Adjacent cell transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state transition

Abstract

This application relates to devices and components, including apparatus, systems, and methods for performing a transition of a TCI state from a serving cell to a neighboring cell. The UE determines whether the state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown and whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown. The total delay time for performing the TCI state transition can be affected by the known / unknown state. Other factors can also contribute to the total delay time. The UE can also signal its capability to monitor the TCI state of the neighboring cell and its capability to transition to such a TCI state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to wireless communications. Background Technology

[0002] Fifth-generation mobile networks (5G) are wireless standards designed to improve data transmission speed, reliability, and availability. In 5G New Radio (NR), the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is used to establish a quasi-co-location (QCL) connection between the Target Reference Signal (RS) and the Source RS. The TCI state is configured for use on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to convey the QCL indication of the corresponding RS. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One aspect of this disclosure relates to a method for wireless communication, executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), the method: processing information indicating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with a neighboring cell of a serving cell to which the UE is connected; determining whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown to the UE; and determining that the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE in response to the following condition being met: during the time period from the last transmission of RS resources for L1-RSRP measurement reports for the TCI state to the completion of the transition to the TCI state: during the last transmission of RS resources for beam reporting or measurement. The UE receives the TCI state transition command within a certain period of time, having previously sent at least one L1-RSRP report of the TCI state before the TCI state transition command. The TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period, the SSB associated with the TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the TCI state is equal to or greater than a certain value. The transition to the TCI state is completed within a first total time delay or a second total time delay longer than the first total time delay, based at least on whether the TCI state is known or unknown to the UE.

[0004] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a user equipment (UE) comprising: processing circuitry configured to: process information indicating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with a neighboring cell of a serving cell to which the UE is connected; determine whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown; and determine that the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE in response to the following conditions being met: during the time period from the last transmission of RS resources for L1-RSRP measurement reports for the TCI state to the completion of the transition to the TCI state; after the last transmission of the RS resources for beam reporting or measurement. The UE receives the TCI state transition command within a certain time period, and has sent at least one L1-RSRP report of the TCI state before the TCI state transition command. The TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period, the SSB associated with the TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the TCI state is equal to or greater than a certain value. The UE completes the transition to the TCI state within a first total time delay or a second total time delay longer than the first total time delay, based at least on whether the TCI state is known or unknown.

[0005] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), cause operations including: processing information indicating a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with a neighboring cell of a serving cell to which the UE is connected; determining whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown to the UE; and determining that the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE in response to the following condition being met: during the time period from the last transmission of RS resources for L1-RSRP measurement reports for the TCI state to the completion of the transition to the TCI state: during the time period for beam reporting or measurement... The UE receives the TCI state transition command within a certain period after the last transmission of RS resources, the UE has sent at least one L1-RSRP report of the TCI state before the TCI state transition command, the TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period, the SSB associated with the TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the TCI state is equal to or greater than a certain value; and the transition to the TCI state is completed within a first total time delay or a second total time delay longer than the first total time delay, based at least on whether the TCI state is known or unknown to the UE. Attached Figure Description

[0006] Figure 1An example of a network environment according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0007] Figure 2 Examples of inter-cell mobility based on Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transitions (switch) according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0008] Figure 3 Examples of determining whether the state of neighboring cells is known or unknown are shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0009] Figure 4 Examples of determining whether the TCI status of neighboring cells is known or unknown, based on some implementation schemes, are shown.

[0010] Figure 5 This illustrates another example of determining whether the TCI status of neighboring cells is known or unknown, based on some implementation schemes.

[0011] Figure 6 An example of a timeline for TCI state transitions according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 An example sequence diagram of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility between a user equipment (UE) and the network based on TCI state transition commands is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0013] Figure 8 An example of the operational flow / algorithm structure for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility based on TCI state transition commands associated with neighboring cells, according to some implementation schemes, is shown.

[0014] Figure 9 An example of a receiving component according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0015] Figure 10 Examples of UEs according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0016] Figure 11 Examples of base stations according to some implementation schemes are shown. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The following detailed description relates to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details, such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth for illustrative and non-limiting purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples departing from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0018] Generally, a User Equipment (UE) can be configured to receive and transmit in the serving cell, whereby the UE uses a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state for this reception. Neighboring cells may exist. It may be desirable to transition the TCI state to the TCI state of a neighboring cell so that the UE can receive in the neighboring cell. To do this, a TCI state transition command can be sent from the network to the UE, requesting the UE to transition to the TCI state of the neighboring cell. In one example, the network can trigger a handover from the serving cell to a neighboring cell by sending the TCI state transition command using Layer 1 (L1) signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI)) or Layer 2 (L2) signaling (e.g., Media Control Access (MAC) Control Element (CE)). This handover can take less time by using L1 or L2 (L1 / L2) signaling compared to using Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration signaling.

[0019] This type of TCI transition command can be enabled for inter-frequency and intra-frequency cells. The UE can determine whether the state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown and / or whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown. Such TCI state transition conditions can affect the total delay time required to complete the transition to the TCI state of the neighboring cell and, in terms of handover, to complete the handover. Other factors can also affect the total delay time and include, for example, whether the MAC CE or DCI is used for the TCI state transition command, the timing offset / frequency offset (TO / FO) tracking time, the active bandwidth portion (BWP) transition time, or the UE processing time. In addition, the UE can send a random access channel (RACH) message to indicate the completion, in which case the total delay time can also depend on the RACH timing uncertainty. During the TCI state transition, the UE can be allowed to interrupt reception and / or transmission on another serving component carrier (CC), where the duration of the interruption can be based on the parameter set or slot length of the other serving CC.

[0020] Additionally, the UE can signal its ability to monitor the TCI status of neighboring cells. If this is possible, the UE can maintain the TCI status of neighboring cells in the list of active TCI states before receiving a TCI state transition command. Furthermore, the UE can signal its ability to perform neighboring cell TCI state transitions to support L1 / L2-centric inter-cell handovers.

[0021] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0022] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable system-on-chips (SoCs)), or digital signal processors (DSPs), etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0023] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" means, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may also refer to an application processor, baseband processor, central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit, single-core processor, dual-core processor, triple-core processor, quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures).

[0024] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, etc.

[0025] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device of a remote user that has radio communication capabilities and can describe network resources in a communication network. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can be considered synonymous and can be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Additionally, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0026] As used herein, the term "base station" refers to a device with radio communication capabilities, which is a network element of a communication network (or more simply, a network) and can be configured as an access node within the communication network. Access to the communication network by a UE can be managed at least in part by the base station, thereby allowing the UE to connect to the base station to access the communication network. Depending on the Radio Access Technology (RAT), a base station may be referred to as a gNodeB (gNB), eNodeB (eNB), access point, etc.

[0027] As used herein, the term "computer system" means any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to the various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing resources or network resources.

[0028] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, or physical or virtual components within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power supply, input / output operations, port or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, databases and applications, units of workload, etc. "Hardware resource" can refer to computing, storage, or networking resources provided by physical hardware components. "Virtualized resource" can refer to computing, storage, or networking resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The terms "network resource" or "communication resource" can refer to resources that computer equipment / systems can access via a communication network. The term "system resource" can refer to any kind of shared entity providing services and can include computing or network resources. System resources can be considered as a coherent set of functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0029] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," or any other similar term indicating a path or medium through which data is transmitted. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices used for transmitting and receiving information.

[0030] As used in this article, the terms "instantiate" and "instantiate" refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0031] The term "connection" can mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0032] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as networked computers, network hardware, network devices, network nodes, virtualized network functions, etc.

[0033] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual content of an information element, or the data element that contains that content. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0034] Figure 1 A network environment 100 according to some implementation schemes is illustrated. Network environment 100 may include UE 104 and gNB 108. gNB 108 may be a base station providing radio access cells, such as 3GPP New Radio (NR) cells, through which UE 104 can communicate with gNB 108. UE 104 and gNB 108 can communicate via an air interface compatible with 3GPP technical specifications, such as those defining the fifth-generation (5G) NR system standard.

[0035] The gNB 108 transmits information (e.g., data and control signaling) along the downlink direction by mapping logical channels to transport channels and transport channels to physical channels. Logical channels can transmit data between the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and the MAC layer; transport channels can transmit data between the MAC layer and the PHY layer; and physical channels can transmit information across the air interface. Physical channels may include the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0036] The PBCH can be used to broadcast system information, which UE 104 can use for initial access to the serving cell. The PBCH can be transmitted together with the Physical Synchronization Signal (PSS) and the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) in the Synchronization Signal (SS) / PBCH block. The SS / PBCH block (SSB) can be used by UE 104 during the cell search process (including cell selection and reselection) and for beam selection.

[0037] PDSCH can be used to transmit end-user application data, signaling radio bearer (SRB) messages, system information messages (other than MIBs), and paging information.

[0038] The PDCCH can transmit DCIs, which the gNB 108 scheduler uses to allocate uplink and downlink resources. The DCI can also be used to provide uplink power control commands, configure time slot formats, or indicate that preemption has occurred.

[0039] gNB 108 can also transmit various reference signals to UE 104. These reference signals may include demodulation reference signals (DMRS) for PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH. UE 104 can compare the received version of the DMRS with a known transmitted DMRS sequence to estimate the impact of the propagation channel. UE 104 can then apply the reverse of the propagation channel during the demodulation process corresponding to the physical channel transmission.

[0040] These reference signals may also include Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS). CSI-RS can be a multi-purpose downlink transmission that can be used for CSI reporting, beam management, connection mode mobility, radio link failure detection, beam failure detection and recovery, and fine-tuning of time and frequency synchronization.

[0041] These reference signals and information from the physical channel can be mapped to resources in the resource grid. For a given antenna port, subcarrier spacing configuration, and transmission direction (e.g., downlink or uplink), there exists a resource grid. The basic unit of the NR downlink resource grid can be a resource element that can be defined by a subcarrier in the frequency domain and an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the time domain. Twelve consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain can constitute a physical resource block (PRB). A resource element group (REG) can include a PRB in the frequency domain and an OFDM symbol in the time domain, for example, twelve resource elements. A control channel element (CCE) can represent a set of resources used to transmit the PDCCH. One CCE can be mapped to multiple REGs, for example, six REGs.

[0042] UE 104 can use physical uplink channels to transmit data and control information to gNB 108. Different types of physical uplink channels are possible, such as the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The PUCCH carries control information (such as uplink control information (UCI)) from UE 104 to gNB 108, while the PUSCH carries data traffic (e.g., end-user application data) and may carry UCI.

[0043] UE 104 and gNB 108 can perform beam management operations to identify and maintain desired beams for transmission in both the uplink and downlink directions. Beam management can be applied to PDSCH and PDCCH in the downlink direction and to PUSCH and PUCCH in the uplink direction.

[0044] In one example, communication with the gNB 108 and / or the base station may utilize channels in the Frequency Range 1 (FR1) band (between 40 MHz and 7,125 MHz) and / or the Frequency Range 2 (FR2) band (between 24,250 MHz and 52,600 MHz). The FR1 band includes both licensed and unlicensed bands. The NR unlicensed band (NR-U) includes spectrum shared with other types of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) (e.g., LTE-LAA, WiFi, etc.). The Listen-Before-Speak (LBT) process can be used to avoid or minimize conflicts between different RATs in the NR-U, whereby the device should apply a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) check before using the channel.

[0045] like Figure 1As further shown, network environment 100 may also include base station 112, to which UE 104 may also connect. Base station 112 supports the same RAT as gNB 108 (e.g., base station 112 is also a gNB). Alternatively or additionally, base station 112 supports a different RAT (e.g., LTE eNB).

[0046] In one example, UE 104 supports carrier aggregation (CA), allowing UE 104 to simultaneously connect and exchange data with gNB 108 and / or base station 112 via multiple component carriers (CCs). These CCs can belong to the same frequency band, in which case they are referred to as intra-band CCs. Intra-band CCs can be continuous or discontinuous. These CCs can also belong to different frequency bands, in which case they are referred to as inter-band CCs. Serving cells can be configured for UE 104 to use CCs. The serving cell can be a primary cell (PCell), a primary-secondary cell (PSCell), or a secondary cell (SCell). Multiple SCells can be activated via an SCell activation procedure, where the component carriers of these serving cells can be intra-band continuous, intra-band discontinuous, or inter-band. These serving cells can be co-located or non-co-located.

[0047] Transmissions using different antenna ports may traverse different radio channels. However, in some cases, different antenna ports may share common radio channel characteristics. For example, different antenna ports may have similar Doppler drift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, or spatial receiver parameters (e.g., characteristics associated with the downlink received signal angle of arrival at the UE). Antenna ports that share one or more of these large-scale radio channel characteristics may be referred to as quasi-co-located. 3GPP has specified four types of QCLs to indicate which specific channel characteristics are shared. In QCL type A, antenna ports share Doppler drift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread. In QCL type B, antenna ports share Doppler drift and Doppler spread. In QCL type C, antenna ports share Doppler drift and average delay. In QCL type D, antenna ports share spatial receiver parameters.

[0048] The gNB 108 can provide TCI status information to the UE 104 to indicate the QCL relationship between antenna ports used for reference signals (e.g., synchronization signals / PBCH or CSI-RS) and downlink data or control signaling (e.g., PDSCH or PDCCH). The gNB 108 can use a combination of RRC signaling, MAC control element signaling, and DCI to inform the UE 104 of these QCL relationships.

[0049] The TCI state is configured for PDCCH, PDSCH, and CSI-RS to convey the QCL indication of the corresponding reference signal (RS). In FR1, QCL type AC applies, and in FR2, QCL type AD applies. The QCL type D in FR2 indicates that the PDCCH / PDSCH / CSI-RS is transmitted using the same spatial filter as the reference signal associated with that TCI. In FR2, the network can indicate a change in the transmit beam of the PDSCH or PDCCH by switching the TCI state.

[0050] UE 104 can be configured with a list of TCIs for PDSCH and PDCCH via RRC. The TCI states of PDCCH are a subset of the TCI states of PDSCH. For PDCCH, the network configures active TCI states via MAC CE. RRC can configure up to 128 TCI states for PDSCH. UE can have up to eight TCI states activated via MAC CE, but the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to this.

[0051] When UE 104 is configured with the higher-layer parameter tci-PresentlnDCI, where CORESET for PDSCH scheduling is set to "Enabled", the TCI field exists in DCI format 1_1. If the scheduling offset between the scheduler and the PDSCH is greater than Threshold-Sched-Offset and a TCI field exists, the TCI status of the PDSCH is indicated via DCI. If tci-PresentlnDCI is not configured, or if PDSCH is scheduled using DCI format 1_0, or if the scheduling offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than Threshold-Sched-Offset, the PDSCH follows the TCI of the PDCCH. Thresh-old-Sched-Offset is based on the UE capability timeDuration-ForQCL.

[0052] TCI state changes and corresponding beam switching can be initiated via MAC CE or DCI. When the PDSCH TCI is indicated by DCI, the TCI state or beam switching can be configured via DCI. DCI-based TCI state transitions apply to the PDSCH. When the PDSCH follows the PDCCH TCI state, for beam switching, the PDCCH TCI state must first be initiated via MAC CE. Therefore, MAC CE-based TCI state transitions apply to the PDCCH.

[0053] When the network activates a new TCI state via MAC CE for PDCCH or via DCI for PDSCH, UE 104 is given some time to prepare for reception in the new TCI state. To successfully receive in the new TCI state, UE 104 needs to know the receive (RX) beam and associated time offset / frequency offset (TO / FO) corresponding to the new TCI state. The network can indicate the TCI state change via MAC CE for PDCCH and via DCI for PDSCH. As further described below, this change can be a change to the TCI state of a neighboring cell and can occur within the context of a handover from the serving cell associated with the current TCI state to a neighboring cell that is the target of the TCI state transition.

[0054] Figure 2 Examples of inter-cell mobility based on Transport Configuration Indication (TCI) state transitions at Layer 1 or Layer 2 are shown according to some implementation schemes. Figure 2 In the diagram, L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility refers to the handover from the serving cell to a neighboring cell, where the handover is triggered using L1 signaling or L2 signaling instead of RRC reconfiguration signaling.

[0055] When UE 210 crosses a network coverage area, a handover can be performed to move UE 210's communication from the current serving cell 220 to a neighboring cell 230 (e.g., a neighboring cell). This handover can be an inter-frequency handover (e.g., the two cells 220 and 230 use the same frequency band) or an intra-frequency handover (e.g., the two cells 220 and 230 use different frequency bands). L1 signaling can be a DCI indicating a TCI state change, while L2 signaling can be a MAC CE indicating a TCI state change. In both cases, the target cell associated with the TCI state change is the neighboring cell 230.

[0056] In one example, the network sends a TCI state transition command 222 to UE 104 in serving cell 220. This state transition command 222 triggers a transition from the current TCI state associated with serving cell 220 to the TCI state of neighboring cell 230. This TCI state transition command 222 can be a DCI or MAC CE. Upon completion of the transition, the TCI state of neighboring cell 230 can be used by UE 104 for communication (including at least reception) within neighboring cell 230. For example, the TCI state transition command 222 indicates a handover trigger.

[0057] The neighboring cell 230 (e.g., its cell ID) can be indicated to the UE 210 via RRC signaling or TCI state transition command 222 (e.g., DCI or MAC CE). Furthermore, before sending the TCI state transition command 222, the network can configure the UE 210 using parameters of the neighboring cell 230 (e.g., radio bearer configuration, measurement configuration, SCell group configuration, etc.). This configuration can be completed via RRC signaling other than RRC reconfiguration messages.

[0058] RS 321 can be transmitted in neighboring cell 230. When TCI state transition (or similar, handover) is completed, UE 210 can receive RS 321 with the TCI indicated by the TCI state associated with neighboring cell 230.

[0059] Therefore, L1 / L2-based handover can be achieved via DCI or MAC-CE TCI state transitions. This reduces handover time compared to L3 / RRC-based handover. TCI state transitions support both intra-frequency and inter-frequency handovers. As further described below, the completion of a TCI transition (or similarly, L1 / L2-based handover) from serving cell 220 to neighboring cell 230 can be performed within a total delay time, which is subject to whether the state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown and / or whether the TCI state of neighboring cell 230 is known or unknown, as well as other factors. TCI state transitions can affect the UE 210's transmit or receive operations on other serving CCs, in which case permitted interruptions can be defined.

[0060] Figure 3 Examples of determining whether the state of a neighboring cell is known or unknown, according to some implementation schemes, are shown. Generally, the neighboring cell is the target cell. If the target cell has been detected by UE 310 at least previously, the state of the neighboring cell is known to UE 310. Otherwise, the state of the neighboring cell is not known to UE 310. Figure 3 This type of state condition is illustrated in the diagram. Additional state conditions can be defined, such that the state is known, for example, if the RX beam that can be used by UE 310 to receive in a neighboring cell is also known to UE 310 and / or if the TCI state of the neighboring cell is part of the active state maintained by UE 310.

[0061] In one example, base station 320 (e.g., gNB) provides communication to the UE in a neighboring cell. UE 310 communicates with another base station 330 (e.g., gNB) in the serving cell. A handover from the serving cell to a neighboring cell for UE 310 may not have yet occurred.

[0062] If UE 310 detects a neighboring cell (in Figure 3If cell detection is shown as cell detection 301, then the state of neighboring cells is known to UE 310. Otherwise, the state is unknown. Cell detection 310 may include, for example, receiving and detecting synchronization signals 322 from base station 322 (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS) or secondary synchronization signal (SSS) transmitted in SSB), detecting SSB index, and / or performing SSB measurements.

[0063] exist Figure 3 In the illustration, after cell detection 301, the network can trigger a transition of the TCI state from the serving cell to the neighboring cell. The start of this transition is shown as TCI state transition start 302 and corresponds to receiving a TCI state transition command 332. In one example, the TCI state transition command 332 can be sent from the network via base station 330, whereby base station 330 transmits it to UE 310 in DCI or MAC CE.

[0064] Next, and as part of performing a TCI state transition to a neighboring cell, UE 310 determines the state of the neighboring cell (shown as TCI state transition condition 303, which TCI state transition condition in...). Figure 3 The context includes determining the state conditions of neighboring cells (e.g., known or unknown to UE 310). Here, the state is known 312 because UE 310 has previously detected neighboring cells 320 (e.g., according to cell detection 301). However, if no neighboring cell is detected before receiving the TCI transition command 322, UE 310 will determine that the state of the neighboring cell is unknown.

[0065] Figure 4 Examples of determining whether the TCI state of a neighboring cell is known or unknown, according to some implementation schemes, are shown. Generally, the neighboring cell is the target cell and its TCI state is the target TCI state. The target TCI state is known to UE 410 if at least the RX beam that UE 410 can use to receive on the target cell is known to UE 410. Otherwise, the target TCI state is not known to UE 410. The RX beam is known to UE 410 if, within a certain period before receiving the TCI state transition command associated with transitioning UE 410 to the target TCI state, UE 410 has measured and reported a measurement of the target TCI state on the RS (e.g., an L1-RSRP measurement). Figure 4 This type of state condition is illustrated in the diagram. Additional state conditions can be defined, such that the target TCI state is known, for example, if the state of a neighboring cell is known (e.g., a neighboring cell is detected) and / or if the target TCI state is part of the active state maintained by the UE 410.

[0066] In one example, base station 420 (e.g., gNB) provides communication to the UE in a neighboring cell. UE 410 communicates with another base station 430 (e.g., gNB) in the serving cell. A handover from the serving cell to a neighboring cell for UE 410 may not have yet occurred.

[0067] If UE 410 detects a neighboring cell (in Figure 4 If the neighboring cells are detected (as shown in cell detection 401), then the neighboring cells are known to the UE 410. Otherwise, the neighboring cells are not known to the UE 410. Cell detection 410 may include, for example, receiving and detecting synchronization signals 422 from base station 422 (e.g., PSS or SSS transmitted in SSB), detecting SSB index, and / or performing SSB measurements.

[0068] exist Figure 4 In the illustration, RX beam detection 402 includes UE 410 detecting whether the RX beam in a neighboring cell is known to UE 410. If RX beam detection 402 occurs within a certain time period before receiving TCI conversion command 432, the TCI status of the neighboring cell can be known to UE 402. This RX beam detection 402 may include, for example, UE 410 receiving RS 424 from base station 420, performing measurements on RS (e.g., L1-RSRP), and reporting these measurements to the network.

[0069] Following RX beam detection 402, the network can trigger a transition of the TCI state from the serving cell to the neighboring cell. The start of this transition is indicated as TCI state transition start 403 and corresponds to receiving a TCI state transition command 432. In one example, the TCI state transition command 432 can be sent from the network via base station 430, which then transmits it to UE 410 in DCI or MAC CE.

[0070] Next, and as part of performing a TCI state transition to a neighboring cell, UE 410 determines whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown (shown as TCI state transition condition 404). Here, the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known 412 because UE 410 previously detected the neighboring cell 420 (e.g., according to cell detection 401) and previously detected the RX beam within a certain period of time before receiving the TCI state transition command 432. However, if the neighboring cell was not detected before receiving the TCI transition command 422, or if the RX beam is unknown or was detected a long time ago (e.g., longer than that period of time), then UE 410 will determine that the TCI state of the neighboring cell is unknown. In this method, if the target TCI state is known, then UE 510 may implicitly determine that the state of the neighboring cell is also known.

[0071] In one example, the neighboring cell TCI state is known to UE 410 only if the following conditions are met: During the time period from the last transmission of RS resources for L1-RSRP measurement reports for TCI state to the completion of an active TCI state transition (where the RS resources for L1-RSRP measurements are in TCI state or quasi-co-located with TCI state): (i) TCI state transition command 432 is received within a certain time period (e.g., 1,280 ms) after the last transmission of RS resources for beam reporting or measurement; (ii) UE 410 has sent at least one L1-RSRP report for TCI state before TCI state transition command 432; (iii) TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition time period; (iv) SSB associated with TCI state remains detectable during the TCI transition time period; and (v) the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of TCI state is equal to or greater than a certain value (e.g., -3 dB). If any of these conditions are not met, the neighboring cell TCI state is not known to UE 410.

[0072] Figure 5 This illustrates another example of determining whether the TCI state of a neighboring cell is known or unknown, according to some implementation schemes. Generally, the neighboring cell is the target cell and its TCI state is the target TCI state. If the target TCI state is identified at least in the list of active TCI states maintained by the UE 510, then the target TCI state is known to the UE 510.

[0073] In one example, UE 510 monitors multiple TCI states (shown as TCI state monitoring 501). The network configures TCI states for UE 510 and activates some of the configured TCI states. For example, RRC signaling can be used to configure up to 128 TCI states for PDSCH. Then MAC CE is used to activate up to eight of these 128 TCI states. UE 510 maintains a list 512 identifying these eight active TCI states. Furthermore, UE 510 may have indicated to the network its ability to monitor the TCI states of neighboring cells. In this case, RRC signaling may have included the target TCI state in the configuration, and MAC CE may have activated that TCI state.

[0074] exist Figure 5In the illustration, after TCI state monitoring 501, the network can trigger a transition of the TCI state from the serving cell to the neighboring cell. The start of this transition is shown as TCI state transition start 502 and corresponds to receiving a TCI state transition command 532. In one example, the TCI state transition command 532 can be sent from the network via the base station 520 of the serving cell, whereby the base station 520 transmits it to the UE 510 in DCI or MAC CE.

[0075] Next, and as part of performing the TCI state transition to the neighboring cell, UE 510 determines whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known or unknown (shown as TCI state transition condition 503). Here, the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known 514 because UE 510 considers the target TCI state to be one of the active TCI states identified in list 512. However, if the target TCI state is not an active TCI state, UE 510 may have determined that the target TCI state is unknown. In this method, if the target TCI state is known, UE 510 may implicitly determine that the state of the neighboring cell is also known.

[0076] Figure 6 An example timeline of a TCI state transition according to some implementations is shown. Timeline 600 includes a total delay time 610 between the reception of the TCI state transition command 620 and the completion of the TCI state transition 630, where the TCI state transition is used to transition to the TCI state of a neighboring cell. Specifically, when the network activates a new TCI state via MAC CE for PDCCH or via DCI for PDSCH, the UE is allowed some time to prepare to receive in the new TCI state. The total delay time 610 represents the first period of time required for the UE to do so and can depend on various factors such as whether the neighboring cell is known to the UE or not, whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE or not, whether MAC CE or DCI is used for activation, whether TO / FO tracking is required, whether an active BWP transition is required, UE processing time, and whether a RACH message 640 is sent.

[0077] The total delay time 610 may be shorter than the second time period, which is an upper limit of the total delay time 610. For example, the second time period is a predefined maximum time for the transition and corresponds to the worst case (e.g., the total delay time 610 is equal to or less than a certain maximum allowable time, where the upper limit corresponds to states such as unknown neighboring cells, unknown TCI status of neighboring cells, use of MAC CE, need for active BWP transition, need for TO / FO tracking RACH message transmission, etc.).

[0078] Furthermore, the UE can send the RACH message 640 to the network when the TCI state transition is completed at 630. Specifically, the UE can determine the timing of the first available Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) to send the RACH message 640. There may be uncertainty regarding the timing of the PRACH, and this uncertainty may occur within... Figure 6 The uncertainty time 642 is shown as (e.g., the time required to send RACH message 640). In one example, the process of performing a TCI state transition includes sending RACH message 640. In this case, the uncertainty time 642 can be a part of the total delay time 610. In either case, sending RACH message 640 can be advantageous because the exact length of the total delay time 610 will vary depending on the factors mentioned above. Therefore, RACH message 640 can indicate completion 630 to the network, thereby reducing the impact of this variability and enabling transmission to the UE without having to wait until the maximum time has ended. If the TCI state transition is part of a handover, RACH message 640 can optionally be sent upon completion of the handover.

[0079] In one example, the total delay time 610 includes MAC CE processing time or DCI resolution time, time for TO / FO tracking, time for RX beamfinding, time for cell identification, time for BWP transition, UE processing time, and / or uncertainty time 642. MAC CE processing time is used when the TCI transition command is MAC CE and can be defined as "T". HARQ + a predefined time value (e.g., three milliseconds). T HARQ This is the time required to send an acknowledgment / negative acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) in response to a MAC CE (this time can be defined across multiple time slots). If the TCI conversion command is DCI, the DCI resolution time is used. This DCI resolution time can have a predefined time value (e.g., 600 microseconds).

[0080] The time spent on TO / FO tracking is included in the total delay time 610 only when TO / FO tracking is required before using the TCI state of a neighboring cell. When the TCI state is not in the list of active TCI states monitored by the UE (e.g., ...), Figure 5 This occurs when it is part of list 512. The time used for TO / FO tracking can be defined as "T". first-SSB +T SSB-proc , where “T” first-SSB "T" is the time when the first SSB is received. SSB-proc "This is the time required to process the SSB."

[0081] The time used for RX beam refinement is included in the total delay time 610 only when the TCI state of neighboring cells is unknown. The time used for RX beam refinement can be defined as "T". L1-RSRP “”, which is the measurement time period used to perform L1-RSRP measurements.

[0082] The time used for cell identification is included in the total delay time 610 only when the state of neighboring cells is unknown (e.g., the UE has not yet detected the target cell for TCI state transition). Cell identification time includes PSS / SSS detection, SSB measurement time, and time used for SSB index detection. Therefore, if deriveSSB-IndexFromCell If enabled and the target cell is located on the same frequency as the serving cell, the time used for cell identification can be the "T" specified in Section 9.2.5.1 of 3GPP TS 38.133 V17.0.0 (2021-01) for intra-frequency adjacent cells in FR2. identify_intra_without_index ".if deriveSSB-IndexFromCell If not enabled, the time used for cell identification can be the "T" specified in this section for adjacent cells within the frequency range of FR1 and FR2. identify_intra_with_index Alternatively, the time used for cell identification can be the "T" specified in Section 9.3.4 of 3GPP TS 38.133 V17.0.0 (2021-01) for inter-frequency adjacent cells. identify_inter_with_index ".

[0083] When adjacent cells are located in different frequency layers (inter-frequency) or the bandwidth of the initial or active BWP of an adjacent cell differs from that of the serving cell, the additional time for BWP transition is included in the total delay time 610. The time for BWP transition can be defined as the time-based or DCI-based BWP transition delay based on a single component carrier, similar to the definition in Section 8.62 of 3GPP TS38.133 V17.0.0 (2021-01).

[0084] UE processing time represents the additional processing time that may be required for the UE to receive and apply all parameters and configurations to complete the handover to a neighboring cell. This time can be predefined to a certain value (e.g., up to ten milliseconds) and is included in the total delay time 610 when the TCI state transition is used as a trigger for the handover.

[0085] As explained above, the completion 630 of the TCI state transition to the neighboring cell can be indicated by the RACH message 640, allowing the UE to begin receiving in the TCI state of the neighboring cell. The uncertainty in transmitting the RACH message 640 is the uncertainty in acquiring the first available PRACH opportunity in the neighboring cell, which can be the sum of the SSB to PRACH opportunity association time period and a predefined time value (e.g., a few milliseconds). This uncertainty time 642 is included in the total delay time 610 when the RACH message is used to indicate the completion of the TCI state transition.

[0086] For clarity, the MAC CE processing time, DCI resolution time, RX beam refinement time, and TO / FO tracking time can be represented in the total delay time 610 as follows. When a TCI state transition command is received in time slot n, the UE should be able to receive the PDCCH with the target TCI state of the neighboring cell, where the TCI state transition occurs in time slot n. This will occur in the first time slot thereafter. The UE should be able to receive the PDCCH in the old TCI state until time slot n+T. HARQ + A similar definition can be used to include the time for other factors, whereby a binary multiple "K" can be used for each factor to consider the corresponding time based on whether the corresponding condition is met.

[0087] If the TCI status of a neighboring cell is known, then K1 is "0"; otherwise, K1 is "1". When using MAC CE, K2 is "1"; otherwise, K2 is "0". Conversely, if using DCI, then K3 is "1"; otherwise, K3 is "0". HARQ It refers to the timing between DL data transmission and acknowledgment. T first-SSB This refers to the time of the first SSB transmission after the UE decodes the MAC CE command; the SSB should be QCL-Type A or QCL-Type C for the target TCI state. SSB-proc = 2ms. If the target TCI state is not in the active TCI state list of PDSCH, then TO k = 1, otherwise "0". T L1-RSRP This is the time used for Rx beam refinement. T first-SSB This is the time of the first SSB transmission after the L1-RSRP measurement when the TCI state transition involves QCL-TypeD. first-SSB This is the time of the first SSB transmission after the UE decodes the MAC CE command for other QCL types.

[0088] Within the total delay time 610, one or more interruptions 650 may occur related to one or more operations (e.g., receive and / or transmit operations) associated with one or more other serving CCs. If so, the interruption time 652 may be defined as the maximum permissible time of the interruption 650. In one example, a TCI state transition to a neighboring cell may cause an interruption on another serving component carrier if any of the following scenarios occur: (i) the transition is accompanied by a change in subcarrier spacing (SCS) (e.g., the CC used by the neighboring cell has a different SCS than the CC of the serving cell), (ii) a change in bandwidth or center frequency (e.g., the CC of the neighboring cell has a different bandwidth or uses a different center frequency compared to the serving CC), or (iii) the UE does not support the measurement gap for each frequency range (e.g., the gap for each FR). Any of these scenarios, or other scenarios affecting receive or transmit operations (e.g., by requiring adjustments to the receiver chain and / or transmit changes), may cause an interruption of other serving CCs. Therefore, the UE should be able to support this interruption, whereby the interruption may be of the duration defined by the interruption time 652. Interruption time 652 can be similarly defined as the time allowed for active BWP transitions. Table 1 below shows an example for defining interruption time 652. Specifically, the length of interruption time 652 can depend on the parameter set or slot length of the other serving CCs affected by the interruption. For example, if the other serving CCs have zero parameters for their respective parameter sets, then interruption time 652 can be set to one slot, and this slot is equal to one millisecond. The interruption should also be allowed only during the total delay time 610 of neighboring cells on all other serving CCs.

[0089]

[0090] Figure 7 An example sequence diagram 700 of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility between UE 710 and network 720 based on TCI state transition commands, according to some embodiments, is shown. Communication between UE 710 and network 720 can be carried via one or more base stations of network 720. UE 710 may be located in a serving cell provided by a base station and use the TCI state of the serving cell. TCI state transition commands can be used for UE 710 to handover to a neighboring cell (e.g., provided by the same or different base stations of network 720), whereby the TCI state of the neighboring cell is the target TCI state for the transition.

[0091] In one example, sequence diagram 700 includes UE 710 enabling the first UE capability (e.g., tci-StateSwitch- neighborCellThis information is sent to network 720 (e.g., prior to the handover), thereby instructing UE 710 to perform neighboring cell TCI state transitions only or to support handovers triggered by TCI state transition commands. For example, tci-StateSwitch-neighborCell This instructs UE 710 to support TCI state transitions between neighboring cells to facilitate inter-cell handover centered on L1 / L2. This UE capability may be mandatory. Furthermore, tci- StateSwitch-neighborCell It can send a signal to notify each frequency band of its switching capability.

[0092] Sequence diagram 700 also includes UE 710 with a second UE capability (e.g., tci-State-neighborCell The first UE capability is sent to network 720 (e.g., before the handover), thereby instructing UE 710 to perform neighbor cell TCI state monitoring only or to support TCI state transitions. If the UE instructs to support neighbor cell TCI state transitions according to the first UE capability, this capability signaling can be mandatory. Furthermore, for neighbor cell TCI state monitoring, tci-State-neighborCell This monitoring capability can be signaled for each frequency band. The following shows... tci- State-neighborCell The following is an example illustration. If the UE supports this monitoring capability, the network 720 can configure the UE 720 to keep the TCI status of neighboring cells in a list of active TCI statuses.

[0093] tci-State-neighborCell Define TCI status for PDCCH / PDSCH support in neighboring cells. Capability signaling includes the following parameters: -maxNumberConfiguredTCIstatesPerCC-neighborCell indicates the maximum number of configured TCI states per CC of PDCCH / PDSCH.

[0094] - maxNumberActiveTCI-PerBWP-neighborCell Indicates the maximum number of active TCI states for each CC and each BWP, including control and data from neighboring cells.

[0095] like Figure 7As further shown in the diagram, sequence diagram 700 includes network 720 transmitting configuration information about neighboring cells. For example, this configuration information may define parameters for detecting neighboring cells, performing measurements on signals transmitted for neighboring cells, and any other information required to connect to or perform a handover to a neighboring cell. This information may configure UE 710 to perform measurements and reports, including, for example, any or a combination of L1-RSRP, Layer 3 (L3)-RSRP, time- or spatially filtered L1-RSRP, or L1-SINR. Furthermore, this information may configure UE 710 to send a RACH message to indicate the completion of a TCI state transition or handover. This may include an indication of a specific uplink beam for the RACH or, alternatively, an indication of a candidate set of uplink beams for the RACH. Additionally, this configuration information may configure the TCI state of neighboring cells for UE 710 and indicate whether that TCI state should be activated. In one example, the configuration information can be sent via RRC signaling (different from RRC reconfiguration signaling) and / or L2 signaling (different from or the same as MAC CE used for TCI state transitions).

[0096] At a certain point in time, and as shown in step four of sequence diagram 700, network 720 sends an L1 / L2 TCI state transition command to UE 710. The L1 / L2 TCI state transition command can be a MAC CE or DCI, and can, for example, indicate the neighboring cell and target TCI states. Depending on the configuration information, the L1 / L2 TCI state transition command can also indicate the UL beam of the RACH.

[0097] In response to an L1 / L2 TCI state transition command, sequence diagram 700 includes UE 710 performing a TCI state transition process from the TCI state of the serving cell to the TCI state of a neighboring cell. This process may include determining TCI state transition conditions, such as whether the state of the neighboring cell is known to UE 710 or not, and whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to UE 710 or not, performing measurements, performing tracking, etc. This process can be completed within the total latency time.

[0098] Sequence diagram 700 may also include UE 710 sending a TCI state transition completion message when the TCI state transition process is completed (or the handover is completed). The TCI state transition completion message may be a RACH message sent on the UL beam of the serving cell or a neighboring cell, depending on how UE 710 is configured, for example, by network 720.

[0099] Figure 8An example of an operation flow / algorithm structure 800 for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility based on TCI state transition commands, according to some implementation schemes, is shown. The UE can implement the operation flow / algorithm structure 800 to perform TCI state transitions associated with neighboring cells. This transition may be (but does not necessarily have to be) part of a handover from the serving cell to a neighboring cell. The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may be performed or implemented by the UE (such as UE 104, 310, 410, 510, 710, 310, 410, 1000) or its components (e.g., processor 1004). The UE can communicate with the network via communicative coupling to one or more base stations, each providing a cell.

[0100] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include, at 802, sending UE capability information to the network instructing the UE to perform neighboring cell TCI state monitoring. For example, the UE capability information includes... tci-State-neighborCell .

[0101] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include, at 804, sending to the network UE capability information indicating the UE's ability to perform neighboring cell TCI state transitions to support handovers triggered by TCI state transition commands. For example, this UE capability information may include... tci-StateSwitch-neighborCell .

[0102] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include, at 806, receiving RRC configurations from neighboring cells from the network. For example, the RRC configuration may include information for configuring the UE to perform L1-RSRP, L3-RSRP, time- or spatially filtered L1-RSRP or L1-SINR measurements on the RS of neighboring cells, and to transmit RACH messages on the UL beam, etc.

[0103] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include, at 808, receiving from the network a TCI state transition command associated with a neighboring cell when the UE connects to the serving cell (e.g., by using the service CC provided by the base station of the serving cell). The TCI transition command may be a MAC CE or DCI that triggers a transition to the TCI state of the neighboring cell.

[0104] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include at 810 determining the TCI state transition conditions associated with neighboring cells. The TCI state transition conditions indicate at least one of the following: whether the state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE or not, or whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE or not. (As in...) Figures 3 to 5 The determination can be achieved using different definitions.

[0105] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include at 812, at least based on TCI state transition conditions, to complete the transition to the TCI state of a neighboring cell within a first time period or a second time period. For example, the first time period may be the total delay time, which, in addition to factors such as whether MAC CE or DCI is used to trigger the transition, whether TO / FO tracking is required, whether an active BWP transition is required, UE processing time, and whether a RACH message needs to be sent, also depends on the determined state conditions. The TCI state transition may include performing neighboring cell detection, performing the required measurements for each RRC configuration, etc.

[0106] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include, at 814, sending a RACH message to the network indicating at least one of the following: completion of the transition to the TCI state of a neighboring cell, or the UE's ability to receive signals using the TCI state of a neighboring cell. This capability indication may correspond to an indication that the handover is complete.

[0107] Figure 9 A receiving component 900 of a UE 104 according to some embodiments is shown. The receiving component 900 may include an antenna panel 904 that includes a plurality of antenna elements. The panel 904 is shown as having four antenna elements, but other embodiments may include other numbers.

[0108] Antenna panel 904 may be coupled to an analog beamforming (BF) component, which includes a plurality of phase shifters 908(1) to 908(4). Phase shifters 908(1) to 908(4) may be coupled to a radio frequency (RF) chain 912. RF chain 912 may amplify received analog RF signals, downconvert RF signals to baseband, and convert analog baseband signals to digital baseband signals, which may be provided to a baseband processor for further processing.

[0109] In various implementations, control circuitry residing in the baseband processor may provide phase shifters 908(1) to 908(4) with BF weights (e.g., W1 to W4) that represent phase shift values ​​to provide a receive beam at antenna panel 904. These BF weights may be determined based on channel-based beamforming.

[0110] Figure 10 A UE 1000 according to some implementation schemes is shown. The UE 1000 may be similar to... Figure 1 The UE 104 is essentially interchangeable with it.

[0111] Similar to that described above with respect to UE 104, UE 1000 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a mobile phone, computer, tablet, industrial wireless sensors (e.g., microphones, carbon dioxide sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, thermometers, motion sensors, accelerometers, laser scanners, fluid level sensors, inventory sensors, voltmeters / ammeters, actuators, etc.), video surveillance / monitoring devices (e.g., cameras, camcorders, etc.), wearable devices, or loosely coupled IoT devices. In some embodiments, the UE can be a de-capacitated UE or a lightweight NR (NR-Light) UE.

[0112] UE 1000 may include a processor 1004, an RF interface circuit 1008, a memory / storage device 1012, a user interface 1016, a sensor 1020, a drive circuit 1022, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1024, and a battery 1028. The components of UE 1000 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of integrated circuits, discrete electronic devices or other modules, logic components, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Figure 10 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of the UE 1000. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other specific implementations.

[0113] The components of UE 1000 can be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1032, which can represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, optical connector, etc., allowing various circuit components (on common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with each other.

[0114] Processor 1004 may include processor circuitry such as baseband processor circuitry (BB) 1004A, central processing unit circuitry (CPU) 1004B, and graphics processing unit circuitry (GPU) 1004C. Processor 1004 may include any type of circuitry or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from memory / storage device 1012) to cause UE 1000 to perform the operations described herein.

[0115] In some implementations, the baseband processor circuit 1004A can access the communication protocol stack 1036 in the memory / storage device 1012 to communicate over a 3GPP-compliant network. Generally, the baseband processor circuit 1004A can access the communication protocol stack to perform the following operations: user plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, and PDU layers; and control plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and non-access stratum (NAS) layers. In some implementations, PHY layer operations may additionally / optionally be performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1008.

[0116] The baseband processor circuit 1004A can generate or process baseband signals or waveforms carrying information in a 3GPP-compliant network. In some implementations, the waveforms used for NR can be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0117] The baseband processor circuit 1004A can also access group information 1024 from the memory / storage device 1012 to determine multiple repeating search space groups in which PDCCH can be emitted.

[0118] The memory / storage device 1012 may include any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that can be distributed throughout the UE 1000. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage devices 1012 may be located on the processor 1004 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage devices 1012 may be located outside the processor 1004 but accessible via a memory interface. The memory / storage device 1012 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0119] The RF interface circuit 1008 may include transceiver circuitry and a radio frequency front-end module (RFEM), which allows the UE 1000 to communicate with other devices via a radio access network. The RF interface circuit 1008 may include various components arranged in the transmit or receive path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, etc.

[0120] In the receiving path, the RFEM can receive the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna 1024 and continue to filter and amplify the signal (using a low-noise amplifier). This signal can be provided to the receiver of the transceiver, which downconverts the RF signal into a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of processor 1004.

[0121] In the transmission path, the transceiver's transmitter upconverts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides the RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM amplifies the RF signal using a power amplifier before it is radiated across the air interface via antenna 1024.

[0122] In various implementations, the RF interface circuit 1008 can be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0123] Antenna 1024 may include multiple antenna elements, each of which converts electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and converts received radio waves back into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged in one or more antenna panels. Antenna 1024 may have omnidirectional, directional, or combinations thereof antenna panels to enable beamforming and multiple-input / multiple-output communication. Antenna 1024 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. Antenna 1024 may have one or more panels designed for a specific frequency band included in FR1 or FR2.

[0124] User interface circuitry 1016 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable users to interact with UE 1000. User interface 1016 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, particularly including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information, such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information. Output device circuitry may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and multi-character visual outputs), or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc., is generated or produced by the operation of UE 1000.

[0125] Sensor 1020 may include devices, modules, or subsystems designed to detect events or changes in their environment and transmit information about the detected events (sensor data) to other devices, modules, subsystems, etc. Examples of such sensors include, in particular: inertial measurement units including accelerometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) including triaxial accelerometers, triaxial gyroscopes, or magnetometers; level sensors; flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors; barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless aperture sensors); light detection and ranging sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiation detectors, etc.); depth sensors; ambient light sensors; ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other similar audio capture devices; etc.

[0126] The driving circuit 1022 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 1000. The driving circuit 1022 may include various drivers that allow other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may exist within or be connected to the UE 1000. For example, the driving circuit 1022 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device; a touchscreen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touchscreen interface; a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings of the sensor circuit 1020 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1020; a driver for acquiring actuator positions of electromechanical components or controlling and allowing access to electromechanical components; a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device; and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0127] The PMIC 1024 manages the power supplied to various components of the UE 1000. Specifically, relative to the processor 1004, the PMIC 1024 controls power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0128] In some implementations, the PMIC 1024 can control or otherwise become part of various power-saving mechanisms of the UE 1000. For example, if the platform UE is in the RRC_Connected state, where it remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, it can then enter a state called Discontinuous Receive Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the UE 1000 can power down for short intervals to save power. If there is no data traffic activity during the extended period, the UE 1000 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, where the UE disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The UE 1000 enters a very low-power state and performs paging, where the UE periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then power down again. The UE 1000 may not receive data in this state; to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power-saving modes can make the device unable to use the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this period, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will result in significant latency, which is assumed to be acceptable.

[0129] Battery 1028 can power UE 1000, but in some examples, UE 1000 may be mounted in a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to the mains. Battery 1028 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some specific implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, battery 1028 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0130] Figure 11 A gNB 1100 according to some embodiments is shown. The gNB node 1100 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the gNB 98. Base stations (such as base station 112) may have the same or similar components as the gNB 1100.

[0131] The gNB 1100 may include a processor 1104, an RF interface circuit 1108, a core network (CN) interface circuit 1112, and a memory / storage device circuit 1116.

[0132] The components of gNB 1100 can be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1128.

[0133] The processor 1104, RF interface circuit 1108, memory / storage device circuit 1116 (including communication protocol stack 1110), antenna 1124, and interconnect 1128 are similar to those in the reference. Figure 9 Similar named elements are shown and described.

[0134] The CN interface circuit 1112 can provide connectivity to a core network, such as a 5th generation core network (5GC) using a 5GC-compatible network interface protocol (such as Carrier Ethernet) or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity can be provided to / from the gNB 1100 via fiber optic or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuit 1112 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuit 1112 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0135] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0136] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods as described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples below. Similarly, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0137] Example Further exemplary implementations are provided in the following sections.

[0138] Example 1 includes a method. This method is implemented on a user equipment (UE). The method includes: receiving, when the UE is connected to a serving cell, a Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with a neighboring cell from the network; determining a TCI state transition condition associated with the neighboring cell, the TCI state transition condition indicating at least one of the following: the state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE or is not known to the UE, or the TCI state of the neighboring cell is known to the UE or is not known to the UE; and completing a transition to the TCI state of the neighboring cell within a first time period or a second time period, at least based on the TCI state transition condition.

[0139] Example 2 includes the method according to Example 1, wherein the first time period is shorter than the second time period, wherein the second time period is a predefined maximum delay time for the transition, and wherein the transition is completed within the first time period based on at least one of the state of the neighboring cell or the TCI state being known.

[0140] Example 3 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 2, wherein the TCI state transition command includes a downlink control information (DCI) or media access control (MAC) control element (CE) requesting the transition to the TCI state.

[0141] Example 4 includes the method according to Example 3, wherein the DCI or the MAC CE triggers a handover from the serving cell to the neighboring cell based on the transition to the TCI state, and wherein the serving cell and the neighboring cell have the same frequency or different frequencies.

[0142] Example 5 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 4, wherein the state of the neighboring cell is determined to be known when the UE detects the neighboring cell.

[0143] Example 6 includes the method according to Example 5, the method further comprising: before receiving the TCI state transition command: receiving the radio resource control (RRC) configuration of the neighboring cell from the network; and at least detecting the primary synchronization signal (PSS) or secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the neighboring cell.

[0144] Example 7 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 6, wherein the TCI state of the neighboring cell is determined to be known when the UE detects that the receive (RX) beam from the neighboring cell is known, wherein the RX beam is used to receive a reference signal (RS) associated with the TCI state of the neighboring cell from the neighboring cell.

[0145] Example 8 includes the method according to Example 7, further comprising: determining that the RX beam is known by at least determining that the UE has measured and reported Layer 1 (L1) measurements on the RS within a predefined time prior to receiving the TCI state transition command.

[0146] Example 9 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 8, wherein the TCI state of the neighboring cell is determined to be known when the EU detects the neighboring cell and when the UE detects that the received (RX) beam from the neighboring cell is known.

[0147] Example 10 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 9, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the transition, wherein the second time period is an upper limit of the total delay time, wherein the total delay time is longer when the state of the neighboring cell is unknown relative to when the state of the neighboring cell is known, and wherein the total delay time is longer when the TCI state is unknown relative to when the TCI state is known.

[0148] Example 11 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 10, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the transition, wherein the TCI state transition command includes a request for downlink control information (DCI) or media access control (MAC) control element (CE) for the transition of the TCI state, and wherein the total delay time is longer when the TCI state transition command includes the MAC CE than when the TCI state transition command includes the DCI.

[0149] Example 12 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 11, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the transition, and the method further includes maintaining a list of active TCI states; and determining whether the TCI state of the neighboring cell is one of the active TCI states, wherein the total delay time is shorter when the TCI state is one of the active TCI states compared to when the TCI state is not one of the active TCI states.

[0150] Example 13 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 12, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the transition, wherein the state of the neighboring cell is detected as unknown, and wherein the total delay time includes the time for completing cell identification of the neighboring cell.

[0151] Example 14 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 13, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the transition, wherein the neighboring cell has at least one of a different frequency or a different bandwidth portion (BWP) from the serving cell, and wherein the total delay time includes the time to complete the BWP transition.

[0152] Example 15 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 14, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the transition, wherein the TCI state transition command triggers a handover from the serving cell to the neighboring cell, and wherein the total delay time includes the UE processing time to complete the handover.

[0153] Example 16 includes the method according to any of the preceding Examples 1 to 15, the method further comprising: sending a Random Access Channel (RACH) message to the network indicating at least one of the following: completion of the transition to the TCI state of the neighboring cell or completion of the handover to the neighboring cell.

[0154] Example 17 includes the method according to Example 16, wherein the first time period is the total delay time of the conversion, and the total delay time includes the time for obtaining the first available physical random access channel (PRACH).

[0155] Example 18 includes the method according to Example 16, wherein the RACH message is transmitted on an uplink (UL) beam, wherein the UL beam is configured in a radio resource control (RRC) configuration and activated by the TCI state transition command.

[0156] Example 19 includes the method according to Example 16, wherein the RACH message is transmitted on an uplink (UL) beam, wherein the UL beam is configured by the TCI state transition command.

[0157] Example 20 includes the method according to any of Examples 1 to 19, wherein the completion of the transition to the TCI state is based on the UE not supporting measurement gaps in each frequency range or on the neighboring cell having a different subcarrier frequency, different bandwidth, or different center frequency than the serving cell, causing an interruption of the process on the component carrier (CC).

[0158] Example 21 includes the method according to Example 20, wherein the interruption is associated with a total interruption time, and wherein the total interruption time is based on the parameter set or slot length of the component carrier.

[0159] Example 22 includes the method according to any one of Examples 1 to 21, the method further comprising: sending UE capability information to the network prior to receiving the TCI state transition command, indicating the UE's ability to perform neighboring cell TCI state monitoring.

[0160] Example 23 includes the method according to Example 22, further comprising: maintaining the TCI state of the neighboring cell in a list of active TCI states based on the UE's capability.

[0161] Example 24 includes the method according to Example 22, wherein the UE capability information indicates the capability for each frequency band.

[0162] Example 25 includes the method according to any one of Examples 1 to 24, the method further comprising: sending to the network, prior to receiving the TCI state transition command, UE capability information indicating the UE's ability to perform neighboring cell TCI state transitions to support a handover triggered by the TCI state transition command.

[0163] Example 26 includes the method according to Example 25, wherein the UE capability information indicates the capability for each frequency band.

[0164] Example 27 includes a UE comprising one or more processors and one or more memories storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the UE to perform one or more elements of the methods described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 26.

[0165] Example 28 includes a UE comprising means for performing one or more elements of the methods described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 26.

[0166] Example 29 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed on a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform one or more elements of the methods described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 26.

[0167] Example 30 includes a UE comprising logic components, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of the methods described or associated with any of Examples 1 through 26.

[0168] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the examples above may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In light of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments.

[0169] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the disclosure is fully understood. This disclosure is intended to render the following claims as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Processing information indicating the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with the neighboring cell of the serving cell to which the UE is connected; Determine whether the TCI status of the neighboring cells is known or unknown to the UE; The transition to the TCI state is completed within a first total time delay or a second total time delay longer than the first total time delay, at least based on whether the TCI state is known or unknown to the UE. The completion of the transition to the TCI state is based on the UE not supporting measurement gaps for each frequency range or on the neighboring cells having different subcarrier frequencies, different bandwidths, or different center frequencies than the serving cell, causing an interruption of the process on the component carrier CC. The interruption is associated with the total interruption time, and the total interruption time is based on the parameter set or slot length of the component carrier.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first total time delay corresponds to the TCI state being known, and wherein the second total time delay corresponds to the TCI state being unknown.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the TCI state transition command includes downlink control information (DCI) or media access control (MAC) control element (CE) requesting the transition to the TCI state.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the DCI or the MAC CE triggers a handover from the serving cell to the neighboring cell based on the transition to the TCI state.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the TCI state is determined to be known when the UE detects that the received RX beam from the neighboring cell is known, wherein the RX beam is used to receive a reference signal RS associated with the TCI state of the neighboring cell from the neighboring cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: The RX beam is determined to be known by at least determining that the UE has measured and reported Layer 1, or L1, on the RS within a predefined time before receiving the TCI state transition command.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine whether the TCI state is in the list of active TCI states, and The TCI status is determined as either known or unknown to the UE based on whether it is in the list of active TCI statuses.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, At least one of the first total time delay or the second total time delay is based on whether the TCI state is in the list of active TCI states.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The total delay is shorter when the TCI state is in the list of active TCI states, compared to when the TCI state is not in the list of active TCI states.

10. A user equipment (UE), comprising: The processing circuit is configured as follows: Processing information indicating the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with the neighboring cell of the serving cell to which the UE is connected; Determine whether the TCI status of the neighboring cells is known or unknown; The transition to the TCI state is completed within a first total time delay or a second total time delay longer than the first total time delay, at least based on whether the TCI state is known or unknown. The completion of the transition to the TCI state is based on the UE not supporting measurement gaps for each frequency range or on the neighboring cells having different subcarrier frequencies, different bandwidths, or different center frequencies than the serving cell, causing an interruption of the process on the component carrier CC. The interruption is associated with the total interruption time, and the total interruption time is based on the parameter set or slot length of the component carrier.

11. The UE of claim 10, wherein the TCI state transition command is a MAC CE, and wherein the first total time delay is based on T HARQ and a predefined time value, where T HARQ Indicates the time required to send an acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK).

12. The UE of claim 10, wherein TO / FO tracking is required before using the TCI state of the neighboring cell and the first total time delay includes time for TO / FO tracking, wherein the time for TO / FO tracking is based on T first-SSB and T SSB-proc T first-SSB This represents the first time required to receive the synchronization signal block SSB, where T... SSB-proc This indicates the second time required to process the SSB.

13. The UE of claim 10, wherein the TCI state of the neighboring cells is unknown and the first total time delay includes time for RX beam refinement, wherein the time for RX beam refinement is based on T... L1-RSRP T L1-RSRP This indicates the measurement time period used to perform Layer 1, or L1, the reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement.

14. The UE of claim 10, wherein the TCI state transition command is a MAC CE and requires TO / FO tracking before using the TCI state of the neighboring cell, wherein the first total time delay corresponds to the TCI state being known and based on T HARQ T first-SSB T SSB-proc and a predefined time value, where T HARQ This represents the time required to send an ACK / NACK confirmation, where T is the time required. first-SSB This represents the first time required to receive the synchronization signal block SSB, where T... SSB-proc This indicates the second time required to process the SSB.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), cause operations including: Processing information indicating the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state transition command associated with the neighboring cell of the serving cell to which the UE is connected; Determine whether the TCI status of the neighboring cells is known or unknown to the UE; The transition to the TCI state is completed within a first total time delay or a second total time delay longer than the first total time delay, at least based on whether the TCI state is known or unknown to the UE. The completion of the transition to the TCI state is based on the UE not supporting measurement gaps for each frequency range or on the neighboring cells having different subcarrier frequencies, different bandwidths, or different center frequencies than the serving cell, causing an interruption of the process on the component carrier CC. The interruption is associated with the total interruption time, and the total interruption time is based on the parameter set or slot length of the component carrier.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operation further comprises: Before receiving the TCI state transition command, UE capability information is transmitted, which indicates the UE's capabilities for neighboring cell TCI state transitions to support handover triggered by the TCI state transition command.

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