204 may be embodied in various types of user devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, laptop computer, wearable computing device, etc. The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that the processors modules 210 and 230 can read information from, and write information to, memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the base station 202 that enable bi-directional communication between base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communication with the base station 202. For example, network communication module 218 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface such that base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC)). The terms “configured for,” “configured to” and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc., that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model (referred to herein as, “open system interconnection model”) is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communication used by systems (e.g., wireless communication device, wireless communication node) open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is broken into seven subcomponents, or layers, each of which represents a conceptual collection of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI Model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transfer by using different layer protocols. The OSI Model may also be referred to as the seven-layer OSI Model or the seven-layer model. In some embodiments, a first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, a second layer may be a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, a third layer may be a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, a fourth layer may be a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, a fifth layer may be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, a sixth layer may be a Non Access Stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer being the other layer.

2. Systems and Methods Beam State Updating for Uplink Transmission

One of the features of the new radio (NR) technology of fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems is the support of high frequency bands. High frequency bands have abundant frequency domain resources. However, wireless signals in high frequency bands decay quickly resulting in relatively small coverage of the wireless signals. Thus, transmitting signals in a beam mode leads to concentrating energy in a relatively small spatial range and improving the coverage of the wireless signals in the high frequency bands. In the beam mode scenario, as the time and position change, a beam pair between a base station and a wireless communication device, e.g., a user equipment (UE), may also change. The change in the beam pair calls for a flexible beam update mechanism. Also, it is desired to have a mechanism to signal and/or update beam state for both uplink and downlink.

Some embodiments described herein allow for enhancing multi-beam technology by using unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) architecture and/or shared beam state of uplink and downlink for data and control channels. According to unified TCI, wireless communication nodes, such wireless communication node 202, can use the TCI state to indicate/signal/communicate beam state for both uplink and downlink transmissions. The wireless communication node 202 may use TCI state only for beam state indication for downlink transmission, but not for uplink transmission. In such case, the wireless communication node 202 may signal/communicate the beam state indication for uplink transmissions, such as sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, using other methods. For instance, the wireless communication node 202 may define/determine respective spatial relations for SRS and PUCCH resources, and signal/transmit/communicate the beam state for SRS and PUCCH transmission via the spatial relation. As used herein, the spatial relation refers to an existing uplink/downlink (UL/DL) reference signal (RS). For PUSCH transmission, the wireless communication node 202 may signal/transmit/communicate the beam state via existing SRS resources.

The wireless communication node 202 may use a beam state indicated by downlink control information (DCI), for multiple channels, such as physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), among others. However, wireless communication node 202 may signal/communicate/indicate the beams' states for uplink and downlink transmissions independently. Also, the wireless communication node 202 may employ independent/separate beam state indication/signaling methods for the data channel, the control channel, and the reference signal.

Currently, NR PUSCH comprises dynamic grant (DG) PUSCH transmission and configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission based on a scheduling scheme. That is, PUSCH transmission(s) can be dynamically scheduled by an UL grant in a DCI, in which case it is called DG PUSCH, or the transmission can correspond to a configured grant (CG) Type 1 or Type 2. The Type 1 CG PUSCH transmission is semi-statically configured to operate upon the reception of higher layer parameter of configuredGrantConfig including rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant without the detection of an UL grant in a DCI. The Type 2 CG PUSCH transmission is semi-persistently scheduled by an UL grant in a valid activation DCI after the reception of higher layer parameter configuredGrantConfig not including rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant. The parameters in higher layer parameter rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant are indicated in a DCI which is used to activate type 2 CG PUSCH transmissions.

Transmission parameters for CG PUSCH configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling or by activation DCI, are applied for a series of CG PUSCH transmissions. When the wireless communication node 202, e.g., gNB, indicates a common beam state (also called a shared beam state) to a wireless communication device 204, whether and how the common beam state affects CG PUSCH transmission are unsettled issues. In the current disclosure, an improved scheme for signaling/communicating/indicating or updating beam state to wireless communication devices 204 can include signaling/communicating/indicating or updating a shared beam state for both uplink and downlink transmissions, or for any combination of control channel transmission, data channel transmission and reference signals.

Embodiments of the improved scheme can include identifying the parameters which are impacted by the shared beam state, and the parameters which should not be changed for CG PUSCH. For instance, the SRS resource can be determined for PUSCH transmission according to the shared beam state. Furthermore, the wireless communication node 202 can update pathloss reference signal (PL-RS) for an RS associated with the shared beam state. In addition, the wireless communication node 202 can determine the transmitted precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) and the number of layers for CG PUSCH based on the determined SRS resource. The wireless communication node 202 can update other parameters according to the shared beam state or activation DCI or DG PUSCH DCI, while some other parameters may remain unchanged.

Embodiments of the improved scheme can include identifying under which conditions the shared beam state would affect CG PUSCH transmission. Such conditions can include, for example, a switch parameter or a transmission port, among others. Some embodiments described herein identify/determine the effective time of the shared beam state for CG PUSCH. The effective time of the shared beam state can be a time period after the shared beam state indication. The time period can depend on at least one of a UE feedback message, at least one SRS resource determined based on the shared beam state or another time period for processing.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flowchart illustrating a method 300 of wireless communication is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In brief overview, the method 300 can include a wireless communication node transmitting, and a wireless communication device receiving, a command signaling that indicates beam state information for a plurality of target transmissions (STEP 302), and the wireless communication device determining, according to the beam state information, parameters of the plurality of target transmissions (STEP 304). The method 300 can be viewed as a process performed by the wireless communication node, a process performed by the wireless communication device or a process performed by both.

The method 300 can include a wireless communication node 202 transmitting, and a wireless communication device 204 receiving, a command signaling that indicates beam state information for a plurality of target transmissions (STEP 302). The wireless communication node 202 can be a next generation nodeB (gNB). In some implementations, the command signaling can include a TCI signaling, a DCI signaling or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling. In the case where the command signaling is DCI signaling, the beam state information in the DCI can indicate at least one beam state. The plurality of target transmissions can be associated with multiple channels, an uplink-downlink pair or combination of both. For instance, the target transmissions can include at least one of a PDCCH transmission, a PUCCH transmission, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission, a SRS transmission, a DG PUSCH transmission, a type 1 CG PUSCH transmission, a type 2 CG PUSCH transmission, a PDSCH transmission or a combination thereof. The beam state may include a quasi co-location (QCL) information, a TCI state, spatial relation information, reference signal (RS) information, spatial filter information, precoding information or a combination thereof.

The method 300 can include the wireless communication device 204 determining, according to the beam state information, parameters of the plurality of target transmissions (STEP 304). The wireless communication device 204 can extract/decode the beam state information from the command signaling, and determine the parameters of the plurality of target transmissions. The wireless communication device 204 may apply each determined parameter to the corresponding target transmission. The method 300 allows for updating or signaling/communicating/indicating the beam state, or shared beam state, for multiple channels, uplinks and downlinks or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the beam state (or TCI state) information may be used to signal or determine a reference SRS for CG PUSCH. In NR, the wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) may configure at least one SRS resource set for the wireless communication device 204 (e.g., UE). Each SRS resource set may include at least one SRS resource. The wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) may configure the SRS resource set with usage of beam management, antenna switching, codebook or non codebook. The wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) can signal/indicate/communicate one or more SRS resources for PUSCH transmission to the wireless communication device 204. The SRS resource(s) is also called, or referred to as, a reference SRS. The wireless communication device 204 can identify the reference(s) SRS according to the received beam state (or TCI state) information, and determine the transmission parameters for PUSCH transmission.

The wireless communication node 202 can configure a PUSCH as codebook based or non-codebook based. For codebook based PUSCH, the wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) may indicate/signal/communicate the reference SRS via a SRS resource indicator (SRI). For example, the wireless communication node 202 may use a SRS resource indicator field in a DCI or the RRC parameter srs-ResourceIndicator to indicate/signal/communicate the reference SRS(s). The wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) may indicate/signal/communicate the TPMI and the number of layers via precoding information and the number of layers field in DCI or the RRC parameter precodingAndNumberOfLayers. For non-codebook based PUSCH, the wireless communication node 204 (e.g., gNB) may indicate the reference SRS(s) via SRI, e.g. using the SRS resource indicator field in a DCI, or the RRC parameter srs-ResourceIndicator. The wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) may not need to indicate TPMI for non-codebook based PUSCH because the wireless communication device 204 (e.g., UE) can determine precoding information for non-codebook based PUSCH by itself.

The reference SRS for codebook based PUSCH usually corresponds to a SRS resource set with usage of a codebook, whereas the reference SRS for non-codebook based PUSCH corresponds to a SRS resource set with usage of non-codebook. If SRS resource set includes a single SRS resource, the wireless communication may not need to use SRI to indicate the reference SRS. The single SRS resource can be used as reference SRS.

Using a shared beam state scheme allows for updating beams as fast as possible. As such, the wireless communication node 202 can use the shared beam state scheme for both type 1 CG PUSCH and type 2 CG PUSCH. Specifically, the wireless communication node 202 can use the shared beam state scheme to signal/communicate/indicate the reference SRS(s) for both type 1 CG PUSCH and type 2 CG PUSCH. In other words, the shared beam state can replace the SRI, e.g. SRS resource indicator field in a DCI for type 2 CG PUSCH or RRC parameter srs-ResourceIndicator for type 1 CG PUSCH, to signal/communicate/indicate (by the wireless communication node 202) or determine/identify (by the wireless communication device 204) the reference SRS(s) for the corresponding PUSCH. The wireless communication device 204 can determine, using or according to the shared beam state, a parameter that is indicative of a reference SRS of at least one of the type 1 CG PUSCH transmission or the type 2 CG PUSCH transmission.

In the case where a single SRS resource is in the related SRS resource set, the wireless communication node 202 may transmit the single SRS resource according to the shared beam state. The usage of SRS resource set can be the same as the parameter txConfig of PUSCH. The value of parameter txConfig of PUSCH can be codebook or non-codebook.

Determining parameters of multiple target transmissions can include the wireless communication device 204 (e.g., UE) determining the reference SRS of CG PUSCH according to the shared beam state indicated by the command signaling. With respect to the reference SRS of CG PUSCH, the wireless communication device 204 (e.g., UE) may also need other parameters to determine the transmission precoder for PUSCH. For codebook based CG PUSCH, the wireless communication device 204 can determine the PUSCH transmission precoder based on reference SRS resource, TPMI and the transmission rank. The wireless communication device 204 can determine the TPMI and the transmission rank using/from a DCI field for precoding information and number of layers. The wireless communication device 204 can determine the reference SRS resource using (or according to) shared beam state.

The wireless communication node 202 can use the TPMI to indicate the precoder to be applied over the layers {0 . . . v−1} and that corresponds to the reference SRS resource determined according to the shared beam state. If a single SRS resource is configured, the wireless communication node 202 can use the TPMI indicate the precoder to be applied over the layers {0 . . . v−1} and that corresponds to the SRS resource. The wireless communication node 202 may select the transmission precoder from the uplink codebook that has a number of antenna ports equal to the higher layer parameter nrofSRS-Ports in SRS-Config for the reference SRS resource. When the wireless communication device 204 (e.g., UE) is configured with the higher layer parameter txConfig set to ‘codebook’, the wireless communication device 204 can be configured with at least one SRS resource.

The reference SRS resource in slot n may be associated with the most recent transmission of reference SRS resource. The SRS resource may be prior to the PDCCH carrying the shared beam state or prior to a time period before the PUSCH transmission. The time period can depend on the capability of the wireless communication device 204. For instance, the time period can be a number of K_PUSCH,minsymbols equal to the product of a number of symbols per slot N_symb^slotand the minimum of the values provided by k2 in PUSCH-ConfigCommon for active UL BWP b of carrier f of serving cell c. The time period can be T_proc,2which is determined assuming d_2,1=1, d_2,2=0, and with ρ_DLcorresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the active downlink BWP of the scheduling cell for a configured grant if the first PUSCH transmission is on a configured grant after a power headroom report was triggered. For non-codebook based CG PUSCH, the wireless communication device 204 can determine the PUSCH precoder and the transmission rank based on the reference SRS resource. Only one SRS port for each SRS resource can be configured.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication node 202 may signal/communicate/transmit/deliver one or more other parameters to the wireless communication device 204 (e.g., UE), such as a TPMI, a number of layers, an antenna port, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a transmission block size (TBS) or a combination thereof, among others. The wireless communication device 204 can determine, according to a DCI signaling, beam state information or the shared beam state, a parameter indicative of at least one of the pathloss reference signal (PL-RS), TPMI, the number of layers, the antenna port, the MCS, or the TBS, among others. The DCI signaling is used to schedule a DG PUSCH transmission;

In some implementations, the beam state information may be used to determine a pathloss reference signal (PL-RS). The PL-RS is used to determine pathloss value for transmission parameter, e.g. transmit power, for an uplink transmission. The wireless communication device 204 may determine, according to or using the beam state information, a parameter indicative of the PL-RS. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 204 may determine a parameter that remains the same as for a parameter used for previous PUSCH transmission. The parameter used for previous PUSCH transmission may be signaled/communicated/transmitted by the wireless communication node 202, and may include at least one RRC parameter or at least one DCI parameter, Such parameter(s) can include one or more RRC parameters configured for type 1 CG PUSCH, one or more RRC parameters and activation DCI for type 2 CG PUSCH, time domain parameter(s), frequency domain parameter(s), antenna port or a combination thereof, among others. The wireless communication device 204 can determine at least one of such parameters that remain the same (or unchanged) compared to at least a previous PUSCH transmission.

In some implementations, the wireless communication device 204 may determine a parameter, e.g., MCS, according to a rule of a fixed TBS or a fixed code rate for a plurality of CG PUSCH transmissions. The wireless communication device 204 may keep/maintain the fixed TBS or code rate for different CG PUSCH transmissions with the same CG PUSCH configuration. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 204 may determine a parameter according to a default or predefined scheme. For instance, when adopting the shared beam state the number of layers may be fixed to 1. As such, the wireless communication device 204 can determine the number of layers to be equal to 1.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 204 may determine parameters based on a shared beam state if one or more conditions are satisfied/met. For instance, the wireless communication device 204 may determine, according to a shared beam state of the beam state information, a parameter indicative of a reference SRS (e.g., used for CG PUSCH) in case a condition is satisfied. The wireless communication device 204 may determine to maintain/keep at least one parameter unchanged in case the condition is not satisfied. The wireless communication device 204 may maintain/keep the at least one parameter unchanged for CG PUSCH with respect to (or compared to) the previous PUSCH transmission. The wireless communication node 202 (e.g., gNB) can configure a parameter/indication as function/enable switch. The wireless communication device 204 can check whether the parameter/indication is delivered/provided/signaled or enabled. When the parameter/indication is delivered/provided/signaled or enabled by the wireless communication node 202, the wireless communication device 204 can determine the reference SRS (e.g., for CG PUSCH) according to the shared beam state. Such function/enable switch parameter/indication can be configured/used for all kinds of PUSCH, for CG PUSCH, for type1 CG PUSCH or for type2 CG PUSCH. For example, the wireless communication node 202 (or the wireless communication device 204) can use a first function switch parameter/indication for PUSCH, or for all kinds of PUSCH, including DG PUSCH, type 1 CG PUSCH, type 2 CG PUSCH. The wireless communication node 202 (or the wireless communication device 204) can use a second function switch parameter designated for CG PUSCH, or for all CG PUSCH, including type 1 CG PUSCH, type 2 CG PUSCH. The wireless communication node 202 (or the wireless communication device 204) can use a third function switch parameter designated for type 1 CG PUSCH. The wireless communication node 202 (or the wireless communication device 204) can use a fourth function switch parameter designated for type 2 CG PUSCH.

Besides, or alternative to, the function switch parameter/indication described above, the wireless communication node 202 and the wireless communication device 204 may employ/check one or more other conditions to determine whether or not the shared beam state is to be applied for CG PUSCH. For instance, the condition(s) may include a number of a port for a CG PUSCH transmission being equal to 1. If the number of the port for CG PUSCH is equal to 1, the wireless communication device 204 can apply shared beam state for CG PUSCH. In some implementations, the condition(s) can include the shared beam state being indicated via a DCI transmission for scheduling an uplink transmission. If the shared beam state is indicated by UL DCI, the wireless communication device 204 can apply shared beam state for CG PUSCH. As used herein, UL DCI refers to the DCI scheduling or activating or triggering uplink transmission, such as PUSCH, SRS or PUCCH.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 204 may determine an effective time of shared beam state for CG PUSCH. The wireless communication device 204 may determine whether a first time instance occurring a first time period after the command signaling is earlier (or no later) than a second time instance occurring a second time period prior to the target transmission. The wireless communication device 204 may determine, according to the beam state information, a parameter for a target transmission, if the first time instance is determined to be earlier (or no later) than the second time instance.

Referring to FIG. 4, a diagram illustrating a timeline illustrating an example effective time of shared beam state is shown, according to example embodiments of the current disclosure. The command signaling, or the signaling of the shared beam state, occurs at time t₀. The first time instance is denoted as t₁, and it occurs a first time period T1 after t₀. The second time instance denoted as t₂occurs a second time period T2 prior to the target transmission (e.g., PSCH transmission). The wireless communication device 204 may determine, according to the beam state information, the parameter (or apply shared beam state for CG PUSCH) for a target transmission, if the wireless communication device 204 determines that t₂≥t₁.

The first time period T1 can depend on, or can be determined based on, at least one of a transmission time of a feedback message of the wireless communication device 204, a transmission time of at least one SRS corresponding to the shared beam state, a processing time of the wireless communication node 202, or a processing time of the wireless communication device 204. The feedback message of the wireless communication device 204 can include a HARQ-ACK for the DCI indicating the shared beam state, a HARQ-ACK or NACK for the DCI indicating the shared beam state and scheduling a PDSCH transmission, a PUSCH transmission corresponding to the DCI indicating the shared beam state and scheduling or activating a PUSCH transmission, or SRS corresponding to the DCI indicating the shared beam state. Referring back to FIG. 4, the first time period T1 can be equal to the time interval between to (time instance of command signaling) and the time instance at which the feedback message is transmitted.

In some implementations, the first time period T1 can depend on, or can be determined based on, at least one SRS corresponding to the shared beam state. For instance, the first time period T1 can be defined as the time difference between the time instance to (e.g., time instance at which the wireless communication device 204 receives the DCI indicating the shared beam state) and the first or last symbol of SRS corresponding to the shared beam state. The first time period T1 may be defined as the time difference between the time instance when the feedback message is received and the first or last symbol of SRS corresponding to the shared beam state.

In some implementations, the first time period T1 can depend on, or can be determined based on, processing time of the wireless communication node 202. The processing time of wireless communication node 202 can depend on, or can be determined based on, processing time for SRS and/or preparing time for a possible feedback message, which may or may not be transmitted. The possible feedback message may include a RRC signaling for type 1 CG PUSCH or an activation DCI for type 2 CG PUSCH. The first time period T1 can be equal to, or a function of, the processing time of the wireless communication node 202. If the wireless communication node 202 finds that the old parameters besides SRI could be reused for CG PUSCH using the shared beam state (new SRI), the wireless communication node 202 may not prepare a feedback message, otherwise, the wireless communication node 202 may prepare and transmit a feedback message to update parameters corresponding to the shared beam state. In this case, if the wireless communication device 204 receives such possible feedback message from the wireless communication node 202, the wireless communication device 204 can apply the shared beam state and the parameters in the feedback message for CG PUSCH. In some implementations, the first time period T1 can depend on, or can be determined based on, processing time of the wireless communication node 202. The processing time of the wireless communication node 202 can include time for the wireless communication device 204 to process the possible feedback message received from the wireless communication node 202.

In some embodiments, the second time period T