WO2018172854A1

WO2018172854A1 - Communication method, terminal device and network device

Info

Publication number: WO2018172854A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/000392
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pingping Wen; Yi Zhang
Original assignee: Alcatel Lucent; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date: 2017-03-23
Filing date: 2018-03-21
Publication date: 2018-09-27
Also published as: CN108632876B; CN108632876A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, a terminal device and a network device. The method implemented at the terminal device comprises: generating a beam-based power headroom report (PHR); and transmitting the PHR to the network device for use in resource allocation management. The method implemented at the network device comprises: receiving a beam-based PHR from the terminal device for use in resource allocation management. According to the scheme of embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a PHR mechanism suitable for a 5G NR system which may report PHR information for one or more possible beams/beam pairs to the network device, thereby providing resource allocation flexibility and enabling the terminal device to utilize a plurality of possible beams efficiently.

Description

COMMUNICATION METHOD, TERMINAL DEVICE AND NETWORK

DEVICE

FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically, to communication methods implemented at a terminal device and a network device, the terminal device and the network device.

BACKGROUND

[0002] At present, fifth- generation mobile communication (5G) technology becomes a research hotspot in the industry In terms of wireless spectrum, the use of high frequency bands, such as millimeter wave (MMW) frequency bands, is actively promoted.

[0003] Particularly, it is expected that 5G wireless communication system utilize MMW frequencies to provide high data transmission rates. High frequencies of MMW signals would result in high path loss, while small wavelengths of these signals also enable a large amount of antenna elements to be placed within the same physical area, thereby providing high beamforming gains. Therefore, in the physical layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, many mechanisms/procedures involving such as downlink (DL) synchronization, random access channel (RAC ), uplink (UL) power control, and reference signal (RS) axe also designed to support beamforming,

[0004] In a UL system, a power headroom report (PHR) is used to provide necessary user equipment (UE) side power information to an eNB to assist resource management at the eNB, such as scheduling, power control and the like. The conventional LTE system only defines a PHR mechanism used at a carrier level. In a 5G new radio (NR) system, multiple beams are used for data transmission both at a base station and UE. Therefore, the carrier- level PHR mechanism in the conventional LTE system cannot be used in the 5G NR system supporting beamforming. Thus, how to design a PHR mechanism for supporting beamforming becomes a research hotspot.

SUMMARY

[0005] In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a network device and a terminal device. [0006] In an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication method implemented at a terminal device. The method comprises: generating a beam-based power headroom report; and transmitting the power headroom report to a network device for use in resource allocation management. [0007] In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication method implemented at a network device. The method comprises: receiving a beam-based power headroom report from a terminal device for use in resource allocation management.

[0008] In a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises: a transceiver; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and operating with the transceiver to cause the device to: generate a beam-based power headroom report; and transmit the power headroom report to a network device for use in resource allocation management.

[0009] In still another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises: a transceiver; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and operating with the transceiver to cause the device to: receive a beam-based power headroom report from a terminal device for use in resource allocation management.

[0010] According to the scheme of the present disclosure, a PHR mechanism suitable for the 5G NR system can be provided, which can report PHR information for one or more possible beams/beam pairs to the network device, such as the eNB, thereby providing scheduling flexibility and enabling the terminal device, such as the UE, to utilize a plurality of possible beams efficiently.

[0011] It will be appreciated that the Summary does not intend to indicate essential or important features of embodiments of the present disclosure or to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily understood from the following descriptions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Through the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other features, advantages and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent. In the drawings, the same or similar reference signs usually represent the same or similar components, in which:

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication scenario in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example scenario for different transmitting and/or receiving beams for PUSCH in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [0015] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method implemented at a terminal device in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example process for generating a PHR in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method implemented at a network device in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates a structural block diagram of an apparatus implemented at a terminal device in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 7 illustrates a structural block diagram of an apparatus implemented at a network device in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and [0020] FIG. 8 illustrates a structural block diagram of an electronic device in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in greater detail with reference to the drawings. Although the drawings present some embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various ways and should not be limited by the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the embodiments are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are only for illustrative purposes, rather than to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0022] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a base station or other entities or nodes having specific functions in a communication network. The term "base station" may represent a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low power node such as a pico station and a femto station, and the like. In the context of the present disclosure, for the ease of discussion, terms "network device" and "base station" may be used interchangeably and the eNB may be mainly taken as an example of the network device.

[0023] The term "terminal device" used herein refers to any terminal devices or user equipment (UE) that can perform wireless communication with base stations or with each other. As an example, the terminal device may include a sensor, a detector, a mobile terminal (MT), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station (PSS), a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT) having communication capability, and the above devices mounted on a vehicle. In the context of the present disclosure, for ease of discussion, the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" may be used interchangeably and the UE is mainly taken as an example of the terminal device.

[0024] As used herein, the term "includes" and its variants are to be read as open-ended terms that mean "includes, but is not limited to." The term "based on" is to be read as "based at least in part on." The term "an example embodiment" is to be read as "at least an embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" is to be read as "at least another embodiment." Relevant definitions of other terms will be given in the following depiction.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example communication scenario 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. For ease of discussion, an eNB will be taken as an example for the network device or base station while UE is taken as an example of the terminal device. However, it is to be understood that this is only to facilitate explaining ideas of embodiments of the present disclosure, not intended to limit the application scenario and scope of the present disclosure.

[0026] As mentioned above, in a UL system, a power headroom report process may be used to provide a PHR to a serving eNB. In the example shown in FIG. 1, an eNB 110 may receive a PHR from a UE 120. For example, the UE 120 may transmit the PHR to the eNB 110 via a power headroom report process 130 so as to provide power headroom information to the eNB 110. With this information, the eNB 110 may determine a resource allocation scheme for the UE 120.

[0027] In the conventional LTE system, three kinds of PHRs are defined, namely, a PHR, an extended PHR and a dual connectivity PHR. Generally, the PHR is used in a single carrier system and the extended PHR is used in a carrier aggregation system. The extended PHR is further designed based on the following more detailed cases: the maximum number of supported carriers is smaller than 8; the maximum number of supported carriers is larger than 8 and smaller than 32; and PUCCH is supported in a secondary cell. In the conventional LTE system, as an omni-antenna is used at a UE side (such as the UE 120), it is only necessary to report a PHR for each carrier and the PHR is relatively simple. The dual connectivity PHR includes power headroom information of cells in a set of primary cells and in a set of secondary cells.

[0028] However, in a 5G system, since beam specific power control is supported, some new problems for a PHR arise. Particularly, in the 5G NR system, a plurality of beams are possibly used for data transmission at both a base station and a UE. Therefore, for a UE (such as the UE 120), it might be necessary to select beams for data transmission from a plurality of possible beams, and thus, an eNB (for instance, the eNB 110) needs to know a PHR for the plurality of possible beams/beam pairs, which will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example scenario 200 for different transmitting and/or receiving beams for PUSCH in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In the 5G NR system, to benefit from beamforming, an eNB such as the eNB 110 and a UE such as the UE 120 and a UE 250 need to manage beams at both ends of the link appropriately. It has been agreed that three beam management procedures corresponding to P-l, P-2 and P-3 on the downlink and U-l, U-2 and U-3 on the uplink are supported in 3GPP to complete beam acquisition, beam adjustment and beam recovery. Through the beam management procedures, it is possible to determine one or more beams/beam pairs for transmission of a control channel and a data channel. Under this condition, managing a plurality of preferred beams/beam pairs for UE is beneficial to overcome the blockage problem and provide flexibility and high-efficiency of scheduling. For example, when it is necessary to multiplex a plurality of UEs for transmission, the UEs may have different requirements for beams. For some UEs, less optimized beams may be selected to ensure multiplexing with other UEs. As shown in FIG. 2, the UE 120 needs to be multiplexed with the UE 250.

[0030] In the example shown in FIG. 2, due to blockage from buildings 230 and 240, the UE 120 may have two beam paths 210 and 220. The beam path 210 may include a beam pair of an eNB transmitting beam 211 and a UE receiving beam 212, and the beam path 220 may include a beam pair of an eNB transmitting beam 221 and a UE receiving beam 222. Although compared with the beam path 220, the link using the beam path 210 has better channel quality, to be multiplexed with the UE 250, the UE 120 still needs to change the PUSCH transmitting beam from the beam path 210 to the beam path 220. Therefore, it is necessary to report multiple PHRs (such as PHRs of the UE 120 for the beam paths 210 and 220, respectively) for a plurality of beams to the eNB 110 which may schedule UE 120 on the beam path 210 or 220. [0031] Thus, to realize beam specific power control, it is necessary to support a beam-based PHR. Besides, as a PHR is used in the uplink scheduling to consider the maximum allowed transmission power of a UE so as to determine the allowed maximum number of resource blocks, power headroom for a plurality of possible beams/beam pairs (for example, beams/beam pairs possibly to be scheduled for a UE, such as the beam paths 210 and 220 shown in FIG. 2) for data transmission should be reported.

[0032] Hence, the main concept of embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide a PHR mechanism at a beam level suitable for the 5G NR system, which may report PHR information for one and/or more possible beams/beam pairs to an eNB, thereby providing scheduling flexibility and enabling a UE to use a plurality of possible beams efficiently. Reference will be made to FIG. 3 to illustrate this point in greater detail.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method 300 implemented at a UE in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 may be, for example, implemented at the UE 120 shown in FIG. 1, or the UE 120 or the UE 250 shown in FIG. 2. [0034] As illustrated in FIG. 3, at 310, a beam-based PHR is generated. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam-based PHR refers to a PHR generated for a specific beam and associated with the beam. As stated above, compared with the carrier-level PHR of the conventional LTE system, the PHR according to embodiments of the present disclosure is the beam-level PHR. At 320, the generated PHR is transmitted to an eNB (such as the eNB 110 shown in FIG. 1) for use in resource allocation management. For example, it may be used in resource scheduling and power control as well as in any other proper processing. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not intended to limit the use of the PHR in any manner.

[0035] In an embodiment, the PHR may be reported only for beams utilized for current transmission. Under this condition, a UE (such as the UE 120) may determine power headroom information related to the beams for current transmission and transmit the power headroom information to an eNB (such as the eNB 110). In another embodiment, it is possible to generate the PHR for a plurality of possible beams for data transmission. An example of the PHR report process under this condition will be described below in conjunction with FIG. 4.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 400 for reporting a PHR in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, at 410, a set of beams for the PHR is determined. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the set of beams may include one or more beams/beam pairs. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the beams/beam pairs refer to at least one of beams or beam pairs. It is realized that a larger set of beams would cause much overhead in a PHR report while a smaller set of beams would bring limitation on scheduling flexibility, that is, limitation on the number of beams/beam pairs possibly to be scheduled for uplink data transmission.

[0037] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the set of beams may be determined based on beams for transmitting sounding reference signals (SRS) and/or beam pairs for transmitting and measuring the SRS. For example, after the beam management U-3 step, namely, through coarse beam identification and fine adjustment, it is possible to determine one or more possible beams/beam pairs for transmission of a control channel and a data channel. Thus, a UE, such as the UE 120, may trigger SRS to be transmitted and measured on possible beams/beam pairs possibly to be scheduled. Therefore, as to possible beams/beam pairs for uplink data transmission, the eNB 110, for instance, may obtain both channel quality information and the PHR, and the eNB 110 may perform the scheduling flexibility on the possible one or more beams/beam pairs. In an embodiment, the set of beams for the PHR may include the beams for the SRS transmission and measurement. For example, it is possible to make the beams in the set of beams for the PHR consistent with the beams for the SRS transmission and measurement. In an embodiment, a pre-configured maximum number of beams for the PHR may be used to further determine the set of beams for the PHR, thereby avoiding too large overhead for the PHR.

[0038] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the set of beams may be determined based on beams for a beam information report. Based on the latest agreements on the beam information report of 3GPP, UE measurements for beam management based on reference signals (such as channel state information reference signals (CSTRS)) may involve K (=total number of configured beams) beams and report measurement results of N selected beams, the N selected beams being possible beams to be scheduled for the data transmission for the UE. In an embodiment, the set of beams for the PHR may include the N selected beams for the beam information report. For example, it is possible to make the beams in the set of beams for the PHR consistent with the N selected beams for the beam information report. In an embodiment, it is also possible to further determine the set of beams for the PHR based on the pre-configured maximum number of beams for the PHR, thereby avoiding too large overhead for the PHR.

[0039] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the set of beams for the PHR may be determined based on a determined set of beams received from an eNB. For example, the set of beams for the PHR may include all the beams in the determined set of beams. For instance, beams in the set of beams for PHR may be consistent with beams in the determined set of beams. In an embodiment, it is also possible to further determine the set of beams for the PHR based on a pre-configured maximum number of beams for the PHR, thereby avoiding too large overhead for the PHR.

[0040] In an embodiment, the determined set of beams may be obtained by an eNB based on a beam information report from a UE. It is to be understood that the determined set of beams may also be obtained in any other proper manner currently known or to be developed in the future in the art, not limited to the particular manner illustrated herein.

[0041] The above depicts the determination of the set of beams for the PHR at 410. Then, at 420, power headroom information related to each beam in the set of beams may be determined. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the UE 120 may determine power headroom information for the beam pairs 211 and 212 and the beam pairs 221 and 222 and transmit it to the eNB 110 for use in, for example, resource scheduling. For instance, the power headroom information may include at least one of the following: difference between nominal UE maximum transmission power and potential power for uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) transmission based on one or more beams per activated serving cell; and difference between the nominal UE maximum transmission power and the potential power for UL-SCH and PUCCH based on one or more beams over the primary cell and the secondary cell. It is to be understood that the power headroom information may be represented by any proper matric parameter currently known or to be developed in the future in the art, and not limited to the example illustrated above, as long as the matric parameter is measured for the beam. In an embodiment, it is possible to determine a power headroom difference between different beams in the set of beams for the PHR, and in response to the power headroom power difference being below a predetermined threshold, determine reference power headroom as the power headroom information for the different beams. For example, if the power headroom difference among the multiple possible beams/beam pairs is smaller than, for instance, a granularity (ldB) or a plurality of granularities of the PHR report in a PHR table, one power headroom, namely, the reference power headroom, may be reported, for the possible plurality of beams/beam pairs, thereby further reducing PHR report signaling. [0042] At 430, beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams may be determined. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the beam indication information is used to indicate to an eNB that the PHR is for which beam/beam pair. In an embodiment, an index corresponding to each beam or beam pair in the set of beams can be used as the beam indication information. For example, the index of the beam/beam pair may be reported with the corresponding PHR value in a MAC control unit (CE) for the PHR. In another embodiment, in the case that an eNB has acquired the index of the possible beam/beam pair in beam management, a bit may be used to indicate the presence or absence of a PHR for each beam/beam pair. For example, after the uplink beam management step U-3, an eNB needs to notify to a UE which transmitting beam is optimal, and thus, the eNB will acquire a set of possible beams/beam pairs for a SRS. For instance, in the case that an eNB further determines possible beams/beam pairs based on the beam information report from a UE, the eNB will also acquire a set of possible beams/beam pairs for the PHR.

[0043] Under this condition, for instance, a UE may determine a set of potential beams for the PHR and generate the beam indication information by indicating, with a corresponding bit value, whether a beam in the set of potential beams is present in the set of beams for the PHR. In an embodiment, a UE may determine the set of potential beams based on the beam information report transmitted to an eNB (such as the eNB 110 in FIG. 1). For example, a UE may determine beams in the beam information report as beams in the set of potential beams. After the set of potential beams is determined, a UE may generate the beam indication information by indicating, with a corresponding bit value, whether a beam in the set of possible beams is present in the set of beams for the PHR determined at 410. For example, it is possible to indicate the presence of the PHR for the beam with 1 and indicate the absence of the PHR for the potential beam with 0. Correspondingly, at an eNB side, a set of potential beams may also be determined in the beam information report from a UE, and in combination with the received beam indication information, power headroom information for a UE specific beam may be acquired from the PHR.

[0044] After the power headroom information and the beam indication information is determined at 420 and 430, at 440, the power headroom information and the corresponding beam indication information is transmitted to an eNB for use by the eNB in resource allocation management, thereby providing flexibility and high efficiency of scheduling.

[0045] The beam-based PHR report process according to embodiments of the present disclosure has been described heretofore. However, due to mobility and rotation of a UE or blockage, the set of beams including one or more beams/beam pairs for a UE may change. In this case, the set of beams for the PHR will be updated and the corresponding PHR report will be triggered.

[0046] In an embodiment, for example, at block 310 of FIG. 3, UE may generate the beam-based PHR periodically, which may be realized by a pre-configured cycle. [0047] In another embodiment, a UE may generate the beam-based PHR in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE may generate the PHR in response to the variation of the path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold. For example, it is possible to generate the PHR only for beams in the set of beams for the PHR whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold. For example, the PHR may be generated for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR.

[0048] In another embodiment, a UE may generate the beam-based PHR in response to a change of the beam. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE may generate the PHR in response to addition of beams/beam pairs in the set of beams. For example, the PHR is generated only for newly added beams in the set of beams for the PHR. For instance, the PHR is generated for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR.

[0049] The communication method implemented at a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure has been described heretofore. Correspondingly, embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a communication method implemented at an eNB, which will be described in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 5.

[0050] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method 500 implemented at an eNB in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 500 may be, for instance, implemented at the eNB 110 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 5, at 510, an eNB may receive a beam-based PHR from a UE. In an embodiment, an eNB may receive power headroom information related to beams for current transmission of a UE. In another embodiment, an eNB may receive power headroom information related to one or more possible beams for transmission of a UE. For example, an eNB may receive power headroom information and beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams for transmission of a UE. Then at 520, the received PHR is used for resource allocation management. As mentioned above, the present disclosure is not intended to limit the use of the PHR in any manner, which will not be further described herein. [0051] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, an eNB may determine a set of beams for a PHR of a UE, and transmit the set of beams to the UE for generation of the PHR. In an embodiment, an eNB may receive a beam information report from a UE and determine the set of beams based on the beam information report. For example, after receiving the beam information report for the N selected beams (as mentioned above) from a UE, an eNB may further determine a smaller or equal set of beams from the N selected beams and transmit it to a UE. It is to be understood that the set of beams may be determined in any proper manner currently known or to be developed in the future in the art, but not limited to the above manner.

[0052] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, for instance, at 510 of FIG. 5, an eNB may receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and only for beams in the set of beams for the PHR whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an eNB may receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an eNB may receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a change of a beam and only for newly added beams in the set of beams for the PHR. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an eNB may receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a change of the beam and for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR.

[0053] The communication method implemented at an eNB side has been described heretofore, which corresponds to the communication method implemented at a UE side described above with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. Reference may be made to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 for related details, which will not be repeated here. [0054] Corresponding to the above method, embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a corresponding apparatus. FIG. 6 is a structural block diagram illustrating an apparatus 600 implemented at a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the apparatus 600 may be implemented at the eNB 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the apparatus 600 may be an eNB per se.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 6, the apparatus 600 may include a generating unit 610 configured to generate a beam-based PHR and a transmitting unit 620 configured to transmit the PHR to an eNB for use in resource allocation management.

[0056] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the generating unit 610 may include a generating sub-unit configured to determine power headroom information related to beams for current transmission. In this case, the transmitting unit 620 may be configured to transmit the power headroom information to an eNB. [0057] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the generating unit 610 may include a first determining sub-unit configured to determine a set of beams for the PHR; a second determining sub-unit configured to determine power headroom information related to each beam in the set of beams; and a third determining sub-unit configured to determine beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams. Under this condition, the transmitting unit 620 may be configured to transmit the power headroom information and the corresponding beam indication information to an eNB.

[0058] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first determining sub-unit may further include an SRS sub-unit configured to determine the set of beams based on beams for SRS transmission and/or measurement. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the first determining sub-unit may further include a beam information report sub-unit configured to determine the set of beams based on beams for a beam information report. According to still another embodiment, the first determining sub-unit may further include: a receiving sub-unit configured to receive a determined set of beams from an eNB; and a determining sub-unit configured to determine the set of beams based on the received determined set of beams. In an embodiment, the determined set of beams is determined by an eNB based on the beam information report from a UE. According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the first determining sub-unit may be configured to determine the set of beams based on a pre-configured maximum number of beams for the PHR. [0059] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the second determining sub-unit may include: a difference determining sub-unit configured to determine power headroom difference between different beams in the set of beams; and a reference determining sub-unit configured to determine reference power headroom as the power headroom information for the different beams in response to the power headroom difference being below a predetermined threshold.

[0060] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the third determining sub-unit may include: an indexing sub-unit configured to use an index corresponding to each beam or beam pair in the set of beams as the beam indication information. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the third determining sub-unit may include: a potential determining sub-unit configured to determine a set of potential beams for the power headroom report; and a generating sub-unit configured to generate the beam indication information by indicating, with a corresponding bit value, whether a beam in the set of potential beams is present in the set of beams. In an embodiment, the potential determining sub-unit is further configured to determine the set of potential beams based on the beam information report transmitted to an eNB.

[0061] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the generating unit 610 may be further configured to generate the PHR periodically. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the generating unit 610 may be further configured to generate the PHR in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold. In an embodiment, the generating unit 610 may generate the PHR only for beams in the set of beams for PHR whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold. In another embodiment, the generating unit 610 may generate the PHR for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the generating unit 610 may be further configured to generate the PHR in response to a change of the beam. In an embodiment, the output unit 610 may generate the PHR only for newly added beams in the set of beams for the PHR. In another embodiment, the output unit 610 may generate the PHR for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR.

[0062] FIG. 7 is a structural block diagram illustrating an apparatus 700 implemented at an eNB in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the apparatus 700 may be implemented at the UE 120 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 or the UE 250 shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the apparatus 700 may be a UE per se. [0063] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the apparatus 700 may include: a receiving unit 710 configured to receive a beam-based PHR from a UE; and a control unit 720 configured to perform resource allocation management using the PHR. [0064] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unit 710 may be configured to receive power headroom information related to beams for current transmission of a UE. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unit 710 may be configured to receive power headroom information and beam indication information related to each beam in a set of beams for transmission of a UE.

[0065] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus 700 may further include: a beam set determining unit configured to determine a set of beams for the PHR of a UE; and a first transmitting unit configured to transmit the set of beams to the UE for the generation of the PHR. In an embodiment, the beam set determining unit may further include: a receiving sub-unit configured to receive a beam information report from a UE; and a determining sub-unit configured to determine the set of beams based on the beam information report.

[0066] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unit 710 may be further configured to receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and only for beams in the set of beams for PHR whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unit 710 may be configured to receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unit 710 may further configured to receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a change of the beam and only for newly added beams in the set of beams for PHR. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unit 710 may be further configured to receive the PHR generated by a UE in response to a change of the beam and for all the beams in the set of beams for the PHR.

[0067] It is to be understood that each unit or sub-unit recited in the apparatus 600 and 700 corresponds to each action of the method 300 and 500 described with reference to FIGs 3 to 5. Moreover, the operations and features of the apparatus 600 and 700 and the units or sub-units contained therein correspond to that described with reference to FIGs 3 to 5 and have the same effect. Thus, the specific details are not repeated here.

[0068] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device 800 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be used to implement a network device such as an eNB (for instance, the eNB 110 illustrated in FIG. 1) and/or a terminal device such as a UE (for instance, the UE 120 or the UE 250 shown in FIGs 1 and 2).

[0069] As shown, the device 800 includes a controller 810 which controls the operations and functions of the device 800. For example, in some embodiments, the controller 810 may execute various operations by means of instructions 830 stored in the memory 820 coupled thereto. The memory 820 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, and optical memory devices and systems. Although FIG. 8 only shows one memory unit, the device 800 may include a plurality of physically different memory units.

[0070] The controller 810 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 800 may include multiple controllers 810. The controller 810 is coupled with the transceiver 840 which may implement transmitting and receiving of information with aid of at least one antenna 850 and/or other components. It is noted that the transceiver 840 may be a separate device or include independent devices for transmitting and receiving, respectively. [0071] When the device 800 acts as a network device such as an eNB, the controller 810 and the transceiver 840 may operate in cooperation to implement the method 500 described above with reference to FIG. 5. When the device 800 acts as a terminal device such as a UE, the controller 810 and the transceiver 840, for instance, may operate in cooperation under the control of the instruction 830 in the memory 820 to implement the method 300 described above with reference to FIG. 3. For example, the transceiver 840 may implement operations associated with reception and/or transmission of data/information, while the controller 810 implements or triggers processing, calculation and/or other operations of data. All the features described above with reference to FIGs 1 to 8 are applicable to the device 800, which are omitted herein. [0072] Generally, various example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or application-specific circuit, software, logic, or in any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while the other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software executed by a controller, a microprocessor or other computing device. When various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated or described into block diagrams, flowcharts, or other graphical representations, it would be appreciated that the block diagrams, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented, as non-restrictive examples, in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuit or logic, common software or controller or other computing device, or some combinations thereof. An example of the hardware logic components that can implement the present disclosure includes but is not limited to: a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), application specific standard parts (ASSP), a system on chip (SOC), and a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and so on.

[0073] As an example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be described in a context of machine-executable instructions which are included, for instance, in the program module executed in the device on a target real or virtual processer. Generally, a program module includes routine, program, bank, object, class, component and data structure and so on and performs a particular task or implements a particular abstract data structure. In the embodiments, the functions of the program modules may be combined or divided among the described program modules. The machine executable instructions for the program module may be executed in a local or distributed device. In the distributed device, the program module can be located between the local and remote storage mediums.

[0074] The computer program code for implementing the method of the present disclosure may be complied with one or more programming languages. These computer program codes may be provided to a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer or a processor of other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when the program codes are executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, the functions/operations prescribed in the flowchart and/or block diagram are caused to be implemented. The program code may be executed completely on a computer, partially on a computer, partially on a computer as an independent software packet and partially on a remote computer, or completely on a remote computer or server.

[0075] In the context of the present disclosure, the machine-readable medium may be any tangible medium including or storing a program for or about an instruction executing system, apparatus or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device, or any appropriate combination thereof. More detailed examples of the machine-readable storage medium include, an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer magnetic disk, hard drive, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any appropriate combination thereof.

[0076] Besides, although the operations are depicted in a particular sequence, it should not be understood that such operations are completed in a particular sequence as shown or in a successive sequence, or all shown operations are executed so as to achieve a desired result. In some cases, multi-task or parallel-processing would be advantageous. Likewise, although the above discussion includes some specific implementation details, they should not be explained as limiting the scope of any invention or claims, but should be explained as a description for a particular embodiment of a particular disclosure. In the present disclosure, some features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be integrated into a single embodiment. On the contrary, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be separately implemented in a plurality of embodiments or in any suitable sub-group.

[0077] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter specified in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

I/We Claim:

1. A communication method implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

generating a beam-based power headroom report; and

transmitting the power headroom report to a network device for use in resource allocation management.

2. The method according to Claim 1, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

generating the power headroom report periodically.

3. The method according to Claim 1, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold, generating the power headroom report.

4. The method according to Claim 1, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

in response to a change of the beam, generating the power headroom report.

5. The method according to Claim 1,

wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises determining power headroom information related to beams for current transmission; and

wherein the transmitting the power headroom report comprises transmitting the power headroom information to the network device.

6. The method according to Claim 1, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

determining a set of beams for the power headroom report;

determining power headroom information related to each beam in the set of beams; and

determining beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams.

7. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the transmitting the power headroom report comprises: transmitting the power headroom information and the beam indication information to the network device.

8. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the determining the set of beams comprises:

determining the set of beams based on beams for sounding reference signal (SRS) measurement.

9. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the determining the set of beams comprises:

determining the set of beams based on beams for a beam information report.

10. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the determining the set of beams comprises:

receiving a determined set of beams from the network device; and

determining the set of beams based on the received determined set of beams.

11. The method according to Claim 10, wherein the determined set of beams is determined by the network device based on a beam information report from the terminal device.

12. The method according to any of Claims 8-10, wherein the determining the set of beams comprises:

determining the set of beams based on a pre-configured maximum number of beams for the power headroom report.

13. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the determining the power headroom information comprises:

determining a power headroom difference between different beams in the set of beams; and

in response to the power headroom difference being below a predetermined threshold, determining a reference power headroom as the power headroom information for the different beams.

14. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the determining the beam indication information comprises:

using an index corresponding to each beam or beam pair in the set of beams as the beam indication information.

15. The method according to any of Claims 8-10, wherein the determining the beam indication information comprises:

determining a set of potential beams for the power headroom report; and

generating the beam indication information by indicating, with a corresponding bit value, whether a beam in the set of potential beams is present in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

16. The method according to Claim 15, wherein the determining the set of potential beams comprises:

determining the set of potential beams based on a beam information report transmitted to the network device.

17. The method according to Claim 3, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

generating the power headroom report only for beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold.

18. The method according to Claim 3, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

generating the power headroom report for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

19. The method according to Claim 4, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises:

generating the power headroom report only for newly added beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

20. The method according to Claim 4, wherein the generating the power headroom report comprises: generating the power headroom report for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

21. A communication method implemented at a network device, comprising:

receiving a beam-based power headroom report from a terminal device for use in resource allocation management.

22. The method according to Claim 21, wherein the receiving the power headroom report comprises:

receiving power headroom information related to beams for current transmission of the terminal device.

23. The method according to Claim 21, wherein the receiving the power headroom report comprises:

receiving power headroom information and beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams for transmission of the terminal device.

24. The method according to Claim 21, further comprising:

determining a set of beams for the power headroom report of the terminal device; and transmitting the set of beams to the terminal device for generation of the power headroom report.

25. The method according to Claim 24, wherein the determining the set of beams comprises:

receiving a beam information report from the terminal device; and

determining the set of beams based on the beam information report.

26. The method according to Claim 21, wherein the receiving the power headroom report comprises:

receiving the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and only for beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold.

27. The method according to Claim 21, wherein the receiving the power headroom report comprises:

receiving the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

28. The method according to Claim 21, wherein the receiving the power headroom report comprises:

receiving the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a change of the beam and only for newly added beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

29. The method according to Claim 21, wherein the receiving the power headroom report comprises:

receiving the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a change of the beam and for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

30. A terminal device, comprising:

a transceiver; and

a controller coupled to the transceiver and operating with the transceiver to cause the device to:

generate a beam-based power headroom report; and

transmit the power headroom report to a network device for use in resource allocation management.

31. The device according to Claim 30, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

generate the power headroom report periodically.

32. The device according to Claim 30, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

in response to a variation of a path loss of the terminal device exceeding a predetermined threshold, generate the power headroom report.

33. The device according to Claim 30, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

in response to a change of the beam, generate the power headroom report.

34. The device according to Claim 30, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine power headroom information related to beams for current transmission; and transmit the power headroom information to the network device.

35. The device according to Claim 30, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine a set of beams for the power headroom report;

determine power headroom information related to each beam in the set of beams; and determine beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams.

36. The device according to Claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

transmit the power headroom information and the beam indication information to the network device.

37. The device according to Claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

38. The device according to Claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine the set of beams based on beams for a beam information report.

39. The device according to Claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive a determined set of beams from the network device; and

determine the set of beams based on the received determined set of beams.

40. The device according to Claim 39, wherein the determined set of beams is determined by the network device based on a beam information report from the terminal device.

41. The device according to any of Claims 37-39, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine the set of beams based on a pre-configured maximum number of beams for the power headroom report.

42. The device according to Claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine a power headroom difference between different beams in the set of beams; and

in response to the power headroom difference being below a predetermined threshold, determine a reference power headroom as the power headroom information for the different beams.

43. The device according to Claim 35, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

44. The device according to any of Claims 37-39, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine a set of potential beams for the power headroom report; and

generate the beam indication information by indicating, with a corresponding bit value, whether a beam in the set of potential beams is present in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

45. The device according to Claim 44, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine the set of potential beams based on a beam information report transmitted to the network device.

46. The device according to Claim 32, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

generate the power headroom report only for beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold.

47. The device according to Claim 32, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

generate the power headroom report for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

48. The device according to Claim 33, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

generate the power headroom report only for newly added beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

49. The device according to Claim 33, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

50. A network device, comprising:

a transceiver; and

receive a beam-based power headroom report from a terminal device for use in resource allocation management.

51. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive power headroom information related to beams for current transmission of the terminal device.

52. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to: receive power headroom information and beam indication information related to each beam in the set of beams for transmission of the terminal device.

53. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

determine a set of beams for the power headroom report of the terminal device based on a beam information report from the terminal device; and

transmit the set of beams to the terminal device for generation of the power headroom report.

54. The device according to Claim 53, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive the beam information report from the terminal device; and

determine the set of beams based on the beam information report.

55. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and only for beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report whose variations of path losses exceed the predetermined threshold.

56. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a variation of a path loss of the beam exceeding a predetermined threshold and for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

57. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a change of the beam and for newly added beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.

58. The device according to Claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to operate with the transceiver to cause the device to:

receive the power headroom report generated by the terminal device in response to a change of the beam and for all the beams in the set of beams for the power headroom report.