Bandwidth fraction / frequency location restrictions for L1 / L2 central inter-cell mobility

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to configuring, limiting and / or setting bandwidth parts (BWPs) or frequency locations for handover from a source cell to a target cell in a layer 1 (L1) / layer 2 (L2) centric inter-cell mobility communication system. Handovers may be allowed for the same, overlapping or non-overlapping BWPs within an intra-frequency bandwidth shared by the source cell and the target cell.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to and the benefit of Non-Provisional Application No. 17 / 131,225 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on December 22, 2020, and Provisional Application No. 62 / 953,153 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on December 23, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] The techniques discussed below relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to limiting or setting bandwidth parts (BWPs) or frequency locations in a layer 1 (L1) / layer 2 (L2) centric inter-cell mobility communication system.

[0004] introduction

[0005] In certain wireless technologies and standards, such as the evolving 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standard, certain high-frequency transmission waveforms and protocols and the use of multiple transmission / reception points (multiple TRPs) have been proposed. In addition, the 5G NR standard continues to provide enhancements for multi-beam operation, particularly for high-frequency transmissions (e.g., frequency range FR2, which covers approximately 6 GHz and above), and for multi-TRP deployments. Some further enhancements in 5G NR include improved inter-cell mobility, which is a procedure that ensures that a wireless user equipment (UE) can switch from one wireless cell to another whenever the UE detects an adjacent wireless cell that can serve the UE.

[0006] A brief overview of some examples

[0007] An overview of one or more aspects of the present disclosure is given below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This overview is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived features of the present disclosure, and is neither intended to identify the key or decisive elements of all aspects of the present disclosure nor to attempt to define the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in a form as a preface to a more detailed description given later.

[0008] According to one aspect, a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) in a communication system supporting inter-cell mobility is disclosed. The method includes: determining in the UE whether a source cell and a target cell each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) within the same bandwidth range; and when the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same bandwidth range, switching from the source cell to the target cell.

[0009] According to another aspect, a user equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication is disclosed, the UE comprising a processor, a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor and the memory are configured to: determine in the UE whether a source cell and a target cell in a wireless communication system each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range. In addition, the processor and the memory are configured to: when the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range, switch from the source cell to the target cell.

[0010] According to another aspect, a method for wireless communication at a radio access network (RAN) entity in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method includes: configuring the RAN entity for communicating with a user equipment (UE) in the wireless communication system to: (1) allow the UE to switch from a source cell to a target cell when at least one of a first active downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) or a first uplink (UL) BWP of the target cell substantially falls within or is equal to a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell according to a first configuration; or (2) allow the UE to switch from the source cell to the target cell when at least one of the first active DL BWP or the first active UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second active DL BWP or the second UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same bandwidth range according to a second configuration. The method further includes: selecting one of the first configuration or the second configuration for the UE based on whether the first and second active DL bandwidth portions or the first and second active UL bandwidth portions of the target cell and the source cell are determined to substantially fall within a bandwidth range or be equal in a bandwidth range, or partially overlap or non-overlap in a bandwidth range. In addition, the method includes: transmitting the selection of the first configuration or the second configuration to the UE.

[0011] According to yet another aspect, a radio access network (RAN) entity configured for wireless communication is disclosed, the RAN entity comprising a processor, a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor and the memory are configured to: configure the RAN entity for communicating with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system to: (1) allow the UE to switch from a source cell to the target cell according to a first configuration when at least one of an active downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) or an active uplink (UL) BWP of the target cell substantially falls within or is equal to an active DL BWP or an active UL BWP of the source cell; or (2) allow the UE to switch from the source cell to the target cell according to a second configuration when at least one of a first active DL BWP or a first active UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with a second active DL BWP or a second UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same bandwidth range. The processor and memory are also configured to: select one of the first configuration or the second configuration for the UE based on whether the first and second active DL or UL bandwidth portions of the target cell and the source cell are determined to be substantially within the bandwidth or equal in bandwidth, or partially overlapping or non-overlapping in bandwidth; and transmit the selection of the first configuration or the second configuration to the UE via the transceiver.

[0012] These and other aspects of the present invention will be more fully understood after reading the following detailed description. After reading the following description of specific exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features and embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Although the various features may be discussed below with respect to certain embodiments and drawings, all embodiments may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more such features may also be used according to the various embodiments discussed herein. In a similar manner, although the exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system or method embodiments, it should be appreciated that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a wireless communication system in accordance with some aspects.

[0015] Figure 2 is a conceptual illustration of an example of a radio access network in accordance with some aspects.

[0016] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system supporting multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications in accordance with some aspects.

[0017] Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of radio resource organization in an air interface utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) according to some aspects.

[0018] Figure 5 The radio protocol architecture for a UE and / or gNB is explained in which the disclosed aspects may operate.

[0019] Figure 6

[0013] Illustrated are examples of bandwidth parts (BWPs) used in both a source cell and a target cell in accordance with some aspects.

[0020] Figure 7

[0013] Another example of a BWP used in both a source cell and a target cell in accordance with some aspects is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 8

[0013] Further examples of BWPs used in both a source cell and a target cell in accordance with some aspects are illustrated.

[0022] Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method in a UE for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility handover according to some aspects.

[0023] Fig.10 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a user equipment (UE) in accordance with some aspects.

[0024] Fig.11 is a flow chart illustrating a method in a RAN entity for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility handover according to some aspects.

[0025] Fig.12 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a RAN entity in accordance with some aspects.

[0026] Detailed Description

[0027] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. This detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid diluting such concepts.

[0028] Although various aspects and embodiments are described in this application by explanation of some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional implementations and use cases can be generated in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovation described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, each embodiment and / or use can be generated via an integrated chip embodiment and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / shopping equipment, medical equipment, AI-enabled devices, etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically for each use case or application, the wide applicability of the described innovation may occur. The scope of each implementation can range from chip-level or module components to non-module, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovation. In some practical environments, the equipment incorporating the various aspects and features described may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include several components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components, including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The innovations described herein are intended to be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc., of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0029] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency and wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "sub-6 GHz band" in various documents and articles. Similar naming issues sometimes arise with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in various documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0030] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands of these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz–24.25GHz). The frequency bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and therefore can effectively extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to above 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4-a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0031] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this document, the term "sub-6 GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can be less than 6 GHz, can be within FR1, or can include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this document, the term "millimeter wave" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can include mid-band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band.

[0032] It is noted that for 5G NR systems, inter-cell mobility may be configured as Layer 1 (i.e., L1 or PHY layer) or Layer 2 (i.e., L2 or MAC layer) centric (i.e., L1 / L2 centric). It is noted that within the 5G NR framework, various operating modes for L1 / L2 centric inter-cell mobility may be possible for different operating scenarios, as will be further described herein. Furthermore, in such L1 / L2 centric inter-cell mobility, restriction rules or predetermined behaviors for handover may be established to ensure optimal handover between a source cell and a target cell. Specifically, the present disclosure provides restrictions, allocations, or predefined behaviors for L1 / L2 cell handover based on bandwidth part (BWP) or frequency location for intra-frequency and inter-frequency handover from a source cell to a target cell.

[0033] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to an L1 / L2-centric inter-cell mobility system, in which rules or constraints are determined for bandwidth parts (BWPs) and / or frequency locations of a source cell and a target cell for a UE to switch or handover between. Specifically, in a first configuration, when the BWPs of both the source cell and the target cell are substantially the same (e.g., the same frequency location or range), the UE may be configured to allow switching from the source cell to the target cell. In other examples, in a second configuration, the UE may be allowed to switch when the BWPs of the source cell and the target cell only partially overlap or are non-overlapping. According to a further aspect, the UE and / or a network entity (e.g., a gNB or other RAN entity) may determine to select between the first configuration and the second configuration. Additional further aspects may allow switching for a BWP in an intra-band frequency, or also allow switching in a BWP scenario among inter-band frequencies.

[0034] Turning to the drawings, the various concepts presented throughout this disclosure can be implemented across a wide variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Figure 1 , various aspects of the present disclosure are explained with reference to a wireless communication system 100, by way of illustrative example and not limitation. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. By means of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 may be enabled to perform data communications with an external data network 110, such as, but not limited to, the Internet.

[0035] The RAN 104 may implement any suitable one or more wireless communication technologies to provide radio access to the UE 106. As an example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specifications, commonly referred to as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under a mix of 5G NR and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standards, commonly referred to as LTE. 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as the Next Generation RAN, or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples may be utilized within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0036] As illustrated, the RAN 104 includes a plurality of base stations 108. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network that is responsible for radio transmission and reception to or from a UE in one or more cellular cells. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a base station may be referred to as a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), a B node (NB), an evolved B node (eNB), a next generation B node (gNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), or some other suitable terminology by those skilled in the art. In some examples, a base station may include two or more TRPs that may be co-located or non-co-located. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequencies in the same or different frequency bands.

[0037] The radio access network 104 is further illustrated as supporting wireless communications for multiple mobile devices. A mobile device may be referred to as a user equipment (UE) in the 3GPP standard, but may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology by those skilled in the art. A UE may be a device (e.g., a mobile device) that provides a user with access to network services.

[0038] Within this document, a "mobile" device does not necessarily need to have mobile capabilities, and may be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile equipment refers broadly to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include several hardware structural components sized, shaped, and arranged to facilitate communication; such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, and the like electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile devices, cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, for example, corresponding to the "Internet of Things" (IoT). Additionally, the mobile device may be a car or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotic device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multicopter, a quadcopter, a remote control device, a consumer and / or wearable device (such as glasses), a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. Additionally, the mobile device may be a digital home or smart home device, such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment, an appliance, a vending machine, a smart lighting device, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. Additionally, the mobile device may be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device that controls power, lighting, water, etc. (e.g., a smart grid), an industrial automation and enterprise device, a logistics controller, etc. Still further, the mobile device may provide connected medical or telemedicine support, such as health care at a distance. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth supervisory devices, whose communications may be given priority or prioritized access over other types of information, for example in the form of prioritized access for critical service data transmission and / or associated QoS for critical service data transmission.

[0039] Wireless communication between RAN 104 and UE 106 may be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) may be referred to as downlink (DL) transmissions. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the term downlink may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission originating at a scheduling entity (further described below; e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this scheme may be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) may be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. According to further aspects of the present disclosure, the term uplink may refer to a point-to-point transmission originating at a scheduled entity (further described below; e.g., UE 106).

[0040] In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, wherein a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, a scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communications, a UE 106 (which may be a scheduled entity) may utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity 108.

[0041] Base station 108 is not the only entity that may function as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (eg, one or more other UEs).

[0042] like Figure 1 , the scheduling entity 108 may broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. Broadly speaking, the scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic in the wireless communication network, including downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to the scheduling entity 108. On the other hand, the scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114 (including but not limited to scheduling information (e.g., grants), synchronization or timing information), or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network, such as the scheduling entity 108.

[0043] In general, the base stations 108 may include a backhaul interface for communicating with a backhaul portion 120 of the wireless communication system. The backhaul 120 may provide a link between the base stations 108 and the core network 102. Furthermore, in some examples, the backhaul network may provide interconnections between the respective base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection using any suitable transport network, a virtual network, and the like.

[0044] The core network 102 may be part of the wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to a 5G standard (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to a 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC), or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0045] Now refer to Figure 2 , a schematic illustration of RAN 200 is provided by way of example and not limitation. In some examples, RAN 200 may be similar to that described above and in Figure 1 The geographic area covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into cellular regions (cells) that may be uniquely identified by a user equipment (UE) based on an identity broadcast from an access point or base station. Figure 2 Macro cells 202, 204, and 206 and small cells 208 are illustrated, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of ​​a cell. All sectors within one cell are served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector may be identified by a single logical identification belonging to the sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within a cell may be formed by antenna groups, where each antenna is responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

[0046] exist Figure 2 , two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in the cellular cells 202 and 204; and a third base station 214 is shown as controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in the cellular cell 206. That is, the base station may have an integrated antenna, or may be connected to the antenna or RRH by a feeder cable. In the illustrated example, the cellular cells 202, 204, and 126 may be referred to as macro cells because the base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with large sizes. In addition, the base station 218 is shown in a small cell 208 (e.g., a micro cell, a micro cell, a femto cell, a home base station, a home node B, a home evolved node B, etc.), which may overlap with one or more macro cells. In this example, the cellular cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell because the base station 218 supports a cell with a relatively small size. The cell size setting may be done according to the system design and component constraints.

[0047] It is to be understood that the radio access network 200 may include any number of wireless base stations and cellular cells. In addition, relay nodes may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cellular cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be similar to those described above and in Figure 1 The same as the base station / scheduling entity 108 illustrated in FIG.

[0048] Figure 2 Further included is a quadcopter or drone 220 that can be configured to act as a base station. That is, in some examples, the cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of a mobile base station (such as a quadcopter 220).

[0049] Within the RAN 200, cells may include UEs that may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. In addition, each base station 210, 212, 214, 218, and 220 may be configured to provide a core network 102 (see FIG. 1 ) for all UEs in the corresponding cell. Figure 1 ) access point. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may be in communication with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 may be in communication with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 may be in communication with base station 214 via RRH 216; UE 234 may be in communication with base station 218; and UE 236 may be in communication with mobile base station 220. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, and / or 242 may be in communication with the mobile base station 220 described above and in Figure 1 The UE / scheduled entity 106 is the same as illustrated in FIG.

[0050] In some examples, a mobile network node (eg, quadcopter 220) can be configured to function as a UE. For example, quadcopter 220 can operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0051] In a further aspect of the RAN 200, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without having to rely on scheduling or control information from a base station. Sidelink communications may be used, for example, in device-to-device (D2D), peer-to-peer (P2P), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks, and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 238, 240, and 242) may communicate with each other using peer-to-peer (P2P) or sidelink signals 237 without relaying the communication through a base station. In some examples, UEs 238, 240, and 242 may each act as a scheduling entity or a transmitting sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or a receiving sidelink device to schedule resources and communicate sidelink signals 237 therebetween without relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. In other examples, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) within the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 212) may also communicate sidelink signals 227 on a direct link (sidelink) without communicating the communication through base station 212. In this example, base station 212 may allocate resources to UEs 226 and 228 for sidelink communications.

[0052] In the radio access network 200, the ability of a UE to communicate independently of its location while moving is called mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network are generally managed by an access and mobility management function (AMF, not illustrated, Figure 1 The AMF is established, maintained and released under the control of the core network 102 in the core network, which may include a security context management function (SCMF) that manages the security context of both the control plane and the user plane functionalities and a security anchor function (SEAF) that performs authentication.

[0053] In various aspects of the present disclosure, the radio access network 200 may utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to implement mobility and handover (i.e., the transfer of a UE's connection from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, the UE may monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell and various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may perform a handover or handover from the serving cell to the neighboring (target) cell. For example, a UE 224 (illustrated as a vehicle, but any suitable form of UE may be used) may move from a geographic area corresponding to its serving cell 202 to a geographic area corresponding to a neighboring cell 206. When the signal strength or quality from a neighbor cell 206 exceeds the signal strength or quality of its serving cell 202 for a given amount of time, the UE 224 may transmit a report message indicating this condition to its serving base station 210. In response, the UE 224 may receive a handover command, and the UE may undergo a handover to the cell 206.

[0054] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, the UL reference signal from each UE may be used by the network to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may broadcast unified synchronization signals (e.g., unified primary synchronization signal (PSS), unified secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and unified physical broadcast channel (PBCH)). UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 may receive the unified synchronization signals, derive carrier frequency and slot timing from these synchronization signals, and transmit uplink pilots or reference signals in response to the derived timing. The uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) may be received concurrently by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216) within the radio access network 200. Each of these cells may measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or a central node within a core network) may determine a serving cell for UE 224. As UE 224 moves in radio access network 200, the network may continue to monitor uplink pilot signals transmitted by UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, network 200 may handover UE 224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell with or without notifying UE 224.

[0055] Although the synchronization signal transmitted by base stations 210, 212 and 214 / 216 may be uniform, the synchronization signal may not identify a specific cell, but may identify a zone including multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or having the same timing. The use of zones in a 5G network or other next generation communication network implements an uplink-based mobility framework and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network because the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network can be reduced.

[0056] The air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link in which both endpoints can communicate with each other in two directions. Full-duplex means that both endpoints can communicate with each other at the same time. Half-duplex means that only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint at a time. Time division duplex (TDD) is usually used to implement half-duplex simulation for wireless links. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using time division multiplexing. That is, at some times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in one direction, and at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in the other direction, where the direction can change very quickly, for example, several times per time slot. In wireless links, full-duplex channels generally rely on physical isolation of transmitters and receivers, and suitable interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex simulation is usually implemented for wireless links by utilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or space division duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions can operate at different carrier frequencies (e.g., within a paired spectrum). In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full-duplex communication may be implemented within an unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur within different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be referred to herein as sub-band full-duplex (SBFD), also known as flexible duplex.

[0057] The air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices. For example, the 5G NR specification utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) to provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UE 222 and 224 to base station 210, and multiplexing for DL ​​transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224. In addition, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes, and may be provided using time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource extension multiple access (RSMA), or other appropriate multiple access schemes. In addition, multiplexing of DL transmissions from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be provided using time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

[0058] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the scheduling entity and / or the scheduled entity may be configured for beamforming and / or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. Figure 3 An example of a wireless communication system 300 supporting MIMO is illustrated. In a MIMO system, a transmitter 302 includes multiple transmit antennas 304 (e.g., N transmit antennas), and a receiver 306 includes multiple receive antennas 308 (e.g., M receive antennas). Thus, there are N×M signal paths 310 from the transmit antennas 304 to the receive antennas 308. Each of the transmitter 302 and the receiver 306 may be implemented, for example, in the scheduling entity 108, the scheduled entity 106, or any other suitable wireless communication device.

[0059] The use of such multi-antenna techniques enables wireless communication systems to exploit the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity. Spatial multiplexing can be used to transmit different data streams (also referred to as layers) simultaneously on the same time-frequency resources. These data streams can be transmitted to a single UE to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs to increase the total system capacity, the latter being referred to as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). This is achieved by spatially precoding each data stream (i.e., multiplying the data streams by different weights and phase shifts) and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream through multiple transmit antennas on the downlink. The spatially precoded data streams arrive at the UE(s) with different spatial signatures, and these different spatial signatures enable each UE to recover one or more data streams intended for the UE. On the uplink, each UE transmits a spatially precoded data stream, which enables the base station to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

[0060] The number of data streams or layers corresponds to the rank of the transmission. In general, the rank of the MIMO system 300 is limited to the lower of the number of transmit or receive antennas 304 or 308. In addition, the channel conditions at the UE and other considerations (such as the available resources at the base station) may also affect the transmission rank. For example, the rank (and therefore, the number of data streams) assigned to a specific UE on the downlink can be determined based on a rank indicator (RI) transmitted from the UE to the base station. The RI can be determined based on the antenna configuration (e.g., the number of transmit and receive antennas) and the measured signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) on each receive antenna. The RI can indicate, for example, the number of layers that can be supported under the current channel conditions. The base station can use the RI together with resource information (e.g., available resources and the amount of data to be scheduled for the UE) to assign a transmission rank to the UE.

[0061] In a time division duplex (TDD) system, UL and DL are reciprocal, each using different time slots of the same frequency bandwidth. Therefore, in a TDD system, the base station may assign a rank for DL ​​MIMO transmission based on UL SINR measurements (e.g., based on a sounding reference signal (SRS) or other pilot signal transmitted from the UE). Based on the assigned rank, the base station may then transmit a CSI-RS using a separate C-RS sequence for each layer to provide multi-layer channel estimation. Based on the CSI-RS, the UE may measure the channel quality across layers and resource blocks and feed back CQI and RI values ​​to the base station for use in updating the rank and assigning REs for future downlink transmissions.

[0062] In the simplest case, Figure 3 , a rank 2 spatial multiplexing transmission on a 2×2 MIMO antenna configuration will transmit one data stream from each transmit antenna 304. Each data stream arrives at each receive antenna 308 along a different signal path 310. Receiver 306 can then reconstruct the data streams using the signals received from each receive antenna 308.

[0063] Various aspects of the present disclosure utilize OFDM waveforms, examples of which are Figure 4 Schematically shown in FIG. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to DFT-s-OFDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described below. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it will be appreciated that the same principles may also be applied to DFT-s-OFDMA waveforms.

[0064] In this disclosure, a frame refers to a 10 ms duration used for wireless transmission, where each frame includes 10 subframes of 1 ms each. On a given carrier, there may be one set of frames in the UL and another set of frames in the DL. Now referring to Figure 4 , illustrates an expanded view of an exemplary DL subframe 402 showing an OFDM resource grid 404. However, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the PHY transmission structure for any particular application may differ from the examples described herein depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction in units of OFDM symbols; and frequency is in the vertical direction in units of subcarriers or tones.

[0065] Resource grid 404 can be used to schematically represent the time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a MIMO implementation with multiple antenna ports available, there may be corresponding multiple resource grids 404 available for communication. Resource grid 404 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 406. RE (which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete part of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation utilized in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more information bits. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or more simply a resource block (RB) 408, which contains any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, which number is independent of the parameter design used. In some examples, depending on the parameter design, an RB may include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within the present disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB408) corresponds entirely to a single communication direction (transmission or reception for a given device).

[0066] Scheduling of a UE (e.g., a scheduled entity) for downlink or uplink transmission typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 406 within one or more subbands or bandwidth parts (BWPs). Thus, the UE typically utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 404. In some examples, an RB may be the smallest resource unit that may be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE and the higher the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE.

[0067] In this illustration, RB 408 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 402, with some subcarriers illustrated above and below RB 408. In a given implementation, subframe 402 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 408. Furthermore, in this illustration, RB 408 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of subframe 402, but this is merely one possible example.

[0068] Each 1 ms subframe 402 may include one or more adjacent time slots. Figure 4In the example shown in , a subframe 402 includes four time slots 410. In some examples, a time slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a time slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Additional examples may include mini-slots (sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs)) with shorter durations (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols). In some cases, these mini-slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) may occupy resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs to transmit. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or time slot.

[0069] An expanded view of one of the time slots 410 illustrates that the time slot 410 includes a control region 412 and a data region 414. In general, the control region 412 may carry control channels, while the data region 414 may carry data channels. Of course, a time slot may contain full DL, full UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 4 The structure illustrated in is merely exemplary in nature, and different slot structures may be utilized and may include one or more for each of the control region and the data region.

[0070] In some examples, time slot 410 may be used for broadcast or unicast communication. For example, broadcast, multicast, or groupcast communication may refer to point-to-multipoint transmission by one device (e.g., a base station, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, broadcast communication is delivered to all devices, while multicast communication is delivered to multiple intended recipient devices. Unicast communication may refer to point-to-point transmission by one device to a single other device.

[0071] In an example of cellular communication on a cellular carrier via a Uu interface, for DL ​​transmission, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., within a control region 412) to carry DL control information including one or more DL control channels (such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)) to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including but not limited to power control commands (e.g., one or more open-loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed-loop power control parameters) for DL ​​and UL transmissions, scheduling information, grants, and / or RE assignments. The PDCCH may further carry HARQ feedback transmissions, such as an acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NACK). HARQ is a well-known technique to those of ordinary skill in the art, wherein for accuracy, the integrity of packet transmissions may be checked at the receiving side, for example, using any suitable integrity check mechanism (such as a checksum or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)). If the integrity of the transmission is confirmed, an ACK may be transmitted, and if it is not confirmed, a NACK may be transmitted. In response to the NACK, the transmitting device may send a HARQ retransmission, which may enable chase combining, incremental redundancy, and the like.

[0072] The base station may further allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., in the control region 412 or the data region 414) to carry other DL signals, such as a demodulation reference signal (DMRS); a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS); a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS); a primary synchronization signal (PSS); and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). The UE may utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, time slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell. The synchronization signals PSS and SSS, and in some examples, the PBCH and PBCH DMRS may be transmitted in a synchronization signal block (SSB). The PBCH may further include: a master information block (MIB), which includes various system information, together with parameters for decoding a system information block (SIB). The SIB may be, for example, a system information type 1 (SystemInformationType1) (SIB1), which may include various additional system information. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing, system frame number, configuration of a PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), and search space for SIB1. Examples of additional system information transmitted in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. MIB and SIB1 together provide minimum system information (SI) for initial access.

[0073] In UL transmission, the scheduled entity (e.g., UE) may utilize one or more REs 406 to carry UL control information (UCI) to the scheduling entity, which includes one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). UCI may include various packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to implement or assist in decoding uplink data transmission. Examples of uplink reference signals may include sounding reference signals (SRS) and uplink DMRS. In some examples, UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request for the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmission. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the UCI, the scheduling entity may transmit downlink control information (DCI), which may schedule resources for uplink packet transmission. UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) (such as CSI report), or any other suitable UCI.

[0074] In addition to control information, one or more REs 406 (e.g., within the data region 414) may also be allocated for data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions. In some examples, one or more REs 406 within the data region 414 may be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and DMRS.

[0075] In an example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via a PC5 interface, the control region 412 of the time slot 410 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), which includes sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted by an initiator (transmitter) sidelink device (e.g., V2X or other sidelink device) toward a set of one or more other receiver sidelink devices. The data region 414 of the time slot 410 may include a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), which includes sidelink data traffic transmitted by the transmitter sidelink device within resources reserved by the initiator (transmitter) sidelink device via SCI on the sidelink carrier. Other information may be further transmitted on each RE 406 within the time slot 410. For example, HARQ feedback information may be transmitted from the receiver sidelink device to the transmitter sidelink device in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) within the time slot 410. In addition, one or more reference signals, such as a sidelink SSB and / or a sidelink CSI-RS, may be transmitted within the time slot 410.

[0076] Described above and in Figure 1 and Figure 4 The channels or carriers illustrated in the figure are not necessarily all channels or carriers that can be utilized between the scheduling entity 108 and the scheduled entity 106, and a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to those illustrated, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels.

[0077] These physical channels are generally multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for handling by the medium access control (MAC) layer. The transport channels carry information blocks, which are called transport blocks (TBs). The transport block size (TBS), which may correspond to the number of information bits, may be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission.

[0078] about Figure 2For example, the enhancements for multi-beam operation in 5G NR target the FR2 band but are also applicable to the FR1 band. These enhancements have been provided to facilitate more efficient (i.e., lower latency and overhead) DL / UL beam management to support higher intra-cell mobility and L1 / L2-centric inter-cell mobility, as well as a larger number of configured transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states. These enhancements can be achieved by providing shared beams for data and control transmission / reception for DL ​​and UL, especially shared beams for intra-band carrier aggregation (CA). Moreover, the enhancements can be generated using a unified TCI framework for DL ​​and UL beam indications. In addition, enhancements to the signaling mechanisms for these features can improve latency and efficiency by making greater use of dynamic control signaling rather than RRC signaling. In addition, enhancements for multi-beam operation can be based on identifying and specifying features to facilitate UL beam selection for UEs equipped with multiple panels, taking into account UL coverage loss mitigation due to maximum permitted exposure (MPE) limitations, and UL beam indication with a unified TCI framework for UL fast panel selection.

[0079] Other enhancements may be for supporting multi-TRP deployments including targeting both FR1 and FR2 bands. Specifically, enhancements may focus on identifying and specifying features to use multi-TRP or multi-panel to improve the reliability and robustness of channels other than PDSCH (i.e., PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH), with 3GPP Release 16 reliability features as a baseline. Additionally, assuming multi-DCI based multi-PDSCH reception, enhancements may be about identifying and specifying QCL / TCI related enhancements to enable multi-TRP operation between cellular cells. Furthermore, beam management related enhancements for simultaneous multi-TRP transmission in multi-panel reception may be provided. Still further, with respect to multi-TRP deployments, enhancements to support high-speed train single frequency network (HST-SFN) deployment scenarios may be provided, such as solutions for identifying and specifying QCL assumptions for DMRS (e.g., multiple QCL assumptions for the same DMRS port(s), targeting DL-only transmission, or specifying QCL / quasi-QCL relationships between DL and UL signals (including applicable types(s) and associated requirements)) by reusing a unified TCI framework.

[0080] It should be further noted that, according to certain aspects, the methodologies disclosed herein can be implemented at both the layer 1 (L1) and layer 2 (L2) levels. Figure 5, a general radio protocol architecture for a gNB or UE (but not limited thereto) is shown as having three layers: Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. Layer 1 501 is the lowest layer and implements various physical layer signal processing functions, and in the case of a gNB, a remote radio head (RRH). Layer 1 will be referred to herein as the physical layer 502 or PHY layer. Layer 2 (L2 layer) 504 is above the physical layer 501 and is responsible for the link between the UE and the gNB above the physical layer 501.

[0081] In the user plane and control plane, L2 layer 504 includes a medium access control (MAC) sublayer 506, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer 508, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) 510 sublayer, which terminate at the eNB on the network side. Although not shown, the gNB or UE may have several upper layers above layer 2 504, including a network layer (e.g., IP layer) on the network side, and an application layer that terminates at the other end of the connection (e.g., a remote UE, a server, etc.).

[0082] The PDCP sublayer 510 provides multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 510 also provides header compression for upper layer data packets to reduce radio transmission overhead, provides security by encrypting data packets, and provides support for UE handover between gNBs. The RLC sublayer 508 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper layer data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and reordering of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception due to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The MAC sublayer 506 provides multiplexing between logical channels and transport channels. The MAC sublayer 506 is also responsible for allocating various radio resources (e.g., resource blocks) in a cellular cell among UEs. The MAC sublayer 506 is also responsible for HARQ operations.

[0083] In the control plane, the radio protocol architecture for the UE and gNB is basically the same for the physical L1 layer 501 and L2 layer 504, except that there is no header compression function for the control plane. The control plane may also include a radio resource control (RRC) sublayer 516 in layer 3 518. The RRC sublayer 516 is responsible for obtaining radio resources (i.e., radio bearers) and for configuring the lower layers using RRC signaling between the gNB and the UE.

[0084] As mentioned above, certain enhancements in 5G NR for multi-beam or multi-TRP operations may include L1 / L2 centralized inter-cell mobility. Therefore, the control for implementing UE mobility between cells (e.g., switching or handover between cells) is implemented through the L1 layer and / or L2 layer rather than control and / or signaling in a higher layer above the L2 layer, and is therefore L1 / L2 "centralized". According to various aspects of the present invention, operating modes or characteristics of such L1 / L2 centralized inter-cell mobility are disclosed. Broadly speaking, various aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and devices for operation of inter-cell mobility, wherein at least one serving cell in a communication system is configured with one or more physical layer cell IDs (PCIs) according to a specific selected operating mode by using signaling or settings for a physical (PHY) layer or a media access control (MAC) layer. In addition, based on the operating mode, a radio resource head (RRH) will serve at least one UE based on power information (e.g., RSRP information) received from at least one user equipment (UE).

[0085] In one particular operational aspect, each serving cell may be configured to have one physical layer cell identifier (PCI), but may have multiple physical cell sites, such as having multiple remote radio heads (RRHs). Each RRH may transmit a different set of SSB IDs, but have the same single PCI for the serving cell. According to several examples, the selection may be accomplished through L1 signaling using downlink control information (DCI) in the layer 1 (L1) PHY layer or MAC-CE in the L2 MAC layer. Specifically, the DCI / MAC-CE is used to implement the selection of which RRH(s) or corresponding SSB(s) will serve the UE based on the RSRP per reported SSB ID.

[0086] On the other hand, each serving cell may be configured with multiple PCIs instead of just one PCI. Here, each RRH of a serving cell may use one PCI configured for the corresponding serving cell and may transmit a full set of SSB IDs. The selection of which RRH or corresponding PCI and / or SSB to serve the UE may be accomplished through DCI / MAC-CE and also based on the RSRP per reported PCI per reported SSB ID. On yet another hand, each serving cell may have one PCI, but DCI / MAC-CE may be used to select which serving cell or corresponding serving cell ID will serve the UE based on the RSRP per reported PCI per reported SSB ID.

[0087] The different operating options described above are not necessarily limited to SSB IDs, but may generally be applied to any cell-defined RS, such as CSI-RS or positioning reference signals (PRS) as examples. According to other aspects, it should be noted that for different operating options, DCI / MAC-CE-based cell selection may be applied only to certain cell types. For example, applicable cell types may include any combination of a primary cell (PCell), a secondary cell (SCell), and a primary and secondary cell (PSCell). In some aspects, the DCI / MAC-CE may be configured to select or deselect only a SCell or PSCell for a UE instead of a PCell because the PCell is the primary cell.

[0088] Various possible operation modes for the above-mentioned L1 / L2 centric inter-cell mobility may include: (1) Mode 1, where DCI / MAC-CE control can be used to select which RRH or corresponding SSB to serve the UE; (2) Mode 2, where DCI / MAC-CE control can be used to select which RRH or corresponding PCI and / or SSB to serve the UE; and (3) Mode 3, where DCI / MAC-CE control can be used to select which serving cell or corresponding serving cell ID to serve the UE. In at least these three operation modes, when performing a handover between a source cell and a target cell, restriction rules, predefined behaviors or settings, or selections for bandwidth parts (BWPs) and / or frequency locations of the source cell and the target cell may be required, and further these cells may be identified by different SSB IDs, PCIs, or serving cell IDs. Note that a BWP may be a set of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) on a given carrier. These PRBs may be selected from a subset of contiguous shared or common resource blocks designed for given parameters. Each BWP defined for a given parameter design may have a specific subcarrier spacing, symbol duration, and cyclic prefix (CP) length.

[0089] According to an aspect, restrictions, rules, settings, or allocations may be established where L1 / L2 cell handover for inter-cell mobility is allowed or performed only when there is intra-frequency commonality between the source cell and the target cell to obtain a matching or substantially matching BWP. In one example within the context of intra-frequency handover, the UE may be configured to expect or only consider that the active DL and UL bandwidth parts (BWP) or frequency locations of the target cell are restricted to or substantially the same as the active DL and UL BWP of the source cell. As an example of this scenario, Figure 6Exemplary frequency BWPs used in a source cell and a target cell are illustrated, which are shown side-by-side to illustrate the BWP correspondence between the two cells. In this example, when both the source cell and the target cell utilize BWPs that are in-frequency (i.e., in the same frequency range 602), and furthermore, the source cell BWP 604 and the target cell BWP 606 having N resource blocks (RBs) are substantially the same, a handover is allowed, and the UE will be handed over from the source cell to the target cell. Although not shown, if BWP 606 has a smaller total bandwidth or frequency location than BWP 604, this will also fall within the frequency of BWP 604 and a handover will be allowed. Note also that while both bandwidth portions are shown as having "N" RBs, the correspondence is not limited thereto and each bandwidth portion may have a different number of RBs. Note also that the illustrated BWP may be used in either DL or UL transmissions.

[0090] According to another aspect, the active DL / UL BWP of the target cell need not be constrained within or identical to the active DL / UL BWP of the source cell. That is, the DL / UL BWP may be partially overlapping or non-overlapping within an intra-frequency L1 / L2 cell handover. Thus, a restriction, rule, setting, or allocation may be established whereby L1 / L2 cell handover for inter-cell mobility is allowed or performed only when there is intra-frequency commonality between the source cell and the target cell, but not necessarily with matching DL / UL BWP. As an example of this scenario, Figure 7 Exemplary frequency BWPs used in a source cell and a target cell are illustrated, which are shown side-by-side to illustrate the BWP correspondence between the two cells. In this example, when both the source cell and the target cell utilize BWPs that are intra-frequency (i.e., in the same frequency range 702), but the source cell BWP 704 and the target cell BWP 706 having N resource blocks (RBs) only overlap (illustrated by frequency range 708), the UE will be allowed or configured to perform a handover from the source cell to the target cell. In another illustrated scenario, the UE will be allowed or configured to perform a handover from the source cell to the target cell even if the target cell has a BWP 710 that does not overlap at all with the source cell BWP 704 but still falls within the intra-frequency range 702. Note also that while the bandwidth portions are illustrated as having the same "N" RBs, the correspondence is not limited thereto and each bandwidth portion may have a different number of RBs. Furthermore, it is noted that the illustrated BWP may be used in either DL or UL transmissions.

[0091] According to another aspect, one or both of the gNB and the UE may be configured to: Figure 6 The example explained is still Figure 7 In some aspects, the dynamic determination or selection is performed in a RAN entity (e.g., a gNB) and communicated to the UE, but is not necessarily limited thereto.

[0092] In yet another aspect, when both intra-frequency BWP and inter-frequency BWP are present in the BWP comparison of the source cell and the target cell, L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility handover may be allowed. Further note that, in one aspect, the bandwidth portion with intra-frequency RBs or carriers may be within the same operating band (i.e., intra-band) and the BWPs may be contiguous in frequency or non-contiguous in frequency. Additionally, in other aspects, the present disclosure may also be applicable to BWPs in different frequency bandwidths (e.g., inter-frequency), in which case the RBs or carriers may belong to different operating bands (e.g., inter-band).

[0093] Specifically, the inter-frequency L1 / L2 cell switching may include one or both of the two scenarios of intra-band and inter-band inter-frequency L1 / L2 cell switching. As a visual example of this scenario, Figure 8 Exemplary frequency BWPs used in a source cell and a target cell are illustrated, which are shown side by side to illustrate the BWP correspondence between the two cells. In this example, both the source cell and the target cell utilize BWPs that are intra-frequency (i.e., in the same frequency range 802) and also utilize BWPs in other frequency ranges (e.g., inter-frequency range 804, which in this example includes frequencies above or in addition to intra-frequency range 802). Furthermore, in this example, L1 / L2 cell switching may be configured to allow switching when there are intra-band BWPs (such as BWP 806 and BWP 808). Additionally, cell switching may be configured to allow switching when there are BWPs in the inter-frequency range (as shown by BWP 810 or BWP 812, as examples). Note that while the bandwidth portion is shown as having "N" RBs, the same number of RBs in each BWP is not limited thereto and each bandwidth portion may have a different number of RBs based on different parameter designs.

[0094] Fig. 9 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 900 for cell switching in an inter-cell mobility system according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some of the illustrated features may not be required to implement all embodiments. In some examples, the method 900 may be performed by Fig.10 The UE 1000 illustrated in FIG. 1 is implemented and may also include Fig.12 In some examples, the method 900 may be implemented by any suitable device or apparatus for implementing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0095] As shown at block 902, method 900 includes determining whether a source cell and a target cell each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) or at least one shared frequency band within the same bandwidth range or part, which may include an intra-frequency bandwidth range or otherwise include an inter-frequency bandwidth range. Note that examples of the BWP or shared frequency band are BWPs within an intra-frequency or inter-frequency bandwidth range, such as Figure 6-8 , as illustrated in (e.g., 602, 702, or 802 or 804). Additionally, in other specific aspects, method 900 may include only a portion of the intra-frequency bandwidth and need not include the entire intra-frequency bandwidth. In alternative aspects, method 900 may include a shared or common BWP or frequency band in at least a portion of the intra-frequency bandwidth range and also in at least a portion of the inter-frequency bandwidth range, such as Figure 8 In addition, the BWP may be configured with BWPs having substantially the same frequency bandwidth (e.g. Figure 6 ) or overlapping or non-overlapping BWP (as explained in Figure 7 In addition, the determination in block 904 may be performed in a user equipment (UE) configured for handover from a source cell to a target cell in a layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) controlled inter-cell mobility system.

[0096] At block 904, method 900 includes switching from the source cell to the target cell within the UE when the source cell and the target cell each have the same bandwidth portion or at least one or more bandwidth portions within the range. Again, the BWP may have substantially the same BWP frequency range, as well as overlapping or non-overlapping frequency ranges within the intra-frequency and / or inter-frequency bandwidth ranges.

[0097] In a further aspect, the method 900 may explicitly include the UE being configured to switch from the source cell to the target cell based on at least one of the active downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) BWP of the expected target cell substantially falling within or being equal to a predetermined setting of the active DL or UL BWP of the source cell, such as Figure 6In other aspects, the method 900 may explicitly include the UE being configured to switch based on a predetermined setting that at least one of the active DL or UL BWP of the target cell is expected to partially overlap or non-overlap with the active DL or UL BWP of the source cell and still be within the bandwidth portion shared by the target cell and the source cell.

[0098] In still other aspects, the method 900 may explicitly include the UE being configured to: (1) perform switching based on at least one of the active downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) BWPs of the intended target cell being substantially within or equal to a predetermined setting of the active DL or UL BWP of the source cell according to a first configuration; or (2) perform switching based on at least one of the active DL or UL BWPs of the intended target cell being partially overlapping or non-overlapping with the active DL or UL BWP of the source cell according to a second configuration and still within a common or intra-frequency bandwidth shared by the target cell and the source cell. In addition, the method 900 may include dynamically selecting between the first configuration or the second configuration in the UE based on whether the BWPs are determined to be substantially the same, partially overlapping, or non-overlapping. In a further aspect, the dynamic selection between the first configuration and the second configuration may be made in conjunction with control signaling from a RAN entity (such as a base station or gNB). In this case, the RAN entity may determine or assist in determining the selection between the first configuration and the second configuration based on the BWPs of the source cell and the target cell and send control signaling to the UE. The control signaling may be through one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE), or at least one downlink control information (DCI).

[0099] The method 900 may also include: performing a handover from the source cell to the target cell within the UE when the source cell and the target cell have at least one of a common BWP or frequency bandwidth or when the source cell and the target cell do not have any common BWP or frequency bandwidth (e.g., inter-frequency BWP). In yet further aspects, it is noted that the layer 1 (L1) control of the method 900 may include at least one downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the layer 2 (L2) control may include at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE).

[0100] Additionally, in some aspects, the source cell and the target cell may be identified by at least one of a PCI, or a serving cell ID, or an RRH or a corresponding synchronization signal block (SSB) ID. Furthermore, the communication system in which method 900 is performed may be capable of operating according to at least one of the following: (1) a first mode in which L1 or L2 is configured to select which remote radio head (RRH) or an SSB corresponding to the RRH to serve the UE; (2) a second mode in which L1 or L2 is configured to select which remote radio head (RRH) or a PCI or SSB corresponding to the RRH to serve the UE; or (3) a third mode in which L1 or L2 is configured to select which serving cell or a serving cell ID corresponding to the serving cell to serve the UE.

[0101] In yet further aspects, it is noted that the method 900 may include determining whether the source cell and the target cell each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range or the same inter-frequency bandwidth range, and allowing a handoff from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range or the same inter-frequency bandwidth range. In yet further aspects, the method 900 may include allowing a handoff from the source cell to the target cell for an intra-band frequency band or an inter-band frequency band of the source cell and the target cell having at least one BWP within the same inter-frequency bandwidth range. In further aspects, it is noted that the term "same inter-band frequency band" may mean two different frequency bands. In yet further aspects, it is noted that the term "intra-frequency" may also mean the same SSB frequency of the source cell and the target cell, while the term "inter-frequency" may mean different SSB frequencies of the source cell and the target cell.

[0102] Fig.10 1014 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of an exemplary UE 1000 employing a processing system 1014. For example, the UE 1000 may be Figure 1-3 Any one of the UEs or scheduled entities illustrated in any one or more of the.

[0103] UE 1000 may be implemented with a processing system 1014 including one or more processors 1004. Examples of processor 1004 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, scheduling entity 1000 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, processor 1004 as utilized in scheduling entity 1000 may be used to implement the functions described above and in Figure 6-9 Any one or more of the processes and procedures explained in.

[0104] In some examples, the processor 1004 may be implemented via a baseband or modem chip, while in other implementations, the processor 1004 itself may include a number of devices distinct and different from the baseband or modem chip (e.g., which may work together in such scenarios to achieve aspects discussed herein). And as mentioned above, various hardware arrangements and components outside of a baseband modem processor may be used in implementations, including RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.

[0105] In this example, the processing system 1014 may be implemented with a bus architecture generally represented by bus 1002. Bus 1002 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system 1014. Bus 1002 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (generally represented by processor 1004), memory 1005, and computer readable media (generally represented by computer readable media 1006). Bus 1002 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further.

[0106] The bus interface 1008 provides an interface between the bus 1002 and the transceiver 1010. The transceiver 1010 provides a communication interface or device for communicating with various other equipment on a transmission medium. Depending on the characteristics of the equipment, a user interface 1012 (e.g., a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

[0107] The processor 1004 is responsible for managing the bus 1002 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 1006. The software, when executed by the processor 1004, causes the processing system 1014 to perform the various functions described herein for any particular device. The computer-readable medium 1006 and the memory 1005 may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor 1004 when executing the software.

[0108] One or more processors 1004 in the processing system can execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether described in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms. The software can reside on a computer-readable medium 1006.

[0109] Computer readable medium 1006 may be a non-transitory computer readable medium. As examples, non-transitory computer readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, or key-type drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, or any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. Computer readable medium 1006 may reside in processing system 1014, external to processing system 1014, or distributed across multiple entities including processing system 1014. Computer readable medium 1006 may be implemented in a computer program product. In some examples, computer readable medium 1006 may be part of memory 1005. As examples, a computer program product may include a computer readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0110] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1004 may include circuitry configured for various functions. For example, the processor 1004 may include a selection circuit 1040 configured for various functions, including, for example, dynamically selecting or determining between switching modes (e.g., switching between rules that only allow the same or substantially the same BWP or rules that allow overlapping and non-overlapping BWPs).

[0111] Processor 1004 may also include a mode determination circuit system 1042 that determines one of the L1 / L2 centric inter-cell mobility modes discussed above, such as: (1) Mode 1, in which the DCI / MAC-CE may select which RRH(s) or corresponding SSB(s) to serve the UE; (2) Mode 2, in which the DCI / MAC-CE may select which RRH(s) or corresponding PCI and / or SSB(s) to serve the UE; or (3) Mode 3, in which the DCI / MAC-CE may select which serving cell(s) or corresponding serving cell ID(s) to serve the UE.

[0112] The processor 1004 is responsible for managing the bus 1002 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 1006. The software, when executed by the processor 1004, causes the processing system 1014 to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. The computer-readable medium 1006 and the memory 1005 may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor 1004 when executing the software.

[0113] In one or more examples, the computer-readable storage medium 1006 may include selection instruction software 1052 configured for various functions, including, for example, selection or determination between various switching modes (e.g., switching between rules that only allow the same or substantially the same BWP or rules that allow overlapping and non-overlapping BWPs). The computer-readable storage medium 1006 may also include mode determination instructions 1052 that determine one of the L1 / L2-centric inter-cell mobility modes discussed above, such as: (1) Mode 1, where the DCI / MAC-CE can select which RRH(s) or corresponding SSB(s) to serve the UE; (2) Mode 2, where the DCI / MAC-CE can select which RRH(s) or corresponding PCI and / or SSB(s) to serve the UE; or (3) Mode 3, where the DCI / MAC-CE can select which serving cell(s) or corresponding serving cell ID(s) to serve the UE.

[0114] In one configuration, the UE 1000 includes a Fig. 9 In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be Fig.10 The processor 1004 shown in the figure is configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. On the other hand, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any equipment configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0115] Of course, in the above examples, the circuit system included in the processor 1004 is provided only as an example, and other means for performing the described functions may be included in various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 1006, or in Figure 1-3 Any of the descriptions and using, for example, Fig. 9 Any other suitable equipment or means for implementing the described processes and / or algorithms.

[0116] Fig.11 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method 1100 for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility handover according to some further aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some of the illustrated features may not be required to implement all embodiments. In some examples, the method 1100 may be implemented by Fig.12 The RAN entity explained in the implementation and may also include Fig.10 The process implemented in the UE 1000 illustrated in FIG. In some examples, the method 1100 may be performed by any suitable device or apparatus for implementing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0117] As can be seen in box 1102, method 1100 includes: configuring within the RAN entity a RAN entity for communicating with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system to: (1) allow the UE to switch from a source cell to a target cell according to a first configuration when at least one of the active downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) bandwidth parts (BWP) of the target cell substantially falls within or is equal to the active DL or UL BWP of the source cell; or (2) allow the UE to switch from a source cell to a target cell according to a second configuration when at least one of the active DL or UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with the active DL or UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range or portion.

[0118] The method 1100 further includes selecting one of the first configuration or the second configuration for the UE based on whether the active DL or UL bandwidth portions of the target cell and the source cell are determined to substantially fall within the bandwidth or are equal in bandwidth, or partially overlapped or non-overlapped in bandwidth, as shown in block 1104. Note that in some aspects, the RAN entity may grant or configure the UE to perform at least a portion of the selection. Finally, the method 100 includes transmitting the selection of the first configuration or the second configuration to the UE.

[0119] In a further aspect, the method 1100 may include receiving, by the UE, the selection (e.g., receiving selection information) using one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI). In still other aspects, the method 1100 may include the RAN entity being configured to send at least one of a layer 1 (L1) control or a layer 2 (L2) control to the UE to configure the UE to switch between the source cell and the target cell. The L1 control may include downlink control information (DCI), and the L2 control may include at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE).

[0120] Fig.12 1204 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of an exemplary RAN entity or other scheduling entity 1200 employing a processing system 1214. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system 1214 including one or more processors 1204. For example, the RAN entity 1200 may be such as Figure 1 , 2 and / or the RAN entity, base station, or gNB illustrated in any one or more of 3.

[0121] The processing system 1214 may be used with Fig.10 The processing system 1014 illustrated in FIG. 1 is substantially the same as that in FIG. 1 , including a bus interface 1208, a bus 1202, a memory 1205, a processor 1204, and a computer readable medium 1206. In addition, the scheduled entity 1200 may include the same as that in FIG. Fig.10 The user interface 1212 and transceiver 1210 are substantially similar to those described in the foregoing. The processor 1204 as utilized in the RAN entity 1200 may be used to implement the previously described Figure 6-9 and / or one or more processes described in the method system disclosed in 11.

[0122] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1204 may include a rule configuration circuit system 1240, which is configured for various functions, including, for example, setting rules, constraints, predetermined behaviors for switching a UE from a source cell to a target cell in an L1 / L2 controlled inter-cell mobility system. For example, the rule configuration circuit system 1240 may be configured to: configure a UE (e.g., UE 1000) to determine when the source cell and the target cell have at least one of a common bandwidth part (BWP) or a bandwidth frequency. In other aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1104 may also include an inter-cell mobility switching circuit system 1242, which is configured for various functions, including causing the UE 1000 to switch from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell have at least a common bandwidth part (BWP) or a bandwidth frequency.

[0123] In other aspects, the computer-readable storage medium 1206 may include rule configuration instruction software 1252 configured for various functions, including, for example, setting rules, constraints, predetermined behaviors for switching a UE from a source cell to a target cell in an L1 / L2 controlled inter-cell mobility system. In one or more examples, the computer-readable storage medium 1206 may include inter-cell mobility switching instruction software 1254 configured for various functions, including, for example, causing a RAN entity to direct a UE to switch from a current serving cell to a target cell selected based on a rule selection of the circuit system 1240, such as when the source cell and the target cell have at least a common bandwidth portion (BWP) or bandwidth frequency.

[0124] In one configuration, the RAN entity 1200 may include means for configuring a user equipment (UE) to determine when the source cell and the target cell have at least one of a common bandwidth part (BWP) or bandwidth frequency to switch from the source cell to the target cell in a layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) controlled inter-cell mobility system. Additionally, the RAN entity 1200 may include means for controlling or directing the UE to switch from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell have at least a common bandwidth part (BWP) or bandwidth frequency.

[0125] Of course, in the above examples, the circuit system included in the processor 1204 is provided only as an example, and other means for performing the described functions may be included in various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 1206, or in Figure 1 , 2 and / or any of 3 and using, for example, the present invention with respect to Figure 6-9and / or any other suitable equipment or means for implementing the processes and / or algorithms described in 11.

[0126] In one configuration, the RAN entity 1200 includes a Figure 6-9 and / or 11. In one aspect, the aforementioned device may be Fig.12 The processor 1204 shown in the figure is configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. On the other hand, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any equipment configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0127] The following provides an overview of various aspects of the disclosure:

[0128] Aspect 1: A method for performing wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) in a communication system supporting inter-cell mobility, the method comprising: determining in the UE whether a source cell and a target cell each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) within the same bandwidth range; and switching from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same bandwidth range.

[0129] Aspect 2: A method as described in Aspect 1, wherein the switching is further configured to: switch from the source cell to the target cell when at least one of the first active downlink (DL) BWP or the first active uplink (UL) BWP of the target cell substantially falls within or is equal to the second active DL BWP or the second active UL BWP of the source cell.

[0130] Aspect 3: A method as described in Aspect 1, wherein switching from the source cell to the target cell includes: switching from the source cell to the target cell when at least one of the first active DL BWP or the first active UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second active DL BWP or the second active UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same intra-frequency bandwidth part or range.

[0131] Aspect 4: A method as described in Aspect 1, wherein switching from the source cell to the target cell includes: according to a first configuration, when at least one of the first active downlink (DL) BWP or the first active uplink (UL) BWP of the target cell substantially falls within or is equal to the second active downlink (DL) BWP or the second active uplink (UL) BWP of the source cell, switching from the source cell to the target cell; or (2) according to a second configuration, when at least one of the first active downlink (DL) BWP or the first active uplink (UL) BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second active downlink (DL) BWP or the second active uplink (UL) BWP of the source cell and is within the same intra-frequency bandwidth portion or range, switching from the source cell to the target cell; and selecting between the first configuration and the second configuration in the UE based on whether the BWP is determined to substantially fall within or is equal to the same bandwidth, or partially overlaps or does not overlap in the bandwidth within the same intra-frequency bandwidth portion or range.

[0132] Aspect 5: A method as described in aspect 1 or 4, wherein the selection is indicated by using one of radio resource control (RRC), at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE), or at least one downlink control information (DCI).

[0133] Aspect 6: The method as described in Aspect 1, wherein switching from the source cell to the target cell includes: switching from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell have at least one of a common BWP or a shared frequency bandwidth range.

[0134] Aspect 7: The method as described in Aspect 1, wherein switching from the source cell to the target cell includes: switching from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell do not have any shared BWP or shared frequency bandwidth range.

[0135] Aspect 8: The method as described in Aspect 1 further includes: determining whether the source cell and the target cell each have a bandwidth part (BWP) within at least one of the same intra-frequency bandwidth range or the same inter-frequency bandwidth range; and when the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range or the same inter-frequency bandwidth range, allowing switching from the source cell to the target cell.

[0136] Aspect 9: A method as described in Aspect 1 or 8, wherein switching from the source cell to the target cell is allowed for at least one of the following: an intra-band band or an inter-band band of the source cell and the target cell having at least one BWP within the same inter-frequency bandwidth range.

[0137] Aspect 10: The method as described in Aspects 1 to 9, wherein switching from the cellular cell to the target cellular cell includes: switching from the source cellular cell to the target cellular cell under the control of at least one of layer 1 (L1) control or layer 2 (L2) control.

[0138] Aspect 11: The method as described in aspects 1 to 10, wherein the L1 control includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0139] Aspect 12: The method as described in aspects 1 to 11, wherein the L2 control includes at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE).

[0140] Aspect 13: A method as described in Aspects 1 to 12, wherein the communication system is capable of operating according to at least one of the following: a first mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a remote radio head (RRH) assigned to serve the UE or an SSB ID corresponding to the RRH; a second mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a remote radio head (RRH) assigned to serve the UE or a PCI or SSB corresponding to the RRH; or a third mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a serving cell assigned to serve the UE or a serving cell ID corresponding to the serving cell.

[0141] Aspect 14: A method as described in Aspects 1 to 13, wherein the source cell and the target cell are identified by at least one of a physical cell ID (PCI), a serving cell ID, or a remote radio head (RRH) having a corresponding synchronization signal block (SSB) ID.

[0142] Aspect 15: A user equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication, comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor and the memory being configured to perform the method as described in any one of aspects 1 to 13.

[0143] Aspect 16: A method for wireless communication at a radio access network (RAN) entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: configuring the RAN entity for communicating with a user equipment (UE) in the wireless communication system to: (1) according to a first configuration, allow the UE to switch from a source cell to the target cell when at least one of a first active downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) or a first active uplink (UL) BWP of the target cell substantially falls within or is equal to a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell; or (2) according to a second configuration, allow the UE to switch from the source cell to the target cell when at least one of the first active DL BWP or the first active UL BWP of the target cell is equal to the second active DL BWP or the second active UL BWP of the source cell. allowing the UE to switch from the source cell to the target cell when the BWPs partially overlap or do not overlap and are within the same bandwidth; selecting one of the first configuration or the second configuration for the UE based on whether the first and second active DL or UL bandwidth portions of the target cell and the source cell are determined to substantially fall within the bandwidth or are equal in bandwidth, or partially overlap or do not overlap in bandwidth; and transmitting the selection of the first configuration or the second configuration to the UE.

[0144] Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, wherein the selection is transmitted to the UE using one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

[0145] Aspect 18: A method as described in Aspects 16 and 17, wherein the RAN entity is configured to: send at least one of layer 1 (L1) control or layer 2 (L2) control to the UE to configure the UE to switch between the source cell and the target cell.

[0146] Aspect 19: The method as described in aspects 16 to 18, wherein the L1 control includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0147] Aspect 20: The method as described in aspects 16 to 19, wherein the L2 control includes at least one MAC control element (MAC-CE).

[0148] Aspect 21: A radio access network (RAN) entity configured for wireless communication, comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor and the memory being configured to perform the method as described in any one of aspects 14 to 18.

[0149] Aspect 22: An apparatus configured for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing the method as described in any one of aspects 1 to 14 or 16 to 20.

[0150] Aspect 23: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the computer-executable code comprising code for causing an apparatus to perform the method as described in any one of aspects 1 to 14 or 16 to 20.

[0151] Several aspects of wireless communication networks have been presented with reference to exemplary implementations. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards.

[0152] As an example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile (GSM). Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and / or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0153] Within the present disclosure, the wording "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as superior or superior to other aspects of the present disclosure. Likewise, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupled" is used herein to refer to a direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, objects A and C may still be considered to be coupled to each other - even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object may be coupled to a second object, even if the first object never directly contacts the second object physically. The terms "circuit" and "circuitry" are used broadly and are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors and software implementations of information and instructions, which, when connected and configured, enable the functions described in the present disclosure to be performed without limitation on the type of electronic circuits, which, when executed by a processor, enable the functions described in the present disclosure to be performed.

[0154] Figure 1-12One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions described herein may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or implemented in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may also be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1-3 , 10 and / or 12, the devices, apparatuses and / or components illustrated may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0155] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed methods is an illustration of an exemplary process. Based on design preferences, it should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in these methods can be rearranged. The attached method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically stated herein.

[0156] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but should be granted the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein the singular reference to the element is not intended to mean "there is and only one" - unless specifically stated, but intended to mean "one or more". Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some / some" refers to one or more. The phrase "at least one" of a list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. As an example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. The elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure are all structurally and functionally equivalent solutions currently or hereafter known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be donated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recorded in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment UE in a communication system supporting inter-cell mobility, the method comprising: determining, in the UE, whether a source cell and a target cell each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) within the same bandwidth range; as well as switching from the source cell to the target cell when the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same bandwidth range, Wherein switching from the source cell to the target cell comprises: selecting the first configuration or the second configuration based on whether the BWP is determined to fall within or be equal to the same bandwidth, or to be partially overlapping or non-overlapping in bandwidth within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range, The selection of the first configuration or the second configuration is determined by at least one of the UE or a Radio Access Network (RAN) entity in the communication system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: Switching from the source cell to the target cell further comprises: When at least one of a first active downlink DL BWP or a first active uplink UL BWP of the target cell falls within or is equal to a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell, switching from the source cell to the target cell.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: Switching from the source cell to the target cell further comprises: When at least one of a first active downlink DL BWP or a first active uplink UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range, switching is performed from the source cell to the target cell.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein: Selecting the first configuration or the second configuration includes receiving an indication of the selection from the RAN entity by using one of a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signal, at least one MAC Control Element, MAC-CE, or at least one Downlink Control Information, DCI.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein: Switching from the source cell to the target cell further comprises: When the source cell and the target cell have at least one of a common BWP or a shared frequency bandwidth range, switching from the source cell to the target cell.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the source cell and the target cell each have a bandwidth part (BWP) within at least one of a same intra-frequency bandwidth range or a same inter-frequency bandwidth range; as well as When the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range or within the same inter-frequency bandwidth range, handover from the source cell to the target cell is allowed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein: Switching from the cell to the target cell includes switching from the source cell to the target cell under control of at least one of layer 1 L1 control or layer 2 L2 control.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: The L1 control includes downlink control information DCI, and the L2 control includes at least one MAC control element MAC-CE.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein: The communication system is operable according to at least one of the following: A first mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a remote radio head RRH assigned to serve the UE or a synchronization signal block SSB ID corresponding to the RRH; A second mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a remote radio head RRH assigned to serve the UE or a physical cell ID PCI corresponding to the RRH, or an SSB; or A third mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a serving cell assigned to serve the UE or a serving cell ID corresponding to the serving cell.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein: The source cell and the target cell are identified by at least one of a physical cell ID PCI, a serving cell ID, or a remote radio head RRH having a corresponding synchronization signal block SSB ID.

11. A user equipment UE configured for wireless communication, comprising: processor; a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor; as well as a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, Wherein, the processor and the memory are configured to: determining, in the UE, whether a source cell and a target cell in a wireless communication system each have at least one bandwidth part (BWP) within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range; When the source cell and the target cell each have at least one BWP within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range, switching from the source cell to the target cell; and A first configuration or a second configuration is selected based on whether the BWP is determined to fall within or be equal to the same bandwidth, or to be partially overlapping or non-overlapping in bandwidth within the same intra-frequency bandwidth range, wherein the selection of the first configuration or the second configuration is determined by at least one of the UE or a radio access network RAN ​​entity in the communication system.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: The processor and the memory are further configured to: When at least one of a first active downlink DL BWP or a first active uplink UL BWP of the target cell falls within or is equal to a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell, the UE is handed over from the source cell to the target cell.

13. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: The processor and the memory are further configured to: When at least one of a first active downlink DL BWP or a first active uplink UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same intra-frequency bandwidth, the UE is handed over from the source cell to the target cell.

14. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: The processor and the memory are further configured to select the first configuration or the second configuration by receiving selection information from the RAN entity by using one of a radio resource control RRC signal, at least one MAC control element MAC-CE, or downlink control information DCI.

15. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: The processor and the memory are further configured to switch from the source cell to the target cell under control of at least one of layer 1 L1 control or layer 2 L2 control from the RAN entity.

16. The UE according to claim 15, wherein: The L1 control includes downlink control information DCI, and the L2 control includes at least one MAC control element MAC-CE.

17. The UE according to claim 15, wherein: The processor and the memory are further configured to operate according to at least one of: A first mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a remote radio head RRH assigned to serve the UE or a synchronization signal block SSB ID corresponding to the RRH; A second mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a remote radio head RRH assigned to serve the UE or a physical cell ID PCI corresponding to the RRH, or an SSB; or A third mode, wherein the L1 layer or the L2 layer is configured to select a serving cell assigned to serve the UE or a serving cell ID corresponding to the serving cell.

18. A method for wireless communication at a radio access network (RAN) entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: The RAN entity for communicating with a user equipment UE in the wireless communication system is configured to: (1) according to the first configuration, when at least one of a first active downlink DL bandwidth part BWP or a first active uplink UL BWP of the target cell falls within or is equal to a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell, allowing the UE to be handed over from the source cell to the target cell; or (2) according to a second configuration, when at least one of the first active DL BWP or the first active UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second active DL BWP or the second active UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same bandwidth range, allowing the UE to be handed over from the source cell to the target cell; selecting one of the first configuration or the second configuration for the UE based on whether the first and second active DL bandwidth portions or the first and second active UL bandwidth portions of the target cell and the source cell are determined to fall within a bandwidth range or be equal in a bandwidth range, or partially overlap or non-overlap in a bandwidth range; as well as A selection of the first configuration or the second configuration is transmitted to the UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein: The selection is transmitted to the UE using one of radio resource control RRC signaling, at least one MAC control element MAC-CE or downlink control information DCI.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein: The RAN entity is configured to send at least one of a layer 1 L1 control or a layer 2 L2 control to the UE to configure the UE to switch between the source cell and the target cell.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The L1 control includes downlink control information DCI.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein: The L2 control includes at least one MAC control element MAC-CE.

23. A Radio Access Network (RAN) entity configured for wireless communication, comprising: processor; a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor; as well as a memory coupled to the processor, Wherein, the processor and the memory are configured to: The RAN entity for communicating with a user equipment UE in a wireless communication system is configured to: (1) according to the first configuration, when at least one of a first active downlink DL bandwidth part BWP or a first active uplink UL BWP of the target cell falls within or is equal to a second active DL BWP or a second active UL BWP of the source cell, allowing the UE to be handed over from the source cell to the target cell; or (2) According to the second configuration, when at least one of the first active DL BWP or the first active UL BWP of the target cell partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second active DL BWP or the second active UL BWP of the source cell and is within the same bandwidth range, allowing the UE to switch from the source cell to the target cell; selecting one of the first configuration or the second configuration for the UE based on whether the first and second active DL bandwidth portions or the first and second active UL bandwidth portions of the target cell and the source cell are determined to fall within a bandwidth or be equal in bandwidth, or partially overlap or non-overlap in bandwidth; and A selection of the first configuration or the second configuration is transmitted to the UE via the transceiver.

24. The RAN entity of claim 23, wherein: The processor and the memory are configured to transmit the selection to the UE via the transceiver using one of radio resource control, RRC signaling, at least one MAC control element, MAC-CE, or downlink control information, DCI.

25. The RAN entity of claim 23, wherein: The processor and the memory are further configured to send at least one of layer 1 L1 control or layer 2 L2 control to the UE to configure the UE to switch between the source cell and the target cell.

26. The RAN entity of claim 25, wherein: The L1 control includes downlink control information DCI, and the L2 control includes at least one MAC control element MAC-CE.

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