Patent Application
20250233620
The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to coordinated operation of user equipment (UE) with joint precoding by multiple UEs.
In conventional wireless communication systems, each UE within a cell or coverage area of a network device such as a base station typically transmits to and receives from the network device by itself. In this sense, such systems may be referred to as being cell-centric.
Direct UE-to-UE communication has been studied and specified in the form of device-to-device (D2D) communications, to improve communications between UEs. UE cooperation is targeted more toward a group of UEs working together to improve transmission to and/or reception from a base station, as well as between UEs. UE cooperation is therefore more UE-centric in design, and could complement features in a cell-centric system and improve overall system performance and capacity for downlink (DL) communications from base stations to UEs, uplink (UL) communications from UEs to base stations, and/or sidelink communications between an other UE to and from the UEs.
UE cooperation (UC) is currently a new subject in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). Although some studies and specification focus on the sidelink (SL) based relay and UE aggregation, at present this is more a preliminary work from the UE cooperation perspective and requires further study. For example, coordinating UEs in a group of UEs for UC, in terms of DL/UL/SL transmission/reception operations and functions, has not been studied.
The present disclosure encompasses embodiments related to joint precoding (JP), including joint precoding procedures and corresponding signaling for UC. For example, a common structure and baseband procedure for UE JP transmission may involve common data dispatching or distributing among UEs, such as dispatching transport blocks or other blocks of data from a common medium access control (MAC) entity or other higher layer entity to multiple physical (PHY) layer entities or other lower layer entities located on each UE. Related PHY layer procedures are also disclosed by way of example.
Some disclosed embodiments may exploit quasi co-location (QCL), and involve QCL signaling for UE JP. As QCL signaling examples, downlink control information (DCI) designs for UE JP, including transmission configuration indication (TCI) information, are disclosed.
UE JP embodiments disclosed herein include not only UL embodiments in which JP is applied by cooperating UEs for UL transmission, but also SL embodiments in which JP is applied by cooperating UEs for UL transmission to an other UE.
Features related to configured grant (CG) for JP are also disclosed herein.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method involves obtaining, by a first UE for which operation is to be coordinated with a second UE for joint precoding and transmission of data to a communication device, precoding information indicative of precoding that is to be applied to the data by the first UE as part of the joint precoding. Such a method may also involve communicating, by the first UE with the communication device, relationship information indicating a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the first UE and the communication device or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data after the precoding; and transmitting, by the first UE to the communication device, the data after the precoding has been applied to the data by the first UE.
In another embodiment, a method involves communicating, by a communication device, relationship information indicating: a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the communication device and each UE of a plurality of UEs for which operation is to be coordinated for joint precoding and transmission of data to the communication device, or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data to the communication device by each UE of the plurality of UEs after precoding of the data by each UE of the plurality of UEs as part of the joint precoding. Such a method may also involve receiving, by the communication device from the plurality of UEs, the data after the joint precoding and transmission of the data by the plurality of UEs.
In apparatus embodiments, an apparatus may include a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that is coupled to the processor. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium stores programming for execution by the processor. The apparatus may be, in various embodiments, a UE, a network device, one or more components in a UE, one or more components in a network device, a chipset in a UE, or a chipset in a network device, for example.
A storage medium need not necessarily or only be implemented in or in conjunction with such an apparatus. A computer program product, for example, may be or include a non-transitory computer readable medium storing programming for execution by a processor.
Programming stored by a computer readable storage medium may include instructions to, or to cause a processor to, perform, implement, support, or enable any of the methods disclosed herein.
For example, the programming may include instructions to, or to cause a processor to: obtain, by a first UE for which operation is to be coordinated with a second UE for joint precoding and transmission of data to a communication device, precoding information indicative of precoding that is to be applied to the data by the first UE as part of the joint precoding; communicate, by the first UE with the communication device, relationship information indicating a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the first UE and the communication device or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data after the precoding; and transmit, by the first UE to the communication device, the data after the precoding has been applied to the data by the first UE.
In another embodiment, programming includes instructions to, or to cause a processor to: communicate, by a communication device, relationship information indicating: a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the communication device and each UE of a plurality of UEs for which operation is to be coordinated for joint precoding and transmission of data to the communication device, or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data to the communication device by each UE of the plurality of UEs after precoding of the data by each UE of the plurality of UEs as part of the joint precoding; and receive, by the communication device from the plurality of UEs, the data after the joint precoding and transmission of the data by the plurality of UEs.
The present disclosure encompasses these and other aspects or embodiments.
For a more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made, by way of example, to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
For illustrative purposes, specific example embodiments will now be explained in greater detail in conjunction with the figures.
The embodiments set forth herein represent information sufficient to practice the claimed subject matter and illustrate ways of practicing such subject matter. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying figures, those of skill in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
Referring to
The terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system could be considered sub-systems of the communication system. In the example shown in
Any ED 110 may be alternatively or additionally configured to interface, access, or communicate with any T-TRP 170a, 170b and NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, the other networks 160, or any combination of the preceding. In some examples, the ED 110a may communicate an uplink and/or downlink transmission over a terrestrial air interface 190a with T-TRP 170a. In some examples, the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c and 110d may also communicate directly with one another via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, the ED 110d may communicate an uplink and/or downlink transmission over a non-terrestrial air interface 190c with NT-TRP 172.
The air interfaces 190a and 190b may use similar communication technology, such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) in the air interfaces 190a and 190b. The air interfaces 190a and 190b may utilize other higher dimension signal spaces, which may involve a combination of orthogonal and/or non-orthogonal dimensions.
The non-terrestrial air interface 190c can enable communication between the ED 110d and one or multiple NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link or simply a link. For some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection between a group of EDs 110 and one or multiple NT-TRPs 175 for multicast transmission.
The RANs 120a and 120b are in communication with the core network 130 to provide the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c with various services such as voice, data and other services. The RANs 120a and 120b and/or the core network 130 may be in direct or indirect communication with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be directly served by core network 130 and may, or may not, employ the same radio access technology as RAN 120a, RAN 120b or both. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a and 120b or the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c or both, and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and the other networks 160). In addition, some or all of the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c may include functionality for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and/or protocols. Instead of wireless communication (or in addition thereto), the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c may communicate via wired communication channels to a service provider or switch (not shown) and to the Internet 150. The PSTN 140 may include circuit switched telephone networks for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and subnets (intranets) or both and incorporate protocols, such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The EDs 110a, 110b, 110c may be multimode devices capable of operation according to multiple radio access technologies and may incorporate multiple transceivers necessary to support such.
Each ED 110 represents any suitable end user device for wireless operation and may include such devices (or may be referred to) as a user equipment/device (UE), a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular telephone, a station (STA), a machine type communication (MTC) device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a tablet, a wireless sensor, a consumer electronics device, a smart book, a vehicle, a car, a truck, a bus, a train, or an IoT device, an industrial device, or apparatus (e.g., communication module, modem, or chip) in the forgoing devices, among other possibilities. Future generation EDs 110 may be referred to using other terms. The base stations 170a and 170b each T-TRPs and will, hereafter, be referred to as T-TRP 170. Also shown in
The ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas 204 may, alternatively, be panels. The transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be integrated, e.g., as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by the at least one antenna 204 or by a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver may also be configured to demodulate data or other content received by the at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and/or processing signals received wirelessly or by wire. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and/or receiving wireless or wired signals.
The ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described herein and that are executed by one or more processing unit(s) (e.g., a processor 210). Each memory 208 includes any suitable volatile and/or non-volatile storage and retrieval device(s). Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disc, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, on-processor cache and the like.
The ED 110 may further include one or more input/output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as a wired interface to the Internet 150 in
The ED 110 includes the processor 210 for performing operations including those operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission to the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170, those operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170, and those operations related to processing sidelink transmission to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulating, transmit beamforming and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating and decoding received symbols. Depending upon the embodiment, a downlink transmission may be received by the receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and/or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by the NT-TRP 172 and/or by the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 implements the transmit beamforming and/or the receive beamforming based on the indication of beam direction, e.g., beam angle information (BAI), received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations relating to network access (e.g., initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, such as operations relating to detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding and obtaining the system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation, e.g., using a reference signal received from the NT-TRP 172 and/or from the T-TRP 170.
Although not illustrated, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and/or part of the receiver 203. Although not illustrated, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.
The processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the in memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
The T-TRP 170 may be known by other names in some implementations, such as a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a network node, a network device, a device on the network side, a transmit/receive node, a Node B, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a Home eNodeB, a next Generation NodeB (gNB), a transmission point (TP), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, a relay station, a remote radio head, a terrestrial node, a terrestrial network device, a terrestrial base station, a base band unit (BBU), a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), a remote radio head (RRH), a central unit (CU), a distribute unit (DU), a positioning node, among other possibilities. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a pico BS, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or combinations thereof. The T-TRP 170 may refer to the forgoing devices or refer to apparatus (e.g., a communication module, a modem or a chip) in the forgoing devices.
In some embodiments, the parts of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located remote from the equipment that houses antennas 256 for the T-TRP 170, and may be coupled to the equipment that houses antennas 256 over a communication link (not shown) sometimes known as front haul, such as common public radio interface (CPRI). Therefore, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may also refer to modules on the network side that perform processing operations, such as determining the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding/decoding, and that are not necessarily part of the equipment that houses antennas 256 of the T-TRP 170. The modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be a plurality of T-TRPs that are operating together to serve the ED 110, e.g., through the use of coordinated multipoint transmissions.
The T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas 256 may, alternatively, be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including those related to: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110; processing an uplink transmission received from the ED 110; preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP 172; and processing a transmission received over backhaul from the NT-TRP 172. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulating, precoding (e.g., multiple input multiple output (MIMO) precoding), transmit beamforming and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions in the uplink or over backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations relating to network access (e.g., initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), generating the system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 also generates an indication of beam direction, e.g., BAI, which may be scheduled for transmission by a scheduler 253. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110, determining where to deploy the NT-TRP 172, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling, e.g., to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110 and/or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is sent by the transmitter 252. Note that “signaling,” as used herein, may alternatively be called control signaling. Dynamic signaling may be transmitted in a control channel, e.g., a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and static, or semi-static, higher layer signaling may be included in a packet transmitted in a data channel, e.g., in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included within, or operated separately from, the T-TRP 170. The scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink and/or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and/or configuring scheduling-free (“configured grant”) resources. The T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described herein and that are executed by the processor 260.
Although not illustrated, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and/or part of the receiver 254. Also, although not illustrated, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not illustrated, the memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.
The processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252 and the processing components of the receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same, or different one of, one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g., in the memory 258. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252 and the processing components of the receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a FPGA, a GPU or an ASIC.
Notably, the NT-TRP 172 is illustrated as a drone only as an example, the NT-TRP 172 may be implemented in any suitable non-terrestrial form. Also, the NT-TRP 172 may be known by other names in some implementations, such as a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, or a non-terrestrial base station. The NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 further includes a processor 276 for performing operations including those related to: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110; processing an uplink transmission received from the ED 110; preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170; and processing a transmission received over backhaul from the T-TRP 170. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulating, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions in the uplink or over backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received signals and decoding received symbols. In some embodiments, the processor 276 implements the transmit beamforming and/or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 may generate signaling, e.g., to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher layer functions such as functions at the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer. As this is only an example, more generally, the NT-TRP 172 may implement higher layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.
The NT-TRP 172 further includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not illustrated, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and/or part of the receiver 274. Although not illustrated, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.
The processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272 and the processing components of the receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g., in the memory 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272 and the processing components of the receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed FPGA, a GPU or an ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be a plurality of NT-TRPs that are operating together to serve the ED 110, e.g., through coordinated multipoint transmissions.
The T-TRP 170, the NT-TRP 172, and/or the ED 110 may include other components, but these have been omitted for the sake of clarity.
One or more steps of the embodiment methods provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules, according to
Additional details regarding the EDs 110, the T-TRP 170 and the NT-TRP 172 are known to those of skill in the art. As such, these details are omitted here.
Having considered communications more generally above, attention will now turn to particular example embodiments.
UC could benefit from improved transmit power/spatial diversity/multiplexing. However, one potential drawback in highly correlated channels is that UE transmissions for UC using non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT) experience strong inter-UE interference, and thus suffer from performance loss. To help mitigate this issue, JP could be utilized among UEs that are participating in UC.
In general, compared with NCJT in which each UE that is participating in UC generates and applies precoding separately, joint precoding means that the participating UEs apply precoding together. This could overcome, or at least reduce, the effects of inter-UE interference on UC performance. JP is used primarily herein to refer to participating UEs applying precoding together (“jointly”), but JP may also or instead be referred in other ways. For example, JP may be referred to as coherent joint transmission (CJT), as opposed to NCJT, to capture a notion that the transmissions from UEs participating in UC in a CJT approach are coherent joint transmissions instead non-coherent joint transmissions from each UE in an NCJT approach.
A possible way to apply JP for cooperative UL transmission is on how to generate a joint precoder for UC but without providing detail on how to apply the joint precoder for JP. The present disclosure provides, among other aspects or embodiments, simplified procedures for applying joint precoding and related signaling to facilitate the joint precoding and improve performance. QCL is used in some embodiments to indicate a relationship of reference signals and other known signals, with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) signal or port for example, to facilitate decoding of data channels such as physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Currently, QCL information is used in multi-TRP DL transmission and is carried by DCI. For JP as disclosed herein, multiple UEs may transmit different sets of reference signals and DMRS respectively, and their relationships can be indicated to or otherwise obtained by a receiver end to facilitate decoding.
As used herein, coordinated operation of UEs is intended to encompass cooperative operation between UEs such as UC, but is not limited only to UC. UEs that are configured for coordinated operation with each other may be part of a UC group or participate in UC, but embodiments herein are not in any way limited to coordinated operation that is specifically referred to as UC. Coordinated operation may include UC, but is not limited to UC. In other words, UC may be an example of coordinated operation, but coordinated operation may also or instead be implemented or supported in other ways that may not necessarily be referred to as UC.
For coordinated operation, different UEs may be configured with different operations, features, or functions for transmission and/or reception, such as to apply different parts of a common precoder or to apply different but related precoders for example. Configuration for coordinated operation of UEs may be semi-static or dynamically signaled, or explicitly or implicitly indicated. Embodiments for configuring UEs for coordinated operation include embodiments in which one or more UEs are configured by a network device such as a gNB, and/or embodiments in which a UE such as a primary UE is involved in configuring one or more other UEs.
These and other embodiments are described in detail herein.
As one application of UE coordination, in UC operation, the UEs 522 and 524 could work together to help with transmission and/or reception for one of the UEs, for example UE 522, which could be referred as a source UE (SUE, for uplink transmission) or a target UE (TUE, for downlink reception). For uplink UC, one portion of data from the SUE could be transmitted directly to the network device 502 via Uu link 510, and the same or another portion of the data from the SUE could be transmitted indirectly to the network device 502 via another UE 524 (first via the UE-to-UE link to the UE 524, then relayed by the UE 524 via Uu link 510). For downlink UC, data destined to the TUE could be transmitted directly from the network device 502 via Uu link 510 to the TUE (522), while it (or another portion of the data) could be transmitted indirectly from the network device 502 to the TUE via another UE 524 (first via the Uu link 510 to the UE 524, then relayed by the UE 524 via the UE-UE link).
For example,
UE coordination for inter-UE communications as in the system 600 may involve the UEs 622, 624 working together to help with transmission and/or reception for the UE 602, which could be referred as an SUE for transmissions from the UE 602 or a TUE for transmissions to the UE 602. One application of JP consistent with the present disclosure involves the UEs 622, 624 jointly precoding and transmitting data to the UE 602, in which case the UE 602 is a TUE and one of the UEs (or yet another UE, not shown) is an SUE.
Although the UEs 522, 524 in
Regarding UC with joint precoding and transmission by multiple UEs, in general two or more UEs could apply joint precoding on data and transmit the data cooperatively. In the examples shown in
JP means that precoding among participating UEs is applied coherently, and may also be jointly generated. In contrast, in a conventional approach each UE could generate and apply precoding separately (or independently), which sometimes is also referred as separate precoding or NCJT. NCJT does not consider the relationship among channels that signals transmitted from each UE experience, and whether they are correlated or not. Therefore NJCT does not coordinate transmission of signals well from each UE, and may incur more mutual inter-UE interference among them. A consequence of this is more performance loss due to the inter-UE interference among UEs participating in UC.
JP for UC could be applied in two scenarios, shown by way of example in
The joint precoding (JP) can be applied across antenna elements of each UE that is participating in joint precoding. As noted at least above, a UE that is participating in UC may have one, or more than one, antenna element.
Embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to any specific type of precoding. For example, either or both of code-book (CB) based and non code-book (NCB) based precoding could be used for joint precoding.
Consider, as an example, CB based joint precoding for UL communications in the communication system 500 in
CB based joint precoding for SL communications in the communication system 600 in
For NCB based joint precoding for uplink, with reference again to
NCB based joint precoding for sidelink may be substantially similar. With reference to
The foregoing is illustrative of how CB and NCB based joint precoding may be supported for UL and SL scenarios, to potentially improve performance.
As described elsewhere herein, JP has a potential advantage over non-JP or NCJT approaches because JP utilizes channel information that all participating UEs experience to facilitate joint precoding/transmission. However, JP involves obtaining relevant channel information to generate joint precoding information and apply precoding jointly across participating UEs. This can lead to more difficulty in realization and implementation. According to some embodiments, a joint precoding procedure facilitates JP implementation.
The TB 714 is intended to generally represent the same TB or a same data block, of an information data packet for example, dispatched from a MAC (or other higher layer) entity to UEs 720, 730 participating in UC with joint precoding. The TB is managed by a joint HARQ process (with the same HARQ process ID) in MAC, and the joint HARQ process is operated by the HARQ entity 712 in
Baseband processing by each of two participating UEs 720, 730 is illustrated by way of example in
The encoder 721, 731 of each UE 720, 730 represents a channel encoding for channel encoding. The same TB 714 is encoded by each channel encoder 721, 731 with the same coding rate respectively for each UE 720, 730 in some embodiments.
For modulation by the modulators 723, 733, channel encoded bits could be modulated by the same modulation and coding scheme (MCS) respectively for each UE 720, 730.
Each layer mapper 725, 735 is intended to represent a component to perform layer mapping. Here, layer is intended to refer to a layer or stream of data. Modulated symbols from each modulator 723, 733 preferably generate the same number of layers or data streams respectively for each UE 720, 730.
Each of the UEs 720, 730 in the example shown includes a precoder 727, 737 to apply precoding, and in some embodiments precoded data is converted to time domain and transmitted via one or more assigned antenna elements or ports, from each UE. The IFFT blocks 729, 739 are shown as an illustrative example of a frequency domain to time domain converter to convert to time domain by applying an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT).
For joint precoding, in some embodiments the same precoding matrix or precoder is used to apply precoding for each UE that is participating in UC with joint precoding. In a CB based approach, for example, the precoding matrix may be obtained by a participating UE based on a TPMI that is received from a gNB, a destination UE, or in some embodiments from a primary UE. An NCB based approach may involve a participating UE obtaining a precoding matrix by generating the precoding matrix or obtaining the precoding matrix based on precoding matrix information received from a primary UE.
When applying precoding, a compound codebook that can be used for applying joint precoding across an aggregate or combined set of antennas of all participating UEs can be used. However, each UE would then use only a respective different portion such as one or more rows of the precoding matrix to apply precoding for its own layers of data, to generate precoded data for transmission over those of its own antenna ports to be used for UC and joint transmission. The antenna port(s) of each UE to be used in JP and transmission could be configured or dynamically indicated.
For example,
Applying joint precoding in this example involves UE #1 applying precoding using the first and third rows of the precoding matrix on corresponding layers of data (multiplying the rows of precoding matrix with corresponding layers of data) to generate precoded data to be transmitted by UE #1 from assigned antenna ports #1 and #3, respectively. Similarly, UE #2 applies precoding using different rows, including the second and fourth rows, of the precoding matrix on corresponding layers of data to generate precoded data to be transmitted by UE #2 from assigned antenna ports #2 and #4, respectively.
This is one example, and others are possible. In another embodiment, the corresponding rows of the precoding matrix used by each UE could form a respective separate precoding matrix. For the row examples shown in
It should be noted that for JP, each UE may apply precoding using a codebook for a total of the number of antennas of all UEs that are to be used for JP and joint transmission. In the example shown in
In some embodiments, each UE participating in JP applies the same procedure in baseband of PHY to the same TB of data from a common MAC, which could be located on SUE where data is originated. The only difference in PHY of each participating UE may be that precoding is applied using a respective subset of different rows of the same precoding matrix (or a respective one of precoding matrices that are formed from the same precoding matrix) to generate precoded signals for corresponding antenna ports associated with each UE. That may make the implementation in PHY of each UE for JP very straightforward without significant changes to PHY implementation for single UE transmission.
Data dispatch, baseband processing, and joint precoding as disclosed by way of example herein may be advantageous in that there is no need for a PHY link between UEs for JP. A MAC (or higher) level data dispatch and simplified PHY process may also or instead provide more flexibility for UE cooperation transmission including JP.
For multi-UE joint precoding transmission on UL or SL, some reference signal ports are co-located on the same UE and/or are transmitted in the same antenna beams, and some are not because they could be located on different UEs or could be transmitted in different beams. Such information is indicated/configured to a receiver end in some embodiments, to facilitate joint channel estimation for decoding data for PUSCH on UL or PSSCH on SL. QCL relationships of different signals imply that they experience similar channel characteristics in the air. QCL is defined as follows: two antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located if properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed. QCL information could also or instead be used to facilitate other features such as beam managing and/or beam switching (UL or SL) and CSI measurement.
Relationship information that is communicated between a transmit device and a receive device may indicate different types of relationships, but in general may facilitate decoding of received data by the receive device. A relationship between different reference signals is a different type of relationship from a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam. The first type of relationship may indicate, for example, that two reference signals are QCLed or otherwise co-located, so that they can be used together for decoding. The second type of relationship (reference signal and associated antenna beam) indicates that a UE will use an antenna beam that is associated with a reference signal for data transmission after precoding the data as part of joint precoding, and may in this way facilitate decoding of precoded and transmitted data. Thus, in general, relationship information may be communicated to facilitate decoding of data by a receiving device, but may indicate different types of relationships that may facilitate decoding in different ways.
Relationships or relationship information may help decoding of precoded data at a receiver side, but may be considered as not directly affecting or not being directly related to precoding of data at a transmitter side. Relationship information indicates a relationship between reference signals, or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam, and is for use at a receiver side, to facilitate decoding of precoded data.
Obtaining precoding information and relationship information can occur at the same time as precoding information, or at different times, and relationship information can be carried by or otherwise indicated by the same DCI (SCI) or different DCI (SCI). There need not be any direct correspondence in time for these two actions, of obtaining precoding information and relationship information.
Two types of relationships are disclosed by way of example herein, including a first type of relationship between different reference signals (such as CSI/SRS and DMRS for example). Relationship information may be sent, by (or to) each transmitter such as UE #1 and UE #2 in
Transmission of data may be considered to be based on relationships or relationship information in a broad sense, but precoding of data is not directly based on relationships or relationship information. Relationships disclosed herein are between different reference signals, or between reference signals and antenna beams. One way to envision precoding is to apply precoding on data. After the precoding, the data will be transmitted on an indicated beam (following a reference signal/beam relationship), along with a reference signal in the form of DMRS for example. Relationship information indicating another type of relationship can be communicated, to indicate that the DMRS and an other reference signal (such as SRS or CSI-RS) are QCLed for example. In this example, the received data can be decoded by or at a receiving device using the DMRS and its related reference signal(s) together.
Returning now to examples of relationship information and relationships, QCL information or TCI state information to indicate QCL relationships could be configured by using higher layer signaling such as RRC, for UC JP for either or both of UL scenario and SL scenario. Similar to new radio (NR) standard, a QCL or TCI state configuration can be referred to or indicated in a TCI field carried by DCI/SCI, by a gNB or other network device (for UL scenario) or a primary UE (for SL scenario), for example.
For example, as shown in Table 1 below, for each UE participating in JP for UL communications, denoted as UE #1 and UE #2 for ease of reference, TCI state (to indicate QCL relationship) can be configured for each UE by RRC. In the example below, the QCL relationship of some reference signals, including synchronization signal block (SSB), CSI-RS, and SRS, is configured for UE #1 (to be associated with DMRS port configured for UE #1 or associated with one or more beam directions in UL) and UE #2 (to be associated with DMRS port configured for UE #2 or associated with one or more beam directions in UL), respectively. PUCCH/PUSCH below refer to physical uplink control channel or physical uplink shared channel.
As another example for SL, for each UE participating in JP, again denoted as UE #1 and UE #2, the TCI state can be configured for each UE by RRC. In the example provided below in Table 2, QCL relationship of some reference signals, in particular SL CSI-RS, are configured for UE #1 (to be associated with DMRS port configured for UE #1 or associated with one or more beam directions in SL) and UE #2 (to be associated with DMRS port configured for UE #2 or associated with one or more beam directions in SL), respectively.
QCL information between different antenna ports such as SRS and DMRS ports for PUSCH on Uu, or between SL CSI-RS and DMRS ports for PSSCH on SL can be dynamically indicated, in DCI or sidelink control information (SCI) for example. Alternatively, the QCI state (TCI state) information can be configured by RRC and dynamically indicated further by DCI/SCI.
Similar as QCL indication adopted in NR for DL multi-TRP transmission, for UL scenario and SL scenario UC with JP, QCL information could be dynamically indicated further by TCI (transmission configuration indication) field in DCI (for UL scenario or SL scenario) or SCI (for SL scenario). The SL scenario is referenced in the context DCI, here and elsewhere herein, because DCI could potentially be used for SL scheduling as well. For example, a network device such as a gNB may transmit DCI that includes or otherwise indicates scheduling information for SL, and then a participating UE could use such scheduling information in DCI to schedule SL transmission.
A QCL relationship may include a relationship of reference signal (SSB, RS, etc.) and DMRS for PUCCH/PUSCH/physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH)/PSSCH associated with different beams/UEs. Such relationships could be used for improving channel estimation when decoding PUSCH or PSSCH or for beam managing/switching for PUSCH or PSSCH, for example.
The TCI field could be activated/deactivated by a MAC control element (MAC-CE), and TCI values can be used to indicate QCL relationships of some reference signals (RS or SSB, etc.) with DMRS or relation of some reference signals or channels and associated beams for their transmissions (e.g., UL or SL). Such a relationship could be configured as TCI state as shown in Table 1 or Table 2 as examples, and signaled by higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling. For JP, all participating UEs may be configured with a respective TCI state and the aggregated or combined TCI state of the participating UEs could be viewed as an overall TCI state for JP. Such a TCI state for JP could be configured for all participating UEs and could be signaled to a receiver end of a JP transmission, which is a gNB or other network device for uplink or a destination UE for SL JP. Such TCI state configuration can be further indicated dynamically. For dynamic indication, TCI states may be carried in separate or joint DCI/SCI to indicate the QCL relationship between reference signals and DMRS for data transmission or relationship of some reference signals or channels and the associated beams for their transmissions.
For separate DCI or SCI, the DCI or SCI may be UE-specific, or scrambled by a UE-specific identifier such as a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for each UE. For joint DCI or SCI, the DCI or SCI may be group-specific, or be scrambled by a group identifier such as a group RNTI. For a group that includes a first participating UE and a second participating UE, for example, both the first UE and the second UE are configured with the same group-specific RNTI.
QCL information of reference signal and DMRS could facilitate channel estimation and decoding of data and improve JP performance as well as for beam managing/switching for JP transmission.
Turning now to additional detail regarding signaling, DCI for UL or SL (or SCI for SL) may be designed to accommodate JP and corresponding reference signal relationship indication such as QCL. Two alternatives for DCI design are provided below by way of example.
In some embodiments, separate DCI or SCI are used for each UE, including one DCI/SCI for each participating UE. Examples of scheduling information that may be included in each DCI/SCI are provided below, but DCI/SCI are not in any way limited to the following scheduling information. The scheduling information contained in each DCI/SCI may have some mutual restrictions, as noted. Scheduling information for separate DCI/SCI embodiments may be indicative of any one or more of the following:
Regarding the last example above, relationship information may include QCL information such as a TCI value in a TCI field. QCL information can indicate relationships between reference signals such as SSB, SRS, CSI-RS, SL CSI-RS and DMRS ports for PUCCH/PUSCH/PSCCH/PSSCH, for example. A TCI value indicates that the DMRS port of PUCCH/PUSCH/PSCCH/PSSCH has a QCL relationship or is in the same beam with the SSB and/or one or more other reference signals or shall be transmitted in the beam associated with the SSB and/or one or more other reference signals.
Another signaling options involves one joint (or common) DCI (or SCI) for all participating UEs. The joint DCI/SCI could contain, for example, information indicative of any one or more of the following, and may also or instead include other information in other embodiments:
For UL or SL JP communications, a joint DCI could be duplicated and transmitted to each UE in separate PDCCH in UE respective search space (SS), or it could be transmitted in one PDCCH in SS of one of the UEs, such as an SUE or primary UE, and can be scrambled by a unique UE identifier such as a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). For SL JP communications, a joint SCI could be transmitted by the primary UE or SUE to the TUE or destination UE. For example, the first stage of SCI could be transmitted by the primary UE (or SUE) to the TUE, while the second stage of SCI along with PSSCH could be transmitted by all participating UEs to the TUE.
Signaling design such as DCI/SCI design disclosed herein could accommodate both signaling for JP and supplementary information including relationship information such as QCL information.
Any of various other features may be implemented in conjunction with JP as disclosed herein. For example, in some embodiments, UE transmissions with JP could be scheduled not by dynamic grant (DG) but by configured grant (CG). This may be especially useful when data transmissions are more periodic or pre-determined. Also, latency could be an important factor for transmissions, for example, when lower latency is desired/required in data transmission. In this case, normal dynamic scheduling procedures may prove too slow to meet stringent requirements, and CG based transmissions may lower latency. CG transmission is adopted in NR Release-15 for single UE UL transmission.
Joint precoding transmissions by participating UEs can be scheduled by configured grant for both UL and SL scenarios. A configured grant could be sent to the participating UEs in high-layer signaling such as RRC signaling, from a network device such as a gNB, or by a primary UE, or by an SUE.
A configured grant for joint precoding transmissions could include some general configured grant portions or fields that are also used for individual CG based UE transmission. In addition, a configured grant for JP could include, for example, other information such as configurations of one or more parameters such as those referenced elsewhere herein in the context of signaling or DCI/SCI design for JP. In general, CG signaling or signaling that indicates or otherwise includes a configured grant for JP transmission may include information indicative of any one or more the following:
Other information may also or instead be included in other embodiments.
Table 3 and Table 4 below show configuration examples for CG based JP for UL and SL, respectively, with some entries that are common for all participating UEs and other entries that are more UE specific. The examples for illustration only, and may not show a complete or exact signaling format. These examples also are not exhaustive, and other embodiments may use similar or different signaling formats.
CG based JP could provide JP transmissions with less latency and be beneficial for more periodic and pre-determined JP transmissions.
The data for joint precoding and transmission by UE #1 and UE #2 is SUE data in
At 1304,
The example in
Similarly, relationship information may be communicated between a gNB or destination device and one of the participating UEs (at 1322) or more than one of the participating UEs (at 1322, 1324). In embodiments in which relationship information is communicated between fewer than all participating UEs and the gNB or destination UE, the relationship information may be communicated between participating UEs, as shown at 1326. Communicating relationship information may involve transmitting the relationship information by one or more UEs and receiving the relationship information by the gNB or destination UE, or transmitting the relationship information by the gNB or destination UE and receiving the relationship information by one or more UEs.
Therefore, relationship information may be communicated from a communication device such as a gNB or a destination UE to one or more UEs, or from one or more UEs to such a communication device. For example, for UL, the gNB in
Each participating UE performs part of joint precoding, and
Transmission of the data after precoding is shown at 1336, 1338. The joint transmission at 1336 and 1338 from UE #1 and UE #2 is scheduled on the same time-frequency resources in some embodiments. Joint transmission may be scheduled by dynamic grant or pre-configured grant, for example. Data transmission may involve other operations that are not shown in
Generating joint precoding information at 1408 uses joint channel information from both UEs in this example and therefore both UEs are involved in some way in the generating at 1408. For example, in an embodiment, one UE (such as the CUE, UE #2) passes the channel information, which it measured or otherwise determined based on the reference signal(s) that it received at 1406, to another UE (such as the SUE, UE #2), and the SUE generates the joint precoding information based on its own channel information and channel information received from other participating UE(s). The generated joint precoding information, or at least a portion of the generated joint precoding information that each other UE needs for joint precoding, is transmitted by the SUE to other participating UEs, shown by way of example at 1416.
UE-generated precoding information may be transmitted by one or more participating UEs and received by the gNB or destination UE, so that the gNB or destination UE will be aware of how the data is to be jointly precoded by the participating UEs. Precoding information generated by a UE need not necessarily be sent to the gNB or destination UE. This is optional, because the gNB or destination UE does not need to know the precoder that is used by the transmitting UEs. This is because DMRS, for example, can be transmitted by the transmitting UE using the same precoding information as used for the data, and thus it can be used at a receiving device to estimate the channel and decode the data without knowledge of precoding that was applied at a transmit side, by the UEs in this example.
In the context of such a method, any of various features disclosed herein may be provided. For example, any one or more of the following may be provided, in any of various combinations:
in the present disclosure, the data after the joint precoding and transmission or the transmitted data after the joint precoding means data to be received by the receiving side; the data after the joint precoding means data to be transmitted by the transmitting side; and the data means data to be joint precoded and to be transmitted from the transmitting side, or means data after decoding from the receiving side.
Another method, from the perspective of a communication device, such as a network device or destination UE to which jointly precoded data is transmitted by multiple UEs, may involve communicating, by the communication device in the wireless communication network, relationship information indicating: a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the communication device and each UE of a plurality of UEs for which operation is to be coordinated for joint precoding and transmission of data to the communication device, or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data to the communication device by each UE of the plurality of UEs after precoding of the data by each UE of the plurality of UEs as part of the joint precoding; and receiving, by the communication device from the plurality of UEs, the data after the joint precoding and transmission of the data by the plurality of UEs. Reference signals are shown by way of example at 1304, 1306 in
In the context of such methods, any of various features disclosed herein may be provided. For example, any one or more of the following may be provided, in any of various combinations:
The present disclosure encompasses various embodiments, including not only method embodiments, but also other embodiments such as apparatus embodiments and embodiments related to non-transitory computer readable storage media. Embodiments may incorporate, individually or in combinations, the features disclosed herein.
An apparatus may include a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, coupled to the processor, storing programming for execution by the processor. In
As an illustrative example, programming stored in or on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium may include instructions to or to cause a processor to obtain, by a first UE for which operation is to be coordinated with a second UE for joint precoding and transmission of data to a communication device, precoding information indicative of precoding that is to be applied to the data by the first UE as part of the joint precoding; communicate, by the first UE with the communication device, relationship information indicating a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the first UE and the communication device or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data after the precoding; and transmit, by the first UE to the communication device, the data after the precoding has been applied to the data by the first UE.
Embodiments related to such an apparatus or non-transitory computer readable storage media may include any one or more of the following features, for example, which are also discussed elsewhere herein:
In another embodiment, programming may include instructions to or to cause a processor to communicate, by a communication device, relationship information indicating: a relationship between different reference signals that are communicated between the communication device and each UE of a plurality of UEs for which operation is to be coordinated for joint precoding and transmission of data to the communication device, or a relationship between a reference signal and an antenna beam for the transmission of the data to the communication device by each UE of the plurality of UEs after precoding of the data by each UE of the plurality of UEs as part of the joint precoding; and receive, by the communication device from the plurality of UEs, the transmitted data after the joint precoding by the plurality of UEs.
Embodiments related to apparatus or non-transitory computer readable storage media may include any one or more of the following features, for example, which are also discussed elsewhere herein:
Other features disclosed herein may also or instead be implemented in apparatus embodiments and/or in computer program product embodiments.
Although not illustrated, the BSs 1508a-c are each connected to the core network 1502, either directly or through one or more central processing hubs, such as servers. The BSs 1508a-c could serve as a gateway between the wireline and wireless portion of the access network 1506.
Each one of BSs 1508a-c may instead be referred to as a base transceiver station, a radio BS, a network node, a transmit node, a transmit point, a Node B, an eNode B, a remote radio head (RRH), or otherwise, depending upon the implementation.
In operation, the plurality of UEs 1504a-i access the telecommunications network 1500 using the access network 1506 by wirelessly communicating with one or more of the BSs 1508a-c.
UEs 1504a-d are in close proximity to each other. Although the UEs 1504a-d can each wirelessly communicate with the BS 1508a, they can also directly communicate with each other, as represented at 1516. The communications represented at 1516 are direct communications between UEs, such as sidelink communications, that do not go through an access network component, such as a BS. Such communications between UEs are also referred to herein as UE-to-UE communications or inter-UE communications. As shown in
By using the sidelink (or other inter-UE) communications 1516, the UEs 1504a-d may be able to assist with wireless communications between the UEs 1504a-d and the BS 1508a. As one example, if UE 1504c fails to correctly decode a packet received from the BS 1508a but UE 1504d is able to receive and correctly decode the packet from the BS 1508a, then UE 1504d could directly transmit the decoded packet to UE 1504c using UE-to-UE communications 1516. As another example, if UE 1504c moves out of wireless coverage area 1510a, such that UE 1504c can no longer wirelessly communicate with the BS 1508a, then UE 1504b could forward messages between the UE 1504c and the BS 1508a. As another example, UE 1504a and UE 1504c could both receive a signal transmitted from the BS 1508a that carries a packet meant for UE 1504c. UE 1504a may then transmit to UE 1504c, via UE-to-UE communications 1516, the signal as received by UE 1504a. UE 1504c may then use the information received from UE 1504a to help decode the packet from the BS 1508a. In these examples, UE operation is coordinated to assist one or more of the UEs 1504a, 1504b, and 1504d.
The UEs 1504a-d form a UE group 1520 in some embodiments. It should be noted, however, that features as disclosed herein are not dependent upon UE groups being explicitly formed in advance.
In UE group 1520 and a scenario in which the UE 1504c is to be assisted, the other UEs 1504a, 1504b, and 1504d form a candidate set for assisting the UE 1504c. If UEs 1504a and 1504b assist the UE 1504c, then the UEs 1504a and 1504b form what may be called a coordination active set, or in UC embodiments a cooperation active set. As UEs 1504a-d move around, some may leave the UE group 1520. UE movement may also or instead result in other UEs joining the UE group 1520. Therefore, the candidate set may change over time. For example, the candidate set may change semi-statically. The UE group 1520 may also be terminated by the network 1506, for example, if the network determines that there is no longer a need or opportunity for the UE group 1520 to provide assistance in wireless communication between the BS 1508a and members of the UE group 1520.
There may be more than one UE group. For example, UEs 1504e and 1504f in
The network 1652 includes a BS 1656 and a managing module 1658. The managing module 1658 instructs the BS 1656 to perform actions. The managing module 1658 is illustrated as physically separate from the BS 1656 and coupled to the BS 1656 via a communication link 1660. For example, the managing module 1658 may be part of a server in the network 1652. Alternatively, the managing module 1658 may be part of the BS 1656.
The managing module 1658 includes a processor 1662, a memory 1664, and a communication module 1666. The communication module 1666 is implemented by the processor 1662 when the processor 1662 accesses and executes a series of instructions stored in the memory 1664, the instructions defining the actions of the communication module 1666. When the instructions are executed, the communication module 1666 causes the BS 1656 to perform the actions described herein so that the network 1652 can, in some embodiments, establish, instruct, or control coordinated operation of UEs. Alternatively, the communication module 1666 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmed field programmable gate array (FPGA).
The UE 1654a includes a communication subsystem 1670a, two antennas 1672a and 1674a, a processor 1676a, and a memory 1678a. The UE 1654a also includes a communication module 1680a. The communication module 1680a is implemented by the processor 1676a when the processor 1676a accesses and executes a series of instructions stored in the memory 1678a, the instructions defining the actions of the communication module 1680a. When the instructions are executed, the communication module 1680a causes the UE 1654a to perform actions described herein in relation to coordinated operation of UEs. Alternatively, the module 1680a may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, such as an ASIC or an FPGA.
The communication subsystem 1670a includes processing circuitry, transmit circuitry, and receive circuitry for sending messages from and receiving messages at the UE 1654a. Although one communication subsystem 1670a is illustrated, the communication subsystem 1670a may be multiple communication subsystems. Antenna 1672a transmits wireless communication signals to, and receives wireless communications signals from, the BS 1656. Antenna 1674a transmits inter-UE communication signals to, and receives inter-UE communication signals from, other UEs, including UE 1654b. In some implementations there may not be two separate antennas 1672a and 1674a. A single antenna may be used. Alternatively, there may be several antennas, but not separated into antennas dedicated only to inter-UE communication and antennas dedicated only to communicating with the BS 1656.
Inter-UE communications could be over Wi-Fi, in which case the antenna 1674a may be a Wi-Fi antenna. Alternatively, the inter-UE communications could be over Bluetooth™, in which case the antenna 1674a may be a Bluetooth™ antenna. Inter-UE communications could also or instead be over licensed or unlicensed spectrum.
The UE 1654b includes the same components described above with respect to the UE 1654a. That is, UE 1654b includes communication subsystem 1670b, antennas 1672b and 1674b, processor 1676b, memory 1678b, and communication module 1680b.
Although this disclosure has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the disclosure, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims encompass any such modifications or embodiments.
Features disclosed herein in the context of method embodiments, for example, may also or instead be implemented in apparatus or computer program product embodiments. In addition, although embodiments are described primarily in the context of methods and apparatus, other implementations are also contemplated, as instructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, for example. Such media could store programming or instructions to perform any of various methods consistent with the present disclosure.
Although aspects of the present invention have been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the invention. The description and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded simply as an illustration of some embodiments of the invention as defined by the appended claims, and are contemplated to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents that fall within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, although embodiments and potential advantages have been described in detail, various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
Moreover, any module, component, or device exemplified herein that executes instructions may include or otherwise have access to a non-transitory computer readable or processor readable storage medium or media for storage of information, such as computer readable or processor readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer readable or processor readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, optical disks such as compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video discs or digital versatile disc (DVDs), Blu-ray Disc™, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method or technology, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology. Any such non-transitory computer readable or processor readable storage media may be part of a device or accessible or connectable thereto. Any application or module herein described may be implemented using instructions that are readable and executable by a computer or processor may be stored or otherwise held by such non-transitory computer readable or processor readable storage media.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2023/123092, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR JOINT PRECODING IN COORDINATED OPERATION OF USER EQUIPMENT (UE),” filed on Oct. 4, 2023, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/415,367, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR JOINT PRECODING IN COORDINATED OPERATION OF USER EQUIPMENT (UE),” filed on Oct. 12, 2022, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63415367 | Oct 2022 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2023/123092 | Oct 2023 | WO |
| Child | 19095994 | US |
