Switching technology that provides service continuity with multiple concurrent connections

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications for service continuity in a make-before-break handover procedure are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive a grant for two or more concurrent communications with a source base station and a target base station during a handover procedure, wherein the UE may not be able to perform the two or more concurrent communications. The UE may use one or more priority rules to determine a priority of a communication. The one or more priority rules identify one or more channel types that have a higher priority than other channel types, may identify whether a communication with a source base station or a communication with a target base station has priority, and the like.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 937,220, entitled “Handover Techniques to Provide Service Continuity With Multiple Concurrent Connections,” filed by Hosseini et al. on November 18, 2019, and U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 950,354, entitled “Handover Techniques to Provide Service Continuity With Multiple Concurrent Connections,” filed by Hosseini et al. on November 17, 2020, each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application.

[0003] background

[0004] The following relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections.

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems), and fifth generation (5G) systems that may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may use various technologies, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include several base stations or network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports the communication of multiple communication devices, which may be referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0006] In some cases, the UE may support communication with the source base station and the target base station during a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station. Some techniques (such as make-before-break handover) may allow the UE to maintain communication links with both the source base station and the target base station until after the handover is complete, wherein a decision is made to release the communication link(s) with the source base station (e.g., stop communicating with the source base station) after the connection with the target base station is established. However, such techniques may result in discontinuity in some services if concurrent communications with different base stations are scheduled for UEs that do not support such concurrent communications.

[0007] Overview

[0008] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses for handover technology that supports providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections. According to various aspects, when maintaining concurrent connections with a source base station and a target base station, a user equipment (UE) may use one or more priority rules to determine the priority of communications during handover. In some cases, the UE may establish a first connection with the source base station, and then initiate a handover procedure and establish a second connection with the target base station, wherein the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure. In addition, in some cases, the UE may not be able to communicate on both the first connection and the second connection at the same time. In various aspects, one or more priority rules may be used by such UE to determine which communications to transmit or receive. In some cases, one or more priority rules may be established to provide enhanced service continuity for one or more higher priority or lower latency channels relative to other channels with lower priority or looser latency targets.

[0009] A method for wireless communication at a UE is described. The method may include: while connected to a source base station via a first connection, establishing a second connection with a target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identifying that a first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with a second transmission of the target base station; determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and processing the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0010] An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: when connected to a source base station via a first connection, establish a second connection with a target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identify that a first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with a second transmission of the target base station; determine which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and process the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0011] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include means for: while connected to a source base station via a first connection, establishing a second connection with a target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; while both the first connection and the second connection are active, identifying that a first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with a second transmission of the target base station; determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and processing the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0012] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor for the following operations: while connected to a source base station via a first connection, establishing a second connection with a target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identifying that a first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with a second transmission of the target base station; determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and processing the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0013] A method of wireless communication at a base station is described. The method may include: transmitting priority information for different types of transmission sets to a UE indicating a priority for processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a handover procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station, and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiating a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicating with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information.

[0014] An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit priority information for different types of transmission sets to a UE indicating a priority for processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a handover procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station, and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiate a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicate with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information.

[0015] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus may include means for: transmitting priority information for different types of transmission sets to a UE indicating a priority for processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a handover procedure in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiating a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicating with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information.

[0016] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a base station is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor for the following operations: transmitting priority information for different types of transmission sets to a UE indicating a priority for processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a handover procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station, and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiating a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicating with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1

[0013] An example of a system for wireless communications supporting handover techniques providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 2 An example of a portion of a wireless communication system supporting handover techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0020] Figure 3An example of a process flow supporting a switching technique providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 4 and 5 A block diagram of a device supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 6 A block diagram of a communications manager supporting handoff techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 7 A diagram of a system including devices supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 8 and 9 A block diagram of a device supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Fig.10 A block diagram of a communications manager supporting handoff techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Fig.11 A diagram of a system including devices supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figures 12 to 15 A flow chart illustrating a method of supporting switching techniques providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Detailed Description

[0029] A wireless communication system may use a mobility management function to manage connectivity between a user equipment (UE) and one or more base stations or cellular cells. For example, the mobility management function may initiate or otherwise support a handover procedure of a UE from a source base station to a target base station due to the mobility of the UE, a deteriorated channel condition between the UE and the source base station, and the like. Some handover procedures may be considered as a break-before-make (BBM) handover procedure, in which the UE loses connectivity with the source base station before (or during) the connection with the target base station is established. Other handover procedures may be considered as a connect-before-break (MBB) handover procedure, in which the UE maintains at least some degree of connectivity to both the source base station and the target base station during the handover procedure or at least a portion of the handover procedure. For example, during an MBB handover procedure, in addition to the channels configured by the source base station for the UE, the UE may also be configured with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, etc.) with the target base station (e.g., using a dual active protocol stack (DAPS)). However, this approach may be problematic because during the handover procedure, some UEs may not be able to maintain full connectivity with both the source base station and the target base station on all available resources. For example, some UEs (eg, low-end UEs, power-limited UEs, wearable devices, etc.) may not support concurrent control channel monitoring, data reception, or data transmission from / to both the source base station and the target base station.

[0030] Further, in some cases, the UE may be configured with one or more high priority and low latency channels (e.g., for ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC)). In such cases, in order to meet reliability and latency targets, it is highly desirable to maintain service continuity throughout the handover process. However, in some cases, where the UE may not support concurrent communications with both the source base station and the target base station, if the UE selects a different communication in the event of a conflict between the different communication and the high priority and low latency communication, the communication of this high priority and low latency channel may be dropped.

[0031] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a technique for prioritizing different communications according to one or more predetermined priority rules is provided. In some cases, a UE may establish a first connection with a source base station, and subsequently initiate a handover procedure and establish a second connection with a target base station, wherein the first connection and the second connection are both active for at least a portion of the handover procedure. In some cases, one or more priority rules may be used to determine which communications to transmit or receive. In some cases, such priority rules may be established to provide enhanced service continuity for high priority and low latency channels relative to other channels with lower priority or more relaxed latency targets (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) communications).

[0032] In some cases, the priority rule(s) may provide that any communication with the target base station takes precedence over any communication with the source base station, or any communication with the source base station takes precedence over any communication with the target base station. In other cases, the priority rule(s) may identify one or more channels (e.g., URLLC channels) that take precedence over other channels. Additionally or alternatively, one or more priority rules may provide that a plurality of different communications (e.g., a plurality of different communications of different channels configured for concurrent communication) may be prioritized, and the communication with the highest priority may be selected for transmission / reception processing while discarding other communications. In some cases, the UE may support concurrent transmissions for some frequency bands (e.g., intra-frequency and intra-band communications), and may not support concurrent transmissions for other frequency bands (e.g., inter-frequency and inter-band communications). In such cases, the priority rule(s) may provide that two or more transmissions may be processed at the UE according to the UE concurrent transmission capability, and other transmissions may be discarded. In some cases, one or more priority rules may be configured by the source base station, the target base station, or a combination thereof. In some cases, one or more priority rules may be provided to the UE via physical layer signaling, such as by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, one or more priority rules may be provided by a pre-specified priority order for different channels.

[0033] Specific implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. For example, one or more priority rules may provide enhanced continuity of high priority channels (e.g., channels for URLLC). By enhancing the continuity of such channels, system latency can be reduced and reliability can be enhanced. The various implementations described may also reduce switching latency and data transmission suspension, thereby increasing signaling reliability, throughput, and user experience while reducing power consumption. The described advantages are particularly beneficial for NR systems and communications that require low latency quality of service (QoS) or correspond to mission-critical applications.

[0034] Aspects of the present disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communication systems. Aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated and described by and with reference to process flows, apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts related to handover techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections.

[0035] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 that supports handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 includes a base station 105, a UE 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a long term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a new radio (NR) network. In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communications, low latency communications, or communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

[0036] The base station 105 may communicate wirelessly with the UE 115 via one or more base station antennas. The base station 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation Node B, or a Gigabit Node B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home Node B, a Home Evolved Node B, or some other suitable terminology. The wireless communication system 100 may include different types of base stations 105 (e.g., macro cell base stations or small cell base stations). The UE 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of base stations 105 and network equipment (including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay base stations, etc.).

[0037] Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which it supports communications with various UEs 115. Each base station 105 may provide communications coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110 via a communications link 125, and the communications link 125 between the base station 105 and the UE 115 may utilize one or more carriers. The communications link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105, or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be referred to as forward link transmissions, and uplink transmissions may also be referred to as reverse link transmissions.

[0038] The geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 may be divided into sectors that constitute a portion of the geographic coverage area 110, and each sector may be associated with a cellular cell. For example, each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a macrocellular cell, a small cellular cell, a hotspot, or other types of cellular cells, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, the base station 105 may be mobile and therefore provide communication coverage for a mobile geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, and the overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by the same base station 105 or different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro or NR network, in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110.

[0039] The term "cell" refers to a logical communication entity used to communicate with base station 105 (e.g., on a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)). In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others). In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area 110 on which the logical entity operates.

[0040] Each UE 115 can be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 can be stationary or mobile. UE 115 can also be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable term, wherein "device" can also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client. UE 115 can also be a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 can also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or an MTC device, etc., which can be implemented in various items (such as electrical appliances, vehicles, meters, etc.).

[0041] Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay the information to a central server or application, which may utilize the information or present the information to a person interacting with the program or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or implement automated behavior of machines. Examples of applications for MTC devices include: smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, health care monitoring, field survival monitoring, weather and geographic event monitoring, queue management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based commercial charging.

[0042] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ a reduced power consumption mode of operation, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports unidirectional communication via transmission or reception but not simultaneous transmission and reception). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed with a reduced peak rate. Other power saving techniques for UE 115 include entering a power saving "deep sleep" mode when not engaged in active communications, or operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., in accordance with narrowband communications). In some cases, UE 115 may be designed to support critical functions (e.g., mission critical functions), and the wireless communication system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliable communications for these functions.

[0043] In some cases, UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UE 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device (D2D) protocol). One or more UEs in a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105. Other UEs 115 in the group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105, or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station 105 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each other UE 115 in the group. In some cases, the base station 105 facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between each UE 115 without involving the base station 105.

[0044] The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and with each other. For example, the base stations 105 may interface with the core network 130 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., via S1, N2, N3, or other interfaces). The base stations 105 may communicate with each other over a backhaul link 134 (e.g., via X2, Xn, or other interfaces) directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130).

[0045] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobility management entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and at least one packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may manage non-access layer (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management of UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be delivered through the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GW may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The P-GW may be connected to network operator IP services. Operator IP services may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or packet switched (PS) streaming services.

[0046] At least some network devices (such as base stations 105) may include subcomponents, such as access network entities, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity may communicate with each UE 115 through a number of other access network transport entities, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission / reception points (TRPs). In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or merged into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). In general, the 300 MHz to 3 GHz region is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths are in the range of from about 1 decimeter to 1 meter long. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, these waves may penetrate various structures sufficiently for macro cells to provide services to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmission using lower frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the Super High Frequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, also known as centimeter bands. The SHF region includes frequency bands that may be opportunistically used by devices that may be able to tolerate interference from other users, such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band.

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) division of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), which is also referred to as the millimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antenna of the corresponding device may be even smaller and more closely spaced than the UHF antenna. In some cases, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein may be adopted across transmissions using one or more different frequency divisions, and the use of frequency bands specified across these frequency divisions may differ by country or regulatory agency.

[0050] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may employ license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed band (such as a 5 GHz ISM band). When operating in an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, wireless devices (such as base stations 105 and UE 115) may employ a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to ensure that the frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In some cases, operations in unlicensed bands may be based on carrier aggregation configuration (e.g., LAA) in coordination with component carriers operating in licensed bands. Operations in unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing in unlicensed spectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of the two.

[0051] In some examples, the base station 105 or the UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication, or beamforming. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may use a transmission scheme between a transmitting device (e.g., the base station 105) and a receiving device (e.g., the UE 115), wherein the transmitting device is equipped with multiple antennas and the receiving device is equipped with one or more antennas. MIMO communication may employ multipath signal propagation to increase spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers, which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. For example, the transmitting device may transmit multiple signals via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Similarly, the receiving device may receive multiple signals via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Each of these multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams. Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

[0052] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape or direct an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array so that signals propagating at a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals communicated via antenna elements may include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying a particular amplitude and phase shift to the signal carried via each antenna element associated with the device. Adjustments associated with each antenna element may be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or relative to some other orientation).

[0053] In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays that may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may be located at different geographic locations. A base station 105 may have an antenna array having several rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with a UE 115. Similarly, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations.

[0054] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, the communication of the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate on a logical channel. The media access control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplex logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) to provide retransmission of the MAC layer, thereby improving link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer may provide the establishment, configuration and maintenance of an RRC connection for a radio bearer that supports user plane data between UE115 and base station 105 or core network 130. At the physical layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

[0055] In some cases, UE 115 and base station 105 may support retransmission of data to increase the likelihood that the data is successfully received. HARQ feedback is a technique that increases the likelihood of correctly receiving data on communication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ can improve the throughput of the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some cases, a wireless device may support simultaneous slot HARQ feedback, where the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific time slot for data received in a previous symbol in the time slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent time slot or according to some other time interval.

[0056] The time interval in LTE or NR can be represented by a basic time unit (which may refer to a sampling period T, for example). s =1 / 30,720,000 seconds). The time intervals of the communication resources may be organized according to radio frames each having a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms), where the frame period may be expressed as T f =307,200T s . A radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame may include 10 subframes numbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe may have a duration of 1 ms. A subframe may be further divided into 2 slots, each slot having a duration of 0.5 ms, and each slot may contain 6 or 7 modulation symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of a cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe may be the minimum scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In other cases, the minimum scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI) or in a selected component carrier using sTTI).

[0057] In some wireless communication systems, a time slot may be further divided into a plurality of mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In some instances, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the minimum scheduling unit. For example, each symbol may vary in duration depending on the subcarrier spacing or the operating frequency band. Further, some wireless communication systems may implement time slot aggregation, wherein a plurality of time slots or mini-slots are aggregated together and used for communication between UE 115 and base station 105.

[0058] The term "carrier" refers to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting communications on the communication link 125. For example, a carrier of the communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band that operates according to a physical layer channel for a given radio access technology. Each physical layer channel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling. A carrier may be associated with a predefined frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be located according to a channel grid for discovery by a UE 115. A carrier may be downlink or uplink (e.g., in FDD mode), or configured to carry downlink communications and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode). In some examples, a signal waveform transmitted on a carrier may include multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multi-carrier modulation (MCM) technique such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)).

[0059] For different radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR), the organizational structure of the carrier can be different. For example, the communication on the carrier can be organized according to TTIs or time slots, each of which can include user data and control information or signaling to support decoding of the user data. The carrier can also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals or system information, etc.) and control signaling to coordinate the operation of the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), the carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling to coordinate the operation of other carriers.

[0060] Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. Physical control channels and physical data channels may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. In some examples, control information transmitted in a physical control channel may be distributed in a cascaded manner between different control regions (e.g., between a common control region or a common search space and one or more UE-specific control regions or UE-specific search spaces).

[0061] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a plurality of predetermined bandwidths of a carrier for a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 MHz). In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured to operate on part or all of the carrier bandwidth. In other examples, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type associated with a predefined portion or range (e.g., a set of subcarriers or RBs) within a carrier (e.g., an "in-band" deployment of a narrowband protocol type).

[0062] In a system using MCM technology, a resource element may consist of or include a symbol period (e.g., the duration of a modulation symbol) and a subcarrier, wherein the symbol period and the subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme). Thus, the more resource elements received by UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate of UE 115 can be. In a MIMO system, wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources, and space resources (e.g., space layers), and the use of multiple space layers may further increase the data rate of communication with UE 115.

[0063] A device (e.g., base station 105 or UE 115) of wireless communication system 100 may have a hardware configuration that supports communication on a particular carrier bandwidth, or may be configurable to support communication on one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, wireless communication system 100 may include base stations 105 and / or UEs 115 that support simultaneous communication via carriers associated with more than one different carrier bandwidths.

[0064] The wireless communication system 100 may support communication with the UE 115 on multiple cells or carriers, a feature that may be referred to as carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. The UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDD and TDD component carriers.

[0065] In some cases, the UE 115 may initiate a handover procedure (e.g., based on a handover message received from the serving source base station 105) to change from the source base station 105 to the target base station 105 for communication (e.g., due to the mobility of the UE 115 or interference associated with the communication with the source base station). In some cases, when concurrent connections with the source base station 105 and the target base station 105 are maintained (e.g., in a make-before-break handover) and the UE 115 is unable to perform concurrent communications, the UE 115 may use one or more priority rules to determine the priority of communications during this handover. In some cases, the one or more priority rules may be used by the UE 115 to determine which communications to transmit or receive. In some cases, one or more priority rules may be established to provide enhanced service continuity for one or more higher priority or lower latency channels relative to other channels with lower priority or more relaxed latency targets.

[0066] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 that supports handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In some examples, the wireless communication system 200 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. For example, the wireless communication system 200 can include a source base station 105-a, a target base station 105-b, and a UE 115-a, which can be reference Figure 1 Examples of corresponding devices described.

[0067] The wireless communication system 200 may support prioritization of communications during a handover procedure to provide enhanced service continuity for one or more high priority services. In some cases, the UE 115-a may not support multiple concurrent communications with one or more of the source base station 105-a, the target base station 105-b, or both. In some cases, the UE 115-a may support concurrent communications for some frequency bands and may not support concurrent communications for other frequency bands.

[0068] In the wireless communication system 200, the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b may perform a switching procedure that allows the UE 115-a to maintain communication with both the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b until after the switching is completed (e.g., using DAPS), which is independent of the concurrent communication capabilities of the UE 115-a. For example, in the wireless communication system 200, the UE 115-a may perform a switching and be connected to the source base station 105-a (e.g., the UE 115-a may communicate with the source base station 105-a via data flows 205 and 210) while also being connected to the target base station 105-b (e.g., the UE 115-a may communicate with the target base station 105-b via data flows 215 and 220).

[0069] In some cases, the source base station 105-a may determine that the UE 115-a is to perform a handover procedure to the target base station 105-b. In some cases, the source base station 105-a may make this determination based on signaling received from the UE 115-a (e.g., based on one or more signal measurements associated with the target cell served by the target base station 105-b). The handover procedure may continue with the source base station 105-a sending a handover request to the target base station 105-b via the backhaul link 134-a in handover preparation to configure one or more bearers for the UE 115-a. The target base station 105-b may determine whether the UE 115-a can be served and configure one or more bearers, and then transmit a decision about the proposed configuration to the source base station 105-a in a handover response message via the backhaul link 134-a.

[0070] Once the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b agree on the radio bearer configuration, both base stations 105 may configure their bearers according to the agreement. Subsequently, the source base station 105-a may transmit a handover command with the radio bearer configuration to be used for the handover to the UE 115-a. The handover command may include an RRC reconfiguration message, and the handover command may be generated by the target base station 105-b. Based on the handover command, the UE 115-a may configure its bearer based on the received radio bearer configuration. The UE 115-a may receive and / or transmit data streams according to the bearer configuration during the handover procedure. Further, the UE 115-a may maintain the bearer configuration until the UE 115-a receives a new bearer configuration from the base station 105.

[0071] In some examples, when the handover is successful, the target base station 105-b may instruct (e.g., via RRC reconfiguration or grant) the UE 115-a to discard the source base station 105-a radio bearer, or reconfigure the source base station 105-a radio bearer to the target base station 105-b radio bearer. If the UE 115-a transmits a handover completion message, the UE 115-a may discard or reconfigure the source base station 105-a radio bearer after transmitting the handover completion message.

[0072] In some cases, during at least a portion of the handover procedure, UE 115-a may receive a grant for concurrent communications with both source base station 105-a and target base station 105-b. However, UE 115-a may not be able to conduct such concurrent communications. In such cases, UE 115-a may discard one or more transmissions (e.g., one or more downlink transmissions or one or more uplink transmissions) that conflict with one or more other transmissions. In some cases, UE 115-a may use one or more priority rules to select which communication(s) to maintain and which communication(s) to discard.

[0073] In some cases, UE 115-a may not be able to support any concurrent communications, such as in low-end UEs, power-limited UEs, etc. In other cases, UE 115-a may be able to support some concurrent communications depending on the frequency bands of multiple communications, and may not be able to support concurrent communications outside such frequency bands. For example, both the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b may operate in sub-6 GHz (e.g., frequency range 1 (FR1)), and UE 115-a may support simultaneous transmission / reception for synchronous and / or asynchronous communications for at least some combinations of the source frequency band and the target frequency band. Further, in some cases, synchronous communications may depend on one or more other factors, such as the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b, power constraints (e.g., power spectral density (PSD) limit differences or maximum transmit power limits between cellular cells), contiguous or non-contiguous resource allocation, whether concurrent communications use a common physical resource block (PRB) grid, etc.

[0074] As discussed herein, in a situation where UE 115-a cannot communicate concurrently with both source base station 105-a and target base station 105-b, UE 115-a may select one or more of the concurrent communications for processing (e.g., transmit / receive processing for transmit / receive) and discard the other one or more of the concurrent communications. In some cases, a higher priority channel (e.g., a channel that can be used for URLLC) may be indicated to the UE at the physical layer and given a relatively high priority to increase the likelihood of selecting such a higher priority channel for processing at UE 115-a. In some cases, source base station 105-a or target base station 105-b may provide several different priorities for several different channels. For example, the priority of a scheduling request (SR) transmission may be indicated by RRC signaling, the priority of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be provided in a DCI that schedules an associated physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, the priority of a PUCCH for a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH may be provided in a DCI that schedules an SPS-PDSCH, the priority of a PUCCH for an SPS-PDSCH may be indicated by RRC and / or a DCI that activates / releases an SPS configuration, the priority of a dynamic grant (DG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) may be indicated via a DCI that schedules a DG-PUSCH, the priority of a configured grant (CG) PUSCH may be indicated via RRC, and for each of one or more PUCCH groups associated with a beam, the priority of a beam failure recovery (BFR) PUCCH may be indicated by RRC. In some cases, each indicated priority may be provided relative to one or more other priorities. In some cases, the source base station 105 - a , the target base station 105 - b , or both may provide a priority list associated with several different channels (eg, via RRC, DCI, or other communications such as Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI)).

[0075] In some cases, one or more priority rules may indicate that communications (e.g., uplink transmissions, downlink transmissions, or both) with target base station 105-b take precedence over communications with source base station 105-a. In such cases, UE 115-a will select communications with target base station 105b and discard communications with source base station 105-a in the event of a conflict in communications. In other cases, communications with source base station 105-a take precedence over communications with target base station 105-b.

[0076] In some cases, one or more priority rules may indicate a priority associated with a particular channel, and in the event of a conflict in communication, UE 115-a selects a higher priority channel communication and discards other channel communications. In such cases, if the conflicting channels have the same priority, UE 115-a may prioritize communication with the target base station 105-b (or prioritize communication with the source base station 105-a). In other cases, the priority may be based on the channel type. For example, if the conflicting communication is an uplink communication, the physical random access channel (PRACH) may have the highest priority, followed by PUSCH with uplink control information (UCI), followed by PUCCH, followed by PUSCH without UCI, and so on for other lower priority channels. In addition, within each channel priority, communication with the target base station 105-b (or source base station 105-a) may be prioritized (e.g., ...>PUSCH with UCI to the target base station>PUSCH with UCI to the source base station>...).

[0077] Further, in some cases, multiple different channels of the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b may conflict. In such cases, one or more priority rules may indicate that the UE 115-a should first resolve the conflict between the channels of the target base station 105-b for the target, and also resolve the conflict between the channels of the source base station 105-a. Therefore, in such cases, the UE 115-a determines the priority order of the communication for both the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b respectively. For example, if multiple low priority and high priority uplink channels intended for the source base station 105-a conflict, the UE 115-a may reuse the low priority channel and reuse the high priority channel, wherein the multiplexed priority is associated with the highest (or lowest) priority of the multiplexed channel used to determine the priority. If the multiplexed channels conflict, the UE 115-a may discard the low priority channel (s), or multiplex the low priority channel with the high priority channel (s). The UE 115 - a may then resolve any conflicts between multiplexed channels intended for the source base station 105 - a and the target base station 105 - b based on one or more priority rules as discussed above.

[0078] In other cases, in the event of multiple conflicting communications for one or both of the source base station 105-a and the target base station 105-b, the UE 115-a may first resolve the conflicts based on the associated channel priorities, regardless of whether the channels are for the source base station 105-a or the target base station 105-b. Subsequently, if channels with the same priority still conflict, the UE may resolve the conflicts based on one or more priority rules as discussed above.

[0079] Although the various examples discussed herein describe uplink transmissions from UE 115-a to source base station 105-a, target base station 105-b, or both, the techniques provided herein are also applicable to multiple concurrent downlink transmissions that may be transmitted to UE 115-a. In some cases, if multiple downlink channels from source base station 105-a conflict with multiple channels from target base station 105-b, UE 115-a may first resolve the conflict between the channels from source base station 105-a and the channels from target base station 105-b, and then resolve any conflict between the channels from the source and the target according to the priority rules discussed herein. For example, if DG-PDSCH conflicts with one or more SPS opportunities of different SPS configurations (all from the source), UE 115-a may first resolve the conflict between them (e.g., if DG-PDSCH is low priority and one of the SPS opportunities is high priority, UE 115-a may expect to receive downlink data only at that opportunity), and then resolve the conflict with the target. In other scenarios, where multiple downlink transmissions collide, UE 115-a may first resolve the conflict based on priority, regardless of whether the channel is from the source or the target, and then follow one or more of the priority rules discussed herein if channels with the same priority still collide.

[0080] Figure 3 An example of a process flow 300 for supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In some examples, the process flow 300 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. The process flow 300 may include a UE 115-b, a source base station 105-c, and a target base station 105-d, which may be reference base stations. Figure 1 and 2 Examples of corresponding devices described. In this example, UE 115-b may have an established connection with source base station 105-c, and the mobility of UE 115-b may cause a handover procedure to be triggered.

[0081] Optionally, at 305, the source base station 105-c may configure one or more priority rules for handling or discarding one or more concurrent communications with both the source base station 105-c and the target base station 105-d. In some cases, the one or more priority rules may be configured based on a capability of the UE 115-b indicating that the UE 115-b is incapable of concurrent communications. In some cases, if such priority rules are configured, the source base station 105-c may transmit the priority configuration to the UE 115-b at 310. In some cases, additionally or alternatively, the one or more priority rules may be pre-configured at the UE 115-b (e.g., according to a specification defining priorities for a number of different channels and source / target communications).

[0082] At 315, the source base station 105-c may make a handover decision to initiate a handover procedure for the UE 115-b to perform with the target base station 105-d. For example, the determination may be based on the mobility of the UE 115-b or a measurement report received from the UE 115-b.

[0083] At 320, the source base station 105-c may transmit a handover request to the target base station 105-d. The handover request may include, for example, a request for one or more bearers. At 325, the target base station 105-d may identify the handover request and determine parameters for one or more radio bearers. At 330, the target base station 105-d may transmit a response to the handover request to the source base station 105-c for handover of the UE 115-b. The response may indicate one or more radio bearer configurations for the handover procedure. In some cases, the response may include an indication of a handover command to be transmitted from the source base station 105-c to the UE 115-b at 335.

[0084] At 340, UE 115-b may receive the handover command and may provide a measurement report to target base station 105-d. The measurement report may allow target base station 105-d, for example, to determine one or more transmission parameters (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS), transmission power, etc.) of the second connection with target base station 105-d.

[0085] Optionally, at 345, the target base station 105-d may configure one or more priority rules for concurrent transmissions of the source base station 105-c and the target base station 105-d. In some cases, the one or more priority rules may be configured based on a capability of UE 115-b indicating that UE 115-b is unable to communicate concurrently. In some cases, if such priority rules are configured, the target base station 105-d may transmit the priority configuration to UE 115-b at 350 along with the RRC reconfiguration. In some cases, additionally or alternatively, one or more priority rules may be preconfigured at UE 115-b (e.g., according to a specification defining priorities for a number of different channels and source / target communications). The RRC reconfiguration may include a reconfiguration message from the target base station 105-d, and the reconfiguration message may include a reconfiguration of at least one radio bearer for communicating with the target base station 105-d.

[0086] At 355, the UE 115-b may establish a second connection with the target base station 105-d. In some cases, this connection establishment may include determining cell synchronization according to the established connection establishment technique, transmitting a random access channel (RACH) request message, receiving a RACH response, etc. The second connection may be established while maintaining the first connection, and thus, as indicated at 395, the UE 115-b may maintain both connections until one of the connections is released.

[0087] At 360, UE 115-b may transmit an RRC reconfiguration complete message to target base station 105-d. At 365, UE 115-b may configure one or more priority rules based on the received priority configuration, preconfigured or pre-specified priority configuration, or any combination thereof. In some cases, one or more priority indications may be provided in the DCI using a resource grant from source base station 105-c or target base station 105-d, and such priority indications may be used with the priority rules to determine which communications to process and which communications to discard.

[0088] At 370, the source base station 105-c may transmit an uplink or downlink grant indicating the first resource set to the UE 115-b. At 375, the target base station 105-d may transmit an uplink or downlink grant indicating a second resource set that may be a conflicting resource with the first resource set to the first UE.

[0089] At 380, UE 115-b may determine that it cannot transmit or receive simultaneously on the first set of resources and the second set of resources. In such a situation, UE 115-b may determine which transmission of source base station 105-c or target base station 105-d to process (i.e., transmit or receive), and which transmission to discard. This determination may be made according to any priority rules or techniques discussed herein.

[0090] At 385, the target base station 105-d may determine to release the first connection. For example, this determination may be made based on establishing a reliable connection with the UE 115-b. At 390, the target base station 105-d may transmit an RRC reconfiguration to the UE 115-b to release the first connection with the source base station 105-c.

[0091] Figure 4 A block diagram 400 of a device 405 supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 405 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 405 may include a receiver 410, a communication manager 415, and a transmitter 420. The device 405 may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0092] Receiver 410 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to switching techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections, etc.). The information may be passed to other components of device 405. Receiver 410 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 720. The receiver 410 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0093] The communication manager 415 may establish a second connection with the target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station when connected to the source base station via the first connection, wherein the first connection and the second connection are both active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identify that a first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with a second transmission of the target base station; determine which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and process the higher priority transmission based on the determination. The communication manager 415 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 710 described herein.

[0094] The communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, in code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof.

[0095] The communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be physically located at various locations, including being distributed so that each part of the function is implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be separate and distinct components. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be combined with one or more other hardware components, one or more other hardware components including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components, transceivers, network servers, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof. The actions performed by the communication manager 415 as described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more potential advantages. An implementation may allow UE 115 to implement one or more priority rules that may provide enhanced continuity of high priority channels (e.g., channels for URLLC). Another implementation may enhance the continuity of such channels because waiting time may be reduced and the reliability at UE 115 may be improved.

[0096] The transmitter 420 may transmit signals generated by other components of the device 405. In some examples, the transmitter 420 may be co-located with the receiver 410 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 420 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 720. The transmitter 420 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0097] Figure 5 A block diagram 500 of a device 505 supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of the device 405 or UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a communication manager 515, and a transmitter 535. The device 505 may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0098] Receiver 510 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to switching techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections, etc.). The information may be passed to other components of device 505. Receiver 510 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 720. The receiver 510 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0099] Communications manager 515 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 415 as described herein. Communications manager 515 may include connection establishment manager 520, scheduling manager 525, and priority manager 530. Communications manager 515 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 710 as described herein.

[0100] The connection establishment manager 520 may establish a second connection with the target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station while connected with the source base station via a first connection, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure.

[0101] The scheduling manager 525 may identify that a first transmission of the source base station at least partially overlaps in time with a second transmission of the target base station when both the first connection and the second connection are active.

[0102] The priority manager 530 may determine which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission and process the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0103] The transmitter 535 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 505. In some examples, the transmitter 535 can be co-located with the receiver 510 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 535 can be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 720. The transmitter 535 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0104] Figure 6 A block diagram 600 of a communication manager 605 supporting handover techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 605 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 415, the communication manager 515, or the communication manager 710 described herein. The communication manager 605 may include a connection establishment manager 610, a scheduling manager 615, a priority manager 620, a configuration manager 625, and a handover manager 630. Each of these modules may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0105] The connection establishment manager 610 may establish a second connection with the target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station while connected with the source base station via a first connection, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure.

[0106] The scheduling manager 615 may identify that the first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with the second transmission of the target base station when both the first connection and the second connection are active. In some examples, the scheduling manager 615 may communicate the second transmission with the target base station. In some examples, the scheduling manager 615 may discard the first transmission with the source base station. In some cases, the first transmission set of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with the second transmission set of the target base station. In some cases, the first transmission set includes the first transmission and the second transmission set includes the second transmission.

[0107] Priority manager 620 can determine which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission. In some examples, priority manager 620 can process the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0108] In some examples, priority manager 620 may identify that communications with the target base station take precedence over communications with the source base station.In some examples, priority manager 620 may determine that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based on the second transmission with the target base station.

[0109] In some examples, priority manager 620 may determine that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based on the indication. In some examples, priority manager 620 may identify that both the first transmission and the second transmission have the same priority. In some examples, priority manager 620 may identify that communications with the target base station are prioritized over communications with the source base station. In some cases, determining that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission is based on a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions applied to one or more of the first transmission set or the second transmission set.

[0110] In some cases, a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions is applied to each of a first set of transmissions and a second set of transmissions, respectively, and wherein determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission is based on one or more of the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions or which of the source base station or the target base station is associated with the transmission.

[0111] In some cases, a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions is applied jointly across both the first transmission set and the second transmission set, and wherein determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission is based on one or more of the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions or which of the source base station or the target base station is associated with the transmission.

[0112] In some cases, the priority for each of the multiple different types of transmissions is based on the channel type of the associated transmission. In some cases, the priority for each of the multiple different types of transmissions is further based on whether the associated transmission is to a source base station or to a target base station.

[0113] Configuration manager 625 may receive an indication of a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions for different types of transmission sets. In some cases, the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions is received in one or more of radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, or any combination thereof.

[0114] The handover manager 630 may configure and execute handover procedures. In some cases, the first transmission and the second transmission are uplink transmissions from the UE to the source base station or the target base station. In some cases, the first transmission and the second transmission are downlink transmissions from the source base station or the target base station to the UE.

[0115] Figure 7 A diagram of a system 700 including a device 705 supporting a handover technique for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 705 may be an example of a device 405, a device 505, or a UE 115 as described herein or include a component of the device 405, a device 505, or a UE 115. The device 705 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including a communication manager 710, an I / O controller 715, a transceiver 720, an antenna 725, a memory 730, and a processor 740. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 745).

[0116] The communication manager 710 may, when connected to a source base station via a first connection, establish a second connection with a target base station in response to initiating a switching procedure from the source base station to the target base station, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the switching procedure; identify that a first transmission of the source base station at least partially overlaps in time with a second transmission of the target base station when both the first connection and the second connection are active; determine which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and process the higher priority transmission based on the determination.

[0117] I / O controller 715 can manage input and output signals of device 705. I / O controller 715 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 705. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can utilize an operating system, such as MS- MS- OS / Or another known operating system. In other cases, I / O controller 715 may represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 may be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user may interact with device 705 via I / O controller 705 or via hardware components controlled by I / O controller 715.

[0118] The transceiver 720 may communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links, as described. For example, the transceiver 720 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 720 may also include a modem to modulate packets and provide the modulated packets to an antenna for transmission, and demodulate packets received from an antenna.

[0119] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 725. However, in some cases, the device may have more than one antenna 725, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions concurrently.

[0120] The memory 730 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 730 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 735 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 730 may include, among other things, a basic I / O system (BIOS) that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0121] The processor 740 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 740 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 740. The processor 740 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 730) to cause the device 705 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks of a switching technology that supports providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections).

[0122] The code 735 may include instructions for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 735 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a system memory or other type of memory. In some cases, the code 735 may not be directly executed by the processor 740, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0123] The actions performed by the processor 740, memory 730, I / O controller 715, communication manager 710, transceiver 720, and antenna 725 as described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more potential advantages. One implementation may allow the device 705 to improve signaling reliability, throughput, and user experience while reducing power consumption. Another implementation of one or more priority rules may provide enhanced continuity of high priority channels (e.g., channels for URLLC).

[0124] Figure 8 A block diagram 800 of a device 805 supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 805 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a communication manager 815, and a transmitter 820. The device 805 may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0125] The receiver 810 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to switching techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections, etc.). The information may be passed to other components of the device 805. The receiver 810 may be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 1120. The receiver 810 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0126] The communication manager 815 may transmit priority information for different types of transmission sets to the UE indicating a priority for processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a handover procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station, and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiate a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicate with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information. The communication manager 815 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 described herein.

[0127] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, in code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an FPGA or other programmable logic device designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof.

[0128] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be physically located at various locations, including being distributed such that portions of the functionality are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be separate and distinct components. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.

[0129] The transmitter 820 may transmit signals generated by other components of the device 805. In some examples, the transmitter 820 may be co-located with the receiver 810 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 820 may be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 1120. The transmitter 820 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0130] Fig. 9 A block diagram 900 of a device 905 supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of the device 805 or base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a communication manager 915, and a transmitter 935. The device 905 may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0131] The receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to switching techniques that provide service continuity with multiple concurrent connections, etc.). The information may be passed to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 1120. Receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0132] The communication manager 915 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815 as described herein. The communication manager 915 may include a configuration manager 920, a handoff manager 925, and a scheduling manager 930. The communication manager 915 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 described herein.

[0133] The configuration manager 920 may transmit priority information for different types of transmission sets to the UE indicating the priority of processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a switching procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station.

[0134] The handover manager 925 may initiate a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from a source base station to a target base station.

[0135] The scheduling manager 930 may communicate with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information.

[0136] The transmitter 935 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 905. In some examples, the transmitter 935 can be co-located with the receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 935 can be a reference Fig.11 Examples of various aspects of the described transceiver 1120. The transmitter 935 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0137] Fig.10 A block diagram 1000 of a communication manager 1005 supporting handover techniques for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 1005 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815, the communication manager 915, or the communication manager 1110 described herein. The communication manager 1005 may include a configuration manager 1010, a handover manager 1015, a scheduling manager 1020, and a priority manager 1025. Each of these modules may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0138] The configuration manager 1010 may transmit priority information for different types of transmission sets to the UE indicating the priority of processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a switching procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station.

[0139] The handover manager 1015 may initiate a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station. In some cases, the concurrent transmission set is an uplink transmission from the UE to the source base station or the target base station. In some cases, the concurrent transmission set is a downlink transmission from the source base station or the target base station to the UE.

[0140] The schedule manager 1020 may communicate with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information.

[0141] The priority manager 1025 may identify or configure one or more priority rules and provide priority information to the UE. In some examples, the priority information indicates that communication with the target base station takes precedence over communication with the source base station. In some cases, the priority information further indicates that when each transmission type has the same priority, communication with the target base station takes precedence over communication with the source base station.

[0142] In some cases, the priority information is further applied by the UE when the concurrent transmission set includes the first transmission set of the source base station, the second transmission set of the target base station, or a combination thereof.

[0143] In some cases, priority information is applied to each of the first transmission set and the second transmission set, respectively, and wherein the priority information indicates which of the source base station or the target base station has a higher priority within each transmission of the different types of transmission sets.

[0144] In some cases, priority information is applied jointly across both the first transmission set and the second transmission set, and wherein the priority information indicates which of the source base station or the target base station has a higher priority within each transmission of the different types of transmission sets.

[0145] In some cases, the priority information is based on the channel type of the different types of transmission sets.In some cases, the priority information is transmitted to the UE in one or more of radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, or any combination thereof.

[0146] Fig.11 A diagram of a system 1100 including a device 1105 supporting a handover technique for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 may be an example of a device 805, a device 905, or a base station 105 as described herein or include components of the above devices. The device 1105 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including a communication manager 1110, a network communication manager 1115, a transceiver 1120, an antenna 1125, a memory 1130, a processor 1140, and an inter-station communication manager 1145. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1150).

[0147] The communication manager 1110 may transmit priority information for different types of transmission sets to the UE, indicating the priority of processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a switching procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station, and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiate a switching procedure with the UE to switch the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicate with the UE during the switching procedure based on the priority information.

[0148] The network communications manager 1115 may manage communications with the core network (eg, via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager 1115 may manage the delivery of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

[0149] The transceiver 1120 may communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links, as described. For example, the transceiver 1120 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1120 may also include a modem to modulate packets and provide the modulated packets to an antenna for transmission, and demodulate packets received from an antenna.

[0150] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 1125. However, in some cases, the device may have more than one antenna 1125, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions concurrently.

[0151] The memory 1130 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. The memory 1130 may store computer readable code 1135 including instructions that, when executed by a processor (e.g., processor 1140), cause the device to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1130 may include, among other things, a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0152] Processor 1140 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1140 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some cases, the memory controller may be integrated into processor 1140. Processor 1140 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1130) to cause device 1105 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks of a switching technology that supports providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections).

[0153] The inter-site communication manager 1145 may manage communications with other base stations 105 and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UE 115 in cooperation with other base stations 105. For example, the inter-site communication manager 1145 may coordinate the scheduling of transmissions to UE 115 for various interference mitigation techniques, such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-site communication manager 1145 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between base stations 105.

[0154] The code 1135 may include instructions for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 1135 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a system memory or other type of memory. In some cases, the code 1135 may not be directly executed by the processor 1140, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0155] Fig.12 A flow chart illustrating a method 1200 for supporting a switching technique for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 The communication manager described herein may be used to perform the functions described herein. In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0156] At 1205, the UE may establish a second connection with the target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station while connected to the source base station via the first connection, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure. The operations of 1205 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1205 may be as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The connection establishment manager described is performed.

[0157] At 1210, the UE may, when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identify that the first transmission of the source base station and the second transmission of the target base station overlap at least partially in time. The operations of 1210 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1210 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described scheduler is executed.

[0158] At 1215, the UE may determine which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission. The operations of 1215 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1215 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0159] At 1220, the UE may process the higher priority transmission based on the determination. The operations of 1220 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1220 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0160] Fig.13 A flow chart illustrating a method 1300 for supporting a switching technique for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The communication manager described herein may be used to perform the functions described herein. In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0161] At 1305, the UE may establish a second connection with the target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station while connected to the source base station via the first connection, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure. The operations of 1305 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The connection establishment manager described is performed.

[0162] At 1310, the UE may, when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identify that the first transmission of the source base station and the second transmission of the target base station overlap at least partially in time. The operations of 1310 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described scheduler is executed.

[0163] At 1315, the UE may identify that communication with the target base station is prioritized over communication with the source base station. The operations of 1315 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1315 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0164] At 1320, the UE may determine that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based on the second transmission with the target base station. The operations of 1320 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1320 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0165] At 1325, the UE may process the second transmission based on the determination and discard the first transmission. The operations of 1325 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1325 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0166] Fig.14 A flow chart illustrating a method 1400 for supporting a switching technique for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 The communication manager described herein may be used to perform the functions described herein. In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0167] At 1405, the UE may receive an indication of the priority of each transmission in the different types of transmission sets. The operations of 1405 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The configuration manager described is executed.

[0168] At 1410, the UE may establish a second connection with the target base station in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station while connected to the source base station via the first connection, wherein the first connection and the second connection are both active for at least a portion of the handover procedure. The operations of 1410 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The connection establishment manager described is performed.

[0169] At 1415, the UE may, when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identify that the first transmission of the source base station overlaps at least partially in time with the second transmission of the target base station. The operations of 1415 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described scheduler is executed.

[0170] At 1420, the UE may determine that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based on the indication. The operations of 1420 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0171] At 1425, the UE may process the second transmission based on the determination. The operations of 1425 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1425 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The priority manager described is implemented.

[0172] At 1430, the UE may communicate a second transmission with the target base station. The operations of 1430 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1430 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described scheduler is executed.

[0173] At 1435, the UE may discard the first transmission with the source base station. The operations of 1435 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1435 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described scheduler is executed.

[0174] Fig.15 A flow chart illustrating a method 1500 for supporting a switching technique for providing service continuity with multiple concurrent connections according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a base station 105 or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a base station 105 or components thereof as described herein. Figures 8 to 11In some examples, the base station may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0175] At 1505, the base station may transmit priority information for different types of transmission sets to the UE indicating a priority for processing or discarding one or more transmissions in a concurrent transmission set during a handover procedure in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station and the concurrent transmission set includes at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station. The operations of 1505 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 The configuration manager described is executed.

[0176] At 1510, the base station may initiate a handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source base station to the target base station. The operations of 1510 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described switching manager is executed.

[0177] At 1515, the base station may communicate with the UE during the handover procedure based on the priority information. The operations of 1515 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described scheduler is executed.

[0178] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the various operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more methods may be combined.

[0179] The following provides an overview of various aspects of the disclosure:

[0180] Aspect 1: A method for performing wireless communications at a UE, comprising: while connected to a source base station via a first connection, establishing a second connection with a target base station in response to initiating a switching procedure from the source base station to the target base station, wherein the first connection and the second connection are both active for at least a portion of the switching procedure; when both the first connection and the second connection are active, identifying that a first transmission of the source base station at least partially overlaps in time with a second transmission of the target base station; determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission; and processing the higher priority transmission based at least in part on the determination.

[0181] Aspect 2: A method as in aspect 1, wherein the determination comprises: identifying that communication with the target base station takes precedence over communication with the source base station; and determining that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based at least in part on the second transmission with the target base station.

[0182] Aspect 3: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 2, further comprising: receiving an indication of a priority of each of a plurality of different types of transmissions; and determining that the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based at least in part on the indication.

[0183] Aspect 4: The method of aspect 3 further comprises: communicating a second transmission with the target base station; and discarding the first transmission with the source base station.

[0184] Aspect 5: The method of any one of aspects 3 to 4, further comprising: identifying that both the first transmission and the second transmission have the same priority; and identifying that communication with the target base station takes precedence over communication with the source base station.

[0185] Aspect 6: A method as in any one of Aspects 3 to 5, wherein a first plurality of transmissions of the source base station at least partially overlaps in time with a second plurality of transmissions of the target base station; the first plurality of transmissions includes a first transmission and the second plurality of transmissions includes a second transmission; and determining the second transmission as a higher priority transmission is at least partially based on a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions applied to one or more of the first plurality of transmissions or the second plurality of transmissions.

[0186] Aspect 7: A method as in Aspect 6, wherein a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions is applied to each of a first transmission set and a second transmission set, respectively, and determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission is based at least in part on one or more of the priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions or which of the source base station or the target base station is associated with the transmission.

[0187] Aspect 8: A method as in any one of Aspects 6 to 7, wherein a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions is applied jointly across both a first transmission set and a second transmission set, and determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission is based at least in part on one or more of the priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions or which of the source base station or the target base station is associated with the transmission.

[0188] Aspect 9: The method of any one of aspects 3 to 8, wherein the priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions is based at least in part on a channel type of the associated transmission.

[0189] Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions is received in one or more of radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, or any combination thereof.

[0190] Aspect 11: The method of any one of aspects 9 to 10, wherein the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions is further based at least in part on whether the associated transmission is directed to a source base station or a target base station.

[0191] Aspect 12: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the first transmission and the second transmission are uplink transmissions from the UE to the source base station or the target base station.

[0192] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 12, wherein the first transmission and the second transmission are downlink transmissions from the source base station or the target base station to the UE.

[0193] Aspect 14: A method for performing wireless communications at a base station, comprising: transmitting priority information for multiple different types of transmissions to a UE indicating the priority of processing or discarding one or more of multiple concurrent transmissions during a switching procedure, in which the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source base station and a target base station, and the multiple concurrent transmissions include at least one transmission to the source base station and at least one transmission to the target base station; initiating a switching procedure with the UE to switch the UE from the source base station to the target base station; and communicating with the UE during the switching procedure based at least in part on the priority information.

[0194] Aspect 15: The method of aspect 14, wherein the priority information indicates that communication with the target base station takes precedence over communication with the source base station.

[0195] Aspect 16: The method of aspect 15, wherein the priority information further indicates that when transmission types have the same priority, communication with the target base station takes precedence over communication with the source base station.

[0196] Aspect 17: According to any one of Aspects 15 to 16, the priority information is further applied by the UE when the multiple concurrent transmissions include the first multiple transmissions of the source base station, the second multiple transmissions of the target base station, or a combination thereof.

[0197] Aspect 18: A method as in Aspect 17, wherein priority information is applied to each of the first plurality of transmissions and the second plurality of transmissions respectively, and the priority information indicates which of the source base station or the target base station has a higher priority within each transmission of multiple different types of transmissions.

[0198] Aspect 19: A method as in any one of Aspects 17 to 18, wherein priority information is applied jointly across both the first plurality of transmissions and the second plurality of transmissions, and the priority information indicates which of the source base station or the target base station has a higher priority within each transmission of multiple different types of transmissions.

[0199] Aspect 20: The method of any one of Aspects 14 to 19, wherein the priority information is based at least in part on channel types of a plurality of different types of transmissions.

[0200] Aspect 21: The method of aspect 20, wherein the priority information is transmitted to the UE in one or more of radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, or any combination thereof.

[0201] Aspect 22: The method according to any one of aspects 14 to 21, wherein the multiple concurrent transmissions are uplink transmissions from the UE to the source base station or the target base station.

[0202] Aspect 23: The method according to any one of aspects 14 to 22, wherein the multiple concurrent transmissions are downlink transmissions from the source base station or the target base station to the UE.

[0203] Aspect 24: An apparatus for performing wireless communication at a UE, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of Aspects 1 to 13.

[0204] Aspect 25: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising at least one device for performing the method of any one of aspects 1 to 13.

[0205] Aspect 26: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a code for wireless communication at a UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method as described in any one of methods 1 to 13.

[0206] Aspect 27: An apparatus for performing wireless communications at a base station, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method as described in any one of Aspects 14 to 23.

[0207] Aspect 28: An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising at least one means for performing the method of any one of Aspects 14 to 23.

[0208] Aspect 29: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a code for wireless communication at a UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method as described in any one of methods 14 to 23.

[0209] The technology described herein can be used in various wireless communication systems, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and other systems. CDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA). CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 versions are generally referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is generally referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. TDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

[0210] OFDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE, LTE-A, and LTE-A Pro are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for systems and radio technologies mentioned herein as well as for other systems and radio technologies. Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems may be described for example purposes and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein may also be applicable to applications other than LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR applications.

[0211] A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions to a network provider. A small cell may be associated with a lower power base station (compared to a macro cell), and the small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency band as the macro cell. According to various examples, a small cell may include a pico cell, a femto cell, and a micro cell. A pico cell, for example, may cover a smaller geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions to a network provider. A femto cell may also cover a smaller geographic area (e.g., a residence) and may provide restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs of users in the residence, etc.). An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB may support one or more (eg, two, three, four, etc.) cells and may also support communication using one or more component carriers.

[0212] The wireless communication systems described herein may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, each base station may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be roughly aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, each base station may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for synchronous or asynchronous operation.

[0213] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout this description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0214] The various illustrative blocks and modules described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, 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 in an alternative, 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, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0215] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Other examples and implementations fall within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0216] Computer-readable medium includes both non-transient computer storage medium and communication medium, and it includes any medium that facilitates computer program to transfer from one place to another place.Non-transient storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general or special-purpose computer.As an example and not limitation, non-transient computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or can be used to carry or store instruction or data structure form of desired program code means and can be accessed by general or special-purpose computer or general or special-purpose processor any other non-transient medium.Similarly, any connection is also properly referred to as computer-readable medium.For example, if software is transmitted from website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave, then the coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave are just included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc as used herein include CDs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0217] As used herein (including in the claims), "or" used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items with a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates an inclusive list, so that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Similarly, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as referring to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step described as "based on condition A" may be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on."

[0218] In the accompanying drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference number. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference number with a dash and a second reference number that distinguishes between similar components. If only the first reference number is used in the specification, the description may apply to any of the similar components having the same first reference number regardless of the second reference number, or other subsequent reference numbers.

[0219] The descriptions set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describe example configurations and do not represent all examples that may be implemented or that fall within the scope of the claims. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration" and does not mean "better than" or "better than other examples." This detailed description includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0220] The description herein is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: while connected to a source access network entity via a first connection, establishing a second connection with a target access network entity in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source access network entity to the target access network entity, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; When both the first connection and the second connection are active, a first transmission identifying the source access network entity at least partially overlaps in time with a second transmission identifying the target access network entity; determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based at least in part on the type of the first transmission and the type of the second transmission; as well as The higher priority transmission is processed according to a set of rules for determining which transmission to process based at least in part on the priority of the first transmission and the priority of the second transmission.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises: identifying that communication with the target access network entity takes precedence over communication with the source access network entity; as well as The second transmission is determined to be the higher priority transmission based at least in part on the second transmission with the target access network entity.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an indication of a priority for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions; as well as The second transmission is determined to be the higher priority transmission based at least in part on the indication.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: communicating the second transmission with the target access network entity; as well as The first transmission with the source access network entity is discarded.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: identifying that the first transmission and the second transmission both have the same priority; as well as The identification prioritizes communication with the target access network entity over communication with the source access network entity.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein: The first plurality of transmissions of the source access network entity at least partially overlap in time with the second plurality of transmissions of the target access network entity; The first plurality of transmissions includes the first transmission and the second plurality of transmissions includes the second transmission; and Determining the second transmission to be the higher priority transmission is based at least in part on a priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions applied to one or more of the first plurality of transmissions or the second plurality of transmissions.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a priority for each of the multiple different types of transmissions is applied to each of the first multiple transmissions and the second multiple transmissions, respectively, and wherein determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is the higher priority transmission is at least partially based on the priority for each of the multiple different types of transmissions, or which of the source access network entity or the target access network entity is associated with the first transmission and which of the source access network entity or the target access network entity is associated with the second transmission.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein a priority for each of the multiple different types of transmissions is applied jointly across both the first multiple transmissions and the second multiple transmissions, and wherein determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is the higher priority transmission is based at least in part on the priority for each of the multiple different types of transmissions or which of the source access network entity or the target access network entity is associated with the first transmission and which of the source access network entity or the target access network entity is associated with the second transmission.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions is based at least in part on a channel type of the associated transmission.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions is received in one or more of radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the priority for each of the plurality of different types of transmissions is further based at least in part on whether the associated transmission is directed to the source access network entity or to the target access network entity.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first transmission and the second transmission are uplink transmissions from the UE to the source access network entity or the target access network entity.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first transmission and the second transmission are downlink transmissions from the source access network entity or the target access network entity to the UE.

14. A method for wireless communication at an access network entity, comprising: transmitting priority information and a rule set to a user equipment (UE), the priority information indicating, for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions, a relative priority of the plurality of different types of transmissions, wherein the rule set indicates rules for processing or dropping one or more of a plurality of concurrent transmissions during a handover procedure based at least in part on the indicated relative priority, wherein the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source access network entity and a target access network entity, and the plurality of concurrent transmissions include at least one transmission to the source access network entity and at least one transmission to the target access network entity; Initiating the handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source access network entity to the target access network entity; as well as Communicating with the UE during the handover procedure based at least in part on the priority information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the priority information indicates that communication with the target access network entity takes precedence over communication with the source access network entity.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the priority information further indicates that when transmission types have the same priority, communication with the target access network entity takes precedence over communication with the source access network entity.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the priority information is further applied by the UE when the plurality of concurrent transmissions include a first plurality of transmissions by the source access network entity, a second plurality of transmissions by the target access network entity, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the priority information is applied to each of the first plurality of transmissions and the second plurality of transmissions, respectively, and the priority information indicates which of the source access network entity or the target access network entity has a higher priority within each of the plurality of different types of transmissions.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the priority information is applied jointly across both the first plurality of transmissions and the second plurality of transmissions, and the priority information indicates which of the source access network entity or the target access network entity has a higher priority within each of the plurality of different types of transmissions.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the priority information is based at least in part on a channel type of the plurality of different types of transmissions.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the priority information is transmitted to the UE in one or more of radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, or any combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of concurrent transmissions are uplink transmissions from the UE to the source access network entity or the target access network entity.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of concurrent transmissions are downlink transmissions from the source access network entity or the target access network entity to the UE.

24. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the device to: while connected to a source access network entity via a first connection, establishing a second connection with a target access network entity in response to initiating a handover procedure from the source access network entity to the target access network entity, wherein both the first connection and the second connection are active for at least a portion of the handover procedure; When both the first connection and the second connection are active, a first transmission identifying the source access network entity at least partially overlaps in time with a second transmission identifying the target access network entity; determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is a higher priority transmission based at least in part on the type of the first transmission and the type of the second transmission; as well as The higher priority transmission is processed according to a set of rules for determining which transmission to process based at least in part on the priority of the first transmission and the priority of the second transmission.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the instructions for determining which of the first transmission or the second transmission is the higher priority transmission comprises instructions further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: identifying that communication with the target access network entity takes precedence over communication with the source access network entity; and The second transmission is determined to be the higher priority transmission based at least in part on the second transmission with the target access network entity.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receiving from the source access network entity an indication of a priority of each of a plurality of different types of transmissions; and The second transmission is determined to be the higher priority transmission based at least in part on the indication.

27. A device for wireless communication at an access network entity, comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the device to: transmitting priority information and a rule set to a user equipment (UE), the priority information indicating, for each of a plurality of different types of transmissions, a relative priority of the plurality of different types of transmissions, wherein the rule set indicates rules for processing or dropping one or more of a plurality of concurrent transmissions during a handover procedure based at least in part on the indicated relative priority, wherein the UE has concurrent active connections with both a source access network entity and a target access network entity, and the plurality of concurrent transmissions include at least one transmission to the source access network entity and at least one transmission to the target access network entity; Initiating the handover procedure with the UE to handover the UE from the source access network entity to the target access network entity; as well as Communicating with the UE during the handover procedure based at least in part on the priority information.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the priority information indicates that communications with the target access network entity take precedence over communications with the source access network entity.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the priority information further indicates that when transmission types have the same priority, communication with the target access network entity takes precedence over communication with the source access network entity.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the priority information is further applied by the UE when the plurality of concurrent transmissions comprises a first plurality of transmissions by the source access network entity, a second plurality of transmissions by the target access network entity, or a combination thereof.

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