Two-stage downlink control information configurations for beam operation

Abstract

A method of communicating downlink control information (DCI) from a transmit/receipt point (TRP) to a user equipment (UE) is disclosed. The method includes transmitting a first stage DCI and a reference signal (RS) by a coarse beam; transmitting a second stage DCI by a refine beam; where the first stage DCI includes information of the second stage DCI.

1 - 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A method of communicating multiple-stage control information to a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
 transmitting a first stage control information and a reference signal (RS) to the UE, wherein the first stage control information indicates a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern for a data channel; and   transmitting a second stage control information to the UE, wherein a configuration and a resource allocation of the second stage control information is contained in the first stage control information.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein transmitting the first stage control information and the RS comprises transmitting the first stage control information and the RS to the UE via a coarse beam, and wherein transmitting the second stage control information comprises transmitting the second stage control information to the UE via a refine beam. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the first stage control information contains the refine beam information for receiving the second stage control information. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the second stage control information comprises one of beam-specific control information and UE-specific control information. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein when the second stage control information comprises the beam-specific control information, the first stage control information contains information of a refine beam. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein when the second stage control information comprises the UE-specific control information, the first stage control information contains a specific refine beam index and resource allocation for the specific refine beam. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the beam-specific control information contains at least one of a number of serving UEs and a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) configuration and resource allocation information for data channel for each of the serving UEs, the CSI RS configuration having a CSI RS resource and quasi co-location (QCL) information. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the first stage control information comprises at least one of a beam index and a number of antenna ports for one or more refine beams. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the first stage control information comprises broadcast information containing time sensitive information. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the first stage control information is carried by a control channel, while the second stage control information is carried by a data channel. 
     
     
         39 . A base station configured to communicate multiple-stage control information to with a user equipment (UE), the base station comprising:
 one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon; and   at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
 transmit a first stage control information and a reference signal (RS) to the UE, wherein the first stage control information indicates a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern for a data channel; and 
 transmit a second stage control information to the UE, wherein a configuration and a resource allocation of the second stage control information is contained in the first stage control information. 
   
     
     
         40 . The base station of  claim 39 , wherein executing the computer-executable instructions to transmit the first stage control information and the RS comprises executing the computer-executable instructions to transmit the first stage control information and the RS to the UE via a coarse beam, and wherein executing the computer-executable instructions to transmit the second stage control information comprises executing the computer-executable instructions to transmit the second stage control information to the UE via a refine beam. 
     
     
         41 . The base station of  claim 40 , wherein the first stage control information contains the refine beam information for receiving the second stage control information. 
     
     
         42 . The base station of  claim 39 , wherein the second stage control information comprises one of beam-specific control information and UE-specific control information. 
     
     
         43 . The base station of  claim 42 , wherein when the second stage control information comprises the beam-specific control information, the first stage control information contains information of a refine beam. 
     
     
         44 . The base station of  claim 42 , wherein when the second stage control information comprises the UE-specific control information, the first stage control information contains a specific refine beam index and resource allocation for the specific refine beam. 
     
     
         45 . The base station of  claim 42 , wherein the beam-specific control information contains at least one of a number of serving UEs and a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) configuration and resource allocation information for data channel for each of the serving UEs, the CSI RS configuration having a CSI RS resource and quasi co-location (QCL) information. 
     
     
         46 . The base station of  claim 39 , wherein the first stage control information comprises at least one of a beam index and a number of antenna ports for one or more refine beams. 
     
     
         47 . The base station of  claim 39 , wherein the first stage control information comprises broadcast information containing time sensitive information. 
     
     
         48 . The base station of  claim 39 , wherein the first stage control information is carried by a control channel, while the second stage control information is carried by a data channel.