Determine a transmission preparation time for wireless communication on at least one carrier

Abstract

A base station (BS) may determine (estimate) a preparation time for at least one uplink (UL) transmission of a user equipment (UE) on at least one radio frequency (RF) carrier. The BS may determine the preparation time such that the BS will send a grant for the at least one transmission to the UE a sufficient amount of time (based on the estimated preparation time) before the at least one transmission is scheduled to occur, enabling the UE to perform the at least one UL transmission on a selected one of the RF carriers or on two RF carriers. The BS may select the longest preparation time from the preparation times of different RF carriers. The BS may select a subcarrier spacing (SCS) index that provides a longer preparation time from the SCS indices of different RF carriers. The BS may add a defined value to the preparation time.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority and the benefit of Patent Cooperation Treaty Application No. PCT / CN2020 / 087151, filed on April 27, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 015,961, filed on April 27, 2020. The entire contents of each of the Patent Cooperation Treaty Application and the U.S. Provisional Patent Application are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication, and more particularly, to determining a preparation time for at least one transmission on at least one carrier of a multi - carrier communication system. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multi - access systems include fourth - generation (4G) systems (such as Long - Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced LTE (LTE - A) systems, or LTE - A Pro systems) and fifth - generation (5G) systems that may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ techniques such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), or Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (DFT - S - OFDM).

[0005] Next - generation wireless communication systems (e.g., 5GS) may include a 5G core network and a 5G radio access network (RAN) (such as a New Radio (NR) - RAN). The NR - RAN supports communication via one or more cells. For example, a wireless communication device (such as a user equipment (UE)) may access a first cell of a first base station (BS) (such as a gNB) and / or access a second cell of a second BS. The BS may schedule access to the cell to support access by multiple UEs. For example, the BS may allocate different resources (e.g., time - domain and frequency - domain resources) to different UEs operating within the BS's cell. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance communication technologies, particularly including technologies for enhancing communication within wireless networks, not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access but also to advance and enhance the user experience of mobile communication. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following presents a summary of one or more aspects of the disclosure to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all the expected features of the disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0007] An innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication method. The method includes determining a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and determining a second preparation time for a second RF carrier. Additionally, a grant for at least one uplink transmission is sent to a user equipment (UE) based on a maximum preparation time, where the maximum preparation time is determined based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0008] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory can be configured to determine a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and determine a second preparation time for a second RF carrier. The processor and the memory are further configured to send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on a maximum preparation time, where the maximum preparation time is determined based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0009] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes components for determining a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, components for determining a maximum preparation time, and components for sending a grant. The components for determining the maximum preparation time determine the maximum preparation time based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time. The components for sending the grant send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on the maximum preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0010] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a manufactured product used by a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The manufactured product includes a computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein that are executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to determine a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and to determine a second preparation time for a second RF carrier. The computer-readable medium also has stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on a maximum preparation time, where the maximum preparation time is determined based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0011] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the resources for the at least one uplink transmission begin at a first time, and sending the grant for the at least one uplink transmission to the UE based on the maximum preparation time includes sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the maximum preparation time for the at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time includes selecting the longest time of the first preparation time or the second preparation time.

[0012] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the grant is configured to trigger a handover between the UE operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode. In some embodiments, the method and the wireless communication device may be configured to determine a third preparation time for a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), determine that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time, and in response to determining that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time, generate a grant that does not trigger a handover between the first uplink transmission mode and the second uplink transmission mode at the UE.

[0013] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented in a wireless communication method. The method includes determining at least one preparation time. The at least one preparation time may be a first preparation time for a first Radio Frequency (RF) carrier, a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, or the first preparation time for the first RF carrier and the second preparation time for the second RF carrier. Additionally, a grant for at least one uplink transmission is sent to a User Equipment (UE) based on an adjusted preparation time for at least one Channel State Information (CSI) transmission, where the adjusted preparation time is determined based on the at least one preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0014] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to determine at least one preparation time. The at least one preparation time may be a first preparation time for a first Radio Frequency (RF) carrier, a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, or the first preparation time for the first RF carrier and the second preparation time for the second RF carrier. The processor and the memory are further configured to send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a User Equipment (UE) based on an adjusted preparation time for at least one Channel State Information (CSI) transmission, where the adjusted preparation time is determined based on the at least one preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0015] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes components for determining at least one preparation time, components for determining an adjusted preparation time, and components for sending a grant. The components for determining at least one preparation time can determine a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, or the first preparation time for the first RF carrier and the second preparation time for the second RF carrier. The components for determining the adjusted preparation time determine an adjusted preparation time for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission based on the at least one preparation time. The components for sending a grant send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on the adjusted preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0016] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a manufactured product used by a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The manufactured product includes a computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein that are executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to determine at least one preparation time. The at least one preparation time can be a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, or the first preparation time for the first RF carrier and the second preparation time for the second RF carrier. The computer-readable medium also stores instructions executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on an adjusted preparation time for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission, where the adjusted preparation time is determined based on the at least one preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0017] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the adjusted preparation time includes increasing the uplink preparation time by a defined value. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the adjusted preparation time includes determining a maximum preparation time based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the maximum preparation time based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time may include selecting the longest time of the first preparation time or the second preparation time. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the maximum preparation time for the at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time includes selecting the longest time of the first preparation time or the second preparation time.

[0018] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the resources for the at least one uplink transmission start at a first time, and sending the grant for the at least one uplink transmission to the UE based on the maximum preparation time includes sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the grant is configured to trigger a switch of the UE between operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode.

[0019] An innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication method. The method includes determining a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determining a second SCS index of a second RF carrier, and determining a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. Additionally, a grant for the at least one uplink transmission is sent to a user equipment (UE) based on a preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission, the preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission being based on the minimum SCS index, where the preparation time is determined based on the minimum SCS index. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0020] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determine a second SCS index for a second RF carrier, and determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. The processor and the memory are further configured to send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on a preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission, the preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission being based on the minimum SCS index, wherein the preparation time is determined based on the minimum SCS index. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0021] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes components for determining a subcarrier spacing (SCS), components for determining a preparation time, and components for sending a grant. The components for determining the preparation time determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determine a second SCS index for a second RF carrier, and determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. The components for determining the preparation time determine a preparation time of at least one uplink transmission based on the minimum SCS index. The components for sending the grant send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on the preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0022] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a manufactured product used by a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The manufactured product includes a computer-readable medium storing instructions that can be executed by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determine a second SCS index of a second RF carrier, and determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. The computer-readable medium also stores instructions that can be executed by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on a preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission, where the preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission is based on the minimum SCS index, and the grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0023] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index includes selecting the lowest index of the first SCS index or the second SCS index. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the resources for the at least one uplink transmission start at a first time, and sending the grant for the at least one uplink transmission to the UE based on the maximum preparation time includes sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the grant is configured to trigger a switch of the UE between operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode.

[0024] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication method. The method includes determining a preparation time for switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode. In the first uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In the second uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. The method further includes configuring at least one component of the UE such that the UE processes a received uplink grant within the preparation time.

[0025] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE). The wireless communication device includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to determine a preparation time for switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode. In the first uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In the second uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. The processor and the memory are further configured to configure at least one component of the UE such that the UE processes an uplink grant received during the preparation time.

[0026] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE). The wireless communication device includes means for determining a preparation time and means for configuring. The means for determining a preparation time determines a preparation time for switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode. In the first uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In the second uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. The means for configuring configures at least one component of the UE such that the UE processes an uplink grant received during the preparation time.

[0027] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a manufactured product used by a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE). The manufactured product includes a computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to determine a preparation time for switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode. In the first uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In the second uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. The computer-readable medium further stores instructions executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to configure at least one component of the UE such that the UE processes an uplink grant received during the preparation time.

[0028] In some embodiments, the method and the wireless communication device may be configured to switch from the first uplink transmission mode to the second uplink transmission mode. In some embodiments, the method and the wireless communication device may be configured to switch from the second uplink transmission mode to the first uplink transmission mode. In some embodiments, the first preparation time is the preparation time for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission of the UE or the preparation time for the channel state information (CSI) transmission of the UE, and the second preparation time is the preparation time for the PUSCH transmission of the UE or the preparation time for the CSI transmission of the UE.

[0029] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, configuring the at least one component includes setting a processing clock speed. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, configuring the at least one component includes setting a memory allocation. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the preparation time includes determining a first preparation time for the first RF carrier, determining a second preparation time for the second RF carrier, and determining the maximum preparation time of the first preparation time and the second preparation time.

[0030] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented in a wireless communication method. The method includes determining a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determining a second SCS index for a second RF carrier, and determining a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. Additionally, a grant for at least one CSI transmission is sent to a user equipment (UE) based on a preparation time for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission, the preparation time for the at least one CSI being based on the minimum SCS index, wherein the preparation time is determined based on the minimum SCS index. The grant indicates resources for the at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0031] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determine a second SCS index for a second RF carrier, and determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. The processor and the memory are further configured to send a grant for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on a preparation time for the at least one CSI transmission, the preparation time for the at least one CSI transmission being based on the minimum SCS index, wherein the preparation time is determined based on the minimum SCS index. The grant indicates resources for the at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0032] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The wireless communication device includes components for determining a subcarrier spacing (SCS), components for determining a preparation time, and components for sending a grant. The components for determining a preparation time determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determine a second SCS index for a second RF carrier, and determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. The components for determining a preparation time determine a preparation time for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission based on the minimum SCS index. The components for sending a grant send a grant for at least one CSI transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on the preparation time. The grant indicates resources for the at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0033] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a manufactured product used by a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station). The manufactured product includes a computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, determine a second SCS index of a second RF carrier, and determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. The computer-readable medium also stores instructions executable by one or more processors of the wireless communication device to send a grant for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on a preparation time of at least one CSI transmission, the preparation time of the at least one uplink transmission being based on the minimum SCS index, wherein the preparation time is determined based on the minimum SCS index. The grant indicates resources for the at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0034] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, sending the grant includes sending the grant on the first RF carrier. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the grant schedules the at least one CSI transmission on the second RF carrier.

[0035] In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, determining the minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index includes selecting the lowest index of the first SCS index or the second SCS index. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the resources for the at least one CSI transmission start at a first time, and sending the grant for the at least one CSI transmission to the UE based on the maximum preparation time includes sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time. In some embodiments of the method and the wireless communication device, the grant is configured to trigger a switch of the UE between operating in a first CSI transmission mode and operating in a second CSI transmission mode.

[0036] These and other aspects of the present disclosure will be more fully understood after studying the following detailed description. After carefully studying the following description of specific example embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Although the features of the present disclosure may be discussed with respect to certain embodiments and drawings below, all embodiments of the present disclosure may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the present disclosure discussed herein. In a similar manner, although the example embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments, it should be understood that these example embodiments may be implemented in a variety of devices, systems, and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system.

[0038] Figure 2 is a conceptual schematic diagram of an example of a radio access network (RAN).

[0039] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of wireless resources in an air interface using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).

[0040] Figure 4 is a conceptual schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which shows a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) communicating via multiple radio frequency (RF) carriers.

[0041] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of carriers and time slots for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which shows that a UE can use different transmission modes in a multi-carrier scenario, and the BS can send a grant to the UE for a specific period of time before a transmission mode switch.

[0042] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing that a BS determines a preparation time by selecting the larger of two preparation times according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0043] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing that a BS determines a preparation time by adding a default value to a preparation time calculation according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0044] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing that a BS determines a preparation time by selecting the minimum subcarrier spacing (SCS) for a preparation time calculation according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0045] Figure 9 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a BS employing a processing system in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0046] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example wireless communication procedure for scheduling a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0047] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication procedure for scheduling a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0048] Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication procedure for scheduling a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0049] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication procedure for scheduling a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0050] Figure 14 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a UE employing a processing system in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0051] Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication procedure for configuring a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. Detailed Description

[0052] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0053] Aspects generally relate to determining a preparation time for at least one transmission on at least one carrier of a multi-carrier communication system. For example, a base station or a user equipment (UE) may estimate or otherwise determine an uplink transmission preparation time required for the UE to perform an uplink transmission to the base station. In certain aspects, the preparation time takes into account or includes a duration required for the UE to switch between different transmission modes involving one or more radio frequency (RF) carriers. The transmission may be a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, a channel state information (CSI) transmission, or some other type of UE transmission. In some embodiments, the base station may determine a timing for sending a grant based on the determined preparation time. For example, the base station may send a grant to the UE at a time prior to a transmission mode switch, where the grant transmission time is based on the determined preparation time.

[0054] In some specific embodiments, the base station may estimate the preparation time for the UE's transmission (e.g., PUSCH transmission or CSI transmission) by selecting the longer of two preparation time estimates. In some embodiments, the base station may estimate a first preparation time for a first RF carrier and a second preparation time for a second RF carrier. The base station may then select the longest preparation time from the first preparation time and the second preparation time.

[0055] In some specific embodiments, the base station may estimate the preparation time for the UE's transmission (e.g., PUSCH transmission or CSI transmission) based on the subcarrier spacing (SCS) index. In some examples, the base station may select the SCS index that results in the longest estimated preparation time from the SCS indices of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. For example, the base station may select the lowest SCS index from a first SCS index of the first RF carrier and a second SCS index of the second RF carrier.

[0056] In some specific embodiments, the base station may estimate the preparation time for the UE's transmission by adding a defined value to the equation used to estimate the preparation time. For example, the base station may determine whether the grant will cause the UE to switch the uplink transmission mode. If so, the base station may use the defined value to estimate the preparation time. On the other hand, if the grant will not cause the UE to switch the uplink transmission mode, the base station may estimate the preparation time without using the defined value (or by setting the defined value to 0 for the preparation time estimate).

[0057] Aspects also relate to configuring the UE to process a received grant within the preparation time. For example, the UE may estimate the minimum preparation time required to receive the grant. This preparation time may include, for example, any one or more of the amount of time the UE spends decoding the grant, the amount of time the UE spends generating the transmission, the amount of time the UE spends switching between transmission modes, or the amount of time the UE will wait in the transmission pipeline for the effective transmission time. After estimating the preparation time, the UE may configure at least one component to ensure that the UE can process the received grant before the transmission time (e.g., time slot) specified by the grant. For example, the UE may adjust the frequency of the clock that controls the rate at which the UE performs the receive operation. As another example, the UE may adjust the memory allocation to enable the UE to process the received information more quickly.

[0058] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, the techniques described can be used to ensure that a base station estimates an uplink transmission preparation time long enough such that the base station can send a grant to a UE sufficiently in advance of a scheduled uplink transmission to enable the UE to prepare for an uplink transmission on one RF carrier or on multiple RF carriers.

[0059] While aspects and embodiments are described herein by way of illustration of some examples, those skilled in the art will appreciate that additional implementations and use cases can appear in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and / or uses can be implemented via integrated chip embodiments and other non-module component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial devices, retail / purchase devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to a use case or application, the innovations described can have a wide variety of applicability. The scope of implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the innovations described. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the aspects and features described may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the sending and receiving of wireless signals necessarily includes many components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The intent is that the innovations described herein can be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc. of different sizes, shapes, and structures.

[0060] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure can be implemented across a wide variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. The following description provides illustrative examples of various aspects of this disclosure, but is not limited thereto.

[0061] Figure 1It is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interaction domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and at least one scheduled entity 106. In the following discussion, the at least one scheduled entity 106 may be referred to as a user equipment (UE) 106. The RAN 104 includes at least one scheduling entity 108. In the following discussion, the at least one scheduling entity 108 may be referred to as a base station (BS) 108. With the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 can be enabled to perform data communication with an external data network 110 (such as, but not limited to, the Internet).

[0062] The RAN 104 can implement any suitable wireless communication technology to provide radio access to the UE 106. As an example, the RAN 104 can operate according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specification, commonly known as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 can operate under a hybrid of the 5G NR standard and the evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standard, commonly known as LTE. 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as the next-generation RAN or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples can be utilized within the scope of this disclosure.

[0063] As shown in the figure, the RAN 104 includes a plurality of base stations 108. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network that is responsible for transmitting or receiving radio from / to the UE in one or more cells. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a base station may be differently referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), access point (AP), Node B (NB), eNode B (eNB), gNode B (gNB), or some other suitable term.

[0064] Also shown is that the radio access network 104 supports wireless communication of multiple mobile devices. A mobile device may be referred to as a user equipment (UE) in the 3GPP standard, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal (AT), mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, terminal, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term. A UE may be a device that provides a user with access to network services.

[0065] In the present disclosure, a "mobile" device does not necessarily need to have the ability to move and can be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile equipment broadly refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include a plurality of hardware structural components having sizes, shapes, and arrangements that assist in communication; such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc., that are electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile equipment, cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptop computers, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of arrays of embedded systems, e.g., corresponding to the "Internet of Things" (IoT). A mobile device may additionally be an automobile or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotic device, a satellite radio, a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-rotor helicopter, a quadcopter helicopter, a remote control device, a consumer and / or wearable device (such as glasses, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker), a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. A mobile device may additionally be a digital home or smart home device, such as a home audio, video, and / or multimedia device, an appliance, a vending machine, smart lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. A mobile device may additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device (e.g., a smart grid) that controls electricity, lighting, water, etc.; industrial automation and enterprise devices; a logistics controller; agricultural equipment; military defense equipment, vehicles, airplanes, ships, and weaponry, etc. Additionally, a mobile device may provide connected medical or telemedicine support, i.e., long-distance healthcare. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth management devices, and their communications may be given preferential treatment or priority access over other types of information, e.g., in terms of priority access for transmitting critical service data and / or related QoS for transmitting critical service data.

[0066] Wireless communication between the RAN 104 and the UE 106 can be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions on the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) can be referred to as downlink (DL) transmissions. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the term downlink can refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission originating from a scheduling entity (described further below; e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this scheme can be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) can be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the term uplink can refer to a point-to-point transmission originating from a scheduled entity (described further below; e.g., UE 106).

[0067] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) allocates resources for communication between some or all of the devices and equipment within its service area or cell. In the present disclosure, as discussed further below, the scheduling entity can be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for the scheduled communication, the UE 106 (which can be a scheduled entity) can utilize the resources allocated by the scheduling entity 108.

[0068] The base station 108 is not the only entity that can serve as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can serve as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs).

[0069] As Figure 1 shown, the scheduling entity 108 can broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. Broadly speaking, the scheduling entity 108 is a node or device in a wireless communication network that is responsible for scheduling traffic, which includes downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to the scheduling entity 108. On the other hand, the scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114, which includes but is not limited to scheduling information (e.g., grants), synchronization or timing information, or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network, such as the scheduling entity 108.

[0070] Additionally, uplink and / or downlink control information and / or traffic information can be temporally divided into frames, sub-frames, time slots, and / or symbols. As used herein, a symbol can refer to a time unit in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform where each sub-carrier carries one resource element (RE). A time slot can carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A sub-frame can refer to a duration of 1 ms. Multiple sub-frames or time slots can be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Of course, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme for organizing the waveform can be utilized, and the various temporal divisions of the waveform can have any suitable duration.

[0071] Generally, base station 108 can include a backhaul interface for communicating with the backhaul portion 120 of the wireless communication system. The backhaul 120 can provide a link between base station 108 and core network 102. Additionally, in some examples, the backhaul network can provide an interconnection between various base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces can be employed, such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, or using any suitable transport network, etc.

[0072] Core network 102 can be a part of wireless communication system 100 and can be independent of the radio access technology used in RAN 104. In some examples, core network 102 can be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, core network 102 can be configured according to 4G evolved packet core (EPC) or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0073] Figure 2 is a conceptual schematic diagram of an example of a radio access network (RAN) 200. In some examples, RAN 200 can be the same as RAN 104 described above and shown in Figure 1 The geographical area covered by RAN 200 can be divided into cellular regions (cells), which can be uniquely identified by user equipment (UE) based on an identifier broadcast from an access point or base station. Figure 2 Macro cells 202, 204, and 206 and small cell 208 are shown, each of which can include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-region of a cell. All sectors within a cell are served by the same base station. The radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identifier belonging to that sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within the cell can be formed by an antenna group, where each antenna is responsible for communicating with UEs in a part of the cell.

[0074] Various base station arrangements can be utilized. For example, in Figure 2In it, two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in cells 202 and 204; and a third base station 214 is shown controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, a base station can have an integrated antenna or can be connected to an antenna or RRH via a feeder cable. In the example shown, cells 202, 204, and 206 can be referred to as macro cells because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with large sizes. In addition, a base station 218 is shown in a small cell 208 (e.g., a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, a home base station, a home node B, a home eNode B, etc.) that can overlap with one or more macro cells. In this example, cell 208 can be referred to as a small cell because base station 218 supports a cell with a relatively small size. The cell size can be adjusted according to system design and component constraints.

[0075] It should be understood that the radio access network 200 can include any number of radio base stations and cells. In addition, relay nodes can be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of a given cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, 218 provide a wireless access point to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 can be the same as the base station / scheduling entity 108 described above and shown in Figure 1 ...

[0076] Within the RAN 200, a cell can include UEs that can communicate with one or more sectors of each cell. In addition, each of base stations 210, 212, 214, and 218 can be configured to provide an access point to the core network (e.g., as shown in Figure 1 ...) for all UEs in the corresponding cell. For example, UEs 222 and 224 can communicate with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 can communicate with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 can communicate with base station 214 via RRH 216; and UE 234 can communicate with base station 218. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 238, 240, and / or 242 can be the same as the UE / scheduled entity 106 described above and shown in Figure 1 ...

[0077] In some examples, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220 (which can be a drone or a quadcopter) can be a mobile network node and can be configured to act as a UE. For example, UAV 220 can operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0078] In another aspect of the RAN 200, sidelink signals can be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from the base station. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) can communicate with each other using peer-to-peer (P2P) or sidelink signals 227 without relaying this communication through a base station (e.g., base station 212). In another example, UE 238 is shown communicating with UEs 240 and 242. Here, UE 238 can act as a scheduling entity or a master sidelink device, and UEs 240 and 242 can act as scheduled entities or non-master (e.g., secondary) sidelink devices. In yet another example, a UE can act as a scheduling entity in a device-to-device (D2D), peer-to-peer (P2P), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network and / or a mesh network. In the mesh network example, UEs 240 and 242 can optionally communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with UE 238 (e.g., acting as a scheduling entity). Thus, in a wireless communication system having scheduled access to time-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, P2P configuration, or mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one or more scheduled entities can communicate using the scheduled resources. In some examples, sidelink signal 227 includes sidelink traffic (e.g., physical sidelink shared channel) and sidelink control (e.g., physical sidelink control channel).

[0079] In the radio access network 200, the ability of a UE to communicate while moving, regardless of its location, is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network are typically set up, maintained, and released under the control of an access and mobility management function (AMF). The AMF ( Figure 2 (not shown in the figure) can include a security context management function (SCMF) that manages the security context of the control plane and user plane functions, and a security anchor function (SEAF) that performs authentication.

[0080] The radio access network 200 can utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to enable mobility and handover (i.e., the connection of the UE is transferred from one radio channel to another radio channel). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, the UE can monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell as well as various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE can maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this period, if the UE moves from one cell to another cell, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell within a given amount of time, the UE can perform a handover or switch from the serving cell to the neighboring (target) cell. For example, the UE 224 (shown as a vehicle, although any suitable form of UE can be used) can move from the geographical area corresponding to its serving cell 202 to the geographical area corresponding to the neighboring cell 206. When the signal strength or quality of the neighboring cell 206 exceeds the signal strength or quality of its serving cell 202 within a given amount of time, the UE 224 can send a report message indicating this condition to its serving base station 210. In response, the UE 224 can receive a handover command, and the UE can undergo a handover to the cell 206.

[0081] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, the UL reference signal from each UE can be used by the network to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, the base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 can broadcast a unified synchronization signal (e.g., a unified primary synchronization signal (PSS), a unified secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a unified physical broadcast channel (PBCH)). The UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 can receive the unified synchronization signal, derive the carrier frequency and slot timing from the synchronization signal, and in response to the derived timing, send an uplink pilot or reference signal. The uplink pilot signal sent by a UE (e.g., UE 224) can be received simultaneously by two or more cells within the radio access network 200 (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216). Each of the cells can measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or a central node within the core network) can determine the serving cell of the UE 224. As the UE 224 moves through the radio access network 200, the network can continue to monitor the uplink pilot signal sent by the UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by the serving cell, the network 200 can switch the UE224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell with or without notifying the UE 224.

[0082] Although the synchronization signals transmitted by base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may be unified, the synchronization signals may not be able to identify a specific cell, but may identify an area of multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or the same timing. The use of areas in 5G networks or other next-generation communication networks enables an uplink-based mobility architecture and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network because the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network can be reduced.

[0083] In various implementations, the air interface in radio access network 200 may utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum, typically achieved by a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulatory agency. Unlicensed spectrum provides shared use of a portion of the spectrum without the need for a government-granted license. Although accessing unlicensed spectrum generally still requires compliance with some technical rules, in general, any operator or device can obtain access. Shared spectrum can be between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, where technical rules or restrictions may be required to access the spectrum, but the spectrum can still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple RATs. For example, the holder of a license for a portion of licensed spectrum may provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share the spectrum with other parties, e.g., to obtain access on terms determined by a suitable assignee.

[0084] The air interface in radio access network 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices. For example, 5G NR provides multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210 by utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP), and provides multiplexing for DL transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224. Additionally, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes, and time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource spreading multiple access (RSMA), or other suitable multiple access schemes may be utilized to provide. Further, time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes may be utilized to provide multiplexing of DL transmissions from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224.

[0085] The air interface in the radio access network 200 may also utilize one or more duplexing algorithms. Duplexing refers to a point-to-point communication link where two endpoints can communicate with each other in two directions. Full duplex means that the two endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half duplex means that only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint at a time. In a wireless link, a full duplex channel typically relies on physical isolation of the transmitter and receiver and suitable interference cancellation techniques. For wireless links that utilize frequency division duplexing (FDD) or time division duplexing (TDD), full duplex emulation is often implemented. In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at different carrier frequencies. In TDD, time division multiplexing is used to separate transmissions in different directions on a given channel from each other. That is, at certain times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in one direction, while at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in the other direction, where the direction can change very rapidly, such as several times per time slot.

[0086] Aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to OFDM waveforms. Figure 3 An example of an OFDM waveform is schematically shown. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described hereinafter. That is, although some examples of the present disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles can also be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms.

[0087] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of wireless resources in an air interface that utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). In Figure 3 an expanded view of an example DL subframe (SF) 302A is shown, showing the OFDM resource grid. However, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, depending on any number of factors, the PHY transmission structure for any particular application can be different from the examples described herein. Here, time is in the horizontal direction in units of OFDM symbols; frequency is in the vertical direction in units of subcarriers.

[0088] The resource grid 304 can be used to schematically represent the time-frequency resources of a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple antenna ports available, the corresponding multiple resource grids 304 can be used for communication. The resource grid 304 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 306. An RE (which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete part of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation used in a particular implementation, each RE can represent one or more information bits. In some examples, an RE block can be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB), or more simply, a resource block (RB) 308, which contains any suitable number of contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, one RB can include 12 subcarriers, and this number is independent of the parameter set used. In some examples, depending on the parameter set, an RB can include any suitable number of contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain. In the present disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB 308) fully corresponds to a single direction of communication (transmission or reception for a given device).

[0089] Scheduling of a UE (e.g., a scheduled entity) for downlink or uplink transmission typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 306 within one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs), where each BWP includes two or more adjacent or contiguous RBs. Thus, a UE typically utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 304. In some examples, an RB can be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE, the higher the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, and the higher the data rate of the UE.

[0090] In this illustration, RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 302A, with some subcarriers shown above and below RB 308. In a given implementation, subframe 302A can have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. Additionally, in this illustration, RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of subframe 302A, although this is merely a possible example.

[0091] Each 1-ms subframe 302A can be composed of one or more adjacent time slots. In Figure 3In the example shown, as an illustrative example, a subframe 302B includes four time slots 310. In some examples, a time slot can be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols having a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a time slot can include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Additional examples can include mini time slots having a shorter duration (e.g., one or two OFDM symbols). In some cases, these mini time slots can be transmitted by occupying resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs.

[0092] An expanded view of one of the time slots 310 shows a time slot 310 including a control region 312 and a data region 314. Generally, the control region 312 can carry a control channel (e.g., PDCCH), and the data region 314 can carry a data channel (e.g., PDSCH or PUSCH). Of course, a time slot can contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 3 The simple structure shown is merely exemplary in nature, and different time slot structures can be used and can include one or more of each of the (multiple) control regions and the (multiple) data regions.

[0093] Although not shown in Figure 3 Various resource elements (REs) 306 within the resource block (RB) 308 can be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 306 within the RB 308 can also carry pilots or reference signals, including but not limited to demodulation reference signals (DMRS) or sounding reference signals (SRS). These pilots or reference signals can be provided for a receiving device to perform channel estimation of the corresponding channel, which can enable coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels within the RB 308.

[0094] In a DL transmission, a transmitting device (e.g., a scheduling entity) can allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., within the control region 312) to carry DL control information to one or more scheduled entities, including one or more DL control channels (such as PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH), and / or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc. The transmitting device can also allocate one or more REs 306 to carry other DL signals, such as DMRS, phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), and secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

[0095] The synchronization signals PSS and SSS, and in some examples, PBCH and PBCH DMRS can be transmitted in a synchronization signal block (SSB), where the SSB includes 3 consecutive OFDM symbols numbered in ascending order from 0 to 3 via a time index. In the frequency domain, the SSB can span more than 240 adjacent subcarriers, where the subcarriers are numbered in ascending order from 0 to 239 via a frequency index. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to this particular SSB configuration. Other non-limiting examples can utilize greater than or less than two synchronization signals within the scope of the present disclosure, can include one or more supplementary channels in addition to PBCH, can omit PBCH and / or can use a different number of symbols and / or non-consecutive symbols for the SSB.

[0096] PCFICH provides information to assist the receiving device in receiving and decoding the PDCCH. The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including but not limited to power control commands, scheduling information, grants, and / or assignments of REs for DL and UL transmissions. The PHICH carries HARQ feedback transmissions, such as acknowledgments (ACK) or negative acknowledgments (NACK). HARQ is a technique well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, where the integrity of a packet transmission can be checked at the receiving side to ensure accuracy, for example, using any suitable integrity check mechanism (such as a checksum or cyclic redundancy check (CRC)). If the integrity of the transmission is confirmed, an ACK can be sent, while if the integrity of the transmission is not confirmed, a NACK can be sent. In response to a NACK, the transmitting device can send a HARQ retransmission, which can implement chase combining, incremental redundancy, etc.

[0097] In UL transmissions, the transmitting device (e.g., the scheduled entity) can utilize one or more REs 306 to carry UL control information to the scheduling entity, including one or more UL control channels, such as the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). The UL control information can include various packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. For example, the UL control information can include DMRS or SRS. In some examples, the control information can include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request for the scheduling entity to schedule an uplink transmission. Here, in response to an SR sent on the control channel, the scheduling entity can send downlink control information that can schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. The UL control information can also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF), or any other applicable UL control information.

[0098] In addition to control information, one or more resource elements (REs) 306 may be allocated for user data or traffic data (e.g., within data region 314). Such traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as, for DL transmission, on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); or for UL transmission, on the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In some examples, one or more REs 306 within data region 314 may be configured to carry a system information block (SIB) (e.g., SIB1), which may carry system information that permits access to a given cell.

[0099] The physical channels described above are generally multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for processing at the media access control (MAC) layer. A transport channel carries information blocks referred to as transport blocks (TBs). Based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of resource blocks (RBs) in a given transmission, the transport block size (TBS) may be a controlled parameter, and the TBS may correspond to the number of bits of information.

[0100] The channels or carriers referred to above Figures 1 - 3 are not necessarily all of the channels or carriers that may be used between a scheduling entity and a scheduled entity, and one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels, may be used in addition to those shown.

[0101] The 5G-NR network may also support carrier aggregation (CA) of component carriers transmitted from different cells and / or different transmit and receive points (TRPs) in a multi-cell transmission environment. Different TRPs may be associated with a single serving cell or multiple serving cells. In some aspects, the term component carrier may refer to a carrier frequency (or frequency band) for intra-cell communication.

[0102] Figure 4 is a conceptual diagram of a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which shows a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) communicating via multiple carriers. Specifically, Figure 4 an example of a multi-cell transmission environment 400 is shown that includes a primary serving cell (PCell) 402 and one or more secondary serving cells (SCells) 406a, 406b, 406c, and 406d. The PCell 402 may be referred to as an anchor cell that provides a radio resource control (RRC) connection to the UE. In some examples, the PCell and the SCell may be co-located (e.g., different TRPs at the same location).

[0103] When configuring carrier aggregation, one or more of the SCell 406a - 406d can be activated or added to the PCell 402 to form a serving cell that serves the user equipment (UE) 410. Each serving cell corresponds to a component carrier (CC). The CC of the PCell 402 can be referred to as the primary CC, while the CCs of the SCell 406a - 406d can be referred to as secondary CCs. The Pcell402 and one or more SCell 406 can be served by the respective base stations 404 and 408a - 408c or a scheduling entity similar to Figure 1 and Figure 2 any one shown in. In Figure 4 the example shown, SCell 406a - 406c are each served by the respective base stations 408a - 408c. SCell 406d is collocated with the PCell 402. For example, the base station 404 can include multiple TRPs, each supporting a different carrier. The coverage of the Pcell 402 and SCell 406d can be different because component carriers in different frequency bands can experience different path losses.

[0104] In some examples, the PCell 402 can add or remove one or more of the SCell 406a - 406d to improve the reliability of the connection to the UE 410 and / or increase the data rate. The PCell 402 can change when switching to another PCell.

[0105] In some examples, the PCell 402 can utilize a first radio access technology (RAT) such as LTE, while one or more of the SCell 406 can utilize a second RAT, such as 5G - NR. In this example, the multi - cell transmission environment can be referred to as a multi - RAT dual - connection (MR - DC) environment. An example of MR - DC is the evolved universal terrestrial radio access network - new radio dual - connection (EN - DC) mode, which enables the UE to be simultaneously connected to an LTE base station and an NR base station to receive data packets from and send data packets to both the LTE base station and the NR base station.

[0106] In some examples, the PCell 402 can be a low - frequency band cell, while the SCell 406 can be a high - frequency band cell. The low - frequency band (LB) cell uses a CC in a frequency band lower than that of the high - frequency band cell. For example, the high - frequency band cell can use a millimeter - wave (mmW) CC, and the low - frequency band cell can use a CC in a band lower than mmW (e.g., sub - 6 GHz band). Generally, a cell using a mmW CC can provide a larger bandwidth than a cell using a low - frequency band CC. Additionally, when using a frequency carrier higher than 6 GHz (e.g., mmW), in some examples, beamforming can be used for transmitting and receiving signals.

[0107] Aspects of the present disclosure relate in some aspects to determining a preparation time for at least one transmission on at least one RF carrier. A BS may schedule a UE to transmit on different RF carriers during different time slots. In some cases, such scheduling may cause the UE to switch from a first transmission mode to a second transmission mode, or vice versa.

[0108] For example, in a first transmission mode, the UE may be configured to transmit on a first RF carrier using a first transmission chain and not configured to transmit on a second RF carrier, while in a second transmission mode, the UE may be configured to transmit on a first RF carrier using a first transmission chain and configured to transmit on a second RF carrier using a second transmission chain. As another example, in a first transmission mode, the UE may be configured to transmit on a first RF carrier using a first transmission chain and not configured to transmit on a second RF carrier, while in a second transmission mode, the UE may be configured to transmit on a second RF carrier using a first transmission chain and not configured to transmit on a first RF carrier. Other examples are possible.

[0109] As a specific example, a network operator may aggregate band n78 (3.5 GHz) and n1 (2.1 GHz). To enable UL MIMO for a UE with two transmit (Tx) chains in band n78, a UL 1Tx to 2Tx switching feature may be used (e.g., switching from a transmission using one transmit (Tx) chain to a transmission using two Tx chains, or vice versa).

[0110] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of carriers and time slots for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which shows that a UE may use different transmission modes in a multi-carrier scenario, and the BS may send a grant to the UE during a specific period before a transmission mode switch. Figure 5 shows an example of two options 502 for such a switch.

[0111] The first option (Option 1) has two cases. In the first case (Case 1), the UE transmits on Carrier 1 (e.g., CC1) using one Tx chain and does not transmit on Carrier 2 (e.g., CC2). In the second case (Case 2) of Option 1, the UE transmits on Carrier 2 (e.g., CC2) using one Tx chain or two Tx chains and does not transmit on Carrier 1 (e.g., CC1).

[0112] The second option (Option 2) also has two cases. In the first case (Case 1), the UE transmits on Carrier 1 (e.g., CC1) using the first Tx chain and transmits on Carrier 2 (e.g., CC2) using the second Tx chain. In the second case (Case 2) of Option 1, the UE transmits on Carrier 2 (e.g., CC2) using both Tx chains and does not transmit on Carrier 1 (e.g., CC1).

[0113] Figure 5 Example 504 showing two carriers on which the BS and UE can use Option 1 or Option 2 is also presented. In this example, the first carrier (Carrier 1) is an FDD carrier configured for uplink transmission. The second carrier (Carrier 2) is a TDD carrier in this example. In some examples, one carrier can be an NR carrier and the other can be an LTE carrier. In some examples, one carrier can use the sub-6 GHz band and the other can use the millimeter wave (mmW) band. In some examples, one carrier can use Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and the other can use Frequency Range 2 (FR2). In some examples, one carrier can be an NR carrier and the other can be an LTE carrier. In other examples, the first and second carriers can take other forms.

[0114] As indicated by the respective lengths of the time slots of Carrier 1 and Carrier 2, communication on these carriers can use different SCSs. As a non-limiting example, 15 kHz SCS can be used on Carrier 1 and 30 kHz SCS can be used on Carrier 2. Other SCSs can be used in other examples.

[0115] In Figure 5 the example, the BS schedules the UE to transmit on time slots 0, 1, 2, and 3 of Carrier 1. Additionally, the BS schedules the UE to transmit on time slots 4, 8, and 9 of Carrier 2.

[0116] At time slot 2 of Carrier 1 (time slot 4 of Carrier 2), the UE switches to Case 1 of Option 2. Additionally, at time slot 4 of Carrier 1 (time slot 8 of Carrier 2), the UE switches to Case 2 of Option 2.

[0117] For UE handovers for two uplink carriers (e.g., for inter-band UL CA, for supplementary UL (SUL) without EN-DC, and for inter-band EN-DC without SUL) (e.g., between Case 1 and Case 2, as Figure 5As shown, various requirements can be specified. For example, to accommodate such a handover, the BS should send an indication (e.g., schedule) of the permission for the handover a sufficient amount of time before the handover to allow the UE to process the permission and prepare for the handover. For example, the UE may require a sufficient preparation time for DL schedule decoding (e.g., decoding the permission from the BS), UL signal generation (e.g., retrieving information from memory and encoding the information), and waiting for the effective Tx time in the UL Tx pipeline (e.g., waiting for the effective start of Tx; which may correspond to the completion of the last UL Tx).

[0118] As an example, the BS may need to send a permission for slot 2 of carrier 1 (slot 4 of carrier 2) at or before the time indicated by the first dashed line 506. As indicated by the first arrow 508, this time should be a certain amount of time before the scheduled slot, and this amount of time is greater than the processing time required for the UE to decode the permission, etc., for transmission during the slot.

[0119] As another example, the BS may need to send a permission for slot 4 of carrier 1 (slot 8 of carrier 2) at or before the time indicated by the second dashed line 510. As indicated by the second arrow 512, this time should also be a certain amount of time before the scheduled slot, and this amount of time is greater than the processing time required for the UE to decode the permission, etc., for transmission during the slot.

[0120] The preparation time for the UE to transmit on the first RF carrier may be different from the preparation time for the UE to transmit on the second RF carrier. For example, the transmission on the first RF carrier may use a first sub-RF carrier spacing (SCS), while the transmission on the second RF carrier may use a second SCS different from the first SCS. This difference in SCS may affect the amount of time (e.g., uplink preparation time) it takes for the UE to prepare for transmission.

[0121] Different SCSs may be associated with different SCS indices. For example, an SCS of 15 kHz may be associated with an SCS index of 0, an SCS of 30 kHz may be associated with an SCS index of 1, an SCS of 60 kHz may be associated with an SCS index of 2, and so on.

[0122] The BS can determine (e.g., estimate) the preparation time for at least one transmission of the UE so that the BS will send a permission for the at least one transmission to the UE a sufficient amount of time before the at least one transmission is scheduled to occur. For example, the base station can execute a preparation time formula to calculate the preparation time for at least one transmission of the UE. This preparation formula can partially include an SCS index parameter.

[0123] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to determining a preparation time for at least one PUSCH transmission. The 3GPP Release 15 equations define the PUSCH preparation time (e.g., calculation time) as described in Equation 1:

[0124] T proc,2 = max((N2 + d 2,1 )(2048 + 144)·κ2 -μ ·T c , d 2,2 ) Equation 1

[0125] N2 is based on the SCS index (μ) in Tables 6.4-1 and 6.4-2 of TS 38.211 for UE processing capabilities 1 and 2, respectively, where μ corresponds to the one in (μ proc,2 , μ DL , μ UL ) that results in the maximum T DL , where μ UL corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the downlink of the PDCCH that carries the DCI scheduling the PUSCH, and μ

[0126] proc,2

[0127] T proc,2 = max((N2 + switch_time + d 2,1 )(2048 + 144)·κ2 -μ ·T C , d 2,2 )

[0128] Equation 2

[0129] T proc,2 = max((N2 + d 2,1 )(2048 + 144)·κ2 -μ ·T C + switch_time, d 2,2 )

[0130] Equation 3

[0131] In Equations 2 and 3, the parameter switch_time is a defined value (e.g., a constant) for accommodating the handover time. In some examples, μ is (μ DL , μ UL), where μ DL is the lowest SCS in the BWP of the RF carrier, and μ UL is the lowest SCS in the BWP of the RF carrier.

[0132] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the BS can estimate the preparation time for at least one uplink transmission of the UE by selecting the minimum subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of different RF carriers and using the selected SCS index in the preparation time calculation. In some embodiments, the BS can determine the SCS index that causes the BS to calculate a longer preparation time from the SCS indexes of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. For example, the BS can select the lowest SCS index from the first SCS index of the first RF carrier and the second SCS index of the second RF carrier. The BS then calculates the preparation time based on the selected SCS index. In this way, the preparation time determined (estimated) by the BS will be long enough to enable the UE to prepare for transmission on either RF carrier or on both RF carriers.

[0133] As a specific example, CC1 and CC2 may have different SCSs. For example, CC1 may have an SCS of 15 kHz, while CC2 may have an SCS of 30 kHz. In some embodiments, Equation 2 or Equation 3 (including constants to accommodate switching time) may be used to calculate the uplink preparation time (e.g., uplink processing time) T proc,2 .

[0134] In order to obtain a sufficiently long preparation time to enable the UE to prepare for transmission, the selection of μ takes into account both carriers. This is to ensure that the selected value will provide sufficient time for the UE on each carrier. For example, the selection of μ can be based on the lower SCS of CC1 UL and CC2 UL. In some examples, μ corresponds to (μ DL , μ UL ) to obtain the maximum T proc,2 One of them, μ DL corresponds to the downlink subcarrier spacing with which the PDCCH carrying the DCI scheduling the PUSCH is transmitted, and μ UL The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the lower value between the lowest value among all UL BWPs of carrier 1 and the lowest value among all UL BWPs of carrier 2.

[0135] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the BS may determine a preparation time for at least one uplink transmission on multiple RF carriers by considering two RF carriers. For example, in order to obtain a preparation time long enough to enable the UE to prepare for the UE's uplink transmission, the determination of the preparation time may be based on the preparation time of each RF carrier. This is to ensure that the determined preparation time will provide enough time for the UE on any carrier.

[0136] In some examples, the BS may determine a first preparation time for a first RF carrier and a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, and then select the longest preparation time to control when to send a grant. In this way, the preparation time determined (estimated) by the BS will be long enough for the UE to prepare for transmission on either RF carrier or on both RF carriers.

[0137] As a specific example, CC1 and CC2 may have different processing times (e.g., CC1 and CC2 have different SCSs). For example, CC1 may have an SCS of 15 kHz, while CC2 may have an SCS of 30 kHz. Equation 2 or Equation 3 (each including constants to accommodate the handover time) may be used to calculate the uplink preparation time for each CC (e.g., the uplink processing time T proc,2 ). That is, the uplink preparation time T proc,2,CC1 is calculated for CC1, and the uplink preparation time T proc,2,CC2 is calculated for CC2. Then Equation 4 can be used to select the longer of T proc,2,CC2 and T proc,2,CC2 .

[0138] T proc,CSI = max(T proc,CSI,CC , T proc,CSI,CC2 ) Equation 4

[0139] In some aspects, the BS (e.g., gNB) may ensure that there is enough time for handover. For example, T proc,2 for PUSCH and T proc,2 for handover may be different. In this case, if the transmission of a PUSCH grant will meet the preparation time requirement for T proc,2 for PUSCH rather than T proc,2 for handover, the BS may ensure that a handover is not triggered. For example, once it is determined that if a grant that causes a transmission mode switch at the UE is sent, the two preparation time requirements will not be met, the base station may choose to send instead a different grant that does not cause a transmission mode switch at the UE.

[0140] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the BS may determine the preparation time for at least one CSI transmission. The 3GPP Release 15 equations define the CSI preparation time (e.g., the calculation time), as described in Equation 5:

[0141] T proc,CSI = (Z)(2048 + 144) x k2 -μ · T c Equation 5

[0142] Examples of the parameter μ of Equation 5 are listed in Tables 5.4-1 and 5.4-2 of TS 38.211 and reproduced in Tables 1 and 2 below. In some aspects, μ corresponds to min(μ PDCCH , μ CSI-RS , μ UL ), where μ PDCCH corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the PDCCH on which the DCI is transmitted, and μ UL corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the PUSCH on which the CSI report is to be transmitted, and μ CSI-RS corresponds to the minimum subcarrier spacing of the aperiodic CSI-RS triggered by the DCI.

[0143]

[0144] Table 1

[0145]

[0146] Table 2

[0147] For UL Tx switching, the conventional CSI preparation time may not be sufficient.

[0148] According to additional aspects of the present disclosure, the BS may determine the preparation time for at least one CSI transmission by modifying the preparation time calculation to accommodate the transmission mode switch. For example, a defined value (e.g., a constant) may be added to Equation 5 to accommodate the switching time. Two modification examples of Equation 5 are shown in Equation 6 and alternatively in Equation 7:

[0149] T proc,CSI,CC1 = (Z + switch_time)(2048 + 144)·κ2 -μ ·T C Equation 6

[0150] T proc,CSI,CC = (Z)(2048 + 144)·κ2 -μ ·T C + switch_time Equation 7

[0151] In Equation 6 and Equation 7, the parameter switch_time is a defined value (e.g., a constant) used to accommodate the switching time. In some examples, μ is min(μ PDCCH , μ CSI-RS , μ UL ), where μ UL is the lowest SCS in the BWP of the carrier. In some aspects, the parameter Z may be defined as in Tables 1 and 2 above. In some examples, the parameter Z may represent T proc,CSI .

[0152] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the BS may determine the preparation time for at least one CSI transmission on multiple RF carriers by considering two RF carriers. For example, in order to obtain a sufficiently long preparation time to enable the UE to prepare for the UE's CSI transmission, the determination of the preparation time may be based on the preparation time of each RF carrier. This is to ensure that the determined preparation time will provide sufficient time for the UE on either carrier.

[0153] In some examples, the BS may determine a first preparation time for a first RF carrier and a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, and then select the longest preparation time to control when to send a grant. In this way, the preparation time determined (estimated) by the BS will be long enough to enable the UE to prepare for transmission on either RF carrier or on both RF carriers.

[0154] As a specific example, CC1 and CC2 may have different CSI-related processing times. Equation 6 or Equation 7 (each including a constant to accommodate the handover time) may be used to calculate the uplink preparation time for each CC (e.g., the uplink processing time T proc,CSI ). That is, using Equation 6 or Equation 7, the preparation time T proc,CSl,CC1 is calculated for CC1, and the preparation time T proc,CSI,CC2 is calculated for CC2. Then Equation 8 can be used to select the longer of T proc,CSI,CC2 and T proc,CSI,CC2 :

[0155] T proc,CSI = max(T proc,CSI,CC1 , T proc,CSI,CC2 ) Equation 8

[0156] In some aspects, the BS (e.g., gNB) may ensure that there is sufficient time for handover. For example, T proc,CSI used for CSI calculation and T proc,CSI used for Tx handover may be different. In this case, if the transmission of the PUSCH grant for the SCI will meet the preparation time requirement for T proc,CsI used for CSI calculation rather than T proc,CSl used for Tx handover, the BS may ensure that no handover is triggered. For example, once it is determined that if a grant that causes a transmission mode switch at the UE is sent, the two preparation time requirements will not be met, the base station may choose to send instead a different grant that will not cause a transmission mode switch at the UE.

[0157] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the BS can estimate the preparation time for at least one CSI transmission of the UE by selecting the minimum subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of different RF carriers and using the selected SCS index in the preparation time calculation. In some embodiments, the BS selects the SCS index from the SCS indices of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier that results in a longer preparation time for the BS to generate at least one CSI transmission. For example, the BS can select the lowest SCS index from the first SCS index of the first RF carrier and the second SCS index of the second RF carrier. Then, the BS calculates the preparation time based on the selected SCS index. In this way, the preparation time determined (estimated) by the BS will be long enough for the UE to prepare for CSI transmission on either RF carrier or on both RF carriers.

[0158] As a specific example, CC1 and CC2 can have different SCSs. For example, CC1 may have an SCS of 15 kHz, while CC2 may have an SCS of 30 kHz. Equation 6 or Equation 7 (including the constant for adapting the switching time) can be used to calculate the CSI preparation time (e.g., CSI processing time) T proc,CSI .

[0159] To obtain a long enough preparation time for the UE to prepare for CSI transmission, the selection of μ takes into account both carriers. This is to ensure that the selected value will provide sufficient time for the UE on each carrier. For example, the selection of μ can be based on the lower SCS among the SCSs of CC1 UL and CC2 UL. In some examples, μ corresponds to min(μ PDCCH , μ CSI-RS , μ UL ), where μ PDCCH corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the PDCCH that transmits DCI, and μ UL corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the lower value between the lowest value among all UL BWPs of carrier 1 and the lowest value among all UL BWPs of carrier 2, and μ CSI-RS corresponds to the minimum subcarrier spacing of the aperiodic CSI-RS triggered by DCI.

[0160] The techniques described herein can be implemented in various wireless communication architectures and configurations. For example, in some embodiments, the BS and the UE may adopt a CA scheme, in which the BS and the UE communicate via several CCs. In this case, if the BS sends a grant to the UE that causes the UE to switch from one transmission mode to another (i.e., from transmitting on one CC to transmitting on another CC), the BS can use the techniques described herein to estimate the preparation time of the UE transmission on at least one CC. In some examples, such a CA scheme can be implemented using one of two options. The first option (CA option 1) does not allow simultaneous transmission on CC1 and CC2. For example, in CA option 1, Figure 5 Case 1 of Option 2 is not allowed. The second option (CA option 2) allows simultaneous transmission on CC1 and CC2. For example, in CA option 2, Figure 5 Case 1 of Option 2 is allowed.

[0161] In some embodiments, the BS and the UE may adopt an SUL scheme, in which the BS and the UE communicate via several (e.g., two) uplink carriers. In this case, if the BS sends a grant to the UE that causes the UE to switch from one transmission mode to another (i.e., from transmitting on one uplink carrier to transmitting on another uplink carrier), the BS can use the techniques described herein to estimate the preparation time of the UE transmission on at least one uplink carrier. In some examples, such an SUL scheme does not allow simultaneous transmission on multiple uplink carriers. For example, Figure 5 Case 1 of Option 2 is not allowed.

[0162] The RF carriers (e.g., CCs) described herein may take different forms in different examples. In some examples, all RF carriers may be sub-6-GHz carriers. In some examples, the RF carriers may be sub-6-GHz carriers and / or millimeter wave (mmW) carriers. For example, the first RF carrier may be a sub-6-GHz carrier and the second RF carrier may be a mmW carrier. As another example, all RF carriers may be mmW carriers.

[0163] The above techniques are not limited to dual-carrier systems. Instead, the techniques described herein can be applied to general multi-carrier systems (e.g., more than 2 CCs). For example, in some embodiments, the BS and the UE can adopt a CA scheme, where the BS and the UE communicate via three or more CCs. In this case, if the BS sends a grant to the UE that causes the UE to switch from one transmission mode to another (i.e., from transmitting on a first CC to transmitting on a second CC), the BS can use the techniques described herein to estimate the preparation time of the UE transmission on at least one of the two CCs.

[0164] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing that the BS determines the preparation time by selecting the larger of two preparation times according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for all embodiments. In some examples, process 600 may be performed by Figure 9 the BS 900 shown. In some examples, process 600 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0165] At block 602, the BS may use a first equation to determine a first preparation time for a first RF carrier. For example, the BS may use Equation 2 or Equation 3 to calculate the preparation time for PUSCH transmission on a first component carrier. As another example, the BS may use Equation 6 or Equation 7 to calculate the preparation time for CSI transmission on a first component carrier.

[0166] At block 604, the BS may use a first equation to determine a second preparation time for a second RF carrier. For example, the BS may use Equation 2 or Equation 3 to calculate the preparation time for PUSCH transmission on a second component carrier. As another example, the BS may use Equation 6 or Equation 7 to calculate the preparation time for CSI transmission on a second component carrier.

[0167] At block 606, the BS may use a second equation to select the longest preparation time from the first preparation time and the second preparation time. For example, the BS may use Equation 4 to determine the preparation time for sending a grant for PUSCH transmission. As another example, the BS may use Equation 8 to determine the preparation time for sending a grant for CSI transmission.

[0168] Figure 7is a flowchart showing a BS determining a preparation time by adding a default value to a preparation time calculation according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for all embodiments. In some examples, process 700 may be performed by Figure 14 the UE 1400 shown. In some examples, process 700 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0169] At block 702, the BS may determine whether the grant will cause the UE to switch transmission modes. For example, the BS may determine whether the grant will cause the UE to switch from Figure 5 case 1 of option 1 to case 2, or vice versa.

[0170] At block 704, the BS may select an equation for estimating the preparation time based on whether the grant will cause the UE to switch transmission modes. For example, if the grant will cause the UE to switch transmission modes, the BS may select equation 8 or equation 9, or take other actions to increase the preparation time to accommodate the transmission mode switch. On the other hand, if the grant will not cause the UE to switch transmission modes, the BS may select another equation (e.g., an equation without a switch_time parameter), or set the value of the switch_time parameter to 0 for equation 8 or equation 9, or take other actions to determine a preparation time that does not accommodate the transmission mode switch.

[0171] At block 706, the BS may use the equation to estimate the preparation time for transmission on the RF carrier. For example, if the grant will cause the UE to switch transmission modes, the BS may use equation 8 or equation 9 to estimate the preparation time.

[0172] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing a BS determining a preparation time by selecting a minimum subcarrier spacing (SCS) for preparation time calculation according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for all embodiments. In some examples, process 800 may be performed by Figure 9 the BS 900 shown. In some examples, process 800 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0173] At block 802, the BS may determine the first SCS index of the first RF carrier. For example, as described above, the BS may identify the lowest SCS index used in all BWPs of the first carrier.

[0174] At block 804, the BS may determine a second SCS index for a second RF carrier. For example, as described above, the BS may identify the lowest SCS index used in all BWPs of the second carrier.

[0175] At block 806, the BS may select the shortest SCS index from the first SCS index and the second SCS index. For example, if the first SCS index is 0 and the second SCS index is 1, the BS selects the first SCS index.

[0176] At block 808, the BS may estimate the preparation time for transmissions on the RF carrier based on the selected SCS index. In some embodiments, the BS may incorporate the selected SCS index (μ parameter) into Equation 2 or Equation 3 and execute the equation to calculate T proc,CSI (the preparation time for sending a grant for PUSCH transmission). In some embodiments, the BS may incorporate the selected SCS index (μ parameter) into Equation 6 or Equation 7 and execute the equation to calculate T proc,CSI (the preparation time for sending a grant for CSI transmission).

[0177] Figure 9 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a BS 900 employing a processing system 914 in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. In accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, an element or any portion of an element or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system 914 including one or more processors 904. In some embodiments, the BS 900 may correspond to Figure 1 a scheduling entity 108 (e.g., gNB, transmission reception point, UE, etc.), Figure 2 a base station 210, 212, 214, or 218 of Figure 4 or one or more of the base stations 404 or 408 of

[0178] The BS 900 may be implemented with a processing system 914 including one or more processors 904. Examples of processors 904 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout the present disclosure. In various examples, the BS 900 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 904 as used in the BS 900 may be used to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described below.

[0179] In this example, the processing system 914 can be implemented with a bus architecture, generally represented by bus 902. Bus 902 can include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of the processing system 914 and overall design constraints. Bus 902 communicatively couples together various circuits of one or more processors (generally represented by processor 904), memory 905, and a computer-readable medium (generally represented by computer-readable medium 906). Bus 902 can also link various other circuits, such as a timing source, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and will not be described further. Bus interface 908 provides an interface between bus 902 and transceiver 910, and between bus 902 and interface 930. Transceiver 910 provides a communication interface or component for communicating with various other devices via a wireless transmission medium. In some examples, the wireless communication device can include two or more transceivers 910, each transceiver being configured to communicate with a corresponding network type (e.g., terrestrial or non-terrestrial). At least one external interface 912 (e.g., a network interface and / or a user interface) provides a communication interface or component for communicating with various other devices and equipment (e.g., other devices located within the same device as BS 900 or an external device) via an internal bus or an external transmission medium, such as an Ethernet cable).

[0180] Processor 904 is responsible for managing bus 902 and general processing, including executing software stored on computer-readable medium 906. The software, when executed by processor 904, causes the processing system 914 to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. Computer-readable medium 906 and memory 905 can also be used to store data manipulated by processor 904 when executing the software.

[0181] One or more processors 904 in the processing system can execute the software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise, the software should be broadly construed to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable programs, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc. The software can reside on computer-readable medium 906.

[0182] The computer-readable medium 906 can be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Non-transitory computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, or key drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing instructions and / or software that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium 906 can reside within the processing system 914, outside the processing system 914, or be distributed across multiple entities including the processing system 914. The computer-readable medium 906 can be embodied in a computer program product. For example, the computer program product can include the computer-readable medium in a packaging material. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure based on the particular application and overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0183] BS 900 can be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., as described above in connection with Figures 1 - 8 and as described below in connection with Figure 10 and Figure 11 ). In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 900 (as used in BS 900) can include circuitry configured for various functions.

[0184] The processor 904 can include communication and processing circuitry 941. The communication and processing circuitry 941 can include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing various processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. The communication and processing circuitry 941 can also include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing various processing related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can include two or more transmit / receive chains. The communication and processing circuitry 941 can also be configured to execute communication and processing software 951 included on the computer-readable medium 906 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0185] In some embodiments where communication involves receiving information, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can obtain information from components of the BS 900 (e.g., from the transceiver 910 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can output the information to another component of the processor 904, the memory 905, or the bus interface 908. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can receive one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can include the functionality of components for receiving.

[0186] In some embodiments where communication involves transmitting (e.g., sending) information, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can obtain information (e.g., from another component of the processor 904, the memory 905, or the bus interface 908), process (e.g., encode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can output the information to the transceiver 910 (e.g., which transmits information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can transmit one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can transmit information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 941 can include the functionality of components for transmitting (e.g., components for sending).

[0187] The processor 904 can include a preparation time determination circuit 942 that is configured to perform operations related to preparation time determination as described herein. The preparation time determination circuit 942 can include the functionality of components for determining the preparation time. The preparation time determination circuit 942 can also be configured to execute preparation time determination software 952 included on the computer-readable medium 906 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0188] The processor 904 can include a scheduling circuit 943 that is configured to perform scheduling-related operations as discussed herein. The scheduling circuit 943 can include the functionality of components for sending permissions. The scheduling circuit 943 can also be configured to execute scheduling software 953 included on the computer-readable medium 906 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0189] Figure 10is a flowchart illustrating an example wireless communication procedure for scheduling a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for the implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, procedure 1000 may be performed by Figure 9 the BS 900 shown. In some examples, procedure 1000 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0190] At block 1002, the BS may determine a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described above in connection with Figure 9 may determine the T proc,2 parameter of the first component carrier. In some examples, determining the first preparation time may include estimating any of the following: a first duration for the UE to decode a grant, a second duration for the UE to generate at least one uplink transmission, a third duration associated with switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode, a fourth duration for the UE to wait for an effective transmission time in the uplink transmission pipeline, or a combination of these durations. In some examples, determining the first preparation time may include determining a subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of the first RF carrier. In some examples, determining the SCS index of the first RF carrier may include determining the lowest SCS in all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the first RF carrier.

[0191] At block 1004, the BS may determine a second preparation time for a second RF carrier. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described above in connection with Figure 8 may determine the T proc,2 parameter of the first component carrier. In some examples, determining the second preparation time may include estimating any of the following: a first duration for the UE to decode a grant, a second duration for the UE to generate at least one uplink transmission, a third duration associated with switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode, a fourth duration for the UE to wait for an effective transmission time in the uplink transmission pipeline, or a combination of these durations. In some examples, determining the second preparation time may include determining a subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of the second RF carrier. In this case, determining the SCS index of the second RF carrier may include determining the lowest SCS in all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the second RF carrier.

[0192] The RF carriers can be configured in different ways in different embodiments. The first RF carrier can be configured for time division duplex (TDD) multiplexing, and the second RF carrier can be configured for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiplexing. In some examples, the first RF carrier has a configured downlink, and the second RF carrier does not have a configured downlink. In some examples, the first RF carrier can be a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) carrier, and the second RF carrier can be a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) carrier.

[0193] At block 1006, the BS can determine a maximum preparation time for at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 described above in connection with Figure 9 shown and described can identify the shortest T proc,2 parameter from the first T proc,2 parameter of the first component carrier and the second T proc,2 parameter of the second component carrier (e.g., T proc,2 = max(T proc,2,CC1 , T proc,2,CC2 ). In some examples, determining a maximum preparation time for at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time can include selecting the longest time of the first preparation time or the second preparation time.

[0194] At block 1008, the UE can send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to the user equipment (UE) based on the maximum preparation time, the grant indicating resources for at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. For example, the scheduling circuit 943 in cooperation with the communication and processing circuit 941 and the transceiver 910 described above in connection with Figure 9 shown and described can send the grant to the UE a sufficient amount of time (based on the preparation time) before the UE sends at least one transmission. In some examples, the resources for at least one uplink transmission can start at a first time. In such a case, sending a grant for at least one uplink transmission to the UE based on the maximum preparation time can include sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time.

[0195] In some examples, the grant may be configured to trigger a handover of the UE between operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode. In some examples, for the UE's operation in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier and not on a second RF carrier. For the UE's operation in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. In some examples, for the UE's operation in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier and not on a second RF carrier, and wherein, for the UE's operation in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a second RF carrier and not on a first RF carrier. The handover of the UE between operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode may include a handover from operating in the first uplink transmission mode to operating in the second uplink transmission mode. Alternatively, the handover of the UE between operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode may include a handover from operating in the second uplink transmission mode to operating in the first uplink transmission mode.

[0196] In some examples, the process may further include determining a third preparation time for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), determining that the third preparation time is less than a maximum preparation time, and generating a grant that does not trigger a handover between the first uplink transmission mode and the second uplink transmission mode at the UE in response to determining that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time. In some examples, for the UE's operation in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In this case, for the UE's operation in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. Alternatively, for the UE's operation in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In this case, for the UE's operation in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a second RF carrier and not on a first RF carrier.

[0197] Figure 111100 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication process for scheduling a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, process 1100 may be performed by Figure 9 The illustrated BS 900 performs. In some examples, process 1100 can be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0198] At block 1102, the BS may determine at least one preparation time, wherein the at least one preparation time may include a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, a second preparation time for a second RF carrier, or a first preparation time for the first RF carrier and a second preparation time for the second RF carrier. Figure 9 The preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described may determine the T of the first component carrier, or the second component carrier, or each of the first component carrier and the second component carrier. proc,2 Parameters. The determination of at least one preparation time at block 1102 may involve determining at least one preparation time for a single RF carrier (e.g., a first RF carrier or a second RF carrier). In some examples, the determination of at least one preparation time at block 1102 may include determining a first preparation time for the first RF carrier and determining a second preparation time for the second RF carrier. In some examples, determining at least one preparation time may include determining a subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of the first RF carrier and / or determining an SCS index of the second RF carrier.

[0199] The RF carriers may be configured differently in different implementations. For example, a first RF carrier may be configured for time division duplex (TDD) multiplexing, and a second RF carrier may be configured for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiplexing. In another example, the first RF carrier will have a configured downlink, and the second RF carrier will not have a configured downlink. In some examples, the first RF carrier may be a third generation partnership project (3GPP) new radio (NR) carrier, and the second RF carrier may be a 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) carrier.

[0200] At block 1104, the BS may determine an adjusted preparation time for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission based on the at least one preparation time. In some examples, determining the adjusted preparation time may include increasing the uplink preparation time by a defined value. For example, in conjunction with Figure 9The preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described can use a defined value (e.g., switch_time) when calculating the preparation time. Using this defined value can result in an increase in the preparation time (e.g., increasing a factor based on the defined value).

[0201] In some examples, determining the adjusted preparation time can include determining a maximum preparation time based on a first preparation time and a second preparation time. In some examples, determining the maximum preparation time based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time can include selecting the longest time of the first preparation time or the second preparation time. In some examples, as described above in connection with Figure 9 the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described can identify the shortest T proc,CSI parameter from a first T proc,CSI parameter of a first component carrier and a second T proc,CSI parameter of a second component carrier (e.g., T proc,CSI = max(T proc,cSI,CC1 , T proc,CSI,CC2 ))).

[0202] At block 1106, the UE can send a grant for at least one CSI transmission to the user equipment (UE) based on the adjusted preparation time, the grant indicating resources for at least one CSI transmission on a first RF carrier, on a second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. For example, the scheduling circuit 943 in cooperation with the communication and processing circuit 941 and the transceiver 910 shown and described above can send the grant to the UE a sufficient amount of time (based on the adjusted preparation time) before the UE sends at least one transmission. In some examples, the indication of resources at block 1106 can involve indicating resources for at least one CSI transmission on a single RF carrier (e.g., the first RF carrier or the second RF carrier). Alternatively, the indication of resources at block 1106 can involve indicating resources for at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. Figure 8 In some examples, the resources for at least one CSI transmission start at a first time. In such a case, sending a grant for at least one CSI transmission to the UE based on the adjusted preparation time can include sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time.

[0203]

[0204] ​The grant can be configured to trigger a handover of the UE between operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode. Here, determining the adjusted preparation time can include increasing the uplink preparation time by a defined value, where the defined value is greater than zero if the handover of the UE between operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode occurs at a first time. Alternatively, determining the adjusted preparation time can include increasing the uplink preparation time by a defined value, where the defined value is zero if the handover of the UE between operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode does not occur at the first time.

[0205] In some examples, the process can further include determining a third preparation time for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), determining that the third preparation time is less than a maximum preparation time, and generating a grant that does not trigger a handover between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode at the UE in response to determining that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time. In some examples, for the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant can indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In this case, for the UE operating in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant can indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. Alternatively, for the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant can indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In this case, for the UE operating in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant can indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on a second RF carrier and not on a first RF carrier.

[0206] Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication process 1200 for scheduling a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for all embodiments. In some examples, process 1200 can be performed by Figure 9 the BS 900 shown. In some examples, process 1200 can be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0207] At block 1202, the BS can determine a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier. For example, as described above in connection with Figure 9The preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described can determine the μ parameter of the first component carrier. In some examples, determining the first SCS index of the first RF carrier can include determining the lowest SCS in all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the first RF carrier.

[0208] At block 1204, the BS can determine the second SCS index of the second RF carrier. For example, as combined above Figure 9 The preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described can determine the μ parameter of the second component carrier. In some examples, determining the second SCS index of the first RF carrier can include determining the lowest SCS in all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the second RF carrier.

[0209] The RF carriers can be configured in different ways in different embodiments. For example, the first RF carrier can be configured for time division duplex (TDD) multiplexing, and the second RF carrier can be configured for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiplexing. In some examples, the first RF carrier can be the first component carrier among multiple component carriers for the UE, and the second RF carrier can be the second component carrier among the multiple component carriers. In some examples, the first RF carrier can be the first millimeter wave (mmW) band carrier or the first sub-6-GHz band carrier, and the second RF carrier can be the second millimeter wave (mmW) band carrier or the second sub-6-GHz band carrier. In some examples, the first RF carrier can be a frequency range 1 (FR1) carrier, and the second RF carrier can be a frequency range 2 (FR2) carrier. Alternatively, the first RF carrier can be a frequency range 2 (FR2) carrier, and the second RF carrier can be a frequency range 1 (FR1) carrier.

[0210] At block 1206, the BS can determine the minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. For example, as combined above Figure 9 The preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described can identify the shortest μ parameter (e.g., μ min = min(μ1, μ2)) from the first μ parameter of the first component carrier and the second μ parameter of the second component carrier. In some examples, determining the minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index can include selecting the lowest index among the first SCS index or the second SCS index.

[0211] At block 1208, the BS can determine the preparation time for at least one uplink transmission based on the minimum SCS index. For example, as combined above Figure 9 The preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described can use Equation 1 to calculate T proc,2. In some examples, determining the preparation time may include estimating any one of the following: a first duration required for the UE to decode a grant, a second duration required for the UE to generate at least one uplink transmission, a third duration associated with switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode, a fourth duration required for the UE to wait for an effective transmission time in the uplink transmission pipeline, or a combination of these durations.

[0212] At block 1210, the BS may send a grant for at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on the preparation time, the grant indicating resources for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier or on each of a first RF carrier and a second RF carrier. For example, the scheduling circuit 943 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 941 and the transceiver 910 shown and described above Figure 9 to send a grant to the UE a sufficient amount of time (based on the preparation time) before the UE sends at least one transmission. In some examples, the resources for at least one uplink transmission begin at a first time. In such a case, sending a grant for at least one uplink transmission to the UE based on the preparation time may include sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the preparation time earlier than the first time.

[0213] In some examples, the grant may be configured to trigger a switch between the UE operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode. For the UE's operation in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier. Additionally, for the UE's operation in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant may indicate resources for at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. In some examples, the switch between the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode may be a switch from operating in the first uplink transmission mode to operating in the second uplink transmission mode. Alternatively, the switch between the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode may be a switch from operating in the second uplink transmission mode to operating in the first uplink transmission mode.

[0214] In some examples, a UE may include multiple RF chains, where for the UE's operation in a first uplink transmission mode, a grant may be configured to trigger the UE to use at least two of the multiple RF chains for at least one uplink transmission on a first RF carrier. In some examples, a UE may include multiple RF chains, where for the UE's operation in a second uplink transmission mode, a grant may be configured to trigger the UE to use at least a first RF chain of the multiple RF chains to transmit on the first RF carrier and at least a second RF chain of the multiple RF chains to transmit on the second RF carrier for at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0215] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating another example wireless communication process 1300 for scheduling a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for the implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, process 1300 may be performed by Figure 9 the BS 900 shown. In some examples, process 1300 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0216] At block 1302, a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of a first radio frequency (RF) carrier is determined. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described above in connection with Figure 9 may determine the μ parameter of the first component carrier. In some examples, determining the first SCS index of the first RF carrier may include determining the lowest SCS among all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the first RF carrier.

[0217] At block 1304, the BS may determine a second SCS index of a second RF carrier. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described above in connection with Figure 9 may determine the μ parameter of the second component carrier. The second SCS index of the first RF carrier may include determining the lowest SCS among all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the second RF carrier.

[0218] The RF carriers can be configured in different ways in different embodiments. For example, the first RF carrier can be configured for time division duplex (TDD) multiplexing, and the second RF carrier can be configured for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiplexing. The first RF carrier can be the first component carrier among multiple component carriers for a UE, and the second RF carrier can be the second component carrier among the multiple component carriers. The first RF carrier can be a first millimeter wave (mmW) band carrier or a first sub-6-GHz band carrier, and the second RF carrier can be a second millimeter wave (mmW) band carrier or a second sub-6-GHz band carrier. The first RF carrier can be a frequency range 1 (FR1) carrier, and the second RF carrier can be a frequency range 2 (FR2) carrier. Alternatively, the first RF carrier can be a frequency range 2 (FR2) carrier, and the second RF carrier can be a frequency range 1 (FR1) carrier.

[0219] At block 1306, the BS can determine a minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described above in connection with Figure 9 can identify the shortest μ parameter from the first μ parameter of the first component carrier and the second μ parameter of the second component carrier (e.g., μmin = min(μ1, μ2)). Determining the minimum SCS index based on the first SCS index and the second SCS index can include selecting the lowest index among the first SCS index or the second SCS index.

[0220] At block 1308, the BS can determine the preparation time for at least one channel state information (CSI) transmission based on the minimum SCS index. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 942 shown and described above in connection with Figure 9 can execute Equation 5 to calculate T proc,CSI . In some examples, determining the preparation time can include estimating any of the following: a first duration required for the UE to decode a grant, a second duration required for the UE to generate at least one CSI transmission, a third duration associated with switching between a first CSI transmission mode and a second CSI transmission mode, a fourth duration for which the UE waits for an effective transmission time in the CSI transmission pipeline, or a combination of these durations.

[0221] At block 1310, the BS can send a grant for at least one CSI transmission to a user equipment (UE) based on the preparation time, the grant indicating resources for at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. For example, the scheduling circuit 943 in connection with the above Figure 9The communication and processing circuitry 941 and transceiver 910, as shown and described, can cooperate to send a grant to the UE a sufficient amount of time (based on a preparation time) before the UE transmits at least one transmission. Sending the grant can include sending the grant on a first RF carrier. The grant can schedule at least one CSI transmission on a second RF carrier.

[0222] In some examples, the resources for at least one CSI transmission begin at a first time. In such a case, sending a grant for at least one CSI transmission to the UE based on a preparation time can include sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least a preparation time earlier than the first time.

[0223] In some examples, the grant can be configured to trigger a switch for the UE between operating in a first CSI transmission mode and operating in a second CSI transmission mode. For the UE's operation in the first CSI transmission mode, the grant can indicate resources for at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier. For the UE's operation in the second CSI transmission mode, the grant can indicate resources for at least one CSI transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. The switch for the UE between operating in the first CSI transmission mode and operating in the second CSI transmission mode can be a switch from operating in the first CSI transmission mode to operating in the second CSI transmission mode. Alternatively, the switch for the UE between operating in the first CSI transmission mode and operating in the second CSI transmission mode can be a switch from operating in the second CSI transmission mode to operating in the first CSI transmission mode.

[0224] In some examples, the UE can include multiple RF chains, where for the UE's operation in the first CSI transmission mode, the grant can be configured to trigger the UE to use at least two of the multiple RF chains for at least one CSI transmission on the first RF carrier. In some examples, the UE can include multiple RF chains, where for the UE's operation in the second CSI transmission mode, the grant can be configured to trigger the UE to use at least a first RF chain of the multiple RF chains to transmit on the first RF carrier and at least a second RF chain of the multiple RF chains to transmit on the second RF carrier for at least one CSI transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

[0225] Figure 14 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a UE 1400 employing a processing system 1414 in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. As Figures 1 - 8As discussed in any one or more of, UE 1400 may be configured to communicate wirelessly with a base station. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, an element or any part of an element or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system 1414 including one or more processors 1404. In some embodiments, UE 1400 may correspond to Figure 1 the scheduled entity 106 (e.g., UE, etc.) of Figure 2 UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 238, 240, or 242 of Figure 4 or one or more of UEs 410 of

[0226] The processing system 1414 may be substantially the same as the processing system 814 shown in Figure 8 , including a bus interface 1408, a bus 1402, a memory 1405, a processor 1404, and a computer-readable medium 1406, a user interface 1412 (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.), and a transceiver 1410. Of course, such a user interface 1412 is optional and may be omitted in some examples (such as IoT devices).

[0227] UE 1400 may be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., as described above in connection with Figures 1 - 8 and as described below in connection with Figure 15 ). In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1404 (as used in UE1400) may include circuitry configured for various functions.

[0228] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1404 may include a communication and processing circuit 1441. The communication and processing circuit 1441 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing various processes related to communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. The communication and processing circuit 1441 may also include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing various processes related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. The communication and processing circuit 1441 may also be configured to execute communication and processing software 1451 included on the computer-readable medium 1406 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0229] In some embodiments where communication involves receiving information, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can obtain information from components of UE 1400 (e.g., from transceiver 1410 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can output the information to another component of processor 1404, memory 1405, or bus interface 1408. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can receive one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can include the functionality of components for receiving.

[0230] In some embodiments where communication involves transmitting (e.g., sending) information, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can obtain information (e.g., from another component of processor 1404, memory 1405, or bus interface 1408), process (e.g., encode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can output the information to transceiver 1410 (e.g., which sends information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can send one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can send information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 can include the functionality of components for transmitting (e.g., components for sending).

[0231] Processor 1404 can include a preparation time determination circuit 1442 that is configured to perform operations related to preparation time determination as described herein. Preparation time determination circuit 1442 can include the functionality of components for determining the preparation time. Preparation time determination circuit 1442 can also be configured to execute preparation time determination software 1452 included on computer-readable medium 1406 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0232] Processor 1404 can include a component configuration circuit 1443 that is configured to perform operations related to component configuration as discussed herein. Component configuration circuit 1443 can include the functionality of components for configuring components of the UE. Component configuration circuit 1443 can also be configured to execute component configuration software 1453 included on computer-readable medium 1406 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0233] Figure 15is a flowchart showing an example wireless communication process for configuring a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. As described herein, in certain embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for the implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, process 1500 may be performed by Figure 14 the UE 1400 shown. In some examples, process 1500 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0234] At block 1502, the UE may determine a preparation time for a handover between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode. In the first uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and not on a second RF carrier. In the second uplink transmission mode, the UE is configured to transmit on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier. For example, the preparation time determination circuit 1442 shown and described above may determine the T Figure 14 parameter of the first component carrier, or of the second component carrier, or of each of the first component carrier and the second component carrier proc,2 parameter or the T proc,CSI parameter. In some examples, determining the preparation time may include determining a first preparation time for the first RF carrier, determining a second preparation time for the second RF carrier, and determining the maximum of the first preparation time and the second preparation time. In some examples, the first preparation time may be the preparation time for the UE's physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission or the preparation time for the UE's channel state information (CSI) transmission. Additionally, the second preparation time is the preparation time for the UE's PUSCH transmission or the preparation time for the UE's CSI transmission.

[0235] In some examples, the handover between the first uplink transmission mode and the second uplink transmission mode may include a handover from the first uplink transmission mode to the second uplink transmission mode. Alternatively, the handover between the first uplink transmission mode and the second uplink transmission mode may include a handover from the second uplink transmission mode to the first uplink transmission mode.

[0236] The RF carriers can be configured in different ways in different embodiments. For example, a first RF carrier can be configured for time-division duplex (TDD) multiplexing, and a second RF carrier can be configured for frequency-division duplex (FDD) multiplexing. In some examples, the first RF carrier has a configured downlink, and the second RF carrier does not have a configured downlink. In some examples, the first RF carrier can be a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) carrier, and the second RF carrier is a 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) carrier.

[0237] At block 1504, the UE can configure at least one component of the UE such that the UE processes the received uplink grant during the preparation time. For example, the component configuration circuitry 1443 shown and described above in connection with Figure 1 can configure the clock circuitry and / or the memory circuitry. Configuring at least one component can include setting the processing clock speed. Alternatively or additionally, configuring at least one component can include setting the memory allocation.

[0238] Several aspects of a wireless communication network have been presented with reference to example embodiments. As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, aspects throughout this disclosure can be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0239] As an example, aspects can be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). Aspects can also be extended to systems defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples can be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standards, network architectures, and / or communication standards employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0240] In this disclosure, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of the disclosure. Likewise, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed features, advantages, or modes of operation. The term "coupled" is used herein to refer to a direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, then objects A and C can still be considered to be coupled to each other - even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object can be coupled to a second object even if the first object has never been in direct physical contact with the second object. The terms "circuit" and "circuitry" are used broadly and are intended to include hardware implementations of electrical devices and conductors that are capable of performing the functions described in the disclosure when connected and configured, without limitation to the type of electronic circuits, and software implementations of information and instructions that are capable of performing the functions described in the disclosure when executed by a processor. As used herein, the term "determining" may include, for example, determining, resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, calculating, estimating, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), etc. In addition, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc.

[0241] Figures 1 - 15 One or more of the components, steps, features and / or functions shown in the drawings may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature or function, or may be embodied in several components, steps or functions. Additional elements, components, steps and / or functions may also be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 4 , Figure 9 and Figure 14 The apparatus, devices and / or components shown in the can be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein can also be effectively implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0242] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed methods is an illustration of an example process. Based on design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in an example order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited herein.

[0243] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, and the singular forms of elements are not intended to mean "one and only one" but rather "one or more" unless specifically stated otherwise. The word "some" means one or more unless specifically stated otherwise. A phrase referring to "at least one" of a list of items means any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a base station, the method comprising: Determining a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier; Determining a second preparation time for a second RF carrier; Determining a maximum preparation time for at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time; And Sending, based on the maximum preparation time, a grant for the at least one uplink transmission to a user equipment (UE), the grant indicating resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the maximum preparation time for the at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time comprises: Selecting the longer one of the first preparation time and the second preparation time.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The resources for the at least one uplink transmission start at a first time; and Sending the grant for the at least one uplink transmission to the UE based on the maximum preparation time comprises sending the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the grant is configured to trigger a switch between the UE operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: For the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; And For the UE operating in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the switch between the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode comprises a switch from operating in the first uplink transmission mode to operating in the second uplink transmission mode.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the switch between the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode comprises a switch from operating in the second uplink transmission mode to operating in the first uplink transmission mode.

8. The method according to claim 4, wherein: For the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; And For the operation of the UE in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for the resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the second RF carrier and not on the first RF carrier.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the first preparation time comprises: estimating at least one of: a first duration required for the UE to decode the grant, a second duration required for the UE to generate the at least one uplink transmission, a third duration associated with switching between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode, a fourth duration required for the UE to wait for an effective transmission time in the uplink transmission pipeline, or any combination thereof.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the first preparation time comprises: determining a subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of the first RF carrier.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein determining the SCS index of the first RF carrier comprises: determining the lowest SCS of all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the first RF carrier.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining a third preparation time for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); determining that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time; and in response to determining that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time, generating the grant that does not trigger a switch between a first uplink transmission mode and a second uplink transmission mode at the UE.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: For the operation of the UE in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for the resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; and For the operation of the UE in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for the resources of the at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: For the operation of the UE in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for the resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; and For the operation of the UE in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for the resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the second RF carrier and not on the first RF carrier.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the first RF carrier is configured for time division duplex (TDD) multiplexing; and the second RF carrier is configured for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiplexing.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the first RF carrier has a configured downlink; and the second RF carrier does not have a configured downlink.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first RF carrier is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) carrier; and the second RF carrier is a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) carrier.

18. A base station, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to: determine a first preparation time for a first radio frequency (RF) carrier; determine a second preparation time for a second RF carrier; determine a maximum preparation time for at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time; and send, via the transceiver, to a user equipment (UE) a grant for the at least one uplink transmission based on the maximum preparation time, the grant indicating resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

19. The base station according to claim 18, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: select the longer one of the first preparation time and the second preparation time.

20. The base station according to claim 18, wherein: the resources for the at least one uplink transmission start at a first time; and the processor and the memory are further configured to send the grant to the UE at a second time that is at least the maximum preparation time earlier than the first time.

21. The base station according to claim 18, wherein the grant is configured to trigger a switch of the UE between operating in a first uplink transmission mode and operating in a second uplink transmission mode.

22. The base station according to claim 21, wherein: for the UE operating in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; and for the UE operating in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indicates resources for the at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

23. The base station according to claim 22, wherein the switch of the UE between operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode includes a switch from operating in the first uplink transmission mode to operating in the second uplink transmission mode.

24. The base station according to claim 22, wherein the switch of the UE between operating in the first uplink transmission mode and operating in the second uplink transmission mode includes a switch from operating in the second uplink transmission mode to operating in the first uplink transmission mode.

25. The base station according to claim 22, wherein: For the operation of the UE in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; And For the operation of the UE in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the second RF carrier and not on the first RF carrier.

26. The base station according to claim 18, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: Estimate at least one of: a first duration required for the UE to decode the grant, a second duration required for the UE to generate the at least one uplink transmission, a third duration associated with switching between the first uplink transmission mode and the second uplink transmission mode, a fourth duration required for the UE to wait for an effective transmission time in the uplink transmission pipeline, or any combination thereof.

27. The base station according to claim 18, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: Determine a subcarrier spacing (SCS) index of the first RF carrier.

28. The base station according to claim 27, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: Determine the lowest SCS of all bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the first RF carrier.

29. The base station according to claim 18, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: Determine a third preparation time for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); Determine that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time; and In response to determining that the third preparation time is less than the maximum preparation time, generate the grant that does not trigger a switch between the first uplink transmission mode and the second uplink transmission mode at the UE.

30. The base station according to claim 29, wherein: For the operation of the UE in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; And For the operation of the UE in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for resources of the at least one uplink transmission on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

31. The base station according to claim 29, wherein: For the operation of the UE in the first uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier and not on the second RF carrier; And For the operation of the UE in the second uplink transmission mode, the grant indication is for resources of the at least one uplink transmission on the second RF carrier and not on the first RF carrier.

32. The base station according to claim 18, wherein: The first RF carrier is configured for time division duplex (TDD) multiplexing; and The second RF carrier is configured for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiplexing.

33. The base station according to claim 18, wherein: the first RF carrier has a configured downlink; and the second RF carrier does not have a configured downlink.

34. The base station according to claim 18, wherein: the first RF carrier is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) carrier; and the second RF carrier is a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) carrier.

35. A base station, comprising: means for determining a first preparation time of a first radio frequency (RF) carrier and a second preparation time of a second RF carrier; means for determining a maximum preparation time of at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time; and means for sending, to a user equipment (UE), a grant for the at least one uplink transmission based on the maximum preparation time, the grant indicating resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

36. A manufactured product used by a base station in a wireless communication network, the manufactured product comprising: a computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the base station to: determine a first preparation time of a first radio frequency (RF) carrier; determine a second preparation time of a second RF carrier; determine a maximum preparation time of at least one uplink transmission based on the first preparation time and the second preparation time; and send, to a user equipment (UE), a grant for the at least one uplink transmission based on the maximum preparation time, the grant indicating resources for the at least one uplink transmission on the first RF carrier, on the second RF carrier, or on each of the first RF carrier and the second RF carrier.

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