Patent Description:
In release <NUM> of <NUM> standard, mobility can be based on channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). It is unclear, however, regarding how to measure CSI-RS for frequency range <NUM> (FR2), e.g., neighboring cell beam information for a CSI-RS beam signal.

A CSI-RS beam and information thereof can be represented using quasi co-location (QCL) between reference signals. A defined user equipment (UE) behavior, however, is needed to address different scenarios and conditions with respect to a serving cell, a neighboring cell, and CSI-RS beams that are received through these cells. UE behavior for beam sweeping should address how to measure CSI-RS of both the serving cell and the neighbor cell under various conditions.

<CIT> discloses a UE receiving two CSI-RS signal through two cells.

In some embodiments, a method is described that includes receiving a first CSI-RS signal through a first cell and a second CSI-RS signal through a second cell. If respective QCL information is available to determine a first Rx beam to measure the first CSI-RS signal and a second Rx beam to measure the second CSI-RS signal, then if the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal are fully overlapped, then the method includes a) alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam and measuring the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam, b) measuring only the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam, or c) measuring only the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam. If some occasions of the second CSI-RS signal are not overlapped with the first CSI-RS signal, then the method includes a) measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and measuring the first CSI-RS signal when overlapped, or b) measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal when overlapped.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device that includes at least one antenna and one radio is described. The at least one radio is to perform cellular communications using a radio access technology that establishes a wireless link with a base station. The user equipment device further includes at least one or more processors that are configure to perform operations including, receiving a first CSI-RS signal through a first cell and a second CSI-RS signal through a second cell. If respective QCL information is available to determine a first Rx beam to measure the first CSI-RS signal and a second Rx beam to measure the second CSI-RS signal, then if the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal are fully overlapped, then the method includes a) alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam and measuring the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam, b) measuring only the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam, or c) measuring only the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam. If some occasions of the second CSI-RS signal are not overlapped with the first CSI-RS signal, then the method includes a) measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and measuring the first CSI-RS signal when overlapped, or b) measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal when overlapped. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

A method and apparatus of a device that measures a reference signal and manages Rx beams for communication between a user equipment device and a base station is described. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide thorough explanation of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.

Reference in the specification to "some embodiments" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase "in some embodiments" in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

The processes depicted in the figures that follow, are performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

The terms "server," "client," and "device" are intended to refer generally to data processing systems rather than specifically to a particular form factor for the server, client, and/or device.

A method and apparatus of a device that measures a reference signal used for downlink for a user equipment device and a base station is described. In some embodiments, the device is a user equipment device that has a wireless link with a base station. In some embodiments, the wireless link is a fifth generation (<NUM>) link. The device further groups and selects component carriers (CCs) from the wireless link and determines a virtual CC from the group of selected CCs. The device additionally can perform a physical downlink resource mapping based on an aggregate resource matching patterns of groups of CCs.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a "cell. " The base station 102A and the UEs <NUM> may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), <NUM> new radio (<NUM> NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an 'eNodeB' or 'eNB'. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of <NUM> NR, it may alternately be referred to as 'gNodeB' or 'gNB'.

In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR) base station, or "gNB". In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs).

Note that a UE <NUM> may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE <NUM> may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, <NUM> NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE <NUM> may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

<FIG> illustrates user equipment <NUM> (e.g., one of the devices 106A through 106N) in communication with a base station <NUM>, according to some embodiments. The UE <NUM> may be a device with cellular communication capability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE <NUM> may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT/1xEV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. An antenna array (e.g., for MIMO) can be used to implement beamforming at the UE end to increase signal to noise ratio (SNR) and reduce channel interference of a single data stream. Rx beams can be generated by the antenna array, each of the Rx beams having predefined spatial location and/or direction relative to the user equipment device. An appropriate Rx beam can be selected that is optimally aligned to receive a transmitted beam from a base station or neighboring cell to provide improved communication quality. User equipment can use conventional or adaptive beam formers to generate a plurality of Rx beams. The beams can be generated by applying a spatial filter (e.g., phase shifts and amplitude weights) or other equivalent beamforming algorithms to each antenna in the antenna array.

In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE <NUM> may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.

<FIG> illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device <NUM>, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device of <FIG> is only one example of a possible communication device. According to embodiments, communication device <NUM> may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device <NUM> may include a set of components <NUM> configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components <NUM> may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components <NUM> may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device <NUM>.

dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for <NUM> NR).

As shown, the SOC <NUM> may include processor(s) <NUM>, which may execute program instructions for the communication device <NUM> and display circuitry <NUM>, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display <NUM>. The processor(s) <NUM> may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) <NUM>, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) <NUM> and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory <NUM>, read only memory (ROM) <NUM>, NAND flash memory <NUM>) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry <NUM>, short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>, cellular communication circuitry <NUM>, connector I/F <NUM>, and/or display <NUM>. The MMU <NUM> may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU <NUM> may be included as a portion of the processor(s) <NUM>.

As noted above, the communication device <NUM> may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. The communication device <NUM> may also be configured to determine a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station. Further, the communication device <NUM> may be configured to group and select CCs from the wireless link and determine a virtual CC from the group of selected CCs. The wireless device may also be configured to perform a physical downlink resource mapping based on an aggregate resource matching patterns of groups of CCs.

As described herein, the communication device <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for measuring reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS signals), manages Rx beams, and determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a communications device <NUM> and a base station. The processor <NUM> of the communication device <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM> of the communication device <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> and short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry <NUM> and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. Thus, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry <NUM>. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry <NUM>. Similarly, the short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>.

In addition, a UE capable of operating according to <NUM> NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNB s.

<FIG> illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of <FIG> is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to embodiments, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may be included in a communication device, such as communication device <NUM> described above. As noted above, communication device <NUM> may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas <NUM> a-b and <NUM> as shown (in <FIG>). In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. For example, as shown in <FIG>, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include a modem <NUM> and a modem <NUM>. Modem <NUM> may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem <NUM> may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as <NUM> NR.

As described herein, the modem <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for measuring one or more reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS signals) and determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

As described herein, the modem <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for measuring reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS signals), managing Rx beams, and determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

<FIG> illustrates a UE device <NUM> in communication with a serving cell and neighbor cell, according to some embodiments. The UE <NUM> can include any or all of the features described in relation to UE <NUM>. UE <NUM> can generate multiple local receiving (Rx) beams <NUM>. These Rx beams can be formed at different positions around the UE to pick up wireless communication signals, e.g., electro-magnetic signals, from serving cell <NUM> and neighboring cell <NUM>. Wireless signals can include channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). These are downlink signals that are used to estimate channel and report channel quality information back to gNB. A CSI-RS signal can be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic. The CSI-RS can be CSI-RS layer <NUM> mobility signal, used during mobility and beam management.

The serving cell <NUM> communicates CSI-RS1 (a first CSI-RS signal) to the UE. The CSI-RS1 can be quasi co-located (QCL) with a synchronization signal block (SSB1) or another CSI-RS signal transmitted from the serving cell. This QCL information can be used to determine which of the Rx beams <NUM> should be used to receive CSI-RS1.

Similarly, the neighboring cell <NUM> can communicate CSI-RS2 to the UE. CSI-RS2 can also be quasi co-located with SSB2 or another CSI-RS signal transmitted from the neighbor cell. This QCL information can be used to determine which of the Rx beams should be used to receive CSI-RS2.

In some cases, however, QCL information may not be available. The UE may need to determine which of the Rx beams <NUM> to use for performing CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 measurements. In addition, when there is overlap between the CSI-RS signals, (e.g., if the CSI-RS signals are on the same time occasion and require pickup by different Rx beams), the UE may need to prioritize one CSI-RS over another. The UE should have the capability to adapt under different scenarios to sufficiently measure CSI-RS signals from the serving cell and the neighbor cell.

<FIG> shows a first scenario where CSI-RS1 (a first CSI-RS signal) and CSI-RS2 (a second CSI-RS signal) are communicated with respective QCL information. Respective QCL information can include quasi co-location (QCL) between a) the first CSI-RS signal and a first synchronization signal block from the first cell, b) the first CSI-RS signal and another CSI-RS signal from the first cell, c) the second CSI-RS signal and a second synchronization signal block from the second cell, and/or d) the second CSI-RS signal and another CSI-RS signal from the second cell. A first Rx beam can be determined based on the QCL information associated with CSI-RS1 and a second Rx beam can be determined based on the QCL information associated with CSI-RS2.

For example, based on QCL between CSI-RS1 and SSB1, the UE can determine that Rx1 is appropriate to receive CSI-RS1. In other words, the signal strength of CSI-RS1 received through this beam can be higher than if received through other beams. The same holds true for determining an Rx beam for CSI-RS2 communicated from neighboring cell <NUM>. Signals from different antenna ports of the same cell are said to be quasi co-located if properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed.

In <FIG>, the Rx beam that is selected by the UE to receive CSI-RS1 can be different from the Rx beam selected to receive CSI-RS2, because one Rx beam might be more optimal to receive CSI-RS1 while another Rx beam might be optimal to receive CSI-RS2. If the CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 signal overlap in the time domain (e.g., as shown in <FIG>), the UE cannot measure those CSI-RS signals simultaneously by using different Rx beams, because the UE is limited to one active Rx beam at a given time. Under these conditions, two sub-scenarios are appreciated.

<FIG> shows a first sub-scenario where CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 are fully overlapped on time domain with the same time offset and same periodicity. In other words, the signals are arriving and occurring over the same time at the UE, periodically. In this sub-scenario, the UE can opt to receive and measure the signals in the following manners.

In a first option to address this first sub-scenario, the UE can determine or be provided a sharing factor X (e.g., <NUM>%, <NUM>%, <NUM>%, <NUM>%, <NUM>%) through the network to allocate measurement resources. For example, if the sharing factor is <NUM>% for CSI-RS1, then in four out of ten periods, the UE can receive and measure CSI-RS1 through Rx1, and in six out of ten periods, the UE can receive and measure CSI-RS2 through Rx2.

Under a second option and third option of the first sub-scenario, the UE can always prioritize receiving and measuring either CSI-RS1 or CSI-RS2. For example, the UE can receive and measure only CSI-RS1 (e.g., through Rx1). Alternatively, the UE can receive and measure only CSI-RS2 (e.g., through Rx7).

<FIG> shows a second sub-scenario, where the CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 are partially overlapped in the time domain, e.g., they can have the same time offset and different periodicity. In this example, CSI-RS1 has period T and CSI-RS2 has a periodicity T/<NUM>. Thus, some of the CSI-RS2 occasions (periods of signal transmission) are not overlapped with CSI-RS1. Given that some of these occasions of CSI-RS2 are alone, UE can opt to receive and measure the signals in the following manners.

In a first option for the second sub-scenario, the UE performs CSI-RS2 measurement through the Rx beam determined based on the QCL information (in this example, Rx7), when the CSI-RS2 is not overlapped with CSI-RS1. The UE performs CSI-RS1 measurement through the Rx beam determined based on the CSI-RS1 QCL information (in this example Rx1) when the signals are overlapped.

In a second option for the second sub-scenario, the UE performs CSI-RS2 measurement (with Rx7) when the signals are not overlapped. The UE can use sharing factor X to allocate measurement resource for CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 on the overlapped occasion. In other words, with this option, the CSI-RS2 measurement will be taken when the signals overlap, but when the signals do not overlap, the measurements can alternate between receiving and measuring CSI-RS1 (with Rx1) and CSI-RS2 (with Rx7).

It should be understood that, although this example and others are illustrated with Rx1 used to receive CSI-RS1 and Rx7 used to receive CSI-RS2, any of the beams can be selected for pickup of a respective CSI-RS based on the QCL information associated with the respective CSI-RS signal, or based on beam sweeping measurements. In some cases, the CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 can use the same Rx beam, in which case, both signals can be received and measured with the same Rx beam. It should further be understood that although the Rx beams are shown as Rx0 through Rx7 in illustrated examples, the number, location, directionality, and direction of beams can vary depending on application (e.g., capacity of the antenna array of the UE) without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

<FIG> shows a second scenario where a CSI-RS (e.g., CSI-RS1) of the serving cell has available QCL information, but CSI-RS (e.g., CSI-RS2) of the neighbor cell has no available QCL information. The lack of QCL information associated with a CSI-RS signal can be due to different factors, such as but not limited to a) the network does not indicate this QCL information to UE or it is physically blocked, b) a previous measurement based on QCL information times out and is no longer relevant or useful for QCL, and/or c) a source reference signal in QCL chain is not available.

In this example, an Rx beam (a first Rx beam) for receiving CSI-RS1 is known or determined through QCL information. CSI-RS2 from the neighboring cell, however, does not have QCL information available. In this case, UE can perform beam sweeping to find an Rx beam (a second Rx beam) that is optimal to receive CSI-RS2 with. For beam sweeping, the UE can activate different beams with predefined locations and direction around the UE and measure a CSI-RS signal strength through each beam to determine which beam receives the CSI-RS with the greatest signal strength.

In this second scenario, CSI-RS1 may overlap with CSI-RS2 on some or all occasions on time domain, for example, depending on periodicity and time offset of each signal. The UE can decide on which occasions it can perform the CSI-RS1 measurement, and on which occasions it can sweep Rx beams for CSI-RS2.

If all occasions of CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 are fully overlapped in the second scenario, as shown in <FIG>, UE can prioritize Rx beam sweeping for CSI-RS2 measurement. The UE receives and measures CSI-RS1 on the occasions where the Rx beam of CSI-RS1 and the index of beam sweeping for CSI-RS2 are the same. For example, as beam sweeping is performed over Rx0, Rx1, Rx2. etc., CSI-RS2 is measured with each beam. When beam sweeping is indexed at Rx1, both CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 are measured through Rx1.

If some occasions of CSI-RS1 are not overlapped (but others are overlapped) with CSI-RS2 as shown in <FIG>, CSI-RS1 may have a shorter period than CSI-RS2 (e.g., CSI-RS1 has period T and CSI-RS2 has period 2T. The UE can beam sweep for all occasions of CSI-RS2. In such a case, UE can perform CSI-RS1 measurements on the occasions where the beam sweeping index falls on the Rx beam that is associated with CSI-RS1 (e.g., Rx1 in this example). UE can also perform the CSI-RS1 measurement on the occasions of CSI-RS1 that are not overlapped with CSI-RS2, using the known Rx beam for CSI-RS1 (Rx1).

If some occasions of CSI-RS2 are not overlapped (but others are overlapped) with CSI-RS1, as shown in <FIG>, then UE can perform Rx beam sweeping for CSI-RS2 measurement only on the non-overlapped occasions of CSI-RS2. UE may perform the beam sweeping for CSI-RS2 but skip the Rx beam selected to receive CSI-RS1 in the sweep sequence (Rx1 in this example) which improves efficiency and reduces redundancy. On the overlapped occasions, UE can use the Rx beam associated with CSI-RS1 to receive and measure both CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2.

Under a third scenario shown in <FIG>, the CSI-RS of the serving cell and the CSI-RS of the neighboring cell both lack QCL information to determine which Rx beam should be used for receiving the CSI-RS signals, respectively. If neither CSI-RS1 from cell <NUM> nor CSI-RS2 from Cell <NUM> has available QCL information, the UE can perform the beam sweeping for both CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2. For each time period, a single Rx beam can be used for measuring both CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2. In this case, the UE can use finer beam (more narrow) than typically used for SSB associated with a CSI-RS L3 signal.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, beam sweeping can be used to measure both CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 by measuring each signal over each Rx beam. CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 do not necessarily have to overlap completely, although shown as such in this example.

<FIG> shows a process that describes a measurement algorithm <NUM> for CSI-RS signals according to some embodiments, for example, in response to the first scenario shown in <FIG>. At operation <NUM>, the process includes receiving a first CSI-RS signal through a first cell and a second CSI-RS signal through a second cell. The first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal can be periodic, e.g., transmitted periodically over time.

At operation <NUM>, if respective QCL information is available to determine a first Rx beam to measure the first CSI-RS signal and a second Rx beam to measure the second CSI-RS signal, then the process can proceed to operation <NUM> or operation <NUM>. It should be noted that although the process is shown as sequentially performed through operation <NUM> to proceed to <NUM>, this is not required. The process proceeds depending on the situation of the CSI-RS signals as described.

At operation <NUM>, if the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal are fully overlapped, then the process can proceed to any one of three options. At option <NUM>, the process includes sharing resources by alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam and measuring the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam. At option <NUM> the process includes measuring only the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam. At option <NUM>, the process includes measuring only the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam.

At operation <NUM>, if some occasions of the second CSI-RS signal are not overlapped with the first CSI-RS signal (but others are overlapped), then the process can proceed to any of two options. At option <NUM>, the process includes measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and measuring the first CSI-RS signal when overlapped. At option <NUM>, the process includes measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal when overlapped. It should be understood that the options can selected based on application and/or network behavior or network conditions.

<FIG> shows a process according to some embodiments that describes a measurement and sweeping algorithm <NUM> for CSI-RS signals, for example, in response to the second scenario shown in <FIG>. A first CSI-RS signal and a second CSI-RS signal are received by the UE. At operation <NUM>, if the respective QCL information is available to determine the first Rx beam to measure the first CSI-RS signal, and the respective QCL information is not available to determine the second Rx beam, then the process proceeds to operation <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>, depending on the condition. The operations <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> need not be performed sequentially as shown.

At operation <NUM>, if the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal are fully overlapped, then the process can proceed to operation <NUM>. Full overlap can occur when both signals have the same period and same time offset. Thus, the CSI-RS signals are received at the UE at the same time and the UE must resolve how to measure both signals.

At operation <NUM>, the process includes beam sweeping over a plurality of Rx beams that includes the first Rx beam, to measure the second CSI-RS signal over each of the plurality of Rx beams. At operation <NUM>, the process includes measuring the first CSI-RS signal (and the second CSI-RS signal together) when the beam sweeping is indexed on the first Rx beam. The second Rx beam can be determined based on the sweep measurements of the second CSI-RS signal over the plurality of Rx beams (e.g., based on which Rx beam receives the CSI-RS signal with the highest strength). Operations <NUM> and <NUM> are also described in other sections in relation to <FIG>.

At operation <NUM>, if some occasions of the first CSI-RS signal are not overlapped with the second CSI-RS signal (and others are overlapped), then the process can proceed to operation <NUM>. At <NUM>, the process includes beam sweeping over a plurality of Rx beams (e.g., Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, etc. as shown in <FIG>) that includes the first Rx beam, to measure the second CSI-RS signal over each of the plurality of Rx beams. At block <NUM>, the process includes measuring the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam on a) non-overlapped occasions of the first CSI-RS signal, and/or b) when the beam sweeping is indexed on the first Rx beam. Operations <NUM> and <NUM> as discussed in other sections in relation to <FIG>. As discussed, the second Rx beam can be determined based on sweep measurements of the second CSI-RS signal over the plurality of Rx beams.

At operation <NUM>, if some occasions of the second CSI-RS signal are not overlapped with the first CSI-RS signal (but others are), then the process can proceed to operation <NUM>. At operation <NUM>, the process includes measuring, on overlapped occasions, the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam. At operation <NUM>, the process includes beam sweeping over the plurality of Rx beams that does not include the first Rx beam, on non-overlapped occasions of the second CSI-RS signal, to measure the second CSI-RS signal over each of the plurality of Rx beams. In other words, the first Rx beam is skipped during the sweep because the second CSI-RS signal is measured at the first Rx beam at operation <NUM>. Operations <NUM> and <NUM> are further described in relation to <FIG>. The second Rx beam can be determined based on the sweep measurements of the second CSI-RS signal over the plurality of Rx beams.

Thus, based on the above, although the second CSI-RS signal lacked respective QCL information, the UE can manage beams and measurement to determine which Rx beam to use to receive the second CSI-RS signal while also measuring the first CSI-RS signal.

<FIG> shows a process according to some embodiments that describes a measurement and sweeping algorithm <NUM> for CSI-RS signals, for example, in response to the third scenario shown in <FIG>. At operation <NUM>, if the respective QCL information is not available to determine the first Rx beam and the second Rx beam, then the process can proceed to operation <NUM>. At operation <NUM>, the process includes beam sweeping over a plurality of Rx beams that includes the first Rx beam and the second Rx beam. At <NUM>, each of the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal are measured over each of the plurality of Rx beams. The first Rx beam and the second Rx beam can be determined based on measurements of the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal over the plurality of Rx beams. In other words, the Rx beam that yields the highest signal strength for the first CSI-RS can be designated as a first Rx beam to use to receive the first CSI-RS signal. Similarly, the Rx beam that yields the highest signal strength for the second CSI-RS signal can be designated as a second Rx beam to use to receive the second CSI-RS signal. Operations <NUM> and <NUM> are discussed in other sections, for example, relative to <FIG>.

It should be understood that a UE can implement different combinations of the strategies discussed under varying conditions of CSI-RS signals. <FIG> shows a combination of strategies according to some embodiments. At operation <NUM>, a first and second CSI-RS signal are received, as discussed in other sections. At operation <NUM>, if both CSI-RS signals have available QCL information, the process proceeds to operation <NUM>, which is described in other sections. At operation <NUM>, if the first CSI-RS signal has available QCL information but the second CSI-RS signal does not, then the process proceeds to operation <NUM>, which is described in other sections. At operation <NUM>, if both the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal both lack respective QCL information, then the process proceeds to operation <NUM>, which is described in other sections. In such a manner, the UE can implement a comprehensive and adaptive CSI-RS measurement and sweeping strategy for a serving cell and a neighboring cell under the different conditions described.

Portions of what was described above may be implemented with logic circuitry such as a dedicated logic circuit or with a microcontroller or other form of processing core that executes program code instructions. Thus processes taught by the discussion above may be performed with program code such as machine-executable instructions that cause a machine that executes these instructions to perform certain functions. In this context, a "machine" may be a machine that converts intermediate form (or "abstract") instructions into processor specific instructions (e.g., an abstract execution environment such as a "virtual machine" (e.g., a Java Virtual Machine), an interpreter, a Common Language Runtime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc.), and/or, electronic circuitry disposed on a semiconductor chip (e.g., "logic circuitry" implemented with transistors) designed to execute instructions such as a general-purpose processor and/or a special-purpose processor. Processes taught by the discussion above may also be performed by (in the alternative to a machine or in combination with a machine) electronic circuitry designed to perform the processes (or a portion thereof) without the execution of program code.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine readable medium includes read only memory ("ROM"); random access memory ("RAM"); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc..

An article of manufacture may be used to store program code. An article of manufacture that stores program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic or other)), optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or other type of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communication link (e.g., a network connection)).

The preceding detailed descriptions are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated.

It should be kept in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "selecting," "determining," "receiving," "forming," "grouping," "aggregating," "generating," "removing," or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be evident from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language.

Claim 1:
A method, performed by one or more processors (<NUM>) of a user equipment (<NUM>), comprising:
receiving a first Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS, signal through a first cell and a second CSI-RS signal through a second cell, the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal being periodic;
if respective Quasi Co-Location, QCL, information is available to determine a first Rx beam to measure the first CSI-RS signal and a second Rx beam to measure the second CSI-RS signal (<NUM>), then
if the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal are fully overlapped (<NUM>), then a) alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam and measuring the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam (<NUM>), b) measuring only the first CSI-RS signal with the first Rx beam (<NUM>), or c) measuring only the second CSI-RS signal with the second Rx beam (<NUM>); and
if some occasions of the second CSI-RS signal are not overlapped with the first CSI-RS signal (<NUM>), then a) measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and measuring the first CSI-RS signal when overlapped (<NUM>), or b) measuring the second CSI-RS signal when not overlapped, and alternating between measuring the first CSI-RS signal and the second CSI-RS signal when overlapped (<NUM>).