Method and device for controlling secondary cell

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) are provided. The method for controlling a SCell of a new air interface carrier aggregation by a user equipment comprises: receiving at least one of downlink control information (DCI) and a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) from a network node, wherein at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell, the method comprises determining whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE, and controlling the SCell according to the determination.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and particularly to a method and apparatus for controlling a secondary cell (SCell). Background Art

[0002] In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, if a Medium Access Control (MAC) entity is configured with one or more secondary cells (SCells), the network can activate and deactivate one or more of the configured SCells. Special cells (SpCells) applicable to a primary cell (PCell) and a primary secondary cell (PSCell) are always active. The network activates and deactivates SCells by sending activation / deactivation MAC control elements (CEs).

[0003] In the RAN2#99bis meeting, the Radio Access Network Technical Specification Group Working Group 2 (TSG-RAN WG2), one of the working groups of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), agreed to use MAC CEs to activate or deactivate SCells in a New Radio (NR) system, which is the baseline in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.

[0004] There is a need to provide a new technical solution for controlling a secondary cell (SCell). Summary of the Invention

[0005] The objective of the present disclosure is to propose a method and apparatus for controlling a secondary cell (SCell).

[0006] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to: control the transceiver to receive at least one of downlink control information (DCI) and Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) from a network node, wherein at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell; the processor is configured to determine whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and control the SCell according to the determination.

[0007] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a user equipment to control a secondary cell (SCell) includes: receiving at least one of downlink control information (DCI) and Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) from a network node, wherein at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell; the method includes determining whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and controlling the SCell according to the determination.

[0008] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a network node for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to: control the transceiver to send one of downlink control information (DCI) and medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to a user equipment, wherein one of the DCI and the MAC CE to be sent indicates the control of the SCell; and the processor is configured to control the transceiver not to send the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment.

[0009] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a network node to control a secondary cell (SCell) includes: sending one of downlink control information (DCI) and medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to a user equipment, wherein one of the DCI and the MAC CE to be sent indicates the control of the SCell; and prohibiting sending the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment.

[0010] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium stores instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute the above method.

[0011] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device includes a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program. The processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to execute the above method.

[0012] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a network node includes a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program. The processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to execute the above method. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] To more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related technologies, the following briefly introduces the drawings that will be described in the embodiments. Obviously, these drawings are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those of ordinary skill in the art can obtain other drawings without creative efforts based on these drawings.

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a user equipment and a network node for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing a method for a user equipment to control an SCell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing a method for a network node to control an SCell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram showing the control of a secondary cell (SCell) between a user equipment and a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 It is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0019] The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in combination with technical problems, structural features, achieved purposes and effects. In particular, the terms in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and do not limit the present disclosure.

[0020] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) are provided. RAN1 is discussing whether to introduce downlink control information (DCI) to activate and deactivate the SCell. If RAN1 finally agrees to use DCI to activate or deactivate a configured SCell, there may be a signaling ambiguity problem. For example, what behavior will occur when a user equipment receives both an activation MAC CE and a deactivation DCI simultaneously. A new technical solution for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) needs to be provided to solve the ambiguity problem when a user equipment receives both an activation MAC CE and a deactivation DCI simultaneously.

[0021] Figure 1 It shows a user equipment (UE) 10 and a network node 20 for controlling a cell (SCell) in some embodiments according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The UE 10 may include a processor 11, a memory 12, and a transceiver 13. The network node 20 may include a processor 21, a memory 22, and a transceiver 23. The processor 11 or 21 may be configured to implement the functions, programs, and / or methods proposed in the description of this specification. The radio interface protocol layer may be implemented in the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 is operably coupled to the processor 11 or 21 and stores various information for operating the processor 11 or 21. The transceiver 13 or 23 is operably coupled to the processor 11 or 21 and transmits and / or receives radio signals.

[0022] The processor 11 or 21 may include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chip sets, logic circuits, and / or data processing devices. The memory 12 or 22 may include a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a memory card, a storage medium, and / or other storage devices. The transceiver 13 or 23 may include a baseband circuit for processing radio frequency signals. When an embodiment is implemented in software, the techniques described herein may be implemented as modules (e.g., programs, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. These modules may be stored in the memory 12 or 22 and executed by the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 may be implemented within the processor 11 or 21 or outside the processor 11 or 21, in which case the memory may be communicatively coupled to the processor 11 or 21 in various ways known in the art.

[0023] According to the sidelink technology developed based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) Release 16 and later versions, the communication between UEs involves vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), and vehicle-to-infrastructure / network (V2I / N). The UEs communicate directly with each other through a sidelink interface such as the PC5 interface.

[0024] In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to control the transceiver 13 to receive at least one of downlink control information (DCI) and media access control (MAC) control element (CE) from the network node 20. At least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates the control of the SCell. The processor 11 is configured to determine whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE, and control at least one SCell according to the determination.

[0025] In some embodiments, the processor 21 is configured to: control the transceiver 23 to send one of downlink control information (DCI) and media access control (MAC) control element (CE) to the user equipment 10, where one of the DCI and the MAC CE to be sent indicates the control of the SCell, and control the transceiver 23 not to send the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment 10. In some embodiments, controlling the transceiver 23 not to send the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment 10 includes: controlling the transceiver 23 not to send the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment 10 between the time point of sending one of the DCI and the MAC CE and the time point when one of the DCI and the MAC CE is valid.

[0026] Figure 2The method 200 for controlling an SCell of a user equipment 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The method 200 includes: at block 202, receiving at least one of downlink control information (DCI) and a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) from a network node 20, where at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell; at block 204, determining whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and at block 206, controlling the SCell according to the determination.

[0027] Figure 3 The method 300 for controlling an SCell of a network node 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The method 300 includes: at block 302, sending one of downlink control information (DCI) and a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) to a user equipment 10, where one of the DCI and the MAC CE to be sent indicates control of the SCell; and at block 304, prohibiting sending the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment 10. In some embodiments, the operation of prohibiting sending the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment 10 includes: prohibiting sending the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to the user equipment 10 between a time point of sending one of the DCI and the MAC CE and a time point when one of the DCI and the MAC CE is valid.

[0028] Figure 4 In some embodiments, control of an SCell 30 between a user equipment 10 and a network node 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The user equipment 10 may communicate with a plurality of cells managed by the network node 20 and may operate at different frequencies. To increase the transmission bandwidth, one user may be served by a plurality of cells, and these cells may be covered by the network node 20. These cells include a primary cell (PCell) 40 and an SCell 30. The PCell 40 may be a serving cell and may be in an active state. The PCell 40 may be switched through a handover process. The user equipment 10 sends and receives non-access stratum (NAS) information in the PCell 40 and sends a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) in the PCell 40.

[0029] Figure 1 and Figure 4 It is shown that in some embodiments, when the transceiver 13 receives the DCI and the MAC CE, the processor 11 ignores one of the DCI and the MAC CE. The processor 11 controlling the SCell 30 according to the determination includes: the processor 11 applying the other of the DCI and the MAC CE to control the SCell 30.

[0030] In some embodiments, when transceiver 13 receives DCI, processor 11 controls SCell 30 according to this determination, including: processor 11 applies the DCI to control SCell 30. When transceiver 13 sequentially receives MAC CE and DCI and determines that both MAC CE and DCI are applied, processor 11 controls SCell 30 according to this determination, including: processor 11 sequentially applies MAC CE and DCI to control SCell 30. When transceiver 13 sequentially receives DCI and MAC CE and determines that both MAC CE and DCI are applied, processor 11 controls SCell 30 according to this determination, including: processor 11 sequentially applies DCI and MAC CE to control SCell 30.

[0031] In addition, in some embodiments, transceiver 13 is configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message that indicates that one of DCI and MAC CE will be applied by processor 11 to control SCell 30. Specifically, in some embodiments, at least one of DCI and MAC CE indicates control of SCell 30, including: at least one of DCI and MAC CE indicates activation or deactivation of SCell 30. Processor 11 is configured to activate or deactivate SCell 30.

[0032] Figure 1 and Figure 4 It is also shown that in some embodiments, processor 21 is configured to control SCell 30 according to one of DCI and MAC CE to be sent. If only one of these two methods is used, there will be no ambiguity problem.

[0033] In addition, in some embodiments, processor 21 is configured to: control transceiver 23 to send a radio resource control (RRC) message that indicates that one of DCI and MAC CE will be applied to control SCell. In some embodiments, processor 21 is configured to be configured by RRC reconfiguration or RRC message. This configuration can be for each user equipment, each cell group, or each cell in a cell group.

[0034] Specifically, in some embodiments, when transceiver 23 sends DCI, processor 21 applies the DCI to control SCell 30. When transceiver 23 sends MAC CE, processor 21 applies the MAC CE to control SCell 30. When transceiver 23 sequentially sends MAC CE and DCI, processor 21 sequentially applies MAC CE and DCI to control SCell 30. When transceiver 23 sequentially sends DCI and MAC CE, processor 21 sequentially applies DCI and MAC CE to control SCell 30.

[0035] In some embodiments, the control of at least one SCell 30 includes activating and / or deactivating the SCell 30. The processor 21 is configured to activate or deactivate the SCell 30.

[0036] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 700 for wireless communication according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in a system using any suitable configuration of hardware and / or software. Figure 5 The system 700 is shown, which includes at least the following coupled to each other as shown: radio frequency (RF) circuitry 710, baseband circuitry 720, application circuitry 730, memory / storage 740, display 750, camera 760, sensors 770, and input / output (I / O) interface 780.

[0037] The application circuitry 730 can include, but is not limited to, the following circuitry, such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors can include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors). The processors can be coupled to the memory / storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage to enable various applications and / or operating systems to run on the system.

[0038] The baseband circuitry 720 can include, but is not limited to, the following circuitry, such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors can include baseband processors. The baseband circuitry can handle various wireless control functions to enable communication with one or more wireless networks via the RF circuitry. The wireless control functions can include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry can provide communication compatible with one or more wireless technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry can support communication with evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and / or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN). In an embodiment, the baseband circuitry configured to support wireless communication of more than one wireless protocol can be referred to as a multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0039] In various embodiments, the baseband circuitry 720 can include circuitry that operates using signals that are not strictly considered to be at baseband frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry can include circuitry that operates using signals having an intermediate frequency that is between the baseband frequency and the radio frequency.

[0040] The RF circuitry 710 can communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network.

[0041] In various embodiments, RF circuit 710 may include circuits that operate using signals that are not strictly considered to be in the radio frequency. For example, in some embodiments, the RF circuit may include circuits that operate using signals having an intermediate frequency that lies between the baseband frequency and the radio frequency.

[0042] In various embodiments, the transmitter circuits, control circuits, or receiver circuits discussed above with respect to the user equipment, eNB, or gNB may be implemented, in whole or in part, in one or more RF circuits, baseband circuits, and / or application circuits. As used herein, "circuit" may include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) executing one or more software or firmware programs, and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), combinational logic circuits, and / or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality, or refer to a portion of such components. In some embodiments, the electronic device circuits may be implemented by one or more software or firmware modules, or the functions associated with the circuits may be implemented by one or more software or firmware modules.

[0043] In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuit, application circuit, and / or memory / memories may be implemented together on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0044] Memory / memories 740 may be used to load and store, for example, data and / or instructions for the system. The memory / memories of one embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) and / or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory).

[0045] In various embodiments, I / O interface 780 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system, and / or a peripheral component interface designed to enable peripheral components to interact with the system. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power interface.

[0046] In various embodiments, sensor 770 may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and / or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensor may include, but is not limited to, a gyroscope sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit and / or RF circuit to communicate with components of a positioning network (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites).

[0047] In various embodiments, the display 750 may include a display such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, the system 700 may be a mobile computing device, such as but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, a ultrabook, a smart phone, etc. In various embodiments, the system may have more or fewer components and / or a different architecture. In appropriate circumstances, the methods described in this disclosure may be implemented as a computer program. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium such as a non-transitory storage medium.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method and an apparatus for controlling a secondary cell (SCell) of new radio (NR) carrier aggregation are provided. Embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of technologies / processes that can be adopted in 3GPP specifications to create a final product.

[0049] Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the various units, algorithms, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are implemented using either electronic hardware or a combination of software for a computer and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are run in hardware or software depends on the application conditions and design requirements of the technical solution.

[0050] Those of ordinary skill in the art can use different ways to implement the functions of each specific application, and such implementation should not exceed the scope of the present disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that since the working processes of the above systems, devices, and units are basically the same, he / she can refer to the working processes of the systems, devices, and units in the above embodiments. For the sake of convenience of description and simplification, these working processes will not be described in detail.

[0051] It should be understood that the systems, devices, and methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in other ways. The above embodiments are merely exemplary. The division of units is only based on logical function division, and there are other divisions in implementation. Multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system. Certain features can also be omitted or skipped. On the other hand, the shown or discussed mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication coupling can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices, or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0052] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be used according to the purposes of the embodiments. In addition, the various functional units in the respective embodiments can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can physically exist alone, or two or more units can be integrated into one processing unit.

[0053] When the above-mentioned function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present disclosure, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art or a part of this technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0054] Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with the most practical and preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment for controlling a secondary cell (SCell), the user equipment comprising: Memory; Transceiver; as well as a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, Wherein, the processor is configured to: Controlling the transceiver to receive at least one of downlink control information DCI and medium access control MAC control element CE from a network node, wherein at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell; determining whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and controlling the SCell according to the determination, Wherein, the processor is further configured to: When the transceiver simultaneously receives a DCI indicating deactivation of the SCell and a MAC CE indicating activation of the SCell, ignoring one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and The other of the DCI and the MAC CE is applied to control the SCell.

2. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein: When the transceiver receives the DCI, the processor controls the SCell according to the determination, including: The processor applies the DCI to control the SCell.

3. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein: When the transceiver receives the MAC CE and the DCI in sequence and determines that both the MAC CE and the DCI are applied, the processor controls the SCell according to the determination, including: The processor applies the MAC CE and the DCI in sequence to control the SCell.

4. The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The transceiver is configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message indicating that one of the DCI and the MAC CE is to be applied by the processor to control the SCell.

5. The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: At least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicating control of the SCell includes: at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicating activation or deactivation of the SCell.

6. The user equipment according to claim 5, wherein: The processor is configured to activate or deactivate the SCell.

7. A method for a user equipment to control a secondary cell (SCell), the method comprising: Receiving at least one of downlink control information DCI and medium access control MAC control element CE from a network node, wherein at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell; determining whether to apply or ignore at least one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and controlling the SCell according to the determination, The method further comprises: When a DCI indicating deactivation of the SCell and a MAC CE indicating activation of the SCell are simultaneously received, ignoring one of the DCI and the MAC CE; and The other of the DCI and the MAC CE is applied to control the SCell.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: When the DCI is received, controlling the SCell according to the determination includes: The DCI is applied to control the SCell.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: When the MAC CE and the DCI are received in sequence and it is determined that both the MAC CE and the DCI are applied, controlling the SCell according to the determination includes: The MAC CE and the DCI are applied in sequence to control the SCell.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received, wherein the RRC message indicates that one of the DCI and the MAC CE is to be applied to control the SCell.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein: At least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates control of the SCell includes: At least one of the DCI and the MAC CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SCell. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising activating or deactivating the SCell.

13. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

14. A terminal device, comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

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