Enhanced medium access control element based uplink transmission configuration indicator state switching delay with path loss reference signal - Patents.com

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a system, method, and device for medium access control element based transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state switching via a path loss reference signal. A user equipment (UE) may decode the path loss reference signal; generate a first time between a downlink transmission received from a network device and a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement sent by the UE to the network device; generate a second time to a first path loss reference signal transmission after a Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) measurement; identify a periodicity of the path loss reference signal; generate a TCI state switching delay time for the UE device to transmit an uplink signal to the network device after switching the TCI state based on the first time, the second time, and the periodicity; and encode the uplink signal to transmit to the network device by the TCI state switching delay time.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [Cross-references to related applications] This application claims the interests of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 270,999 filed on 22 October 2021, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 297,887 filed on 10 January 2022, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 309,376 filed on 11 February 2022, the disclosures thereof incorporated by reference to be described in whole.

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for wireless communication, more specifically to transmit configuration indicator state switching. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless devices are becoming widespread and increasingly utilize wireless channels. The Third Generation Partnership Programme (3GPP®) develops one or more standards for wireless communication. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0004] [Figure 1] This is a network diagram illustrating an exemplary network environment according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0005] [Figure 2] The following is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for a medium access control (MAC) element-based uplink transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state switching delay related to a path loss reference signal, according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0006] [Figure 3] This disclosure shows a network according to one or more exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0007] [Figure 4] A schematic representation of a wireless network according to one or more exemplary embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0008] [Figure 5] It is a block diagram showing components according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] The following description and drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, algorithmic, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, portions and features of other embodiments. The embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0010] A wireless device may operate as defined by technical standards. In cellular telecommunication, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) defines communication techniques including techniques for transmission of uplink control information (UCI). In particular, a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state refers to a state of spatial information for reception by a user equipment (UE). A TCI state is quasi-collocation between a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) in a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS) set and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port ( quasi co-location: QCL) is transmitted to the UE by the network on a downlink control information (DCI) message, which may include configurations such as relationships. A UE may be configured to use a plurality of TCI state configurations, each TCI state including parameters for configuring a QCL relationship between one or more DL RS and DM-RS ports of PDSCH, DM-RS ports of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or CSI-RS ports of a CSI-RS resource. The QCL relationship is In the higher layer parameters (e.g., RRC - Radio Resource Control), for a first DL RS teeth QCL type 1, and for a second DL RS teeth QCL type 2 Like The components and QCL types are all different from each other.

[0011] In particular, four types of QCL are defined by Table 1 below.

[0012] Table 1: QCL type [Table 1] For unified TCI DL TCI state switching or unified TCI UL TCI state switching, a reference signal is considered to be QCLed to another reference signal if it is in the same TCI chain as other reference signals, provided that the number of reference signals in the chain does not exceed four. It is assumed that there is a single QCL type per TCI chain.

[0013] A DL TCI chain consists of an SSB and one or more CSI-RS resources, where the TCI state of each reference signal includes another reference signal in the same TCI chain, where the SSB may be associated with a serving cell PCID or with a different PCID from the serving cell PCID.

[0014] The DMRS of a PDCCH or PDSCH is based on the reference signal in its active TCI state and the reference of the DL TCI chain. the Reference signal and QCL in active TCI state related QCL with any other reference signal related .

[0015] A UL TCI chain consists of an SSB and one or more CSI-RS resources, where the TCI state of each reference signal includes another reference signal in the same TCI chain, where the SSB may be associated with a serving cell PCID or with a different PCID from the serving cell PCID.

[0016] PUCCH or PUSCH's DMRS is the reference signal in its active TCI state. It is said to be in a QCL relationship., and based on the standards of the UL TCI chain The Reference signal and QCL in active TCI state related QCL with any other reference signal related .

[0017] Generally, a network can use RRC to configure TCI parameters for a UE and send Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) activation commands to the UE. The UE can receive a PDSCH carrying the MAC CE and respond by sending a Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ) acknowledgment for the PDSCH carrying the MAC CE. The UE can apply a TCI configuration. The applicable QCL types in Table 1 are based on TCI-RS-Set and DMRS.

[0018] MAC CE refers to a special MAC structure that carries special control information. MAC CE is faster than, for example, RRC layer or NAS layer communication. The special MAC structure is implemented as a bit string in the LCID field of the MAC header. Multiple uplink and downlink MAC CEs are defined by 3GPP® standards (e.g., 38.321). Several indices in MAC CE provide TCI state indication and activation / deactivation for their LCID values.

[0019] Unified TCI refers to an extension of the TCI state concept for implementing common TCI states across multiple devices. For Unified TCI states, uplink (UL) TCI state switching must consider the influence of the path loss reference signal (PL-RS). Path loss refers to the loss of transmit power of the reference signal between transmit and receive, which can be determined by the UE. Several scenarios need to be defined. Additionally, while traditional UEs define PL-RS switching delays only for known cases, it is possible to define delays for unknown cases using beam alignment assumptions.

[0020] In one or more embodiments, with respect to the beam alignment assumption for the serving cell, the path loss RS is included in the target TCI state. and, The path loss RS is the same as the associated DL RS in the target TCI state, or the path loss RS is not included in the target TCI state. and, Associated DL RS in target TCI state and QCL-Type D related .

[0021] In one or more embodiments, a MAC CE-based uplink TCI state switching delay may be used for a serving cell. When a UE configured with one or more TCI state configurations on a serving cell or a cell having different PCIs switches between TCI states, the switch must be completed within the TCI state switching delay period.

[0022] The TCI state is known if the following conditions are met: During the period from the last transmission of the RS resource used for the L1-RSRP measurement report for the target TCI state until the completion of the active TCI state switchover, the RS resource for the L1-RSRP measurement is either the RS in the target TCI state or the QCL in the target TCI state. related . • The TCI status switch command is received within 1280ms of the last transmission of the RS resource for the beam report or measurement. The UE sent at least one L1-RSRP report about the target TCI state prior to the TCI state switch command. • The TCI state remains detectable during the TCI state transition period. • The SSB associated with the TCI state remains detectable during the TCI transition period. • The SNR in the TCI state is ≥ -3dB. Otherwise, the TCI state is unknown.

[0023] In one or more embodiments, the beam alignment assumption for PL-RS is that PL-RS is included in the UL TCI state. case , or PL-RS and UL TCI state switching but Activated in the same MAC CE command This can be applied to the following scenarios. If PL-RS and UL TCI are not activated simultaneously, there are no beam alignment limitations on PL-RS. This is because only the delay of UL TCI state switching needs to be considered, and the influence from PL-RS does not need to be considered. Therefore Conventional requirements can be reused.

[0024] There are two known cases. 1. The impact from PL-RS is taken into consideration, and 2. The impact from PL-RS is not considered.

[0025] Similarly, there are two unknown cases: one where the impact from PL-RS is considered, and one where the impact from PL-RS is not considered.

[0026] Therefore, there are four scenarios for UL TCI state switching in separate TCI or joint (e.g., common) TCI states.

[0027] Case 1: Seki The connected DL-RS is known, and the effect of PL-RS is not considered. • The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is known. the law of nature , and : • Path loss RS is not included in the target TCI state, and • Path loss RS is the same MAC CE command, target TCI status both It will not be activated. UE is slot n+T HARQ +3N slot subframe.μ +1 is assumed to be able to transmit an uplink signal in the target TCI state, and (in the slot) THARQ is the timing between DL data transmission and acknowledgment specified in TS38.213.

[0028] Case 2: Seki The associated DL RS is known, and the effect of PL-RS is considered 。 ·The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is known the law of nature , and , ·A pathloss RS is included in the target TCI state, and, the pathloss RS is the same as the associated DL RS in the target TCI state, or ·the pathloss RS is the associated DL RS in the target TCI state and QCL-Type D Relationship yes, the pathloss RS is the target TCI state in the same MAC CE command together is activated. ·The UE shall transmit an uplink signal in the target TCI state at slot n+T HARQ +3ms+NM*(T first_target-PL-RS +4*T target_PL-RS +2ms), where T first_target-PL-RS is the time from when the target TCI state is unknown In the case until after L1-RSRP measurement of to the first pathloss RS transmission, and T target_PL-RS is the period of a target pathloss reference signal that is an SSB or an NZP CSI-RS when the PL-RS is associated with a serving cell, and T target_PL-RS is the period of a target pathloss reference signal that is an SSB when the PL-RS is associated with a PCI different from that of the serving cell.

[0029] Case 3: Seki The associated DL RS is unknown, and the effect of PL-RS is not considered 。 ·The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is unknown, and • Path loss RS is not included in the target TCI state, and • Path loss RS is determined by the target TCI status in the same MAC CE command. together It will not be activated. UE is slot n+T HARQ +3ms +T L1-RSRP At +1, it is assumed that the uplink signal can be transmitted in the target TCI state, T L1-RSRP This is the time for Rx beam refinement in FR2, • T for SSB specified in Clause 9.5.4.1 L1-RSPR_Measurement_Period_SSB • Assumption of M=1 ·T Report =0 It is defined as follows.

[0030] Case 4: Seki The effects of linked DL-RS are unknown, and the influence of PL-RS must be considered. 。 • The associated DL-RS in the target TCI state is unknown, and • The path loss RS is included in the target state, and the path loss RS is the same as the associated DL RS in the target TCI state, or • Path loss RS is associated DL RS in the target TCI state. and QCL-Type D Relationship Yes, path loss RS is in the same MAC CE command, target TCI status together It will be activated. UE is slot n+T HARQ +3ms +T L1-RSRP +T first_target-PL-RS +4*T target_PL-RS It is assumed that the uplink signal can be transmitted in the target TCI state within +2ms.

[0031] MAC CE-based uplink TCI state switching delays can also be used for cells with a different PCI than the serving cell.

[0032] The requirements in this clause shall apply to UL TCI state switching in separate UL TCI states or joint TCI states when an SSB is associated with a different PCI than the serving cell, provided that the following conditions are met: • Assume that the active BWP of a cell with a different PCI is within the active BWP of the serving cell (otherwise, a measurement gap is required). • Assume that the SCS is the same between cells with different PCIs and serving cells. The timing offset between cells and serving cells with different PCIs shall be within CP.

[0033] In the case of a joint TCI state switch, the UE must perform a UL transmission before the UE completes the DL or UL TCI state switch. Assumption So attitude do not have.

[0034] For separate UL TCI or joint TCI state switching for PUCCH or PUSCH, or for semi-persistent / aperiodic / periodic SRS, when beamCorrespondenceWithoutUL-BeamSweeping is set to 1, when a PDSCH carrying a MAC-CE activation command is received in slot n on the serving cell, • The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is known. the law of nature , and • Path loss RS is not included in the target TCI state, • Path loss RS is the target TCI status in the same MAC CE command. together Not activated case UE is slot n+T HARQ +3N slot subframe.μ At +1, it is assumed that the uplink signal can be transmitted in the target TCI state. • The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is known. the law of nature , and • The path loss RS is included in the target TCI state, and the path loss RS is the same as the associated DL RS in the target TCI state, or • Path loss RS is associated DL RS in the target TCI state. and QCL-Type D Relationship Yes, the path loss RS is in the same MAC CE command, target TCI state together Activated case UE is slot n+T HARQ +3ms+NM*(T first_target-PL-RS +4*T target_PL-RS It is assumed that the uplink signal can be transmitted in the target TCI state within +2ms. • The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is unknown. the law of nature , and • Path loss RS is not included in the target TCI state, and • Path loss RS is the same MAC CE command, target TCI status together Not activated case UE is slot n+T HARQ +3ms +T L1-RSRP In +1, the uplink signal can be transmitted in the target TCI state. • The associated DL RS in the target TCI state is unknown. the law of nature , and • The path loss RS is included in the target TCI state, and the path loss RS is identical to the associated DL RS in the target TCI state, or • Path loss RS is associated DL RS in the target TCI state and QCL-Type D Relationship Yes, the path loss RS is the target TCI state in the same MAC CE command. together Activated case UE is slot n+T HARQ +3ms +T L1-RSRP +T first_target-PL-RS +4*T target_PL-RS It is assumed that the uplink signal can be transmitted in the target TCI state within +2ms. Otherwise, The requirements do not apply.

[0035] Here, T HARQ This is the timing between sending DL data and receiving an acknowledgment, as specified in TS38.213[3]. NM=1 if the target PL-RS is not maintained by the UE, otherwise 0. ·T first_target-PL-RS This is the time from the L1-RSRP measurement to the first path loss RS transmission when the TCI state switch is accompanied by QCL-type D. ·T first_target-PL-RS This is the time from when the MAC CE command is decoded by the UE for other QCL types until the first pass loss RS is transmitted. ·T target_PL-RS This is the period of the target path loss reference signal, which is SSB. ·T L1-RSRP This is the time for Rx beam refinement in FR2, and is defined as follows: • T for SSB as specified in Clause 9.5.4.1 L1-RSPR_Measurement_Period_SSB , • Assumption of M=1 ·T Report = 0.

[0036] Unified TCI may have a PL-RS switching delay requirement.

[0037] Similar to UL TCI state switching, the PL-RS switching delay for unknown cases can be defined for the following conditions: • The path loss RS is included in the target TCI state, and the path loss RS is the same as the associated DL RS in the target TCI state, or • Path loss RS is associated DL RS in the target TCI state. and QCL-Type D Relationship Yes, path loss RS is the target TCI state in the same MAC CE command. together It will be activated. Therefore The PL-RS switching delay requirement is T HARQ +3ms +T L1-RSRP +T first_target-PL-RS +4*T target_PL-RS This is +2ms, which is identical to the UL TCI switching delay.

[0038] The above description is illustrative and not limiting. Many other examples, configurations, processes, algorithms, etc., may exist, some of which are described in more detail below. Here, an illustrative embodiment is described with reference to the attached diagram.

[0039] Figure 1 is a network diagram showing an exemplary network environment 100 according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0040] The wireless network 100 may include one or more UE120s and one or more RAN102s (e.g., gNBs) capable of communicating in accordance with 3GPP® communication standards. The UE120s may be non-stationary (e.g., not having a fixed location) mobile devices or stationary devices.

[0041] In some embodiments, UE120 and RAN102 may include one or more computer systems similar to those shown in Figures 3-5.

[0042] One or more exemplary UE120 and / or RAN102 may be operable by one or more users 110. A UE may have several distinct characteristics, each forming its function. For example, a single addressable unit may simultaneously be a portable UE, a quality of service (QoS) UE, a dependent UE, and a hidden UE. UE120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and / or RAN102 may include, but are not limited to, any suitable processor-driven device, including mobile devices or non-mobile devices, such as static devices. For example, the UE120 is used in software-enabled access points (SoftAPs), personal computers (PCs), wearable wireless devices (e.g., bracelets, watches, glasses, rings, etc.), desktop computers, mobile computers, laptop computers, ultrabook® computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld computers, handheld devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, sensor devices, PDA® devices, handheld PDA® devices, onboard devices, offboard devices, hybrid devices (e.g., combining cellular phone functionality with PDA® device functionality), consumer devices, automotive devices, non-automotive devices, mobile or portable devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, mobile phones, cellular phones, PCS devices, PDA® devices incorporating wireless communication devices, mobile or portable GPS devices, DVB devices, relatively small computing devices, non-desktop computers, and "carry small liveThis may include large (CSLL) devices, ultra-mobile devices (UMD), ultra-mobile PCs (UMPC), mobile internet devices (MID), "origami" devices or computing devices, devices supporting dynamically configurable computing (DCC), context-aware devices, video devices, audio devices, A / V devices, set-top boxes (STB), Blu-ray disc (BD) players, BD recorders, digital video disc (DVD) players, high-definition (HD) DVD players, DVD recorders, HD DVD recorders, personal video recorders (PVR), broadcast HD receivers, video sources, audio sources, video syncs, audio syncs, stereo tuners, broadcast radio receivers, flat panel displays, personal media players (PMP), digital video cameras (DVC), digital audio players, speakers, audio receivers, audio amplifiers, gaming devices, data sources, data syncs, digital still cameras (DSC), media players, smartphones, televisions, music players, or similar devices. Other devices, including smart devices such as lamps, environmental controls, automotive components, home components, and appliances, may also be included in this list.

[0043] As used herein, the term “Internet of Things (IoT) device” is used to refer to any object (e.g., appliance, sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) address, Bluetooth® identifier (ID), Near Field Communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and can transmit information to one or more other devices via a wired or wireless connection. IoT devices may have a passive communication interface such as a quick response (QR) code, radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag, NFC tag, or the like, or an active communication interface such as a modem, transceiver, transmitter-receiver, or the like. IoT devices may have a set of specific attributes configured for connection to an IoT network such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet, which may be incorporated into and / or controlled / monitored by a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC, or the like. For example, IoT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwave ovens, freezers, dishwashers, dishes, hand tools, washing machines, clothes dryers, stoves, air conditioners, thermostats, televisions, lighting fixtures, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers, electricity meters, gas meters, etc. IoT devices may also include mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs®), etc. Thus, an IoT network may consist of a combination of devices that typically do not have internet connectivity (e.g., dishwashers) and "traditional" internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, mobile phones, etc.).

[0044] Any of the UE120s (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and UE102s may be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly or wired via one or more communication networks 130 and / or 135. The UE120s may also communicate with each other peer-to-peer or directly, with or without using RAN102. Any of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may include, but are not limited to, any one of several combinations of different types of suitable communication networks, such as broadcast networks, cable networks, public networks (e.g., the Internet), private networks, wireless networks, cellular networks, or any other suitable private and / or public networks. Furthermore, any of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may have any suitable communication range associated with it, such as a cellular network. In addition, either communication network 130 and / or 135 may include, but are not limited to, any type of medium on which network traffic can be carried, including coaxial cables, twisted pair wires, optical fibers, hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) media, microwave terrestrial transceivers, radio frequency communication media, white space communication media, very high frequency communication media, satellite communication media, or any combination thereof.

[0045] Both the UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and the RAN102 may include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas may be any suitable type of antenna corresponding to the communication protocols used by the UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, and 128) and the RAN102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include cellular antennas, antennas conforming to 3GPP® family standards, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omnidirectional antennas, quasi-omnidirectional antennas, or similar. The one or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to a wireless component to transmit and / or receive signals, such as communication signals, to and from the UE120 and / or the RAN102.

[0046] Both the UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and the RAN102 may be configured to perform directional transmission and / or directional reception in conjunction with radio communication in a wireless network. Both the UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and the RAN102 may be configured to perform such directional transmission and / or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., a DMG antenna array or similar). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and / or reception in a specific direction or range of directions. Both the UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and the RAN102 may be configured to perform any given directional transmission to one or more defined transmission sectors. Both the UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and the RAN102 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

[0047] MIMO beamforming in wireless networks can be achieved using RF beamforming and / or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, during the execution of a given MIMO transmission, the UE120 and / or RAN102 may be configured to perform MIMO beamforming using all or a subset of its one or more communication antennas.

[0048] Both UE120 (e.g., UE124, 126, 128) and RAN102 may include any suitable radio and / or transceiver for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in bandwidths and / or channels corresponding to the communication protocol used by either UE120 or RAN102 to communicate with each other. The radio component may include hardware and / or software for modulating and / or demodulating the communication signals according to a pre-established transmission protocol. The radio component may further have hardware and / or software instructions for communicating over one or more 3GPP® protocols using 3GPP® bandwidths. The radio component may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communication over the communication protocol. The radio component may further include a low-noise amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, analog-to-digital (A / D) converters, one or more buffers, and a digital baseband.

[0049] In one or more embodiments, referring to Figure 1, one or more UE120s may exchange RAN102 with frame 140. Frame 140 may include DCI messages having a TCI state configuration, HARQ acknowledgments, and other transmissions as described herein.

[0050] It should be understood that the above explanation is for illustrative purposes only and not limiting.

[0051] Figure 2 shows a PL-RS according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. RelatedThe diagram shows an exemplary process 200 flow chart regarding MAC CE-based uplink TCI state switching delay.

[0052] In block 202, a device (e.g., UE120 in Figure 1, UE302 in Figure 1) can detect PL-RS. PL-RS can be configured or activated in a TCI state activation command, in which case it means that the channel changes and the path loss needs to be recalculated. Then, depending on the configuration, the UE can use the configured PL-RS to calculate the path loss. Typically, the UE may use five samples of PL-RS for the path loss calculation. PL-RS can also not be activated, in which case the UE does not need to consider PL-RS to calculate the path loss. No extra time is required due to PL-RS calculation.

[0053] In block 204, the device receives downlink transmissions from network devices and transmissions sent to network devices by the UE. ru The first time interval between HARQ-ACK (for example, T HARQ ) can be generated.

[0054] In block 206, the device has a second time interval (e.g., T) between the L1-RSRP measurement and the first PL-RS transmission. first_target-PL-RS ) can be generated.

[0055] In block 208, the device has a PL-RS period (e.g., T target_PL-RS ) can be identified.

[0056] In block 210, the device operates based on a first time, a second time, and a period (for example, based on the delay time defined by cases 2 and 4 above), T A delay time can be generated for switching between CI states. By the time of the TCI state switching delay, the UE will be able to send the uplink signal to the network device after the TCI state has switched. .

[0057] In block 212, the device may encode an uplink signal for transmission to a network device within the TCI state switching delay time.

[0058] These embodiments are not intended to be limiting.

[0059] Figure 3 shows Network 300 in various embodiments. Network 300 may operate in a manner consistent with the 3GPP® technical specifications for LTE or 5G / NR systems. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto, and the embodiments described may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP® systems or similar.

[0060] Network 300 may include UE302, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with RAN304 via an over-the-air connection. UE302 may be coupled to RAN304 communicably by a Uu interface. UE302 may be, but is not limited to, smartphones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, automotive infotainment, in-car entertainment devices, instrument clusters, head-up display devices, automotive diagnostic devices, dashboard mobile devices, mobile data terminals, electronic engine management systems, electronic / engine control units, electronic / engine control modules, embedded systems, sensors, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems, network appliances, machine-type communication devices, M2M or D2D devices, IoT devices, etc.

[0061] In some embodiments, the network 300 may include multiple UEs whose sidelink interfaces are directly coupled to one another. The UEs may be M2M / D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels, such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

[0062] In some embodiments, the UE302 may further communicate with the AP306 via a wireless communication connection. The AP306 may manage the WLAN connection and function to offload some / all of the network traffic from the RAN304. The connection between the UE302 and the AP306 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where the AP306 may be a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE302, RAN304, and AP306 may utilize cellular WLAN aggregation (e.g., LWA / LWIP). Cellular WLAN aggregation may involve the UE302 being configured by the RAN304 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

[0063] RAN304 may include one or more access nodes, e.g., AN308. AN308 may terminate the radio interface protocol of UE302 by providing access layer protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and L1 protocols. In this way, AN308 may enable data / voice connectivity between CN320 and UE302. In some embodiments, AN308 may be implemented as one or more software entities running in a discrete device or on a server computer as part of a virtual network which may be referred to as CRAN or a virtual baseband unit pool. AN308 may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. AN308 may be a macrocell base station or low-power base station for providing femtocells, picocells, or other similar cells having a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

[0064] In embodiments where RAN304 includes multiple ANs, the multiple ANs may be coupled to each other via an X2 interface (if RAN304 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if RAN304 is a 5G RAN). In some embodiments, the X2 / Xn interface may be separated into a control / user plane interface, which may allow ANs to communicate information related to handover, data / context transfer, mobility, load management, interference control, etc.

[0065] Each AN of RAN304 can manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc., and provide an air interface for network access to UE302. UE302 can simultaneously connect to multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of RAN304. For example, UE302 and RAN304 can use carrier aggregation to enable UE302 to connect to multiple component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In a dual connectivity scenario, the first AN may be a master node providing an MCG, and the second AN may be a secondary node providing an SCG. The first / second ANs may be any combination of eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc.

[0066] RAN304 may provide an air interface via the licensed spectrum or the unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, a node may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology using PCell / Scell. Before accessing the unlicensed spectrum, a node may perform medium / carrier sensing operations, for example, based on the Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

[0067] In a V2X scenario, UE302 or AN308 may be or function as an RSU, which may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or static (or relatively static) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU,” an eNB as an “eNB-type RSU,” a gNB as a “gNB-type RSU,” and so on. For example, an RSU is a roadside computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. An RSU may also include intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, internal data storage circuitry for storing media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. An RSU may provide very low-latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance or traffic warnings. Additionally or alternatively, an RSU may provide other cellular / WLAN communication services. The RSU components may be housed in a waterproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller for providing wired connectivity (e.g., Ethernet®) to a traffic signaling controller or backhaul network.

[0068] In some embodiments, RAN304 may be LTE RAN310, which includes an eNB, eNB312, for example. LTE RAN310 may provide the LTE air interface with the following features: a 15kHz SCS, CP-OFDM waveforms for DL ​​and SC-FDMA waveforms for UL, turbo code for data and TBCC for control, etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management, on PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH / PDCCH demodulation, and on CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurement, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation / detection at UE. The LTE air interface may operate in the sub-6GHz band.

[0069] In some embodiments, the RAN304 may be an NG-RAN314 including a gNB, e.g., gNB316, or an ng-eNB, e.g., ng-eNB318. The gNB316 may connect to a 5G-enabled UE using a 5G NR interface. The gNB316 may connect to the 5G core via an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB318 may also connect to the 5G core via an NG interface, but may connect to the UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB316 and ng-eNB318 may connect to each other via an Xn interface.

[0070] In some embodiments, the NG interface may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface (e.g., N3 interface) that holds traffic data between the NG-RAN314 node and the UPF348, and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface (e.g., N2 interface) that is a signaling interface between the NG-RAN314 node and the AMF344.

[0071] NG-RAN314 can provide the following features to the 5G NR air interface: variable SCS, CP-OFDM for DL ​​and CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL, polar codes, repeating codes, simplex codes, and Reed-Muller codes for data control and LDPC. The 5G NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS and PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS, similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G NR air interface may not use CRS, may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation, may use PTRS for PDSCH phase tracking, and may use a tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G NR air interface may operate in the sub-6GHz band or the FR1 band, including the FR2 band, including the 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz band. The 5G NR air interface may include SSB, which is an area of ​​the downlink resource grid including PSS / SSS / PBCH.

[0072] In some embodiments, the 5G NR air interface can utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWPs can be used for dynamic adaptation of SCSs. For instance, UE302 may consist of multiple BWPs, each BWP configuration having a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to UE302, the transmission SCS is also changed. Another use case example of BWPs relates to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for UE302 with different amounts of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic load scenarios. BWPs with fewer PRBs may be used for data transmission with lower traffic loads, while enabling power saving in UE302 and, in some cases, in gNB316. BWPs with more PRBs can be used in scenarios with higher traffic loads. RAN304 is communicably coupled to CN320, which contains network elements that provide various functions for supporting data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE302). The components of CN320 may be implemented on one physical node or on separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize some or all of the functions provided by the network elements of CN320 onto physical computing / storage resources such as servers and switches. A logical instantiation of CN320 may be referred to as a network slice, and a subset of logical instantiations of CN320 may be referred to as a network subslice.

[0073] In some embodiments, CN320 may be LTE CN322, also known as EPC. LTE CN322 may include MME324, SGW326, SGSN328, HSS330, PGW332, and PCRF334 coupled to one another via an interface (or “reference point”), as shown. The functions of the elements of LTE CN322 can be briefly described below.

[0074] The MME324 can track the current location of the UE302 and implement mobility management functions such as paging, bearer activation / deactivation, handover, gateway selection, and authentication.

[0075] The SGW326 can terminate the S1 interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN322. The SGW326 can be a local mobility anchor point for handovers between RAN nodes and can also provide an anchor for 3GPP® inter-mobility. Several other roles may include lawful interception, billing, and any policy enforcement.

[0076] The SGSN328 can track the location of the UE302 and perform security functions and access control. Furthermore, the SGSN328 can perform EPC node-to-node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks, PDN and S-GW selection as specified by the MME324, MME selection for handover, etc. An S3 reference point between the MME324 and the SGSN328 can enable the exchange of user and bearer information for mobility between 3GPP® access networks in idle / active states.

[0077] The HSS330 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information, to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities. The HSS330 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, name / address resolution, location dependency, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS330 and the MME324 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data to authenticate / authorize user access to the LTE CN320.

[0078] PGW332 may terminate its SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 336, which may include an application / content server 338. PGW332 may route data packets between the LTE CN 322 and the data network 336. PGW332 may be coupled with SGW326 via an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. PGW332 may further include nodes for policy enforcement and billing data collection (e.g., PCEF). In addition, the SGi reference point between PGW332 and the data network 336 may be an external public, private PDN, or intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provisioning IMS services. PGW332 may be coupled with PCRF334 via a Gx reference point.

[0079] PCRF334 is the policy and billing control element of LTE CN322. PCRF334 can be communicatively coupled to the application / content server 338 to determine appropriate QoS and billing parameters for the service flow. PCRF332 can provision relevant rules to the PCEF (via Gx reference points) using appropriate TFT and QCI.

[0080] In some embodiments, CN320 may be 5GC340. 5GC340 may include AUSF342, AMF344, SMF346, UPF348, NSSF350, NEF352, NRF354, PCF356, UDM358, and AF360 coupled to one another via interfaces (or "reference points"), as shown. The functions of the elements of 5GC340 can be concisely introduced as follows:

[0081] The AUSF342 can store data for authentication of the UE302 and handle authentication-related functions. The AUSF342 can facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 340 via reference points as shown, the AUSF342 can present a Nausf service-based interface.

[0082] The AMF344 may enable other functions of the 5GC 340 to communicate with the UE302 and RAN304, and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events related to the UE302. The AMF344 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., registration of the UE302), connectivity management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF344 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE302 and SMF346 and may act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. The AMF344 may also provide transport for SMS messages between the UE302 and SMSF. The AMF344 may interact with the AUSF342 and UE302 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, the AMF344 may be the endpoint of a RAN CP interface that includes, or may include, an N2 reference point between the RAN304 and the AMF344; the AMF344 may also be the endpoint of NAS(N1) signaling and may perform NAS encryption and integrity protection. The AMF344 may also support NAS signaling with the UE302 via the N3 IWF interface.

[0083] SMF346 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment and tunnel management between UPF348 and AN308); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional approval); selection and control of UP functions; configuration of traffic steering in UPF348 for routing traffic to appropriate destinations; interface termination for policy control functions; control of policy enforcement, billing, and some QoS; lawful interception (of SM events and interfaces to LI systems); termination of the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiation of AN-specific SM information transmitted to AN308 via N2 through AMF344; and determination of the session's SSC mode. SM may refer to the management of PDU sessions, and PDU session or “session” may refer to PDU connectivity services that provide or enable the exchange of PDUs between UE302 and data network 336.

[0084] UPF348 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point for interconnection to data network 336, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. UPF348 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane portion of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic utilization reporting, perform user plane QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., flow mapping from SDF to QoS), carry level packet marking on uplinks and downlinks, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggers. UPF348 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to the data network.

[0085] The NSSF350 may select a set of network slice instances to serve for the UE302. The NSSF350 may also determine the mapping to authorized NSSAIs and, if necessary, subscribed S-NSSAIs. The NSSF350 may also determine the set of AMFs, or a list of candidate AMFs, to be used to serve the UE302, based on appropriate configuration and, if applicable, by querying the NRF354. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE302 may be triggered by the AMF344 to which the UE302 is registered by interacting with the NSSF350, which may result in a change of AMF. The NSSF350 may interact with the AMF344 via the N22 reference point; or it may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via the (not shown) N31 reference point. Furthermore, the NSSF350 may indicate an Nnssf service-based interface.

[0086] NEF352 can securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP® network functions for third parties, internal exposure / redistribution, AFs (e.g., AF360), edge computing, or fog computing systems. In such embodiments, NEF352 may authenticate, authorize, or coordinate AFs. NEF352 can also translate information exchanged with AF360 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF352 may translate between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF352 can also receive information from other NFs based on the exposed capabilities of those NFs. This information may be stored in NEF352 as structured data or in a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information can then be exposed by NEF352 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analysis. Additionally, NEF352 may represent an Nnef service-based interface.

[0087] The NRF354 supports service discovery functionality, can receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and can provide information about discovered NF instances to those instances. The NRF354 also maintains information about available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, terms such as "instantiate" and "instantiation" may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific creation of an object, for example, during the execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF354 may represent an Nnrf service-based interface.

[0088] The PCF356 can provide policy rules to control plane functions, enforce them, and support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF356 can also implement a front-end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDM358's UDR. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, the PCF356 exhibits an Npcf service-based interface.

[0089] UDM358 may process subscription-related information to support network entities in handling communication sessions and may store subscription data for UE302. For example, subscription data may be communicated between UDM358 and AMF344 via an N8 reference point. UDM358 may include two parts: an application frontend and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for UDM358 and PCF356, and / or structured data and application data for publication for NEF352 (including a PFD for application discovery and application request information for multiple UE302). A Nudr service-based interface may be presented by UDR221 to allow UDM358, PCF356 and NEF352 to access, read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of changes to the relevant data within the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE responsible for processing certificates, location management, subscription management, etc. Multiple different frontends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication certificate processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs through reference points as shown, the UDM358 may represent a Nudm service-based interface. The AF360 may provide application influence over traffic routing, provide access to the NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0090] In some embodiments, the 5GC 340 may enable edge computing by selecting operator / third-party services that should be geographically closer to the point where the UE 302 is connected to the network. This can reduce latency and network load. To provide an edge computing implementation, the 5GC340 may select a UPF 348 close to the UE 302 and perform traffic steering from the UPF 348 to the data network 336 via the N6 interface. This may be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF360. In this way, the AF360 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. When the AF360 is considered a trusted entity based on the operator's deployment, the network operator may allow the AF360 to directly interact with the relevant NF. Additionally, the AF360 may represent a NAF service-based interface. The data network 336 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third-party services, which may be provided by one or more servers, including, for example, an application / content server 338.

[0091] Figure 4 schematically shows the wireless network 400 in various embodiments. The wireless network 400 may include a UE402 that wirelessly communicates with AN404. UE402 and AN404 are similar to and substantially interchangeable components of similar names described elsewhere in this specification.

[0092] UE402 can be communicatively coupled to AN404 via connection 406. Connection 406 is shown as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and can be compatible with cellular communication protocols such as LTE or 5G NR protocols operating at millimeter wave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

[0093] UE402 may include a host platform 408 coupled to a modem platform 410. The host platform 408 may include an application processing circuit 412 that can be coupled to a protocol processing circuit 414 of the modem platform 410. The application processing circuit 412 may execute various applications for UE402 to source / sink application data. The application processing circuit 412 may further implement one or more layer operations for sending / receiving application data to and from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (e.g., UDP) and internet (e.g., IP) operations.

[0094] The protocol processing circuit 414 can implement one or more of the layer operations to facilitate the transmission or reception of data through the connection 406. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuit 414 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and NAS operations.

[0095] The modem platform 410 may further include a digital baseband circuit 416 that can implement one or more layer operations, which are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuit 414 in the network protocol stack. These operations may include PHY operations, for example, one or more of the following: HARQ-ACK functionality, scrambling / descrambling, encoding / decoding, layer mapping / demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol / bitmetric determination, multi-antenna port precoding / decoding (which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency, or space coding), reference signal generation / detection, preamble sequence generation and / or decoding, synchronous sequence generation / detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[0096] The modem platform 410 may further include a transmitting circuit 418, a receiving circuit 420, an RF circuit 422, and an RF front end (RFFE) 424 (which may include, or be connected to, one or more antenna panels 426). Briefly, the transmitting circuit 418 may include a digital-to-analog converter, a mixer, an intermediate frequency (IF) component, etc.; the receiving circuit 420 may include an analog-to-digital converter, a mixer, an IF component, etc.; the RF circuit 422 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, a power tracking component, etc.; the RFFE 424 may include filters (e.g., surface / bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, an antenna tuner, a beamforming component (e.g., a phase array antenna component), etc. The selection and configuration of the components of the transmitting circuit 418, receiving circuit 420, RF circuit 422, RFFE 424, and antenna panel 426 (commonly referred to as “transmitting / receiving components”) may be specific to certain implementation details, such as whether the communication is TDM or FDM, mmWave or sub-6GHz frequency. In some embodiments, the transmitting / receiving components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit / receive chains, on the same or different chips / modules, and so on.

[0097] In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuit 414 may include one or more instances of a control circuit (not shown) for providing control functions to the transmit / receive components.

[0098] UE reception can be established by and through the antenna panel 426, RFFE 424, RF circuit 422, receiving circuit 420, digital baseband circuit 416, and protocol processing circuit 414. In some embodiments, the antenna panel 426 can receive transmissions from AN404 by receiving beamforming signals received by multiple antennas / antenna elements of one or more antenna panels 426.

[0099] UE transmission can be established by and through the protocol processing circuit 414, the digital baseband circuit 416, the transmitting circuit 418, the RF circuit 422, the RFFE 424, and the antenna panel 426. In some embodiments, the transmitting component of UE 404 may apply a spatial filter to the transmitted data to form a transmit beam radiated by the antenna elements of the antenna panel 426.

[0100] Similar to UE402, AN404 may include a host platform 428 coupled to a modem platform 430. The host platform 428 may include an application processing circuit 432 coupled to a protocol processing circuit 434 of the modem platform 430. The modem platform may further include a digital baseband circuit 436, a transmit circuit 438, a receive circuit 440, an RF circuit 442, an RFFE circuit 444, and an antenna panel 446. The components of AN404 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, components of similar names in UE402. In addition to performing data transmission / reception as described above, the components of AN408 may perform various logical functions, including RNC functions such as radio bearer management, dynamic uplink and downlink radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

[0101] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing components according to several exemplary embodiments, which are capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-temporary machine-readable storage medium) and executing one or more of the methodologies described herein. Specifically, Figure 5 shows an illustration of hardware resources 500, which include one or more processors (or processor cores) 510, one or more memory / storage devices 520, and one or more communication resources 530, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 540 or other interface circuitry. In embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 502 may be run to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslice to utilize the hardware resources 500.

[0102] The processor 510 may include, for example, processors 512 and 514. The processor 510 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a composite instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those described herein), or any preferred combination thereof.

[0103] The memory / storage device 520 may include main memory, disk storage, or any preferred combination thereof. The memory / storage device 520 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory, such as 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 storage, etc.

[0104] The communication resource 530 may include interconnectors or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 504, or one or more databases 506, or other network elements via the network 508. For example, the communication resource 530 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet®, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

[0105] Instruction 550 may include software, programs, applications, applets, apps, or other executable code that causes at least one of the processors 510 to execute one or more of the methodologies described herein. Instruction 550 may reside entirely or partially in at least one of the processors 510 (e.g., in the processor's cache memory), the memory / storage device 520, or any preferred combination thereof. Furthermore, any part of instruction 550 may be transferred to the hardware resource 500 from any combination of peripheral devices 504 or the database 506. Thus, the memory of the processor 510, the memory / storage device 520, the peripheral device 504, and the database 506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0106] The following examples relate to several further embodiments.

[0107] In one or more embodiments, at least one of the components described in one or more of the drawings above may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described in the following exemplary sections. For example, a baseband circuit described above in relation to one or more of the drawings above may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below. In another example, a circuit associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in relation to one or more of the drawings above may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described in the following exemplary sections.

[0108] The term “exemplary” is used herein to mean “functioning as an example, instance, or illustration.” No embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is necessarily construed to be preferable or advantageous to any other embodiment. Where used herein, the terms “computing device,” “user device,” “communication station,” “station,” “handheld device,” “mobile device,” “wireless device,” and “user equipment” (UE) refer to wireless communication devices such as cellular phones, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, wireless terminals, laptop computers, femtocells, high data rate (HDR) subscriber stations, access points, printers, point-of-sale devices, access terminals, or other personal communications system (PCS) devices. Devices may be mobile or stationary.

[0109] Where used herein, the term “communicate” is intended to include transmitting, receiving, or both transmitting and receiving. This may be particularly useful in claims describing an organization of data that is transmitted by one device and received by another, but only the functionality of one of those devices is required to infringe the claims. Similarly, a bidirectional exchange of data between two devices (where both devices transmit and receive during the exchange) may be described as “communication” when only the functionality of one of those devices is claimed. Where used herein in relation to radio communication signals, the term “communicating” includes transmitting and / or receiving radio communication signals. For example, a radio communication unit capable of communicating radio communication signals may include a radio transmitter for transmitting radio communication signals to at least one other radio communication unit and / or a radio communication receiver for receiving radio communication signals from at least one other radio communication unit.

[0110] Where used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of ordinal adjectives such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a common object indicates that different instances of similar objects are being referred to, and is not intended to suggest that the objects thus described must be in a given order in time, space, sequence, or any other manner.

[0111] As used herein, the term “access point” (AP) may also mean a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, base station, advanced node B (eNodeB), or any other similar term known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, user equipment (UE), radio communication device, or any other similar term known in the art. The embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks operating in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

[0112] Some embodiments can be used in conjunction with a variety of devices and systems, such as personal computers (PCs), desktop computers, mobile computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld computers, handheld devices, personal digital assistant (PDA®) devices, handheld PDA® devices, onboard devices, offboard devices, hybrid devices, automotive devices, non-automotive devices, mobile or portable devices, consumer devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, wireless communication stations, wireless communication devices, wireless access points (APs), wired or wireless routers, wired or wireless modems, video devices, audio devices, audio-video (A / V) devices, wired or wireless networks, wireless area networks, wireless video area networks (WVANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless LANs (WLANs), personal area networks (PANs), wireless PANs (WPANs), etc.

[0113] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one-way and / or two-way wireless communication systems, cellular radiotelephone communication systems, mobile phones, cellular phones, radiotelephones, personal communication system (PCS) devices, PDA® devices incorporating wireless communication devices, mobile or portable Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, devices incorporating GPS receivers or transceivers or chips, devices incorporating RFID elements or chips, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceivers or devices, single-input multiple-output (SIMO) transceivers or devices, multiple-input single-output (MISO) transceivers or devices, devices having one or more internal and / or external antennas, digital video broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard wireless devices or systems, and wired or wireless handheld devices such as smartphones and wireless application protocol (WAP) devices.

[0114] Some embodiments include, for example, radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal wave FDM (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), time division multiplex access (TDMA), extended TDMA (E-TDMA), general-purpose packet radio service (GPRS), extended GPRS, code division multiplex access (CDMA), broadband CDMA (WCDMA®), CDMA2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multitone (DMT), Bluetooth®, and global It can be used in conjunction with one or more types of radio communication signals and / or systems that comply with one or more radio communication protocols, such as GPS, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee®, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM®), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, 5G mobile networks, 3GPP®, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, and Extended Data Rate for GSM® Evolution (EDGE). Other embodiments may be used in a variety of other devices, systems, and / or networks.

[0115] Various embodiments are described below.

[0116] Example 1 is a path loss reference signal. Related The device may include a user equipment device (UE) device for medium access control element-based transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state switching, the device comprising a processing circuit coupled to storage, the processing circuit comprising: decodes a path loss reference signal; generates a first time between a downlink transmission received from a network device and a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) acknowledgment sent by the UE to the network device; generates a second time after a Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) measurement until the first path loss reference signal transmission; identifies the period of the path loss reference signal; generates a TCI state switching delay time based on the first time, the second time, and the period, after which the UE transmits an uplink signal to the network device; and encodes the uplink signal and transmits it to the network device by the TCI state switching delay time.

[0117] Example 2 may include the apparatus of Example 1, where the downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device.

[0118] Example 3 may include the apparatus of Example 2, where the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of slot + first time + 3 milliseconds + (second time + 4 times the period + 2 milliseconds).

[0119] Example 4 may include the apparatus of Example 1, where the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device.

[0120] Example 5 may include the apparatus of Example 4, where the TCI state switching delay time is slot + the first time + 3 milliseconds + receiver beam refinement time + the second time + 4 times the period + 2 milliseconds.

[0121] Example 6 may include any of the devices from Examples 1 to 5, where the TCI state switching delay time is for the serving cell of the UE device.

[0122] Example 7 may include any of the devices from Examples 1 to 5, where the TCI state switching delay time is for a cell that has a different physical cell identity from the serving cell of the UE.

[0123] Example 8 may include the apparatus of Example 1, where the path loss reference signal is identical to the associated downlink reference signal in the target TCI state.

[0124] Example 9 may include the apparatus of Example 1, where the path loss reference signal is quasi Collocations (QCL) Type D.

[0125] Example 10 may include a computer-readable storage medium equipped with instructions, wherein when the processing circuit executes the instructions, a path loss reference signal is used. Related The processing circuit of a user equipment device (UE) for media access control element-based transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state switching generates a first time between a downlink transmission received from a network device and a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) acknowledgment sent by the UE to the network device; generates a TCI state switching delay time based on the first time, during which the UE transmits an uplink signal to the network device after the TCI state switching; and encodes the uplink signal and transmits it to the network device by the TCI state switching delay time.

[0126] Example 11 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 10, wherein a downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device, wherein a path loss reference signal is not included in the target TCI state and is not activated in the medium access control element command, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of the slot + the first time + the subframe and three times the second time associated with the slot + 1.

[0127] Example 12 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 10, wherein the execution of the instruction further causes the processing circuit to decode the path loss reference signal included in the TCI state; generate a second time from the measurement of the layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) until the transmission of the first path loss reference signal; and identify the period of the path loss reference signal, wherein the generation of the TCI state switching delay time is further based on the second time and the period.

[0128] Example 13 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 12, wherein a downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of slot + the first time + 3 milliseconds + (the second time + 4 times the period + 2 milliseconds).

[0129] Example 14 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 12, wherein the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is slot + the first time + 3 milliseconds + receiver beam refinement time + the second time + 4 times the period + 2 milliseconds.

[0130] Example 15 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 10, wherein the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device, wherein the path loss reference signal is not included in the target TCI state and is not activated in the medium access control element command, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of slot + the first time + 3 milliseconds + receiver beam refinement time + 1.

[0131] Example 16 may include the computer-readable media of Example 10, where the TCI state switching delay time is for the serving cell of the UE device.

[0132] Example 17 may include the computer-readable media of Example 10, where the TCI state switching delay time is for a cell having a different physical cell identity from the serving cell of the UE.

[0133] Example 18 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 10, wherein the path loss reference signal is identical to the associated downlink reference signal in the target TCI state.

[0134] Example 19 may include the computer-readable medium of Example 10, where the path loss reference signal is quasi Collocations (QCL) Type D.

[0135] Example 20 uses a path loss reference signal. Related The method may include a method for switching the state of a medium access control element-based transmit configuration indicator (TCI), the method comprising: a step of decoding a path loss reference signal by a processing circuit in a user equipment (UE) device; a step of the processing circuit generating a first time between a downlink transmission received from a network device and a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) acknowledgment transmitted by the UE to the network device; a step of the processing circuit generating a second time from the measurement of the Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) to the transmission of the first path loss reference signal; a step of the processing circuit identifying the period of the path loss reference signal; a step of the processing circuit generating a TCI state switching delay time based on the first time, the second time, and the period, for the UE device to transmit an uplink signal to the network device after the TCI state switching; and a step of the processing circuit encoding the uplink signal and transmitting it to the network device by the TCI state switching delay time.

[0136] Example 21 may include the method of Example 20, wherein a downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of slot + the first time + 3 milliseconds + (the second time + 4 times the period + 2 milliseconds).

[0137] Example 22 may include the method of Example 20, wherein the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is slot + the first time + 3 milliseconds + receiver beam refinement time + the second time + 4 times the period + 2 milliseconds.

[0138] Example 23 may include the method of Example 20, where the TCI state switching delay is for the serving cell of the UE device, or for a cell having a different physical cell identity from the serving cell of the UE.

[0139] Example 24 may include one or more non-temporary computer-readable media containing instructions that cause an electronic device to execute one or more elements of the methods described in or relating to any of Examples 1 to 23, or any other method or process described herein, when one or more processors of an electronic device execute instructions.

[0140] Example 25 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and / or circuits for performing one or more elements of a method described in or related to any one of Examples 1 to 23, or any other method or process described herein.

[0141] Example 26 may include a method, technique, or process, or part or portion thereof, described in or relating to any of Examples 1-23.

[0142] Example 27 may include a device comprising one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, each having instructions that cause one or more processors to perform any one of Examples 1 to 23, or any part thereof, in a manner, technique, or process as described or related thereto.

[0143] Example 28 may include a method of communication in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0144] Example 29 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0145] Example 30 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0146] Embodiments provided in this disclosure are particularly disclosed in the appended claims directed to methods, storage media, devices and computer program products, and any feature referred to in one claim category, e.g., a method, may also be claimed in another claim category, e.g., a system. Dependencies or references to the aforementioned items in the appended claims are selected for formal reasons only. However, any subject matter resulting from any intentional reference to any previous claim (especially multiple dependencies) may also be claimed, and as a result, any combination of claims and their features is disclosed and may be claimed regardless of the dependencies selected in the appended claims. A claimable subject matter comprises not only the combinations of features shown in the appended claims, but any other combination of features in the claims, and each feature referred to in the claims may be combined with any other feature or combination of features in the claims. Furthermore, any embodiment or feature described or shown herein may be claimed in a separate claim, and / or in any combination with any embodiment or feature described or shown herein, or any feature of the appended claims.

[0147] The foregoing descriptions of one or more implementations are illustrative and descriptive, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the very forms disclosed. Modifications and changes are possible in light of the foregoing teachings, or may be obtained from the implementation of various embodiments.

[0148] Specific aspects of this disclosure are described above with reference to block and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatus, and / or computer program products, according to various implementations. It will be understood that one or more blocks of block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks of block diagrams and flow diagrams, may each be implemented by computer executable program instructions. Similarly, some blocks of block diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily be executed in the order shown, or may not be executed at all, according to some implementations.

[0149] These computer executable program instructions may be loaded onto a dedicated computer or other specific machine, processor, or other programmable data processing device, generating a specific machine, such that the instructions executed on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing device generate means for implementing one or more functions specified in one or more blocks of a flow diagram. Alternatively, these computer program instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or memory that can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a specific way, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium generate a product containing instruction means for implementing one or more functions specified in one or more blocks of a flow diagram. As an example, a particular implementation may provide a computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing computer-readable program code or program instructions, the computer-readable program code being adapted to be executed to implement one or more functions specified in one or more blocks of a flow diagram. Furthermore, computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable device such that instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide elements or steps for implementing a function specified in one or more blocks of a flowchart, and a series of operating elements or steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to generate a computer-implemented process.

[0150] Therefore, the blocks in block diagrams and flowcharts support combinations of means for performing a specified function, combinations of elements or stages for performing a specified function, and means of program instructions for performing a specified function. It will also be understood that each block in block diagrams and flowcharts, and combinations of blocks within block diagrams and flowcharts, can be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based computer system, or a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions, for performing a specified function, element, or stage.

[0151] In particular, conditional words such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless otherwise specified or understood differently in the context in which they are used, are generally intended to convey that a particular feature, element, and / or behavior may be included in a particular implementation, while other implementations do not include them. Such conditional words are generally not intended to suggest that the feature, element, and / or behavior is required in any form for one or more implementations, or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for determining whether these features, elements, and / or behavior should be included or performed in any particular implementation, with or without user input or prompting.

[0152] It will be apparent that many modifications and other implementations of the disclosures described herein have the benefit of teaching as shown in the preceding description and the relevant drawings. Therefore, it will be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the specific implementations disclosed, and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims. Certain terms are used herein, but they are used in a general and descriptive sense only and not for restrictive purposes.

[0153] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions may apply to the examples and embodiments described herein.

[0154] As used herein, the term “circuit” means, is a part of, or includes, an electronic circuit, logic circuit, processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., field-programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device (PLD), complex PLD (CPLD), high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), structured ASIC, or programmable SoC), digital signal processor (DSP), or other hardware component configured to provide the functions described. In some embodiments, a circuit may run one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the functions described. The term “circuit” may also mean a combination of one or more hardware elements (or combinations of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) and program code used to perform the functions of that program code. In these embodiments, a combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0155] As used herein, the term “processor circuit” refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and / or transferring digital data. A processing circuit may include one or more process cores for executing instructions and one or more memory structures for storing program and data information. The term “processor circuit” may also refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, physical central processing units (CPUs), single-core processors, dual-core processors, triple-core processors, quad-core processors, and / or any other device capable of executing, or otherwise operating, computer-executable instructions such as program code, software modules, and / or function processes. A processing circuit may include more hardware accelerators, which may include microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. One or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuit” and / or “baseband circuit” may be considered synonymous with “processor circuit” and may be referred to as “processor circuit.” As used herein, the term “interface circuit” refers to, part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuit” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, I / O interface, peripheral component interface, and / or network interface card.

[0156] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” or “UE” refer to a device having wireless communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communication network. The terms “User Equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous with, and may be referred to as, a client, mobile, 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. Furthermore, the terms “User Equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device including a wireless communication interface.

[0157] As used herein, the term “Network Element” refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless network services. The term “Network Element” may be considered synonymous with and / or similar to networked computers, networked hardware, network equipment, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, wireless network controllers, RAN devices, RAN nodes, gateways, servers, virtualized VNFs, and / or NFVIs.

[0158] As used herein, the term “computer system” refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Furthermore, the terms “computer system” and / or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are interconnected in a communicative manner. Furthermore, the terms “computer system” and / or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are interconnected in a communicative manner and configured to share computing resources and / or networking resources.

[0159] As used herein, terms such as “appliance” or “computer appliance” refer to a computer device or computer system that includes program code (e.g., software or firmware) specifically designed to provide a particular computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image implemented by a hypervisor-based device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance, or otherwise is dedicated to providing a particular computing resource.

[0160] As used herein, the term “resource” means physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components in a computing environment, and / or physical or virtual components in a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU usage, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or usage, power, I / O operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, networks, databases and applications, and / or workload units. “Hardware resources” may mean compute, storage, and / or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. “Virtualization resources” may mean compute, storage, and / or network resources provided to applications, devices, systems, etc., by a virtualization infrastructure. The term “network resources” or “communication resources” may mean resources accessible by computer devices / systems over a communication network. The term “system resources” may mean any kind of shared entity for providing services, and may include compute and / or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services that reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are accessible through a clearly identifiable server.

[0161] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to a tangible or intangible transmitting medium used to communicate data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous with and / or equivalent to any other similar term meaning a path or medium through which data is communicated, such as "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmit channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," and / or any other similar term. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices via a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

[0162] As used herein, terms such as "instantiation" and "instantiation" refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to the specific occurrence of an object that may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0163] The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” and their derivatives are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, that two or more elements are indirectly in contact with one another but still cooperate or interact with one another, and / or that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between elements that are said to be coupled to one another. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements can come into contact with one another through communication, including through wired or other interconnect connections and / or through wireless communication channels or links.

[0164] 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 data element that contains content.

[0165] Unless otherwise used herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with those defined in 3GPP® TR 21.905 v16.0.0 (2019-06) and / or any other 3GPP® standard. For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviations (shown in Table 2) may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

[0166] Table 2: Abbreviations [Table 2-1] [Table 2-2] [Table 2-3] [Table 2-4] [Table 2-5] [Table 2-6] [Table 2-7] [Table 2-8] [Table 2-9]

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE) device for switching the state of a medium access control element-based transmit configuration indicator (TCI) related to a path loss reference signal, wherein the device is: It comprises a processing circuit coupled to the storage, and the processing circuit is Decoding the path loss reference signal, To generate a first time interval from the reception of a downlink transmission from a network device to the Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ) acknowledgment transmitted to the network device by the UE device, After measuring the Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), generate a second time until the first path loss reference signal is transmitted. Identifying the period of the aforementioned path loss reference signal, Based on the first time, the second time, and the period, a TCI state switching delay time is generated such that the UE device can transmit an uplink signal to the network device after the TCI state switching, and Encode the uplink signal in order to transmit it to the network device within the TCI state switching delay time. It is configured to do the following: Device.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of the first time, 3 milliseconds, the second time, four times the period, and 2 milliseconds, in the slot.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is obtained by adding the first time, 3 milliseconds, the receiver beam refinement time, the second time, four times the period, and 2 milliseconds to the slot.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is for the serving cell of the UE device.

7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is for a cell having a different physical cell identity from the serving cell of the UE device.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the path loss reference signal is the same as the associated downlink reference signal in the target TCI state.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the path loss reference signal is in a quasi-collocation (QCL) type D relationship with the associated downlink reference signal in the target TCI state.

10. A processing circuit for a user equipment (UE) device for switching the state of a medium access control element-based transmit configuration indicator (TCI) related to a path loss reference signal, A procedure for generating a first time interval from the reception of a downlink transmission from a network device to the Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ) acknowledgment sent to the network device by the UE device, A procedure for generating a TCI state switching delay time based on the first time, during which the UE device should be able to transmit an uplink signal to the network device after the TCI state switching, A computer program for performing a procedure to encode the uplink signal for transmission to the network device by the TCI state switching delay time, The generated TCI state switching delay time is If the path loss reference signal is included in the target TCI state, or if the path loss reference signal and the target TCI state are activated by the same media access control element (MAC CE) command, the influence of the path loss reference signal is included. A computer program that does not include the influence of the path loss reference signal if the path loss reference signal is not included in the target TCI state and the path loss reference signal and the target TCI state are not activated by the same MAC CE command.

11. The computer program according to claim 10, in cases where the path loss reference signal is not included in the target TCI state and the path loss reference signal and the target TCI state are not activated by the same MAC CE command, and the downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device, the TCI state switching delay time is the first time plus three times the second time associated with the subframe and the slot plus one slot, for the slot.

12. The processing circuit includes: A procedure for decoding the path loss reference signal included in the target TCI state, The procedure for generating a second time interval from the measurement of the Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) to the transmission of the first path loss reference signal, Further, the procedure involves identifying the period of the aforementioned path loss reference signal. The procedure for generating the TCI state switching delay time is further based on the second time and the period, The computer program according to claim 10.

13. The computer program according to claim 12, wherein the downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of the first time, 3 milliseconds, the second time, four times the period, and 2 milliseconds in a slot.

14. The computer program according to claim 12, wherein the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is the first time plus 3 milliseconds, the receiver beam refinement time, the second time plus four times the period and 2 milliseconds in the slot.

15. The computer program according to claim 10, in cases where the path loss reference signal is not included in the target TCI state and the path loss reference signal and the target TCI state are not activated by the same MAC CE command, and the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device, the TCI state switching delay time is the first time plus 3 milliseconds plus the receiver beam refinement time plus one slot.

16. The computer program according to claim 10, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is for the serving cell of the UE device.

17. The computer program according to claim 10, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is for a cell having a different physical cell identity from the serving cell of the UE device.

18. The computer program according to claim 10, wherein if the path loss reference signal is included in the target TCI state, or if the path loss reference signal and the target TCI state are activated by the same MAC CE command, the path loss reference signal is the same as the associated downlink reference signal in the target TCI state.

19. The computer program according to claim 10, wherein if the path loss reference signal is included in the target TCI state, or if the path loss reference signal and the target TCI state are activated by the same MAC CE command, the path loss reference signal is in a quasi-collocation (QCL) type D relationship with the associated downlink reference signal in the target TCI state.

20. A method for switching the state of a medium access control element-based transmit configuration indicator (TCI) related to a path loss reference signal, The process involves decoding the path loss reference signal using the processing circuitry of the user equipment (UE) device, The processing circuit generates a first time interval from the reception of a downlink transmission from a network device to the Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ) acknowledgment transmitted to the network device by the UE device, The processing circuit generates a second time from the measurement of the Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) until the transmission of the first path loss reference signal, The processing circuit includes the step of identifying the period of the path loss reference signal, The processing circuit generates a TCI state switching delay time based on the first time, the second time, and the period, which is the time required for the UE device to be able to transmit an uplink signal to the network device after the TCI state switching. The processing circuit performs the steps of encoding the uplink signal in order to transmit it to the network device within the TCI state switching delay time, and A method for providing this.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the downlink reference signal is identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is the sum of the first time, 3 milliseconds, the second time, four times the period, and 2 milliseconds in a slot.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the downlink reference signal is not identified by the UE device, and the TCI state switching delay time is the first time plus 3 milliseconds, the receiver beam refinement time, the second time plus four times the period and 2 milliseconds in the slot.

23. The method according to claim 20, wherein the TCI state switching delay time is for the serving cell of the UE device, or the TCI state switching delay time is for a cell having a different physical cell identity from the serving cell of the UE device.

24. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for performing the method according to any one of claims 20 to 23.

25. An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method described in any one of claims 20 to 23.

26. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program according to any one of claims 10 to 19.

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