IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,726,325
Granted Patent B2
US 12,726,325 · App. 18/559,018 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Transmission configuration indicator (TCI) chain enhancements for new radio systems

Inventors: Ilya Bolotin (Santa Clara, CA); Meng Zhang (Beijing, CN); Andrey Chervyakov (Maynooth, IE); Hua Li (Santa Clara, CA); Rui Huang (Santa Clara, CA)
Assignee: Intel Corporation
H04L5/0094H04B7/0626H04B7/06964
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,726,325
App. No.
18/559,018
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

This disclosure describes an apparatus comprising a memory to store downlink (DL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state chain information, and a processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to retrieve the DL TCI state chain information from the memory, wherein the DL TCI state information includes an indication of a source reference signal (RS) for a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell, and monitor an SSB based on the DL TCI state chain information.

Claims (36)

1 . An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising:

memory to store transmission configuration indicator (TCI) chains corresponding to a unified TCI framework, the TCI chains including a downlink TCI chain (DL TCI chain) and an uplink TCI chain (UL TCI chain), wherein:

individual ones of the DL TCI chain and the UL TCI chain comprise a synchronization signal block (SSB) and one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources; and

the SSB of the DL TCI chain is associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell; and

processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to:

receive, from the memory, the TCI chains;

for TCI state switching, based on the TCI chain having no more than four reference signals, consider two of the four reference signals to be quasi-co-located (QCLed); and

encode or decode signals for wireless communication based on the TCI chains.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , the processing circuitry to further use the SSB of the DL TCI chain as a source reference signal (RS).

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the SSB of the UL TCI chain is associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , the processing circuitry to further use the SSB of the UL TCI chain as a source reference signal (RS).

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , the processing circuitry to further, perform transmission reception point (TRP)-specific beam failure detection (BFD) in a time division multiplexed (TDM) manner.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a radio frequency front end coupled to the processing circuitry.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , further including one or more antennas coupled to the processing circuitry to send and to receive wireless signals.

8 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions to cause, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of a User Equipment (UE), the UE to:

store, in a memory of the UE, transmission configuration indicator (TCI) chains corresponding to a unified TCI framework, the TCI chains including a downlink TCI chain (DL TCI chain) and an uplink TCI chain (UL TCI chain), wherein:

individual ones of the DL TCI chain and the UL TCI chain comprise a synchronization signal block (SSB) and one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources; and

the SSB of the DL TCI chain is associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell;

retrieve, from the memory of the UE, the TCI chains;

for TCI state switching, based on the TCI chain having no more than four reference signals, consider two of the four reference signals to be quasi-co-located (QCLed); and

encode or decode signals for wireless communication based on the TCI chains.

9 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 8 , the instructions to further cause, upon execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, the UE to further use the SSB of the DL TCI chain as a source reference signal (RS).

10 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the SSB of the UL TCI chain is associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell.

11 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , the instructions to further cause, upon execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, the UE to further use the SSB of the UL TCI chain as a source reference signal (RS).

12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 8 , the instructions to further cause, upon execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, the UE to further, perform transmission reception point (TRP)-specific beam failure detection (BFD) in a time division multiplexed (TDM) manner.

13 . A method to be performed at a User Equipment (UE), the method including:

storing, in a memory of the UE, transmission configuration indicator (TCI) chains corresponding to a unified TCI framework, the TCI chains including a downlink TCI chain (DL TCI chain) and an uplink TCI chain (UL TCI chain), wherein:

individual ones of the DL TCI chain and the UL TCI chain comprise a synchronization signal block (SSB) and one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources; and

the SSB of the DL TCI chain is associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell;

retrieving, from the memory of the UE, the TCI chains;

based on the TCI chain having no more than four reference signals, considering two of the four reference signals to be quasi-co-located (QCLed); and

encoding or decoding signals for wireless communication based on the TCI chains.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further including use the SSB of the DL TCI chain as a source reference signal (RS).

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the SSB of the UL TCI chain is associated with a physical cell identifier that is different from an identifier of a serving cell.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further including using the SSB of the UL TCI chain as a source reference signal (RS).

17 . The method of claim 15 , further including performing transmission reception point (TRP)-specific beam failure detection (BFD) in a time division multiplexed (TDM) manner.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 11, 2026
From: INTEL CORPORATION
To: INTEL PRODUCTS IP LLC
Reel/Frame 075990/0451 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 63297650 · Jan 7, 2022
Provisional Application 63270872 · Oct 22, 2021
Related Publication 20240235797A1 · Jul 11, 2024
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