System and method for reporting random access information in a wireless communication network

Abstract

This document discusses systems and methods for storing and transmitting random access (RA) information associated with one or more RA procedures. In one embodiment, the system and method are configured to store, by a wireless communication device, RA information for multiple RA resource sets for completed RA procedures. The method also includes receiving, by the wireless communication device, an indicator from a wireless communication node via a radio resource control (RRC) message. The method also includes transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the RA information for multiple RA resource sets for completed RA procedures to the wireless communication node in response to the indicator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for reporting random access information to a communication network. Background Art

[0002] A wireless communication network may include a network communication device and a network communication node. In some cases, the network communication device may transmit random access (RA) resources associated with a random access (RA) procedure to the communication network. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving problems related to one or more problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented as examples and not as limitations, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art reading this disclosure that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

[0004] In one embodiment, a method includes storing, by a wireless communication device, random access (RA) information for a plurality of RA resource sets for a completed RA procedure. The method also includes receiving, by the wireless communication device, an indicator from a wireless communication node via a radio resource control (RRC) message. The method also includes transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the RA information for the plurality of RA resource sets for the completed RA procedure to the wireless communication node in response to the indicator.

[0005] In another embodiment, a method includes sending, by a wireless communication node, an indicator to a wireless communication device via a radio resource control (RRC) message. The method also includes receiving, by the wireless communication node, random access (RA) information for a plurality of RA resource sets of completed RA procedures from the wireless communication device after the indicator is sent.

[0006] These and other aspects and embodiments thereof are described in more detail in the drawings, the description, and the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The following detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the present solution is accompanied by images or drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict only exemplary embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0008] Figure 1An example cellular communication network is shown in which techniques and other aspects disclosed herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 2 A block diagram of an example base station and user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0010] Figure 3 A schematic diagram depicting an example timing diagram of communications between a UE and a network (NW) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in a sample order, and that the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless otherwise expressly stated.

[0012] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "network 100." Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (also referred to as a "communication point 102" or "BS 102" or a "transmit receive point (TRP)" or a "communication node") and a user equipment 104 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 104") that may communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and cell clusters 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101. Figure 1 , communication point 102 and UE 104 are contained within the respective geographic boundaries of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may include at least one base station operating on its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate wireless coverage to its intended users.

[0013] For example, the communication point 102 can operate at the allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide sufficient coverage to the UE 104. The communication point 102 and the UE 104 can communicate via a downlink radio frame 118 and an uplink radio frame 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 can be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, which can include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, the communication point 102 and the UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes", which can generally practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes can be capable of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0014] Figure 2 A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) / orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signals) according to some embodiments of the present solution is shown. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, the system 200 may be used in applications such as Figure 1 Data symbols are communicated (eg, sent and received) in the wireless communication environment 100 of FIG. 1 , as described above.

[0015] System 200 generally includes a base station 202 (also referred to as a "communication point 202") and a user equipment 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 204"). Communication point 202 includes a communication point (base station) transceiver module 210, a communication point antenna 212, a communication point processor module 214, a communication point memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 220 as needed. UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 240 as needed. Communication point 202 communicates with UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for data transmission as described herein.

[0016] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the system 200 may also include Figure 2Any number of modules other than the modules shown. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether this functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software can depend on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. A technician familiar with the concepts described herein can implement this functionality in an appropriate manner for each specific application, but this implementation decision should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of this disclosure.

[0017] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each including circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternately couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplexing manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the communication point transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, which includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each including circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternately couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time division duplexing manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212, the uplink receiver circuitry is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 for receiving transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250. In some embodiments, there is tight time synchronization with minimal guard times between changes in duplex direction.

[0018] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and to cooperate with appropriately configured RF antenna arrangements 212 / 232 capable of supporting specific wireless communication protocols and modulation schemes. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to specific standards and associated protocols. More specifically, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0019] According to various embodiments, the communication point 202 can be, for example, an evolved Node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station. According to some embodiments, the UE 204 can be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, a laptop, a wearable computing device, etc. The processor modules 214 and 236 can be implemented or realized using a general-purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, the processor can be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0020] Furthermore, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, firmware, or software modules executed by processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or any practical combination thereof. Memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that processor modules 210 and 230 can read information from and write information to memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

[0021] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and / or other components of the base station 202 that enable bidirectional communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, and without limitation, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface, enabling the base station transceiver 210 to communicate with a conventional Ethernet-based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). As used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, the terms "configured for...", "configured to...", and their variations refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted, and / or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

[0022] Having discussed aspects of a network environment and devices that may be used to implement the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein, additional details follow.

[0023] In 5G NR, a UE can obtain initial access to the network by requesting to establish a connection in a process commonly referred to as random access (RA). For example, when a UE is switched on or enters a new cell, the UE may perform a cell search and RA procedure to communicate with the network or a node associated with the new cell. The RA procedure may also be used to obtain timing alignment between the network and the UE, or to request UL resources when there are no physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for scheduling requests, or to perform beam failure recovery, as well as for other purposes specified in the protocol. Figure 3A schematic diagram depicting an example timing diagram 300 of communications between a UE 302 and a network (NW) 304 is shown. The network periodically broadcasts system information block information, which may include several parameters such as, for example, a root sequence ID, a random access channel (RACH) configuration index, a power offset, and an initial power. The UE 302 may randomly select a preamble and send the preamble 306 to the NW 304. The preamble 306 may be sent in a RA subframe in a frequency and time resource block corresponding to a temporary identifier (RA-RNTI). In response, the NW 304 may send a random access response (RAR), which may include, for example, a temporary cell identifier (TC-RNTI), a timing advance, and an uplink resource grant. In some embodiments, the UE and the NW may perform a four-step exchange to establish a connection. In some such embodiments, upon receiving the RAR from the NW, the UE may send a radio resource control (RRC) connection request, wherein in some examples, the first 48 bits of the transmitted RRC message may be used as a contention resolution identifier. In contention-based communication, two or more UEs can use the same preamble to request communication with the NW. In this case, the NW can send an identifier, and the UE can match this identifier with the contention resolution identifier. If there is a match, the contention is successfully resolved. However, if there is no match, the UE can assume that the contention resolution failed and restart the process by resending the preamble.

[0024] In some embodiments, the UE and the NW may perform a two-step exchange to perform RACH. In such embodiments, the UE may send a preamble together with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) payload to the NW in a first message (e.g., MsgA). In response to the received first message, the NW may send a second message back to the UE, e.g., MsgB. Contention resolution at the UE side in a 2-step RA is performed together with the reception of MsgB. If both the preamble and the PUSCH payload in MsgA are successfully decoded, the NW may send a success-RAR message to the UE using the contention resolution ID. If the contention resolution ID matches the ID contained in MsgA, the UE may then assume that the RA was completed successfully. If only the preamble portion of MsgA is decoded successfully, the NW may send a fallback-RAR message to the UE, and the UE may then fall back to the four-step RACH to resolve the contention and establish a connection with the NW.

[0025] Once the UE completes the RA procedure, the UE may store the relevant RA information and the NW may request the UE to provide a report including RA-related information to the NW. For example, the UE may send RA-related information to the NW using one or more procedures, including, for example, an RA report, an RLF (Radio Link Failure) report, a Connection Establishment Failure (CEF) report, etc. Conventional methods for reporting RA-related information only allow reporting information related to one RA resource set used to perform the RA procedure. When this information is received by the NW, it may not be sufficient to provide a sufficient assessment of all resources used by the UE to perform the RA procedure.

[0026] The following discussion provides a technical solution to the aforementioned problem of limited RA information provided to the NW. Specifically, as discussed below, the UE may store one or more RA resource sets in memory. In response to receiving an indicator from the NW, the UE may send the stored one or more RA resource sets to the NW.

[0027] Reference again Figure 3 , the UE may store (310) one or more RA information sets in a memory at the UE. The NW may then send an indicator 312 to the UE. The indicator may indicate to the UE that the NW has requested RA information. Or in other examples, the indicator may indicate to the UE that the NW has requested a report that may optionally include RA information. In some embodiments, the NW may send a dedicated RRC message (e.g., a UEInformationRequest message) or a broadcast RRC message to the UE that may include a request bit. In response to receiving the indicator, the UE may send (314) the stored one or more RA information sets to the NW. In some embodiments, the UE may send the RA information to the NW via a dedicated RRC message (such as, for example, a UEInformationResponse message). However, the messages discussed above are merely examples, and the NW and UE may communicate the request and RA information via other communication messages or formats. In some examples, the UE may send the RA information to the NW in the form of a report. For example, the UE may send an RA report including one or more RA entries, each of which may include RA information related to the successful completion of the RA procedure. In some other examples, the UE may send RA information related to an unsuccessful RA procedure to the NW in an RLF report or a connection establishment failure (CEF) report. In yet another example, the RA report may include RA information regardless of whether the RA procedure was completed successfully or unsuccessfully. In some embodiments, the NW or the communication protocol may limit the maximum number of RA entries in the RA report sent by the UE.

[0028] The RA information may include at least one of the following parameters: one or more RA resource sets used during the RA process, a preamble group indication, time-related information, an RA type indicator (which may indicate whether the stored RA information is related to a two-step or four-step RA process), an RA purpose (which may indicate a triggering event for the RA process), an absolute frequency of a reference resource block (e.g., common RB 0, absoluteFrequencyPointA), bandwidth part (BWP) related information, contention detection information for each RA attempt, beam-related information, and an index of the RA resource set used for each consecutive RA attempt in the same beam. In some embodiments, the RA information may also include additional information, such as, for example, other RA parameters specified by the communication protocol.

[0029] (1) Parameters of one or more RA resource sets used during an RA process

[0030] As described above, RA information may include a parameter field that includes parameters for one or more RA resource sets used during an RA process. Each RA resource set may include at least one of the parameters discussed below. For each RA resource set, a resource set identifier (in some examples, a resource set identifier may also be referred to as a resource set index) may be included, which may be used to identify different RA resource sets used in an RA process. For each RA resource set, a starting frequency of a physical random access channel (PRACH) may also be included. The starting frequency parameter may indicate the offset of the lowest PRACH transmission opportunity in the frequency domain relative to physical resource block (PRB) 0, which is the lowest PRB in the bandwidth part (BWP) in which the RA resources are located. For each RA resource set, the number of frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) PRACH transmission opportunities at the time instance may also be included. For example, the value of the parameter prach-FDM may be included. For each RA resource set, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the PRACH may also be included. For example, the value of the parameter prach-SubcarrierSpacing may be included. For each RA resource set, a PRACH configuration index may also be included. The PRACH configuration index (eg, prach-ConfigurationIndex) parameter may specify the type of preamble format used and at which system frame and subframe the UE transmits the PRACH preamble.

[0031] For each RA resource set, a power ramping step value for PRACH (e.g., powerRampingStep) may also be included. The power ramping step value for PRACH may specify the PRACH transmission power increment (e.g., in dB) that the UE increases each time the UE retries the PRACH process. For each RA resource set, a fallback indicator may also be included. The fallback indicator may indicate the time delay interval between a PRACH attempt and the next PRACH attempt. For each RA resource set, a resource type may also be included. The resource type may indicate the use of RA resources, where the RA resource type may include at least one of the following: contention-based RA, contention-free RA, beam failure recovery (BFR), on-demand system information (SI) request, 2-step contention-based RA, 2-step contention-free RA, 4-step contention-free RA, 4-step contention-based RA, general or dedicated. In some examples, the RA resource type may be used to identify the configured RA resources. For each RA resource set, an RA priority parameter may also be included. In some embodiments, the RA priority parameter may be used by the UE to select a specific RA resource set. The RA priority parameter may include, for example, a power ramping step size used for a prioritized random access procedure (e.g., powerRampingStepHighPriority for handover or BFR) or a scaling factor of a backoff indicator used for a prioritized random access procedure (e.g., scalingFactorBI for handover or BFR). In some embodiments, an indicator may be used to indicate whether the RA priority parameter is configured for a particular resource set. For example, "0" may indicate that the RA priority parameter is not provided for a particular RA resource set, while "1" may indicate that the RA priority parameter is provided for a particular RA resource set. In some embodiments, the inclusion of the RA priority parameter may be indicated by the presence of an RA priority bit, and the absence of such a bit may indicate that the RA priority parameter is not used in the corresponding RA resource set.

[0032] In some embodiments, for an RA procedure, the UE may include detailed information about an RA resource set with one or more of the above parameters (Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), or Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB)) for each consecutive RA attempt within the same beam to indicate the RA resources used for each consecutive RA attempt. In some embodiments, for an RA procedure, the UE may include detailed information about one or more RA resource sets with an identifier (e.g., RA resource index) to identify each RA resource set used in the RA procedure. The UE may indicate the RA resources used for each consecutive RA attempt by setting an identifier (e.g., RA resource index) corresponding to each consecutive RA attempt in the same beam (CSI-RS or SSB).

[0033] For the introduction of multiple RA resources, the following alternatives can be considered:

[0034] 1. List of RA resources. Optionally, for each RA resource, the purpose of the RA resource can be indicated based on an information element (IE). For example, the IE can be used to indicate the RA resource type mentioned above to indicate the purpose of each RA resource.

[0035] 2. Separate IEs may be used for different types of RA resources instead of a list (e.g., there are separate IEs for RA resources for 4-step CBRA, RA resources for 4-step CFRA, RA resources for 2-step CBRA, and RA resources for 2-step CFRA. And different RA resources for different purposes have different IE names. In some examples, the IE name may be used to identify the purpose of the RA resource. In some examples, the common portion of the RA resources may be included in a common IE, while the IE of the additional included RA resource set (e.g., RA resources other than the first RA resource) may contain parameters different from those of the first RA resource. For other parameters not included in the IE of the additional included RA resource set, the values ​​defined in the common IE will be used. For example, if the common RA resource IE contains three parameters: PRACH in one time instance FDMed (e.g., msg1-FDM), frequency start of PRACH (e.g., msg1-FrequencyStart) and SCS of PRACH (e.g., msg1-SubcarrierSpacing), and a second RA resource (e.g., dedicated RA resource) is used and only msg1-SubcarrierSpacing is different from that defined in the common RA resource, the dedicated RA resource IE shall contain only msg1-SubcarrierSpacing, and the values ​​of msg1-FDM and msg1-FrequencyStart defined in the common RA resource IE shall be used for the dedicated RA resource, respectively.

[0036] To associate RA resources with RA transmission attempts, the following alternatives may be considered:

[0037] 1. Introduce a RA resource ID or index in the RA report for each RA transmission attempt or each consecutive RA transmission attempt in the same beam (CSI-RS or SSB).

[0038] 2. Introducing RA types (e.g., CBRA, CFRA or 4-step CBRA, 4-step CFRA, 2-step CBRA, 2-step CFRA) for each RA transmission attempt in the same beam (CSI-RS or SSB) or for each consecutive RA transmission attempt in the same beam.

[0039] 3. Introduce a separate RA attempt list for each RA resource.

[0040] (2) Preamble group indication

[0041] As mentioned above, RA information can include a preamble group indicator. The preamble group indicator can be used to indicate the preamble group from which the preamble was selected. The preamble group indicator can be set for each RA attempt or each RA process. In some embodiments, a one-bit indicator can be used to indicate whether the preamble used in a particular RA attempt is selected from Group B. For example, a "0" can indicate that the preamble is selected from Group B, and a "1" can indicate otherwise, or vice versa. In some embodiments, the inclusion of the preamble group indicator itself can indicate that the preamble is selected from Group B, and the absence of the preamble group indicator can indicate that the preamble is selected from Group A, or vice versa. In some embodiments, the preamble group indicator indicates whether the preamble used in the RA attempt is selected from a specific preamble group. That is, for example, the preamble group indicator can be selected from one of two values: Group A or Group B. When configuring a preamble for Group B, the preamble group indicator can be optionally included.

[0042] (3) Time-related information

[0043] As mentioned above, the RA information may include time-related information. The time-related information may be used by the NW to determine when the RA process occurs. In one embodiment, the time-related information may include the time when the RA process is started. For example, for a 4-step RA, the UE may record the absolute time when the first preamble transmission ends during one RA process, or record the absolute time when the first PUSCH payload transmission ends in a 2-step RA. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the time-related information may include the time when the UE considers the RA process to be completed according to the communication protocol. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the time-related information may include the amount of time it takes to complete the RA process. In some embodiments, a combination of one or more of the above examples may be included in the time-related information. For example, the time-related information may include a combination of the time when the RA process is started and the time when the UE considers the RA process to be completed, or a combination of the start time of the RA process and the amount of time it takes to complete the RA process, or a combination of the time when the UE considers the RA process to be completed and the amount of time it takes to complete the RA process.

[0044] (4) RA type indicator

[0045] As mentioned above, the RA information may include an RA type indicator. The UE may use the RA type indicator to indicate that the RA information corresponds to a two-step or four-step RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA type indicator may be a one-bit indicator, such as, for example, where a bit value of "0" may indicate a two-step RA procedure, and a bit value of "1" may indicate a four-step RA procedure. In some other embodiments, the RA indicator may include a two-step RA procedure indicator, the presence of which may indicate the use of a two-step RA procedure, and the absence of which may indicate the use of a four-step procedure. In some embodiments, the RA indicator may have a value such as "1RA" or "2RA", indicating a two-step RA procedure or a four-step RA procedure, respectively.

[0046] (5) RA purpose

[0047] As mentioned above, the RA information may include RA purpose information, which may indicate an event that triggers the UE to perform the RA procedure. The RA purpose information may include one or more of the following list of events: initial access from the RRC_IDLE state; RRC connection re-establishment procedure; downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) data arrival during the RRC_CONNECTED state when the UL synchronization state is "out of sync"; UL data arrival during the RRC_CONNECTED state when no physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources are available for a scheduling request (SR); SR failure; RRC-requested synchronization configuration (e.g., handover); transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state, establishing time synchronization for a secondary timing advance group (TAG), SI request based on Msg3, SI request based on MSg1, and beam failure recovery. It should be noted that the above list is not exhaustive or exclusive, and other events not listed above may also trigger the UE to perform the RA procedure, and the UE may include identification of such events in the RA purpose information.

[0048] (6) BWP related information

[0049] As mentioned above, the RA information may include BWP-related information. The BWP-related information may include at least one of the following information: the frequency domain location and bandwidth of the BWP associated with the used RA resources, or the SCS of the BWP associated with the used RA resources.

[0050] (7) Beam-related information

[0051] As mentioned above, RA information may also include beam-related information. The beam-related information may indicate whether the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the selected beam is above the configured threshold for each RA attempt. The beam-related information may also include the beam type, which may be selected from SSB or CSI-RS. The beam information may also include the beam index or the number of preambles transmitted per beam.

[0052] Examples of RA messages are discussed below. Specifically, the contents of the RA message in an Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) object identifier are shown below. It should be noted that this is only an example notation, and other notations may also be used. Furthermore, the parameter names shown below are only examples, and different terms may be used to indicate similar meanings of parameters. For example, in other examples, the prach-FrequencyStart, prach-FDM, and prach-SubcarrierSpacing parameters shown below may also be referred to as msg1-FrequencyStart, msg1-FDM, and msg1-SubcarrierSpacing, respectively.

[0053]

[0054]

[0055]

[0056]

[0057]

[0058]

[0059]

[0060]

[0061]

[0062]

[0063] Various parameters in the ASN.1 notation above have been highlighted (bold and italic) to indicate examples of the various parameters discussed above. As an example, a list of information elements (IEs) is used to include multiple RA resources to be utilized in an RA process, where each entry in the list includes information related to an RA resource group. For example, the set of RA resources may include the starting frequency of the PRACH transmission (prach-FrequencyStart-r16), the PRACH SCS (prach-SubcarrierSpacing-r16), the PRACH frequency division multiplexing (FDM) (prach-FDM-r16), and other parameters. An RA resource index is used to identify each RA resource set.

[0064] Table 1 below provides a description of one or more terms used in the RA information examples presented above.

[0065] Table 1

[0066]

[0067]

[0068] After completing the RA procedure, the UE may include detailed information about one or more RA resource sets used during the RA procedure. The UE may include an RA resource index for each consecutive RA attempt in the same beam (SSB or CSI-RS) to indicate the corresponding RA resource being used, where the RA resource index may indicate a detailed set of RA resource information.

[0069] In some examples, the RA Resource Index parameter (e.g., ra-Resource-Index-r16 as described above) is conditionally present. For example, when the RA Resource List contains more than one RA resource, the RA Resource Index parameter is mandatory (e.g., ra-ResourceList-r16 as described in the above example). Otherwise, the RA Resource Index parameter is not present. The absence of the RA Resource Index parameter means that the first RA resource included in the RA Resource List is used for the RA attempt.

[0070] In another example, the identifier used to identify each configured RA resource set may be an indicator for the RA resource type, such as ra-ResourceType-r16, rather than the RA resource index parameter mentioned above. For example, the RA resource type may be selected between contention-based RA (CBRA) or contention-free RA (CFRA), and the UE will set the ra-ResourceType-r16 field to CBRA or CFRA based on the type of RA resource used for each consecutive attempt in the same beam.

[0071] In some examples, the maximum number of RA resources may be predefined in the protocol. Alternatively, a parameter (e.g., maxRAResource) may be used to limit the number of RA resources that can be included in the RA resource list. An example notation for this parameter (in ASN.1) is shown below. Note that this is only an example notation, and other notations may also be used.

[0072] --ASN1START

[0073] --TAG-MULTIPLICITY-AND-TYPE-CONSTRAINT-DEFINITIONS-STARTmaxRAResource INTEGER::=3--Maximum number of RA resource information to be included in the RA resource List

[0074] --TAG-MULTIPLICITY-AND-TYPE-CONSTRAINT-DEFINITIONS-STOP

[0075] --ASN1STOP

[0076] Next, we'll discuss another example of RA information in ASN.1. In this example, separate IEs are used to indicate the different RA resources used in the RA process. In this example, the UE can indicate the RA resources associated with each RA attempt by setting the RA resource type for each successive RA attempt in the same beam. It should be noted that this is merely an example notation, and other notations may also be used. Furthermore, the parameter names shown below are examples only, and different terminology may be used to indicate parameters with similar meanings.

[0077] UEInformationResponse message

[0078]

[0079]

[0080]

[0081]

[0082]

[0083]

[0084]

[0085]

[0086]

[0087]

[0088] Various parameters in the above ASN.1 notation have been highlighted (bold and italic) to indicate examples of the various parameters discussed above. Table 2 below provides a description of one or more terms used in the RA message example reproduced above.

[0089] Table 2

[0090]

[0091] Table 3 below describes the multiRA conditions mentioned above.

[0092] Table 3

[0093]

[0094] In another example, an indicator for distinguishing whether the RA attempt is CB-based or CF-based can be introduced. For example, a bit indicator can be used, "0" means that the RA attempt is CB-based, and "1" means that it is CF-based, and vice versa. Or in another example, the presence of such an indicator indicates that the RA attempt is CF-based, and the absence of such an indicator indicates that the RA attempt is CB-based, and vice versa. In another example, the above indicator can be set in each consecutive RA attempt within the same beam. If an indicator that distinguishes the type of RA attempt (for example, CB-based or CF-based) is used, the RA resource type indicator mentioned in the above example may not be needed. And the RA resources used for each RA attempt or each consecutive RA attempt in the same beam can be implicitly indicated by the indicator. For example, if the indicator indicates that the RA attempt is CB-based, the RA resources used in the corresponding attempt are public RA resources, otherwise the RA resources used are dedicated RA resources.

[0095] In some examples, the parameters included in the first IE of the RA resource (e.g., msgl-FDM, msgl-FrequencyStart, and msgl-SubcarrierSpacing as defined in the above example) are mandatory, and the parameters included in the additionally included IE of the RA resource are optional, i.e., if the value is different from the value defined in the first RA resource IE, the parameter is included. For those parameters not included in the additionally included RA resource IE, the same values ​​as defined in the first RA resource IE can be reused. For example, if the common RA resource IE includes three parameters: msg1-FDM, msg1-FrequencyStart, and msg1-SubcarrierSpacing, and a second RA resource (e.g., a dedicated RA resource) is used and only msg1-SubcarrierSpacing is different from that defined in the common RA resource, then the dedicated RA resource IE will only include msg1-SubcarrierSpacing, and the values ​​of msg1-FDM and msg1-FrequencyStart defined in the common RA resource IE will be reused for the dedicated RA resource.

[0096] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it will be understood that they are presented by way of example only and not by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the example features and functions of the present solution. However, such persons will understand that the present solution is not limited to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of one embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.

[0097] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using designations such as "first," "second," etc., does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements are employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0098] In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, references to data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0099] Those of ordinary skill in the art will also understand that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation, or a combination thereof), firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (for convenience, referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of these technologies depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. A skilled person may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions do not result in a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0100] In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that includes a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may also include antennas and / or transceivers for communicating with various components within a network or within a device. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices for performing the functions described herein, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or a combination of any other suitable configuration.

[0101] If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include: RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0102] In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for discussion purposes, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according to embodiments of the present solution.

[0103] In addition, memories or other storage devices and communication components may be employed in embodiments of the present solution. It will be understood that, for clarity, the description above has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements, or domains may be used without departing from the present solution. For example, functionality described as being performed by a separate processing logic element or controller may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, reference to a specific functional unit is merely a reference to a suitable means for providing the functionality, rather than an indication of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0104] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the claims below.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: storing, by the wireless communication device, one or more random access (RA) information sets, each RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponding to a respective different RA procedure, wherein at least one RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponds to a respective completed RA procedure and includes a plurality of RA resource sets for the completed RA procedure; receiving, by the wireless communication device, an indicator from a wireless communication node via a radio resource control (RRC) message; and The one or more RA information sets are sent by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node in response to the indicator.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Each RA attempt of the completed RA procedure utilizes one RA resource set from the plurality of RA resource sets.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The RA information includes a resource set identifier.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The RA information includes a starting frequency of a physical random access channel PRACH.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The RA information includes the number of frequency-division-multiplexed physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission opportunities at one time instance.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein The RA information includes the subcarrier spacing of the physical random access channel PRACH.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein The RA information includes at least one of the following: a physical random access channel PRACH index, a power ramp step size of a PRACH, a backoff indicator, a resource type, or a RA priority parameter.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The resource type is used to identify the RA resource set that the RA attempts to use.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, by the wireless communication device, the RA information to the wireless communication node via at least one information element.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein The RA information includes an index of an RA resource set utilized in consecutive RA attempts in the same beam.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the wireless communication device in response to the indicator, an indication of a preamble group associated with the completed RA procedure to the wireless communication node, wherein The preamble group includes group A or group B.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The presence of the indication sent to the wireless communication node indicates that the preamble used in the RA attempt is selected from preamble group B, and the absence of the indication indicates that the preamble used in the RA attempt is selected from preamble group A.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, by the wireless communication device, time-related information of the completed RA procedure to the wireless communication node in response to the indicator.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The time-related information indicates the time when the completed RA process is initiated or completed.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein The time-related information indicates the duration of the completed RA process.

16. A wireless communication method, comprising: The wireless communication node sends an indicator to the wireless communication device via a radio resource control (RRC) message. and After the indicator is sent, one or more random access (RA) information sets are received by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, each RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponds to a corresponding different RA procedure, wherein at least one RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponds to a corresponding completed RA procedure and includes multiple RA resource sets of the completed RA procedure.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein Each RA attempt of the completed RA procedure utilizes one RA resource set from the plurality of RA resource sets.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein The RA information includes a resource set identifier.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein The RA information includes a starting frequency of a physical random access channel PRACH.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein The RA information includes the number of frequency-division-multiplexed physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission opportunities at one time instance.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein The RA information includes the subcarrier spacing of the physical random access channel PRACH.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein The RA information includes at least one of the following: a physical random access channel PRACH index, a power ramp step size of a PRACH, a backoff indicator, a resource type, or a RA priority parameter.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The resource type is used to identify the RA resource set that the RA attempts to use.

24. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication node, the RA information from the wireless communication device via at least one information element.

25. The method according to claim 16, wherein The RA information includes an index of an RA resource set utilized in consecutive RA attempts in the same beam.

26. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, an indication of a preamble group associated with a completed RA procedure, The preamble group includes group A or group B.

27. The method according to claim 16, wherein The presence of the indication received by the wireless communication node indicates that the preamble used in the RA attempt is selected from preamble group B, and the absence of the indication indicates that the preamble used in the RA attempt is selected from preamble group A.

28. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication node, time-related information of a completed RA procedure from the wireless communication device after sending the indicator.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein The time-related information indicates the time when the completed RA process is initiated or completed.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein The time-related information indicates the duration of the completed RA process.

31. A wireless communication device comprising: At least one processor configured to: storing one or more RA information sets, each RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponding to a respective different RA procedure, wherein at least one RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponds to a respective completed RA procedure and includes a plurality of RA resource sets of the completed RA procedure; receiving, by the transceiver, an indicator from a wireless communication node via a radio resource control (RRC) message; and The one or more RA information sets are sent, by the transceiver, to the wireless communication node in response to the indicator.

32. A wireless communication node, comprising: At least one processor configured to: sending, by the transceiver, an indicator to the wireless communication device via a radio resource control (RRC) message; and After the indicator is sent, one or more RA information sets are received from the wireless communication device by the transceiver, each RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponds to a corresponding different RA procedure, wherein at least one RA information in the one or more RA information sets corresponds to a corresponding completed RA procedure and includes multiple RA resource sets of the completed RA procedure.

33. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, can cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30.

Images