U.S. patent application number 16/676322 was filed with the patent office on 2020-04-02 for two-stage downlink control information configurations for beam operation.
The applicant listed for this patent is . Invention is credited to Yu-Hsin Cheng, Chie-Ming Chou.
Application Number | 20200107305 16/676322 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63038216 |
Filed Date | 2020-04-02 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200107305 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chou; Chie-Ming ; et
al. |
April 2, 2020 |
TWO-STAGE DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION CONFIGURATIONS FOR BEAM
OPERATION
Abstract
A method of communicating downlink control information (DCI)
from a transmit/receipt point (TRP) to a user equipment (UE) is
disclosed. The method includes transmitting a first stage DCI and a
reference signal (RS) by a coarse beam; transmitting a second stage
DCI by a refine beam; where the first stage DCI includes
information of the second stage DCI.
Inventors: |
Chou; Chie-Ming; (Zhubei
City, TW) ; Cheng; Yu-Hsin; (Hsinchu City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Chou; Chie-Ming
Cheng; Yu-Hsin |
Zhubei City
Hsinchu City |
|
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
63038216 |
Appl. No.: |
16/676322 |
Filed: |
November 6, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15871127 |
Jan 15, 2018 |
10524246 |
|
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16676322 |
|
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62446496 |
Jan 15, 2017 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02D 70/26 20180101;
H04W 72/046 20130101; Y02D 70/12 20180101; Y02D 70/146 20180101;
Y02D 70/1262 20180101; H04B 7/024 20130101; H04W 72/042 20130101;
Y02D 70/10 20180101; Y02D 70/1264 20180101; Y02D 70/126 20180101;
Y02D 70/1226 20180101; Y02D 30/70 20200801; Y02D 70/1224 20180101;
Y02D 70/20 20180101; Y02D 70/00 20180101; Y02D 70/21 20180101; H04B
7/0695 20130101; Y02D 70/1242 20180101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 72/04 20060101
H04W072/04; H04B 7/06 20060101 H04B007/06 |
Claims
1-28. (canceled)
29. A method of communicating multiple-stage control information to
a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting a first
stage control information and a reference signal (RS) to the UE,
wherein the first stage control information indicates a
demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern for a data channel;
and transmitting a second stage control information to the UE,
wherein a configuration and a resource allocation of the second
stage control information is contained in the first stage control
information.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein transmitting the first stage
control information and the RS comprises transmitting the first
stage control information and the RS to the UE via a coarse beam,
and wherein transmitting the second stage control information
comprises transmitting the second stage control information to the
UE via a refine beam.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the first stage control
information contains the refine beam information for receiving the
second stage control information.
32. The method of claim 29, wherein the second stage control
information comprises one of beam-specific control information and
UE-specific control information.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein when the second stage control
information comprises the beam-specific control information, the
first stage control information contains information of a refine
beam.
34. The method of claim 32, wherein when the second stage control
information comprises the UE-specific control information, the
first stage control information contains a specific refine beam
index and resource allocation for the specific refine beam.
35. The method of claim 32, wherein the beam-specific control
information contains at least one of a number of serving UEs and a
channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) configuration
and resource allocation information for data channel for each of
the serving UEs, the CSI RS configuration having a CSI RS resource
and quasi co-location (QCL) information.
36. The method of claim 29, wherein the first stage control
information comprises at least one of a beam index and a number of
antenna ports for one or more refine beams.
37. The method of claim 29, wherein the first stage control
information comprises broadcast information containing time
sensitive information.
38. The method of claim 29, wherein the first stage control
information is carried by a control channel, while the second stage
control information is carried by a data channel.
39. A base station configured to communicate multiple-stage control
information to with a user equipment (UE), the base station
comprising: one or more non-transitory computer-readable media
having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon; and at
least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory
computer-readable media, and configured to execute the
computer-executable instructions to: transmit a first stage control
information and a reference signal (RS) to the UE, wherein the
first stage control information indicates a demodulation reference
signal (DMRS) pattern for a data channel; and transmit a second
stage control information to the UE, wherein a configuration and a
resource allocation of the second stage control information is
contained in the first stage control information.
40. The base station of claim 39, wherein executing the
computer-executable instructions to transmit the first stage
control information and the RS comprises executing the
computer-executable instructions to transmit the first stage
control information and the RS to the UE via a coarse beam, and
wherein executing the computer-executable instructions to transmit
the second stage control information comprises executing the
computer-executable instructions to transmit the second stage
control information to the UE via a refine beam.
41. The base station of claim 40, wherein the first stage control
information contains the refine beam information for receiving the
second stage control information.
42. The base station of claim 39, wherein the second stage control
information comprises one of beam-specific control information and
UE-specific control information.
43. The base station of claim 42, wherein when the second stage
control information comprises the beam-specific control
information, the first stage control information contains
information of a refine beam.
44. The base station of claim 42, wherein when the second stage
control information comprises the UE-specific control information,
the first stage control information contains a specific refine beam
index and resource allocation for the specific refine beam.
45. The base station of claim 42, wherein the beam-specific control
information contains at least one of a number of serving UEs and a
channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) configuration
and resource allocation information for data channel for each of
the serving UEs, the CSI RS configuration having a CSI RS resource
and quasi co-location (QCL) information.
46. The base station of claim 39, wherein the first stage control
information comprises at least one of a beam index and a number of
antenna ports for one or more refine beams.
47. The base station of claim 39, wherein the first stage control
information comprises broadcast information containing time
sensitive information.
48. The base station of claim 39, wherein the first stage control
information is carried by a control channel, while the second stage
control information is carried by a data channel.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of and priority
to a provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/446,496 filed
Jan. 15, 2017, entitled "TWO-STAGE DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION
FORMATS FOR BEAM OPERATION," Attorney Docket No. US61790
(hereinafter referred to as "US61790 application"). The disclosure
of the US61790 application is hereby incorporated fully by
reference into the present application.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless
communication, and more particularly, to methods for reducing
control channel overhead and transmission latency, and increasing
power savings of user equipment using two-stage downlink control
information (DCI) formats/configurations in a wireless network.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The 3.sup.rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is
developing the architecture and protocols for the next generation
(e.g., 5.sup.t Generation (5G)) wireless communication networks
(e.g., new radio (NR)). An NR network strives to deliver
sub-millisecond latency and at least 1 Gbps (e.g., 10 Gbps)
downlink speed, and support billions of connections. In comparison,
a 4.sup.th Generation (4G) wireless network, such as a legacy
long-term-evolution (LTE) network, can support at most 150 Mbps
downlink speed with a single carrier. Thus, an NR network may have
a system capacity that is 1000 times of the capacity of the current
4G wireless network. To meet these technical requirements, the NR
exploits higher frequencies of the radio spectrum in the millimeter
wave range (e.g., 1 to 300 GHz) which can provide greater
bandwidth.
[0004] Extensive studies have been focused on millimeter wave,
directional antenna, and beamforming technologies, which are
imperative to meet the anticipated 1000 times system capacity for
the NR requirements. For example, millimeter wave components such
as antenna array elements are found suitable for multiple spatial
streams, beamforming and beam steering. However, due to high path
loss of the millimeter waves, high gain directional antennas and
beamforming methods need to be carefully designed to support
transmission in the millimeter wave frequency range (e.g., 1 to 300
GHz). Antenna arrays having hundreds or thousands of antenna
elements may be used for beamforming to reduce the high path loss
of the millimeter waves. Since the number of beamforming precoding
matrices is proportional to the number of antenna elements, the
processing time for beam sweeping may become unbearably long. Thus,
group-based beamforming precoding matrices are introduced to reduce
the processing time. The beamforming precoding matrix can be
separated into two categories, namely, coarse beams and refine
beams. The beam-widths of the coarse beams are larger than the
beam-widths of the refine beam. It is noted that the coverage area
of a refine beam may be overlapped with the coverage area of a
coarse beam. Each coarse beam may contain several refine beams. The
refine beams may be grouped into different coarse beam groups
because the refine beam direction or transmission path can be
covered by the corresponding coarse beam. Coarse beam information
may be visible with longer period than refine beam information. For
example, the coarse beam index is a long term parameter and the
refine beam index is a short term parameter.
[0005] In a 4G wireless network, such as a legacy LTE network,
Downlink Control Information (DCI) is used to carry control
information (e.g., such as scheduling of downlink (DL) and uplink
(UL) transmission, Channel State Information (CSI) report format,
and hybrid auto repeat request (HARQ), and etc.) from a base
station to user equipment (UE). There are several DCI
configurations for carrying different information. The UE can
determine the DCI configurations received from the base station
based upon transmission mode (TM) and radio network temporary
identifier (RNTI). That is, in the legacy LTE network, the UE would
blindly decode the DCI from the base station without any knowledge
of which TM and/or RNTI the DCI currently uses.
[0006] As the DCI may be composed of different numbers of control
channel elements (CCEs), it may undesirably take a long time for
blind decoding the DCI in the legacy LTE system. FIG. 1A
illustrates a frame structure having CCEs 102 and resource elements
(REs) 104 carried by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)
106. FIG. 1B illustrates a blind decoding process in which a UE
blindly searches through different CCEs and aggregation levels
(ALs) to decode the DCI. Such blind decoding process is both time
consuming and power inefficient.
[0007] As the 3GPP is working on the basics of 5G NR
standardization, a two-stage (or two-level) DCI
format/configuration design has recently been proposed for
transmitting control signals. However, the details of the two-stage
DCI configuration have not yet been discussed extensively.
[0008] Thus, there is a need in the art for methods for reducing
control channel overhead and transmission latency, and improve
power efficiency in a wireless network using two-stage DCI
formats/configurations.
SUMMARY
[0009] The present application is directed to two-stage downlink
control information configurations for beam operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1A illustrates a frame structure having CCEs and
resource elements (REs) carried by a PDCCH.
[0011] FIG. 1B illustrates a blind decoding process in which a UE
blindly searches through different CCEs and aggregation levels to
decode the DCI.
[0012] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate exemplary frame structures of
two-stage DCI configurations, in accordance with exemplary
implementations of the present application.
[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary frame structure of a first
stage DCI configuration, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application.
[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary frame structure having a
first stage DCI configuration and a second stage DCI configuration,
in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0015] FIG. 5A illustrates a beam-specific second stage DCI
configuration in which the second stage DCI is allocated in a wide
frequency range, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of
the present application.
[0016] FIG. 5B illustrates a beam-specific second stage DCI
configuration in which the second stage DCI is allocated in a long
time/duration range, in accordance with an exemplary implementation
of the present application.
[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates a UE-specific second stage DCI
configuration, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of
the present application.
[0018] FIG. 7A illustrates a diagram of an exemplary network using
a two-stage DCI configuration having beam-specific second stage
DCIs, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0019] FIG. 7B illustrates a diagram of an exemplary network using
a two-stage DCI configuration having UE-specific second stage DCIs,
in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0020] FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary frame structure and
exemplary resource allocation of a PDCCH and a PDSCH for the UEs in
FIG. 7A, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the
present application.
[0021] FIG. 8B illustrates exemplary actions for the UEs to
communicate with the TRP in FIG. 7A using beam-specific second
stage DCIs in FIG. 8A, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application.
[0022] FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary frame structure and
exemplary resource allocation of a PDCCH and a PDSCH for the UEs in
FIG. 7B, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the
present application.
[0023] FIG. 9B illustrates exemplary actions the UEs to communicate
with the TRP in FIG. 7B using UE-specific second stage DCIs in FIG.
9A, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0024] FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network for
intra/inter TRP coarse beam management, in accordance with an
exemplary implementation of the present application.
[0025] FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary frame
structure and resource allocation for intra/inter TRP coarse beam
management, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the
present application.
[0026] FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by a UE for
intra/inter TRP coarse beam management, in accordance with to an
exemplary implementation of the present application.
[0027] FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by a TRP
for intra/inter TRP coarse beam management, in accordance with to
an exemplary implementation of the present application.
[0028] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network
architecture of Joint Transmission (JT) as an example of a
coordinated communication scheme, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application.
[0029] FIG. 13 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2, as shown in FIG. 12, for JT with beam-specific second stage
DCI, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0030] FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C are diagrams illustrating the
detailed operations taken by UE1, TRP1, and TRP2, respectively, as
shown in FIG. 12, for JT with beam-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with exemplary implementations of the present
application.
[0031] FIG. 15 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2, as shown in FIG. 12, for JT with UE-specific second stage
DCI, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0032] FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C are diagrams illustrating the
detailed operations taken by UE1, TRP1, and TRP2, respectively, as
shown in FIG. 12, for JT with UE-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with exemplary implementations of the present
application.
[0033] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network
architecture of Dynamic Transceiver Switch (DTS) as an example of a
coordinated communication scheme, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application.
[0034] FIG. 18 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2, as shown in FIG. 17, for DTS with beam-specific second stage
DCI, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0035] FIGS. 19A, 19B and 19C are diagrams illustrating the
detailed operations taken by UE1, TRP1, and TRP2, respectively, as
shown in FIG. 17, for DTS with beam-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with exemplary implementations of the present
application.
[0036] FIG. 20 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2, as shown in FIG. 17, for DTS with UE-specific second stage
DCI, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0037] FIGS. 21, 21B and 21C are diagrams illustrating the detailed
operations taken by UE1, TRP1, and TRP2, respectively, as shown in
FIG. 17, for DTS with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with exemplary implementations of the present application.
[0038] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network
architecture of Coordinated Schedule and Coordinated Beamforming
(CS/CB) as an example of a coordinated communication scheme, in
accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0039] FIG. 23 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2, as shown in FIG. 22, for CS/CB with beam-specific second
stage DCI, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the
present application.
[0040] FIGS. 24A, 24B and 24C are diagrams illustrating the
detailed operations taken by UE1, TRP1, and TRP2, respectively, as
shown in FIG. 22, for CS/CB with beam-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with exemplary implementations of the present
application.
[0041] FIG. 25 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2, as shown in FIG. 22, for CS/CB with UE-specific second stage
DCI, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application.
[0042] FIGS. 26, 26B and 26C are diagrams illustrating the detailed
operations taken by UE1, TRP1, and TRP2, respectively, as shown in
FIG. 22, for CS/CB with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with exemplary implementations of the present application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0043] The following description contains specific information
pertaining to exemplary implementations in the present disclosure.
The drawings in the present disclosure and their accompanying
detailed description are directed to merely exemplary
implementations. However, the present disclosure is not limited to
merely these exemplary implementations. Other variations and
implementations of the present disclosure will occur to those
skilled in the art. Unless noted otherwise, like or corresponding
elements among the figures may be indicated by like or
corresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings and
illustrations in the present disclosure are generally not to scale,
and are not intended to correspond to actual relative
dimensions.
[0044] For the purpose of consistency and ease of understanding,
like features are identified (although, in some examples, not
shown) by numerals in the exemplary figures. However, the features
in different implementations may be differed in other respects, and
thus shall not be narrowly confined to what is shown in the
figures.
[0045] The description uses the phrases "in one implementation," or
"in some implementations," which may each refer to one or more of
the same or different implementations. The term "coupled" is
defined as connected, whether directly or indirectly through
intervening components, and is not necessarily limited to physical
connections. The term "comprising," when utilized, means
"including, but not necessarily limited to"; it specifically
indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described
combination, group, series and the equivalent.
[0046] Additionally, for the purposes of explanation and
non-limitation, specific details, such as functional entities,
techniques, protocols, standard, and the like are set forth for
providing an understanding of the described technology. In other
examples, detailed description of well-known methods, technologies,
system, architectures, and the like are omitted so as not to
obscure the description with unnecessary details.
[0047] Persons skilled in the art will immediately recognize that
any network function(s) or algorithm(s) described in the present
application may be implemented by hardware, software or a
combination of software and hardware. Described functions may
correspond to modules may be software, hardware, firmware, or any
combination thereof. The software implementation may comprise
computer executable instructions stored on computer readable medium
such as memory or other type of storage devices. For example, one
or more microprocessors or general purpose computers with
communication processing capability may be programmed with
corresponding executable instructions and carry out the described
network function(s) or algorithm(s). The microprocessors or general
purpose computers may be formed of applications specific integrated
circuitry (ASIC), programmable logic arrays, and/or using one or
more digital signal processor (DSPs). Although some of the
exemplary implementations described in the present application are
oriented to software installed and executing on computer hardware,
nevertheless, alternative exemplary implementations implemented as
firmware or as hardware or combination of hardware and software are
well within the scope of the present application.
[0048] The computer readable medium includes but is not limited to
random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc
read-only memory (CD ROM), magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,
magnetic disk storage, or any other equivalent medium capable of
storing computer-readable instructions.
[0049] The present application provides a method for signaling RAN
parameters adopting a RAN profile indexing mechanism to facilitate
the transmission and reception operations, where the RAN profile
indices correspond to the physical layer compositions between a
cell in a radio access network and at least one mobile station
(e.g., a UE). By using the indexing mechanism to indicate the RAN
profile information, the amount of signaling overhead and latency
incurred for RAN profile may be greatly reduced, while supporting
the flexibility of NR network system.
[0050] A radio communication network architecture (e.g., a long
term evolution (LTE) system, a LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, or a
LTE-Advanced Pro system) typically includes at least one base
station, at least one user equipment (UE), and one or more optional
network elements that provide connection towards a network. The UE
communicates with the network (e.g., a core network (CN), an
evolved packet core (EPC) network, an Evolved Universal Terrestrial
Radio Access (E-UTRA) network, a Next-Generation Core (NGC), or an
internet), through a radio access network (RAN) established by the
base station.
[0051] It should be noted that, in the present application, a UE
may include, but is not limited to, a mobile station, a mobile
terminal or device, a user communication radio terminal. For
example, a UE may be a portable radio equipment, which includes,
but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable device,
a sensor, or a personal digital assistant (PDA) with wireless
communication capability. The UE is configured to receive and
transmit signals over an air interface to one or more cells in a
radio access network.
[0052] A TRP (e.g., HF-TRP or LF-TRP), which is also be regarded as
a remote radio head (RRH), may be a transceiver under the protocols
of 5G NR wireless communication system and/or the protocols of a 4G
wireless communication system. A TRP may be communicatively
connected to a base station, which may be, but not limited to, a
node B (NB) as in the LTE, an evolved node B (eNB) as in the LTE-A,
a radio network controller (RNC) as in the UMTS, a base station
controller (BSC) as in the GSM/GERAN, a new radio evolved node B
(NR eNB) as in the NR, a next generation node B (gNB) as in the NR,
and any other apparatus capable of controlling radio communication
and managing radio resources within a cell. The base station may
connect to serve the one or more UEs through one or more TRPs in
the radio communication system.
[0053] A base station may be configured to provide communication
services according to at least one of the following radio access
technologies (RATs): Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access (WiMAX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM, often
referred to as 2G), GSM EDGE radio access Network (GERAN), General
Packet Radio Service (GRPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunication
System (UMTS, often referred to as 3G) based on basic wideband-code
division multiple access (W-CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA),
LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR, often referred to as 5G), and/or LTE-A
Pro. However, the scope of the present application should not be
limited to the above mentioned protocols.
[0054] The base station is operable to provide radio coverage to a
specific geographical area using a plurality of cells forming the
radio access network. The base station supports the operations of
the cells. Each cell is operable to provide services to at least
one UE within its radio coverage indicated by 3GPP TS 36.300, which
is hereby also incorporated by reference. More specifically, each
cell (often referred to as a serving cell) provides services to
serve one or more UEs within its radio coverage, (e.g., each cell
schedules the downlink and optionally uplink resources to at least
one UE within its radio coverage for downlink and optionally uplink
packet transmissions). The base station can communicate with one or
more UEs in the radio communication system through the plurality of
cells. A cell may allocate sidelink (SL) resources for supporting
proximity service (ProSe). Each cell may have overlapped coverage
areas with other cells.
[0055] As discussed above, the frame structure for NR is to support
flexible configurations for accommodating various next generation
(e.g., 5G) communication requirements, such as enhanced mobile
broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communication (mMTC), ultra
reliable communication and low latency communication (URLLC) more
efficiently, while fulfilling high reliability, high data rate and
low latency requirements. The orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing (OFDM) technology as agreed in 3GPP may serve as a
baseline for NR waveform. The scalable OFDM numerology, such as the
adaptive sub-carrier spacing, the channel bandwidth, and the Cyclic
Prefix (CP) may be also used. Additionally, three candidate coding
schemes are considered for NR: (1) low-density parity-check (LDPC),
(2) Polar Code, and (3) Turbo Code. The coding scheme adaption may
be configured based on the channel conditions and/or the service
applications.
[0056] Moreover, it is also considered that in a transmission time
interval Tx of a single NR frame, a downlink (DL) transmission
data, a guard period, and an uplink (UL) transmission data should
at least be included, where the respective portions of the DL
transmission data, the guard period, the UL transmission data
should also be configurable, for example, based on the network
dynamics of NR.
[0057] According to implementations of the present application, a
two-stage DCI configuration may include a first stage DCI having
time critical information, such as broadcast information and
acknowledgment/negative-acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) for uplink (UL)
transmission, and a second stage DCI having the remaining control
information. The resource allocation of the second stage DCI may be
indicated by the first stage DCI.
[0058] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate exemplary frame structures of
two-stage DCI configurations, in accordance with exemplary
implementations of the present application. In FIG. 2A, in one
implementation, CCEs 202 and REs 204 are carried by PDCCH 206.
First stage DCI 210A is in a resource (e.g., a CCE) carried by
PDCCH 206. Second stage DCI 220A is in a later resource (e.g.,
another CCE) also carried by PDCCH 206. It is noted that physical
downlink shared channel (PDSCH) 208 in FIG. 2A is not used to carry
first stage DCI 210A or second stage DCI 220A, but may be used to
subsequently transmit control information and/or data, for example.
In FIG. 2B, in one implementation, CCEs 202 and REs 204 are carried
by PDCCH 206. First stage DCI 210B is in a resource (e.g., a CCE)
carried by PDCCH 206, while second stage DCI 220B is in a later
resource carried by PDSCH 208.
[0059] Among other advantages, by using the two-stage DCI
configurations as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the resource allocation
of the second stage DCI may be indicated to the UE in advance by
the first stage DCI. Therefore, the processing time of detecting
the first and second stage DCI can be reduced. Also, the first
stage DCI can be transmitted by a coarse beam for easy detection,
and the second stage DCI can be transmitted by a refine beam for
spectral efficiency. For time critical service like URLLC, the
control information may be transmitted by the first stage DCI.
[0060] A two-stage DCI configuration, in accordance with an
implantation of the present application, may include a first stage
common DCI precoded and/or transmitted by beams formed by one or
more coarse beamforming precoding matrices, and a second stage DCI
precoded and/or transmitted by beams formed by one or more refine
beamforming precoding matrices. The first stage DCI may be precoded
with common PDCCH reference signals (RSs), and contain information
of the second stage DCI. The second stage DCI may be either
UE-specific or beam-specific. A UE-specific second stage DCI may be
precoded with information of the resource allocation of a
front-load RS. The UE-specific second stage DCI can reduce the
transmit frequency of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), which
may result in better capacity (more resources for real/actual
data). A beam-specific second stage DCI may be precoded with common
PDCCH RS, which is transmitted by one or more refine beamforming
precoding matrices. The beam-specific second stage DCI can reduce
the frequency and/or time granularity of the common PDCCH RS(s).
Moreover, the two-stage DCI configurations, in accordance with
exemplary implementations of the present application, can also
improve radio resource management (RRM) in RRC Idle state, RRC
Connected state, and other new RRC states in an NR network.
[0061] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary frame structure of a first
stage DCI configuration, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application. In FIG. 3, frame
structure 300 includes first stage DCIs transmitted by coarse beams
in PDCCH 306, for example, from a transmission reception point
(TRP) of a base station (e.g., gNB) to a UE. In addition, each of
the first stage DCIs may include a reference signal (RS) which is
precoded by a corresponding coarse beam together with a
corresponding first stage DCI, for example, in the same control
channel resource location or region. For example, RS 330A is
precoded by coarse beam 1 together with first stage DCI 310A; RS
330B is precoded by coarse beam 2 together with first stage DCI
310B; RS 330T is precoded by coarse beam T together with first
stage DCI 310T.
[0062] In one implementation, the first stage DCI configuration 300
may be a common DCI, such that every UE may decode the first stage
DCI if necessary. Also, the reference signals precoded by the
corresponding coarse beams together with the corresponding first
stage DCIs can be used to perform coarse beam radio resource
management (RRM) by one or more UEs. The first stage DCI may also
contain information of the second stage DCI. Since the second stage
DCI may be transmitted in one or more refine beams, the first stage
DCI may contain refine beam information to help UEs detect and/or
receive the second stage DCI. The first stage DCI may contain at
least one of the following parameters: [0063] a beam index (e.g., a
coarse beam index); [0064] a number of antenna ports for refine
beams; [0065] a format/configuration of the second stage DCI (e.g.,
beam-specific/UE-specific) where: [0066] for a beam-specific second
stage DCI, the first stage DCI may contain the information of the
refine beam. The information may contain at least one refine beam
index with respective resource allocation; [0067] for UE-specific
second stage DCI, the information may only contain a specific
refine beam index and the resource allocation for that particular
refine beam; [0068] if the second stage DCI does not contain refine
beam information, UE may perform blind decoding to search for a
DMRS in the data channel.
[0069] It should be noted that, in one implementation, a beam index
may include an index of RS which indicates a specific beam
direction in which the beam is transmitted, so that and UE may know
which beam is used upon receiving the index of RS. For example, a
synchronization signal block (SSB) index may be regarded as an
example of a beam index. A beam index may also refer to a
Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) which indicates the
quasi co-location (QCL) relationship of the RS precoded and
transmitted with the first stage DCI.
[0070] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary frame structure having a
first stage DCI configuration and a second stage DCI configuration,
in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application. In FIG. 4, first stage DCIs are transmitted by one or
more coarse beams in PDCCH 406, for example, from a transmission
reception point (TRP) of a base station (e.g., gNB) to a UE. In
addition, each of the first stage DCIs may include a reference
signal (RS) which is precoded by a corresponding coarse beam
together with a corresponding first stage DCI, for example, in the
same control channel resource location or region. For example, RS
430A is precoded by coarse beam 1 together with first stage DCI
410A; RS 430B is precoded by coarse beam 2 together with first
stage DCI 410B; RS 430T is precoded by coarse beam 412 (e.g., with
a coarse beam index T) together with first stage DCI 410T.
[0071] FIG. 4 also shows that second stage DCI 420 may be precoded
within one or more refine beams. The refine beam information may
include refine beam indices and resource information, such as
transmitting time and frequency. For example, second stage DCI 420
is precoded by refine beams 414a, 414b, . . . 414n with refine beam
indices T.sub.1, T.sub.2, . . . T.sub.N, respectively. It is worthy
to note that in the present implementation, the refine beam indices
contained in the second stage DCI all belong to a coarse beam group
by which the first stage DCI is precoded. For example, refine beams
414a, 414b, . . . 414n, having respective refine beam indices
T.sub.1, T.sub.2, . . . T.sub.N, all belong to the coarse beam
group T. As such, the UE can obtain refine beam information. It is
noted that the second stage DCI may be situated in another
allocation of the PDCCH (e.g., ePDCCH) which is non-contiguous with
the PDCCH allocation for the first stage DCI.
[0072] In one implementation of the present application, the second
stage DCI configuration may be precoded and transmitted with
beam-specific RSs. For example, for a beam-specific RS, an RS
sequence may be generated with a random sequence such as M sequence
or ZC sequence by a refine beam index ID, and the beam-specific RSs
may be distributed uniformly in the second stage DCIs as shown in
FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIG. 5A illustrates a beam-specific second stage
DCI configuration in which the second stage DCI is allocated in a
wide frequency range. FIG. 5B illustrates a beam-specific second
stage DCI configuration in which the second stage DCI is allocated
in a long time/duration range. It should be noted that in another
implementation, the second stage DCI configuration may be precoded
and transmitted with cell-specific RSs. For example, for a
cell-specific RS, an RS sequence may be generated with a random
sequence, such as an M sequence or a ZC sequence by a cell ID.
[0073] The beam-specific second stage DCI may contain at least one
of the following parameters: [0074] a number of serving UEs; [0075]
for each UE, a CSI-RS configuration and resource allocation
information for a data channel, where the CSI-RS configuration
includes CSI-RS resource and QCL information.
[0076] In addition, different formats/configurations of the second
stage DCI may be used in different implementations. For a
beam-specific second stage DCI configuration, beam-specific RSs may
save more control signal resource than UE-specific and
cell-specific RSs. This is because the beam-specific RSs can be
configured by a gNB with respect to the usage of refine beam in the
cell. For example, if the UEs gather in a certain area, (e.g., the
gNB can serve all UEs using a single refine beam), then, the gNB
may only need to transmit the second stage DCI in a long
periodicity, where the second stage DCI can be used by all of the
UEs.
[0077] FIG. 5A illustrates a beam-specific second stage DCI
configuration in which the second stage DCI is allocated in
resources in a wide frequency range, in accordance with one
implementation of the present application. In the present
implementation, first stage DCIs 510A, 510B, . . . 510T, and RSs
530A, 530B, . . . 530T may be substantially similar to first stage
DCIs 410A, 410B, . . . 410T, and RSs 430A, 430B, . . . 430T,
respectively, in FIG. 4.
[0078] As shown in FIG. 5A, second stage DCI 520A may be allocated
in resources in a wide frequency range, and precoded within one or
more refine beams. Also, beam-specific RSs 540A may be allocated in
resources along the wide frequency range. In the present
implementation, both first stage DCIs 510A, 510B, . . . 510T (along
with RSs 530A, 530B, . . . 530T) and second stage DCI 520A (along
with RSs 540A) may be carried by resources in PDCCH 506, while
PDSCH 508 may be used to transmit data or other control
information.
[0079] FIG. 5B illustrates a beam-specific second stage DCI
configuration in which the second stage DCI is allocated in
resources in a long time/duration range, in accordance with one
implementation of the present application. In the present
implementation, first stage DCIs 510A, 510B, . . . 510T, and RSs
530A, 530B, . . . 530T may be substantially similar to first stage
DCIs 510A, 510B, . . . 510T, and RSs 530A, 530B, . . . 530T,
respectively, in FIG. 5A.
[0080] As shown in FIG. 5B, second stage DCI 520B may be allocated
in resources in a long time/duration range, and precoded by one or
more refine beams. Also, beam-specific RSs (e.g., RSs 540B) may be
allocated in resources along the long time/duration range. In the
present implementation, first stage DCIs 510A, 510B, . . . 510T
(along with RSs 530A, 530B, . . . 530T) may be carried by resources
in PDCCH 506. Second stage DCI 520B (along with RSs 540B) may be
carried by resources in both PDCCH 506 and PDSCH 508.
[0081] In the beam-specific second stage DCI configurations shown
in FIGS. 5A and 5B, data transmission in PDSCH 508 may be precoded
in the same refine beam group as the refine beam group of the
second stage DCI. As such, a UE that transmits/receives data with
one or more refine beams can utilize the beam-specific RSs for
demodulating data signals. Thus, the demodulation RSs in the legacy
LTE network are no longer needed in the data channel, thereby
making more resource available for high-speed data
transmission.
[0082] Moreover, for the beam-specific second stage DCI
configuration, since a base station (e.g., gNB) may schedule
different refine beams on different resources, a UE may use this
information for inter-beam switching. For example, at first a UE-A
may use a refine beam A so that the UE-A can measure the second
stage DCI transmitted in the refine beam A. Once the UE-A
determines that the quality of the beam-specific RS(s) in the
refine beam A has deteriorated, the UE-A may attempt to measure the
beam-specific RSs of other refine beams by the refine beam
information precoded and transmitted with the first stage DCI, and
send the measurement reports to the base station. As such, the UE-A
does not need to monitor other RSs for measurement report. It
should be noted that, the measurement reports in the present
application may include Layer-3 beam level measurement reports and
Layer-1 beam reports.
[0083] In another implementation of the present application, the
second stage DCI configuration may be precoded and transmitted with
UE-specific RSs. A base station (e.g., gNB) may send several second
stage DCIs in different refine beam directions using the same
control channel resource by multiplexing the second stage DCIs.
[0084] The UE-specific second stage DCI may require demodulation of
control and/or data signals for each UE by transmitting DMRSs
precoded with the second stage DCI. In one implementation, RSs
precoded with the first stage DCI may be used to estimate frequency
and time offset toward the second stage DCI to substantially reduce
the amount of control channel resource required for successfully
decoding and/or demodulating data signals in a PDSCH, for
example.
[0085] FIG. 6 illustrates a UE-specific second stage DCI
configuration, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of
the present application. In the present implementation, first stage
DCIs 610A, 610B, . . . 610T, and RSs 630A, 630B, . . . 630T may be
substantially similar to first stage DCIs 410A, 410B, . . . 410T,
and RSs 430A, 430B, . . . 430T, respectively, in FIG. 4.
[0086] In FIG. 6, the RSs (e.g., RS 630A, 630B, . . . 630T) are
precoded with the first stage DCI (e.g., first stage DCI 610A,
610B, . . . 610T) to estimate frequency and time offset toward the
second stage DCI (e.g., UE-specific second stage DCI 620). The
UE-specific second stage DCI may contain at least one of the
following parameters: [0087] a DMRS pattern for data channel of a
UE; [0088] a CSI-RS configuration having CSI-RS resource and QCL
information of the UE; [0089] resource allocation information for
data channel; [0090] a QCL indicator of DMRS in data channel.
[0091] It is noted that a QCL indicator may refer to Transmission
Configuration Indication (TCI), which is an index. A UE may find
the corresponding QCL information of the DMRS, for example,
according to a mapping table configured by RRC signaling.
[0092] In the UE-specific second stage DCI configuration shown in
FIG. 6, second stage DCIs 620 and RSs 640 of different UEs may be
allocated in the same resource element and separated by orthogonal
codes, as will be discussed in FIG. 9A below.
[0093] In the UE-specific second stage DCI configuration shown in
FIG. 6, the number of DMRSs 650 can be reduced in PDSCH 608, if
there are time and/or frequency relationship indicators, such as
QCL in UE-specific second stage DCI 620.
[0094] In addition, different formats/configurations of the second
stage DCI may be used in different implementations. For the
UE-specific second stage DCI configuration, in one implementation,
with the assistance of the first stage DCI, demodulating the second
stage DCI can be performed with less control channel resource. For
example, the second stage DCI can obtain time and frequency offset
through receiving a cell-specific RS precoded with the first stage
DCI, where the cell-specific RS may be applied to all of the UEs
served by the same cell. In should be noted that the cell-specific
RS may not need to exist at all time, which is different from the
CRS in legacy LTE networks.
[0095] For the UE-specific second stage DCI configuration, in
another implementation, the density of DMRSs in the data channel
can be reduced with the assistance of the RSs precoded with the
first and second stage DCIs. For example, a base station (e.g.,
gNB) can set up certain parameters in the second stage DCI to
indicate how to reuse the DMRS(s) in the control channel for data
demodulation. For example, a UE can estimate frequency offset or
timing offset information by second stage DCI 620. As a result, the
base station can reduce the amount of DMRS 650 resources needed in
PDSCH 608, thereby making more resource available for high-speed
data transmission.
[0096] FIG. 7A illustrates a diagram of an exemplary network using
a two-stage DCI configuration having beam-specific second stage
DCIs, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application. FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary frame structure and
exemplary resource allocation of a PDCCH and a PDSCH for the UEs
(e.g., UE1, UE2 and UE3) in FIG. 7A. FIG. 8B illustrates exemplary
actions for the UEs to communicate the TRP, in FIG. 7A, using
beam-specific second stage DCIs in FIG. 8A, in accordance with one
implementation of the present application.
[0097] As shown in FIG. 7A, TRP1 serves UE1, UE2, and UE3 within a
cell using, for example, millimeter wave transmission/reception.
After UE1, UE2, and UE3 finish their initial access procedures, UE1
may decide to use coarse beam 2 for transmission, while UE2 and UE3
decide to use coarse beam 1 for transmission. All three UEs may
decode the first stage DCI with their corresponding coarse
beams.
[0098] In action 882 of FIG. 8B, with reference to FIGS. 7A and 8A,
UE1 may decode first stage DCI 810B precoded by coarse beam 2 in
PDCCH 806 in FIG. 8A to obtain information of refine beam 2-1. UE2
and UE3 may decode first stage DCI 810A precoded by coarse beam 1
in PDCCH 806 in FIG. 8A to obtain information of refine beam
1-1.
[0099] After the three UEs decode their corresponding first stage
DCIs successfully, they may obtain indices of the corresponding
refine beams that belong to the corresponding coarse beams and
resource allocation information of the corresponding second stage
DCI. For example, if coarse beam 1 contains 16 refine beams (e.g.,
refine beams 1-1, 1-2, . . . 1-16), then UE2 and UE3 may know when
and where to detect the second stage DCI 820A of each of the refine
beams. As shown in FIG. 8A, UE2 and UE3 may detect in region 803 of
the second stage DCI 820A to measure the quality of different
refine beam precoding signals, while UE1 may detect region 801 of
the second stage DCI 820B to measure the quality of different
refine beam precoding signals. It is noted that regions 801 and 803
may be overlapped in time domain depending on the scheduling of
TRP1. Each of the UEs may evaluate all the refine beams belong to
the chosen coarse beam group to select the refine beam with the
best signal quality for transmission. As shown in FIG. 7A, both UE2
and UE3 select refine beam 1-1 within coarse beam 1, while UE1
selects refine beam 2-1 within coarse beam 2.
[0100] In action 884 of FIG. 8B, with reference to FIGS. 7A and 8A,
UE1 may obtain the scheduling information of the data channel for
itself in the second stage DCI (e.g., in second stage DCI 820B in
FIG. 8A) precoded by refine beam 2-1. UE2 and UE3 may obtain the
scheduling information of their data channels for themselves and/or
for each other in the second stage DCI (e.g., in second stage DCI
820A in FIG. 8A) within refine beam 1-1.
[0101] Since UE2 and UE3 use the same refine beam (e.g., refine
beam 1-1 in FIG. 7A), TRP1 may schedule them together within the
same sub-frame with frequency and/or time diversity. Because UE1
uses a different refine beam (e.g., refine beam 2-1 in FIG. 7A),
TRP1 may multiplex the second stage DCI for UE1 with the second
stage DCI for UE2 and UE3 within the same resource in PDCCH 806 as
shown in FIG. 8A.
[0102] In action 886 of FIG. 8B, with reference to FIGS. 7A and 8A,
in the data channel, refine beam 1-1 and refine beam 2-1 can
multiplex within the same resource in the PDSCH 808 as shown in
FIG. 8A. All UEs can decode their corresponding data with their
beam-specific RSs precoded with the corresponding second stage
DCIs.
[0103] Moreover, the data for each of the UEs in the PDSCH can be
decoded without DMRS because the beam-specific RSs in the second
stage DCI are precoded in the same refine beams as the
corresponding data channels. Therefore, the DMRS overhead can be
substantially eliminated from the PDSCH.
[0104] FIG. 7B illustrates a diagram of an exemplary network using
a two-stage DCI configuration having UE-specific second stage DCIs,
in accordance with one implementation of the present application.
FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary frame structure and exemplary
resource allocation of a PDCCH and a PDSCH for the UEs (e.g., UE1,
UE2 and UE3) in FIG. 7B, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application. FIG. 9B illustrates
exemplary actions for the UEs to communicate with the TRP (e.g.,
TRP1) in FIG. 7B using UE-specific second stage DCIs in FIG. 9A, in
accordance with one implementation of the present application.
[0105] As shown in FIG. 7B, TRP1 serves UE1, UE2, and UE3 within a
cell using, for example, millimeter wave transmission/reception.
After UE1, UE2, and UE3 finish their initial access procedures, UE1
may decide to use coarse beam 2 for transmission, while UE2 and UE3
decide to use coarse beam 1 for transmission. All three UEs may
decode the first stage DCI with their corresponding coarse
beams.
[0106] In action 982 of FIG. 9B, with reference to FIGS. 7B and 9A,
UE1 may decode first stage DCI 910B precoded by coarse beam 2 in
PDCCH 906 in FIG. 9A to obtain information of refine beam 2-1. UE2
may decode first stage DCI 910A precoded by coarse beam 1 in PDCCH
906 in FIG. 9A to obtain information of refine beam 1-1. UE3 may
decode first stage DCI 910A precoded by coarse beam 1 in PDCCH 906
in FIG. 9A to obtain information of refine beam 1-2. That is, UE1
selects a coarse beam (i.e., coarse beam 2), and refine beam 2-1
within coarse beam 2. UE2 and UE3 select a same coarse beam (e.g.,
coarse beam 1), but different refine beams (e.g., UE2 selecting
refine beam 1-1, while UE3 selecting refine beam 1-2) within coarse
beam 1. UE1, UE2, and UE3 may select their respective refine beams
by beam-specific RSs or CSI-RSs, for example.
[0107] Each of the UEs may know whether there is incoming second
stage DCI because their corresponding first stage DCIs may contain
such refine beam information. For example, TRP1 may transmit
certain parameters in the first stage DCI, such as the resource
allocation and demodulation information for the second stage DCI
and time critical data. The information contained in the first
stage DCI is allocated in a region, where the first stage DCI is
precoded by coarse beam 1, to indicate that there are second stage
DCIs precoded by and transmitted within refine beam 1-1 and refine
beam 1-2. UE2 and UE3 may then detect their corresponding second
stage DCIs. Otherwise, if the first stage DCI only indicates that
there is only one refine beam (e.g., refine beam 1-1), UE3 does not
perform detection (e.g., for the second stage DCI) to save
power.
[0108] In action 984 of FIG. 9B, with reference to FIGS. 7B and 9A,
UE1, UE2, and UE3 detect the UE-specific second stage DCIs at the
same resource with different refine beam precodings. All of the UEs
may obtain the corresponding data schedules after successfully
decoding the corresponding UE-specific second stage DCIs.
[0109] As shown in FIG. 9A, the resource allocation of the second
stage DCI indicated by the first stage DCI, and the second stage
DCI, for all the UEs may be transmitted in the same resources. As
shown in FIG. 9A, RSs 940A, 940B, and 940C (collectively referred
to as RSs 940) precoded with the respective UE-specific second
stage DCIs 920A, 920B, and 920C (collectively referred to as
UE-specific second station DCIs 920) are transmitted in the same
resource (e.g., time and frequency) element, where the RSs are
separated by orthogonal codes, for example. Since the second stage
DCI may contain the UE-specific RSs for demodulation, all of the
UEs can decode their corresponding second stage DCI by using their
corresponding UE-specific RSs.
[0110] In action 986A of FIG. 9B, with reference to FIGS. 7B and
9A, if there is no QCL in the first or second stage DCI, data
channel (e.g., PDSCH 908 in FIG. 9A) may contain normal DMRSs 950A.
Each UE decodes their own data by the corresponding DMRSs. In
action 986B of FIG. 9B, with reference to FIGS. 7B and 9A, if there
is QCL in the first or second stage DCIs, data channel (e.g., PDSCH
908B in FIG. 9A) may contain a reduced number of DMRSs 950B. Each
UE may decode their own data by the reduced number of DMRSs 950B
and the QCL information.
[0111] The second stage DCI may contain data channel scheduling
information for each UE, and may be precoded within the same refine
beam as the data channel. After obtaining the data channel
scheduling information, all three UEs can decode their
corresponding data channels with the help of the corresponding
DMRSs (e.g., DMRSs 950A/950B in PDSCH 908A/B). As such, the
overhead of the DMRSs in the data channels can be substantially
reduced by using indications, such as QCL indication. That is, RSs
in the first stage DCI and/or the second stage DCI may be used to
estimate the timing offset and frequency offset of DMRSs (e.g.,
950B of PDSCH 908B).
[0112] In FIG. 9A, if TRP1 transmits QCL indication in the first
stage DCI and/or second stage DCI, the overhead of DMRSs (e.g.,
DMRSs 950B) in PDSCH 908B can be reduced. The QCL information can
be obtained by detecting the frequency and time offset of RSs in
the first stage DCI and/or the second stage DCI. That is, if there
is a QCL indication in the first and/or second stage DCI, the data
channel may contain reduced DMRSs. As such, each UE may decode
their own data by using the corresponding reduced DMRSs and the QCL
indication. Also, reduced DMRSs may result in the frequency or time
domain pattern of DMRSs of a PDSCH having a lower density than the
DMRSs of a PDSCH without QCL indication contained in the first
and/or second stage DCI.
Case 1
Intra/Inter TRP Coarse Beam Management
[0113] FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network for
intra/inter TRP coarse beam management, in accordance with one
implementation of the present application. In FIG. 10A, TPR1, TRP2,
and TPR3 each include multiple coarse beams in a cell for
beam-based transmission to one or more UEs, such as UE1, in the
cell. In 3GPP beam-based transmission, if UE1 desires to switch to
a different beam when the current beam is no longer available or
suitable for transmission (e.g., the quality of the current beam
has deteriorated below a predetermined threshold level), UE1 may
need to perform beam sweeping to measure quality of other beams.
However, assigning resource for beam sweeping can increase the
overhead of the serving TRP or other TRPs in the cell. For example,
the serving TRP may need additional bits to indicate to UE1 where
to perform beam sweeping. Also, the serving TRP may need to
transmit extra reference signals. According to implementations of
the present application, the serving TRP may transmit respective
first stage DCI for every supported coarse beam in the PDCCH, so
that UE1 can measure other coarse beams by detecting the
corresponding first stage DCI in the coarse beams. Furthermore, if
UE1 only needs to switch to another refine beam within the same
coarse beam, implementations of the present application can save
resources that would have been spent on blind detection because the
serving TRP has already transmitted in the first stage DCI about
the information on the refine beams within the coarse beam.
[0114] FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary frame
structure and resource allocation of the first stage DCI for
intra/inter TRP coarse beam management. As shown in FIG. 10B, frame
structure 1000 includes first stage DCI transmitted by coarse beams
in PDCCH 1006, for example, from one or more TRPs (e.g., TRPs 1, 2,
and 3 in FIG. 10A) to UE1. In addition, each of the first stage DCI
may include a reference signal (RS) which is precoded by a
corresponding coarse beam together with the first stage DCI, for
example, in the same control channel resource location or region.
For example, RS 1030A is precoded by coarse beam 1 together with
first stage DCI 1010A; RS 1030B is precoded by coarse beam 2
together with first stage DCI 1010B; RS 1030T is precoded by coarse
beam T together with first stage DCI 1010T.
[0115] The detailed operations for intra/inter TRP coarse beam
management are shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B. FIG. 11A is a diagram
illustrating actions taken by a UE for intra/inter TRP coarse beam
management, in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the
present application. As shown in FIG. 11A, in block 1101, a UE
(e.g., UE1 in FIG. 10A) detects and/or determines that a current
beam's quality has deteriorated such that the current beam (e.g., a
refine beam) is no longer suitable for transmission. For example,
the quality of the current beam has deteriorated below a
predetermined threshold level. In block 1102, the UE notifies the
TRP that the UE may need to perform beam switching to prevent radio
link failure. The TRP first requests the UE to find a refine beam
in the same coarse beam group for TRP beam switching. For example,
the TRP sends corresponding CSI-RS configuration(s) to the UE for
refine beam measurement(s). In block 1103, the UE receives the
CSI-RS configuration(s) from the TRP. In block 1104, the UE
receives all the CSI-RSs, and measures the signal quality in the
corresponding PDSCHs. In block 1105, the UE sends the refine beam
measurement report(s) to the TRP. Block 1106 determines whether
there are refine beams qualified for transmission. If the result of
the determination of block 1106 is Yes, then the UE receives
indication from the TRP to switch to a qualified refine beam as
shown in block 1107. Thereafter, the UE detects the second stage
DCI by the information contained in the first stage DCI, as shown
in block 1108. If the result of the determination of block 1106 is
No, then the UE receives indication from the TRP to perform coarse
beam switching as shown in block 1109. In block 1110, the UE
blindly detects first stage DCI transmitted within other coarse
beams from the serving TRP. It should be noted that, in another
implementation, the UE may detect first stage DCI transmitted
within coarse beams from other TRPs. In block 1111, the UE sends
coarse beam measurement report(s) to the current TRP to determine
whether there are qualified coarse beams for coarse beam
switching.
[0116] FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by a TRP
for intra/inter TRP coarse beam management, in accordance with an
exemplary implementation of the present application. As shown in
FIG. 11B, in block 1121, the TRP receives a notification from a UE
for beam switching, for example, to prevent radio link failure. In
block 1122, the TRP sends CSI-RS configuration(s) to the UE for
refine beam measurement. In block 1123, the TRP receives the refine
beam measurement report(s) from the UE. In block 1124, the TRP
determines whether there are refine beams qualified for
transmission. If the result of the determination of block 1124 is
Yes, then the TRP sends an indication to the UE to switch to a
qualified refine beam as shown in block 1125. If the result of the
determination of block 1124 is No, then the TRP sends an indication
to the UE to perform coarse beam switching as shown in block 1126.
It should be noted that, although FIGS. 11A and 11B describe coarse
beam management between a serving TRP and a UE, in another
implementation, the UE may switch to a different coarse beam from
another TRP different from the serving TRP.
Case 2
Coordinated Multi-TRP Transmission
[0117] Coordinated communication, such as coordinated multi-point
(CoMP) transmission and reception operations, can be used to reduce
interference and improve throughput. There are several different
schemes for coordinated communication. For example, Joint
Transmission (JT) in LTE CoMP is a coordinated communication scheme
where data can be transmitted to a UE simultaneously among
different base stations/cells (e.g., inter-eNB/cell JT) for
improving the UE's downlink throughput. Dynamic Transceiver Switch
(DTS) in LTE CoMP is another coordinated communication scheme where
a UE's data may be available at several TRPs, but the data is only
transmitted to the UE from one TRP at one time depending on the
channel quality of each link. Coordinated Scheduling/Coordinated
Beamforming (CS/CB) in LTE CoMP is yet another coordinated
communication scheme where several TRPs may communicate among other
TRPs and then schedule the resource and beam to their own serving
UEs all together to minimize interference. The TRPs can coordinate
resource scheduling or beam management to increase transmission
performance. To achieve coordinate transmission across several TRPs
in beam-based operation, a network may need to schedule additional
resource for performing beam sweeping among all of the TRPs. For
example, a TRP may need to assign multiple CSI-RS resources for
beam measurement. According to implementations of the present
application, the two-stage DCI configurations can be used in CoMP
transmission and/or reception operations, such that a UE can
monitor the RS precoded together with second stage DCI to obtain
signal quality or interference level. As a result, the TRP(s) may
not need to assign additional resources (e.g., multiple CSI-RS
resources) for beam measurements. The descriptions for different
coordinated communication schemes are provided in details below. It
should be noted that in various implementations described below,
the CoMP transmission/reception operations may be either inter-base
station/cell (e.g., among multiple base stations/cells) or
intra-base station/cell (e.g., among multiple TRPs controlled by
the base station/cell).
Case 2.1--Joint Transmission (JT)
Example 1: JT Using Beam-Specific Second Stage DCI
Configuration
[0118] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network
architecture of Joint Transmission as an example of a coordinated
communication scheme, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application. In FIG. 12, TRP1 and
TRP2 are located in a cell of a base station (e.g., a gNB), where
UE1 is served by TRP1 initially. In the present implementation,
TRP1 and TRP2 are connected by ideal backhaul, such that they can
perform coherent transmission. Once TRP1 decides to perform JT
across TRP1 and TRP2 to serve UE1, TRP1 may send a notification to
UE1 and ask UE1 to measure all the first stage DCIs in all coarse
beams from TRP2 to determine the quality of each of the coarse
beams from TRP2. If there is a qualified coarse beam for
transmission, UE1 may further measure the refine beams that belong
to the coarse beam group from TRP2 and determine whether there are
any qualified refine beams for transmission. If a qualified refine
beam (e.g., refine beam 2-2) is found, TRP1 may send the scheduling
information to TRP2 and notify UE1 that JT is to start. After TRP2
receives the scheduling information, TRP2 may follow the
information obtained from TRP1 to allocate the second stage DCI
within refine beam 2-2 to the same resource location as refine beam
1-1, which is used by TRP1 for transmitting data to UE1. In
addition, TRP2 may transmit data to UE1 in the same resource (e.g.,
time and frequency) as TRP1, but TRP1 and TRP2 may use different
beams for transmission.
[0119] FIG. 13 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2 for JT with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance with
one implementation of the present application. In FIG. 13, TRP1,
TRP2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine
beam 2-2 may substantially correspond to TRP1, TRP2, coarse beam 1,
refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine beam 2-2, respectively,
in FIG. 12. The detailed operations for JT with beam-specific
second stage DCI are further shown in FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C.
[0120] FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by UE1 in
FIG. 12 for JT with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 14A, in block 1401, with reference to FIG. 12, UE1
establishes a connection with TRP1. TRP1 may desire to start JT
with TRP2 to UE1. TRP1 sends a JT request to UE1 to ask UE1 to
monitor the quality of the coarse beams of TRP2 to find a qualified
coarse beam for JT. In block 1402, UE1 receives the JT request from
TRP1. In block 1403, UE1 detects and measures RSs (e.g., coarse
beam RSs) precoded with the first stage DCIs in the coarse beams
from TRP2, and sends the measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 may
determine whether there are coarse beams qualified for transmission
based on the measurement reports from UE1.
[0121] Block 1404 determines whether UE1 receives a notification
that there are qualified coarse beams from TRP2. If the result of
the determination of block 1404 is No, then UE1 returns to block
1403 to monitor coarse beams from TRP2, for example, periodically.
If the result of the determination of block 1404 is Yes, then UE1
receives a notification to enable refine beam measurements. For
example, in block 1405, UE1 measures refine beam RSs precoded with
second stage DCIs by the information contained in the first stage
DCI from TRP2 for refine beam measurements, then sends the
measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 then determines whether TRP2 can
support JT based upon the measurement reports. If there is a
qualified refine beam, TRP1 sends a notification of JT to UE1 and
TRP2, and transmits the scheduling information of JT to UE1 and
TRP2.
[0122] Block 1406 determines whether UE1 receives a notification
from TRP1 indicating there are qualified refine beams from TRP2 for
JT. If the result of determination of block 1406 is No, then UE1
returns to block 1403 to monitor coarse beams from TRP2, for
example, periodically. If the result of the determination of block
1406 is Yes, then UE1 receives a notification from TRP1 that JT is
to start, and obtains scheduling information from TRP1, as shown in
block 1407. TRP2 also receives the scheduling information from
TRP1, TRP2 may follow the information obtained from TRP1 to
allocate the second stage DCI within a refine beam (e.g., refine
beam 2-2 in FIG. 12) to the same resource location as the refine
beam (e.g., refine beam 1-1 in FIG. 12) from TRP1, which is used by
TRP1 for transmitting data to UE1. In addition, TRP2 may transmit
data to UE1 in the same resource (e.g., time and/or frequency) as
TRP1, but TRP1 and TRP2 may use different beams for transmission.
For example, when JT starts, TRP2 allocates the second stage DCI
within refine beam 2-2 to the same location as the second stage DCI
within refine beam 1-1 in TRP1, and transmits data within refine
beam 2-2 to UE1 according to the scheduling information from TRP1.
In one implementation, the data transmitted in refine beam 2-2 from
TRP2 is identical to the data transmitted in refine beam 1-1 from
TRP1.
[0123] In block 1408, UE1 receives data from TRP1 and TRP2 in the
same resource (e.g., time and/or frequency). Also, UE1 obtains the
scheduling information, refine beam information of TRP1 and TRP2,
and RSs (e.g., CSI-RS configurations) from the first stage and
second stage DCIs from TRP1. Therefore, TRP2 does not need to
transmit scheduling information for UE1 via its DCI. In addition,
UE1 can monitor interference between refine beam 1-1 from TRP1 and
refine beam 2-2 from TRP2 by detecting the RSs in the second stage
DCI of TRP1 and TRP2.
[0124] FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 12 for JT with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
block 1421, with reference to FIG. 12, TRP1 may desire to start JT
with TRP2 to UE1. TRP1 sends a JT request to UE1 to monitor the
quality of the coarse beams of TRP2 to find a qualified coarse beam
for JT. In block 1422, TRP1 receives the measurement reports of
TRP2 from UE1.
[0125] In block 1423, TRP1 determines whether there are coarse
beams qualified for transmission based on the measurement reports
of TRP2 from UE1. If the result of the determination of block 1423
is No, then TRP1 returns to block 1422 to monitor coarse beam
measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1. If the result of the
determination of block 1423 is Yes, then TRP1 sends UE1 a
notification for coarse beam switching to enable refine beam
measurements, as shown in block 1424. UE1 measures refine beam RSs
precoded with second stage DCIs by the information contained in the
first stage DCI from TRP2 for refine beam measurements, then sends
the measurement reports to TRP1.
[0126] In block 1425, TRP1 receives refine beam measurement reports
of TRP2 from UE1. In block 1426, TRP1 determines whether there are
any qualified refine beams of TRP2 that can support JT based upon
the measurement reports. If the result of the determination of
block 1426 is No, then TRP1 returns to block 1422 to monitor coarse
beam measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1. If the result of the
determination of block 1426 is Yes, then TRP1 sends a notification
about JT to UE1 and TRP2, and transmits the scheduling information
of JT to UE1 and TRP2 as shown in block 1427. In block 1428, TRP1
starts JT with TRP2, and transmits data to UE1. TRP1 also transmits
scheduling information, refine beam information of TRP1 and TRP2,
and RSs (e.g., CSI-RS configurations) from the first stage and
second stage DCIs to UE1.
[0127] FIG. 14C is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP2 in
FIG. 12 for JT with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
block 1441, with reference to FIG. 12, TRP2 receives a notification
that JT is to start and scheduling information from TRP1 (e.g.,
TRP1 in FIG. 12). In block 1442, TRP2 allocates the second stage
DCI within selected refine beam 2-2 to the same location as the
second stage DCI within refine beam 1-1 of TRP1, and transmits data
within refine beam 2-2 to UE1 according to the scheduling
information from TRP1. It should be noted that TRP2 does not need
to transmit scheduling information for UE1 via its DCI.
Example 2: JT Using UE-Specific Second Stage DCI Configuration
[0128] FIG. 15 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2 for JT with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance with
an exemplary implementation of the present application. In FIG. 15,
TRP1, TRP2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and
refine beam 2-2 may substantially correspond to TRP1, TRP2, coarse
beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine beam 2-2,
respectively, in FIG. 12. The detailed operations for JT with
UE-specific second stage DCI are further shown in FIGS. 16A, 16B
and 16C.
[0129] FIG. 16A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by UE1 in
FIG. 12 for JT with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 16A, blocks 1601, 1602, 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606, and
1607, may be substantially similar to blocks 1401, 1402, 1403,
1404, 1405, 1406, and 1407, respectively, in FIG. 14A. In block
1608, UE1 receives data from TRP1 and TRP2 in the same resource
(e.g., time and/or frequency). Also, UE1 may obtain scheduling
information, DMRS pattern combination of TRP1 and TRP2, CSI-RS
configuration, and CSI-IM configuration from the first stage and
the second stage DCIs from TRP1. UE1 may monitor interference
between refine beam 1-1 from TRP1 and refine beam 2-2 from TRP2 by
CSI-IM from TRP1.
[0130] In JT using UE-specific second stage DCI configuration, TRP2
does not transmit UE1 specific second stage DCI. UE1 does not need
to monitor the RS in second stage DCI from TRP2. That is, UE1 only
needs to receive control channel from TRP1 to be able to receive
data channel from both TRP1 and TRP2 simultaneously (e.g.,
allocated in the same time and/or frequency resource). Since there
are no second stage DCI for UE1 from TRP2, UE1 can monitor
interference by configuring CSI-IM for UE1.
[0131] FIG. 16B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 12 for JT with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 16B, blocks 1621, 1622, 1623, 1624, 1625, 1626, and
1627, may be substantially similar to blocks 1421, 1422, 1423,
1424, 1425, 1426, and 1427, respectively, in FIG. 14B. In block
1628, in addition to transmitting data to UE1, TRP1 also transmits
DMRS pattern combination of TRP1 and TRP2, CSI-RS configuration,
and CSI-IM configuration from the first stage and the second stage
DCIs to UE1.
[0132] FIG. 16C is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP2 in
FIG. 12 for JT with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
block 1641, TRP2 receives a notification that JT is to start and
scheduling information from TRP1. In block 1642, TRP2 transmits
data to UE1 according to the scheduling information from TRP1, but
TRP2 does not transmit UE-specific second stage DCI for UE1.
Case 2.2--Dynamic Transceiver Switch (DTS)
Example 1: DTS Using Beam-Specific Second Stage DCI
Configuration
[0133] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network
architecture of Dynamic Transceiver Switch as an example of a
coordinated communication scheme, in accordance with an exemplary
implementation of the present application. In FIG. 17, TRP1 and
TRP2 are located in a cell of a base station (e.g., a gNB), where
UE1 is served by TRP1 initially. For example, in scheduling time
unit n, TRP1 transmits data to UE1 using refine beam 1-1. In the
present implementation, TRP1 and TRP2 are connected by ideal
backhaul, such that they can perform coherent transmission. Once
TRP1 decides to perform DTS across TRP1 and TRP2 to serve UE1, TRP1
may send a notification to UE1 and ask UE1 to measure all the first
stage DCIs to determine the quality of all coarse beams from TRP2
to determine the quality of each of the coarse beams from TRP2. If
there is a coarse beam qualified for transmission, UE1 may further
measure the refine beams that belong to the coarse beam group from
TRP2 and determine whether there are any refine beams qualified for
transmission. If a qualified refine beam (e.g., refine beam 2-2) is
found, TRP1 may send the scheduling information to TRP2 and notify
UE1 that DTS is to start. During DTS, UE1 not only needs to detect
scheduling and other control information in the DCI, but also needs
to periodically monitor the beam quality of refine beam 2-2 from
TRP2 and refine beam 1-1 from TRP1, and to send measurement reports
to TRP1. If the beam quality of TRP2 is better than the refine beam
1-1 from TRP1, TRP2 may transmit data to UE1 using refine beam 2-2
in scheduling time unite n+k, as shown in FIG. 17.
[0134] FIG. 18 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2 for DTS with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with one implementation of the present application. In FIG. 18,
TRP1, TRP2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and
refine beam 2-2 may substantially correspond to TRP1, TRP2, coarse
beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine beam 2-2,
respectively, in FIG. 17. The detailed operations for DTS with
beam-specific second stage DCI are further shown in FIGS. 19A, 19B
and 19C.
[0135] FIG. 19A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by UE1 in
FIG. 17 for DTS with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 19A, in block 1901, with reference to FIG. 17, UE1
establishes a connection with TRP1. TRP1 may desire to start DTS
with UE1. TRP1 sends a DTS request to UE1 to ask UE1 to monitor the
quality of the coarse beams of TRP2 to find a qualified coarse beam
for DTS. In block 1902, UE1 receives the DTS request from TRP1. In
block 1903, UE1 detects and measures RSs (e.g., coarse beam RSs)
precoded with the first stage DCI in the coarse beams from TRP2,
and sends the measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 may determine
whether there are coarse beams qualified for transmission based on
the measurement reports from UE1.
[0136] Block 1904 determines whether UE1 receives a notification
that there are qualified coarse beams from TRP2. If the result of
the determination of block 1904 is No, then UE1 returns to block
1903 to monitor coarse beams from TRP2, for example, periodically.
If the result of the determination of block 1904 is Yes, then the
UE1 receives a notification to enable refine beam measurements. For
example, in block 1905, UE1 measures refine beam RSs precoded with
second stage DCIs by the information contained in the first stage
DCI from TRP2 for refine beam measurements, then sends the
measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 then determines whether TRP2 can
support DTS based upon the measurement reports. If there is a
qualified refine beam, TRP1 sends a notification of DTS to UE1 and
TRP2, and transmits the scheduling information of DTS to UE1 and
TRP2.
[0137] Block 1906 determines whether UE1 receives a notification
from TRP1 indicating there are qualified refine beams from TRP2 for
DTS. If the result of determination of block 1906 is No, then UE1
returns to block 1903 to monitor coarse beams from TRP2, for
example, periodically. If the result of the determination of block
1906 is Yes, then UE1 receives a notification from TRP1 that DTS is
to start, and obtains scheduling information from TRP1, as shown in
block 1907.
[0138] In block 1908, UE1 obtains scheduling information, refine
beam information of TRP1 and TRP2, and CSI-RS configuration from
the first stage and the second stage DCIs in TRP1. In the present
implementation, although data channel may be transmitted from TRP1
or TRP2, the control information is contained only in TRP1. UE1 may
detect data channel of TRP1 or TRP2 depending on the scheduling
information from TRP1. During DTS, UE1 needs to periodically
monitor the beam quality from both TRP1 and TRP2 by detecting the
RSs (e.g., refine beam RSs) in the second stage DCIs, and transmit
the measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 may determine which TRP is
better suited for data transmission, and transmit scheduling
information to TRP2 and UE1.
[0139] FIG. 19B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 12 for DTS with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
block 1921, with reference to FIG. 17, TRP1 may desire to start DTS
with UE1. TRP1 sends a DTS request to UE1 to ask UE1 to monitor the
quality of the coarse beams of TRP2 to find a qualified coarse beam
for DTS. In block 1922, TRP1 receives the measurement reports of
TRP2 from UE1. In block 1923, TRP1 determines whether there are
coarse beams qualified for transmission based on the measurement
reports of TRP2 from UE1. If the result of the determination of
block 1923 is No, then TRP1 returns to block 1922 to monitor coarse
beam measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1. If the result of the
determination of block 1923 is Yes, then TRP1 sends UE1 a
notification for coarse beam switching to enable refine beam
measurement, as shown in block 1924. UE1 measures refine beam RSs
precoded with second stage DCIs by the information contained in the
first stage DCI from TRP2 for refine beam measurements, then sends
the measurement reports to TRP1. In block 1925, TRP1 receives
refine beam measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1.
[0140] In block 1926, TRP1 determines whether there are any
qualified refine beams of TRP2 that can support DTS based upon the
measurement report(s). If the result of the determination of block
1926 is No, then TRP1 returns to block 1922 to monitor coarse beam
measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1. If the result of the
determination of block 1926 is Yes, then TRP1 sends a notification
about DTS to UE1 and TRP2, as shown in block 1927.
[0141] In block 1928, TRP1 determines which TRP is better suitable
for transmission based on measurement reports from UE1, and
transmits scheduling information to TRP2 and UE1. If TRP1 is better
suitable for transmission, then TRP1 transmits scheduling
information of DTS to UE1 and TRP2, as shown in block 1929. Also in
block 1929, TRP1 transmits refine beam information of TRP1 and
TRP2, and CSI-RS configuration from the first stage and the second
stage DCIs in TRP1 to UE1. Although data channel may be transmitted
from TRP1 or TRP2, the control information is contained only in
TRP1. As TRP1 is better suitable for data transmission, in block
1929, TRP1 transmits data to UE1.
[0142] If the result of determination of block 1928 is that TRP2 is
better suitable for transmission, then TRP1 transmits scheduling
information of DTS to UE1 and TRP2, as shown in block 1930. Also,
in block 1930, TRP1 transmits refine beam information of TRP1 and
TRP2, and CSI-RS configuration from the first stage and the second
stage DCIs in TRP1 to UE1. Although data channel may be transmitted
from TRP2, the control information is contained only in TRP1. UE1
may detect data channel of TRP2 according to the scheduling
information from TRP1. As TRP2 is better suitable for data
transmission, in block 1930, TRP1 does not transmit data to
UE1.
[0143] FIG. 19C is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP2 in
FIG. 17 for DTS with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
block 1941, with reference to FIG. 17, TRP2 receives a notification
that DTS is to start from TRP1. Since TRP1 determines which TRP is
better suitable for transmission based on measurement reports from
UE1, in block 1942, TRP2 determines whether it receives a request
from TRP1 for transmitting data to UE1. If the result of
determination of block 1942 is Yes, which means TRP1 determines
that TRP2 is better suitable for transmission, then TRP2 receives
scheduling information of DTS from TRP1, as shown in block 1944. In
block 1945, TRP2 transmits data to UE1 according to the scheduling
information from TRP1. Although data channel may be transmitted
from TRP2, the control information is contained only in TRP1. Thus,
TRP2 does not contain scheduling information for UE1 in its DCI. If
the result of determination of block 1942 is No, which means TRP1
determines that TRP1 is better suitable for transmission, then TRP2
does not transmit data to UE1. Also, TRP2 does not contain
scheduling information for UE1 in its DCI.
Example 2: DTS Using UE-Specific Second Stage DCI Configuration
[0144] FIG. 20 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2 for DTS with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance with
an exemplary implementation of the present application. In FIG. 20,
TRP1, TRP2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and
refine beam 2-2 may substantially correspond to TRP1, TRP2, coarse
beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine beam 2-2,
respectively, in FIG. 17. The detailed operations for DTS with
UE-specific second stage DCI are further shown in FIGS. 21A, 21B
and 21C.
[0145] The measurement procedures for DTS using UE-specific second
stage DCI configuration may be substantially similar to DTS using
beam-specific second stage DCI configuration except, for example,
how to measure link quality toward PDSCH during DTS. In DTS using
UE-specific second stage DCI configuration, TRP2 does not transmit
UE1 specific second stage DCI. That is, UE1 only needs to receive
the data channel from TRP2. Since UE1 needs to monitor the data
channel quality in both TRP1 and TRP2, TRP1 needs to transmit
scheduling information, DMRS pattern combination of TRP1 and TRP2,
CSI RS configuration of both TRP1 and TRP2 from the first stage and
the second stage DCIs in TRP1. UE1 needs to send CSI RS measurement
report to TRP1. TRP1 determines which TRP is suitable for data
transmission, and then transmits the scheduling information to UE1
and TRP2.
[0146] FIG. 21A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by UE1 in
FIG. 17 for DTS with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 21A, blocks 2101, 2102, 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106, and
2107, may be substantially similar to blocks 1901, 1902, 1903,
1904, 1905, 1906, and 1907, respectively, in FIG. 19A. In block
2108, UE1 receives scheduling information, DMRS patterns of TRP1
and TRP2, and CSI-RS configurations of TRP1 and TRP2 from the first
stage and the second stage DCIs from TRP1, and sends measurement
reports to TRP1. Although the data channel may be transmitted from
either TRP1 or TRP2, the control information is contained only from
TRP1. UE1 may detect the data channel of TRP1 or TRP2 depending on
the scheduling information from TRP1. Also, during DTS, UE1 may
periodically monitor the beam quality from both TRP1 and TRP2 by
detecting the CSI-RS, and transmits the measurement reports to
TRP1. TRP1 then determines which TRP is better suitable for data
transmission, and transmits the scheduling information to TRP2 and
UE1.
[0147] FIG. 21B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 17 for DTS with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 21B, blocks 2121, 2122, 2123, 2124, 2125, 2126, 2127,
2128, 2129, and 2130, may be substantially similar to blocks 1921,
1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930,
respectively, in FIG. 19B.
[0148] FIG. 21C is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP2 in
FIG. 17 for DTS with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
block 2141, with reference to FIG. 17, TRP2 receives a notification
that DTS is to start from TRP1. TRP1 determines which TRP is better
suitable for transmission based on measurement reports from UE1. In
block 2142, TRP2 determines whether it receives a request form TRP1
for transmitting data to UE1. If the result of determination of
block 2142 is Yes, which means TRP1 determines that TRP2 is better
suitable for transmission, then TRP2 receives scheduling
information of DTS from TRP1, as shown in block 2144. In block
2145, TRP2 transmits data to UE1 according to the scheduling
information from TRP1. Although data channel may be transmitted
from TRP2, the control information is contained only in TRP1. Thus,
TRP2 does not transmit second stage DCI to UE1. If the result of
determination of block 2142 is No, which means TRP1 determines that
TRP1 is better suitable for transmission, then TRP2 does not
transmit data to UE1. Also, TRP2 does not transmit second stage DCI
to UE1.
Case 2.3--Coordinated Schedule and Coordinated Beamforming
(CS/CB)
Example 1: CS/CB Using Beam-Specific Second Stage DCI
Configuration
[0149] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network
architecture of Coordinated Schedule and Coordinated Beamforming as
an example of a coordinated communication scheme, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. In
FIG. 22, TRP1 and TRP2 are located in a cell of a base station
(e.g., a gNB), where UE1 is served by TRP1, and UE2 is served by
TRP2. In the present implementation, once TRP1 decides to perform
CS/CB across TRP1 and TRP2, TRP1 may send a notification to UE1 to
ask UE1 to measure all the first stage DCIs to determine the
quality of all coarse beams from TRP2. TRP1 selects the weakest
coarse beam and sends a notification to UE1 for further
measurements. For example, in FIG. 22, coarse beam 2 may cause the
least interference to UE1. As such, TRP1 may ask UE1 to further
measure all refine beams belonging to coarse beam group 2. After
UE1 measures all the refine beams that belong to coarse beam group
2, UE1 may send the measurement reports to TRP1. Based upon the
measurement reports, TRP1 may transmit scheduling information to
TRP2 and UE1. During CS/CB, TRP2 may allocate the second stage DCI
within a beam (e.g., refine beam 2-2) causing the least
interference to UE1 to the same location as the second stage DCI
within the beam used by TRP1 for serving UE1. In addition, TRP2 may
allocate data transmitted with refine beam 2-2 to the same resource
(e.g., time and/or frequency) location as the data transmitted with
refine beam 1-1 from TRP1 to UE1 to minimize interference. It is
noted that TRP2 may allocate the data transmitted within refine
beam 2-2 to the same resource location as the data transmitted from
TRP1 to its other serving UEs as well. UE1 may monitor the RSs in
the second stage DCI from TRP1 for interference measurement and
send the measurement report to TRP1 to adjust scheduling of TRP2
and TRP1.
[0150] FIG. 23 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2 for CS/CB with beam-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with one implementation of the present application. In FIG. 23,
TRP1, TRP2, UE1, UE2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam
2, and refine beam 2-2 may substantially correspond to TRP1, TRP2,
UE1, UE2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine
beam 2-2, respectively, in FIG. 22. The detailed operations for
CS/CB with beam-specific second stage DCI are further shown in
FIGS. 24A, 24B and 24C.
[0151] FIG. 24A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by UE1 in
FIG. 22 for CS/CB with beam-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application. As shown in FIG. 24A, in block 2401, with reference to
FIG. 22, UE1 establishes a connection with TRP1. TRP1 may desire to
start CS/CB with UE1. TRP1 sends a CS/CB request to UE1 to ask UE1
to monitor the quality of the coarse beams of TRP2 to find a
qualified coarse beam for CS/CB. In block 2402, UE1 receives the
CS/CB request from TRP1. In block 2403, UE1 detects and measures
RSs (e.g., coarse beam RSs) precoded with the first stage DCI in
the coarse beams from TRP2, and sends the measurement reports to
TRP1. TRP1 may select the coarse beam with the least interference
based upon the measurement reports, and sends a notification to UE1
to further measure refine beams in the selected coarse beam group
from TRP2.
[0152] In block 2404, UE1 receives the notification from TRP1 to
measure refine beams in the selected coarse beam group from TRP2.
In block 2405, UE1 measures the beam quality of all of the refine
beams in the selected coarse beam group from TPR2. UE1 detects the
refine beam RSs in the second stage DCI by the information
contained in the first stage DCI from TRP2, and sends measurement
reports to TRP1. TRP1 then selects a refine beam with the least
interference based upon the measurement reports. TRP1 sends
scheduling information to UE1 and TRP2. TRP2 allocates the second
stage DCI within refine beam 2-2 to the same location as the second
stage DCI within refine beam 1-1 in TRP1 to minimize interference.
TRP2 may only transmit data and control channel for UE2 within
refine beam 2-2. That is, UE1 does not need to detect DCI of TRP2.
UE1 may obtain scheduling information, refine beam information of
TRP1 and TRP2, and CSI RS configuration from the first and second
stage DCI in TRP1. UE1 may only receive data channel from TRP1, and
the control information of UE1 may be contained only in TRP1.
[0153] In block 2406, during CS/CB, UE1 receives data from TRP1.
UE1 also needs to periodically monitor the beam quality from TRP1
by detecting the RSs in the first stage and second stage DCIs from
TRP1, and transmits measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 may determine
whether the transmission from TRP2 is harmless (or having the least
interference) to the transmission of UE1 based upon the measurement
report. If the interference from refine beam 2-2 of TRP2 becomes
severe, TRP1 may adjust the scheduling of TRP2 and UE1. For
example, TRP1 may try to find another coarse beam and/or refine
beam of TRP2 to perform CS/CB.
[0154] FIG. 24B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 22 for CS/CB with beam-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application. In block 2421, with reference to FIG. 22, TRP1 may
desire to start CS/CB with UE1. TRP1 sends a CS/CB request to UE1
to ask UE1 to monitor the quality of the coarse beams of TRP2 to
find a qualified coarse beam for CS/CB. In block 2422, TRP1
receives the coarse beam measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1. In
block 2423, TRP1 selects a coarse beam qualified for transmission
based on the measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1, and send a
notification to UE1 for refine beam measurements. In block 2424,
TRP1 receives the refine beam measurement reports of TRP2 from UE1.
In block 2425, TRP1 then selects a refine beam with the least
interference based upon the measurement reports, and transmits
refine beam measurement report to TRP2. TRP1 also sends a CS/CB
request to TRP2. In block 2426, TRP1 then transmits scheduling
information and the first and second stage DCIs to UE1. In block
2426, TRP1 also transmits data to UE1.
[0155] During CS/CB, TRP1 may determine whether the transmission
from TRP2 is harmless (or having the least interference) to the
transmission of UE1 based upon the measurement reports. If the
interference from refine beam 2-2 of TRP2 becomes severe, TRP1 may
adjust the scheduling of TRP2 and UE1. For example, TRP1 may try to
find another coarse beam and/or refine beam of TRP2 to perform
CS/CB.
[0156] FIG. 24C is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP2 in
FIG. 22 for CS/CB with beam-specific second stage DCI, in
accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present
application. In block 2441, with reference to FIG. 22, TRP2
receives a CS/CB request from TRP1. TRP2 also receives a refine
beam measurement report from TRP1. In block 2442, based on the
refine beam measurement report from TRP1, TRP2 selects a beam which
causes the least interference to UE1. In block 2443, TRP2 allocates
the second stage DCI within refine beam 2-2 to the same location as
the second stage DCI within refine beam 1-1 in TRP1 to minimize
interference. TRP2 may only transmit data and control channel for
UE2 within refine beam 2-2. That is, UE1 does not need to detect
DCI of TRP2. UE1 may obtain scheduling information, refine beam
information of TRP1 and TRP2, and CSI RS configuration from the
first and second stage DCI in TRP1.
Example 2: CS/CB Using UE-Specific Second Stage DCI
Configuration
[0157] FIG. 25 illustrates exemplary frame structures of TRP1 and
TRP2 for CS/CB with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with one implementation of the present application. In FIG. 25,
TRP1, TRP2, UE1, UE2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam
2, and refine beam 2-2 may substantially correspond to TRP1, TRP2,
UE1, UE2, coarse beam 1, refine beam 1-1, coarse beam 2, and refine
beam 2-2, respectively, in FIG. 22. The detailed operations for
CS/CB with UE-specific second stage DCI are further shown in FIGS.
26A, 26B and 26C. The measurement procedures for CS/CB using
UE-specific second stage DCI configuration are substantially
similar to CS/CB using beam-specific second stage DCI configuration
except, for example, the actions in which TRP1 suggests TRP2 to use
a specific refine beam for minimizing interference. In CS/CB using
UE-specific second stage DCI configuration, TRP1 and TRP2 allocate
their data channel with selected refine beam to the same resource.
For example, the data to UE1 within refine beam 1-1 and the data to
UE2 within refine beam 2-2 may be transmitted at the same time and
frequency. Since TRP2 does not carry any control information or
data channel for UE1, UE1 does not need to detect DCI from TRP2.
UE1 may monitor the RS in the second stage DCI from TRP1 for
interference measurements, and send the measurement report to TRP1
to adjust the scheduling of TRP2 and TRP1.
[0158] FIG. 26A is a diagram illustrating actions taken by UE1 in
FIG. 22 for CS/CB with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 26A, blocks 2601, 2602, 2603, 2604, and 2605, may be
substantially similar to blocks 2401, 2402, 2403, 2404, and 2405,
respectively, in FIG. 24A. In block 2606, UE1 obtains scheduling
information, DMRS pattern of TRP1, and CSI-RS configuration of TRP1
from the first stage and the second stage DCIs in TRP1. Data
channel and control information of UE1 are transmitted from
TRP1.
[0159] During CS/CB, UE1 needs to periodically monitor the beam
quality from TRP1 by detecting the CSI RS data channel, and
transmit the measurement reports to TRP1. TRP1 then determines
whether the transmission from TRP2 is harmless (or having the least
interference) to the transmission from TRP1 to UE1. If the
interference from refine beam 2-2 of TRP2 become severe, TRP1 may
adjust the scheduling of TRP2 and UE1. For example, TRP1 may
attempt to find another beam (e.g., another coarse and/or refine
beam) of TRP2 to perform CS/CB.
[0160] FIG. 26B is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 22 for CS/CB with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 26B, blocks 2621, 2622, 2623, 2624, and 2606 may be
substantially similar to blocks 2421, 2422, 2423, 2424, and 2426,
respectively, in FIG. 24B. In action 2625, in the CS/CB request to
TRP2, TRP1 may suggests TRP2 to use a specific refine beam for
minimizing interference.
[0161] FIG. 26C is a diagram illustrating actions taken by TRP1 in
FIG. 22 for CS/CB with UE-specific second stage DCI, in accordance
with an exemplary implementation of the present application. As
shown in FIG. 26C, blocks 2641 and 2642 may be substantially
similar to blocks 2441 and 2442, respectively, in FIG. 24C. In
block 2643, TRP2 allocates the data transmitted with the selected
beam to the same resource location as the resource location for UE1
in TRP1.
[0162] In comparison to CS/CB using beam-specific second stage DCI
configuration, for CS/CB using UE-specific second stage DCI
configuration, UE1 obtains scheduling information, DMRS pattern of
TRP1, and CSI RS configuration of TRP1 from the first stage and the
second stage DCIs in TRP1. Data channel and control information of
UE1 are transmitted from TRP1. TRP2 does not contain data and
control information for UE1, but allocates data channel for UE2
transmitted within refine beam 2-2 to the same location as data
channel transmitted within refine beam 1-1 from TRP1 to minimize
interference to UE1. Also, during CS/CB, UE1 needs to periodically
monitor the beam quality from TRP1 by detecting the CSI RS data
channel, and transmits the measurement report to TRP1. TRP1 then
determines whether the transmission from TRP2 is harmless (or
having the least interference) to the transmission from TRP1 to
UE1. If the interference from refine beam 2-2 of TRP2 become
severe, TRP1 may adjust the scheduling of TRP2 and UE1. For
example, TRP1 may attempt to find another beam (e.g., another
coarse and/or refine beam) of TRP2 to perform CS/CB.
[0163] It should be noted that in implementations of the present
application, the TRPs (e.g., TRP1 and TRP2) are controlled by their
corresponding base stations (e.g., gNBs), where the scheduling
information and resource allocation may be decided by the base
stations and transmitted to the corresponding TRPs.
* * * * *