Connection Mode Discontinuous Reception (CDRX) in Carrier Aggregation Mode with Mixed Numericals

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed to enable user equipment (UE) operating in carrier aggregation mode to use different connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) configurations for different sets of component carriers associated with different sets of numerologies. For example, in frequency 1 (FR1) + frequency 2 (FR2) carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more FR1 component carriers and one or more FR2 component carriers), a CDRX different from that for FR2 may be configured for FR1. In inter-band carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers within one frequency band and one or more component carriers within another frequency band), a CDRX may be configured per band. In the case of a mixed numerology carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers having a first numerology and one or more component carriers having different numerologies), the CDRX may be configured for each cell group, wherein each cell group includes a single numerology or mixed numerologies.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62 / 879,954, filed July 29, 2019, under the title "CONNECTED MODE DISCONTINUOUS RECEPTION (CDRX) IN CARRIER AGGREGATION MODE WITH MIXED NUMEROLOGIES," and U.S. regular application No. 16 / 940,177, filed July 27, 2020, under the title "CONNECTED MODE DISCONTINUOUS RECEPTION (CDRX) IN CARRIER AGGREGATION MODE WITH MIXED NUMEROLOGIES," both of which have been assigned to the assignee of this application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, etc. Background Technology

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone services (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including temporary 2.5G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, internet-enabled wireless services, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., LTE (Long-Term Evolution), WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and PCS (personal communication service) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include cellular analog AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), and digital cellular systems based on CDMA (code division multiple access), FDMA (frequency division multiple access), TDMA (time division multiple access), GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), etc.

[0004] The 5G (fifth generation) mobile standard requires higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard (also referred to as "New Radio" or "NR") under the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance is designed to provide 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor and data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections must be supported. Consequently, the spectrum efficiency of 5G mobile communications must be significantly improved compared to current 4G / LTE standards. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies must be enhanced, and latency must be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

[0005] The following provides a simplified summary of one or more aspects disclosed herein. Accordingly, the following summary should not be regarded as a comprehensive overview of all aspects under consideration, nor as identifying key or decisive elements of all aspects under consideration or limiting the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary is intended solely to present specific concepts regarding one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein, in a simplified form preceding the detailed description provided below.

[0006] The present disclosure provides techniques for enabling user equipment (UE) operating in carrier aggregation mode to use different connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) configurations for different sets of component carriers associated with different sets of numerologies. For example, in frequency 1 (FR1) + frequency 2 (FR2) carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more FR1 component carriers and one or more FR2 component carriers), a CDRX different from that for FR2 may be configured for FR1. In inter-band carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers within one frequency band and one or more component carriers within another frequency band), a CDRX may be configured per band. In the case of a mixed numerology carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers having a first numerology and one or more component carriers having different numerologies), the CDRX may be configured for each cell group, wherein each cell group includes a single numerology or mixed numerologies.

[0007] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode comprises the steps of communicating with a base station according to a first set of CDRX parameters defined as absolute time for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerologies, and communicating with a base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined as absolute time for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerologies.

[0008] In one aspect, a device for wireless communication includes at least one receiver of a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the at least one receiver is configured to communicate with a base station according to a first set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals, and to communicate with a base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals.

[0009] In one aspect, a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode includes means for communicating with a base station according to a first set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals, and means for communicating with a base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals.

[0010] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for wireless communication comprises computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions include at least one instruction instructing a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode to communicate with a base station according to a first set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals, and at least one instruction instructing the UE to communicate with a base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals.

[0011] Other objects and advantages related to the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0012] The attached drawings are presented to assist in the description of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only for example, not to limit the aspects.

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIGS. 2a and 2b illustrate exemplary wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIGS. 3a through 3c are simplified block diagrams of some sample aspects of components configured to support communication as taught herein and available for use in wireless communication nodes.

[0016] FIG. 3d is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary transceiver according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIGS. 4a and 4b are drawings illustrating exemplary frame structures and channels within frame structures according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIGS. 5a through 5d illustrate exemplary discontinuous reception (DRX) configurations according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIGS. 6a and 6b illustrate exemplary DRX configurations according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate exemplary wireless communication methods according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 9 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating data flow between different means / components in exemplary devices according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 10 is a drawing illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a device using a processing system according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 11 is a drawing illustrating another example of a hardware implementation for a device using a processing system according to aspects of the present disclosure. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0024] The present disclosure provides techniques for enabling a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode to use different CDRX configurations (referred herein as “multi-CDRX”) for different sets of component carriers associated with different sets of numerals. For example, in FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more FR1 component carriers and one or more FR2 component carriers), a CDRX different from that for FR2 may be configured for FR1. In inter-band carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers within one frequency band and one or more component carriers within another frequency band), a CDRX may be configured per band. In the case of a mixed numerology carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers having a first numerology and one or more component carriers having different numerologies), the CDRX may be configured for each cell group, wherein each cell group includes a single numerology or mixed numerologies.

[0025] These and other aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, which are intended for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, widely known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0026] The words “exemplary” and / or “exemplary” are used herein to mean “functioning as an example, illustration, or example.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be interpreted as being preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term “aspects of the present disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed characteristics, advantages, or modes of operation.

[0027] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of the various other technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on a specific application, in part on a desired design, in part on a corresponding technology, etc.

[0028] Furthermore, many aspects are described, for example, in terms of sequences of operations to be performed by elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that the various operations described herein may be performed by specialized circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, such sequence(s) of operations described herein may be considered to be fully realized in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, at execution, cause or direct the associated processor of the device to perform the function described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosure may be realized in a number of different forms, all of which are considered to be within the scope of the claimed claims. Furthermore, for each of the aspects described herein, any corresponding form of such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to perform the described operation."

[0029] As used herein, the terms “UE (user equipment)” and “base station” are not intended to be specified or otherwise limited to any specific RAT (radio access technology) unless otherwise noted. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable (e.g., smart watch, glasses, AR (augmented reality) / VR (virtual reality) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), IoT (Internet of Things) device, etc.). A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at certain times) stationary and may communicate with a RAN (radio access network). As used herein, the term “UE” may be interchangeably referred to as “access terminal” or “AT,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber device,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or UT, “mobile device,” “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, UEs can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for UEs, such as wired access networks, WLAN (wireless local area network) networks (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0030] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, or alternatively, it may be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, NodeB, eNB (evolved NodeB), ng-eNB (next generation eNB), NR (New Radio) NodeB (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support radio access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, whereas in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which UEs can transmit signals to the base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link that enables a base station to transmit signals to UEs is referred to as a DL (downlink) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term TCH (traffic channel) may refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0031] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical TRP (transmission-reception point) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, if the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be the base station’s antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. If the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of the base station’s antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station uses beamforming). If the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station receiving measurement reports from the UE and a neighboring base station having the reference RF signals (or simply "reference signals") that the UE is measuring. Since a TRP is a point where a base station transmits and receives radio signals, references to transmission from a base station or reception at a base station, as used herein, should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0032] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, the base station may not support radio access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections to UEs), but instead may transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by UEs, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0033] "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal over different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "radio signal," or simply a "signal" where it is evident from the context that the term "signal" refers to a radio signal or an RF signal.

[0034] According to various aspects, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system (100). The wireless communication system (100) (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations (102) and various UEs (104). The base stations (102) may include macro cell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs corresponding to an LTE network of the wireless communication system (100), or gNBs corresponding to an NR network of the wireless communication system (100), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0035] Base stations (102) collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network (170) (e.g., an EPC (evolved packet core) or 5GC (5G core)) through backhaul links (122) and interface with one or more location servers (172) (which may be part of the core network (170) or outside the core network (170)) through the core network (170). In addition to other functions, base stations (102) may perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual access), inter-cell interference coordination, access setup and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. Base stations (102) may communicate with each other indirectly or directly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) through backhaul links (134) which may be wired or wireless.

[0036] Base stations (102) can communicate wirelessly with UEs (104). Each base station (102) can provide communication coverage for an individual geographic coverage area (110). In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base station (102) in each geographic coverage area (110). A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., through some frequency resources referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating through the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. Also, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a base station’s geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographical coverage areas (110).

[0037] The geographical coverage areas (110) of neighboring macro cell base stations (102) may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), but some of the geographical coverage areas (110) may substantially overlap with a larger geographical coverage area (110). For example, a small cell base station (102') may have a geographical coverage area (110') that substantially overlaps with the geographical coverage area (110) of one or more macro cell base stations (102). A network comprising both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) capable of providing service to a limited group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0038] Communication links (120) between base stations (102) and UEs (104) may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE (104) to the base station (102) and / or downlink (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from the base station (102) to the UE (104). Communication links (120) may use MIMO antenna technology including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. Communication links (120) may pass through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0039] The wireless communication system (100) may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (150) that communicates with WLAN stations (STAs) (152) via communication links (154) in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs (152) and / or the WLAN AP (150) may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0040] The small cell base station (102') may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station (102') may use LTE or NR technology and may use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP (150). The small cell base station (102') using LTE / 5G in unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage and / or increase capacity for the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, LAA (licensed assisted access), or MulteFire.

[0041] The wireless communication system (100) may further include a mmW (millimeter wave) base station (180) capable of operating at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE (182). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths of 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends from 3 GHz to 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station (180) and UE (182) may utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) over a mmW communication link (184) to compensate for extremely high path loss and short range. Additionally, in alternative configurations, it will be recognized that one or more base stations (102) may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be recognized that the foregoing examples are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0042] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Typically, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectional). By using transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and provides a faster and stronger RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device(s) by projecting a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction. To change the directionality of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF current from the transmitter is supplied to individual antennas in a precise phase relationship so that radio waves from separate antennas are summed to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in unwanted directions.

[0043] Transmit beams can be quasi-collocated, which means that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether the transmitting antennas of the network node itself are physically colocated. There are four types of quasi-collocation (QCL) relationships in NR. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that specific parameters regarding the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information regarding the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0044] In receiving beamforming, the receiver uses a receiving beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can amplify RF signals received from a specific direction (e.g., increase the gain level) by increasing the gain setting and / or adjusting the phase setting of the array of antennas in that direction. Thus, when it is said that the receiver beamforms in a specific direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain following other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the greatest compared to the beam gain in the direction of all other receiving beams available to the receiver. This results in stronger received signal strengths (e.g., RSRP (reference signal received power), RSRQ (reference signal received quality), SINR (signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.

[0045] The receiving beams may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that parameters for the transmitting beam for the second reference signal can be derived from information for the receiving beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receiving beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., PRS (positioning reference signals), TRS (tracking reference signals), PTRS (phase tracking reference signal), CRS (cell-specific reference signals), CSI-RS (channel state information reference signals), PSS (primary synchronization signals), SSS (secondary synchronization signals), SSBs (synchronization signal blocks), etc.) from a base station. Then, based on the parameters of the received beam, the UE may form a transmitting beam to transmit one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., UL-PRS (uplink positioning reference signal), SRS (sounding reference signal), DMRS (demodulation reference signal), PTRS, etc.) to the base station.

[0046] Note that the "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is the transmit beam. However, if the UE forms the downlink beam, the beam receiving the downlink reference signal is the receive beam. Similarly, note that the "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms an uplink beam, it is the uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is the uplink transmit beam.

[0047] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations (102 / 180), UEs (104 / 182)) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges, FR1 (450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (over 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as a "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on a primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE (104 / 182) and the cell in which the UE (104 / 182) performs the initial RRC (radio resource control) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier on a licensed frequency (but not always). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE (104) and the anchor carrier and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, UE-specific signals may not be present in the secondary carrier, because both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs (104 / 182) within a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carriers. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE (104 / 182) at any time.This is done, for example, to balance loads on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier that some base stations are communicating with, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," "carrier frequency," etc., may be used interchangeably.

[0048] For example, referring still to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations (102) may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations (102) and / or mmW base stations (180) may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). In carrier aggregation, the base stations (102) / UEs (104) may use spectrum up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) with a bandwidth of Y MHz per carrier (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100 MHz) for transmission in each direction. The component carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other on the frequency spectrum. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE (104 / 182) to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, in a multi-carrier system, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers would theoretically result in a twofold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0049] To operate on multiple carrier frequencies, the base station (102) / UE (104) is equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, the UE (104) may have two receivers, “Receiver 1” and “Receiver 2”, wherein “Receiver 1” is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to band (i.e., carrier frequency) ‘X’ or band ‘Y’, and “Receiver 2” is a 1-band receiver that can be tuned only to band ‘Z’. In this example, if the UE (104) is being served on band ‘X’, band ‘X’ will be referred to as the PCell or active carrier frequency, and “Receiver 1” will need to be tuned from band ‘X’ to band ‘Y’ (SCell) to measure band ‘Y’ (and vice versa). In contrast, regardless of whether the UE (104) is being served in band 'X' or band 'Y', due to a separate "receiver 2", the UE (104) can measure band 'Z' without interrupting service on band 'X' or band 'Y'.

[0050] The wireless communication system (100) may further include a UE (164) capable of communicating with a macro cell base station (102) via a communication link (120) and / or with a mmW base station (180) via a mmW communication link (184). For example, the macro cell base station (102) may support PCells, and one or more SCells for the UE (164) and the mmW base station (180) may support one or more SCells for the UE (164).

[0051] The wireless communication system (100) may further include one or more UEs, such as UE (190), that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks through one or more D2D (device-to-device) P2P (peer-to-peer) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE (190) has a D2D P2P link (192) in which one of the UEs (104) is connected to one of the base stations (102) (e.g., through which the UE (190) can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link (194) in which a WLAN STA (152) is connected to a WLAN AP (150) (through which the UE (190) can indirectly obtain WLAN-based internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links (192 and 194) may be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0052] According to various aspects, FIG. 2a illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure (200). For example, the 5GC (210) (also referred to as the NGC (Next Generation Core)) can be functionally considered as control plane functions (214) (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane functions (212) (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP (Internet protocol) routing, etc.), and these operate cooperatively to form a core network. The NG-U (user plane interface) (213) and NG-C (control plane interface) (215) connect the gNB (222) to the 5GC (210) and specifically to the control plane functions (214) and user plane functions (212). In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB (224) may also be connected to the 5GC (210) via the NG-C (215) for control plane functions (214) and the NG-U (213) for user plane functions (212). Additionally, the ng-eNB (224) may communicate directly with the gNB (222) via a backhaul connection (223). In some configurations, the New RAN (220) may have only one or more gNBs (222), while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs (224) and gNBs (222). The gNB (222) or the ng-eNB (224) may communicate with the UEs (204) (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Another optional aspect may include a location server (230) capable of communicating with the 5GC (210) to provide location assistance to the UEs (204).The location server (230) may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location server (230) may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs (204) that can access the location server (230) via the core network, 5GC (210) and / or the Internet (not exemplified). Additionally, the location server (230) may be integrated into a component of the core network or alternatively be located outside the core network.

[0053] According to various aspects, FIG. 2b illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure (250). For example, the 5GC (260) can be functionally considered as control plane functions provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) (264) and user plane functions provided by a user plane function (UPF) (262), which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC (260)). A user plane interface (263) and a control plane interface (265) connect the ng-eNB (224) to the 5GC (260) and, specifically, to the UPF (262) and AMF (264), respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB (222) can also be connected to the 5GC (260) via a control plane interface (265) for the AMF (264) and a user plane interface (263) for the UPF (262). Additionally, the ng-eNB (224) may communicate directly with the gNB (222) via a backhaul connection (223) with or without a direct gNB connection to the 5GC (260). In some configurations, the new RAN (220) may have only one or more gNBs (222), while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs (224) and gNBs (222). The gNB (222) or ng-eNB (224) may communicate with UEs (204) (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Base stations of the new RAN (220) communicate with the AMF (264) via the N2 interface and with the UPF (262) via the N3 interface.

[0054] The functions of the AMF (264) include registration management, access management, reachability management, mobility management, legitimate interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between the UE (204) and the session management function (SMF) (266), transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE (204) and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF (264) also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE (204) and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE (204) authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the USIM (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Subscriber Identity Module), the AMF (264) retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF (264) also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that are used to derive access-network specific keys. The functions of the AMF (264) also include location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE (204) and the LMF (location management function) (270) (which acts as the location server (230)), transmission of location service messages between the new RAN (220) and the LMF (270), assignment of EPS bearer identifiers for interaction with the EPS (evolved packet system), and notification of UE (204) mobility events. Additionally, the AMF (264) also supports functions for non-3GPP access networks.

[0055] The functions of the UPF (262) include acting as an anchor point for RAT-in / -in mobility (where applicable), acting as an external PDU (protocol data unit) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), legitimate interception (user plane set), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking on the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking on the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and the transmission and forwarding of one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF (262) can also support the transmission of location service messages through the user plane between a location server, such as an SLP (secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform) (272), and a UE (204).

[0056] The functions of the SMF (266) include session management, UE IP address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF (262) to route traffic to appropriate destinations, control of some of the QoS and policy enforcement, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF (266) communicates with the AMF (264) is referred to as the N11 interface.

[0057] Another optional aspect may include an LMF (270) capable of communicating with the 5GC (260) to provide location assistance to UEs (204). The LMF (270) may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.) or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF (270) may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs (204) that can be accessed via the core network, the 5GC (260), and / or the Internet (not illustrated). SLP (272) can support functions similar to LMF (270), but LMF (270) can communicate with AMF (264), the new RAN (220), and UEs (204) through the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to return signaling messages other than voice or data), whereas SLP (272) can communicate with UEs (204) and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2b) through the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to return voice and / or data, such as TCP (transmission control protocol) and / or IP).

[0058] In one aspect, the LMF (270) and / or SLP (272) may be integrated into a base station such as a gNB (222) and / or ng-eNB (224). When integrated into a gNB (222) and / or ng-eNB (224), the LMF (270) and / or SLP (272) may be referred to as a "location management component" or "LMC". However, as used herein, references to the LMF (270) and SLP (272) include both cases where the LMF (270) and SLP (272) are components of a core network (e.g., 5GC (260)) and cases where the LMF (270) and SLP (272) are components of a base station.

[0059] FIGS. 3a, 3b, and 3c illustrate some exemplary components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be integrated into a UE (302) (corresponding to any of the UEs described herein), a base station (304) (corresponding to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity (306) (corresponding to or implementing any of the network functions described herein, including a location server (230) and an LMF (270)) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be recognized that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be integrated into other devices of a communication system. For example, other devices of the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functions. Additionally, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, the device may include a number of transceiver components that enable the device to operate on a number of carriers and / or communicate through different technologies.

[0060] Each of the UE (302) and the base station (304) includes a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver (310 and 350) configured to communicate through one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers (310 and 350) may each be connected to one or more antennas (316 and 356) to communicate with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., through at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) through a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a subset of time / frequency resources in a specific frequency spectrum). WWAN transceivers (310 and 350) may be configured in various ways, according to a specified RAT, to transmit and encode signals (318 and 358) (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals (318 and 358) (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers (310 and 350) each include one or more transmitters (314 and 354) for transmitting and encoding signals (318 and 358), respectively, and one or more receivers (312 and 352) for receiving and decoding signals (318 and 358), respectively.

[0061] The UE (302) and the base station (304) also each include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers (320 and 360) in at least some cases. The WLAN transceivers (320 and 360) may each be connected to one or more antennas (326 and 366) to communicate with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The WLAN transceivers (320 and 360) may each be configured to transmit and encode signals (328 and 368) (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals (328 and 368) (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the designated RAT. Specifically, the WLAN transceivers (320 and 360) each include one or more transmitters (324 and 364) for transmitting and encoding signals (328 and 368), and one or more receivers (322 and 362) for receiving and decoding signals (328 and 368), respectively.

[0062] A transceiver circuit comprising at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may comprise an integrated device in some embodiments (e.g., implemented as a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit of a single communication device), may comprise separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices in some embodiments, or may be implemented in other ways in other embodiments. In one aspect, the transmitter may comprise or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas (316, 326, 356, 366)), such as an antenna array that enables individual devices to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may comprise or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas (316, 326, 356, 366)), such as an antenna array that enables individual devices to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and the receiver may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas (316, 326, 356, 366)), and accordingly, each device may receive or transmit only at a given time and cannot do both simultaneously. The wireless communication device of the UE (302) and / or base station (304) (e.g., one or both of the transceivers (310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360)) may also include a network listen module (NLM) for performing various measurements, etc.

[0063] The UE (302) and the base station (304) also include, in at least some cases, satellite positioning systems (SPS) receivers (330 and 370). The SPS receivers (330 and 370) may each be connected to one or more antennas (336 and 376) to receive SPS signals (338 and 378), such as global positioning system (GPS) signals, GLONASS (global navigation satellite system) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers (330 and 370) may each include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals (338 and 378). SPS receivers (330 and 370) request appropriate information and operations from other systems and perform calculations necessary to determine the positions of the UE (302) and base station (304) using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0064] Each base station (304) and network entity (306) includes at least one network interface (380 and 390) for communicating with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces (380 and 390) (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via wired-based or wireless backhaul connections. In some aspects, the network interfaces (380 and 390) may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wired-based or wireless signal communication. This communication may involve transmitting and receiving, for example, messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0065] The UE (302), base station (304), and network entity (306) also include other components that can be used with the operations disclosed herein. The UE (302) includes a processor circuit that implements a processing system (332) for providing, for example, functions related to wireless communication and other processing functions. The base station (304) includes a processing system (384) for providing, for example, functions related to wireless communication and other processing functions as disclosed herein. The network entity (306) includes a processing system (394) for providing, for example, functions related to wireless communication and other processing functions as disclosed herein. In one aspect, the processing systems (332, 384, and 394) may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits.

[0066] The UE (302), base station (304), and network entity (306) each include a memory circuit that implements memory components (340, 386, and 396) (e.g., each including a memory device) to maintain information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, the UE (302), base station (304), and network entity (306) may each include DRX components (342, 388, and 398). The DRX components (342, 388, and 398) may each be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processing systems (332, 384, and 394) that, when executed, enable the UE (302), base station (304), and network entity (306) to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the DRX components (342, 388, and 398) may be outside the processing systems (332, 384, and 394) (e.g., being part of a modem processing system or integrated with another processing system). Alternatively, the DRX components (342, 388, and 398) may be memory modules (as illustrated in FIG. 3a through 3c) stored in memory components (340, 386, and 396) that, when executed by the processing systems (332, 384, and 394) (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable the UE (302), base station (304), and network entity (306) to perform the functions described herein.

[0067] The UE (302) may include one or more sensors (344) coupled to a processing system (332) to provide motion data and / or orientation information independent of signals received by a WWAN transceiver (310), a WLAN transceiver (320) and / or an SPS receiver (330). For example, the sensor(s) (344) may include an accelerometer (e.g., a MEMS (micro-electrical mechanical systems) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensor(s) (344) may include a plurality of different types of devices and may combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) (344) may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in 2D and / or 3D coordinate systems.

[0068] Additionally, the UE (302) includes a user interface (346) for providing displays (e.g., audible and / or visual displays) to the user and / or receiving user input (e.g., upon user operation of a sensing device, such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc.). Although not illustrated, the base station (304) and the network entity (306) may also include user interfaces.

[0069] Referring more closely to the processing system (384), in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity (306) may be provided to the processing system (384). The processing system (384) may implement functions for the RRC layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, and the medium access control (MAC) layer. The processing system (384) may implement RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., master information blocks (MIBs), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), RAT-to-mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; It can provide RLC layer functions associated with the transmission of upper layer PDUs (packet data units), error correction through ARQ (automatic repeat request), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs (service data units), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logic channels and transmission channels, reporting of scheduling information, error correction, priority handling, and logic channel prioritization.

[0070] The transmitter (354) and receiver (352) can implement Layer-1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transmission channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transmission channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter (354) handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). Then, the coded and modulated symbols may be divided into parallel streams. Then, each stream can be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier and multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel that carries a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator can be used for spatial processing as well as to determine the coding and modulation scheme. Channel estimates can be derived from the reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE (302). Then, each spatial stream can be provided to one or more different antennas (356). The transmitter (354) can modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0071] In the UE (302), the receiver (312) receives a signal through its individual antenna(s) (316). The receiver (312) restores the information modulated over the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system (332). The transmitter (314) and the receiver (312) implement Layer-1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver (312) can perform spatial processing on the information to restore any spatial streams destined for the UE (302). If multiple spatial streams destined for the UE (302), they can be combined by the receiver (312) into a single OFDM symbol stream. Then, the receiver (312) uses a fast Fourier transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal contains separate OFDM symbol streams for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are restored and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station (304). These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. Then, the soft decisions are decoded and de-interleaved to restore the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station (304) on the physical channel. Then, the data and control signals are provided to a processing system (332) that implements layer-3 and layer-2 functions.

[0072] In the uplink, the processing system (332) recovers IP packets from the core network by providing demultiplexing between the transmission channel and the logic channel, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing. The processing system (332) is also responsible for error detection.

[0073] Similar to the functions described in relation to downlink transmission by the base station (304), the processing system (332) provides RRC layer functions associated with capturing system information (e.g., MIBs, SIBs), RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logic channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs (transport blocks), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, reporting of scheduling information, error correction via HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request), priority handling, and logic channel prioritization.

[0074] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by a base station (304) can be used by a transmitter (314) to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. Spatial streams generated by the transmitter (314) can be provided to different antenna(s) (316). The transmitter (314) can modulate an RF carrier into each spatial stream for transmission.

[0075] Uplink transmission is processed at the base station (304) in a manner similar to that described in relation to the receiver function of the UE (302). The receiver (352) receives the signal through its individual antenna(s) (356). The receiver (352) restores the information modulated over the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system (384).

[0076] In the uplink, the processing system (384) recovers IP packets from the UE (302) by providing demultiplexing between the transmission channel and the logic channel, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing. IP packets from the processing system (384) can be provided to the core network. The processing system (384) is also responsible for error detection.

[0077] For convenience, the UE (302), base station (304), and / or network entity (306) are illustrated in FIGS. 3a through 3c as comprising various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be recognized that the illustrated blocks may have different functionalities in different designs.

[0078] Various components of the UE (302), base station (304), and network entity (306) can communicate with each other via data buses (334, 382, ​​and 392). The components of FIGS. 3a through 3c can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3a through 3c can be implemented by one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide these functions. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks (310 through 346) can be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE (302) (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks (350 to 388) may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station (304) (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Additionally, some or all of the functions represented by blocks (390 to 398) may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the network entity (306) (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). For the sake of simplification, various operations, functions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by the “UE,” “the base station,” “the positioning entity,” etc.However, as will be recognized, such operations, operations and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components such as UE, base station, positioning entity, etc., such as processing systems (332, 384, 394), transceivers (310, 320, 350 and 360), memory components (340, 386, and 396), DRX components (342, 388, and 398), etc.

[0079] FIG. 3d illustrates an exemplary architecture of a transceiver (381) capable of implementing carrier aggregation according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. The transceiver (381) may correspond to a WWAN transceiver (310) or WLAN transceiver (320) of a UE (302) or a WWAN transceiver (350) or WLAN transceiver (360) of a base station (304). The transceiver (381) may be coupled to a first antenna (303) and a second antenna (305). The antennas may correspond to antennas (316 or 326) of the UE (302) or antennas (356 or 366) of the base station (304).

[0080] The transceiver (381) includes a receiver circuit (341) and a transmitter circuit (351). The receiver circuit (341) may correspond to receiver(s) (312, 322, 352, or 362), and the transmitter circuit (351) may correspond to transmitter(s) (314, 324, 354, or 364). The receiver circuit (341) may implement carrier aggregation. Thus, in the example of FIG. 3d, the receiver circuit (341) includes two radios (311 and 323) each coupled to two antennas (303 and 305). Note that although FIG. 3d illustrates only two antennas (303 and 305) and two radios (311 and 323), as will be recognized, more than two antennas and more than two radios may exist. The transmitter circuit (351) can also implement carrier aggregation similar to the receiver circuit (341), but this is not shown in FIG. 3d for simplification.

[0081] A transceiver (e.g., transceiver (381)) generally includes a modem (e.g., modem (335)) and a radio (e.g., radio (311 or 323)). Generally, the radio handles the selection of RF signals and conversion to baseband or intermediate frequency, and converts the RF signals into the digital domain. The modem is the rest of the transceiver.

[0082] Referring to FIG. 3d, the radio (311) includes an amplifier (313), a mixer (315) for signal down-conversion (also referred to as a signal multiplier), a frequency synthesizer (317) (also referred to as an oscillator) that provides signals to the mixer (315), a baseband filter (BBF) (319), and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (321). Similarly, the radio (323) includes an amplifier (325), a mixer (327), a frequency synthesizer (329), a BBF (331), and an ADC (333). The ADCs (321 and 333) are coupled to a signal combiner / signal selector (337) of the modem (335), and the signal combiner / signal selector (337) is coupled to a demodulator (339) of the modem (335). The demodulator (339) is coupled to the packet processor (343). The demodulator (339) and the packet processor (343) provide one or more demodulated and processed output signals to a communication controller and / or processing system (e.g., a processing system (332 or 384)).

[0083] It should be noted that not all components illustrated in FIG. 3 are required for the operation of the system. For example, in direct RF-baseband conversion receivers, or any other direct conversion receivers including specific software-defined radio (SDR) implementations, as is known in the art, various components of the receiver circuit (341) are not required. Also, FIG. 3d illustrates a single modem (335) coupled to two radios (311 and 323), but as will be recognized, each radio (311 and 323) may be coupled to a different modem, and accordingly, the receiver circuit (341) will include the same number of radios and modems. Also, FIG. 3d illustrates an integrated transmitter circuit (351) and receiver circuit (341), i.e., a transceiver (381), but in some implementations, the UE or base station may include separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices.

[0084] As mentioned above, carrier aggregation is a technique that allows a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) to receive and / or transmit simultaneously on multiple carrier frequencies, thereby increasing downlink and uplink data rates. Thus, the UE can simultaneously use radio (311) to tune to one carrier frequency (e.g., anchor carrier) and use radio (323) to tune to a different carrier frequency (e.g., secondary carrier). Additionally, each radio (311 and 323) can be tuned to multiple different frequencies one at a time.

[0085] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 4a is a drawing (400) illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 4b is a drawing (430) illustrating an example of channels within a downlink frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0086] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilize OFDM on the downlink and SC-FDM (single-carrier frequency division multiplexing) on ​​the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option of also using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into a number (K) of orthogonal subcarriers, generally also referred to as tones or bins. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain by OFDM and in the time domain by SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing between subcarriers can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may be 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, the subbands may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0087] LTE supports a single numerator (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple numerators (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz or higher may be available. Table 1 provided below lists some various parameters for different NR numerators.

[0088] In the examples of FIGS. 4a and 4b, a 15 kHz numeral is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10 subframes of the same size, each of which is 1 ms, and each subframe contains one time slot. In FIGS. 4a and 4b, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis) and increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis) and increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0089] A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, and each time slot contains one or more time-simultaneous resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numeral of FIGS. 4a and 4b, for a normal cyclic prefix, the RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, the RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0090] Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary locations of REs (labeled as "R") carrying DL-RS.

[0091] FIG. 4b illustrates examples of various channels within a downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple bandwidth parts (BWPs). A BWP is a continuous set of PRBs selected from a continuous subset of common RBs for a given numerator on a given carrier. Generally, up to four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be composed of up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at any given time, which means that the UE can receive or transmit through only one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP must be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not include the SSB.

[0092] Referring to FIG. 4b, the primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of the aforementioned DL-RS. A physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides multiple RBs and a system frame number (SFN) in the downlink system bandwidth. A physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries broadcast system information and paging messages that are not transmitted through the PBCH, such as user data and system information blocks (SIBs).

[0093] A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE contains one or more RE group bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle contains one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is referred to as a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0094] In the example of FIG. 4b, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (it may span only one or two symbols). Unlike LTE control channels that occupy the entire system bandwidth, in NR, PDCCH channels are localized to a specific area (i.e., CORESET) in the frequency domain. Therefore, the frequency component of the PDCCH illustrated in FIG. 4b is exemplified as being less than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that the exemplified CORESET is continuous in the frequency domain, but it does not necessarily have to be. Additionally, the CORESET may span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0095] DCIs within the PDCCH carry information regarding uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and descriptions regarding downlink data transmitted to the UE. Multiple DCIs (e.g., up to 8) may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of multiple formats. For example, different DCI formats exist for uplink scheduling, non-MIMO downlink scheduling, MIMO downlink scheduling, and uplink power control. The PDCCH may be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0096] Even when there is no traffic being transmitted from the network to the UE, the UE is expected to monitor all downlink subframes on the PDCCH. This means that the UE must always be "on" or active, even in the absence of traffic, because the UE does not know exactly when the network will transmit data to it. However, being always active is a significant power consumption for the UE.

[0097] To address these issues, the UE can implement DRX (discontinuous reception) and / or CDRX (connected-mode discontinuous reception) techniques. DRX and CDRX are mechanisms in which the UE enters "sleep" mode for specific time periods and "wakes up" for other time periods. During the awake or active periods, the UE checks to see if there is any data coming from the network, and if there is no data, it returns to sleep mode.

[0098] To implement DRX and CDRX, the UE and the network need to be synchronized. In a worst-case scenario, the network may attempt to transmit some data to the UE while it is in sleep mode, and the UE may wake up when there is no data to be received. To prevent such scenarios, the UE and the network must have a well-defined agreement on when the UE may be in sleep mode and when the UE must be awake / active. Note that DRX includes CDRX; therefore, references to DRX refer to both DRX and CDRX unless otherwise indicated.

[0099] The network (e.g., serving cell) can configure the UE for DRX / CDRX timing using an RRC connection reconfiguration message (for CDRX) or an RRC connection setup message (for DRX). The network can signal the following parameters to the UE.

[0100] FIGS. 5a through 5d illustrate exemplary DRX cycles according to aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 5a illustrates an exemplary DRX cycle (500A), wherein a long DRX cycle (time from the start of one ON duration to the start of the next ON duration) is formed and no PDCCH is received during that cycle. FIG. 5b illustrates an exemplary DRX cycle (500B), wherein a long DRX cycle is formed and a PDCCH is received during the ON duration (510) of the second DRX cycle. Note that the ON duration (510) ends at time (512). However, the time during which the UE is awake / active ("active time") is extended to time (514) based on the length of the DRX inactivity timer and the time at which the PDCCH is received. Specifically, when a PDCCH is received, the UE starts a DRX inactive timer and remains active until the expiration of the timer (which is reset whenever a PDCCH is received during the active time).

[0101] FIG. 5c illustrates an exemplary DRX cycle (500C), wherein a long DRX cycle is configured and a PDCCH and a DRX command MAC-CE (MAC control element) are received during the ON duration (520) of the illustrated second DRX cycle. It is noted that, as discussed above with reference to FIG. 5b, the active time that begins during the ON duration (520) generally ends at time (524) due to the reception of the PDCCH at time (522) and the subsequent expiration of the DRX inactive timer at time (524). However, in the example of FIG. 5c, the active time is shortened to time (526) based on the time at which a DRX command MAC-CE is received instructing the UE to terminate the DRX inactive timer and the ON duration timer.

[0102] FIG. 5d illustrates an exemplary DRX cycle (500D), wherein both a long DRX cycle and a short DRX cycle are configured and no PDCCH is received during the cycle. In the example of FIG. 5d, the DRX inactive timer is 3 subframes long, the ON duration timer is 2 subframes long, the short DRX cycle is 5 subframes long, the long DRX cycle is 10 subframes long, the DRX start offset is 0 subframes long, and the DRX short cycle timer is 3 subframes long. When the CDRX is configured and the last DCI (i.e., PDCCH) is received (e.g., SFN = '0', subframe = '0'), the UE starts the DRX inactive timer and remains active until the DRX inactive timer expires (e.g., SFN = '0', subframe = '3'). After the DRX inactive timer expires, if the UE is configured for a short DRX cycle, the short DRX cycle begins, and the UE starts the DRX short cycle timer (e.g., SFN = '0', subframe = '5'). If no DCI (i.e., PDCCH) is received before the expiration of the DRX short cycle timer (e.g., SFN = '1', subframe = '9'), a long DRX cycle begins (e.g., SFN = '2', subframe = '0'). If any DCI (PDCCH) is received during the active time of any DRX cycle, the UE restarts the DRX inactive timer and remains active until its expiration.

[0103] The active time of the DRX cycle is the time during which the UE is considered to be monitoring the PDCCH. The active time may include the time during which the UE must remain active while the ON duration timer is running, the DRX inactive timer is running, the DRX retransmission timer is running, the MAC contention resolution timer is running, a scheduling request has been transmitted and is pending on the PUCCH (physical uplink control channel), an uplink grant for a pending HARQ retransmission may occur and there is data in the corresponding HARQ buffer, and a PDCCH indicating a new transmission addressed by the UE's C-RNTI (cell radio network temporary identifier) ​​has not been received after the successful reception of a RAR (random access response) for a preamble not selected by the UE, and, in non-contention-based random access, after receiving the RAR, until a PDCCH indicating a new transmission addressed by the UE's C-RNTI is received.

[0104] It should be noted that while the above timing is described in terms of subframes, alternatively, it can be defined in terms of slots, milliseconds, etc.

[0105] Currently, CDRX is defined per MAC entity, even when carrier aggregation is enabled across different numerals (see Table 1). That is, the CDRX configuration is the same for each component carrier, regardless of the numerals used on that carrier. For example, key parameters, such as the DRX cycle, ON duration timer, and DRX inactivity timer, are defined independently of the subcarrier spacing (SCS) on the component carrier. That is, they are defined in milliseconds rather than the number of slots or symbols. Table 3 illustrates various CDRX RRC parameters, their length units, and exemplary values.

[0106] As can be seen in Table 3, all except the DRX HARQ RTT (round-trip-time) timers and DRX retransmission timers are defined independently of the SCS (insofar as symbol and slot length depend on the SCS). However, due to different numerals, there is no direct trade-off between power savings (to improve latency) and scheduling flexibility for component carriers operating in different frequency ranges, such as FR1 and FR2. Therefore, it would be beneficial for a UE in carrier aggregation mode to apply one CDRX configuration to one component carrier and a different CDRX configuration to the other component carrier, for example in FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation mode, in order to improve the UE's power consumption without sacrificing network-side scheduling latency.

[0107] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques for enabling a UE to use multiple CDRX configurations (referred to herein as "multi-CDRX") when operating in carrier aggregation mode. For example, in FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more FR1 component carriers and one or more FR2 component carriers), the CDRX may be configured per frequency range. In inter-band carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers within one frequency band and one or more component carriers within another frequency band), the CDRX may be configured per band. In the case of mixed numerologies carrier aggregation (i.e., one or more component carriers having a first numeral and one or more component carriers having different numerals), the CDRX may be configured per cell group, wherein each cell group includes a single numeral or mixed numerals.

[0108] There are at least two levels of independence between CDRX configurations for different sets of component carriers (e.g., sets of component carriers within different frequency ranges, bands, or cell groups). As a first level of independence, CDRX configurations may be completely independent. That is, all RRC parameters may be fully configurable for each set of component carriers, or only SCS-independent parameters may be independent. CDRX operation will be completely independent within the set of component carriers (similar to using different MAC entities). Note that to have complete independence, each set of component carriers will need to configure its own PUCCH.

[0109] As a second level of independence, the CDRX configurations may be partially independent. In this case, independent parameters may exist, but the DRX cycles are aligned. That is, a long DRX cycle in the CDRX parameters for one set of component carriers will be a multiple of another long DRX cycle in the CDRX parameters for another set of component carriers. This is exemplified in Fig. 6a. In another scenario, independent parameters may exist, and different CDRX configurations will have the same DRX cycle and offset (meaning the start of the ON duration is aligned), but the ON duration and inactivity timer of one set of CDRX parameters are shorter than the others.

[0110] FIG. 6a illustrates an example of two partially independent CDRX configurations according to aspects of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 6a, ON durations for a CDRX configuration (610) for FR2 and a CDRX configuration (620) for FR1 are illustrated. As can be seen, the ON durations for the CDRX configuration (610) for FR2 are shorter and more frequent than the ON durations for the CDRX configuration (620) for FR1, but the start of the ON duration for the CDRX configuration (620) for FR1 begins at the start of every other ON duration for the CDRX configuration (610) for FR2. Thus, the length of the DRX cycle for the CDRX configuration (620) for FR1 is twice the length of the DRX cycle for the CDRX configuration (610) for FR2 (i.e., a multiple of '2'). As described, it should be noted that longer DRX cycles will generally have longer ON durations, and shorter DRX cycles will generally have shorter ON durations.

[0111] The advantage of aligning the start of different DRX cycles is that while separate RF components (e.g., radios (311, 323)) may exist for each frequency range, the baseband (e.g., modem (335)) can still be shared. From the perspective of power saving and signaling efficiency, it is better for the UE to wake up both RF components together. Additionally, the MAC entity is the same across different frequency ranges. Thus, different frequency ranges (FR1 and FR2 in the example of FIG. 6a) can share the same PUCCH, making it easier to maintain HARQ processing and retransmission.

[0112] Partially independent CDRX configurations may have common triggering or independent triggering using independent timers. The different timers include drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, and drx-ShortCycleTimer.

[0113] In the case of common triggering using independent timers, all sets of component carriers are activated simultaneously (i.e., emerge from inactive state) based on the uplink grant (i.e., DCI format 0_0 or 0_1) of, for example, one set of component carriers (e.g., FR1 component carriers). If one or more sets of component carriers (e.g., FR2 component carriers) are already out of their active time, a specific offset may be allowed to prepare the radio for wake-up for such set(s) of component carriers. Alternatively, they may be activated starting from the next ON duration of such set of component carriers. All sets of component carriers are activated during a pending SR (scheduling request) or pending RAR.

[0114] Each set of component carriers enters an inactive state (i.e., OFF state) independently of its own inactive state. That is, the active time of each set of component carriers is based on the drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, and drx-RegransmissionTimerUL timers for such set of component carriers. Additionally, the DRX command MAC-CE may be common to all sets of component carriers, or may be applicable to the set of component carriers to which MAC-CE is received, or may indicate one or more sets of component carriers.

[0115] In the case of independent triggering, each set of component carriers becomes active based on an uplink or downlink grant for that set of component carriers. In one aspect, the grant may be a configured grant (i.e., semi-permanent scheduling). In such a case, triggering is based on a MAC PDU received through semi-permanent scheduling. Additionally, the grant may be for a pending scheduling request or a pending RAR. A pending scheduling request affects the set of component carriers where a PUCCH (having the scheduling request) is received. A pending RAR affects the set of component carriers where a RACH is performed. Otherwise, in the remaining aspects, such as each set of component carriers entering a deactivated state based on its own timers and the commonality of the DRX command MAC-CE (i.e., common to all sets of component carriers, or the set of component carriers where the MAC-CE is received, or the set of component carriers indicated by the MAC-CE), it is the same whether the triggering is common or independent. In addition, independent triggering can be used with both fully independent CDRX configurations and partially independent CDRX configurations.

[0116] A UE in CDRX mode may occasionally need to handle non-periodic events, such as PUCCH and SRS transmissions. Non-periodic events are events that do not occur at regular intervals. Instead, they may occur in response to certain events. For example, the UE may transmit SRS or CSI (channel state information) (for PUCCH) when requested by the base station, rather than at regular intervals. Such non-periodic events may be handled independently or jointly within a set of component carriers. Regarding independent handling, in the current symbol, for example, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering scheduling requests transmitted and received grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE up to 4ms prior to the symbol, if the MAC entity is not in active time, the UE does not transmit periodic SRS or semi-permanent SRS. In relation to PUCCH transmission, if CSI masking is set up by upper layers, at the current symbol, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering the grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE received up to 4ms prior to the symbol, if drx-onDurationTimer is not running, the UE does not report a CSI for PUCCH. Otherwise, at the current symbol, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering the SR transmitted up to 4ms prior to the symbol and the grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE received, if the MAC entity is not in active time, the UE does not report a CSI for PUCCH or a semi-permanent CSI for PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel).Regardless of whether the MAC entity monitors PDCCH, the MAC entity transmits non-periodic SRS, non-periodic CSI for PUSCH, and HARQ feedback when expected. Independent handling of non-periodic events within a group can be implemented for fully independent or partially independent CDRX configurations.

[0117] Joint handling is applicable when a single PUCCH exists across all sets of component carriers. In the current symbol, if the MAC entity is not in active time for all sets of component carriers, or if the MAC entity is not in active time for a set of component carriers that has an SRS, the UE does not transmit a periodic SRS or a semi-permanent SRS. If CSI masking is set up by upper layers, in the current symbol, if drx-onDurationTimer is not running for all sets of component carriers, or if drx-onDurationTimer is not running for a set of component carriers that has a PUCCH, the UE does not report a CSI for the PUCCH. Otherwise, in the current symbol, if the MAC entity is not in an active time for all sets of component carriers, or if the MAC entity is not in an active time for sets of component carriers having a semi-permanent CSI for PUCCH or PUSCH, the UE does not report the CSI for PUCCH or the semi-permanent CSI for PUSCH. Regardless of whether the MAC entity is monitoring PDCCH (across sets of component carriers), the MAC entity transmits non-periodic SRS, non-periodic CSI for PUSCH, and HARQ feedback when it is expected.

[0118] The following is an example of dual CDRX in an FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation with a single PUCCH group. As mentioned above, CDRX is defined per MAC entity across carrier aggregations containing different numerals. Currently, the UE's CDRX configuration is common even across FR1 and FR2. Specific parameters such as DRX cycle, drx-OnDurationTimer, and drx-InactivityTimer are defined as SCS-independent values ​​(i.e., defined in milliseconds; see Table 3). There is no direct trade-off between power savings (to reduce latency) and scheduling flexibility for both FR1 and FR2 component carriers. Therefore, it would be beneficial to enable dual CDRX (i.e., CDRX per frequency range) for FR1 and FR2 carrier aggregations.

[0119] Important CDRX parameters related to the power consumption of the UE include the drx-OnDuration duty cycle (i.e., along with the DRX cycle) and the drx-InactivityTimer. For simplification, the FR1 CDRX configuration and the FR2 CDRX configuration may share the same DRX cycle and offset, which means that the start of the ON duration is aligned. However, the ON duration and the inactivity timer may be independent, which means that the ON duration and the inactivity timer for the FR2 CDRX configuration may be shorter than those for the FR1 CDRX configuration. This is exemplified in FIG. 6b, where the CDRX configuration for FR1 (650) has the same DRX cycle and offset as the CDRX configuration for FR2 (660), but has a longer ON duration than the CDRX configuration for FR2 (660). As a specific example, the DRX long cycle may be 160ms, the drx-OnDuration for FR1 may be 5ms and the drx-OnDuration for FR2 may be 1ms, and the drx-InactivityTimer for FR1 may be 100ms and the drx-InactivityTimer for FR2 may be 10ms.

[0120] Referring further to the dual CDRX in the FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation example, regarding data handling, the FR1 and FR2 CDRX configurations may be triggered independently and have independent timers. Regarding independent triggering, each frequency range may be activated based on a grant within the frequency range, each frequency range may be activated based on a MAC PDU within an SPS within the frequency range, or only FR1 may be activated during a pending scheduling request or a pending RAR. Regarding independent timers, each set of component carriers (for FR1 and FR2) may independently enter a CDRX inactive state based on their own inactive state. More specifically, the active time for each set of component carriers is independent per frequency range based on drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, and drx-RegransmissionTimerUL. Additionally, the timers are maintained independently. Regarding the reception of DRX command MAC-CEs, the DRX command MAC-CE will be common to FR1 and FR2, respectively.

[0121] Referring still to the dual CDRX in the FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation example, with respect to SRS and non-periodic event handling, this example assumes a single PUCCH group. With respect to SRS handling, in the current symbol, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering the scheduling requests transmitted and the grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE received up to 4ms prior to the current symbol, if the MAC entity is not in active time for a frequency range (FR1 or FR2), the UE does not transmit periodic SRS and semi-permanent SRS in that frequency range.

[0122] Regarding the handling of non-periodic events, regardless of whether the MAC entity is monitoring PDCCH (across FR1 and FR2), the MAC entity transmits non-periodic SRS, non-periodic CSI for PUSCH, and HARQ feedback when expected. In the case of HARQ feedback, while FR1 is in a DRX off period, PUCCH on FR1 is still transmitted for HARQ feedback. In the case of non-periodic CSI for PUSCH, CSI-RS monitoring occurs during the active time in the frequency range with CSI-RS. It is the network's responsibility to ensure that the triggered non-periodic CSI-RS falls during the active time period.

[0123] Continuing to refer to the dual CDRX in the FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation example, regarding PUCCH handling, a single PUCCH group is assumed. A single PUCCH group means that in FR1 + FR2 carrier aggregation, PUCCH is configured in only one component carrier (e.g., PCell). Regarding CSI handling, if CSI masking is set up by the upper layers, and the drx-onDurationTimer for FR1 is not running at the current symbol—for example, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE received up to 4ms prior to the current symbol—the UE does not report CSI for PUCCH. Otherwise, (1) in the current symbol, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering the SR transmitted and received grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE up to 4ms prior to the current symbol, if the MAC entity is not in active time for FR1, the UE does not report a CSI for PUCCH. Or, (2) in the current symbol, when evaluating all DRX active time conditions (as defined above), considering the scheduling request transmitted and received grants / assignments / DRX command MAC-CE / long DRX command MAC-CE up to 4ms prior to the current symbol, if the MAC entity is not in active time for a frequency range (FR1 or FR2), the UE does not report a semi-permanent CSI for PUSCH in such FR.

[0124] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication method (700) according to aspects of the present disclosure. In 710, a base station (702) (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) configures a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) operating in a carrier aggregation mode with a first set of CDRX parameters for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals. The first set of CDRX parameters may be defined as absolute times (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, milliseconds, TTIs (transmission time intervals), etc.). For example, the first set of CDRX parameters may include drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle, drx-ShortCycleTimer, drx-SlotOffset, or any combination thereof. The first set of component carriers may be a set of component carriers within a first FR (e.g., FR1 or FR2), a first frequency band, or a first group of cells. The first set of numerals may be one or more numerals from Table 1.

[0125] In 720, the base station (702) configures the UE with a second set of CDRX parameters for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals. The second set of CDRX parameters may be defined in absolute time (e.g., milliseconds). For example, the second set of CDRX parameters may include drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle, drx-ShortCycleTimer, drx-SlotOffset, or any combination thereof. The second set of component carriers may be a second frequency range (e.g., FR1 or FR2), a second frequency band, or a set of component carriers in a second group of cells different from the first set of component carriers. The second set of numerals may be one or more of the numerals from Table 1, and their parameters may or may not be different from the parameters of the first set of numerals.

[0126] In 730, the UE communicates with the base station according to a first set of CDRX parameters. For example, the UE receives downlink transmissions from the base station on the first set of component carriers during ON periods for the first set of component carriers defined by the first set of CDRX parameters, and sleeps during OFF periods for the first set of component carriers defined by the first set of CDRX parameters.

[0127] In 740, the UE communicates with the base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters. For example, the UE receives downlink transmissions from the base station on the second set of component carriers during ON periods for the second set of component carriers defined by the second set of CDRX parameters, and sleeps during OFF periods for the second set of component carriers defined by the second set of CDRX parameters.

[0128] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication method (800) according to aspects of the present disclosure. The method (800) may be performed by any of the UEs described herein, such as a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode.

[0129] In 810, the UE may be configured by a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) with a first set of CDRX parameters for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals. The first set of CDRX parameters may be defined by absolute time (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, milliseconds, TTIs, etc.). For example, the first set of CDRX parameters may include drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle, drx-ShortCycleTimer, drx-SlotOffset, or any combination thereof. The first set of component carriers may be a set of component carriers within a first frequency range (e.g., FR1 or FR2), a first frequency band, or a first group of cells. The first set of numerals may be one or more numerals from Table 1. In one aspect, the operation (810) may be performed by receiver(s) (312) and / or a processing system (332) which may be considered as "means for performing the operation (810)."

[0130] In 820, the UE may be configured by the base station with a second set of CDRX parameters for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals. The second set of CDRX parameters may be defined in absolute time (e.g., milliseconds). For example, the second set of CDRX parameters may include drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle, drx-ShortCycleTimer, drx-SlotOffset, or any combination thereof. The second set of component carriers may be a second frequency range (e.g., FR1 or FR2), a second frequency band, or a set of component carriers in a second group of cells different from the first set of component carriers. The second set of numerals may be one or more of the numerals from Table 1, and their parameters may or may not be different from the parameters of the first set of numerals. In one aspect, the operation (820) may be performed by receiver(s) (312) and / or a processing system (332) which may be considered as "means for" performing the operation (820).

[0131] The operations (810 and 820) are optional because the UE may be configured by a base station or network entity different from the base station with which the UE is communicating, or may determine the CDRX parameters themselves and signal them to the base station, etc.

[0132] In 830, the UE communicates with the base station according to the first set of CDRX parameters. For example, the UE may receive downlink transmissions from the base station on the first set of component carriers during the ON periods for the first set of component carriers defined by the first set of CDRX parameters, and sleep during the OFF periods for the first set of component carriers defined by the first set of CDRX parameters. In one aspect, the operation (830) may be performed by receiver(s) (312) and / or a processing system (332) which may be considered as "means for" performing the operation (830).

[0133] In 840, the UE communicates with the base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters. For example, the UE may receive downlink transmissions from the base station on the second set of component carriers during ON periods for the second set of component carriers defined by the second set of CDRX parameters, and sleep during OFF periods for the second set of component carriers defined by the second set of CDRX parameters. In one aspect, the operation (840) may be performed by receiver(s) and / or processing system (332) which may be considered as "means for" performing the operation (840).

[0134] FIG. 9 is a conceptual data flow diagram (900) illustrating data flow between different means / components in exemplary devices (902 and 980) according to aspects of the present disclosure. Device (902) may be a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) communicating with device (980), which may be a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein).

[0135] The device (902) includes a transmitting component (904) that corresponds to the transmitter circuit of the UE (302) as illustrated in FIG. 3a, comprising a transmitter(s) (314) and / or a processing system (332). The device (902) further includes a DRX component (906) that corresponds to the processor circuit of the UE (302) as illustrated in FIG. 3a, comprising a processing system (332) and / or a DRX component (342). The device (902) further includes a receiving component (908) that corresponds to the receiver circuit of the UE (302) as illustrated in FIG. 3a, comprising a receiver(s) (312) and / or a processing system (332).

[0136] The device (980) includes a receiving component (982) that corresponds to a receiver circuit of a base station (304) as illustrated in FIG. 3b, comprising a receiver(s) (352) and / or a processing system (384). The device (980) further includes a DRX component (984) that corresponds to a processor circuit of a base station (304) as illustrated in FIG. 3b, comprising a DRX component (388) and / or a processing system (384). The device (980) further includes a transmitting component (986) that corresponds to a transmitting circuit of a base station (304) as illustrated in FIG. 3b, comprising a transmitter(s) (354) and / or a processing system (332).

[0137] Referring to FIG. 9, the DRX component (984) generates sets of CDRX parameters for the device (902) for each component carrier that enables the device (902) to communicate with the device (980). The transmitting component (986) transmits downlink data to the receiving component (908), including DCI communications, PDCCH communications, DRX configurations, or a combination thereof. Some or all of these communications may convey the sets of CDRX parameters generated by the DRX component (984). The receiving component (908) receives the CDRX parameters and forwards them to the DRX component (906). The DRX component (906) configures the transmitting component (904) to transmit uplink data to the device (980) according to the CDRX parameters using the CDRX parameters. The transmitting component (904) transmits uplink data to the receiving component (982) according to the CDRX parameters.

[0138] One or more components of device (902) and device (980) may perform each of the blocks of the algorithms in the aforementioned flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8. Accordingly, each block in the aforementioned flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 may be performed by a component, and device (902) and / or device (980) may include one or more of such components. The components may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the mentioned processes / algorithms, implemented by a processor configured to perform the mentioned processes / algorithms, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or a combination of some of these.

[0139] FIG. 10 is a diagram (1000) illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a device (902') utilizing a processing system (1014). The processing system (1014) may be implemented as a bus architecture broadly represented by a bus (1024). The bus (1024) may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system (1014). The bus (1024) links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware components, represented by a processor (1004), components (904, 906 and 908), and a computer-readable medium / memory (1006). The bus (1024) may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and are therefore not further described.

[0140] A processing system (1014) may be coupled to a transceiver (1010). The transceiver (1010) is coupled to one or more antennas (1020). The transceiver (1010) provides means for communicating with various other devices through a transmission medium. The transceiver (1010) receives a signal from one or more antennas (1020), extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system (1014), particularly the receiving component (908). Additionally, the transceiver (1010) receives information from the processing system (1014), particularly the transmitting component (904), and generates a signal to be applied to one or more antennas (1020) based on the received information. The processing system (1014) includes a processor (1004) coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory (1006). The processor (1004) is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on a computer-readable medium / memory (1006). When executed by the processor (1004), the software causes the processing system (1014) to perform the various functions described above for any specific device. The computer-readable medium / memory (1006) may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor (1004) when the software is executed. The processing system (1014) further includes at least one of the components (904, 906 and 908). The components may be software components executed on the processor (1004) or residing / stored on the computer-readable medium / memory (1006), one or more hardware components coupled to the processor (1004), or a combination of some of these. The processing system (1014) may be a component of the UE (302) of FIG. 3a and may include at least one of a memory component (340) and / or a WWAN transceiver (310), a processing system (332), and a DRX component (342).

[0141] In one configuration, a device (902) for wireless communication (e.g., UE) includes means for communicating with a base station according to a first set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals, and means for communicating with a base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals.

[0142] The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the device (902) and / or the processing system (1014) of the device (902) configured to perform the functions cited by the aforementioned means. As described above, the processing system (1014) may include a WWAN transceiver (310), a processing system (332), and a DRX component (342).

[0143] FIG. 11 is a diagram (1100) illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a device (980') utilizing a processing system (1114). The processing system (1114) may be implemented as a bus architecture, generally represented by a bus (1124). The bus (1124) may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system (1114). The bus (1124) links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware components, represented by a processor (1104), components (982, 984, and 986), and a computer-readable medium / memory (1106). The bus (1124) may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and are therefore not further described.

[0144] A processing system (1114) may be coupled to a transceiver (1110). The transceiver (1110) is coupled to one or more antennas (1120). The transceiver (1110) provides means for communicating with various other devices through a transmission medium. The transceiver (1110) receives a signal from one or more antennas (1120), extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system (1114), particularly the receiving component (982). Additionally, the transceiver (1110) receives information from the processing system (1114), particularly the transmitting component (986), and generates a signal to be applied to one or more antennas (1120) based on the received information. The processing system (1114) includes a processor (1104) coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory (1106). The processor (1104) is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on a computer-readable medium / memory (1106). When the software is executed by the processor (1104), it causes the processing system (1114) to perform the various functions described above for any specific device. The computer-readable medium / memory (1106) may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor (1104) when the software is executed. The processing system (1114) further includes at least one of the components (982, 984, and 986). The components may be software components executed on the processor (1104) or residing / stored on the computer-readable medium / memory (1106), one or more hardware components coupled to the processor (1104), or a combination of some of these. The processing system (1114) may be a component of the base station (304) of FIG. 3b and may include at least one of a memory component (386) and / or a WWAN transceiver (350), a processing system (384), and a DRX component (388).

[0145] In one configuration, a device (980) for wireless communication (e.g., a base station) includes means for communicating with a UE according to a first set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals, and means for communicating with a UE according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in absolute time for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals.

[0146] The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the device (980) and / or the processing system (1114) of the device (980) configured to perform the functions cited by the aforementioned means. As described above, the processing system (1114) may include a WWAN transceiver (350), a processing system (384), and a DRX component (388).

[0147] As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. As used herein, a processor is implemented as hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software.

[0148] Those skilled in the art will recognize that information and signals may be represented using any of various other technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the foregoing description may be represented as voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0149] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate such interoperability between hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functional aspects. Whether such functions are implemented in hardware or in software depends on the design constraints imposed on the specific application and the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as being outside the scope of this disclosure.

[0150] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed by general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, FPGAs, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0151] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, as software modules executed by a processor, or as a combination of both. Software modules may reside in random-access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the industry. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as separate components in the user terminal.

[0152] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Where implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium or transmitted therethrough. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitate the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer. By example, but not by limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium accessible by a computer that can be used to transmit or store program code required in the form of instructions or data structures. Additionally, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, DSL (digital subscriber line), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disks and discs include compact discs (CD), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVD), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, wherein disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically by lasers.Combinations of the above must also be included within the scope of a computer-readable medium.

[0153] While the foregoing describes exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various modifications and variations may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or operations of the method claims according to the aspects of the disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is considered unless a limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

Claim 1 A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) operating in a carrier aggregation mode, comprising: a step of communicating with a base station according to a first set of connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) parameters defined in milliseconds for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerologies — said first set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds include at least a first ON duration timer and a first inactive timer —; and a step of communicating with the base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerologies — said second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds include at least a second ON duration timer and a second inactive timer — Claim 2 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the first set of CDRX parameters includes the first set of RRC (radio resource control) parameters and the second set of CDRX parameters includes the second set of RRC parameters. Claim 3 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 2, the first set of RRC parameters further comprises a first long cycle start offset timer, a first short cycle length, a first short cycle timer, a first slot offset, or any combination thereof, and the second set of RRC parameters further comprises a second long cycle start offset timer, a second short cycle length, a second short cycle timer, a second slot offset, or any combination thereof. Claim 4 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the CDRX parameters among the first set of CDRX parameters are configured independently of the CDRX parameters among the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 5 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the start time of the first CDRX cycle of the first set of CDRX parameters is aligned with the start time of the second CDRX cycle of the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 6 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, each of the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers independently enters an inactive state based on one or more inactive timers associated with the first set of CDRX parameters and the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 7 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, each of the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers enters an active state independently based on a separate grant for each of the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers. Claim 8 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE: does not transmit the SRS on the first set of component carriers based on the fact that the MAC (medium access control) entity of the UE is not in an active state until a threshold time period prior to the symbol scheduled to transmit the SRS. Claim 9 In claim 8, the above SRS is a wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, which is associated with the first set of component carriers. Claim 10 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE: has CSI masking configured, and does not report CSI (channel state information) for the PUCCH based on the fact that the ON duration timer is not executed until within a threshold time period prior to the symbol scheduled to be transmitted for the PUCCH (physical uplink control channel). Claim 11 In claim 10, the above PUCCH is a wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode associated with the first set of component carriers. Claim 12 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE: does not report a CSI for the PUCCH based on the fact that the MAC entity of the UE is not in an active state until a threshold time period prior to the symbol scheduled to be transmitted for the PUCCH. Claim 13 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, regardless of whether it is in an inactive state, the MAC entity of the UE transmits: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, a non-periodic CSI for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and a non-periodic SRS. Claim 14 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE does not transmit an SRS on the first set of component carriers based on the fact that the MAC entity of the UE is not active for both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or that the MAC entity is not active for the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers to which a grant for PUCCH has been received. Claim 15 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE: does not report a CSI for the PUCCH based on the fact that CSI masking is configured and an ON duration timer is not running for both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or that the ON duration timer is not running for the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers for which a grant for the PUCCH has been received. Claim 16 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE does not report a CSI for the PUCCH based on the fact that the MAC entity of the UE is not active for both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or the MAC entity is not active for the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers to which a grant for the PUCCH has been received. Claim 17 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, regardless of whether it is in an inactive state, the MAC entity of the UE transmits: HARQ feedback, a non-periodic CSI for PUSCH, and a non-periodic SRS. Claim 18 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, a subset of CDRX parameters of the first set of CDRX parameters is independent of the subcarrier interval associated with the numerators of the first set, a subset of CDRX parameters of the second set of CDRX parameters is independent of the subcarrier interval associated with the numerators of the second set, and a subset of CDRX parameters of the first set of CDRX parameters is independent of the subset of CDRX parameters of the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 19 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 18, a subset of the CDRX parameters of the first set of CDRX parameters comprises the first ON duration timer, the first inactive timer, the first long cycle start offset timer, the first short cycle length, the first short cycle timer, the first slot offset, or any combination thereof, and a subset of the CDRX parameters of the second set of CDRX parameters comprises the second ON duration timer, the second inactive timer, the second long cycle start offset timer, the second short cycle length, the second short cycle timer, the second slot offset, or any combination thereof. Claim 20 A wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers are active during a pending scheduling request or a pending random access response, and is performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode. Claim 21 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the step of receiving a MAC-CE (MAC control element) DRX (discontinuous reception) command is common to both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or is common to the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers to which the MAC-CE DRX command is received, or indicates that both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers will enter an inactive state. Claim 22 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the first set of component carriers includes one or more component carriers operating in a first frequency range, and the second set of component carriers includes one or more component carriers operating in a second frequency range. Claim 23 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the first set of component carriers includes one or more component carriers operating in a first frequency band, and the second set of component carriers includes one or more component carriers operating in a second frequency band. Claim 24 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 1, the first set of component carriers includes one or more component carriers of a first group of cells, and the second set of component carriers includes one or more component carriers of a second group of cells. Claim 25 A wireless communication method according to claim 24, wherein the cells of the first group, the cells of the second group, or both the cells of the first group and the cells of the second group operate according to a single numeral, and is performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode. Claim 26 A wireless communication method performed by a UE operating in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the cells of the first group, the cells of the second group, or both the cells of the first group and the cells of the second group operate according to a plurality of numerals. Claim 27 User equipment (UE) configured to operate in carrier aggregation mode, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicably coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor: communicates with a base station through the at least one transceiver according to a first set of connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) parameters defined in milliseconds for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals, wherein the first set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds includes at least a first ON duration timer and a first inactive timer. A UE configured to communicate with the base station through the above-mentioned at least one transceiver according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals, wherein the second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds includes at least a second ON duration timer and a second inactive timer, and configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode. Claim 28 A UE configured to operate in carrier aggregation mode, wherein the first set of CDRX parameters includes the first set of RRC (radio resource control) parameters and the second set of CDRX parameters includes the second set of RRC parameters. Claim 29 A UE configured to operate in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 28, the first set of RRC parameters further comprises a first long cycle start offset timer, a first short cycle length, a first short cycle timer, a first slot offset, or any combination thereof, and the second set of RRC parameters further comprises a second long cycle start offset timer, a second short cycle length, a second short cycle timer, a second slot offset, or any combination thereof. Claim 30 In claim 27, a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the CDRX parameters among the first set of CDRX parameters are configured independently of the CDRX parameters among the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 31 In claim 27, a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the start time of the first CDRX cycle of the first set of CDRX parameters is aligned with the start time of the second CDRX cycle of the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 32 In claim 27, the UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein each of the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers independently enters an inactive state based on one or more inactive timers associated with the first set of CDRX parameters and the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 33 In claim 27, a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein each of the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers enters an active state independently based on a separate grant for each of the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers. Claim 34 In claim 27, the at least one transceiver is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the medium access control (MAC) entity of the UE does not transmit the sounding reference (SRS) on the first set of component carriers based on the fact that the SRS is not active until a threshold time period prior to the symbol scheduled to transmit the sounding reference signal. Claim 35 In claim 34, the SRS is a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode associated with the first set of component carriers. Claim 36 In claim 27, the at least one processor is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein CSI masking is configured, and the ON duration timer is not executed until within a threshold time period prior to the symbol scheduled to be transmitted for the PUCCH (physical uplink control channel), and the UE is configured not to report CSI (channel state information) for the PUCCH. Claim 37 In claim 36, the PUCCH is a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode associated with the first set of component carriers. Claim 38 In claim 27, the at least one processor is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the UE's MAC entity is not active until a threshold time period prior to the symbol scheduled to be transmitted for the PUCCH, and the UE does not report a CSI for the PUCCH. Claim 39 In claim 27, regardless of whether it is in an inactive state, the MAC entity of the UE is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, transmitting: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, a non-periodic CSI for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and a non-periodic SRS. Claim 40 In claim 27, the at least one transceiver is a UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the MAC entity of the UE is not active for both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or the MAC entity is not active for the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers to which a grant for PUCCH has been received, and the MAC entity does not transmit an SRS on the first set of component carriers. Claim 41 In claim 27, the at least one processor is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode that does not report a CSI for the PUCCH, based on the fact that CSI masking is configured and an ON duration timer is not running for both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or that the ON duration timer is not running for the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers for which a grant for the PUCCH has been received. Claim 42 In claim 27, the at least one processor is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode that does not report a CSI for the PUCCH, based on the fact that the MAC entity of the UE is not active for both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or that the MAC entity is not active for the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers to which a grant for the PUCCH has been received. Claim 43 In claim 27, regardless of whether it is in an inactive state, the MAC entity of the UE is configured to operate in carrier aggregation mode, transmitting: HARQ feedback, non-periodic CSI for PUSCH, and non-periodic SRS. Claim 44 A UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 27, a subset of CDRX parameters of the first set of CDRX parameters is independent of the subcarrier interval associated with the numerators of the first set, a subset of CDRX parameters of the second set of CDRX parameters is independent of the subcarrier interval associated with the numerators of the second set, and a subset of CDRX parameters of the first set of CDRX parameters is independent of the subset of CDRX parameters of the second set of CDRX parameters. Claim 45 A UE configured to operate in carrier aggregation mode, wherein, in claim 44, a subset of the CDRX parameters of the first set of CDRX parameters comprises the first ON duration timer, the first inactive timer, the first long cycle start offset timer, the first short cycle length, the first short cycle timer, the first slot offset, or any combination thereof, and a subset of the CDRX parameters of the second set of CDRX parameters comprises the second ON duration timer, the second inactive timer, the second long cycle start offset timer, the second short cycle length, the second short cycle timer, the second slot offset, or any combination thereof. Claim 46 In claim 27, the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers are configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, which is active during a pending scheduling request or a pending random access response. Claim 47 In claim 27, the at least one processor is further configured to receive a MAC-CE (MAC control element) DRX (discontinuous reception) command through the at least one transceiver, and the MAC-CE DRX command is common to both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers, or is common to the first set of component carriers or the second set of component carriers to which the MAC-CE DRX command is received, or is configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode indicating that both the first set of component carriers and the second set of component carriers will enter an inactive state. Claim 48 A UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the first set of component carriers comprises one or more component carriers operating in a first frequency range, and the second set of component carriers comprises one or more component carriers operating in a second frequency range. Claim 49 A UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the first set of component carriers comprises one or more component carriers operating in a first frequency band, and the second set of component carriers comprises one or more component carriers operating in a second frequency band. Claim 50 A UE configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, wherein the first set of component carriers comprises one or more component carriers of a first group of cells, and the second set of component carriers comprises one or more component carriers of a second group of cells. Claim 51 In claim 50, the cells of the first group, the cells of the second group, or both the cells of the first group and the cells of the second group are configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, which operates according to a single numeralerometer. Claim 52 In claim 50, the cells of the first group, the cells of the second group, or both the cells of the first group and the cells of the second group are configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, which operates according to a plurality of numerals. Claim 53 A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a carrier aggregation mode, comprising: means for communicating with a base station according to a first set of connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) parameters defined in milliseconds for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerals—said that the first set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds include at least a first ON duration timer and a first inactive timer—; and means for communicating with the base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerals—said that the second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds include at least a second ON duration timer and a second inactive timer. Claim 54 A non-transient computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable commands for wireless communication, wherein the computer-executable commands comprise: at least one command instructing a UE (user equipment) operating in carrier aggregation mode to communicate with a base station according to a first set of connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) parameters defined in milliseconds for a first set of component carriers associated with a first set of numerators — said first set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds includes at least a first ON duration timer and a first inactive timer —; and at least one command instructing the UE to communicate with the base station according to a second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds for a second set of component carriers associated with a second set of numerators — said second set of CDRX parameters defined in milliseconds includes at least a second ON duration timer and a second inactive timer —.

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