Methods for beam correspondence signaling, related wireless devices and related network nodes

1. A method, performed by a wireless device, for beam correspondence signalling wherein the wireless device comprises a plurality of antenna panels including a first antenna panel, the method comprising:

obtaining, for the first antenna panel, a first beam correspondence (BC) capability parameter associated with a first panel identifier; and

transmitting to a network node a first BC capability indicator, wherein the first BC capability indicator comprises the first BC capability parameter and the first panel identifier, wherein transmitting the first BC capability indicator comprises:

determining one or more other panel capabilities for the first antenna panel;

encoding, for the first antenna panel, the corresponding first BC capability indicator with the corresponding one or more other panel capabilities; and

transmitting the encoded corresponding first BC capability indicator to the network node.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining, for the first antenna panel, the first BC capability parameter associated with the first panel identifier comprises:

obtaining the first panel identifier for the first antenna panel;

determining the first BC capability parameter for the first antenna panel; and

associating the first BC capability parameter with the first panel identifier.

3. The method according claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antenna panels includes a second antenna panel, the method comprising:

obtaining for the second antenna panel, a second BC capability parameter associated with a second panel identifier; and

transmitting to the network node a second BC capability indicator, wherein the second BC capability indicator comprises the second BC capability parameter and the second panel identifier.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more other panel capabilities comprise a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) capability indicating whether MIMO is supported.

5. A method, performed by a wireless device, for beam correspondence signalling wherein the wireless device comprises a plurality of antenna panels including a first antenna panel and a second antenna panel, the method comprising:

obtaining, for the first antenna panel, a first beam correspondence (BC) capability parameter associated with a first panel identifier;

transmitting to a network node a first BC capability indicator, wherein the first BC capability indicator comprises the first BC capability parameter and the first panel identifier;

obtaining for the second antenna panel, a second BC capability parameter associated with a second panel identifier; and

transmitting to the network node a second BC capability indicator, wherein the second BC capability indicator comprises the second BC capability parameter and the second panel identifier,

wherein transmitting to the network node the first BC capability indicator comprises transmitting to the network node one or more of: the first BC capability indicator and the second BC capability indicator through one or more resources for uplink reference signals.

6. A method, performed by a network node, for beam correspondence signalling, wherein the network node is configured to communicate with a wireless device via a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a beam correspondence (BC) capability indicator from the wireless device, the BC capability indicator comprising a BC capability parameter and a panel identifier, wherein the panel identifier is configured to identify an antenna panel of a plurality of antenna panels of the wireless device, wherein the BC capability parameter is indicative of a BC capability for the antenna panel identified by the panel identifier;

determining, based on the BC capability indicator, if a per-panel beam correspondence signalling is supported by the wireless device; and

when it is determined that the per-panel beam correspondence signalling is supported by the wireless device, determining based on the BC capability parameter if a BC requirement without uplink beam sweeping is fulfilled by the antenna panel corresponding to the panel identifier.

7. The method according to claim 6 , the method comprising:

when it is determined that the BC requirement without uplink beam sweeping is not fulfilled by the antenna panel, triggering uplink beam sweeping for the corresponding antenna panel.

8. The method according to claim 6 , the method comprising:

when it is determined that the BC requirement without uplink beam sweeping is fulfilled by the antenna panel, forgoing the uplink beam sweeping for the corresponding antenna panel and communicating with the wireless device according to the received BC capability indicator.

9. A wireless device comprising an interface module, a memory module, and a processing module, wherein the wireless device is configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

10. A network node comprising an interface module, a memory module, and a processing module, wherein the wireless device is configured to perform the method of claim 6 .