ≤ RPUCCH - <NUM>, for carrying HARQ-ACK information in response to detecting a last DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 in a PDCCH reception, among DCI formats 1_0 or DCI formats 1_1 the wireless device received with a value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field indicating a same slot for the PUCCH transmission, as <MAT> where NCCE,p is a number of CCEs in CORESET p of the PDCCH reception for the DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 as described in Subclause <NUM> of 3GPP TS <NUM> v15. <NUM>, nCCE,p is the index of a first CCE for the PDCCH reception, and ΔPRI is a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field in the DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1.

While QCL refers to a relationship between two different DL RSs from a wireless device perspective, NR has also adopted the term "spatial relation" to refer to a relationship between an UL (uplink) RS (PUCCH/PUSCH DMRS) and another RS, which can be either a DL RS (CSI-RS or SSB) or an UL RS (SRS). This is also defined from a wireless device perspective.

If an UL RS is spatially related to a DL RS, it means that the wireless device may transmit the UL RS in the opposite (reciprocal) direction from which it received the DL RS previously. More precisely, the wireless device should apply the "same" Tx spatial filtering configuration for the transmission of the UL RS as the Rx spatial filtering configuration it used to receive the spatially related DL RS previously. Here, the terminology 'spatial filtering configuration" may refer to the antenna weights that are applied at either the transmitter or the receiver for data/control transmission/reception.

On the other hand, if a first UL RS is spatially related to a second UL RS, then the wireless device should apply the same Tx spatial filtering configuration for the transmission for the first UL RS as the Tx spatial filtering configuration it used to transmit the second UL RS previously.

An example of using spatial relation for PUCCH is shown in <FIG>. First, the network node in TRP A indicates to the wireless device (WD) that the PUCCH DMRS is spatially related to the DL RS. Then, the wireless device receives the DL RS using RX spatial filtering configuration (i.e., Rx beam) shown in diagram (a) in <FIG>. As shown in diagram (b) of <FIG>, the wireless device uses the same TX spatial filtering configuration (i.e., Tx beam) as the one it used in (a) of <FIG> to transmit PUCCH.

For NR, 3GPP TS <NUM> and 3GPP TS <NUM> specify that a wireless device can be RRC configured with a list of up to <NUM> spatial relations for PUCCH. This list is given by the RRC parameter PUCCH_SpatialRelationInfo. For example, the list would typically contain the IDs of a number of SSBs and/or CSI-RS resources. Alternatively, the list may also contain the IDs of a number of SRS resources.

Based on the DL(UL) beam management measurements performed by the wireless device (network node), the network node selects one of the RS IDs from the list of configured ones in PUCCH_SpatialRelationInfo. The selected spatial relation is then activated via a MAC-CE message signaled to the wireless device for a given PUCCH resource. The wireless device then uses the signaled spatial relation for the purposes of adjusting the Tx spatial filtering configuration for the transmission on that PUCCH resource.

An example of the MAC CE for activation/deactivation for PUCCH spatial relation is shown in <FIG>. The MAC-CE message contains (<NUM>) the ID of the PUCCH resource, and (<NUM>) an indicator of which of the <NUM> configured spatial relations in PUCCL_SpatialRelationInfo is selected (given by the <NUM> bits S<NUM>, S<NUM>, S<NUM>,. The MAC CE also includes the Serving Cell ID for which the MAC CE applies, and the BWP ID (bandwidth part ID) which indicates the UL BWP for which the MAC CE applies as the codepoint of the DCI bandwidth part indicator field as specified in 3GPP TS <NUM>.

In addition to proving the spatial relation for PUCCH, each PUCCH_SpatialRelationInfo also provides the ID for the Reference RS (i.e., pucch-PathlossReferenceRS-Id) on which pathloss may be estimated for the purposes of PUCCH power control. The pucch-PathlossReferenceRS can be either an CSI-RS or SSB.

Document <CIT> discloses control information for scheduling a transmission resource for downlink and uplink communications between one or more TRPs and one or more UEs. One Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for DL control information transmission is assumed to carry at least one assignment or scheduling information block for at least one Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for DL data transmission or for at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for UL data transmission. Embodiments provide methods of providing configuration information that can be used by a user equipment (UE) to determine transmission mode for the PDSCH and PUSCH as well as information to determine where to monitor for the PDSCH, PUSCH and PUCCH information.

Document "<NPL>, discloses enhancements to UCI. The following proposals were made. Proposal <NUM>: UEs with single service is prioritized in the design of eURLLC UCI. Proposal <NUM>: To separate HARQ-ACK multiplexing windows for different PUCCHs, Rel-<NUM> mechanism can be reused but with a smaller time-domain granularity (e.g. sub-slot) instead of a slot. In particular, the sub-slot length is configured by RRC, the whole slot is partitioned into multiple sub-slots regardless of DL/UL configuration for the slot, a PDSCH can be transmitted across sub-slots. HARQ-ACK timing K1 is derived relative to the sub-slot boundary containing the last symbol of PDSCH, and a PUCCH transmission is confined within a sub-slot. Proposal <NUM>: For K1 and PUCCH starting symbol indication, it is proposed that K1 is reinterpreted in sub-slot level: K1 indicates the number of sub-slots between PUCCH transmission and the sub-slot containing the last symbol of PDSCH, and that the PUCCH starting symbol is relative to the boundary of sub-slot indicated by K1. Proposal <NUM>: For UEs with single service, single PUCCH resource set configuration should be investigated firstly. Proposal <NUM>: Per CORESET PUCCH resource configuration should be considered. Proposal <NUM>: PUCCH resource indication by PRI can be reused. With only one configured PUCCH RESET, the upper bound of the UCI payload size for that RESET shall not be restricted to up to <NUM>-bits. Proposal <NUM>: At most <NUM> PUCCHs carrying HARQ-ACK in a slot should be supported. Proposal <NUM>: For eURLLC UCI design, dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook is prioritized over semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook. Proposal <NUM>: Codebook determination based on sub-slot level should be supported for eURLLC.

<CIT> discloses a wireless communication method and a device. The method comprises receiving association indication information; and determining, according to the association relationship indication information, that the association exists among a plurality of first CORESETs, the plurality of first CORESETs sharing first common quasi co-location information.

According to the present disclosure, methods, a computer-readable medium, a wireless device and a network node according to the independent claims are provided. Developments are set forth in the dependent claims.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a wireless device, WD, according to claim <NUM> is provided.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless device, WD, according to claim <NUM>.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a network node according to claim <NUM> is provided.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a network node according to claim <NUM> is provided.

NC-JT refers to MIMO data transmission over multiple TRPs in which different MIMO layers are transmitted over different TRPs. An example is shown in <FIG>, where data are sent to a wireless device over two TRPs (e.g., TRP <NUM> and TRP <NUM>), each TRP carrying one TB mapped to one code word. When the wireless device has <NUM> receive antennas while each of the TRPs has only <NUM> transmit antennas, the wireless device can support up to <NUM> MIMO layers but each TRP can maximally transmit <NUM> MIMO layers. In this case, by transmitting data over two TRPs to the wireless device, the peak data rate to the wireless device can be increased as up to <NUM> aggregated layers from the two TRPs can be used. This is beneficial when the traffic load and thus the resource utilization, is low in each TRP. In this example, a single scheduler is used to schedule data over the two TRPs. When the delay is zero, it is generally referred to as ideal backhaul (BH) between the two TRPs. In practice, the delays are much smaller than the cyclic prefix used in the transmission, so the impact of the delay is negligible at the receiver.

In another scenario, as shown in <FIG>, for example, independent schedulers are used in each TRP (TRP <NUM> and TRP <NUM>). In this case, only semi-static to semi-dynamic coordination between the two schedulers can be done due the non-ideal backhaul, i.e., backhaul with large delay and/or delay variations which are comparable to the cyclic prefix length or in some cases even longer, up to several milliseconds.

In Radio Access Network (RAN)<NUM># adhoc meeting NR_AH_1901, it was considered that, for multiple-PDCCH based multi-TRP/panel downlink transmission for eMBB (enhanced mobile broad band), separate ACK/NACK payload/feedback for multiple received PDSCHs may be supported. The details on PUCCH carrying separate ACK/NACK payload/feedback are to be further studied. Also, whether to additionally support joint ACK/NACK payload/feedback for received PDSCHs is for further study.

It has been considered to configure separate "PDCCH-config" and 'PUCCH-Config" pairs for each TRP. A separate PDCCH-Config and PUCCH-Config would allow a wireless device to know which TRP a detected PDCCH is transmitted from and find the corresponding PUCCH resource for transmitting HARQ ACK/NACK. In NR 3GPP Rel-<NUM>, for each carrier or serving cell, a wireless device is configured with a PDCCH-Config IE which include all parameters for the wireless device to receive PDCCH on the carrier or cell.

It has also been considered to dynamically indicate TRP information through one or more of the followings:.

It has also been considered to introduce different PUCCH resource groups within each PUCCH resource set, where different groups correspond to PUCCH resources that can be used for transmission to different TRPs. Introducing the notation of two PUCCH resource groups within each PUCCH resource set enables using the full range of PRI field in the DCI separately for each TRP.

Another consideration may be dividing all configured CORESETS into two groups for DL control configuration, each associated with one TRP. In addition, two PUCCH-Config and two PDSCH-Config, each associated with on TRP, were proposed. In NR 3GPP Rel-<NUM>, a PUCCH-Config IE includes all information for a wireless device to transmit PUCCH. Similarly, a PDSCH-Config IE includes all information for a wireless device to receive PDSCH.

One problem with the existing proposals of per TRP PDCCH or CORESET Configuration is how to support both separate A/N payloads with separate PUCCH resources in case of non-ideal backhaul and joint HARQ A/N feedback with a single PUCCH in case of ideal-backhaul. With per TRP PDCCH and PUCCH configuration, only separate A/N payloads with separate PUCCH resources can be supported.

Another problem with the existing proposals with per TRP PUCCH resource allocation is potentially large PUCCH overhead. Due to slow semi-static coordination between TRPs, the unused PUCCH resources allocated to one TRP cannot be used for PDSCH transmission by another TRP. The unused resources are thus wasted.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for assignment of downlink control channel candidates to monitor and implementation of feedback associated with the downlink control channel candidates.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure include one or more of the following:.

One or more embodiments, described herein support both multi-TRP transmission with non-ideal backhaul where separate HARQ A/N payloads transmission in separate PUCCH resources and multi-TRP transmission with ideal backhaul where joint HARQ A/N feedback in a single PUCCH resource.

With wireless device transparent PUCCH resource sharing between TRPs, PUCCH overhead can be reduced. This is justified as that NC-JT is only beneficial at very low system load and low PUCCH resource utilization is expected.

Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to assignment of downlink control channel candidates to monitor and implementation of feedback associated with the downlink control channel candidates. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

The term "network node" used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell/multicast coordination entity (MCE), relay node, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term "radio node" used herein may be used to also denote a wireless device (WD) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node. One or more TRPs may be comprised in one or more network nodes.

It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, IAB node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

The term resource used herein may correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time and/or frequency. Signals are transmitted or received by a radio node over a time resource. Examples of time resources are: symbol, time slot, subframe, radio frame, Transmission Time Interval (TTI), interleaving time, etc..

An indication generally may explicitly and/or implicitly indicate the information it represents and/or indicates. Implicit indication may for example be based on position and/or resource used for transmission. Explicit indication may for example be based on a parametrization with one or more parameters, and/or one or more index or indices, and/or one or more bit patterns representing the information. It may in particular be considered that control signaling as described herein, based on the utilized resource sequence, implicitly indicates the control signaling type.

Transmitting in downlink may pertain to transmission from the network or network node to the terminal. Transmitting in uplink may pertain to transmission from the terminal to the network or network node. Transmitting in sidelink may pertain to (direct) transmission from one terminal to another. Uplink, downlink and sidelink (e.g., sidelink transmission and reception) may be considered communication directions. In some variants, uplink and downlink may also be used to described wireless communication between network nodes, e.g. for wireless backhaul and/or relay communication and/or (wireless) network communication for example between base stations or similar network nodes, in particular communication terminating at such. It may be considered that backhaul and/or relay communication and/or network communication is implemented as a form of sidelink or uplink communication or similar thereto.

Receiving information (e.g., configuration information, control channel information, scheduling information, data, HARQ feedback, etc.) may comprise receiving one or more information messages. It may be considered that receiving signaling comprises demodulating and/or decoding and/or detecting, e.g. blind detection of, one or more messages, in particular a message carried by the signaling, e.g. based on an assumed set of resources, which may be searched and/or listened for the information. It may be assumed that both sides of the communication are aware of the configurations, and may determine the set of resources to transmit and/or receive the information based at least in part on the configuration.

Configuring a terminal or wireless device or node may involve instructing and/or causing the wireless device or node to change its configuration, e.g., at least one setting and/or register entry and/or operational mode. A terminal or wireless device or node may be adapted to configure itself, e.g., according to information or data in a memory of the terminal or wireless device. Configuring a node or terminal or wireless device by another device or node or a network may refer to and/or comprise transmitting information and/or data and/or instructions to the wireless device or node by the other device or node or the network, e.g., allocation data (which may also be and/or comprise configuration data) and/or scheduling data and/or scheduling grants. Configuring a terminal may include sending allocation/configuration data to the terminal indicating which modulation and/or encoding to use. A terminal may be configured with and/or for scheduling data and/or to use, e.g., for transmission, scheduled and/or allocated uplink resources, and/or, e.g., for reception, scheduled and/or allocated downlink resources, scheduled to monitor one or more PDCCH candidates. Uplink resources and/or downlink resources may be scheduled and/or provided with allocation or configuration data.

Signaling may comprise one or more signals and/or symbols. Reference signaling may comprise one or more reference signals and/or symbols. Data signaling may pertain to signals and/or symbols containing data, in particular user data and/or payload data and/or data from a communication layer above the radio and/or physical layer/s. It may be considered that demodulation reference signaling comprises one or more demodulation signals and/or symbols. Demodulation reference signaling may in particular comprise DMRS according to NR, 3GPP and/or LTE technologies. Demodulation reference signaling may generally be considered to represent signaling providing reference for a receiving device like a terminal to decode and/or demodulate associated data signaling or data. Demodulation reference signaling may be associated to data or data signaling, in particular to specific data or data signaling. It may be considered that data signaling and demodulation reference signaling are interlaced and/or multiplexed, e.g. arranged in the same time interval covering e.g. a subframe or slot or symbol, and/or in the same time-frequency resource structure like a resource block. A resource element may represent a smallest time-frequency resource, e.g. representing the time and frequency range covered by one symbol or a number of bits represented in a common modulation. A resource element may e.g. cover a symbol time length and a subcarrier, in particular in NR, 3GPP and/or LTE standards. A data transmission may represent and/or pertain to transmission of specific data, e.g. a specific block of data and/or transport block. Generally, demodulation reference signaling may comprise and/or represent a sequence of signals and/or symbols, which may identify and/or define the demodulation reference signaling.

Embodiments provide assignment of downlink control channel candidates to monitor and implementation of feedback associated with the downlink control channel candidates.

Referring again to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in <FIG> a schematic diagram of a communication system <NUM>, according to an embodiment, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and/or NR (<NUM>), which comprises an access network <NUM>, such as a radio access network, and a core network <NUM>. The access network <NUM> comprises a plurality of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as network nodes <NUM>), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas <NUM>). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network <NUM> over a wired or wireless connection <NUM>. A first wireless device (WD) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 16a. A second WD 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16b. While a plurality of WDs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as wireless devices <NUM>) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole WD is in the coverage area or where a sole WD is connecting to the corresponding network node <NUM>. Note that although only two WDs <NUM> and three network nodes <NUM> are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more WDs <NUM> and network nodes <NUM>.

A network node <NUM> may be configured to include an assignment unit <NUM> which is configured to cause the network node <NUM> to:.

In some embodiments, a network node <NUM> is configured to include an assignment unit <NUM> which is configured to, for example, indicate an assignment of downlink control channel candidates.

A wireless device <NUM> may be configured to include a determination unit <NUM> which is configured to cause the wireless device <NUM> to:.

In some embodiments, a wireless device <NUM> is configured to include a determination unit <NUM> which is configured to, for example, implement an assignment for monitoring downlink control channel candidates and provide feedback, i.e., HARQ feedback, based at least in part on the monitoring.

The host application <NUM> may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a WD <NUM> connecting via an OTT connection <NUM> terminating at the WD <NUM> and the host computer <NUM>. The "user data" may be data and information described herein as implementing the described functionality. In one embodiment, the host computer <NUM> may be configured for providing control and functionality to a service provider and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The processing circuitry <NUM> of the host computer <NUM> may enable the host computer <NUM> to observe, monitor, control, transmit to and/or receive from the network node <NUM> and or the wireless device <NUM>. The processing circuitry <NUM> of the host computer <NUM> may include a information unit <NUM> configured to enable the service provider to transmit, receive, process, determine, forward, etc., information related to assignment of downlink control channel candidates for monitoring and feedback related to the monitoring.

Thus, the network node <NUM> further has software <NUM> stored internally in, for example, memory <NUM>, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node <NUM> via an external connection. The processing circuitry <NUM> may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or to cause such methods, and/or processes to be performed, e.g., by network node <NUM>. Processor <NUM> corresponds to one or more processors <NUM> for performing network node <NUM> functions described herein. The memory <NUM> is configured to store data, programmatic software code and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software <NUM> may include instructions that, when executed by the processor <NUM> and/or processing circuitry <NUM>, causes the processor <NUM> and/or processing circuitry <NUM> to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node <NUM>. For example, processing circuitry <NUM> of the network node <NUM> may include assignment unit <NUM> configured to perform one or more network node <NUM> functions as described herein (e.g., network node processes described with reference to <FIG> as well as the other figures).

In some embodiments, the assignment unit <NUM> in processing circuitry <NUM> is configured to, in conjunction with the radio interface <NUM>, cause the network node <NUM> to transmit the configurations and/or the channels and/or receive HARQ(s) according to one or more of the embodiments in the present disclosure.

The processing circuitry <NUM> may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or to cause such methods, and/or processes to be performed, e.g., by WD <NUM>. The processor <NUM> corresponds to one or more processors <NUM> for performing WD <NUM> functions described herein. The WD <NUM> includes memory <NUM> that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software <NUM> and/or the client application <NUM> may include instructions that, when executed by the processor <NUM> and/or processing circuitry <NUM>, causes the processor <NUM> and/or processing circuitry <NUM> to perform the processes described herein with respect to WD <NUM>. For example, the processing circuitry <NUM> of the wireless device <NUM> may include a determination unit <NUM> configured to perform one or more wireless device <NUM> functions as described herein (e.g., wireless device processes described with reference to <FIG> as well as the other figures).

In some embodiments, the determination unit <NUM> in processing circuitry <NUM> is configured to, in conjunction with the radio interface <NUM>, cause the wireless device <NUM> to receive the configurations and/or the channels and/or transmit HARQ(s) according to one or more of the embodiments in the present disclosure.

Although <FIG> and <FIG> show various "units" such as assignment unit <NUM>, and determination unit <NUM> as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as, for example, the communication system of <FIG> and <FIG>, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer <NUM>, a network node <NUM> and a WD <NUM>, which may be those described with reference to <FIG>. In a first step of the method, the host computer <NUM> provides user data (Block S100). In an optional substep of the first step, the host computer <NUM> provides the user data by executing a host application, such as, for example, the host application <NUM> (Block S102). In a second step, the host computer <NUM> initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the WD <NUM> (Block S104). In an optional third step, the network node <NUM> transmits to the WD <NUM> the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer <NUM> initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure (Block S106). In an optional fourth step, the WD <NUM> executes a client application, such as, for example, the client application <NUM>, associated with the host application <NUM> executed by the host computer <NUM> (Block S108).

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as, for example, the communication system of <FIG>, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer <NUM>, a network node <NUM> and a WD <NUM>, which may be those described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>. In a first step of the method, the host computer <NUM> provides user data (Block S110). In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer <NUM> provides the user data by executing a host application, such as, for example, the host application <NUM>. In a second step, the host computer <NUM> initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the WD <NUM> (Block S112). In an optional third step, the WD <NUM> receives the user data carried in the transmission (Block S114).

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as, for example, the communication system of <FIG>, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer <NUM>, a network node <NUM> and a WD <NUM>, which may be those described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>. In an optional first step of the method, the WD <NUM> receives input data provided by the host computer <NUM> (Block S116). In an optional substep of the first step, the WD <NUM> executes the client application <NUM>, which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer <NUM> (Block S118). Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second step, the WD <NUM> provides user data (Block S120). In an optional substep of the second step, the WD provides the user data by executing a client application, such as, for example, client application <NUM> (Block S122). In providing the user data, the executed client application <NUM> may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the WD <NUM> may initiate, in an optional third substep, transmission of the user data to the host computer <NUM> (Block S124). In a fourth step of the method, the host computer <NUM> receives the user data transmitted from the WD <NUM>, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure (Block S126).

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as, for example, the communication system of <FIG>, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer <NUM>, a network node <NUM> and a WD <NUM>, which may be those described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>. In an optional first step of the method, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node <NUM> receives user data from the WD <NUM> (Block S <NUM>). In an optional second step, the network node <NUM> initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer <NUM> (Block S <NUM>). In a third step, the host computer <NUM> receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the network node <NUM> (Block S132).

<FIG> is a flowchart of an exemplary process in a network node <NUM> in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure. One or more Blocks and/or functions performed by network node <NUM> may be performed by one or more elements of network node <NUM> such as by assignment unit <NUM> in processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, communication interface <NUM>, radio interface <NUM>, etc. In one or more embodiments, network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to transmit (Block S <NUM>): a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, configuration of a first group of one or more first control resource sets, CORESETs, having a first group index and a second group of one or more second control resource sets, CORESETs, having a second group index; and a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, configuration of a plurality number of PUCCH resource sets, each PUCCH resource set including a plurality number of PUCCH resources. Network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to transmit (Block S <NUM>) a first PDCCH in the first group of one or more first CORESETs and a second PDCCH in the second group of one or more second CORESETs. Network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to transmit (Block S <NUM>) a first physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, scheduled by the first PDCCH and a second PDSCH scheduled by the second PDCCH. Network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to receive (Block S <NUM>) a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest, HARQ, acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement, A/N, associated with the first PDSCH and a second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH.

In some embodiments, the first group index is different from the second group index. In some embodiments, the first group of one or more CORESETs is associated with at least one first Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, state and the second group of one or more CORESETs is associated with at least one second TCI state, the at least one first TCI state being different from the at least one second TCI state. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry <NUM> is further configured to cause the network node <NUM> to receive the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH by being configured to cause the network node <NUM> to receive the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH on a first PUCCH resource and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH on a second PUCCH resource. In some embodiments, the first PUCCH resource is indicated by a first PUCCH resource indicator, PRI, included in the first PDCCH and the second PUCCH resource is indicated by a second PRI included in the second PDCCH. In some embodiments, the first PRI is different from the second PRI. In some embodiments, the first PUCCH resource is different from the second PUCCH resource. In some embodiments, the first group index equals to the second group index.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry <NUM> is further configured to cause the network node <NUM> to receive the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH by being configured to cause the network node <NUM> to receive the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH on a same PUCCH resource of the PUCCH resources configured by the PUCCH configuration. Further, the first group index is included in each of the one or more first CORESETS and the second group index is included in each of the one or more second CORESETS.

In one or more embodiments, network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to assign downlink control channel candidates associated with at least one group of downlink resources for the wireless device to monitor where the downlink control channel candidates is associated with a plurality of Transmission Reception Points, TRPs. In one or more embodiments, the downlink control channel candidates correspond to one or more CORESETs that are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the at least one group of downlink resources corresponds to at least one CORESET group that are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the assignment of downlink control channel candidates, i.e., PDCCH candidates, is indicated to the wireless device as described herein. In one or more embodiments, network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to transmit PDCCHs in the assigned downlink resources and associated PDSCHs from different TRPs. In one or more embodiments, network node <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM> and communication interface <NUM> is configured to receive feedback signaling about decoding status of the PDSCHs from the wireless device <NUM> in at least one resource in an uplink control channel based at least in part on the assignment of the downlink control channel candidates. In one or more embodiments, feedback signaling corresponds to HARQ signaling and/or messaging that are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the feedback signaling is transmitted on PUCCH resources, as described herein. In one or more embodiments, one or more of Blocks may be performed by network node <NUM> such that one or more of Blocks may be omitted or skipped.

According to one or more embodiments, if the downlink control channel candidates for the wireless device to monitor corresponds to a plurality of groups of downlink resources, the feedback signaling associated with each group of downlink resources is received on separate resources in the uplink control channel. According to one or more embodiments, if the downlink control channel candidates correspond to a group of downlink resources, the feedback signaling is joint feedback signaling associated with each downlink control channel candidates in the group of downlink resources that is received on the same resource in the uplink control channel.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an exemplary process in a wireless device <NUM> according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more Blocks and/or functions performed by wireless device <NUM> may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device <NUM> such as by determination unit <NUM> in processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM>, radio interface <NUM>, etc. In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to receive (Block S142), from the one or more network nodes: a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, configuration of a first group of one or more first control resource sets, CORESETs, having a first group index and a second group of one or more second control resource sets, CORESETs, having a second group index; and a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, configuration of a plurality number of PUCCH resource sets, each PUCCH resource set including a plurality number of PUCCH resources. In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to monitor (Block S <NUM>) a first PDCCH in the first group of one or more first CORESETs and a second PDCCH in the second group of one or more second CORESETs. In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to receive (Block S <NUM>) a first physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, scheduled by the first PDCCH and a second PDSCH scheduled by the second PDCCH. In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to transmit (Block S148), to the one or more network nodes, a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest, HARQ, acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement, A/N, associated with the first PDSCH and a second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH.

In some embodiments, the first group index is different from the second group index. In some embodiments, the first group of one or more CORESETs is associated with at least one first Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, state and the second group of one or more CORESETs is associated with at least one second TCI state, the at least one first TCI state being different from the at least one second TCI state. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry <NUM> is further configured to cause the wireless device <NUM> to transmit the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH by being configured to cause the wireless device <NUM> to transmit the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH on a first PUCCH resource and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH on a second PUCCH resource. In some embodiments, the first PUCCH resource is indicated by a first PUCCH resource indicator, PRI, included in the first PDCCH and the second PUCCH resource is indicated by a second PRI included in the second PDCCH. In some embodiments, the first PRI is different from the second PRI.

In some embodiments, the first PUCCH resource is different from the second PUCCH resource. In some embodiments, the first group index equals to the second group index. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry <NUM> is further configured to cause the wireless device <NUM> to transmit the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH by being configured to cause the wireless device <NUM> to transmit the first HARQ A/N associated with the first PDSCH and the second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH on a same PUCCH resource of the PUCCH resources configured by the PUCCH configuration. Further, the first group index is included in each of the one or more first CORESETS and the second group index is included in each of the one or more second CORESETS.

In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to monitor PDCCHs in assigned downlink control channel candidates associated with at least one group of downlink resources where the downlink control channel candidates are associated with a plurality of Transmission Reception Points, TRPs. In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to receive PDCCHs in the assigned downlink resources and associated PDSCHs. In one or more embodiments, wireless device <NUM> such as via one or more of processing circuitry <NUM>, processor <NUM> and radio interface <NUM> is configured to transmit feedback signaling about decoding status of the PDSCHs in at least one resource in an uplink control channel based at least in part on the assignment of the downlink control channel candidates over which the PDCCHs are received. In one or more embodiments, one or more of Blocks may be performed by wireless device <NUM> such that one or more of may be omitted or skipped.

In one or more embodiments, the downlink control channel candidates correspond to one or more CORESETs that are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the at least one group of downlink resources corresponds to at least one CORESET group that are described herein. In one or more embodiments, feedback signaling corresponds to HARQ signaling and/or messaging that are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the assignment of downlink control channel candidates, i.e., PDCCH candidates, is indicated to the wireless device as described herein.

Having generally described arrangements for assignment of downlink control channel candidates to monitor and implementation of feedback associated with the downlink control channel candidates, details for these arrangements, embodiments, functions and processes are provided as follows, and which may be implemented by the network node <NUM>, wireless device <NUM> and/or host computer <NUM>.

For multi-TRP PDSCH transmission with multiple PDCCHs, a CORESET group may be configured to a wireless device <NUM>. A CORESET group can comprise of one or more CORESETs, e.g., PDCCH candidates. This can be done by including a CORESET Group identifier/identity (ID) in each CORESET configuration IE. The maximum number of CORESET groups can also be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling). For example, maxNrofControlResourceSetGroups =<NUM>.

Example of a ControlResourceSet information element where one or more fields are indicated in bold, below. <IMG>
<IMG>.

HARQ A/Ns, e.g., feedback signaling, for PDCCHs detected in a CORESET or CORESETs belonging to the same CORESET group and with a value(s) of PDSCH-to-HARQ_ feedback timing indicator indicating a same slot for the PUCCH transmission may be reported in a same PUCCH resource.

For PDCCHs detected in CORESETs belonging to different CORESET groups and with a value(s) of PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator indicating a same slot for the PUCCH transmission, separate PUCCH resources may be used for HARQ A/Ns for PDCCHs detected in different CORESET groups.

With this example CORESET group configuration, for multi-TRP transmission with ideal backhaul, a single CORESET group with multiple CORESETs may be configured with each CORESET associated with one TRP. In this case, HARQ A/Ns for PDCCHs transmitted from different TRPs in a slot may be aggregated and reported in a same PUCCH resource. An example is shown <FIG>, where a single CORESET group with two CORESETs each associated with one TRP via TCI state are configured for two TRPs (e.g., TRP1, TRP2). Because PDCCHs are detected in the same CORESET group, the HARQ A/N for the two TBs scheduled in the same slot are multiplexed or jointly encoded and reported in a single PUCCH resource (as shown for example in <FIG>, where A/N for TB1 and A/N for TB2 are multiplexed or jointly encoded and reported in a single PUCCH resource).

For multi-TRP transmission with non-ideal backhaul, multiple CORESET groups may be configured with each CORESET group associated with one TRP. In this case, HARQ A/Ns for PDCCHs transmitted from different TRPs in a slot may be reported separately in different PUCCH resources. An example is shown <FIG>, where two CORESET groups (CORESET Group #<NUM> and Group #<NUM>) each with one CORESET (CORESET <NUM> in Group #<NUM> and CORESET <NUM> in Group #<NUM>) and associated with one TRP via TCI state, are configured for two TRPs (e.g., TRP1, TRP2). HARQ A/N for PDCCH detected in different CORESET groups are mapped to different PUCCH resources, i.e., A/N associated with PDCCH #i to PUCCH #n and A/N associated with PDCCH #j to PUCCH #m.

To enable this type of operation, the configuration of PUCCH resource sets for HARQ A/N is in one embodiment CORESET group specific, such that the interpretation of the PRI field in DCI is dependent on the CORESET group of the CORESET where the DCI was received. This may imply that a list of PUCCH resource sets are configured by one or more network nodes <NUM>, where each entry in the list correspond to one CORESET group.

However, it may be wasteful in terms of PUCCH overhead to always configure disjoint sets of PUCCH resources since it is not necessarily so that more than one PUCCH transmission may be needed at the same time, even if multiple CORESET groups are utilized. In an alternative embodiment, the same PUCCH resource sets are configured (e.g., by one or more network nodes <NUM>) for all CORESET groups, and the PRI field in DCI (e.g., transmitted by network node <NUM>) refers to these resource sets. However, when two or more HARQ A/N (transmitted by WD <NUM>) corresponding to different CORESET groups are indicated with the same PRI and the same slot for PUCCH transmission, a rule may be applied so that only one CORESET group's HARQ A/N are transmitted (by wireless device <NUM>) in the indicated PUCCH resource, and the other CORESET groups are assigned other PUCCH resources. In one variant of the embodiment, the PUCCH resource from another PUCCH resource set is selected according to a fixed rule. Alternatively, the PUCCH resource corresponding to another PRI is selected (e.g., by WD <NUM> and/or network node <NUM>) for the other CORESET groups, according to a fixed rule in specification.

In an alternative to explicitly defining CORESET groups by RRC signaling as in Example <NUM>, the CORESET groups can be implicitly assigned.

In one example, configured CORESET with the same TCI_state identifier belongs to the same CORESET group and with different TCI_state identifier is identified to belong to different CORESET groups.

In another example, the source reference signals (RS) in TCI states may be divided in two groups. CORESET(s) with TCI_states having source RS in the same RS group belong to the same CORESET group.

Note that the term "CORESET group" may not be specified in standards, but the term is used here to define the functionality. Similar functionality as described here as part of the disclosure can be defined in 3GPP specifications without introducing CORESET groups terminology.

In case of multi-TRP transmission with non-ideal backhaul and with multiple PDCCHs, instead of explicitly configuring separate PUCCH resources for different CORESET groups, the partition of PUCCH resources between CORESET groups can be transparent to a wireless device <NUM>. This can be done by allocating different values of the PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) field to different CORESET groups. For example, when two CORESET groups, {CORESET group #<NUM>, CORESET group #<NUM>}, are configured (e.g., by network node <NUM>) to a wireless device <NUM> with CORESET group #<NUM> associated to TRP#<NUM> and CORESET group #<NUM> to TRP#<NUM>, PRI values of {<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>} may be mapped to CORESET group #<NUM> and PRI values {<NUM>,<NUM>} to CORESET group #<NUM>. This mapping may be coordinated semi-statically between the two TRPs so that when a PDSCH is scheduled from TRP#<NUM> in CORESET group #<NUM>, only PRI values of {<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>} can be allocated. Similarly, if a PDSCH is scheduled from TRP#<NUM> in CORESET group #<NUM>, only PRI values of {<NUM>,<NUM>} can be allocated. But from the wireless device <NUM> perspective, the same PUCCH configuration as in NR Rel-<NUM> is used. Example <NUM> is illustrated in <FIG>.

In case of multi-TRP PDSCH transmission with ideal backhaul and with multiple PDCCHs, the number of downlink HARQ processes can be the same as in NR 3GPP Rel-<NUM>, i.e., up to <NUM> HARQ processes, and a HARQ process can be shared by two TRPs. When two PDSCHs, scheduled by two PDCCHs (e.g., by network node <NUM>) with the same HARQ process ID, are received in a slot in a same carrier frequency and if the two PDCCHs are received in two separate CORESETs belonging to the same CORESET group, the A/N for the two TBs are aggregated and reported (e.g., by WD <NUM>) in a single PUCCH. To associate each of the two TBs to the correct HARQ buffer, TB1 and TB2 need to be identified.

In one embodiment, TB1 and TB2 may be identified by the CORESET IDs. For example, TB1 is associated with CORESET #<NUM> and TB2 with CORESET #<NUM>. This means that if TB1 is not received successfully (e.g., by WD <NUM>), the retransmissions also need to be scheduled from CORESET #<NUM> (e.g., by network node <NUM>).

In another embodiment, TB1 and TB2 may be identified directly in DCI format <NUM>-<NUM>, i.e., when TB2 is disabled in a DCI, TB1 is transmitted. Similarly, if TB1 is disabled in a DCI, TB2 is transmitted. This may allow retransmission of a TB from a different TRP by scheduling the TB in a different CORESET, which may be beneficial in some scenarios. An example is shown in <FIG>, where the first transmission of TB1 (e.g., by network node <NUM>) is via TRP1 and retransmission is scheduled from TRP2 (e.g., by network node <NUM>).

It should be understood that although the scheduler(s) and TRPs arrangements shown in <FIG> are shown as belonging to one network node <NUM> for illustrative purposes, other embodiments may implement such scheduler(s) and TRP(s) arrangements in two or more network nodes <NUM> (e.g., each TRP may be comprised in a network node, each scheduler may be comprised in a network node, a network node may include more than one TRP and/or more than one scheduler, etc.).

In this embodiment, the PUCCH resources to be used for a PDSCH transmitted from a given TRP may be implicitly determined using the spatial relation information of the PUCCH resources. An example for this embodiment is given in <FIG> for a multi-PDCCH scenario with two TRPs (even though the example shows two TRPs, it should be understood that this embodiment can be generalized for more than two TRPs):.

In one or more embodiments, the ACK/NACK (A/N) for a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH detected in a CORESET is reported in a PUCCH resource if the following condition is met:.

Hence, all the PUCCH resources configured (e.g., by network node <NUM>) to a wireless device <NUM> that have the same source RS in their activated spatial relation as the QCL source RS of the activated TCI state of the CORESET correspond to an implicit PUCCH resource group associated with that CORESET. And, the ACK/NACK for a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH detected in a CORESET is reported in a PUCCH resource belonging to the PUCCH resource group associated with that CORESET.

In the example of <FIG>, the eight PUCCH resources having DL RS A as the spatial relation source RS form an implicit PUCCH resource group associated with CORESET <NUM>. Similarly, the eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resources having DL RS B as the spatial relation source RS form an implicit PUCCH resource group associated with CORESET <NUM>.

In one or more embodiments, HARQ A/Ns for PDCCHs detected in a CORESET with a value(s) of PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator indicating a same slot for the PUCCH transmission are reported in one of the PUCCH resources in the implicit PUCCH group associated with that CORESET.

One advantage with Example <NUM> is that the PUCCH resources can be better utilized. For instance, in a case where there are unused PUCCH resources associated with a first CORESET, these PUCCH resources can be associated with a second CORESET via changing the spatial relation of these PUCCH resource such that their spatial relation source RS is the same as the active QCL source RS of the second CORESET. Hence, this embodiment can offer better utilization of PUCCH resources compared to a scheme where the dedicated PUCCH resources are RRC configured (e.g., by network node <NUM>) to be used with one TRP.

In an alternate version of one or more embodiments, the ACK/NACK for a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH detected in a CORESET is reported in a PUCCH resource if the following condition is met:.

Hence, the pucch-PathlossReferenceRS can be used instead of spatial relation source RS in order to define the implicit PUCCH resource group associated with a CORESET.

In this embodiment, the implicit PUCCH resource group is a subset of the PUCCH resources in a PUCCH resource set.

Note that the PUCCH resource from within the implicit PUCCH resource group to report the ACK/NACK is indicated by the <NUM>-bit PRI field. If the number of PUCCH resources within an implicit PUCCH resource group R'PUCCH is larger than <NUM>, then the PUCCH resource is determined using as similar formula in the background section where RPUCCH is replaced by R'PUCCH.

Note that the term "implicit PUCCH resource group" may not be specified in standards, but the term is used here to define the functionality. Similar functionality as described here as part of the disclosure can be defined in 3GPP specifications without introducing 'implicit PUCCH resource group' terminology.

Claim 1:
A method performed by a wireless device (<NUM>), WD, configured to communicate with one or more network nodes (<NUM>), the method comprising:
receiving (S142), from the one or more network nodes (<NUM>):
a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, configuration of a first group of one or more first control resource sets, CORESETs, having a first group index and a second group of one or more second CORESETs having a second group index; and
a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, configuration of a plurality number of PUCCH resource sets, each PUCCH resource set including a plurality number of PUCCH resources;
monitoring (S144) a first PDCCH over a first CORESET in the first group of one or more first CORESETs and a second PDCCH over a second CORESET different from the first CORESET and belonging to the second group of one or more second CORESETs;
receiving (S146) a first physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, scheduled by the first PDCCH and a second PDSCH scheduled by the second PDCCH; and
transmitting (S148), to the one or more network nodes (<NUM>), a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest, HARQ, acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement, A/N, associated with the first PDSCH on a first PUCCH resource and a second HARQ A/N associated with the second PDSCH on a second PUCCH resource.,
wherein the first PUCCH resource is the same as the second PUCCH resource when the first group index is the same as the second group index;
wherein the first PUCCH resource is different from the second PUCCH resource when the first group index is different from the second group index, and
wherein the first group index is included in each of the one or more first CORESETs and the second group index is included in each of the one or more second CORESETs.