Beam failure recovery of serving cell

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to beam failure recovery of a serving cell. In response to a beam failure in a serving cell, a first device detects a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth portion (310), the first bandwidth portion being active. In response to a failure to detect the first candidate beam, the first device switches from the first bandwidth portion to a second bandwidth portion in the serving cell. The second bandwidth portion is configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovery from a beam failure (320). The first device detects a second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal (330). In response to successfully detecting the second candidate beam, the first device sends information about the second candidate beam to the second device for recovery from the beam failure (340).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method, device, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for beam failure recovery (BFR) of a serving cell. Background Art

[0002] The New Radio Access System, also referred to as an NR system or an NR network, is a next generation communication system. It has been agreed that carrier aggregation (CA), used in Long Term Evolution (LTE) to increase bandwidth, will be supported in NR systems. When CA is used, there are multiple serving cells. Typically, a serving cell may include a primary cell (PCell) and at least one secondary cell (SCell). When the quality of a beam pair of a serving cell drops sufficiently low (e.g., compared to a threshold or timeout of an associated timer), a beam failure may occur.

[0003] The BFR process is a mechanism for restoring beams when all or part of the beams serving a terminal device fail. Beam recovery may also be referred to as link reconfiguration. The purpose of beam recovery is to detect when one or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) links are considered to be in a failed state and to restore the link. In order to restore the link, the terminal device initiates signaling to the network device to indicate the failure and a new potential link. The new potential link may be referred to as a candidate beam. In response to a beam failure recovery request (BFRR) received from the terminal device, the network device may configure the terminal device with a new PDCCH link. Currently, beam failure recovery has been defined for one serving cell, which actually only covers beam failure recovery for PCell. Therefore, there is still a need to provide a solution for beam failure recovery, especially for SCell. Summary of the invention

[0004] Generally speaking, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for beam failure recovery of a serving cell.

[0005] In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, enable the first device to: in response to a beam failure in a serving cell, detect a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth part, the first bandwidth part being active; in response to a failure to detect the first candidate beam, switch from the first bandwidth part to a second bandwidth part in the serving cell, the second bandwidth part being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovery from the beam failure; detect the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal; and in response to successfully detecting the second candidate beam, send information about the second candidate beam to a second device for recovery from the beam failure.

[0006] In a second aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the second device to: in response to the first device successfully detecting a second candidate beam associated with a second bandwidth portion in a serving cell, receive information about the second candidate beam from the first device, the second bandwidth portion being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying the second candidate beam for recovering from a beam failure in the serving cell, the second device operating in the active first bandwidth portion; and communicate with the first device by using the second candidate beam.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: in response to a beam failure in a serving cell, detecting a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth part at a first device, the first bandwidth part being active; in response to a failure to detect the first candidate beam, switching from the first bandwidth part to a second bandwidth part in the serving cell, the second bandwidth part being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovery from the beam failure; detecting the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal; and in response to successfully detecting the second candidate beam, sending information about the second candidate beam to a second device for recovery from the beam failure.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: in response to a first device successfully detecting a second candidate beam associated with a second bandwidth portion in a serving cell, receiving, at a second device, information about the second candidate beam from the first device, the second bandwidth portion being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying the second candidate beam for recovering from a beam failure in the serving cell, the second device operating in the active first bandwidth portion; and communicating with the first device by using the second candidate beam.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for detecting a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth portion at a first device in response to a beam failure in a serving cell, the first bandwidth portion being active; a component for switching from the first bandwidth portion to a second bandwidth portion in the serving cell in response to a failure to detect the first candidate beam, the second bandwidth portion being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovery from the beam failure; a component for detecting the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal; and a component for sending information about the second candidate beam to a second device for recovery from the beam failure in response to successful detection of the second candidate beam.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: means for receiving information about a second candidate beam from a first device in response to the first device successfully detecting a second candidate beam associated with a second bandwidth portion in a serving cell, the second bandwidth portion being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying the second candidate beam for recovering from a beam failure in the serving cell, the second device operating in the active first bandwidth portion; and means for communicating with the first device by using the second candidate beam.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising a computer program for causing an apparatus to at least execute the method according to the third aspect.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising a computer program for causing an apparatus to at least execute the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0013] It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1 shows an example communication network in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0016] Figure 2 A signaling diagram illustrating a process for beam failure recovery of a serving cell according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 3 A flowchart showing a method implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0018] Figure 4 A flowchart showing a method implemented at a device according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0019] Figure 5 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0020] Figure 6 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to help those skilled in the art understand and implement the present disclosure without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways different from the ways described below.

[0023] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0024] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that complies with any suitable communication standard or protocol such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A) and 5GNR, and adopts any suitable communication technology, including, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), OFDM, time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth, zigbee, machine type communication (MTC), eMBB, mMTC and uRLLC technology. For the purpose of discussion, in some embodiments, an LTE network, an LTE-A network, a 5GNR network or any combination thereof is taken as an example of a communication network.

[0025] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to any suitable device on the network side of a communication network. The network device may include any suitable device in the access network of the communication network, including, for example, a base station (BS), a relay, an access point (AP), a node B (node ​​B or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a next generation node B (gNB), a remote radio module (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a low power node such as a femto base station, a pico base station, an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, etc. For the purpose of discussion, in some embodiments, an eNB is taken as an example of a network device.

[0026] The network equipment may also include any suitable equipment in the core network, for example including multi-standard radio (MSR) radio equipment such as an MSR BS, a network controller such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a mobile switching center (MSC) and MME, operations and management (O&M) nodes, operations support system (OSS) nodes, self-organizing network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC), and / or a mobile data terminal (MDT).

[0027] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to a device that is capable of, configured for, arranged for, and / or operable to communicate with a network device or another terminal device in a communication network. The communication may involve transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic signals, radio waves, infrared signals, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information over the air. In some embodiments, the terminal device may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network side, the terminal device may send information to the network device on a predetermined schedule.

[0028] Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment (UE), such as a smart phone, a wireless enabled tablet computer, a laptop embedded device (LEE), a laptop mounted equipment (LME) and / or wireless customer premises equipment (CPE). For the purpose of discussion, some embodiments will be described below with reference to UE as an example of a terminal device, and the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" (UE) may be used interchangeably in the context of the present disclosure.

[0029] As used herein, the term "cell" refers to an area covered by radio signals sent by a network device. Terminal devices within the cell can be served by the network device and access the communication network via the network device.

[0030] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0031] (a) only hardware circuit implementation (e.g., only implementation in analog and / or digital circuits) and

[0032] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (where applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware, and (ii) any portion of a hardware processor together with software (including a digital signal processor), software and memory that works together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions), and

[0033] (c) Hardware circuits and / or processors (e.g., a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor) that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but where software is not required to operate, the software may not be present.

[0034] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or its) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers (for example and if applicable to a particular claim element) a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device or other computing or network device.

[0035] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "including" and its variations should be interpreted as open-ended terms meaning "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". Other explicit and implicit definitions may be included below.

[0036] Figure 1 An example communication network 100 in which an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown. The network 100 includes a first device 110 and a second device 120 that can communicate with each other. In this example, the first device 110 is shown as a terminal device, and the second device 120 is shown as a network device serving the terminal device. The second device 120 may provide one or more service cells 101, 102 to serve the first device 110. It should be understood that the number of the first device, the second device, and the service cell is only for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitation. The network 100 may include any suitable number of first devices and second devices and service cells suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the terms "cell" and "service cell" are used interchangeably here.

[0037] In the network 100, the second device 120 can send data and control information to the first device 110, and the first device 110 can also send data and control information to the second device 120. The link from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is called a downlink (DL) or forward link, and the link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 is called an uplink (UL) or reverse link.

[0038] Communications in the network 100 may conform to any suitable standard, including but not limited to 5G New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Evolution, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), among others. In addition, communications may be performed according to any generation of communications protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of communications protocols include but are not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, and fifth generation (5G) communications protocols.

[0039] CA may be supported in the network 100. In CA, two or more component carriers (CCs) are aggregated to support a wider bandwidth. In CA, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 with multiple serving cells including one PCell 101 and at least one SCell 102. Figure 1 Only one SCell 102 is shown in FIG. 1 , but the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 to have multiple SCells. The first device 110 may be configured to perform BFR on any of the configured SCells. The maximum number of SCells for which the first device 110 performs BFR may depend on the capabilities of the first device 110. It should also be understood that Figure 1 The configurations of PCell 101 and SCell 102 are shown for illustration purposes only and do not imply any limitation. PCell 101 and SCell 102 may be different from Figure 1 Other configurations shown.

[0040] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 is configured to implement beamforming technology and transmit a signal to the first device 110 via multiple beams. Different beams may be configured for the PCell 101 and the SCell 102. For example, Figure 1 As shown, DL beam 111 is configured for SCell 102. It should be understood that more beams may be configured for SCell 102. Although not shown, one or more beams may be configured for PCell 101.

[0041] When the quality of all or part of the beams serving the first device 110 drops sufficiently low, a beam failure may occur. The beam failure may occur in any one of the PCell 101 and the SCell 102. Upon detecting a beam failure, the first device 110 may initiate a BFR process to restore at least one beam or control channel link. In order to restore the beam, the first device 110 may send a beam failure recovery request indicating the beam failure to the second device 120. In addition, the first device 110 may also indicate a new potential beam to the second device 120. The new potential beam is also referred to as a candidate beam. In response to the beam failure recovery request, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 using a new control channel link. The second device 120 may then communicate with the first device 110 by using the new control channel link.

[0042] To identify candidate beams for recovering from a beam failure, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 using a reference signal list identifying the candidate beams.

[0043] The second device 120 may configure the reference signal on a per bandwidth part (BWP) basis. For example, if the first device 110 is configured with multiple BWPs in the SCell 102, the second device 120 configures the first device 110 with a corresponding list of reference signals identifying candidate beams for each of the multiple BWPs. It should be understood that in the case where the first device 110 is configured with multiple BWPs in the SCell 102, only one BWP is active at a given time.

[0044] Because the reference signal list identifying the candidate beams in the SCell is configured on a per-BWP basis, the currently active BWP being operated by the terminal device during beam failure detection may not be configured with a reference signal list identifying the candidate beams, or the candidate beams may not be visible. In this case, conventionally, the terminal device will report to the network device that no candidate beams have been identified for the SCell. Therefore, the network device has no way to immediately resolve the beam failure of the terminal device except to deactivate the SCell before receiving radio resource management (RRM) measurements in the SCell via radio resource control (RRC). Alternatively, the network device may keep the SCell active while waiting for the RRM measurements.

[0045] To at least partially address the above and other potential problems, an example embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solution for BFR of a serving cell. In the solution, if a first device fails to detect a first candidate beam associated with a first BWP, the first device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP. The second BWP is configured with at least one reference signal, and the at least one reference signal identifies a second candidate beam for BFR. If the first device successfully detects the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal, the first device sends information about the second candidate beam to the second device for BFR. Therefore, the first device has more opportunities to indicate the candidate beam to the second device to recover the beam failure in the serving cell. In addition, the solution allows candidate beams for all BWPs to not be configured for BFR in the serving cell, which simplifies network operation and configuration.

[0046] Reference now Figure 2 , Figure 2 A signaling diagram illustrating a process 200 for BFR of a serving cell according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Process 200 is described. Process 200 may include the following: Figure 1 The first device 110 and the second device 120 are shown. Figure 1 The process 200 is described in the communication network 100 of FIG. 1 , but the process can also be applied to other communication scenarios.

[0047] If the first device 110 detects a beam failure in the serving cell, the first device 110 detects 210 a first candidate beam associated with the first BWP. The first bandwidth portion is active. In some embodiments, detecting the first candidate beam associated with the first BWP includes determining whether the first BWP is configured with at least one reference signal identifying the first candidate beam.

[0048] In some embodiments, the serving cell may be Figure 1 SCell 102 is shown. In other embodiments, the serving cell may be Figure 1 The PCell 101 is shown. Although the process 200 will be described in conjunction with BFR for SCells (also referred to as SCell BFR), the process is equally applicable to BFR for PCells.

[0049] If the first device 110 fails to detect the first candidate beam, the first device 110 switches 220 from the first BWP to the second BWP in the serving cell. The second BWP is configured with at least one reference signal for identifying the second candidate beam recovered from the beam failure.

[0050] In some embodiments, at least one reference signal identifying a candidate beam for BFR includes at least one of: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a synchronization signal (SS) and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB). SSB may also be referred to as a synchronization signal block or a SS / PBCH block.

[0051] In some embodiments, the second device 120 may not configure the first BWP with any reference signal identifying the first candidate beam for BFR. Therefore, the first device 110 will not be able to detect the first candidate beam.

[0052] In other embodiments, the second device 120 may configure the first BWP using at least one reference signal identifying the first candidate beam for BFR. In some embodiments, the second device 120 may configure the BWP (first BWP or second BWP) using at least one reference signal by using a BeamFailureRecoveryConfig (beam failure recovery configuration) information element (IE) as shown in Table 1.

[0053] Table 1

[0054]

[0055]

[0056] In some embodiments, at least one reference signal identifying a candidate beam for BFR may be indicated by "candidateBeamRSList" in Table 1.

[0057] In an embodiment where at least one reference signal includes a CSI-RS, the candidate beam associated with the CSI-RS may be identified by "NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId" in Table 1. In an embodiment where at least one reference signal includes an SSB, the candidate beam associated with the SSB may be identified by "SSB-Index" in Table 1.

[0058] The second device 120 may configure the first device 110 with reference signals on a per-BWP basis. For example, the second device 120 may configure these reference signals within a linked DL BWP of the UL BWP for which the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig IE is provided (ie, within a DL BWP having the same bwp-Id).

[0059] In some embodiments, for SCell BFR, the maximum number of reference signals used to identify candidate beams for each BWP may be 64.

[0060] In some embodiments, for SCell BFR, the threshold range used to identify candidate beams may be based on the range indicated in “RSRP-Range” in Table 1.

[0061] In an embodiment where the second device 120 configures the first BWP using at least one reference signal identifying the first candidate beam for BFR, in order to detect the first candidate beam, the first device 110 may determine whether the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the at least one reference signal is higher than the threshold indicated in "RSRP-Range" in Table 1. If no reference signal has an RSRP higher than the threshold, the first device 110 will not be able to detect the first candidate beam. In some embodiments, the RSRP is an L1 RSRP or an L3 filtered RSRP value. In other words, the fact that no reference signal has an RSRP higher than the threshold may result in a failure to detect the first candidate beam. In addition, it should be understood that a failure to detect the first candidate beam may occur if the second device 120 does not configure the first BWP using at least one reference signal identifying the first candidate beam for BFR.

[0062] In some embodiments, the second BWP includes a pre-configured BWP. For example, the second BWP includes a downlink BWP to be used when the serving cell is activated. In such an embodiment, the second BWP may be indicated by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id in an RRC configuration message from the second device 120.

[0063] In some other embodiments, the first device 110 may determine the second BWP based on a predetermined criterion. For example, the first device 110 may determine whether the BWP is configured with at least one reference signal. If the BWP is configured with at least one reference signal, the first device 110 determines the BWP as the second BWP and switches to the BWP. For example, the at least one reference signal may be an SSB.

[0064] In other embodiments, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 using the second BWP. In such embodiments, the first device 110 may receive configuration information about the second BWP from the second device 120. For example, the first device 110 may receive the configuration information in an RRC configuration message from the second device 120. Then, the first device 110 switches to the second BWP based on the configuration information.

[0065] Continue to refer Figure 2, upon switching to the second BWP, the first device 110 detects 230 a second candidate beam based on at least one reference signal configured for the second BWP. Similar to the detection of the first candidate beam, the first device 110 may determine whether the RSRP of at least one reference signal configured for the second BWP is higher than a threshold value indicated in “RSRP-Range” in Table 1. If at least one reference signal configured for the second BWP has an RSRP higher than the threshold value, the first device 110 will successfully detect the second candidate beam. On the other hand, if no reference signal configured for the second BWP has an RSRP higher than the threshold value, the first device 110 will fail to detect the second candidate beam.

[0066] If the first device 110 successfully detects the second candidate beam, the first device 110 transmits 240 information about the second candidate beam to the second device 120 for BFR.

[0067] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may send the information about the second candidate beam together with the identifier of the serving cell to save signaling. Alternatively, the first device 110 may send the information about the second candidate beam and the identifier of the serving cell separately.

[0068] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may send an identifier of the second BWP to the second device 120. Upon receiving the identifier of the second BWP, the second device 120 may determine the second BWP based on the identifier and communicate with the first device 110 over the second BWP.

[0069] When receiving the information about the second candidate beam, the second device 120 communicates 250 with the first device 110 by using the second candidate beam.

[0070] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the first device 110 fails to detect the first candidate beam associated with the first BWP, the first device 110 will switch to the second BWP and detect the second candidate beam associated with the second BWP. In this way, the first device has more opportunities to indicate the candidate beam to the second device to recover the beam failure in the serving cell. In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure allows not to configure candidate beams for all BWPs for BFR in the serving cell. Therefore, the operation and configuration of the network are simplified.

[0071] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may send an indication of the switch to the second device 120. For example, in an embodiment where the second BWP is pre-configured or configured by the second device 120, the second device 120 is aware of the second BWP in advance. Therefore, the first device 110 may send an indication of the switch without an identifier of the second BWP to the second device 120. In this way, the overhead in the air interface may be reduced.

[0072] In some embodiments, the handover indication may be a one-bit indicator that is set to a predetermined value indicating a handover.

[0073] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may send an indication of the handover along with an identifier of the second candidate beam and the serving cell in a medium access control element (MAC CE).

[0074] In some embodiments, if the first device 110 successfully detects the second candidate beam, the first device 110 will send information about the second candidate beam to the second device 120 without sending an indication of switching. In such an embodiment, the second device 120 can determine the BWP based on the information about the second candidate beam configured for the BWP.

[0075] On the other hand, if the first device 110 fails to detect the second candidate beam, the first device 110 may send an indication of failure to detect the candidate beam to the second device 120 without sending information about the second candidate beam. The indication may include an indication that no candidate is available. In such an embodiment, the first device 110 may send an indication of failure to detect the candidate beam together with an identifier of the serving cell to save signaling. In such an embodiment, the first device 110 may send an indication of switching to the second device 120. For example, upon receiving the indication of switching, the second device 120 may reconfigure at least one reference signal identifying the candidate beam or deactivate the serving cell.

[0076] Figure 3 FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example method 300 implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 The method 300 is described from the perspective of the first device 110. It should be understood that the method 300 may also be implemented in Figure 1 The method is implemented at the second device 120 in the embodiment.

[0077] In response to a beam failure in a serving cell, the first device 110 detects a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth portion at block 310. The first bandwidth portion is active.

[0078] In response to detecting that the first candidate beam fails, the first device 110 switches from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion in the serving cell at block 320. The second bandwidth portion is configured with at least one reference signal for identifying a second candidate beam that recovered from the beam failure.

[0079] In block 330 , the first device 110 detects a second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal.

[0080] At block 340 , in response to successfully detecting the second candidate beam, the first device 110 sends information about the second candidate beam to the second device 120 for recovery from the beam failure.

[0081] In some embodiments, the method 300 further includes: in response to failing to detect the second candidate beam, sending an indication of a failure to detect the candidate beam to the second device 120 .

[0082] In some embodiments, the second bandwidth portion comprises a downlink bandwidth portion to be used when the serving cell is activated.

[0083] In some embodiments, the first device 110 switches from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part by: determining whether the bandwidth part for the first device 110 is configured with at least one reference signal; and switching to the bandwidth part in response to determining that the bandwidth part is configured with at least one reference signal.

[0084] In some embodiments, the method 300 also includes sending an identifier of the second bandwidth portion to the second device 120 .

[0085] In some embodiments, the method 300 further includes receiving configuration information about the second bandwidth portion from the second device 120. The first device 110 switches from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion by switching to the second bandwidth portion based on the configuration information.

[0086] In some embodiments, the method 300 further includes sending an indication of the switch to the second device 120 .

[0087] In some embodiments, the first device 110 sends the indication of switching by sending the indication in response to a failure to detect the second candidate beam.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first device 110 sends the switching indication by sending the indication in a media access control control element.

[0089] In some embodiments, the at least one reference signal comprises at least one of: a channel state information reference signal, or a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block.

[0090] In some embodiments, the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device.

[0091] In some embodiments, the serving cell comprises a secondary cell.

[0092] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example method 400 implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1The method 400 is described from the perspective of the second device 120. It should be understood that the method 400 may also be implemented in Figure 1 The method is implemented at the first device 110 in the embodiment.

[0093] At block 410, in response to the first device successfully detecting a second candidate beam associated with a second bandwidth portion in a serving cell, the second device 120 receives information about the second candidate beam from the first device 110. The second bandwidth portion is configured with at least one reference signal identifying the second candidate beam for use in recovering from a beam failure in the serving cell. The second device operates in the active first bandwidth portion.

[0094] At block 420 , the second device 120 communicates with the first device 110 using the second candidate beam.

[0095] In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: in response to the first device 110 failing to detect the second candidate beam, receiving an indication of a failure to detect the candidate beam from the first device 110 .

[0096] In some embodiments, the second bandwidth portion comprises a downlink bandwidth portion to be used when the serving cell is activated.

[0097] In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: determining a second bandwidth portion based on the information about the second candidate beam; and communicating with the first device 110 over the second bandwidth portion using the second candidate beam.

[0098] In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes receiving an identifier of the second bandwidth portion from the first device 110 .

[0099] In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: sending configuration information about the second bandwidth portion to the first device 110, so that the first device 110 switches from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion based on the configuration information.

[0100] In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes receiving, from the first device 110, an indication that the first device 110 is switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion.

[0101] In some embodiments, the second device 120 receives the indication by receiving the indication in response to the first device 110 detecting that the second candidate beam has failed.

[0102] In some embodiments, the second device 120 receives the indication by receiving the indication in a media access control control element.

[0103] In some embodiments, the at least one reference signal comprises at least one of: a channel state information reference signal, or a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block.

[0104] In some embodiments, the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device.

[0105] In some embodiments, the serving cell comprises a secondary cell.

[0106] It should be understood that reference Figures 1 to 2 The description of the features also applies to methods 300 and 400 and has the same effect. Therefore, the details of these features are omitted.

[0107] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 300 (e.g., the first device 110) may include a component for performing each step of the method 300. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for detecting, at a first device, a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth portion in response to a beam failure in a serving cell, the first bandwidth portion being active; means for switching from the first bandwidth portion to a second bandwidth portion in the serving cell in response to a failure to detect the first candidate beam, the second bandwidth portion being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovery from the beam failure; means for detecting the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal; and means for sending information about the second candidate beam to a second device for recovery from the beam failure in response to successful detection of the second candidate beam.

[0109] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending an indication of a failure to detect the candidate beam to the second device 120 in response to a failure to detect the second candidate beam.

[0110] In some embodiments, the second bandwidth portion comprises a downlink bandwidth portion to be used when the serving cell is activated.

[0111] In some embodiments, the component for switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion includes: a component for determining whether the bandwidth portion of the first device 110 is configured with at least one reference signal; and a component for switching to the bandwidth portion in response to determining that the bandwidth portion is configured with at least one reference signal.

[0112] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending an identifier of the second bandwidth portion to the second device 120 .

[0113] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving configuration information regarding the second bandwidth portion from the second device 120. In such embodiments, means for switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion comprises means for switching to the second bandwidth portion based on the configuration information.

[0114] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending a switching indication to the second device 120 .

[0115] In some embodiments, means for sending an indication of switching comprises means for sending the indication in response to a failure to detect the second candidate beam.

[0116] In some embodiments, means for sending an indication of the handover comprises means for sending the indication in a medium access control control element.

[0117] In some embodiments, the at least one reference signal comprises at least one of: a channel state information reference signal, or a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block.

[0118] In some embodiments, the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device.

[0119] In some embodiments, the serving cell comprises a secondary cell.

[0120] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 400 (e.g., the second device 120) may include a component for performing the various steps of the method 400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for receiving information about a second candidate beam from a first device in response to the first device successfully detecting a second candidate beam associated with a second bandwidth portion in a serving cell, the second bandwidth portion being configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying the second candidate beam for recovering from a beam failure in the serving cell, the second device operating in an active first bandwidth portion; and means for communicating with the first device by using the second candidate beam.

[0122] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving an indication of a failure to detect the candidate beam from the first device 110 in response to the first device 110 failing to detect the second candidate beam.

[0123] In some embodiments, the second bandwidth portion comprises a downlink bandwidth portion to be used when the serving cell is activated.

[0124] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for determining a second bandwidth portion based on the information about the second candidate beam; and means for communicating with the first device 110 on the second bandwidth portion using the second candidate beam.

[0125] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving an identifier of the second bandwidth portion from the first device 110 .

[0126] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for sending configuration information about the second bandwidth portion to the first device 110 so that the first device 110 switches from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion based on the configuration information.

[0127] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving an indication from the first device 110 that the first device 110 is switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion.

[0128] In some embodiments, the means for receiving the indication includes means for receiving the indication in response to the first device 110 failing to detect the second candidate beam.

[0129] In some embodiments, means for receiving the indication comprises means for receiving the indication in a media access control control element.

[0130] In some embodiments, the at least one reference signal comprises at least one of: a channel state information reference signal, or a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block.

[0131] In some embodiments, the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device.

[0132] In some embodiments, the serving cell comprises a secondary cell.

[0133] Figure 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as Figure 1 The first device 110 or the second device 120 is shown. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processors 510, and one or more communication modules 540 coupled to the processors 510.

[0134] The communication module 540 is used for two-way communication. The communication module 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

[0135] Processor 510 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include one or more of the following: as non-limiting examples, a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 500 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0136] The memory 520 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include (but are not limited to) read-only memory (ROM) 524, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD) and other magnetic storage devices and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 522 and other volatile memories that do not persist over the duration of a power outage.

[0137] Computer program 530 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by associated processor 510. Program 530 may be stored in ROM 524. Processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 530 into RAM 522.

[0138] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by means of program 530, so that the device 500 can execute the following steps: Figures 2 to 4 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in the device 500 (e.g., in the memory 520) or in other storage devices accessible by the device 500. The device 500 may load the program 530 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 522 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 6 An example of a computer readable medium 600 in the form of a CD or DVD is shown. The computer readable medium has a program 530 stored thereon.

[0140] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0141] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions such as those included in a program module that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-referenced Figure 3 and 4 Methods 300 and 400 are described. In general, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. The functions of program modules can be combined or separated between program modules as needed in various embodiments. The machine executable instructions of program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0142] The program code for executing the method of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device so that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, enables the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be implemented. The program code can be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0143] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0144] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, apparatus or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer readable storage media would include an electrical connection having one or more conductors, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0145] In addition, although operations are described in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring the specific order shown or to perform these operations in sequence, or to perform all the operations shown, to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these details should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but should be interpreted as descriptions of features peculiar to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0146] Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Instead, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device for communication, comprising: means for detecting a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth portion based on a beam failure in a serving cell, the first bandwidth portion being active; means for determining, based on detecting a failure of the first candidate beam, whether a portion of the bandwidth for the terminal device is configured with at least one reference signal, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovering from the beam failure; means for determining the bandwidth portion as a second bandwidth portion based on determining that the bandwidth portion is configured with the at least one reference signal; means for switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion in the serving cell; means for detecting the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal; as well as means for sending information about the second candidate beam to a network device for the recovery from the beam failure based on successfully detecting the second candidate beam.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising: means for sending an indication of a failure to detect the candidate beam to the network device based on a failure to detect the second candidate beam. 3 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the second bandwidth portion comprises a downlink bandwidth portion to be used when the serving cell is activated.

4. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device further comprises: Means for sending an identifier of the second bandwidth portion to the network device.

5. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the means for switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion in the serving cell further comprises: means for receiving configuration information about the second bandwidth portion from the network device; as well as means for switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion based on the configuration information.

6. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising: Means for sending an indication of the handover to the network device in a media access control control element.

7. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reference signal comprises at least one of the following: Channel State Information Reference Signal, or Synchronous signal block.

8. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the serving cell comprises a secondary cell.

9. A method for communication, comprising: detecting, at a terminal device, a first candidate beam associated with a first bandwidth portion based on a beam failure in a serving cell, the first bandwidth portion being active; determining whether the portion of the bandwidth for the terminal device is configured with at least one reference signal based on detecting a failure of the first candidate beam, the at least one reference signal identifying a second candidate beam for recovering from the beam failure; determining the bandwidth portion as a second bandwidth portion based on determining that the bandwidth portion is configured with the at least one reference signal; switching from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion in the serving cell; detecting the second candidate beam based on the at least one reference signal; as well as Based on successfully detecting the second candidate beam, information about the second candidate beam is sent to a network device for the recovery from the beam failure.

Images