Patent Description:
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for indicating when one or more spatial directions should be avoided (by a user equipment) when transmitting or receiving a target signal.

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, etc. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (for example, bandwidth, transmit power, etc.).

New radio (for example, <NUM> NR) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard.

A medium access control (MAC)-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes. For example, a base station may transmit a MAC CE to a user-equipment (UE) to put the UE into a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode to reduce the UE's power consumption. The MAC-CE may be carried in a shared channel such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical sidelink shared channel. A MAC-CE may also be used to communicate information that facilitates communication, such as information regarding buffer status and available power headroom.

The <NPL>", relates to multi-TRP/panel transmission starting from previous agreements, for multiple PDCCH design with non-ideal/ideal backhaul, reliability/robustness enhancement and single PDCCH design.

The <NPL>", discusses DL pre-emption aspects for multi- TRP PDSCH transmission.

There still exists a need for further improvements in mobile communication.

The invention relates to communication methods, apparatuses and a computer program as defined in the appended independent claims. Embodiments representing particular realisations of the invention are defined in the appended dependent claims.

However, the accompanying drawings illustrate only some typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for signaling and processing an indication of spatial preemption. As will be described in greater detail below, the spatial preemption may indication at least one beam that a user equipment (UE) is to avoid using for transmitting or receiving a target signal (for example to avoid transmitting a signal that might cause interference or avoid receiving using a beam that might be subject to interference).

For example, as shown in <FIG>, UE 120a, UE 120b, and/or BS 110a may include a spatial preemption module (122a, 122b, and/or 112b, respectively) that may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG> and/or operations <NUM> of <FIG> to transmit and/or process spatial preemption indications as described herein.

NR access (for example, <NUM> NR) may support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (for example, <NUM> or beyond), millimeter wave (mmWave) targeting high carrier frequency (for example, <NUM> or beyond), massive machine type communications MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, or mission critical services targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). In addition, these services may co-exist in the same time-domain resource (for example, a slot or subframe) or frequency-domain resource (for example, component carrier).

In some examples, the BSs <NUM> may be interconnected to one another or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in wireless communication network <NUM> through various types of backhaul interfaces (for example, a direct physical connection, a wireless connection, a virtual network, or the like) using any suitable transport network. The UEs <NUM> (for example, 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network <NUM>, and each UE <NUM> may be stationary or mobile.

Wireless communication network <NUM> may also include relay stations (for example, relay station 110r), also referred to as relays or the like, that receive a transmission of data or other information from an upstream station (for example, a BS 110a or a UE 120r) and sends a transmission of the data or other information to a downstream station (for example, a UE <NUM> or a BS <NUM>), or that relays transmissions between UEs <NUM>, to facilitate communication between devices.

The BSs <NUM> may also communicate with one another (for example, directly or indirectly) via wireless or wireline backhaul.

<FIG> shows a block diagram illustrating an example base station (BS) and an example user equipment (UE) in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

The control information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor <NUM> may process (for example, encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor <NUM> may also generate reference symbols, such as for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signal (CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor <NUM> may perform spatial processing (for example, precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Each modulator <NUM> may process a respective output symbol stream (for example, for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (for example, convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t may be transmitted via the antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

At the UE <NUM>, the antennas 252a-252r may receive the downlink signals from the BS <NUM> and may provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator <NUM> may condition (for example, filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (for example, for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector <NUM> may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor <NUM> may process (for example, demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE <NUM> to a data sink <NUM>, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor <NUM>.

On the uplink, at UE <NUM>, a transmit processor <NUM> may receive and process data (for example, for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) from a data source <NUM> and control information (for example, for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor <NUM>. The transmit processor <NUM> may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (for example, for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor <NUM> may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor <NUM> if applicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r (for example, for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the BS <NUM>.

A scheduler <NUM> may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink or uplink.

The controller/processor <NUM> or other processors and modules at the UE <NUM> may perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein. As shown in <FIG>, the controller/processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> has a Spatial Preemption Module <NUM> that may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG> and/or operations <NUM> of <FIG>. Similarly, the controller/processor <NUM> of the BS <NUM> has a Spatial Preemption Module <NUM> that may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>. Although shown at the Controller/Processor, other components of the UE or BS may be used to perform the operations described herein.

In some cases, these signals are examples of the types of signals that a false BS might fake in order to pose as a legitimate BS. The false BS may also fake other types of downlink transmissions (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH) when posing as a legitimate BS.

<FIG> show diagrammatic representations of example vehicle to everything (V2X) systems in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. For example, the vehicles shown in <FIG> may communicate via sidelink channels and may perform sidelink CSI reporting as described herein.

The V2X systems, provided in <FIG> provide two complementary transmission modes. A first transmission mode, shown by way of example in <FIG>, involves direct communications (for example, also referred to as side link communications) between participants in proximity to one another in a local area. A second transmission mode, shown by way of example in <FIG>, involves network communications through a network, which may be implemented over a Uu interface (for example, a wireless communication interface between a radio access network (RAN) and a UE).

Referring to <FIG>, a V2X system <NUM> (for example, including vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications) is illustrated with two vehicles <NUM>, <NUM>. The first transmission mode allows for direct communication between different participants in a given geographic location. As illustrated, a vehicle can have a wireless communication link <NUM> with an individual (V2P) (for example, via a UE) through a PC5 interface. Communications between the vehicles <NUM> and <NUM> may also occur through a PC5 interface <NUM>. In a like manner, communication may occur from a vehicle <NUM> to other highway components (for example, highway component <NUM>), such as a traffic signal or sign (V2I) through a PC5 interface <NUM>. With respect to each communication link illustrated in <FIG>, two-way communication may take place between elements, therefore each element may be a transmitter and a receiver of information. The V2X system <NUM> may be a self-managed system implemented without assistance from a network entity. A self-managed system may enable improved spectral efficiency, reduced cost, and increased reliability as network service interruptions do not occur during handover operations for moving vehicles. The V2X system may be configured to operate in a licensed or unlicensed spectrum, thus any vehicle with an equipped system may access a common frequency and share information. Such harmonized/common spectrum operations allow for safe and reliable operation.

<FIG> shows a V2X system <NUM> for communication between a vehicle <NUM> and a vehicle <NUM> through a network entity <NUM>. These network communications may occur through discrete nodes, such as a base station (for example, an eNB or gNB), that sends and receives information to and from (for example, relays information between) vehicles <NUM>, <NUM>. The network communications through vehicle to network (V2N) links <NUM> and <NUM> may be used, for example, for long range communications between vehicles, such as for communicating the presence of a car accident a distance ahead along a road or highway. Other types of communications may be sent by the node to vehicles, such as traffic flow conditions, road hazard warnings, environmental/weather reports, and service station availability, among other examples. Such data can be obtained from cloud-based sharing services.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (for example, UEs) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals. As described above, V2V and V2X communications are examples of communications that may be transmitted via a sidelink. Other applications of sidelink communications may include public safety or service announcement communications, communications for proximity services, communications for UE-to-network relaying, device-to-device (D2D) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, Internet of Things (IoT) communications, mission-critical mesh communications, among other suitable applications. Generally, a sidelink may refer to a direct link between one subordinate entity (for example, UE1) and another subordinate entity (for example, UE2). As such, a sidelink may be used to transmit and receive a communication (also referred to herein as a "sidelink signal") without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (for example, a BS), even though the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling or control purposes. In some examples, a sidelink signal may be communicated using a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, which typically use an unlicensed spectrum).

Various sidelink channels may be used for sidelink communications, including a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH). The PSDCH may carry discovery expressions that enable proximal devices to discover each other. The PSCCH may carry control signaling such as sidelink resource configurations and other parameters used for data transmissions, and the PSSCH may carry the data transmissions.

For the operation regarding PSSCH, a UE performs either transmission or reception in a slot on a carrier. NR sidelink supports for a UE a case where all the symbols in a slot are available for sidelink, as well as another case where only a subset of consecutive symbols in a slot is available for sidelink.

PSFCH may carry feedback such as channel state information (CSI) related to a sidelink channel quality. A sequence-based PSFCH format with one symbol (not including AGC training period) may be supported. The following formats may be possible: a PSFCH format based on PUCCH format <NUM> and a PSFCH format spanning all available symbols for sidelink in a slot.

As noted above, NR supports multiple traffic types, such as eMBB and URLLC. In some cases, an ongoing eMBB transmission may be punctured or interrupted to send a higher priority URLLC transmission. This may cause loss of phase coherence between the two eMBB transmit durations that have been made non-contiguous by the URLLC transmission. For example, on the uplink (UL), the URLLC may have a different transmit power, which may cause loss of phase coherence. The URLLC may be scheduled in a different CC or BWP. If a UE has to tune-away the RF chain(s) to receive (on DL) or transmit (on UL) this URLLC and then tune-back for eMBB, it can cause loss of phase coherence.

The indication-based multiplexing approach is beneficial for both URLLC and eMBB UEs, albeit at the cost of indicator overhead. As illustrated in <FIG>, for a current indication with respect to URLLC, a preemption indication (PI) downlink control information (DCI) is provided at the same time with URLLC data. As illustrated in <FIG>, for a post-indication for both the URLLC and the eMBB, the PI DCI is after both URLLC and eMBB data. <FIG> shows a post-indication for the URLLC, which is current with respect to the eMBB.

For DL PI, a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 2_1) may be used for notifying the physical resource block(s) (PRB(s)) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) symbol(s) where the UE may assume that no transmission is intended for the UE. For example, a gNB may schedule an eMBB UE during a slot. In the middle of the slot, a packet for a URLLC UE arrives, and the gNB schedules and transmits the packet to the URLLC UE in a subset of resource blocks (RBs) and/or slots. The gNB provides an indication, via a DL PI (e.g., in the next slot), to the eMBB UE as to which of the RBs/symbols are punctured (e.g., and used for URLLC UE). The eMBB UE can thus use this information to enhance the decoding (this knowledge can increase the chance of successful decoding).

As illustrated in <FIG>, information (e.g., PI <NUM>, PI <NUM>,. , PI N) is transmitted by means of the DCI format 2_1 with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by an interruption radio network temporary identifier (INT-RNTI). In NR, each pre-emption indication may be <NUM> bits. As illustrated in <FIG>, for each UE, different preemption indications can correspond to different component carriers (or serving cells).

<FIG> provides an overview of sidelink communications (broadcast and groupcast device-to-device (D2D)) between UEs. As noted above, with reference to <FIG>, sidelink generally refers to a link between at least two users or user-relays that can be used in different scenarios and for different applications.

For example, for applications with in-coverage operation, both users are in a gNB's coverage, but still communicate directly. This can be assumed for enabling some gaming applications, for instance. For applications with partial-coverage operation, one UE is in-coverage, and acts as a relay to extend the coverage for other users. For applications with out-of-coverage operation, users are outside the gNB's coverage, but still need to communicate. This type of operation is important for mission critical applications, such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and public safety.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the resource allocation for sidelink (SL) communications can be done in different ways. In a first mode, Mode <NUM>, the gNB "schedules" the SL resources to be used by the UE for SL transmission.

For a second mode, Mode <NUM>, the UE determines the SL resources (e.g., the gNB does not schedule SL transmission resources within SL resources configured by gNB/network). In this case, the UE autonomously selects SL resources for transmission. A UE can assist in SL resource selection for other UEs. A UE may be configured with an NR configured grant for SL transmission and the UE may schedule SL transmissions for other UEs.

There are various cases that may be encountered involving sidelink communications and communications involving a cellular link (Uu) between a UE and gNB. In one case, Case <NUM>, for licensed bands, the NR Uu and NR SL might be concurrently transmitted/received on the same carrier. In a second case, Case <NUM>, for some other applications, such as public safety or V2X, a dedicated (licensed or unlicensed) carrier (e.g., intelligent transport systems (ITS) for V2X)), NR Uu and NR SL may transmit/receive on different carriers.

For both of these cases (e.g., when Uu and SL should coexist on a given carrier or a number of carriers), the applicability of DLPI and ULPI should be considered. It should be noted that DLPI or ULPI received on one carrier can be applicable to the same or different carriers.

DLPI in Rel. <NUM> NR, is a post-indication scheme (e.g., as shown in <FIG>), and is used to let an eMBB UE know that some of the previously assigned resources are re-claimed. Based on this information, the UE can set the log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the indicated resources to zero before decoding, which may help enhance the successful decoding probability. The resources might have been reclaimed by the gNB to schedule a more urgent traffic (e.g., URLLC for another UE).

ULPI is introduced in Rel. <NUM> NR, and may be used, for example, to suspend the uplink transmission of an eMBB user. In some cases, the gNB might decide to silence an eMBB user in order to schedule a URLLC user over the previously assigned resources and may signal ULPI accordingly.

In some cases, a UE may be configured with up to M TCI-States by higher layer signalling to decode physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) according to a detected physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with downlink control information (DCI). Each configured transmission configuration indication (TCI) state includes one RS set TCI-RS-SetConfig. <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> illustrate examples of such TCI-RS-SetConfigs that associate DL reference signals with corresponding quasi co-location (QCL) types.

In the figures, a source reference signal (RS) is indicated in the top box and is associated with a target signal indicated in the bottom box. In other words, a UE may use the source RS to determine various channel parameters, depending on the associated QCL type, to process the target signal.

As illustrated, each TCI-RS-SetConfig contains parameters for configuring quasi co-location relationship between the reference signals in the RS set and the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port group of the PDSCH. The RS set contains a reference to either one or two DL RSs and an associated quasi co-location type (QCL-Type) for each one configured by the higher layer parameter QCL-Type.

As illustrated in <FIG>, for the case of two DL RSs, the QCL types may not be the same, regardless of whether the references are to the same DL RS or different DL RSs. In the illustrated example, SSB is associated with Type C QCL for P-TRS, while CSI-RS for beam management (CSIRS-BM) is associated with Type D QCL.

The quasi co-location (QCL) types indicated to the UE are based on the higher layer parameter QCL-Type and may take one or a combination of the following types:.

It may be noted that a target RS does not necessarily need to be PDSCH's DMRS, rather it can be any other RS: PUSCH DMRS, CSIRS, TRS, and SRS.

As illustrated in <FIG>, TCI states may also be supported for scenarios with multiple transmitter receiver points (mTRPs) or multiple panels. In some cases, for TCI state configuration in order to enable one or two TCI states per a TCI code point, a MAC-CE enhancement may be used to map one or two TCI states for a TCI code point and/or the number of bits of the TCI field in DCI may be increased.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for signaling and processing an indication of spatial preemption (e.g., a spatial preemption indication (PI)). As will be described in greater detail below, the spatial PI may indicate at least one beam that a user equipment (UE) is to avoid using for transmitting or receiving a target signal.

Uplink (UL) spatial PI, as presented herein, may advantageously indicate which type of reference signal is preempted for the purpose of determining a transmit beam for UL transmission. For example, the indicated type may be channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a sounding reference signal (SRS), or some other downlink (DL) or UL signal, while an identification number may be, for example, a CSI-RS identifier (ID) or an SSB index. Similarly, DL spatial PI may effectively indicate which type of reference signal (and ID number) is preempted for the purpose of determining a receive beam for receiving a DL transmission. Such spatial preemption may be used as an alternative to (or in addition to) conventional UL/DL preemption of time/frequency resources.

<FIG> illustrates example operations <NUM> for wireless communication by a UE, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. For example, operations <NUM> may be performed by UE 120a or 120b of <FIG> to process spatial PI (e.g., to determine a Tx beam to avoid using for an uplink transmission or a Rx beam to avoid using for a DL reception).

Operations <NUM> begin, at <NUM>, by receiving signaling of a spatial preemption indication (PI). At <NUM>, the UE identifies, based on the spatial PI, at least one beam that the UE is preempted from using for at least one of transmitting or receiving at least one target signal. At <NUM>, the UE refrains from using the identified beam for transmitting or receiving the target signal, for at least a time period.

<FIG> illustrates example operations <NUM> for wireless communication by an apparatus. For example, operations <NUM> may be performed by a UE 120a, UE 120b and/or BS 110a of <FIG> to provide spatial PI (to a UE).

Operations <NUM> begin, at <NUM>, by identifying at least one beam corresponding to a direction at least one UE is to avoid using for at least one of transmitting or receiving a target signal. At <NUM>, the apparatus transmits, to the UE, signaling of a spatial PI that indicates the at least one beam.

Rather than preempt certain time/frequency resources, as conventional UL/DL PIs, a spatial PI proposed herein may advantageously preempt any signal transmitted with a specific beam on in other words in a specific transmit or receive beam direction.

For example, an UL spatial PI could effectively contain which SSB/CSIRS/SRS ID is preempted for the purpose of determining a transmit (Tx) beam for UL transmission. In other words, this UL spatial PI may be interpreted that a UE is to refrain from using SRS, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and/or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources, which have that specific spatial-Relation-Information configured for determining a Tx beam for some period of time.

It may be noted, however, that this UL PI may not mean that the RS which is indicated is necessarily preempted. Rather, what is preempted is the transmission of any other physical layer (PHY) channel that uses the indicated RS to derive the Tx spatial beam.

When UL spatial PI prevents a UE from using a configured beam for Tx, it has various options for the corresponding SRS/PUSCH/PUCCH that were supposed to be transmitted with that Tx beam. According to one option, the spatial PI may be interpreted to mean that these SRS resources are preempted also (and not transmitted) or that some other SSB/CSI-RS/SRS ID may be used to (determine a Tx beam to) transmit these SRS resources. In such cases, the UL PI may indicate this information.

In the claimed embodiment, the spatial PI is interpreted to mean that some other SSB/CSIRS/SRS ID shall be used to transmit these SRS resources (e.g., the spatial Tx PI should contain that information, or it could be some default beam). According to another option, the spatial PI may be interpreted to mean that the Tx beam used for a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission during a latest initial access in the cellular network (Uu) should be used.

As noted above, DL spatial PI may advantageously indicate which type of reference signal is preempted for the purpose of determining a receive beam for receiving a DL transmission. As noted above, each TCI-state may be configured with a source RS (SSB or CS-IRS), and this is used by the UE to derive the spatial Rx beam to receive the target RS which is contained in the TCI-state.

Then, if the gNB notifies that that a source RS cannot be used for DL beam transmission, it may signal a DL spatial PI. The DL spatial PI may mean that the corresponding target DL signal is preempted, that the source RS cannot be used by the UE to derive spatial Rx beam, and/or that this same source signal may still transmitted but with a different Tx beam, in which case the UE should change the Rx beam accordingly.

As describe above with reference to <FIG>, for multi-TRP or multi-panel deployments, there may be multiple spatial quasi co-located (QCL) RS defined. Thus, it may be possible to signal a spatial PI where one of the spatial relations (or QCLType-D) sources associated with some PHY channel (e.g., multi-TRP PDSCH) would be preempted.

There are various options for how the spatial PI may be interpreted in this case. For example, according to one option, the spatial PI could mean that only the subset of ports are preempted (e.g., a rank <NUM> transmission becomes a rank <NUM> transmission if one of the directions are preempted). If only a subset of ports are transmitted, for the case of PDSCH, the rate matching may be adjusted accordingly. For the case of CSI-RS, the power boosting of the remaining ports may be adjusted accordingly.

According to another option, the spatial PI could mean that another beam should be substituted for the preempted beam (and all the ports may still be transmitted).

For sidelink communications, a gNB may send the spatial PI through a group common DCI to a group of UEs, as indicated in <FIG>. In this case, the spatial PI may preempt, for all the UEs in the group, the transmission(s) in a spatial direction or the reception from a spatial direction.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in case of partial coverage, a gNB may request that a SL UE (e.g., UE1) is to relay the spatial PI through the SL (as a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) group common message). In this case, the gNB first triggers the spatial PI to UE1 with information related to which UEs (or SL traffic) that UE1 is responsible for relaying.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a gNB may preempt not only the spatial directions that the gNB transmits, but also the spatial directions that UE1 transmits towards the SL UEs. In this case, the spatial PI indication may contain the RS IDs of the UE1 that correspond to the SL BWP. Thus, the spatial PI indication of a SL spatial beam (either of gNB <NUM> or UE1), may be received from a SL bandwidth part (BWP) or a Uu BWP.

In some cases, the spatial PI indication may be applicable for a given time period. The time period, for example, may be a time period during which the spatial beam is preempted (e.g., persistent spatial PI) for a "one-shot" preemption for the PHY channels in the current slot (current spatial PI), or a "one-shot" preemption for the PHY channels in the previous slot (post spatial PI).

The spatial PI may apply to a variety of different types of DL signals, such as CSIRS, TRS, DL PRS, DMRS, PDSCH, and PDCCH. The spatial PI may apply to a variety of different types of UL signals, such as SRS, PUSCH, PUCCH, UL PRS, and DMRS. The spatial PI may apply to a variety of different types of sidelink (SL) signals, such as PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH.

Embodiment <NUM>: A method of wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising receiving signaling of a spatial preemption indication (PI), identifying, based on the spatial PI, at least one beam that the UE is preempted from using for at least one of transmitting or receiving at least one target signal, and refraining from using the identified beam for transmitting or receiving the target signal, for at least a time period.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the UE identifies the beam based on a spatial relationship between a source reference signal and the target signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises at least one of an uplink physical channel or a sidelink physical signal, and the UE is configured to refrain from transmitting the uplink physical channel or sidelink channel using a transmit beam derived from the source reference signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the UE is configured to skip transmitting the uplink physical channel or sidelink channel, or determine an alternative transmit beam for transmitting the uplink physical channel or sidelink channel, the alternative transmit beam is signaled with the spatial PI, or a default transmit beam is used as the alternative transmit beam, the default transmit beam comprising a transmit beam used for a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission during a previous initial network access.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises at least one of a downlink physical channel or a sidelink physical signal, and the UE is configured to refrain from receiving the downlink physical channel or sidelink channel using a receive beam derived from the source reference signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the UE is configured to skip processing the downlink physical channel or sidelink channel, or determine an alternative receive beam for processing the downlink physical channel or sidelink channel, and one of the alternative receive beam is signaled with the spatial PI, or a default receive beam is used as the alternative receive beam, the default receive beam comprising a receive beam used for a previous initial network access.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the UE identifies the beam based on one of multiple spatial relationships between at least two source reference signals and the target signal, wherein the at least two source reference signals associated with different transmitter receiver points or different antenna panels, and the spatial PI indicates the one of the multiple spatial relationships.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the spatial PI indicates that only a subset of ports are preempted for transmitting or receiving the target signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises a physical downlink shared channel, and the UE is configured to perform rate matching for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) based on the preempted subset of ports, or the target signal comprises a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) with power boosting adjusted on one or more remaining ports that are not preempted.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the spatial PI indicates that another beam is substituted for the identified beam and no ports are preempted for transmitting or receiving the target signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the spatial PI is signaled via a group common downlink control information (DCI) transmission to a group of UEs that communicate via sidelink channels.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the UE is further configured to relay the spatial PI to one or more other UEs via a sidelink channel.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the at least one target signal comprises at least one target sidelink signal, and the UE identifies the beam based on a spatial relationship between a sidelink reference signal identified in the spatial PI and the target sidelink signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the spatial PI is received via at least one of a sidelink bandwidth part (BWP), or a BWP used for communication between the UE and a base station.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the time period is associated with a time period during which spatial PI is valid until additional signaling indicates otherwise, a current transmission time interval (TTI), or a previous TTI.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises a downlink signal comprising at least one of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), timing reference signal (TRS), downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises an uplink signal comprising at least one of: a sounding reference signal (SRS), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), uplink positioning reference signal (UL PRS), or demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises a sidelink signal comprising at least one of: a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), or physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

Embodiment <NUM>: A method of wireless communications by an apparatus, comprising identifying at least one beam corresponding to a direction at least one user equipment (UE) is to avoid using for at least one of transmitting or receiving a target signal, and transmitting, to the UE, signaling of a spatial preemption indication (PI) that indicates the at least one beam.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the spatial PI indicates the beam based on a spatial relationship between a source reference signal and the target signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises at least one of an uplink physical channel or a sidelink physical signal, and the spatial PI indicates the UE is to refrain from transmitting the uplink physical channel or sidelink channel using a transmit beam derived from the source reference signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM> or <NUM>, wherein the spatial PI indicates the UE is to skip transmitting the uplink physical channel or sidelink channel, or determine an alternative transmit beam for transmitting the uplink physical channel or sidelink channel, and the alternative transmit beam is signaled with the spatial PI.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises at least one of a downlink physical channel or a sidelink physical signal, and the spatial PI indicates the UE is to refrain from receiving the downlink physical channel or sidelink channel using a receive beam derived from the source reference signal.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the spatial PI indicates the UE is to skip processing a downlink physical channel or sidelink channel, or determine an alternative receive beam for processing the downlink physical channel or the sidelink channel.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the alternative receive beam is signaled with the spatial PI.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of any of Embodiments <NUM>-<NUM>, wherein the spatial PI indicates the UE is to identify the beam based on one of multiple spatial relationships between at least two source reference signals and the target signal, wherein the at least two source reference signals associated with different transmitter receiver points or different antenna panels, and the spatial PI indicates the one of the multiple spatial relationships.

Embodiment <NUM>: The method of Embodiment <NUM>, wherein the target signal comprises a physical downlink shared channel, and the spatial PI indicates the UE is to perform rate matching for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) based on the preempted subset of ports.

Embodiment <NUM>: An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising means for receiving signaling of a spatial preemption indication (PI), means for identifying, based on the spatial PI, at least one beam that the apparatus is preempted from using for at least one of transmitting or receiving at least one target signal, and means for refraining from using the identified beam for transmitting or receiving the target signal, for at least a time period.

Embodiment <NUM>: An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising means for identifying at least one beam corresponding to a direction at least one user equipment (UE) is to avoid using for at least one of transmitting or receiving a target signal, and means for transmitting, to the UE, signaling of a spatial preemption indication (PI) that indicates the at least one beam.

Embodiment <NUM>: An apparatus for wireless communication by a UE, comprising a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor being configured to receive signaling of a spatial PI, identifying, based on the spatial PI, at least one beam that the UE is preempted from using for at least one of transmitting or receiving at least one target signal, and refrain from using the identified beam for transmitting or receiving the target signal, for at least a time period.

Embodiment <NUM>: A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for receiving signaling of a spatial PI, identifying, based on the spatial PI, at least one beam that the UE is preempted from using for at least one of transmitting or receiving at least one target signal, and refraining from using the identified beam for transmitting or receiving the target signal, for at least a time period.

Embodiment <NUM>: An apparatus for wireless communication by an apparatus, comprising a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor being configured to identify at least one beam corresponding to a direction at least one UE is to avoid using for at least one of transmitting or receiving a target signal, and transmit, to the UE, signaling of a spatial PI that indicates the at least one beam.

Embodiment <NUM>: A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for identifying at least one beam corresponding to a direction at least one UE is to avoid using for at least one of transmitting or receiving a target signal and transmitting, to the UE, signaling of a spatial PI that indicates the at least one beam.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as NR (for example, <NUM> NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks.

For clarity, while aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communication systems.

In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a Node B (NB) or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (for example, several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (for example, a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (for example, UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.).

A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an appliance, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (for example, a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (for example, a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device (for example, remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (for example, a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link.

Some wireless networks (for example, LTE) utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. For example, a subband may cover <NUM> (for example, <NUM> RBs), and there may be <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> subbands for system bandwidth of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>, respectively.

A subframe contains a variable number of slots (for example, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>,.

A scheduling entity (for example, a BS) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity and may schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities (for example, one or more other UEs), and the other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, or in a mesh network.

As used herein, the term "determining" may encompass one or more of a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (for example, looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), assuming and the like. Also, "determining" may include receiving (for example, receiving information), accessing (for example, accessing data in a memory) and the like.

As used herein, "or" is used intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, "a or b" may include a only, b only, or a combination of a and b. As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" or "one or more of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of: a, b, or c" is intended to cover the possibilities of: a only, b only, c only, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a and b and c.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communications by a user equipment, UE (120a, 120b), comprising:
receiving signaling of a spatial preemption indication, PI;
identifying, based on the spatial PI, at least one beam that the UE (120a, 120b) is preempted from using for at least one of transmitting or receiving at least one target signal;
refraining from using the identified beam for transmitting or receiving the target signal, for at least a time period; and characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of:
determining an alternative beam for transmitting or receiving the at least one target signal, wherein:
the alternative beam is signaled with the spatial PI; or
a default beam is used as the alternative beam, the default beam comprising a beam used for a previous initial network access.