Method and apparatus for joint and separate beam indication

A base station (BS), comprising:

• a transceiver configured to:
• transmit configuration information for operation with a joint beam indication or a separate beam indication,
• transmit configuration information for a first set of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states for joint TCI states or downlink (DL) TCI states,
• transmit configuration information for a second set of TCI states for uplink (UL) TCI states if configured to operate with the separate beam indication,
• transmit M TCI state code points activated by a medium access control-control element (MAC CE), wherein M is a positive integer, and
• if M>1, transmit downlink control information (DCI) that indicates at least one TCI state code point from the M TCI state code points;
• and
• a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to:
• determine a TCI state to apply to at least one of DL channels and UL channels, wherein:
• if M=1, the determined TCI state is based on the one TCI state code point activated by the MAC CE, and
• if M>1, the determined TCI state is based on the at least one TCI state code point indicated by the DCI, and
• update one or more spatial filters for at least one of the DL channels and the UL channels based on the determined TCI state,
• wherein the transceiver is further configured to at least one of transmit and receive the DL channels and the UL channels, respectively, based on the updated one or more spatial filters.

A method of operating a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

• receiving configuration information to operate with a joint beam indication or a separate beam indication;
• receiving configuration information for a first set of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states for joint TCI states or downlink (DL) TCI states;
• receiving configuration information for a second set of TCI states for uplink (UL) TCI states if configured to operate with the separate beam indication;
• receiving M TCI state code points activated by a medium access control-control element (MAC CE), wherein M is a positive integer;
• if M>1, receiving downlink control information (DCI) that indicates at least one TCI state code point from the M TCI state code points;
• determining a TCI state to apply to at least one of DL channels and UL channels, wherein:
• if M=1, the determined TCI state is based on the one TCI state code point activated by the MAC CE, and
• if M>1, the determined TCI state is based on the at least one TCI state code point indicated by the DCI,
• updating one or more spatial filters for at least one of the DL channels and the UL channels based on the determined TCI state;
• and
• at least one of receiving and transmitting the DL channels and the UL channels, respectively, based on the updated one or more spatial filters.