Patent Description:
These systems may be accessed by various types of devices adapted to facilitate wireless communications, where multiple devices share the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power).

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance wireless communication technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications. For example, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an organization that develops and maintains telecommunication standards for fourth generation (<NUM>) long-term evolution (LTE) networks and fifth generation (<NUM>) new radio (NR) networks. <NUM> NR networks may exhibit a higher degree of flexibility and scalability than LTE, and are envisioned to support very diverse sets of requirements. Techniques applicable in such networks for ensuring reliable communications between devices may be desirable.

<NPL>") provides a summary of agreements on NR positioning including a discussion of UL and DL reference signals for NR positioning, UE and gNB measurements for NR positioning, necessity and details for physical-layer procedures to support UE and gNB measurements.

<NPL>") provides a summary of discussions on physical layer aspects of enhanced mobility including aspects of downlink control based handover and mobile broad band based handover enhancements.

Various examples and implementations facilitate measuring path loss utilizing a synchronization signal block (SSB) and utilizing such measurements for transmit power control. According to at least one example, a wireless communication device is disclosed. In at least one example, a wireless communication device may include a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be adapted to receive a spatial relation reference signal. The processor may further be adapted to determine an SSB in quasi-colocation (QCL) with the received spatial relation reference signal, and measure a path loss associated with the determined SSB. The processor may also be adapted to conduct transmit power control based on the measured path loss associated with the determined SSB, and send a transmission according to the transmit power control.

Additional aspects of the present disclosure include methods operational on a wireless communication device and/or means for performing such methods. According to at least one example, such methods may include receiving a spatial relation reference signal, and determining a SSB quasi-colocated with the received spatial relation reference signal. A path loss associated with the determined SSB may be estimated, and a transmit power may be determined based on the measured path loss. A transmission may be sent utilizing the determined transmit power.

Still further aspects of the present disclosure include a processor-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions. In at least one example, the processor-executable instructions may be adapted to cause a processor to obtain a spatial relation reference signal and determine a SSB quasi-colocated with the received spatial relation reference signal. The processor-executable instructions may be further adapted to cause a processor to estimate path loss associated with the determined SSB. The processor-executable instructions may be further adapted to cause a processor to conduct transmit power control based on the estimated path loss associated with the determined SSB.

In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

While aspects and embodiments are described in this application by illustration to some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may come about in many different arrangements and scenarios. Innovations described herein may be implemented across many differing platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and/or uses may come about via integrated chip embodiments and other non-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specifically directed to use cases or applications, a wide assortment of applicability of described innovations may occur. Implementations may range a spectrum from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations and further to aggregate, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementation and practice of claimed and described embodiments. For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily includes a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antenna, RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffer, processor(s), interleaver, adders/summers, etc.). It is intended that innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc. of varying sizes, shapes, and constitution.

The radio access network <NUM> is further illustrated supporting wireless communication for multiple mobile apparatuses. A mobile apparatus may be referred to as user equipment (UE) in 3GPP standards, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE may be an apparatus that provides a user with access to network services.

Within the present document, a "mobile" apparatus need not necessarily have a capability to move, and may be stationary. The term mobile apparatus or mobile device broadly refers to a diverse array of devices and technologies. UEs may include a number of hardware structural components sized, shaped, and arranged to help in communication; such components can include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc. electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of a mobile apparatus include a mobile, a cellular (cell) phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal computer (PC), a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a broad array of embedded systems, e.g., corresponding to an "Internet of things" (IoT). A mobile apparatus may additionally be an automotive or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotics device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, a remote control device, a consumer and/or wearable device, such as eyewear, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a digital home or smart home device such as a home audio, video, and/or multimedia device, an appliance, a vending machine, intelligent lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device controlling electric power (e.g., a smart grid), lighting, water, etc., an industrial automation and enterprise device, a logistics controller, agricultural equipment, military defense equipment, vehicles, aircraft, ships, and weaponry, etc. Still further, a mobile apparatus may provide for connected medicine or telemedicine support, e.g., health care at a distance. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth administration devices, whose communication may be given preferential treatment or prioritized access over other types of information, e.g., in terms of prioritized access for transport of critical service data, and/or relevant QoS for transport of critical service data.

Referring now to <FIG>, by way of example and without limitation, a schematic illustration of a RAN <NUM> is provided. In some examples, the RAN <NUM> may be the same as the RAN <NUM> described above and illustrated in <FIG>. The geographic area covered by the RAN <NUM> may be divided into cellular regions (cells) that can be uniquely identified by a user equipment (UE) based on an identification broadcasted from one access point or base station. <FIG> illustrates macrocells <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and a small cell <NUM>, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of a cell. All sectors within one cell are served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identification belonging to that sector. In a cell that is divided into sectors, the multiple sectors within a cell can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

In <FIG>, two base stations <NUM> and <NUM> are shown in cells <NUM> and <NUM>, and a third base station <NUM> is shown controlling a remote radio head (RRH) <NUM> in cell <NUM>.

Within the RAN <NUM>, the cells may include UEs that may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. Further, each base station <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be configured to provide an access point to a core network <NUM> (see <FIG>) for all the UEs in the respective cells. For example, UEs <NUM> and <NUM> may be in communication with base station <NUM>, UEs <NUM> and <NUM> may be in communication with base station <NUM>, UEs <NUM> and <NUM> may be in communication with base station <NUM> by way of RRH <NUM>, UE <NUM> may be in communication with base station <NUM>, and UE <NUM> may be in communication with mobile base station <NUM>. In some examples, the UEs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> may be the same as the UE/scheduled entity <NUM> described above and illustrated in <FIG>.

In a further aspect of the RAN <NUM>, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs <NUM> and <NUM>) may communicate with each other using peer to peer (P2P) or sidelink signals <NUM> without relaying that communication through a base station (e.g., base station <NUM>). In a further example, UE <NUM> is illustrated communicating with UEs <NUM> and <NUM>. Here, the UE <NUM> may function as a scheduling entity or a primary sidelink device, and UEs <NUM> and <NUM> may function as a scheduled entity or a non-primary (e.g., secondary) sidelink device. In still another example, a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a device-to-device (D2D), peer-to-peer (P2P), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, UEs <NUM> and <NUM> may optionally communicate directly with one another in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity <NUM>. Thus, in a wireless communication system with scheduled access to time-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration, or a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one or more scheduled entities may communicate utilizing the scheduled resources.

In the radio access network <NUM>, the ability for a UE to communicate while moving, independent of its location, is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network are generally set up, maintained, and released under the control of an access and mobility management function (AMF, not illustrated, part of the core network <NUM> in <FIG>), which may include a security context management function (SCMF) that manages the security context for both the control plane and the user plane functionality, and a security anchor function (SEAF) that performs authentication.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the scheduling entity and/or scheduled entity may be configured for beamforming and/or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. <FIG> illustrates an example of a wireless communication system <NUM> supporting MIMO. In a MIMO system, a transmitter <NUM> includes multiple transmit antennas <NUM> (e.g., N transmit antennas) and a receiver <NUM> includes multiple receive antennas <NUM> (e.g., M receive antennas). Thus, there are N × M signal paths <NUM> from the transmit antennas <NUM> to the receive antennas <NUM>. Each of the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may be implemented, for example, within a scheduling entity <NUM>, a scheduled entity <NUM>, or any other suitable wireless communication device.

The use of such multiple antenna technology enables the wireless communication system to exploit the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity. Spatial multiplexing may be used to transmit different streams of data, also referred to as layers, simultaneously on the same time-frequency resource. The data streams may be transmitted to a single UE to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs to increase the overall system capacity, the latter being referred to as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). This is achieved by spatially precoding each data stream (i.e., multiplying the data streams with different weighting and phase shifting) and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream through multiple transmit antennas on the downlink. The spatially precoded data streams arrive at the UE(s) with different spatial signatures, which enables each of the UE(s) to recover the one or more data streams destined for that UE. On the uplink, each UE transmits a spatially precoded data stream, which enables the base station to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

The number of data streams or layers corresponds to the rank of the transmission. In general, the rank of the MIMO system <NUM> is limited by the number of transmit or receive antennas <NUM> or <NUM>, whichever is lower. In addition, the channel conditions at the UE, as well as other considerations, such as the available resources at the base station, may also affect the transmission rank. For example, the rank (and therefore, the number of data streams) assigned to a particular UE on the downlink may be determined based on the rank indicator (RI) transmitted from the UE to the base station. The RI may be determined based on the antenna configuration (e.g., the number of transmit and receive antennas) and a measured signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) on each of the receive antennas. The RI may indicate, for example, the number of layers that may be supported under the current channel conditions. The base station may use the RI, along with resource information (e.g., the available resources and amount of data to be scheduled for the UE), to assign a transmission rank to the UE.

In Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, the UL and DL are reciprocal, in that each uses different time slots of the same frequency bandwidth. Therefore, in TDD systems, the base station may assign the rank for DL MIMO transmissions based on UL SINR measurements (e.g., based on a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmitted from the UE or other pilot signal). Based on the assigned rank, the base station may then transmit the CSI-RS with separate C-RS sequences for each layer to provide for multilayer channel estimation. From the CSI-RS, the UE may measure the channel quality across layers and resource blocks and feed back the CQI and RI values to the base station for use in updating the rank and assigning REs for future downlink transmissions.

In the simplest case, as shown in <FIG>, a rank-<NUM> spatial multiplexing transmission on a 2x2 MIMO antenna configuration will transmit one data stream from each transmit antenna <NUM>. Each data stream reaches each receive antenna <NUM> along a different signal path <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may then reconstruct the data streams using the received signals from each receive antenna <NUM>.

In some implementations, a scheduled entity may utilize various reference signals for uplink communications. For example, a scheduled entity may utilize a spatial relation reference signal (RS) to indicate quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships for uplink channels. Generally, a spatial relation RS is a reference signal that indicates QCL relationships for uplink channels. The scheduled entity may accordingly utilize the spatial relation RS to indicate the uplink beam to be utilized. Further, a scheduled entity may utilize a pathloss RS to conduct uplink power control of respective uplink channels. Generally, a pathloss RS is a downlink reference signal that enables the scheduled entity to estimate the pathloss. A scheduled entity may accordingly utilize the received pathloss RS to estimate a path loss for uplink transmit power determination in order to satisfy the received signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) at scheduling entity side without UE power waste.

The pathloss RS and the spatial relation RS may be defined in various manners. According to some aspects, these reference signals can be defined separately for one or more channels (e.g., for each of the uplink channels, such as SRS, PUCCH, PUSCH). Additionally, the pathloss RS and spatial relation RS are typically updated through separate signaling. As a result, the pathloss RS may not be in sync with the spatial relation RS. That is, the pathloss RS and spatial relation RS may not be in sync for the same signal path. For example, the spatial relation RS may update separate from the pathloss RS. As a result, the scheduled entity may estimate path loss based on the pathloss RS that is not current with the spatial relation RS. In other words, the scheduled entity may estimate path loss for the wrong path, as the spatial relation RS would indicate an updated signal path. In such an example, an incorrect path loss estimation may result in an uplink transmit power determination that is also incorrect. Such a result may be especially problematic for open loop uplink power, where the pathloss RS may be the only source for estimating the power needs for uplink transmissions.

According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, wireless communication devices are configured to perform path loss estimations. This can be done, for example, utilizing a synchronization signal block (SSB) that is in quasi-colocation (QCL) with the source of the spatial relation RS. The SSB is a conventional transmission that may include a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and/or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). By utilizing the SSB that is quasi-colocated (QCL'ed) with the spatial relation RS to estimate path loss for UL transmit power determinations, a wireless communication device can ensure that the path loss estimations are current with any spatial relation RS updates. Ensuring the path loss estimations are correct for the current beam(s) can ensure that uplink power control is accurate.

A QCL relationship may include a situation where properties of a channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from a channel over which a symbol on another antenna port is conveyed. For example, if signal A is QCL'ed to signal B, then signal A has gone through the similar channel condition as signal B. The channel information estimated to detect signal A can also help detect signal B. Numerous factors can define the channel condition. Current 3GPP descriptions of such channel condition can include Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, and/or spatial Rx parameter. One or more of these factors can form a property of the channel that two signals share. Currently, predefined groups of these factors are labeled as QCL types. For example, Type-A includes Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread. Type-B includes Doppler shift and Doppler spread. Type-C includes average delay and Doppler shift. Type-D includes spatial Rx parameter. By way of an example, signal A is QCL'ed with signal B by type-C when signal A and signal B are transmitted on a similar radio channel that shares similar properties in terms of average delay and Doppler shift,.

<FIG> illustrates an example of an architecture <NUM> that supports beamformed communications in a mmW channel in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some aspects, diagram <NUM> may be an example of the transmitting device and/or a receiving device as described herein.

Broadly, <FIG> is a diagram illustrating example hardware components of a wireless device in accordance with certain aspects of the disclosure. The illustrated components may include those that may be used for antenna element selection and/or for beamforming for transmission of wireless signals. There are numerous architectures for antenna element selection and implementing phase shifting, only one example of which is illustrated here.

As shown, <FIG> illustrates a variety of components. For example, the architecture <NUM> includes a modem (modulator/demodulator) <NUM>, a digital to analog converter (DAC) <NUM>, a first mixer <NUM>, a second mixer <NUM>, and a splitter <NUM>. The architecture <NUM> also includes a plurality of first amplifiers <NUM>, a plurality of phase shifters <NUM>, a plurality of second amplifiers <NUM>, and an antenna array <NUM> that includes a plurality of antenna elements <NUM>. Transmission lines or other waveguides, wires, traces, or the like are shown connecting the various components to illustrate how signals to be transmitted may travel between components. Boxes <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> indicate regions in the architecture <NUM> in which different types of signals travel or are processed. Specifically, box <NUM> indicates a region in which digital baseband signals travel or are processed, box <NUM> indicates a region in which analog baseband signals travel or are processed, box <NUM> indicates a region in which analog intermediate frequency (IF) signals travel or are processed, and box <NUM> indicates a region in which analog radio frequency (RF) signals travel or are processed. The architecture also includes a local oscillator A <NUM>, a local oscillator B <NUM>, and a controller <NUM>.

Each of the antenna elements <NUM> may include one or more sub-elements (not shown) for radiating or receiving RF signals. For example, a single antenna element <NUM> may include a first sub-element cross-polarized with a second sub-element that can be used to independently transmit cross-polarized signals. The antenna elements <NUM> may include patch antennas or other types of antennas arranged in a linear, two dimensional, or other pattern. A spacing between antenna elements <NUM> may be such that signals with a desired wavelength transmitted separately by the antenna elements <NUM> may interact or interfere (e.g., to form a desired beam). For example, given an expected range of wavelengths or frequencies, the spacing may provide a quarter wavelength, half wavelength, or other fraction of a wavelength of spacing between neighboring antenna elements <NUM> to allow for interaction or interference of signals transmitted by the separate antenna elements <NUM> within that expected range.

The modem <NUM> processes and generates digital baseband signals and may also control operation of the DAC <NUM>, first and second mixers <NUM>, <NUM>, splitter <NUM>, first amplifiers <NUM>, phase shifters <NUM>, and/or the second amplifiers <NUM> to transmit signals via one or more or all of the antenna elements <NUM>. The modem <NUM> may process signals and control operation in accordance with a communication standard such as a wireless standard discussed herein. The DAC <NUM> may convert digital baseband signals received from the modem <NUM> (and that are to be transmitted) into analog baseband signals. The first mixer <NUM> upconverts analog baseband signals to analog IF signals within an IF using a local oscillator A <NUM>. For example, the first mixer <NUM> may mix the signals with an oscillating signal generated by the local oscillator A <NUM> to "move" the baseband analog signals to the IF. In some cases some processing or filtering (not shown) may take place at the IF. The second mixer <NUM> upconverts the analog IF signals to analog RF signals using the local oscillator B <NUM>. Similarly to the first mixer, the second mixer <NUM> may mix the signals with an oscillating signal generated by the local oscillator B <NUM> to "move" the IF analog signals to the RF, or the frequency at which signals will be transmitted or received. The modem <NUM> and/or the controller <NUM> may adjust the frequency of local oscillator A <NUM> and/or the local oscillator B <NUM> so that a desired IF and/or RF frequency is produced and used to facilitate processing and transmission of a signal within a desired bandwidth.

In the illustrated architecture <NUM>, signals upconverted by the second mixer <NUM> are split or duplicated into multiple signals by the splitter <NUM>. The splitter <NUM> in architecture <NUM> splits the RF signal into a plurality of identical or nearly identical RF signals, as denoted by its presence in box <NUM>. In other examples, the split may take place with any type of signal including with baseband digital, baseband analog, or IF analog signals. Each of these signals may correspond to an antenna element <NUM> and the signal travels through and is processed by amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM>, phase shifters <NUM>, and/or other elements corresponding to the respective antenna element <NUM> to be provided to and transmitted by the corresponding antenna element <NUM> of the antenna array <NUM>. In one example, the splitter <NUM> may be an active splitter that is connected to a power supply and provides some gain so that RF signals exiting the splitter <NUM> are at a power level equal to or greater than the signal entering the splitter <NUM>. In another example, the splitter <NUM> is a passive splitter that is not connected to power supply and the RF signals exiting the splitter <NUM> may be at a power level lower than the RF signal entering the splitter <NUM>.

After being split by the splitter <NUM>, the resulting RF signals may enter an amplifier, such as a first amplifier <NUM>, or a phase shifter <NUM> corresponding to an antenna element <NUM>. The first and second amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM> are illustrated with dashed lines because one or both of them might not be necessary in some implementations. In one implementation, both the first amplifier <NUM> and second amplifier <NUM> are present. In another, neither the first amplifier <NUM> nor the second amplifier <NUM> is present. In other implementations, one of the two amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM> is present but not the other. By way of example, if the splitter <NUM> is an active splitter, the first amplifier <NUM> may not be used. By way of further example, if the phase shifter <NUM> is an active phase shifter that can provide a gain, the second amplifier <NUM> might not be used. The amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM> may provide a desired level of positive or negative gain. A positive gain (positive dB) may be used to increase an amplitude of a signal for radiation by a specific antenna element <NUM>. A negative gain (negative dB) may be used to decrease an amplitude and/or suppress radiation of the signal by a specific antenna element. Each of the amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM> may be controlled independently (e.g., by the modem <NUM> or controller <NUM>) to provide independent control of the gain for each antenna element <NUM>. For example, the modem <NUM> and/or the controller <NUM> may have at least one control line connected to each of the splitter <NUM>, first amplifiers <NUM>, phase shifters <NUM>, and/or second amplifiers <NUM> which may be used to configure a gain to provide a desired amount of gain for each component and thus each antenna element <NUM>.

The phase shifter <NUM> may provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset to a corresponding RF signal to be transmitted. The phase shifter <NUM> could be a passive phase shifter not directly connected to a power supply. Passive phase shifters might introduce some insertion loss. The second amplifier <NUM> could boost the signal to compensate for the insertion loss. The phase shifter <NUM> could be an active phase shifter connected to a power supply such that the active phase shifter provides some amount of gain or prevents insertion loss. The settings of each of the phase shifters <NUM> are independent meaning that each can be set to provide a desired amount of phase shift or the same amount of phase shift or some other configuration. The modem <NUM> and/or the controller <NUM> may have at least one control line connected to each of the phase shifters <NUM> and which may be used to configure the phase shifters <NUM> to provide a desired amounts of phase shift or phase offset between antenna elements <NUM>.

In the illustrated architecture <NUM>, RF signals received by the antenna elements <NUM> are provided to one or more of first amplifier <NUM> to boost the signal strength. The first amplifier <NUM> may be connected to the same antenna arrays <NUM>, e.g., for TDD operations. The first amplifier <NUM> may be connected to different antenna arrays <NUM>. The boosted RF signal is input into one or more of phase shifter <NUM> to provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset for the corresponding received RF signal. The phase shifter <NUM> may be an active phase shifter or a passive phase shifter. The settings of the phase shifters <NUM> are independent, meaning that each can be set to provide a desired amount of phase shift or the same amount of phase shift or some other configuration. The modem <NUM> and/or the controller <NUM> may have at least one control line connected to each of the phase shifters <NUM> and which may be used to configure the phase sifters <NUM> to provide a desired amount of phase shift or phase offset between antenna elements <NUM>.

The outputs of the phase shifters <NUM> may be input to one or more second amplifiers <NUM> for signal amplification of the phase shifted received RF signals. The second amplifiers <NUM> may be individually configured to provide a configured amount of gain. The second amplifiers <NUM> may be individually configured to provide an amount of gain to ensure that the signal input to combiner <NUM> have the same magnitude. The amplifiers <NUM> and/or <NUM> are illustrated in dashed lines because they might not be necessary in some implementations. In one implementation, both the amplifier <NUM> and the amplifier <NUM> are present. In another, neither the amplifier <NUM> nor the amplifier <NUM> are present. In other implementations, one of the amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM> is present but not the other.

In the illustrated architecture <NUM>, signals output by the phase shifters <NUM> (via the amplifiers <NUM> when present) are combined in combiner <NUM>. The combiner <NUM> in architecture combines the RF signal into a signal, as denoted by its presence in box <NUM>. The combiner <NUM> may be a passive combiner, e.g., not connected to a power source, which may result in some insertion loss. The combiner <NUM> may be an active combiner, e.g., connected to a power source, which may result in some signal gain. When combiner <NUM> is an active combiner, it may provide a different (e.g., configurable) amount of gain for each input signal so that the input signals have the same magnitude when they are combined. When combiner <NUM> is an active combiner, it may not need the second amplifier <NUM> because the active combiner may provide the signal amplification.

The output of the combiner <NUM> is input into mixers <NUM> and <NUM>. Mixers <NUM> and <NUM> generally down convert the received RF signal using inputs from local oscillators <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, to create intermediate or baseband signals that carry the encoded and modulated information. The output of the mixers <NUM> and <NUM> are input into an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) <NUM> for conversion to analog signals. The analog signals output from ADC <NUM> is input to modem <NUM> for baseband processing, e.g., decoding, de-interleaving, etc..

The architecture <NUM> is given by way of example only to illustrate an architecture for transmitting and/or receiving signals. It will be understood that the architecture <NUM> and/or each portion of the architecture <NUM> may be repeated multiple times within an architecture to accommodate or provide an arbitrary number of RF chains, antenna elements, and/or antenna panels. Furthermore, numerous alternate architectures are possible and contemplated. For example, although only a single antenna array <NUM> is shown, two, three, or more antenna arrays may be included each with one or more of their own corresponding amplifiers, phase shifters, splitters, mixers, DACs, ADCs, and/or modems. For example, a single UE may include two, four or more antenna arrays for transmitting or receiving signals at different physical locations on the UE or in different directions. Furthermore, mixers, splitters, amplifiers, phase shifters and other components may be located in different signal type areas (e.g., different ones of the boxes <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) in different implemented architectures. For example, a split of the signal to be transmitted into a plurality of signals may take place at the analog RF, analog IF, analog baseband, or digital baseband frequencies in different examples.

Similarly, amplification, and/or phase shifts may also take place at different frequencies. For example, in some contemplated implementations, one or more of the splitter <NUM>, amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM>, or phase shifters <NUM> may be located between the DAC <NUM> and the first mixer <NUM> or between the first mixer <NUM> and the second mixer <NUM>. In one example, the functions of one or more of the components may be combined into one component. For example, the phase shifters <NUM> may perform amplification to include or replace the first and/or second amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM>. By way of another example, a phase shift may be implemented by the second mixer <NUM> to obviate the need for a separate phase shifter <NUM>. This technique is sometimes called local oscillator (LO) phase shifting. In one implementation of this configuration, there may be a plurality of IF to RF mixers (e.g., for each antenna element chain) within the second mixer <NUM> and the local oscillator B <NUM> would supply different local oscillator signals (with different phase offsets) to each IF to RF mixer.

The modem <NUM> and/or the controller <NUM> may control one or more of the other components <NUM>-<NUM> to select one or more antenna elements <NUM> and/or to form beams for transmission of one or more signals. For example, the antenna elements <NUM> may be individually selected or deselected for transmission of a signal (or signals) by controlling an amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers, such as the first amplifiers <NUM> and/or the second amplifiers <NUM>.

Beamforming includes generation of a beam using a plurality of signals on different antenna elements where one or more or all of the plurality signals are shifted in phase relative to each other. The formed beam may carry physical or higher layer reference signals or information. As each signal of the plurality of signals is radiated from a respective antenna element <NUM>, the radiated signals interact, interfere (constructive and destructive interference), and amplify each other to form a resulting beam. The shape (such as the amplitude, width, and/or presence of side lobes) and the direction (such as an angle of the beam relative to a surface of the antenna array <NUM>) can be dynamically controlled by modifying the phase shifts or phase offsets imparted by the phase shifters <NUM> and amplitudes imparted by the amplifiers <NUM>, <NUM> of the plurality of signals relative to each other.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating various components of a wireless communication device <NUM> employing a processing system <NUM> according to at least one example of the present disclosure. In some instances, the modem <NUM> and/or the controller <NUM> described above with reference to <FIG> may be implemented by, and/or located partially or fully within the processing system <NUM> (e.g., processing circuit <NUM>, storage medium <NUM>).

In the depicted example, the processing system <NUM> is implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus <NUM>. The bus <NUM> may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system <NUM> and the overall design constraints. The bus <NUM> communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (represented generally by the processing circuit <NUM>), a memory <NUM>, and computer-readable media (represented generally by the storage medium <NUM>). The bus <NUM> may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. A bus interface <NUM> provides an interface between the bus <NUM> and a transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. In some instances, various components in <FIG> (e.g., in boxes <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or local oscillators <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) may be implemented by, and/or located partially or fully within the transceiver <NUM>. Depending upon the nature of the apparatus, a user interface <NUM> (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

The processing circuit <NUM> is responsible for managing the bus <NUM> and general processing, including the execution of programming stored on the computer-readable storage medium <NUM>. The programming, when executed by the processing circuit <NUM>, causes the processing system <NUM> to perform the various functions described below for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable storage medium <NUM> and the memory <NUM> may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processing circuit <NUM> when executing programming. As used herein, the term "programming" shall be construed broadly to include without limitation instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

The processing circuit <NUM> is arranged to obtain, process and/or send data, control data access and storage, issue commands, and control other desired operations. The processing circuit <NUM> may include circuitry adapted to implement desired programming provided by appropriate media, and/or circuitry adapted to perform one or more functions described in this disclosure. For example, the processing circuit <NUM> may be implemented as one or more processors, one or more controllers, and/or other structure configured to execute executable programming and/or execute specific functions. Examples of the processing circuit <NUM> may include a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and/or other programmable logic component, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may include a microprocessor, as well as any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processing circuit <NUM> may also be implemented as a combination of computing components, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a number of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, an ASIC and a microprocessor, or any other number of varying configurations. These examples of the processing circuit <NUM> are for illustration and other suitable configurations within the scope of the present disclosure are also contemplated.

In some instances, the processing circuit <NUM> may include an SSB QCL circuit and/or module <NUM>, a path loss circuit and/or module <NUM>, and a transmit (Tx) power control circuit and/or module <NUM>. The SSB QCL circuit/module <NUM> may generally include circuitry and/or programming (e.g., programming stored on the storage medium <NUM>) adapted to receive a spatial relation reference signal. Upon receiving the spatial relation reference signal, the processing circuit <NUM> can process and analyze the signal to output one or more determinations. For example, the processing circuit can determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) QCL'ed with the received spatial relation reference signal.

The path loss circuit/module <NUM> may generally include circuitry and/or programming (e.g., programming stored on the storage medium <NUM>) adapted to measure path loss associated with the determined SSB. The transmit power control circuit/module <NUM> may generally include circuitry and/or programming (e.g., programming stored on the storage medium <NUM>) adapted to conduct transmit power control based on the measured path loss associated with the determined SSB. For example, the transmit power control circuit/module <NUM> may generally include circuitry and/or programming adapted to determine a transmit power based on the measured path loss, and send a transmission utilizing the determined transmit power. As used herein, reference to circuitry and/or programming maybe generally referred to as logic (e.g., logic gates and/or data structure logic).

The storage medium <NUM> may represent one or more computer-readable devices for storing programming, such as processor executable code or instructions (e.g., software, firmware), electronic data, databases, or other digital information. The storage medium <NUM> may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processing circuit <NUM> when executing programming. The storage medium <NUM> maybe any available non-transitory media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose processor, including portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing and/or carrying programming. By way of example and not limitation, the storage medium <NUM> may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical storage medium (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and/or other mediums for storing programming, as well as any combination thereof.

The storage medium <NUM> may be coupled to the processing circuit <NUM> such that the processing circuit <NUM> can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium <NUM>. That is, the storage medium <NUM> can be coupled to the processing circuit <NUM> so that the storage medium <NUM> is at least accessible by the processing circuit <NUM>, including examples where the storage medium <NUM> is integral to the processing circuit <NUM> and/or examples where the storage medium <NUM> is separate from the processing circuit <NUM> (e.g., resident in the processing system <NUM>, external to the processing system <NUM>, distributed across multiple entities).

Programming stored by the storage medium <NUM>, when executed by the processing circuit <NUM>, can cause the processing circuit <NUM> to perform one or more of the various functions and/or process steps described herein. In at least some examples, the storage medium <NUM> may include SSB QCL operations <NUM>, path loss operations <NUM>, and/or transmit power control operations <NUM>. The SSB QCL operations <NUM> are generally adapted to cause the processing circuit <NUM> to receive a spatial relation reference signal and determine a SSB QCL'ed with the received spatial relation reference signal, as described herein. The path loss operations <NUM> are generally adapted to cause the processing circuit <NUM> to measure path loss associated with the determined SSB, as described herein. The transmit power control operations <NUM> are generally adapted to cause the processing circuit <NUM> to conduct transmit power control based on the measured path loss associated with the determined SSB, as described herein.

Thus, according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the processing circuit <NUM> is adapted to perform (independently or in conjunction with the storage medium <NUM>) any or all of the processes, functions, steps and/or routines for any or all of the wireless communication devices described herein (e.g., scheduled entity <NUM>, UE <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, transmitter <NUM>, receiver <NUM>, architecture <NUM>). As used herein, the term "adapted" in relation to the processing circuit <NUM> may refer to the processing circuit <NUM> being one or more of configured, employed, implemented, and/or programmed (in conjunction with the storage medium <NUM>) to perform a particular process, function, step and/or routine according to various features described herein.

<FIG> is a flow diagram illustrating a wireless communication method (e.g., operational on or via a wireless communication device) according to at least one example. With reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, a wireless communication device <NUM> may obtain a spatial relation reference signal at step <NUM>. For example, the processing system <NUM> may include logic (e.g., processing circuit <NUM>, SSB QCL circuit/module <NUM>, SSB QCL operations <NUM>) to receive a spatial relation reference signal via the transceiver <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the wireless communication device <NUM> may determine a SSB QCL'ed with the received spatial relation reference signal. For example, the processing system <NUM> may include logic (e.g., processing circuit <NUM>, SSB QCL circuit/module <NUM>, SSB QCL operations <NUM>) to identify a SSB that is in QCL with the received spatial relation reference signal. For instance, the SSB that is QCL'ed with the spatial relation reference signal may be identified by utilizing multi-hop QCL tracing from the spatial relation reference signal to the SSB. Tracing generally refers to determining a path from a received signal to the origination point of that particular signal. Such QCL tracing can facilitate identification of a signal QCL'ed with the received signal.

In at least one example, the processing system <NUM> may include logic (e.g., processing circuit <NUM>, SSB QCL circuit/module <NUM>, SSB QCL operations <NUM>) to utilize multi-hop QCL tracing from the spatial relation reference signal to the SSB. <FIG> is a diagram generally depicting an example of multi-hop QCL tracing according to at least one embodiment. As shown, the tracing begins with the spatial relation reference signal for a particular wireless transmission channel. The wireless communication device <NUM> may identify a source for the spatial relation reference signal, denoted in <FIG> by arrow A. The wireless communication device <NUM> can then determine a source of A, denoted in <FIG> by arrow B. At the end of each arrow, the wireless communication device <NUM> can determine a source for that point, until an origination point for the spatial relation reference signal. Once a path is identified in <FIG>, the wireless communication device <NUM> can identify the SSB associated with that path. The identified SSB maybe determined to be the SSB that is QCL'ed with the spatial relation reference signal.

Determinations of paths may occur in a variety of manners. In the example just described, the wireless communication device <NUM> utilized a type-A/B/C chain rule. Generally, based on this rule, the wireless communication device <NUM> selects the type-A/B/C path at each branch. In other examples, the wireless communication device <NUM> may select a type-D chain rule, whereby the wireless communication device <NUM> may select the type-D path at each branch. In still other examples, the wireless communication device <NUM> may select a hybrid chain rule, whereby the wireless communication device <NUM> may select either the type-A/B/C path or the type-D path at any given branch.

Referring again to <FIG>, with the SSB in QCL with the spatial relation reference signal determined in step <NUM>, the wireless communication device <NUM> can measure path loss associated with the determined SSB. In some scenarios, path loss measurements can be based on analyzing reference signal receive characteristics relative to known a priori data. For example, the processing system <NUM> may include logic (e.g., processing circuit <NUM>, path loss circuit/module <NUM>, path loss operations <NUM>) to estimate the path loss associated with the beam on which the SSB was transmitted. Path loss measurements may be utilized in variety of manners to improve communications. In some embodiments, the path loss may be calculated by conventional formulas, such as the following: <MAT> where PTx is a transmit power of a reference signal which is signaled from a transmitting device to a receiving device, and RSRP is the received power measured by the receiving device.

At <NUM>, the wireless communication device <NUM> may conduct transmit power control based on a measured path loss. In some scenarios, measured path loss can be associated with the SSB determined to be in QCL with the spatial relation reference signal. For example, the processing system <NUM> may include logic (e.g., processing circuit <NUM>, path loss circuit/module <NUM>, path loss operations <NUM>) to conduct transmit power control based at least in part on the measured path loss for the SSB. According to at least one implementation, the transmit power control may include determining a transmit power based on the measured path loss, and sending a transmission via the transceiver <NUM> utilizing the determined transmit power. According to some embodiments, the transmit power control may include conventional determinations for uplink power control including an open-loop component and a closed-loop component. The open-loop component may be based at least in part on the measured path loss associated with the SSB in QCL with the spatial relation reference signal.

The process shown in <FIG> may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first aspect, a wireless communication device may determine a transmit power based on the measured path loss, and send a transmission via the transceiver utilizing the determined transmit power.

In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, a wireless communication device may conduct transmit power control based on a measured path loss associated with a determined SSB.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, a wireless communication device may determine a SSB quasi-colocated with the received spatial relation reference signal utilizing multi-hop quasi-colocation (QCL) tracing from the spatial relation reference signal to the SSB.

In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third aspects a wireless communication device may utilize multi-hop QCL tracing from the spatial relation reference signal to the SSB by utilizing one of a type-A/B/C chain rule, a type-D chain rule, or a hybrid chain rule for tracing from the spatial relation reference signal to the SSB.

As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure maybe extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards.

By way of example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP or combinations of such systems. These systems may include candidates such as <NUM> New Radio (NR), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), the Evolved Packet System (EPS), the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), and/or the Global System for Mobile (GSM).

While the above discussed aspects, arrangements, and embodiments are discussed with specific details and particularity, one or more of the components, steps, features and/or functions illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> and/or <NUM> may be rearranged and/or combined into a single component, step, feature or function or embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and/or functions may also be added or not utilized without departing from the novel features of the present disclosure. The apparatus, devices and/or components illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> and/or <NUM> may be configured to perform or employ one or more of the methods, features, parameters, and/or steps described herein with reference to <FIG> and/or <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) of wireless communication, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>) a spatial relation reference signal;
determining (<NUM>) a synchronization signal block, SSB, quasi-colocated with the received spatial relation reference signal, wherein determining a SSB quasi-colocated with the received spatial relation reference signal comprises utilizing multi-hop quasi-colocation, QCL, tracing from the spatial relation reference signal to the SSB; and
measuring (<NUM>) path loss associated with the determined SSB.