Layer 2 operations for inter-cell mobility centered around Layer 1 and Layer 2

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to layer 2 operations for inter-cell mobility centered around layer 1 and layer 2. The present disclosure discloses layer 2 processing during a cell change procedure, which includes decoding an RRC reconfiguration message received from a first cell. The RRC reconfiguration message includes a layer 1 (L1) configuration corresponding to a second cell. The first cell and the second cell share an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a MAC entity. The first cell and the second cell have separate L1 entities. In response to decoding the RRC reconfiguration message, the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell is stored. A cell change message received from the first cell is decoded. The cell change message indicates that a cell change from the first cell to the second cell will be performed. The stored L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell is applied to data transmission and reception associated with the second cell. A cell change to the second cell is initiated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, including layer 2 operations for inter-cell mobility centered around layer 1 / layer 2. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) in an LTE system, a base station may include a RAN node such as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as an evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or a Radio Network Controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with wireless communication devices referred to as user equipment (UE). In the fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes may include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also known as next generation Node B or g NodeB (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN uses radio access technologies (RATs) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN may include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and / or E-UTRAN, which provide access to communication services through the core network. Each RAN in the RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RATs, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RATs or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements LTE RATs, and NG-RAN implements 5G RATs. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement 5G RATs.

[0004] The frequency bands for 5G NR can be divided into two different frequency ranges. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) includes frequency bands below 6 GHz, some of which may be used by previous standards but can potentially be expanded to cover potential new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 have a shorter range but higher available bandwidth than the frequency bands in FR1. The skilled person will recognize that these frequency ranges, which are provided by way of example, may vary over time or from region to region. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit(s) in a reference number refers to the drawing number that first introduces the element.

[0006] Figure 1 An exemplary handover data flow diagram is shown according to one embodiment.

[0007] Figure 2 A model with a common L2 protocol stack is shown according to one embodiment.

[0008] Figure 3 A model with separate RLC / MAC entities according to one embodiment is shown.

[0009] Figure 4 A L1 / L2-centric data flow diagram is shown during execution of a cell change according to one embodiment.

[0010] Figure 5 A MAC CE according to one embodiment is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 A MAC CE according to one embodiment is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 A L1 / L2-centric data flow diagram is shown during execution of a cell change according to one embodiment.

[0013] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method for performing L2 processing during a cell change procedure according to one embodiment is shown.

[0014] Figure 9 A flow chart of a method for performing L2 processing during a cell change procedure according to one embodiment is shown.

[0015] Figure 10 A system according to one embodiment is shown.

[0016] Figure 11 Infrastructure equipment according to one embodiment is shown.

[0017] Figure 12 A platform according to one embodiment is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] By way of background, conventional handover (HO) schemes can be used for inter-cell mobility of connected user equipment (UE) and intra-cell key updates for connected UE. Conventional HO schemes have also included two HO types: 1. Radio Link Control (RLC) / Medium Access Control (MAC) reset with Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) re-establishment; and 2. RLC / MAC reset without PDCP re-establishment. Notably, the components of the HO interruption time include: C1: Radio Frequency (RF) retuning; C2: Downlink (DL) synchronization in the target cell; C3: Layer 2 (L2) reset; and C4: Uplink (UL) synchronization in the target cell.

[0019] Figure 1 An exemplary conventional handover data flow diagram is shown. Figure 1 106, a UE 102, a source eNB 104, a target eNB 106, a mobility management entity (MME) 108, and a serving gateway 110 are included. As shown, packet data is transmitted between the serving gateway 110, the source eNB 104, and the UE 102, as indicated by arrow 112. Following such transmission, a downlink (DL) assignment message is sent from the source eNB 104 to the UE 102, as indicated by arrow 114. The source eNB 104 then sends a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message including mobility control information to the UE 102, as indicated by arrow 116. The UE 102 can then detach from the old cell (i.e., the source eNB 104) and synchronize to the new cell (i.e., the target eNB 106), as indicated by block 118. Additionally, the source eNB 104 may deliver buffered packets and in-flight packets including sequence number (SN) state transfer and data forwarding to the target eNB 106, as represented by block 120, arrow 122, and arrow 124, respectively.

[0020] Target eNB 106, in conjunction with MME 108, may then buffer packets from source eNB 104, as indicated by block 126. A synchronization message may then be sent from UE 102 to target eNB 106, as indicated by arrow 128. Target eNB 106 may then send an uplink (UL) assignment and timing advance message to UE 102, as indicated by arrow 130. UE 102 may then send an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message to target eNB 106. Packet data may then be transferred between serving gateway 110, target eNB 106, and UE 102, as indicated by arrows 134 and 136.

[0021] It is noteworthy that, as shown in legend 138, the straight arrows each represent layer 3 (L3) signaling (i.e., arrow 116, arrow 122, and arrow 132), the larger dashed arrows represent layer 1 (L1) and layer 2 (L2) signaling (i.e., arrow 114, arrow 128, and arrow 130), and the smaller dashed arrows represent user data (i.e., arrow 112, arrow 124, arrow 134, and arrow 136). In addition, the handover execution occurs at arrow 116 (i.e., the RRC connection reconfiguration message from the source eNB 104 to the UE 102) and ends at arrow 132 (i.e., the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message from the UE 102 to the target eNB 106).

[0022] Additional enhancements will be created in 3GPP Release 17 (Rel-17), as further discussed with respect to Work Item Description (WID): Further Enhancements for MIMO for NR (RP-202024), which discusses the desire to enhance inter-cell mobility centered around Layer 1 (L1) / L2 and enhance signaling mechanisms to improve latency and efficiency with increased use of dynamic control signaling rather than radio resource control (RRC). One such case of L1 / L2 centric inter-cell mobility includes rapid cell changes at a high frequency, including: 1. intra-distributed unit (DU) cell changes within a centralized unit (CU); 2. intra-DU cell changes within a CU; and 3. inter-DU cell changes between CUs.

[0023] For the intra-CU intra-DU scenario, since all L2 protocol stacks (e.g., Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) / PDCP / RLC / MAC) of the source and target cells are located together, the cell change only needs to occur with respect to the L1 configuration from the source cell to the target cell. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform RLC / MAC reset and PDCP re-establishment.

[0024] The principles described herein include the design of L2 operations, particularly in the MAC layer, for L1 / L2-centric cell changes with respect to two different L1 / L2 models. Figure 2 2 shows a first model 200 having a common L2 protocol stack, which includes CU 202, DU 204, Cell#1 206, Cell#2 208, SDAP 210, PDCP 212, RLC 214, MAC 216, Cell#1 L1 218, and Cell#2 L1 220. Figure 2 As shown, model 200 includes a CU 202 and DU 204 shared between Cell#1 206 and Cell#2 208. Model 200 also includes an L2 architecture with SDAP 210, PDCP 212, RLC 214, and MAC 216 entities that are common and shared by both the source cell (i.e., Cell#1 206) and the target cell (i.e., Cell#2 208). Additionally, the L1 configuration for serving cell transmission is separate for the source and target cells (i.e., Cell#1 L1 218 and Cell#2 L1 220). Applicable scenarios for model 200 include intra-CU and intra-DU cell changes with ideal backhaul and intra-CU and inter-DU cell changes.

[0025] Figure 3 A second model 300 with separate RLC / MAC entities is shown, including a CU 302, a DU 306, a Cell#1 308, a Cell#2 310, an SDAP 312, a PDCP 314, a Cell#1 RLC 316, a Cell#2 RLC 318, a Cell#1 MAC 320, a Cell#2 MAC 322, a Cell#1 L1 324, and a Cell#2 L1 326. As shown, the model 200 includes an L2 architecture with the CU 302, SDAP 312, and PDCP 314 entities being common and shared by both the source cell (i.e., Cell#1 308) and the target cell (Cell#2 310). Thus, the model 300 includes separate DU, RLC, MAC, and L1 entities, as shown. It is noteworthy that the L1 configuration for serving cell transmissions is also separate for the source cell and the target cell. The applicable scenarios of the model 300 include intra-CU inter-DU cell change without ideal backhaul scenario and inter-CU inter-DU cell change without ideal backhaul scenario.

[0026] Solutions related to the model 200 at various layers (ie, the model with a common L2 protocol stack for handover) are now discussed, followed by solutions related to the model 200 (ie, the model with separate RLC and MAC entities).

[0027] Model 200 L2 processing during cell change

[0028] Figure 4 A data flow diagram centered around L1 / L2 during cell change execution relative to model 200 is shown, with the flow diagram having an illustration of each L1 / L2 entity that may be involved in such communication (i.e., as shown by the boxes of the L1 / L2 entities to the left of each potential communication within the flow diagram, with each grouping associated with brackets in the form of bracket 422, bracket 424, bracket 426, and bracket 428). As shown, Figure 4 4. UE 402, Cell#1 206, and Cell#2 208 are included. When UE 402 is in connected mode with Cell#1 206 (i.e., the serving / source cell), the NW may provide the L1 configuration of Cell#2 208 (i.e., the target cell#2) for handover purposes, as indicated by arrow 404. Note that the NW may update the L2 portion of this configuration during handover, but doing so may not result in an L2 reset. Additionally, UE 402 may store the configuration information associated with the target cell (i.e., Cell#2 208) until it is to be used (e.g., upon receiving a cell change indication from the serving cell), as indicated by block 414. Note that the actions represented by arrow 404 and block 414 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 422.

[0029] At some point, Cell#1 206 may then send a cell change indication to UE 402 regarding the change to Cell#2 208 (i.e., the target cell), as indicated by arrow 406. Upon receiving the cell change indication, UE 402 may apply the Cell#2 208 L1 configuration and maintain the Cell#1 206 configuration and MAC context, as indicated by block 416. Note that the actions represented by arrow 406 and block 416 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 424.

[0030] UE 402 and Cell#2 208 may then attempt to communicate via PUSCH, SR, and / or RACH procedures to complete the cell change procedure, as indicated by arrows 408 and 410. Upon success (as indicated by arrow 408), UE 402 may release the Cell#1 206 L1 configuration and corresponding MAC context, as indicated by block 418. Note that the actions represented by arrow 408 and block 418 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 426.

[0031] Alternatively, when communication between UE 402 and Cell#2 208 regarding the cell change fails (as indicated by arrow 410), a fallback to the source cell (i.e., Cell#1 206) may be performed. Specifically, UE 402 may release the Cell#2 208 L1 configuration and the corresponding MAC context and send a cell change failure indication to Cell#1 206 (as indicated by arrow 412). UE 402 may deliver this cell change failure indication based on the previous MAC context (assuming UE 402 still has the MAC context), or UE 402 may reconnect to the previous source cell (i.e., Cell#1 206) from the beginning, as indicated by block 420. Note that the actions represented by arrows 410, 412, and block 420 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 428.

[0032] It is worth noting that when an L1 / L2-centric cell change is performed (which can be triggered by an L1 indication): 1. the UE can apply the L1 configuration of the target cell for data transmission / reception; 2. the UE does not have to re-establish / reset the SDAP, PDCP and / or RLC entities (i.e., there may be no impact on these L2 sublayers); 3. new behaviors can be introduced in the MAC layer (e.g., the UE can reset some MAC functions from scratch, but continue other MAC functions, such as inheriting contexts); and 4. during the cell change period, the UE can receive DL transmissions from both the source cell and the target cell simultaneously.

[0033] Model 200 MAC Operation—Timing Advance (TA) Maintenance During Cell Change

[0034] In the first option, TATimer maintenance can be performed for each cell. In such an embodiment, the UE can maintain the TATimer and TA value based on the serving / source cell. Before the cell change, the UE can maintain the TA in the serving / source cell, and after the cell change, the UE can reset the TA value and restart the TATimer in the target cell.

[0035] In an implementation under the first option where the UE receives the TA of the target cell via the source cell or derives the target TA based on the source TA and the DL timing difference, the UE can start the TATimer for the target cell using one of the following two possibilities: a. Start the TATimer upon receiving the TA of the target cell; or b. Start the TATimer upon delivering the first UL transmission to the target cell. Alternatively, in an implementation under the first option where the UE calculates the TA of the target cell itself, the UE can start the TATimer upon the first UL transmission.

[0036] In the second option, cross-cell TATimer maintenance can be performed (i.e., the source cell and the target cell are actually in the same timing advance group (TAG)). Therefore, in such an embodiment, the TATimer and TA value maintenance are common for the source cell and the target cell. In addition, when the UE performs a cell change, there may be no impact on the TATimer operation.

[0037] In addition, regarding the TA of the first UL transmission to the target cell: 1. If the first UL includes a RACH preamble code transmission, the UE can set TA=0 and base the value on the DL communication timing of the target cell; or 2. If the first UL includes an SR, PUCCH or PUSCH transmission: a. When the NW does not provide a TA value in advance, the UE can use TA=0, reuse the source cell TA, or derive the TA based on the source TA and DL timing difference of the first transmission; or b. The UE can apply the indicated TA value that can be delivered via the source cell or the target cell based on the target DL timing of the transmission.

[0038] Model 200 MAC Operation—Power Headroom Report (PHR) during Cell Change

[0039] In the first option regarding PHR reporting, the UE may report the PH of the current serving cell and (multiple) target cells to the NW. The NW may use the PH information of (one or more) target cells to directly perform UL power scheduling for UL transmissions in neighboring cells, which may be particularly beneficial for fast inter-cell data transmission.

[0040] The PHR triggering event under the first option may include the time when the target cell set for PH reporting is changed based on a legacy event.The target cell set for PHR reporting may include all configured target cells according to RRC or indicated by L1 / L2 signaling.

[0041] The PH report under the first option described above may include a new PHR MAC control element (CE) introduced for target cell set PH reporting. In addition, the PHR under the first option described above may include two additional possibilities, as follows: a. The UE may report the PH of the serving cell and the target cell set in different PHR MAC CEs. In such an embodiment, the new MAC CE for target cell set PH reporting (i.e., Figure 5 MAC CE 500) can be as follows Figure 5 As shown in the figure, Figure 5 including a first new MAC CE 500 with PH levels of various target cells, as shown by the row with bracket 502, bracket 504 and bracket 506; or b. the UE may select ... Figure 6The PH of the serving cell and the target cell set is reported in the second new MAC CE). Figure 6 As shown, the second new MAC CE 600 includes both serving cell and target cell set PH reports, as further shown in the rows represented by bracket 602 , bracket 604 , and bracket 606 .

[0042] The pH value determination under the first option described above may include the UE reporting a virtual pH for the target cell set. The power control parameters used to derive the pH value are determined by either: a. RRC configuration; or b. Power control parameters associated with the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) of the target cell. The UE may identify the target cell in the MAC CE via a target cell index or a physical cell ID (PCI) + frequency index.

[0043] In the second option regarding PHR reporting, the UE may report the PH value of the current serving cell to the NW (this action may be similar to the legacy behavior).

[0044] Regarding the UL power of the first UL transmission to the target cell, two options are available: 1. The NW can provide transmit power control (TPC) for the first UL transmission in the target cell, along with a cell change indication. The UE can then calculate the power based on TPC, the power control parameters of the target cell, and the path loss; 2. The UE can perform UL transmission based on the power control parameters and path loss of the target cell.

[0045] Model 200 MAC Operation—Buffer Status Report (BSR) during Cell Change

[0046] In the first option regarding BSR, the UE can trigger a BSR in the target cell when available data has arrived in the UE uplink buffer. Under the first option, two additional options can be utilized: a. The UE can cancel the pending BSR in the source cell and trigger a BSR in the target cell when available data arrives for transmission in the target cell. With slight modifications, RRC parameters can be introduced to configure whether the UE is to cancel the pending BSR in the source cell; or b. If there is a pending BSR in the source cell, the UE can trigger a BSR in the target cell. With slight modifications, RRC parameters can be introduced to configure whether the UE is to trigger a BSR in the target cell.

[0047] In the second option regarding BSR, there may be no impact on the BSR mechanism. In this case, the cell change may be transparent to the BSR procedure.

[0048] Model 200 MAC Operation—Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) during Cell Change

[0049] The BFR procedure under model 200 may include three main options: 1. According to the traditional procedure, the BFR procedure may be performed for each serving cell; 2. According to the traditional procedure, the BFR procedure may be performed separately for the source cell and the target cell; or 3. The BFR procedure may be performed across the source cell and the target cell, which includes various additional options, including: a. Upon BFD detection in the current serving cell, if the UE detects a candidate beam in the target cell, the UE may switch to the target cell and use the detected candidate beam for data transmission and reception, which may include: i. The UE directly performs a cell change to the target cell using the candidate beam; or ii. The UE performs BFR-SR / RACH and BFR MAC CE in the current serving cell, and after the BFR MAC CE is successfully transmitted, the UE switches to the target cell; b. Upon BFD detection in the current serving cell, if the UE detects a candidate beam in the current serving cell, the UE may perform BFR in the current serving cell; c. During the BFR procedure (i.e., preamble / BFR-SR or BFR MAC d. When the UE switches to the target cell, the UE may reset the BFD / BFR variables and start the BFD procedure from the beginning.

[0050] Model 200 MAC Operation—Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) during Cell Change

[0051] The HARQ entity according to model 200 may include three options. In the first option, the HARQ entities may be separate for the source and target cells. In such an embodiment, the UE may simultaneously perform data reception / transmission on both the source and target cells during a cell change. After the UE transitions to the target cell, the UE may stop / reset / suspend the HARQ entity used for transmissions in the source cell. It is worth noting that the HARQ process in such an embodiment may not be shared between the source and target cells. In addition, in such an embodiment, HARQ retransmissions across the source and target cells may not be supported.

[0052] In the second option, the HARQ entity can be shared by the source cell and the target cell. In such an embodiment, the UE can perform data transmission and / or reception on the source cell and the target cell simultaneously. In addition, in such an embodiment, the HARQ process can be shared across multiple cells, and cross-cell HARQ retransmission is supported.

[0053] In a third option, the HARQ entity may be shared by the source cell and the target cell. In such an embodiment, after the UE switches to the target cell, the UE may reset the new data indicator (NDI) and other HARQ contexts and may start data transmission in the target cell from the beginning.

[0054] Model 200 MAC Operation—Configured Grant (GC) / Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) during Cell Change

[0055] Regarding source cell CG / SPS processing, the UE may clear or suspend CG / SPS when initiating the cell change procedure or when the cell change procedure is successfully completed.

[0056] Regarding target cell CG / SPS processing, multiple options are available, including: 1. When the UE successfully switches to the target cell, the NW can enable / activate the CG / SPS configuration through L1 downlink control information (DCI); 2. The NW can enable CG / SPS in the target cell, as well as a cell change indication; or 3. The NW can indicate the use of the CG / SPS resources of the source cell in the target cell, and indicate the TCI state used in the target cell in the cell change indication.

[0057] Model 200 MAC Operation—Discontinuous Reception (DRX) During Cell Change

[0058] In the first option, DRX can be performed per serving cell (as in the conventional procedure). In such an embodiment, when the UE switches to the target cell, the UE can reset the DRX variables and start the DRX mechanism in the target cell from the beginning.

[0059] In the second option, DRX can span serving cells. In such an embodiment, the DRX mechanism can be maintained based on data scheduling and data activity on both the source and target cells. Additionally, when a UE performs a cell switch, the UE can maintain the DRX-ON state to complete the first UL transmission. The UE can then start a DRX timer based on the first SR / PUCCH / PUSCH transmission.

[0060] Model 300—Separate RLC and MAC entities

[0061] Figure 7 A data flow diagram centered around L1 / L2 during cell change execution relative to model 300 is shown, with an illustration of each L1 / L2 entity potentially participating in such communication (i.e., as indicated by the boxes of the L1 / L2 entities to the left of each potential communication within the flow diagram, with each grouping associated with brackets in the form of bracket 722, bracket 724, bracket 726, and bracket 728). As shown, Figure 7UE 702, Cell#1 308, and Cell#2 310 are included. When UE 702 is in connected mode with Cell#1 308 (i.e., the serving / source cell), the NW may provide configuration of Cell#2 310 (i.e., the target cell#2) for handover purposes, as indicated by arrow 704. In addition, UE 702 may store configuration information associated with the target cell (i.e., Cell#2 310) until the configuration information is to be used (e.g., upon receiving a cell change indication from the serving / source cell), as indicated by block 714. Note that the actions represented by arrow 704 and block 714 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 722.

[0062] At some point, Cell#1 308 may then send a cell change indication to UE 702 regarding the change to Cell#2 310 (i.e., the target cell), as indicated by arrow 706. Upon receiving the cell change indication, UE 702 may apply the Cell#2 310 configuration and maintain the Cell#1 308 configuration and context, as indicated by block 716. Note that the actions represented by arrow 706 and block 716 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 724.

[0063] UE 702 and Cell#2 310 may then attempt to communicate via PUSCH, SR, and / or RACH procedures to complete the cell change procedure, as indicated by arrows 708 and 710. Upon success (as indicated by arrow 708), UE 702 may release the Cell#1 308 configuration, as indicated by block 718. Note that the actions represented by arrow 708 and block 718 may also be associated with the entities of bracket 726.

[0064] Alternatively, when communication between UE 702 and Cell#2 310 regarding the cell change fails (as indicated by arrow 710), fallback to the source / serving cell (i.e., Cell#1 308) may be performed. Specifically, UE 702 may release the Cell#2 310 L1 configuration and send a cell change failure indication to Cell#1 308 (as indicated by arrow 712). UE 702 may deliver this cell change failure indication based on the previous L2 context, as indicated by block 720. Note that the actions represented by arrows 710, 712, and block 720 may also be associated with the entities within bracket 728.

[0065] It is worth noting that when performing an L1 / L2-centric cell change (which can be triggered by an L1 indication), the L2 processing may include: 1. The UE can reset the MAC / RLC entity and perform PDCP reconstruction / recovery based on the NW indication; 2. The UE can apply the configuration of the target cell for data transmission / reception; 3. The UE can release the source cell configuration when the cell change is successful; 4. The UE can release the target cell configuration when the cell change fails; and 5. During the cell change period, the UE can receive DL transmissions from both the source cell and the target cell at the same time.

[0066] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method 800 for performing L2 processing during a cell change procedure is shown. In block 802, the method 800 decodes a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message received from a first cell. For example, the first cell may include a current source / serving cell. The RRC reconfiguration message may include a layer 1 (L1) configuration corresponding to a second cell. For example, the second cell may include a potential target cell.

[0067] The first cell and the second cell may share a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) entity, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, a Radio Link Control (RLC) entity, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) entity. Additionally, the first cell and the second cell may each have a separate L1 entity. In an example, the first cell and the second cell may utilize model 200.

[0068] In block 804, method 800 stores the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell in response to decoding the RRC reconfiguration message. For example, the UE may store the configuration associated with the potential target cell (i.e., the second cell) for use in a later cell change. In block 806, method 800 decodes the cell change message received from the first cell. The cell change message may indicate that a cell change will be performed from the first cell to the second cell. For example, the source / serving cell may transmit a cell change indication regarding the target cell to the UE.

[0069] In block 808, method 800 applies the stored L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell for data transmission and reception associated with the second cell in response to decoding the cell change message. For example, the UE may anticipate a potential cell change to a target cell and apply a previously received stored configuration corresponding to the target cell. In block 810, method 800 initiates a cell change to the second cell. For example, the UE may send a confirmation message to the target cell to initiate the cell change procedure.

[0070] The method 800 may further include storing the configuration and MAC context corresponding to the first cell until it is determined that the cell change to the second cell is successful. The method 800 may further include the UE sharing the SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, and MAC entity based on the first cell and the second cell without resetting the SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, or MAC entity.

[0071] Method 800 may also include determining that changing the cell to the second cell has failed, and performing a fallback to the first cell. Performing the fallback may include releasing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell and the MAC context corresponding to the second cell, and encoding a fallback message for transmission to the first cell. Transmitting the fallback message may be performed using the stored configuration and MAC context corresponding to the first cell.

[0072] Method 800 also includes performing timing advance timer (TATimer) maintenance for each cell. TATimer maintenance may include maintaining a timing advance (TA) value and a TATimer corresponding to a first cell before changing cells, and resetting the TA value and restarting the TATimer relative to a second cell after changing cells. The UE may start the TATimer upon receiving a TA value corresponding to the second cell, or upon transmitting a first UL call to the second cell.

[0073] The method 800 may further include reporting a power headroom (PH) corresponding to the first cell and a PH corresponding to the second cell to a network associated with the first cell and the second cell. The method 800 may further include reporting the PH corresponding to the first cell in a first PH report (PHR) MAC control element (CE), and reporting the PH corresponding to the second cell in a second PHR MAC CE, or reporting the PH corresponding to the first cell and the PH corresponding to the second cell in the same PHR MAC CE.

[0074] The method 800 may also include triggering a buffer status report (BSR) when available data arrives at the UE's uplink buffer. The method 800 may also include the UE canceling a pending BSR in the first cell and triggering a new BSR in the second cell when available data arrives for transmission to the second cell. The method 800 may also include: when a pending BSR exists in the first cell, the UE triggering a BSR in the target cell.

[0075] The method 800 may also include performing beam failure recovery (BFR) across the first cell and the second cell. The method 800 may also include detecting a beam failure in the first cell, detecting a candidate beam in the second cell, and based on detecting the candidate beam in the second cell, both switching to the second cell and encoding communications for the second cell using the detected candidate beam.

[0076] The method 800 may also include, when separate hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) entities are used for the first cell and the second cell, performing data transmission and reception for both the first cell and the second cell simultaneously during the cell change. The method 800 may also include, when initiating the cell change to the second cell, clearing a configured grant (CG) and semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) at the first cell.

[0077] The method 800 may include enabling configured grant (CG) and semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) at the second cell upon receiving the cell change indication. The method 800 may also include maintaining discontinuous reception (DRX) variables based on data scheduling and data activity at both the first cell and the second cell.

[0078] Figure 9 A flow chart of a method 900 for performing L2 processing during a cell change procedure is shown. In block 902, the method 900 decodes a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message received from a first cell. For example, the first cell may include a current source / serving cell. The RRC reconfiguration message may include a layer 1 (L1) configuration corresponding to a second cell. For example, the second cell may include a potential target cell.

[0079] The first cell and the second cell may share a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) entity and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity. Additionally, the first cell and the second cell may each have a separate Radio Link Control (RLC) entity, a Medium Access Control (MAC) entity, and an L1 entity. In this example, the first cell and the second cell may utilize model 300.

[0080] In block 904, method 900 stores the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell in response to decoding the RRC reconfiguration message. For example, the UE may store the configuration associated with the potential target cell (i.e., the second cell) for use in a later cell change. In block 906, method 900 decodes the cell change message received from the first cell. The cell change message may indicate that a cell change will be performed from the first cell to the second cell. For example, the source / serving cell may transmit a cell change indication regarding the target cell to the UE.

[0081] In block 908, method 900 applies the stored L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell for data transmission and reception associated with the second cell in response to decoding the cell change message. For example, the UE may anticipate a potential cell change to a target cell and apply a previously received stored configuration corresponding to the target cell. In block 910, method 900 initiates a cell change to the second cell. For example, the UE may send a confirmation message to the target cell to initiate the cell change procedure.

[0082] The method 900 may further include, when changing the cell to the second cell, resetting the RLC entity and the MAC entity, and performing PDCP recovery based on an indication from a network associated with the first cell and the second cell. The method 900 may further include storing a configuration and context corresponding to the first cell until it is determined that the cell change to the second cell is successful. The method 900 may further include determining that the cell change to the second cell has failed, and performing a fallback to the first cell. Performing the fallback to the first cell may include releasing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell, and encoding a fallback message for transmission to the first cell. Transmitting the fallback message may be performed using the stored context corresponding to the first cell.

[0083] Figure 10 An exemplary architecture of a system 1000 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an exemplary system 1000 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard and may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0084] like Figure 10As shown, system 1000 includes UE 1022 and UE 1020. In this example, UE 1022 and UE 1020 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smartphones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (ICs), heads-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDTs), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control units (ECUs), electronic / engine electronic control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), connected or “smart” appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0085] In some embodiments, UE 1022 and / or UE 1020 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-term connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0086] UE 1022 and UE 1020 may be configured to connect, e.g., be communicatively coupled, to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R)AN 1008). In an embodiment, (R)AN 1008 may be an NG RAN or SG RAN, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN," etc., may refer to an (R)AN 1008 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN," etc., may refer to an (R)AN 1008 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UE 1022 and UE 1020 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 1004 and connection 1002, respectively), each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0087] In this example, connection 1004 and connection 1002 are air interfaces to achieve communication coupling and can be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a SG protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, UE 1022 and UE 1020 can directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 1010. The ProSe interface 1010 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface 110 and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

[0088] UE 1020 is shown as being configured to access AP 1012 (also referred to as a "WLAN node," "WLAN," "WLAN terminal," "WT," etc.) via connection 1024. Connection 1024 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 1012 would include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 1012 can be connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 1020, (R)AN 1008, and AP 1012 can be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 1020 in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 1020 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 1024) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over connection 1024. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0089] (R)AN 1008 may include one or more nodes that implement connection 1004 and connection 1002, such as RAN node 1014 and RAN node 1016. As used herein, the terms "access node," "access point," and the like may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BSs, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs, or TRPs, and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) operating in NR or SG systems, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., eNBs) operating in LTE or 4G systems 1000. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 1014 or the RAN node 1016 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as a macrocell base station and / or a low power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0090] In some embodiments, all or part of RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splits, such as PDCP split, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016); MAC / PHY split, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016); or "lower PHY" split, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and upper portions of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portions of the PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes. The virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 to execute other virtualized applications. In some implementations, a separate RAN node may represent a separate F1 interface ( Figure 101008 ) is connected to a separate gNB-DU (not shown) connected to the gNB-CU. In these embodiments, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs, and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the (R)AN 1008 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations to UE 1022 and UE 1020 and is connected to the SGC via an NG interface (discussed below). In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be or function as an RSU.

[0091] The RAN node 1014 and / or the RAN node 1016 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 1022 and the UE 1020. In some embodiments, the RAN node 1014 and / or the RAN node 1016 may perform various logical functions of the (R)AN 1008, including but not limited to functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0092] In an embodiment, UE 1022 and UE 1020 may be configured to communicate with each other or with RAN node 1014 and / or RAN node 1016 using OFDM communication signals over a multi-carrier communication channel in accordance with various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0093] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 1014 and / or RAN node 1016 to UE 1022 and UE 1020, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink per time slot. This type of time-frequency plane representation is common for OFDM systems and makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes multiple resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0094] According to various embodiments, UE 1022 and UE 1020 and RAN node 1014 and / or RAN node 1016 communicate data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) over a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed frequency band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed frequency band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz frequency band.

[0095] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UE 1022 and UE 1020 and RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, UE 1022 and UE 1020 and RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0096] LBT is a mechanism for equipment (e.g., UE 1022 and UE 1020, RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016, etc.) to sense the medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an intended transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0097] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism known as CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 1022, AP 1012, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmitting. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a collision occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to CSMA / CA for WLAN. In some implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0098] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to UE 1022 and UE 1020. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation associated with the PDSCH channel. It may also inform UE 1022 and UE 1020 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information associated with the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 1020 within a cell) may be performed at either RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 based on channel quality information fed back from either UE 1022 and UE 1020. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of UE 1022 and UE 1020.

[0099] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0100] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to a set of nine physical resource elements, called EREGs, including four physical resource elements. In some cases, an ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0101] RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 1030. In an embodiment where system 1000 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 1006 is an EPC), interface 1030 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface and may be used to convey information regarding the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information regarding user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information regarding successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs for user data from the SeNB to the UE 1022; information regarding PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 1022; information regarding the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C provides intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0102] In embodiments where system 1000 is an SG or NR system (e.g., when CN 1006 is an SGC), interface 1030 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to an SGC, between a RAN node 1014 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to an SGC, and / or between two eNBs connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 1006). In some implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U interface may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functionality. The Xn-C interface may provide management and error handling functionality for managing the functionality of the Xn-C interface. Mobility support for UE 1022 in connected mode (e.g., CM connection) includes functionality for managing connected-mode UE mobility between one or more RAN nodes 1014 or RAN nodes 1016. This mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 1014 to the new (target) serving RAN node 1016, and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 1014 and the new (target) serving RAN node 1016. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer built on top of UDP and / or IP layers for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on top of SCTP. SCTP may be built on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Within the transport IP layer, signaling PDUs are delivered using point-to-point transport. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0103] (R)AN 1008 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network—in this embodiment, to CN 1006. CN 1006 may include one or more network elements 1032 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 1022 and UE 1020) connected to CN 1006 via (R)AN 1008. Components of CN 1006 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 1006 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 1006 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources including a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively, performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system can be used to perform virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0104] Generally speaking, the application server 1018 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 1018 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE 1022 and the UE 1020 via the EPC. The application server 1018 may communicate with the CN 1006 via the IP communication interface 1036.

[0105] In an embodiment, CN 1006 may be an SGC, and (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 1006 via an NG interface 1034. In an embodiment, NG interface 1034 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 1026, which carries traffic data between the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and the UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 1028, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and the AMF.

[0106] In an embodiment, CN 1006 may be an SG CN, while in other embodiments, CN 1006 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 1006 is an EPC, (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 1006 via an S1 interface 1034. In an embodiment, S1 interface 1034 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 1026, which carries traffic data between RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 1028, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and MME.

[0107] Figure 11 An example of infrastructure equipment 1100 according to various embodiments is shown. The infrastructure equipment 1100 can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node, an AN, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, the infrastructure equipment 1100 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0108] The infrastructure equipment 1100 includes application circuitry 1102, baseband circuitry 1104, one or more radio front-end modules 1106 (RFEMs), memory circuitry 1108, a power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 1110), a power tee circuit 1112, a network controller circuit 1114, a network interface connector 1120, a satellite positioning circuit 1116, and a user interface circuit 1118. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment 1100 may include additional elements such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, these components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device for a CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementation. The application circuitry 1102 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I2C, or a serial bus. 2C or general programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, general input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar product, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface, and a joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1102 can be coupled to or include a memory / storage element and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the infrastructure equipment 1100. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit that can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0109] The processor(s) of the application circuit 1102 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1102 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating in accordance with various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor(s) of the application circuit 1102 may include one or more Intel or Processor; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), or processors; ARM Holdings, Ltd. licensed ARM-based processors, such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium (TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment 1100 may not utilize application circuitry 1102 and may instead include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0110] In some implementations, the application circuit 1102 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs) and high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, the circuitry of the application circuit 1102 may include logic blocks or logic fabrics, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 1102 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc. The baseband circuit 1104 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0111] The user interface circuitry 1118 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the infrastructure equipment 1100 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the infrastructure equipment 1100. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power port, etc.

[0112] The radio front-end module 1106 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) radio front-end module (RFEM) and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separate from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-millimeter wave radio functionality may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 1106, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0113] The memory circuit 1108 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM) including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as "flash memory"), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with and The memory circuit 1108 may be implemented as one or more of: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0114] The PMIC 1110 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources (such as batteries or capacitors). The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (brownout) and a surge (overvoltage). The power tee circuit 1112 may provide power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity for the infrastructure equipment 1100 using a single cable.

[0115] The network controller circuit 1114 can provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on GRE tunnels, Ethernet based on Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity can be provided to / from the infrastructure equipment 1100 via the network interface connector 1120 using a physical connection, which can be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 1114 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 1114 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0116] Figure 12An example of a platform 1200 according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 1200 may be suitable for use as a UE, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 1200 may include any combination of components shown in the examples. The components of the platform 1200 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of ICs, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof adapted into the computer platform 1200, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system. Figure 12 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 1200. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0117] Application circuitry 1202 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: an LDO, an interrupt controller, a serial interface (such as SPI), an I 2 C or general programmable serial interface module, RTC, timers (including interval timers and watchdog timers), general IO, memory card controller (such as SD MMC or similar controller), USB interface, MIPI interface and JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1202 can be coupled with or can include a memory / storage element and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage element to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the platform 1200. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit that can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0118] The processor(s) of application circuit 1202 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, a multi-threaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embedded processor, some other known processing element, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, application circuit 1202 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating in accordance with various embodiments herein.

[0119] As an example, the processor(s) of the application circuit 1202 may include a processor based on Architecture TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU-class processors, or can be purchased from The processor of the application circuit 1202 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s AS-A9 processor, Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM processors, Texas Instruments, Open Multimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 1202 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 1202 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as company( Edison Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0120] Additionally or alternatively, application circuit 1202 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuit 1202 may include logic blocks or logic fabrics, as well as other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuit 1202 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuse), and the like) for storing logic blocks, logic fabrics, data, and the like in lookup tables (LUTs) and the like.

[0121] Baseband circuitry 1204 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0122] The radio front-end module 1206 may include a millimeter-wave (mmWave) radio front-end module (RFEM) and one or more sub-millimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separate from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-millimeter-wave radio functionality may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 1206, incorporating both mmWave antennas and sub-millimeter-wave antennas.

[0123] Memory circuit 1208 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a fixed amount of system memory. For example, memory circuit 1208 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SD RAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. Memory circuit 1208 may be developed according to a Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) low-power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1208 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 1208 may be on-chip memory or registers associated with the application circuit 1202. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 1208 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid-state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1200 may be combined with a computer system obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0124] Removable storage circuitry 1226 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, and the like, for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 1200. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, and the like), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, and the like.

[0125] Platform 1200 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to platform 1200. External devices connected to platform 1200 via the interface circuitry include sensors 1222 and electromechanical components (shown as EMC 1224), as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memory 1226.

[0126] Sensors 1222 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to detect events or changes in their environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a fluid level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0127] The EMC 1224 includes devices, modules, or subsystems designed to enable the platform 1200 to change its state, position, and / or orientation, or to move or control mechanisms or (sub)systems. Among other things, the EMC 1224 can be configured to generate and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 1200 to indicate the current state of the EMC 1224. The EMC 1224 includes one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 1200 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1224 based on one or more capture events and / or command or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients. In some implementations, the interface circuitry can connect the platform 1200 to the positioning circuitry 1216.

[0128] In some implementations, the interface circuitry can connect the platform 1200 to near-field communication circuitry (illustrated as NFC circuitry 1212). The NFC circuitry 1212 is configured to provide contactless, short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, where magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuitry 1212 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touchpoint") external to the platform 1200. The NFC circuitry 1212 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller can be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuitry 1212 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack can be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware can be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit short-range RF signals. The RF signals can power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmit stored data to the NFC circuitry 1212, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuitry 1212 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) in close proximity to the platform 1200.

[0129] Driver circuitry 1218 may include software and hardware components for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to platform 1200. Driver circuitry 1218 may include various drivers to allow other components of platform 1200 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present within or connected to platform 1200. For example, driver circuitry 1218 may include a display driver for controlling and enabling access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and enabling access to a touch screen interface of platform 1200, a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings from sensor 1222 and controlling and enabling access to sensor 1222, an EMC driver for acquiring actuator positions of EMC 1224 and / or controlling and enabling access to EMC 1224, a camera driver for controlling and enabling access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and enabling access to one or more audio devices.

[0130] A power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 1210) (also referred to as a "power management circuit") can manage the power provided to various components of platform 1200. Specifically, PMIC 1210 can control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion with respect to baseband circuitry 1204. PMIC 1210 is typically included when platform 1200 is capable of being powered by battery 1214, for example, when the device is included in a UE.

[0131] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1210 can control or otherwise be part of various power-saving mechanisms of the platform 1200. For example, if the platform 1200 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which it remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity, the platform can enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 1200 can be powered down for short intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 1200 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. The platform 1200 enters a very low-power state and performs paging, in which the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network, and then powers down again. The platform 1200 may not receive data in this state; to do so, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power-saving modes can prevent the device from using the network for periods exceeding the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will incur significant delays, assuming that the delay is acceptable.

[0132] Battery 1214 can power platform 1200, but in some examples, platform 1200 can be installed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the grid. Battery 1214 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, battery 1214 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0133] In some implementations, the battery 1214 may be a "smart battery" that includes, or is coupled to, a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 1200 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1214. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1214, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 1214, to provide fault prediction. The BMS may transmit information about the battery 1214 to the application circuit 1202 or other components of the platform 1200. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1202 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1214 or the current from the battery 1214. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 1200 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and the like.

[0134] A power block or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1214. In some examples, the power block can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to wirelessly obtain power, for example, via a loop antenna in the computer platform 1200. In these examples, wireless battery charging circuitry can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 1214 and, therefore, the required current. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium.

[0135] User interface circuitry 1220 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present within or connected to platform 1200, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with platform 1200 and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with peripheral components of platform 1200. User interface circuitry 1220 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, among other things, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a trackpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, and the like. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise communicating information (such as sensor readings, actuator position(s) or other similar information). Output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators, such as binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as a display device or touch screen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, a projector, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc., is generated or produced by the operation of platform 1200. Output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printer(s), etc. In some embodiments, sensor 1222 may function as an input device circuit (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.), and one or more EMCs may function as output device circuitry (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, NFC circuitry may be included to read electronic tags and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller and processing device coupled to an antenna element. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power port, etc.

[0136] Although not shown, the components of platform 1200 can communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which can include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCix, PCie, a time-triggered protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX can be a proprietary bus / IX, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0137] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0138] Examples

[0139] Embodiment 1 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of any of the methods or processes described herein.

[0140] Embodiment 2 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the one or more processors of the electronic device to perform one or more elements of any method or process described herein.

[0141] Embodiment 3 may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of a method described in or related to any method or process described herein.

[0142] Embodiment 4 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods, techniques, or processes described herein.

[0143] Embodiment 5 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0144] Embodiment 6 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0145] Embodiment 7 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0146] Embodiment 8 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0147] Unless expressly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the various embodiments.

[0148] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0149] It should be understood that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into a single system, partially integrated into other systems, separated into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be understood that unless otherwise stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. can be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0150] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0151] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and the apparatus described herein. The embodiments of the present invention are therefore to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the description is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for performing layer 2 L2 processing during a cell change procedure at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: decoding a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message received from a first cell, the RRC reconfiguration message including a layer 1 (L1) configuration corresponding to a second cell, wherein the first cell and the second cell share a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) entity, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity, a radio link control (RLC) entity, and a medium access control (MAC) entity, and the first cell and the second cell each have a separate L1 entity; In response to decoding the RRC reconfiguration message, storing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell; decoding a cell change message received from the first cell, the cell change message indicating that a cell change from the first cell to the second cell is to be performed; In response to decoding the cell change message, applying the stored L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell for data transmission and reception associated with the second cell; as well as A cell change to the second cell is initiated.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the configuration and MAC context corresponding to the first cell until it is determined that the cell change to the second cell is successful.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the UE shares the SDAP entity, the PDCP entity, the RLC entity and the MAC entity based on the first cell and the second cell without resetting the SDAP entity, the PDCP entity, the RLC entity or the MAC entity.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining that changing the cell to the second cell has failed; as well as Performing fallback to the first cell includes: releasing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell and the MAC context corresponding to the second cell; A backoff message is encoded for transmission to the first cell, wherein transmitting the backoff message is performed using a stored configuration and MAC context corresponding to the first cell.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Execute the timing advance timer TATimer maintenance for each cell, including: Maintaining the timing advance TA value and TATimer corresponding to the first cell before changing the cell; and Resetting the TA value and restarting the TATimer with respect to the second cell after changing the cell, wherein the UE starts the TATimer when receiving the TA value corresponding to the second cell or starts the TATimer when transmitting a first UL to the second cell.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Reporting a power headroom PH corresponding to the first cell and a PH corresponding to the second cell to a network associated with the first cell and the second cell, including: reporting the PH corresponding to the first cell in a first PH reporting PHRMAC control element CE and reporting the PH corresponding to the second cell in a second PHRMAC CE; or The PH corresponding to the first cell and the PH corresponding to the second cell are reported in the same PHR MAC CE. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising triggering a buffer status report (BSR) when available data arrives in an uplink buffer of the UE.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the UE cancels a pending BSR in the first cell and triggers a new BSR in the second cell when the available data arrives for transmission to the second cell.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the UE triggers the BSR in the target cell when there is a pending BSR in the first cell. 10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing beam failure recovery (BFR) across the first cell and the second cell.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: detecting a beam in the first cell fails; detecting candidate beams in the second cell; as well as Based on detecting the candidate beam in the second cell, perform the following operations: Switching to the second cell; as well as Communications directed to the second cell are encoded using the detected candidate beam.

12. A device for use in a user equipment (UE), the device comprising: one or more processors; and One or more hardware storage devices having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions being executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to perform the following operations: decoding a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message received from a first cell, the RRC reconfiguration message including a layer 1 (L1) configuration corresponding to a second cell, wherein the first cell and the second cell share a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) entity, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity, a radio link control (RLC) entity, and a medium access control (MAC) entity, and the first cell and the second cell each have a separate L1 entity; In response to decoding the RRC reconfiguration message, storing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell; decoding a cell change message received from the first cell, The cell change message indicates that a cell change from the first cell to the second cell is to be performed; In response to decoding the cell change message, applying the stored L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell for data transmission and reception associated with the second cell; as well as A cell change to the second cell is initiated.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more hardware storage devices further store computer-executable instructions, wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the computer-executable instructions to cause the apparatus to perform the following operations: When separate hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) entities are used for the first cell and the second cell, data transmission and reception are simultaneously performed for both the first cell and the second cell during the cell change.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more hardware storage devices further store computer-executable instructions, wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the computer-executable instructions to cause the apparatus to perform the following operations: When the cell change to the second cell is initiated, the configured grant CG and semi-persistent scheduling SPS are cleared at the first cell.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein upon receiving the cell change indication, the configured grant CG and semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) are enabled at the second cell. 16 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a discontinuous reception (DRX) variable is maintained according to data scheduling and data activity at both the first cell and the second cell.

17. A method for performing layer 2 L2 processing during a cell change procedure at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: decoding a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message received from a first cell, the RRC reconfiguration message including a layer 1 (L1) configuration corresponding to a second cell, wherein the first cell and the second cell share a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) entity and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity, and the first cell and the second cell each have a separate radio link control (RLC) entity, a medium access control (MAC) entity, and a L1 entity; In response to decoding the RRC reconfiguration message, storing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell; decoding a cell change message received from the first cell, the cell change message indicating that a cell change from the first cell to the second cell is to be performed; In response to decoding the cell change message, applying the stored L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell for data transmission and reception associated with the second cell; as well as A cell change to the second cell is initiated.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: When changing the cell to the second cell: resetting the RLC entity and the MAC entity; as well as PDCP recovery is performed based on an indication from a network associated with the first cell and the second cell.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising storing a configuration and context corresponding to the first cell until it is determined that changing the cell to the second cell is successful.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: determining that changing the cell to the second cell has failed; as well as Performing fallback to the first cell includes: releasing the L1 configuration corresponding to the second cell; as well as A backoff message is encoded for transmission to the first cell, wherein transmitting the backoff message is performed using a stored context corresponding to the first cell.

21. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by one or more processors, causes an apparatus to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-11, 17-20.

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